A Gift from Heaven (2016)
Fr. Martin Fuchs´s sermon on 2nd October 2016, Prague, Czech
republic
***
Dear brethren!
In 1572 there was a great
storm at the seashore of Portugal which destroyed many ships including a ship sailing
to Seville. There was a young Portuguese called Peter Mendy on this ship. When
he noticed the great danger for the ship, he took his blessed Rosary, fastened
it around his neck and asked the holy Virgin Mary to save his life. A few
moments later the ship sank. All passengers lost their lives. Only Peter could
save his life. Peter Mendy was on the sea
shore – the Rosary around his neck – when he regained his consciousness. He immediately went to a church to give thanks to God.
All people were surprised by the
miraculous rescue and the local Bishop ordered to make an investigation of this
case. He confirmed that Peter Mendy was saved by a miracle.
Dear faithful!
The month of October is
especially dedicated to Our Lady of the holy Rosary. That is why the Church
wanted us to celebrate this feast on the first Sunday of October.
The Rosary is a great gift
from heaven. Our Lady gave it to saint Dominic as a weapon against the Cathars
in the South of France. And indeed he could destroy this heresy. And when the Muslims
came to Europe, they were defeated by the holy Rosary in Lepanto (Greek) and
Vienna (Austria).
Let us think about the great
value of the holy Rosary!
The Rosary is a sacramental.
This means it is an object blessed by the Catholic Church. If we carry it, it
will be a protection against any kind of danger as we have seen in Peter Mendy´s
life.
The Rosary is an important
weapon especially in danger of losing the eternal goal. Heresy, error, and sin
come from the devil. From Mary come faith, truth, and virtue. In several
visions as in Lourdes and in Fatima Our Lady reminded the faithful to pray the
Rosary.
As a sacramental, the Rosary
chain must be buried or burned when it cannot be used any more.
The Rosary consists of prayers
of Our Lord, of the Holy Scripture, and of the Church. That is why it is
certainly a prayer that pleases God. The Holy Church has even granted a plenary
indulgence for this prayer when it is prayed in a community, in a public
church, in a chapel or in the family. The mysteries of our faith must be added
and they should be meditated.
The Rosary is the most
recommended prayer by the popes. Again and again they spoke about this precious
prayer because it keeps us in the Catholic faith. It shows us where we must
look for the real joys, in the coming of our Redeemer. In the sorrowful
mysteries it shows us why we have to suffer and how we have to suffer. It is
because of our sins. All sins are the cause of his sufferings, our sins
committed before and after his death.
And in the glorious mysteries
it teaches us what is coming after this life when we follow Our Lord on his way
to the Calvary mountain.
It is remarkable that in 1986,
when John Paul II organized the scandalous Assisi meeting, a group of Catholics
asked for carrying a statue of Our Lady in the procession. The answer was: “Our
Lady is not ecumenical.“
And such a scandalous meeting
was organized in September of this year again. Our joy is in Jesus Christ, our
real Redeemer. “For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby
we must be saved.“ (Acts of the Apostles 4:12)
All other religions are devil´s
inventions as we can read in psalm 95:5: “For all the gods of the Gentiles are
devils.“
We are not allowed to invite
other religions to pray together with us or to let them pray because we know
exactly that they worship a false god, an idol. We would become guilty of the
sin of idolatry.
The holy Rosary is an
exorcism. The devil does not want this prayer. Our Lady always firmly stood
against the devil. After the original sin, God predicted the Saviour born by a woman:
“I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed.“ (Genesis
3:15)
All exorcists call for Our
Lady to crush the Satan’s head, to expel the devil from an obsessed person.
Father Gabriele Amorth, the famous
exorcist of the diocese of Rome, who has died recently, described her great
influence in his books. He could help a lot of people although I cannot agree with
his statements about the charismatic movement and Medjugorje.
The holy Rosary is a confession
of the Catholic Religion. No other religion has this prayer. Years ago, a
doctor was called to an accident. He found a Rosary chain in the trousers of an
injured man and so he sent for a Catholic priest.
When a person dies, we give
two objects in the coffin, the holy cross and the holy Rosary. These are the
most precious objects of a Catholic.
Let us pray the Rosary daily
with the family!
Let us take every occasion to
spread the important and precious prayer!
Amen.
