Father Achille Hounnouvi on the Rosary : “It’s a wonderful prayer”

The month of the Rosary in the Roman Catholic Church, is a month of veneration of the Virgin Mary, mother of our savior Jesus Christ. In this month Catholic Christians focus their attention on the Virgin Mary, of his participation in the work of salvation. In this text, the Rector of the Propaedeutic seminary of Dassa, Father Achille Hounnouvi evokes the virtues of the rosary. Read instead

“The Rosary is of vital interest to Catholic Christians. The Rosary is not a small devotion that is only said in private. It is a devotion that is very popular in the Church. Pope John – Paul II says: “Pray, pray a lot. Say the rosary every day. It's a wonderful prayer, wonderful in its simplicity and depth… the Rosary is my favorite prayer”. The veneration of the Virgin Mary is not an invention of the Church but arises directly from the will of God, of Jesus who gave us Mary his mother as our mother (Jn 19, 26- 27). If we recognize Mary as our mother, we must honor him, according to the 4th commandment of God (Ex, 20,12), as Jesus honored her, and was submitted to him (cf. Lc 2,51) and glorified her. The prayer of the Rosary is the meditation of (4) mysteries to know: the joyful mysteries, from the annunciation to the Nativity of Christ; the luminous mysteries, covering the public ministry of Christ; the painful mysteries which relate to the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and the glorious mysteries, from the Resurrection of Christ to the Coronation of the Virgin Mary in Heaven. So, it is on the whole Gospel that the Rosary opens. In the evening of his life, Saint Pio of Pietrelcina said:   the rosary makes us meditate on the Bible in communion with Mary who meditated better than anyone on the mysteries of the life of her Son. The soul of the Rosary is above all the effort of meditation and contemplation of each of the mysteries evoked. The Christian enters into this prayer of the Rosary with the Rosary.

 Indeed, recite the Rosary, it is praying to God through Mary, meditate and contemplate with Mary the joyful mysteries, luminous, painful and glorious life of Jesus- Christ. It is a prayer that allows us to be in contact with the mystery of God and walk with Mary to benefit from her intercession., his support, her protection and maternal presence. Mary the mother of Jesus was there alongside Jesus, she was there at the beginning of the first Christian community, present to the Apostles. The month of the Rosary is a blessed month for Christians because they strive for their spiritual elevation alongside those who were raised by God by granting her the grace to carry the savior of the world, the only Son of God. It is a month when Christians put themselves to the school of Mary by praying the Rosary to discover by what love they are loved., even in the most confusing hours of their lives. This prayer revolves around the Creed, of the Our Father, of the Hail Mary, Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and biblical texts to meditate on. It is a time of grace and blessing”.

Production: Damien TOLOMISSI