Today's Rosary | Holy Rosary University

Friends of the Rosary: Our faith has to be constantly tested through trials and challenges. This test produces steadfastness, and it leads us to joy and perfection. As St. James says in his first letter, "let steadfastness has its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." But this goal of perfection cannot be achieved only with human effort. We need the help of God, a...

Friends of the Rosary: Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. "The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven." With these words, in 1950, Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Assumption of Mary as a dogma — a truth revealed by God. The Ever-Virgin Mary had a life, fullness...

Friends of the Rosary: In today’s reading ( Lk 12:49-53 ), Jesus Christ says to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” Why setting the world on fire? Because we, the Christian people, have the mission to get it back the world, so the Kingdom of Heaven may start on earth. Now the Ruler of the World, the Evil One, is setting the norms. That’s u...

Friends of the Rosary: Last Sunday, the theme of the homily in the solemn mass in the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain was about the critical importance of keeping a vigilant behavior. My wife Maria Blanca advised our children to “light your lamps”, as we read in the Gospel this week ( Lk 12:32-48 ). “Lámparas encendidas,” was María Blanca’s expression. Jesus said: “Light your lamps an...

Friends of the Rosary: Be aware of evil. There is an enemy of God and humanity, and it needs to be known. In the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus speaks of an enemy who sows weeds among the wheat, and He identifies the enemy as “the evil one”. Make no mistake: the evil has the intelligence of a supernatural being, but the Father of Lies can be defeated by humans through prayer. We d...

Friends of the Rosary: Forgiving one another from the heart is not easy. Jesus Christ forgives us our sins, but we don’t easily forgive, as we are instructed to do in the third Luminous Mystery that we pray today. We tend to argue that the sins of some people close to us are unforgivable, because by forgiving, we would send a wrong message and the evilness of that person would continue. Well, our...

Friends of the Rosary: Today is the Memorial Day of St. Lawrence. He is venerated as one of the patrons of Rome, along with Sts. Peter and Paul. He was the last of the seven deacons of Rome to die. He was martyred on August 10, 258 during the persecution of the emperor Valerian along with many other members of the Roman clergy. Ave Maria! Jesus, I Trust In You! St. Lawrence, Pray for Us! + Mikel A...

Friends of the Rosary: We pray today's Rosary from Roncesvalles, Navarre, the main entry point of the Way of St. James in Spain. In the month of August we celebrate two martyrs of Auschwitz, St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Teresa Benedicta. Today is the Memorial Day of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as St. Edith Stein. Born into a prominent Jewish family in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland...

Friends of the Rosary: Today is the Memorial Day of St. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers and the Dominican Order, which was approved in 1216. Alongside the Franciscans, the Dominican Order became the most powerful Order in medieval times, giving the Church illustrious preachers — St. Vincent Ferrer, and contemplatives, Sts. Thomas of Aquinas and Pius V. Born about 1175 in Caleruega, Cast...

Friends of the Rosary: We pray today’s Glorious Mysteries from Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey in the village of Santo Domingo de Silos in the Burgos Province in northern Spain. The monastery is named after the eleventh-century Spanish saint Dominic of Silos. The monastery dates back to the 7th century. Two decades ago, the monks of Silos became internationally famous for singing Gregorian chant as a...

Friends of the Rosary: Today's Rosary is prayed from Caleruega, Spain, the birthplace of St. Dominic of Guzman, who received the Rosary from the Blessed Virgin Mary in the thirteen century. Today, we observe the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This celebration foretells the glory of the Lord as God and His Ascension into heaven. It anticipates the glory of heaven, where we shall see God...

Friends of the Rosary: Today, August 5th, is Our Lady of Snows, a celebration related with the dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, one of the illustrious churches of Rome. This feast commemorates the miracle of the snowfall that occurred during the night of August 4 to 5 in the year 358 on the site where the Basilica of St. Mary Major now stands. According to the tradition, the Virgin Ma...

Friends of the Rosary: Today, we celebrate the feast day of St. John Vianney, patron of priests, and a role model  of dedication to priestly calling. Known as the Holy Curé de Ars, this nineteenth century French saint was consumed by the love of God as he served the people and had life of devotion to God. He gave powerful homilies on the mercy and love of God, and even staunch sinners were co...

Friends of the Rosary: A good tree bears good fruit. As Jesus said (Matthew 7:17-19), "Every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit." We recognize what comes from light or from darkness by their fruits. Today, our hands are almost empty. So it is critical for everyone of us to bear goo...

Friends of the Rosary: Pride is a huge sin, so is greed. In last Sunday’s reading ( Lk 12:13-21 ), Jesus Christ warned us about greed. "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions." And yet we make our life consist of possessions, due to greed or mostly due to fear of the future. We are very scared about the possibility of getting ol...

Friends of the Rosary: The living and the loving God made us for the perfect live in Heaven, as it was before the Adan‘s and Eve’s fall and the aftermath consequences of the original sin. God’s Will, be it easy or hard, pleasant or disagreeable, works for the good of our eternal soul. The Holy Trinity wants us gain the perfect joy in Heaven. For this reason, the Lord places us at times in spiritua...

Friends of the Rosary: July 31 marks the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the great Spanish, sixteenth century saint who founded the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, and the “Spiritual Exercises” — often used today for retreats and individual discernment. This year is the 500 anniversary of his profound conversion in the monastery of Montserrat, in Barcelona, Spain. The Jesuits rem...

Friends of the Rosary: On the last Thursday reading Jesus said to his disciples (MT 13:47-53): "At the end of the age, the angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth." We hear the same message in another parable in the same reading: "The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, w...

Friends of the Rosary: Today is the memorial day of saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, a model of faithful unity to all siblings. May all brothers and sisters rise above family tensions and disagreements and unite around eternal and transcendent realities! Ave Maria! Jesus, I Trust In You! Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, Pray for Us! + Mikel A.  | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Friends of the Rosary: What Jesus said two thousand years ago regarding how to be number one continues to shock us. (MT 20:20-28): "Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave." Joy and peace flourish on us when we serve, but not when we come to be served. Our society is broken because it’s all about self-centeredness and sel...

Friends of the Rosary: At the beginning of the Rosary, we pray for our daily conversion into Christ. Every day is a new beginning in our journey of faith. As sinners, we continually fall and offend Jesus Christ. And we need to be renewed in the Holy Spirit. After all, we are in the business of taking care of our souls. Moreover, enjoying the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth requires staying permane...

Friends of the Rosary: We celebrate today the Memorial Day of Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary and grandparents of Jesus. Our affection professed toward Joachim and Anne is an extension of the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the home of Joachim and Anne, Mary received her training to be the Mother of God and played a critical part in the work of the Redemption. Since the Middle...

Friends of the Rosary: Today is the feast day of the apostle St. James, brother of St. John. Along with John and Peter, she witnessed the Transfiguration. Later, he was in the garden of Gethsemani, during Jesus’ agony. St. James — Santiago, in Spanish — was active in the work of evangelization. He arrived into the old Hispania, where he received the visit of the Mother of Jesus in Zaragoza. In the...

Friends of the Rosary: In our materialistic society, it’s almost impossible to understand the eternal truth, revealed by Jesus Himself, that the Father of the Creation gives us everything we need. In today’s reading (Lk 11:1-13), the Son of God says: “I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one...

Friends of the Rosary: With the first Hail Mary of the Rosary, we pray for the increase of faith. Is this necessary? It is because our faith is limited and inconsistent. We might exhibit the faith of the converted from time to time. However, in most circumstances, we behave as people of little faith. Jesus sees this even in his apostles who were witnessing miracles every day. He said to them in Ma...