Facebook
Youtube
October 5, 2014
Praying for peace on the 800th anniversary of the rosary
REGIONAL
Story and photos by Carolee McGrath
TURNERS FALLS – Hundreds of the faithful, armed with their rosaries, packed inside Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish, here, on Sunday Oct. 5 for a special Rosary and Benediction Service of Thanksgiving.
The prayer vigil marked the 800th anniversary of the holy rosary. Father Charles DiMascola is the pastor at the Turners Falls parish.
“I read about this a while ago. I thought it was a great idea. Anything that will draw people’s attention to the church and to the rosary, I say why not? It’s a great event,” said Father DiMascola.
The rosary as it is now known dates back to 1214, when the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Dominic in France. She gave him the rosary as a way to convert the Albigensians. The church dedicates the month of October each year to the rosary and Mary.
“I remember that John Paul II, now St. John Paul, always took advantage of anniversaries, birthdays, and feast days. He would make a big deal out of it as a teaching tool. I’ve tried to do that too,” said Father DiMascola.
“Today we have the opportunity to teach about the rosary. The rosary is a tool for meditation on the life of Jesus. As you pray the rosary, you develop and intimate relationship with Jesus. Mary is actually leading us to Jesus,” he said.
Father Gary M. Dailey, the director of vocations for the Diocese of Springfield, preached during the service.
“The rosary has been a powerful prayer for hundreds of years. Pope Francis right now is really, calling on Catholics throughout the world to pray the rosary fervently, for not only the conversion of souls, but for the end to terrorism and for all that’s happening throughout the world and the awful situation now with Christians being murdered and beheaded,” Father Dailey told iobserve. He added the rosary is not only a beautiful Christ-centered meditation, but also a powerful weapon against evil.
“The situation today for many families is they say, ‘Gee what will my children have or my grandchildren have?’ We have the ability to turn the tide on this. We really do. The power of prayer is there. That’s what Pope Francis is trying to tell us. We can’t just be complacent in our chairs and watch television. We have to grab the rosary in our hands and we have to pray and ask Our Lady for assistance,” he continued.
“It will be granted through intercession. We need to gather, we need to muster up the troops, the Catholic troops throughout the world to pray earnestly for peace.”
The turmoil and terror attacks in the Middle East were very much on the minds of people who gathered to pray with their young children in tow. Eugenia Doucette is the mother of eight children.
“Our Lady came to three children in Portugal, back in 1917 during World War I. She said we need to pray the Rosary for world peace. Everything that’s going on today in the world, it’s more evident than ever that we need world peace,” said Doucette.
“Everything going on in Iraq and in the Middle East and in our own country, you see ISIS and different terrorist groups attacking our own citizens …We are just being inundated with different evils, pornography, abortion, turmoil in the family, and divorce. So it’s really important to pray the rosary. The rosary is that weapon and the key to heaven.”
The Rosary Society at Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish helped to organize the prayer service. Joanne Dowdy, a longtime prolife volunteer, is also a member of the Rosary Society. She said sometimes people misunderstand the rosary, which is a beautiful gift to the Catholic Church.
“We’re not worshiping her (Mary). We are putting ourselves under her care and protection. She helps us. She prays for us. She prays with us. She is our mother and she takes us to Jesus,” Dowdy said.
For more on this story, tune into an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel,” the Diocese of Springfield’s television newsmagazine that airs Saturday evenings at 7 on WWLP-22NEWS.