Blessed Elena Guerra and the Holy Rosary
Tradition links this month to the “Queen of Victories” better known as the “Queen of the Holy Rosary,” which is celebrated on October 7
On the first Sunday of the month, the Supplication to the Virgin of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii is recited, and again October 13 is the anniversary of the last apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, who presented herself as the “Queen of the Holy Rosary” to the three Little Shepherds at Cova de Rio.
The prayer of the Rosary is contemplation of the life of Jesus Christ and his Gospel, under the guidance of Mary, who always kept her Mother’s gaze fixed on the face of her Son. Contemplation of the Rosary helps man in the conformation of his life to the life of the Redeemer, to his mystery of joy, light, sorrow and glory.
History of the “Rosary”
The word “rosary” derives from a medieval custom of placing a garland of roses on the statues of the Virgin; these roses were symbolic of the fragrance of prayer, rising to the heart of the Mother of God. In the 13th century, Cistercian monks structured a prayer, which they called the Rosary, consisting of 150 beads, referring to the number of Psalms.
This devotion was popularized by St. Dominic, who, according to tradition, received from Mary’s hands in 1214 the first rosary beads to be used as a supplication to the Virgin Mary, invoked with the recitation of the angelic salutation, repeated several times and offered for the conversion of unbelievers and sinners.
In 1571, in the midst of the Battle of Lepanto, Pope Pius V asked the faithful to pray with the Rosary with the intention of asking for deliverance from the Ottoman threat. The victory of the Christian fleet on Oct. 7 was attributed to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, invoked with the prayer of the Holy Rosary.
Following this event, the pope introduced the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary into the liturgical calendar. Other impulses had the Rosary through Blessed Alain della Rupe, St. Louis Mary Grignion de Montfort, and Blessed Bartolo Longo, founder of the shrine and works of charity that arose around the Temple of Pompeii. All the Supreme Pontiffs have always urged the recitation of the Rosary, St. John Paul II added to the traditional 15 mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious) the 5 mysteries of Light.
Elena Guerra, the Holy Rosary and the Holy Spirit
Blessed Elena Guerra, who will be canonized by Pope Francis next Oct. 20, nurtured a strong Marian devotion and was always faithful to the recitation of the Holy Rosary. As a result of the “re-discovery” of the Holy Spirit the Blessed, she grasped the profound relationship between the Holy Spirit and Mary. The angel greets her “full of grace.” Full of the Holy Spirit. The Fathers and the unbroken magisterium of the Church have identified Mary as the prototype of the Church, permanently inhabited by the Holy Spirit, from the Incarnation to Pentecost, and now in glory making her shine in all the beauty of the Bride. The Church’s mission is but a reverberation of the Virgin’s motherhood.
Although he did not write a treatise on Mariology, he offered for meditation and prayer several works and pamphlets of Marian devotion, among them: “Month of May,” ‘A Rose at the Feet of the Immaculata,’ ‘New Gem to the Virgin of the Rosary,’ ‘The Servant of Mary of Sorrows,’ ‘School of Mary,’ ‘Mary, Angels, Saints,’ and finally he gave birth to the ‘Living Stars’ initiative, which was widely circulated in view of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculata. The initiative was greatly appreciated by Pius X, so much so that he urged the bishops and clergy to join it.
Leo XIII closed his encyclical Divinum illud munus by inviting people to pray to Mary with confidence because of her intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. “The Virgin,” he wrote, ”by her prayer greatly cooperated both in the mystery of the Incarnation and in the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. May she therefore continue to corroborate with her patronage our common prayers, so that the wonders of the Holy Spirit, already celebrated by David, may be renewed in the midst of the afflicted nations: Send your Spirit, they are created, and renew the face of the earth.”
Blessed Elena looking back to the Upper Room, where Mary prays with the Apostles, has full confidence that every prayer that passes through the Virgin’s mediation will be answered because “the Holy Spirit will not be able to refuse His Immaculate Bride anything that she will ask for our benefit.” Sadly, Elena lamented, today, “little thought is given to interposing the mediation of Mary, in order to implore from the Holy Spirit more promptly and more fully the renewal of the hearts and minds of men, in which precisely the renewal of the face of the earth consists.
Marian devotion
His Marian devotion flows from the mystery of the Incarnation: “He who had created the holy Virgin, who had filled her with grace…having come the fullness of time in her he wished to become incarnate and to rest in her womb…He dwelt finding therein his delights.” No human creature has been in communion with God like Mary.
To this communion Mary was prepared by God Himself, preserving her from original sin, to become Mother of the Word. Blessed Elena recalls that in Mary’s heart “always dwelt the Holy Spirit, who was the sole Director of all acts.” Her journey of faith was a growth in the Holy Spirit. The Virgin of Nazareth is for Helen the perfect model of obedience to the Spirit and acceptance of God’s adorable will. By faith she became Mother of the Redeemer, and gradually entered into the knowledge of the mystery of the Kingdom, which her Son established in the world. Delivered by the dying Jesus as Mother to the disciple and in Him as Mother of the nascent community, she became the heart of the Church and accompanied the Church’s own mission and witness in the world.
Elena Guerra points to her as a “wise Teacher of virtues,” at Mary’s school the Christian learns perfect abandonment in God. Anyone who wishes to embark on a path of spiritual life must necessarily approach Mary’s example and let her be their guide. “Holiness,” Mother taught, ”consists in doing well what we do, that is, in imitating Mary. “Let us observe her as attentive disciples who want to imitate so perfect a Teacher, and we will learn to work holily.”
The Holy Rosary precious devotion
The month of October, tradition dictates, is consecrated to the Rosary. Elena Guerra in more than one writing recommends its recitation, especially in the family: “Procure,” she writes, “that in your home the Holy Rosary be recited every evening, but devoutly and not as is customary in some families where it is not said, but scrambled, reciting it in haste and sometimes in a position that is anything but devout, that is, yawning and half asleep.
To those who may be bored in the recitation, Helena advises to “take yourself with your thoughts to that place where the mystery that you have to consider in that post will take place; imagine yourself seeing the people who had a part in that mystery, indeed take part in it yourself, letting your heart say and do what it would have done and said if you had been present at the event recalled in that mystery.”
The Rosary well prayed, is a precious devotion, because as the Blessed One recalls, “it explains to our mind the whole history of Redemption.” Mary through the meditation of the Rosary leads us to know her Son. “If I look,” says Elena Guerra, ”for the newly incarnated Divine Word I find Him in Mary’s womb; if I look at the Infant Jesus I see Him in Mary’s arms; if I look at Jesus when He works the first miracle I see Him next to Mary; if I look at Jesus when He goes preaching through the quarters of Palestine, I see Him next to Mary; if I look at the dead Jesus I see Him in Mary’s lap.
The Mother, as the perfect disciple, never separated herself from her Son and in her heart she treasured his every word. Thus the Son never separated himself from the Mother.
Again, the Blessed One calls for a recitation made from the heart, paying full attention to the words, which must not be a mechanical repetition, said out of habit: “Let us beware,” she admonishes, “of reciting the Rosary out of habit, as unfortunately happens of what we do every day.
The sweetness of the Hail Mary
A Rosary said distractedly and out of habit is not a true Rosary.” The repetition of the Hail Mary brings infinite sweetness to the heart, “Hail Mary! – exclaims – Hail Mary! Word come from heaven and uttered by angelic voice: word spread through the whole earth and repeated by a thousand tongues. Word of comfort to the wretched, of health to the misled, of hope to the dying. It is repeated by monarchs and subjects; the learned and the ignorant; children and the old; the innocent and sinners: Hail Mary! Yes, Hail Marys on earth, Hail Marys in purgatory, Hail Marys in Heaven…Only Hell is devoid of such a beautiful word, because there is no redemption there, and the Hail Mary sounds precisely redemption and salvation. Woe to that Christian who forgets it.”
We should not be afraid, ashamed, to repeat endless times, without getting tired, without getting bored: Hail Mary. Let us think that it is the words that bring the kiss of God, in the heart of the most beautiful and splendid creature that has arisen among men. It is the kiss of man, who through the Mother of Jesus returns to the heart of God: Blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus!”
In this time of preparation for canonization, may Elena Guerra as a good Mother and Teacher of spiritual life, bring back our families to find time and a space of prayer for a fruitful and joyful recitation of the Rosary, through it may we strengthen the Christian faith to make it a shining beacon in the world, a breath of hope in our days.
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