I Have a Mother

A non-Catholic friend asked me one day why Catholics pray the Rosary.

After a long discussion, I replied, “You choose what to believe, but I will tell you what I believe and who I choose to love.” I pray the Rosary because Jesus gave me Mary as my Mother when he said to John, “Behold, your mother” (Jn 19:26-27). Who in this world doesn’t need a mother? If Jesus lived in her womb for nine months, it is because Mary was chosen, in a unique way, by God’s love and grace. These are the foundations of my faith.

Praying the Rosary is speaking heart to heart with her, asking her to guide me, as she guided her own Son. No one knew better than Mary how to follow Jesus in the most difficult moments. The Rosary is not just a prayer meant to honor her: it springs from the Gospel itself. In the Rosary, we remember, meditate, and pray the lives of Jesus and Mary.

Mary’s presence radiated the grace of God, and her cousin recognized her as blessed. The Rosary is, then, the prayer that confesses Mary’s blessedness. When I pray it, my heart pleads: “Mother, teach me to love your Son and all the children of God as you love them.” Because to love Mary is to enter more deeply into the heart of Jesus. When I contemplate the eyes of Christ, I see Mary reflected in them: a woman like me, but chosen to be the Mother of the Savior. The Rosary is dialogue, it is memory, it is an embrace. It is remembering that Mary was blessed, that she is the Mother of God, and that no mother denies the plea of ​​a daughter. Padre Pio said it: “The Rosary is the prayer of those who triumph over everything and everyone.” And also: “Our Lady has never denied me a grace when I have asked for it with the Rosary.” “In the darkness, taking the Rosary is like holding the hand of your Blessed Mother.” I have a Mother, I have a love, I have a guide, and I have a weapon against evil. That is my Rosary: ​​an embrace of a daughter and a Mother, a whisper of love that never fades.