{"id":4912,"date":"2014-11-04T03:15:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-04T03:15:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-05-12T21:36:51","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T21:36:51","slug":"the-month-of-the-holy-rosary-at-tynong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/opsisters.org.nz\/preview\/2014\/11\/04\/the-month-of-the-holy-rosary-at-tynong\/","title":{"rendered":"The Month of the Holy Rosary at Tynong"},"content":{"rendered":"
The month of the Holy
\nRosary has always been a time of special spiritual joy for Dominican religious
\ncommunities and their associates, and is crowned by the beautiful feast day of
\nOur Lady of the Rosary on October 7. It is the patronal feast of Rosary Convent
\nand a first-class liturgical celebration for the entire Dominican order, and it
\nwas certainly greeted with much anticipation by our sisters.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
The Office for this day recounts in detail
\neach of the various mysteries of the holy Rosary as well as some of the
\nglorious prerogatives that crown our Blessed Mother; namely her Divine
\nMaternity and position as<\/span>
\nMediatrix<\/span> of all graces.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cApproach,
\nye nations; roses rare to gather from these mysteries fair; and thus plait
\ncrowns in heaven above for her, the Mother of fair love. Glory be given to the
\nTrinity, Who through each sacred Mystery, on those who pray may graces rain,
\nthat they to glory may attain<\/span><\/i>.\u201d (From the Vespers hymn
\nof October 7 from the Dominican breviary).\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n

Pope St. Pius V (a
\nDominican) instituted this feast, under the title of “Our Lady of
\nVictory,” in thanksgiving for Our Lady’s response to the Christian nations
\nwho had been tirelessly reciting the Rosary for the intention of a victory over
\nthe Turks at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\n<\/a>In 1573, Pope Gregory XIII changed the title
\nto the “Feast of the Holy Rosary\u201d and appointed the first Sunday of
\nOctober for its celebration. Later on, Pope Leo XIII, moved by the sorrowful
\ntrials under which the Church groaned during his pontificate, raised this feast
\nto one of the second Class with a new Mass and Office.\u00a0<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\nCommonly known as the
\nPope of the Rosary, he wrote thirteen eloquent encyclicals on this devotion and
\nencouraged its devout recitation as a means to combat the diverse moral and
\npolitical evils that plagued societies and families in his day.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Additionally, the familiar
\ntradition of the Holy Rosary being entrusted to St Dominic as a fruitful weapon
\nin his attempts to extinguish heresy and immorality highlights the character of
\nthis devotion as an essential weapon in spiritual warfare. This devotion and feast
\nday were clearly instituted and celebrated for centuries in honour of Our
\nLady’s protection over the Church both from heresy within and from insidious attacks
\nwithout.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>
\nMay we then turn to our
\nImmaculate Queen in these times marked by countless assaults against the Catholic
\nChurch and the true faith, entrusting ourselves to the Blessed Virgin’s
\nintercession.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
A whole array of saints also
\nsurrounded our Blessed Mother during this grace-filled\u00a0<\/span>month. On October 3<\/span>rd<\/sup>,
\nwe delighted in the feast day of St Th\u00e9r\u00e8se of Liseux, patroness of the
\nmissions and of our very own Sister Marie Th\u00e9r\u00e8se.\u00a0 We hope fervently that this Carmelite nun, one of the
\ngreatest saints of modern times, would intercede for our humble missionary efforts
\ndown under in Australia, which until recently has been classified as a
\nmissionary country.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
The celebrations
\ncontinued on October 4th<\/sup>, the feast day of the Seraphic Patriarch St
\nFrancis of Assisi. He is especially honoured by the Dominican order as a
\nbeloved friend of St Dominic and a fellow labourer in Christ\u2019s vineyard, and we
\ngreatly rejoiced with Sister Mary Francis on the occasion of her first name
\nday.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
October 23rd witnessed
\nanother new development in the construction process of our new convent. Our
\nsuperiors journeyed down to the town of Sale for the relatively enjoyable task
\nof selecting new colour schemes for the buildings. Black, cream and various
\nshades of white were the dominant hues chosen alongside timber for the
\nflooring, reflecting the colours of our order as well as fulfilling the
\nrequirements of tasteful simplicity.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0An in-house rosary crusade also began at this
\ntime as we urgently pleaded for the intercession of the Queen of the Rosary.
\nThis took the form of a novena which ended on the feast of Christ the King.
\nRealising all too well the great need for more donations, for dry weather to
\nfinish the foundations and for the approval of our building permit, we recited
\nour beads and had recourse to the unfailing aid of prayer.\u00a0 We ask too for our dear readers and
\nbenefactors to continue their prayers and<\/span> generosity<\/span> in
\nthis campaign to finish the Mother-house in time, especially as we welcome at
\nleast 4 new postulants for 2015. In the meantime, new cells and a new refectory
\nwill have to be carved out from the existing space we now have.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/div>\n

The homage paid to the
\nQueen of Heaven this month culminated in the feast of Christ the King. For the
\nfirst time ever at Rosary Convent, we attempted to pay a magnificent homage to
\nOur Lord with\u2026. heaps of paint covered sawdust!<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a>This dusty material duly
\nformed the basis of a simple but elegant Agnus
\nDei<\/i> design on the grounds of the convent in preparation for the procession
\nwhich was to stop outside our chapel.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
On the Friday and Saturday before the
\nfeast day, creative hands and eyes painstakingly dyed and sprinkled the coloured
\nsawdust into an intricate design that took its inspiration from the Book of the
\nApocalypse. It honoured Christ as the Lamb who was slain for our salvation, as
\nwell as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all creation.\u00a0<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fides the dog took a great liking to the lamb motif and to the soft
\nsawdust<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

Other sisters with green
\nthumbs took to turning the numerous and messy piles of roses, chrysanthemums,
\norchids (and other species too unfamiliar to be named by us!) into arrangements
\nthat surrounded the throne of Our Eucharistic Lord. The rose bushes at the
\nChurch and at the College in particular duly surrendered their spring blossoms
\nto adorn the altar of repose.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
At the Sung Mass on the
\nfestal day, Fr. Stephens gave a memorable sermon on the Kingship of Our Lord
\nand neatly arranged his main points under the acronym of KING, which served as a
\nmost useful mnemonic. He exhorted the faithful to devote themselves more and
\nmore to His service by getting to know and imitate their Divine Master with
\npromptitude and while relying on the abundant grace offered by God. The Mass
\nwas followed by a Eucharistic procession to and back from the convent.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cIf to Christ our Lord is
\ngiven all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious
\nblood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all
\nmen, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. <\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He must reign in our
\nminds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed
\ntruths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should
\nobey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should
\nspurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone.
\nHe must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments
\nfor the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the
\nApostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God. If all these truths are
\npresented to the faithful for their consideration, they will prove a powerful
\nincentive to perfection.\u201d (The Encyclical Quas
\nPrimas<\/i>, by Pope Pius XI).<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The month of the Holy Rosary has always been a time of special spiritual joy for Dominican religious communities and their associates, and is crowned by the beautiful feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7. It is the patronal feast of Rosary Convent and a first-class liturgical celebration for the entire … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":678,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-convent-life","infinite-scroll-item","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opsisters.org.nz\/preview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opsisters.org.nz\/preview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opsisters.org.nz\/preview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opsisters.org.nz\/preview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opsisters.org.nz\/preview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4912"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/opsisters.org.nz\/preview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5288,"href":"https:\/\/opsisters.org.nz\/preview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4912\/revisions\/5288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opsisters.org.nz\/preview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opsisters.org.nz\/preview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opsisters.org.nz\/preview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opsisters.org.nz\/preview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}