Rosary Novenna
- Fri, Sep 4, 2020 12:48 PM
Praised be Jesus Christ!
Dear Worthy Brother Knights, I pray that you are all well!
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One can’t help but be aware of the fact that there are a lot of troubling things happening in our country of late. In addition to the continual civil unrest, we are swiftly approaching the 2020 presidential election. We can easily become discouraged by all that is happening or be tempted to anger. The response of a Knight of Columbus should be to turn to prayer, especially to the Holy Rosary. We were each given a Rosary on the day that we were inducted into the Knights of Columbus. We are encouraged to have “Rosary checks” in our councils. But the Rosary isn’t just something we carry it is something we are to use.
The Rosary is a most powerful spiritual weapon. Praying the Rosary helps us to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ as we meditate upon the Mysteries of His Life, Death, and Resurrection. The Rosary is also a means of imploring the assistance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Mother and Our Queen. Offering our Rosary for a particular intention is also a great way of entrusting an intention into Mary’s hands. She is a Mother ready at every moment to help us whenever we turn to her. The beautiful prayer the “Memorare” states: “Never was it known that anyone who fled to [her] protection or sought [her] intercession was ever left unaided.”
There is also a tradition in the Church of offering a novena (nine consecutive days of prayer) for a particular intention. This tradition goes back to the Apostles in the Upper Room praying for nine days as they awaited the Gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. There are many novenas available in prayer books and online.
There is further a devotion that combines the Rosary and the idea of a novena: the 54 Day Rosary Novena. The first 27 days of the 54 day novena is actually three novenas (three sets of nine). These first three novenas are offered in petition for a particular intention. The second half of the 54 day novena (the second three sets of nine) are offered in thanksgiving (whether or not the request has been granted). The prayers in thanksgiving are reminiscent of Father Solanus Casey’s teaching to “Thank God ahead of time.” Whether the petition is answered the desired way or not, we know that no prayer is ever offered in vain.
I would like to invite everyone to join me in offering a 54 Day Rosary Novena for our country and for the outcome of the election. If we begin the Novena on Friday, September 11th, it will end on Election Day. In order to join in this effort, simply offer 5 decades of the Rosary every day from September 11th to November 3rd (included) for our country and for our elected leaders.
Mary is the Patroness of America. Let us entrust our nation and the outcome of the upcoming election into the hands of our Blessed Mother through this 54 Day Rosary Novena.
Know of my prayers for you and for your families. Please offer a prayer for me.
Vivat Jesus!
Father Charles White Diocesan Chaplain, Archdiocese of Detroit