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BY PRISCILLA GREEAR
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--The prayer of the rosary is a means for the faithful to offer their
sorrows, joys and hopes to Jesus and Mary as they meditate on the mysteries of
Christ’s life and relate them to their own experiences, Archbishop John F.
Donoghue said at the 28th annual Rosary Rally.
“This is what happens when we say the Rosary -- we send up, to heaven,
to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to the Mother of our Lord, the very
sighs of our hearts,” said the archbishop Oct. 3 at a holy hour that
followed the rosary recitation.
Pulling out their rosaries, approximately 150 Catholics gathered in the
parking lot of Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Atlanta, on the warm and
overcast afternoon to recite the prayer centering on Jesus and Mary that dates
back to about the 13th century. Members of the Atlanta Serra Club
placed a statue of Our Lady of Fatima before the outdoor congregation to begin
the event.
Led by the choir from Our Lady of the Assumption Church, directed by Greg
Codelli, the congregation sang “Sing of Mary” as they stood before
the image of Mary surrounded by blue and white flowers. Master of ceremonies
William Weller made welcoming remarks after which a prayer was offered for an
increase in all vocations in the church. Petitions were made in reparation for
the blasphemous art depicting Our Lady at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New
York, for the pro-life movement and for the late Father Thomas Gilroy, SM,
former Rosary Rally spiritual director.
Archbishop Donoghue led the rosary as OLA pastor Father James McGoldrick,
SM, gave the meditations on the five glorious mysteries of Christ’s
resurrection and ascension, the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles,
Mary’s assumption into heaven and her crowning as queen of angels and men.
Serra Club members then carried the Marian statue into the church through an
honor guard formed of members of the Knights of Columbus Charles Greco
Assembly.
Following exposition of the Blessed Sacrament there was a period of silent
adoration.
In his homily, the archbishop recalled how he became impatient as a boy when
reciting the rosary at home or at school and how he questioned its purpose.
“…Through the window, I could see the outside, and hear the
beguiling sounds of other children at play -- and that’s where I would
really want to be, and my impatience would grow even keener, as the decades
moved slowly by, and my fingers crept so deliberately down the chaplet, towards
that final, and liberating, Hail Holy Queen.”
Yet as he matured he began to see the relevance of the events in
Christ’s life to those in his own.
“… I learned of the restorative power of the Rosary --
restorative, because it held the story and the meaning of Christ, and of all
the events in Christ’s life which mean so much to us, when we apply them
to our own lives,” he said.
He spoke of “the thrill of expectation in the Joyful Mysteries -- the
heartbreak of confronting failure and mortality in the Sorrowful Mysteries --
and the glorious expectations that well from our hearts, as we gain hope and
strengthen our Faith through the Glorious Mysteries.”
“These fifteen events -- fifteen stations in the saga of our
Lord’s life, and the beautiful entwining of our Lord’s life with that
of His Mother, as I grew older, came to be the most excellent symbol of our
understanding of human life, of Redemption, and of the nature of reality as
propounded, and as preserved by our Holy Catholic Faith,” he continued.
Archbishop Donoghue said that through the rosary, one may give one’s
gratitude, over joys experienced through families, friends and other loved
ones, to God and Mary. It is also a time to express sorrowful burdens of
abortion, violence among children, the impersonal ruthlessness of biological
engineering and genetic manipulation, the adoration of youthfulness, pleasure
and money and other occurrences. And finally, one may express hope in the glory
of our salvation brought about through the surrender to God’s plan of our
Blessed Mother, who gave the world Jesus.
“The Rosary has many meanings -- it is the door which leads into a
thousand worlds, worlds created by the needs of each day, the needs of every
individual, and the overwhelming need of all mankind to be saved,” he
concluded. “… (Mary) opens the door, beckoning us into a light we
have never seen, but for which we have longed all the length of our days,
saying … ‘after this our exile, dearest Mother, show unto us the
blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.’”
The archbishop incensed the Blessed Sacrament after which he processed among
attendees blessing them. The Blessed Sacrament was reposed and the service
concluded as the faithful sang “Hail, Holy Queen.”
For Charlotte Hafley, a parishioner at the Cathedral of Christ the King,
Atlanta, the rally was a time to pray for others.
“For me the world needs so much prayer. It’s another opportunity
for me to honor Jesus’ mother, to thank God for giving her to us and to
beg her to intercede for different situations” such as for an increase in
vocations, for those who are sick, for the unborn and for the family.
Hafley is a member of the cathedral’s growing rosary group which, in
addition to meeting for daily rosaries after Mass, is sending out hundreds of
rosary packets containing a rosary, booklets with rosary meditations, a divine
mercy chaplet and novena, a Miraculous Medal and other items.
As people have forgotten the rosary’s power, Hafley said the group is
“doing what the Blessed Mother wants us to do -- mainly getting more
prayer going between the Sunday liturgy, to encourage people to pray the rosary
daily because the rosary is the chord which binds Satan.” She added that
prayer could be done anywhere, whether while driving or attending daily Mass,
the most powerful form of worship. Hafley noted that the rosary is the epitome
of the Gospels and that meditating on its mysteries enables people to bear the
fruits of God’s love to the world.
“God’s greatest gift to mankind was our dear Lord Jesus Christ for
the redemption of mankind. Mary made the redemption possible by her fiat and
therefore is also a great gift to us in assisting in our redemption … She
had total trust in God and that’s what’s so amazing.”
Gabriel Onofre, a parishioner at St. Thomas More Church, Decatur, said that
Mary has been a constant guide to him in his vocation.
“I’m a physician and my ministry of serving the sick is always
enlightened by the Blessed Virgin Mary … (in) praying to the Virgin Mary I
find that light, that guidance,” he said.
Attending his third rally, he also was strengthened through Mary in his
commitment to protect all life.
“It makes sense for me to be a doctor, to have my Catholic faith that
nurtures me day by day … It gives me the strength to value (all) life. I
really feel very strong about life -- against abortion -- and that gives me
more (of) the courage to be against abortion,” he said. “I have found
that is my purpose really at this point in my life … serving the poor, the
underserved, and because I am Hispanic, I have the special skills and privilege
to serve Hispanics.”
Joan Coppiger, a parishioner at St. John Neumann Church, Lilburn, has been
attending the rally since it began. She said, standing by her husband and
daughter, that Mary has unified her family through the years as they’ve
said the rosary together, particularly in times of trouble and joy, and that at
this rally they thanked Mary for the birth of a new grandchild.
“When you raise a family you rely on her help constantly,”
Coppiger said. “It’s important for families to (say the rosary) --
especially with the world in such upheaval. She brings sanity to the family.
She brings hope and stability. She definitely brings us to her Son … We
started with the rosary. That brought us to adoration and that brought us to
trying to go to Mass more frequently.”
Patricia Attridge, the Rosary Rally’s planning committee chairperson
and a parishioner at Corpus Christi Church, Stone Mountain, believes the rosary
brings peace to an increasingly immoral society and that recitation in the
archdiocese has been increasing in the last decade.
“The rosary is peace in the family, peace in the world … The more
that we pray the rosary the more that I believe we are doing God’s will.
It’s an ancient prayer,” she said. “People have a reverence for
Mary. It is her prayer and we know she intercedes for us and we go to her as a
mother as we would go to our own mother if we had a problem.”
She also believes Mary will lead those separated from God into Christ’s
flock. “For the most part, most people are so far away from God and we
need to return and I believe that Mary is the way. She leads us to Jesus.”
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