The Season of the Rosary Is Here — Here’s How You Can Be a Part of It| National Catholic Register

Rosary-related events are scheduled for late September and early October, the Month of the Holy Rosary.

Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage

The first event takes place Sunday, Sept. 28, with the Second Annual Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage, a national pilgrimage celebrating the Rosary. The event will take place at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and concludes the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage nine-month novena that began Jan. 27. More than 3,500 people attended last year’s Rosary Pilgrimage.

The Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph and local charters of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary are hosting this full-day event focusing on the devotional power of the Rosary. 

According to the Dominican organizers, “The Rosary can counter anxiety and fear and is a way towards tranquility and transformation.” 

The day begins with an opening procession, a conference titled “Going Godward with the Blessed Virgin Mary,” then exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, confession, Benediction, conferences, Rosary, Mass, enrollment in Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, and talks on the Rosary by Dominican Father James Sullivan, principal preacher and prior of St. Dominic’s Priory. The event will conclude in the evening with a concert with the ever-popular Hillbilly Thomists.

People who cannot attend in person can still take part because the event will be livestreamed on RosaryPilgrimage.org/livestream, YouTube and Facebook.

Rosary Series

The feast of the Holy Rosary, Oct. 7, will see the debut of Mysteries of the Rosary: The Glorious Mysteries, the third in the Rosary series from Paradisus Dei. The Glorious Mysteries is as beautiful, inspiring and uplifting as the videos of the series’ Joyful and Sorrowful Mysteries installments. While those previous episodes were filmed in the Holy Land, the Glorious Mysteries have been filmed in Rome, Lourdes, Fatima, Paris and the United States.

Once again, Mark Hartfiel, the vice president of Paradisus Dei, a lay Catholic ministry devoted to marriage and family life, continues as writer and host. While he appears at the location in Europe, several people in Texas, Kansas and elsewhere offer their insights and personal stories. Among others, viewers hear from popular speakers Andrew and Sarah Swafford and Stephen Minnis, president of Benedictine College.

Altogether, the Glorious Mysteries brings a beautiful, exciting and heartfelt weaving together of the Scriptures with insights and personal stories for each decade. Hartfiel brings everything to light with an infectious, joyful enthusiasm through key points such as the forgiveness of sins (in the Ascension), the importance of the body with insights from John Paul II’s theology of the body (Assumption), and why and how our Blessed Mother is Queen (the Coronation).

The Fifth Glorious Mystery, the Coronation, brilliantly explains every aspect of Mary’s queenship from the Old and New Testaments, and is highlighted in her appearances at Fatima, with her crown there, and how all relates to marriage and the family.

“Each location spoke deeply to my heart,” Hartfiel told the Register. “In Rome, I experienced the profound victory of Christ’s resurrection. Imagine a fisherman, Peter, and a tentmaker, Paul, marching right into the most powerful empire in the world with the holy audacity and confidence that the light of Christ is so powerful, it will shine into the darkness and topple an empire. Rome was a torturing ground for Christians; but by the early 300s, Christianity was the dominant religion. Pagan temples were transformed into Roman Catholic churches.”

Hartfield also shares how at Lourdes he experienced Our Lady’s love for souls. “The heart of the Heavenly Mother beats for her children,” he said. “She longs to draw us into the waters of the Holy Spirit to heal us both physically, but above all spiritually.” At Fatima, he said, he “felt the call of Our Lady — ultimately the invitation to live a mature spiritual life. … Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world but to save it, and he invites us to go running into that battle for souls most in need of God’s mercy.”

Hartfiel believes people will be inspired by the Glorious Mysteries, noting, “The Church calls us beyond the sorrow of the Crucifixion that we may gaze upon the glory of Our Lord’s resurrection.” Thus he feels this series will inspire souls “to gaze upward, to transcend their everyday doubts, fears and distractions and consider the victory Christ has won for us.” 

Discover the series at TheRosarySeries.com and https://youtu.be/7s7t7zrGDaQ?si=3lpfnedSNcMtHLWG.

Week of Prayer and Fasting

On Oct. 12, the 32nd Annual International Week of Prayer and Fasting has its Opening Day of Prayer, this year in St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax, Virginia. Bishop Emeritus Robert Baker of Birmingham, Alabama, will be the main celebrant and homilist for the Mass. Jim Wahlberg, one of the speakers, will discuss how he overcame his drug addiction through a miraculous encounter with Mother Teresa. His son was helped through the Cenacolo program, which Bishop Baker co-founded in the United States with Mother Elvira Petrozzi.

Mother Teresa’s connection to the International Week of Prayer and Fasting (IWOPF) goes back to 1997, according to co-founders and hosts Ted and Maureen Flynn. During that summer, according to Maureen Flynn, the saint told her, “My daughter, you must do this [week of prayer and fasting]; God wants this. Prayer is the answer to the world’s problems.” The Flynns believe the saint is now helping them from her place in heaven.

Because the event will not only be live but also virtual, the Flynns are calling Christians from around the world to join this 32nd IWOPF that runs from Oct. 12 to 20 with the theme “Conquering the Darkness: Triumph of Mercy, Hope and Healing.”

“It may feel darker than ever, but with prayer and fasting, Our Lady says we can conquer the darkness,” stated the Flynns in a release. “Every year, we bring this worldwide movement of prayer and fasting to Catholics and other Christian peoples to inspire prayer and fasting for world peace, conversion of hearts and the building up of a culture of life.”

“Christ has won the victory over sin, suffering, death, and every form of evil,” said Bishop Baker in a press release. “Through our prayer and fasting He brings healing to our lives and hope to our world.”

Among other speakers that day will be Dan and Stephanie Burke, founders of Avila Institute and hosts of Divine Intimacy Radio. The relics of Blessed Carlo Acutis and Padre Pio will also be at the church for veneration.

A virtual conference follows Oct. 14-16. Among the speakers joining the Flynns are Father Robert Altier, who is familiar to EWTN audiences; Sister Deirdre Byrne; Susan Brinkmann, who works with Women of Grace; Father Jason Lewis of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception; and Joan Maroney, who, with her husband Dave, is co-founder and director of the Mother of Mercy Messengers.

“We can change the course of history and world events, and appeal to the merciful heart of God as we pray and fast,” said the Flynns. “Our Lady has instructed us and assured us of this. Prayer and fasting might seem like antiquated practices in the modern world, but they are the very practices that every Christian soldier needs in the spiritual war against evil. We are in critical times at every level — societally, politically and in the family. Our entire civilization is at a crossroads. We are here to remind you, equip you and encourage you to press in with renewed fervor to move the heart of God with our prayer and fasting. Together, we will see miracles.”

Visit IWOPF.org, email [email protected] or call 888-478-PRAY for more information.

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