U.S. diocese ends Year of Rosary with celebration

Published: 2003-10-06

LOOSE CREEK, Mo. (CNS) -- Frequently praying the rosary can strengthen and deepen people's faith in Jesus and help them appreciate all of life's mysteries, said a priest at a Jefferson City diocesan rosary celebration at Immaculate Conception Church in Loose Creek. "When we pray the rosary, the mysteries of Jesus' life interweave with the events of our own life, and the infinite love of God can somehow shape our human hearts," said Vincentian Father Ronald W. Ramson. He spoke at the Jefferson City Diocese's Sept. 14 celebration of the Year of the Rosary, a special observance proclaimed by the pope last October. The priest, who is the spiritual director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society's U.S. council, urged the 250 people who came to the church from central and northeastern Missouri not to forget Mary's humanity. "As long as we keep Mary up on pedestals," he cautioned, "as long as we keep Mary in niches, as long as we keep Mary dressed in spotless dazzling clothing, then I think we're missing the human Mary. We're missing the Mary that Jesus knew and loved."

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