Allocutio at October 2014 Concilium Meeting by Fr. Bede McGregor OP

The Rosary is Truly Irreplaceable

In 1965 our founder Frank Duff wrote an article for Maria Legionis entitled: ‘The Rosary is Irreplaceable.’ It was a robust defence of the Rosary at a time when it was under attack in some quarters. But it is not only a defence, it is also a meditative reflection on how to pray the Rosary that is so obviously steeped in his personal experience of very many years of actually praying the Rosary on a daily basis. It is evident that like Pope John Paul 11 it is his favourite prayer. It would be impossible to think of the spiritual life of Frank Duff without the gentle rhythm of the Rosary as one of its greatest secrets. But why is it so irreplaceable and especially for the legionary?

Well, the Handbook has some truly striking statements about the role of the Rosary in Legion spirituality. For instance, we read: ‘What the breathing is to the human body, the Rosary is to the Legion meetings.’ That is equivalent to saying that without the Rosary the Legion meeting is dead. And of course without the meeting the Legion itself would be dead. But is the Rosary really a matter of life and death to the Legion? The simple answer is Yes. But why is this so? We can get a profound answer to this question from the teaching and example of the saints. St. Padre Pio was once asked by a confrere why he was always praying the Rosary and he
replied: ‘Because the Rosary clamps me to Jesus.’ That is the reason why Mary prayed the Rosary in all her appearances to St Bernadette and why she asked the children at Fatima to pray the Rosary every day. She called herself the Lady of the Rosary because it was her extra special way of bringing us to Jesus. The Rosary is totally Christocentric and that is why it is so fundamental to the Legion.

St. John Paul stresses: ‘Christ is the supreme teacher, the revealer and the one revealed. It is not just a question of learning what He taught, but of learning Him.’ In this regard can we have any better teacher than Mary? But among creatures no one knows Christ better than Mary; no one can introduce us to a profound knowledge of his mystery better than his mother.’ The Rosary introduces us into the Presence of Jesus in the company of Mary and puts us in direct contact with all his mysteries and to the graces proper of these mysteries. The Rosary is first and foremost a prayer that is a lifting of the mind and heart to God and it is in
this process that the faith formation of the Christian takes place, that the seed and growth of holiness takes place. The Rosary is not simply about getting information about our faith nor is it about abstract ideas. It is above all intrinsically interpersonal; it is a simple and effective way of practicing the presence of God and being aware of His Mother too. It is a gentle way of engaging in friendship with Jesus and His Mother.

St. John Paul writes: ‘It would be impossible to name all the many saints who discovered in the Rosary an genuine path to growth in holiness. We need but mention St Louis Marie de Montfort, the author of an excellent work on the Rosary, and closer to ourselves Padre Pio whom I recently had the joy of canonising. As a true apostle of the Rosary, Blessed Bartolo Longo had a special charism. His path to holiness rested on an inspiration heard in the depths of his heart: ‘Whoever spreads the Rosary is saved.’ It is important for us legionaries to remember that inspiration.

However, we all know from experience that there can sometimes be difficulty in praying the Rosary. Let me give you some quotations from Bro. Duff that may be of help in those circumstances. At times of sickness or of exhaustion, there is no other so useful. It comes within our reach. What we then want is restfulness in the spirit of prayer. So let the beads slip through the fingers without concern as to what particular accompaniment the mind is playing, but it is truly resting in God and is attentive to Mary. This is the essence of prayer. Prayer is a state more than it is a recital.’

Then he goes on: ‘We must not make this operation too involved for ourselves. The Rosary must be left essentially simple. Its main idea is a chat with our Mother about her Son, herself, and about all the elements of salvation … Anyone who says the Rosary will have a reasonably complete and vivid idea of the Christian narrative, and I repeat that this is a necessary foundation for all prayer. Indeed, what good are any prayers if they do not rest on that foundation of knowing what they are all about? And finally for now: ‘So there is my contention: the Rosary is a treasure which must be cherished. It combines in itself a host of ingredients, among them being Mary, the Mother of the Church and of every soul in it and outside it. It acknowledges her position. It teaches us the Christian religion and it induces us to pray. If the Rosary be hurt, Mary’s place will be diminished and so will the quantity of prayer in our lives. In practice nothing will be inserted in substitution for that which has been taken out. The Rosary is irreplaceable.

In conclusion let me say. Paul the sixth who was beatified today once wrote: ‘The Church is an evangelizer, but she begins by being evangelized herself.’ The same truth applies to the Legion: the Rosary is a very special gift and means by which we are evangelized and therefore become equipped to be evangelizers. Frank Duff believed this principle with all his heart and inserted it into the non-negotiable core of the Legion. Our founder was absolutely a man of the Rosary and it is surely his prayer that every legionary should also be steeped in the spirituality of the Rosary. In all our home visitations, in our street contact with people, in our works of
consolation especially with the sick, the lonely and the depressed, in our family apostolates, with children and indeed with people of all ages and walks of life we legionaries can offer no lovelier gift than the Rosary. Mary has not given the Rosary into the keeping of the Legion in order to keep it to itself. We are all called to be apostles of the Rosary for it is a splendid instrument of grace for the modern world.
************************************