In early June, I took part in a pilgrimage to Poland. Over nine days, we traced the 1979 visit of Pope Saint John Paul II to his homeland. This was the first visit of the country’s favorite son after his election as the Successor of Saint Peter in October 1978. His visit gave a great sense of hope to the People of Poland, as well as those in other countries, who at the time were living behind the Iron Curtain. He brought the light of Christ to a people of faith, who had been living under the darkness of a repressive communist regime.
Today, as we look around the world, we are seeing much that can unsettle us. There are attacks on the sanctity of human life, wars, religious persecution, riots, etc. It is easy to become discouraged. Yes, there is light in this darkness and many are still faithful, but it can be hard for that to be consoling at times. With Pope Benedict XVI, I am of the mind that there is one cause of all of this: abandonment of God. On the whole, as a nation, as a people, we appear to have abandoned God. And just as in nature, the spiritual realm abhors a vacuum. So, when God is rejected, other things – lesser things, created things, idolatrous things – take His place. This is what leads to our many plights today, particularly because it takes so many forms: “One common form is the practical materialism which restricts its needs and aspirations to space and time. Atheistic humanism falsely considers man to be ‘an end to himself, and the sole maker, with supreme control, of his own history.’ Another form of contemporary atheism looks for the liberation of man through economic and social liberation. ‘It holds that religion, of its very nature, thwarts such emancipation by raising man’s hopes in a future life, thus both deceiving him and discouraging him from working for a better form of life on earth’” (CCC 2124 and GS 20). A sad aspect of all of this is that “[b]elievers can have more than a little to do with the rise of atheism. To the extent that they are careless about their instruction in the faith, or present its teaching falsely, or even fail in their religious, moral, or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than to reveal the true nature of God and of religion” (CCC 2125).
And so what remains? Emptiness and pain without meaning. It falls to us, here and now, to be renewed in Christ and to assist our neighbor in doing the same. The primary way to do that: devotion to the Sacred Liturgy and especially to the Most Holy Eucharist. Right alongside of that, however, is the second characteristic we must always seek to foster: Marian devotion. We must be like Saint John, “the beloved disciple,” who stayed close to the Lord from beginning to end, and who then “took Mary into his home,” to be with Her, to learn from Her, just like Jesus did.
I think it goes without saying, then, that we must love the Blessed Virgin Mary. To help us go deeper into this great and necessary devotion, we will turn to another great Marian saint, John Paul II, as well as the best and most popular Marian devotion, the Most Holy Rosary.
Pope Saint John Paul II’s motto “Totus Tuus!” was taken from the Marian theology of Saint Louis Marie de Monfort. This total abandonment and trust in the maternal love and care of the Blessed Virgin Mary not only marked his pontificate, but really his entire life: when he was 9 years old, he lost his mother, which left him with only his father, who, good man though he was, couldn’t serve as a replacement for the mother in the family. His father’s own personal devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, however, led him to take small Karol to a Marian image and show him the image of our Lady. He explained that Mary would now be his mother, and that stuck with Karol. From that moment, he lived that out fully, entrusting himself often to Her, seeking Her guidance and protection. It is no exaggeration to say that this whole event changed his life. Pope Saint John Paul II didn’t run from Mary, but to Her, right into Her arms in this time of crisis, just like a little child who falls while playing: he ran to his Mother.
This was not to be the end of his struggles, though. After he lost his mother at the age of 9, he lost his brother at the age of 12. Mary continued to carry him. So too did She protect him when the horrors of World War II came to Poland and closed the seminary where he was studying. Staying close to Mary preserved him in the time of godless Communism. All through this he kept come to Mary, saying “Totus Tuus ego sum, Maria!” He constantly renewed his consecration to Mary in this way, and, as She always does, Mary provided for Her own.
Now, in addition to his personal Marian devotion, Saint John Paul II also encouraged and taught this devotion to others. For our purposes we will focus in on his particular teachings on the Most Holy Rosary. Listen first to these words he spoke at an Angelus Address on October 29, 1978:
The rosary is my favorite prayer. A marvelous prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and in its depth. In this prayer, we repeat many times the words that the Virgin Mary heard from the archangel and from her kinswoman Elizabeth. The whole Church joins in these words. Against the background of the words “Ave Maria” there pass before the eyes of the soul the main episodes in the life of Jesus Christ. They are composed altogether of the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries, and they put us in living communion with Jesus through—we could say—his Mother’s heart. At the same time, our hearts can enclose in these decades of the rosary all the facts that make up the life of the individual, the family, the nation, the Church, and mankind. Personal matters and those of one’s neighbor, and particularly of those who are closest to us, who are dearest to us. Thus in the simple prayer of the rosary, there beats the rhythm of human life.
Put simply, we could say that, in John Paul’s mind, the rosary is the prayer of life: it takes up all we have and gives it to Mary. This is emphasized by the fact that we meditate on the lives of Jesus and Mary, Who themselves went through all the ups and downs of life too. By uniting our lives to theirs, ours are elevated, grace is given, demons flee, sin is purged. In the Rosary, our lives are literally “evangelized”—they are “Gospeled” by meditation on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is seen as the purpose of John Paul’s encyclical on the Rosary: he wrote Rosarium Virginis Mariae “to contemplate the face of Christ in union with, and at the school of, His Most Holy Mother.” Referencing this need for contemplation, he wrote that
The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. The eyes of her heart already turned to him at the Annunciation, when she conceived him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed she began to sense his presence and to picture his features. When at last she gave birth to him in Bethlehem, her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on the face of her Son, as she “wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger” (Lk2:7).
The Rosary, then, is Mary’s way of teaching us to contemplate the face of Christ: to “seek His Face” as the psalms say.
In order to do just that, Saint John Paul II gave three elements of the Rosary that assist us in going deeper with Our Lady into the mysteries of Our Lords life.
First, announcing the mystery and if possible, using icons or images of the mystery. “This is a methodology, moreover, which corresponds to the inner logic and the Incarnation: in Jesus, God wanted to take on human features. It is through His bodily reality that we are led into contact with the mystery of His divinity” (28). It incites our senses by hearing and seeing the mystery.
Second, the use of Scripture. “It is helpful to follow the announcement of the mystery with the proclamation of a related Biblical passage, long or short, depending on the circumstances. “No other words can ever match the efficacy of the inspired word. As we listen, we are certain that this is the word of God, spoken for today and spoken for me” (30).
The third element is silent contemplation. In modern times, there is so much competing for our attention. There is constant “noise” in our lives. We live in the age of electronic communication and social media. We are so constantly bombarded with information that there is a need to back away from it and enter into the silence. Just as there is a need for silence in the Liturgy, there is a need for silence in the recitation of the Rosary. Announce the mystery, let it speak/enlighten our hearts and minds.
One method Pope Saint John Paul suggests is pausing after the mention of our Lord’s name during the Hail Mary as a sort of reference point to Mary’s “Fiat” and the Incarnation.
October is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Rosary, a powerful prayer that draws us closer to the heart of Mary and, through her, to Jesus. As the leaves change and the days grow shorter, the month of October invites us to slow down, reflect, and renew our spiritual lives. The Rosary offers a peaceful rhythm of prayer and meditation on the life of Christ, bringing clarity, hope, and strength amid life’s challenges. Whether you pray a full Rosary or just a single decade, take time each day in October to lift your heart to God through this beautiful devotion. Let the Rosary be your anchor, your refuge, and your reminder that you are never alone.
In Christ,
Bishop James S. Wall
