Bishop explains urgency of teaching young people to pray the Rosary

Madrid, Spain, Oct 2, 2006 / 22:00 pm

As October, the month of the Rosary, begins, Bishop Ramon del Hoyo Lopez of Jaen has called for a greater effort to teach children and young people how to pray the traditional Marian devotion.

In a pastoral letter, Bishop Lopez underscored that the “light of Mary’s Annunciation” should always “illuminate the darkness of our pilgrimage of faith.”  “In the recitation of the Rosary,” the bishop continued, “we journey with” the Virgin on that pilgrimage.

“The Rosary is a prayer to Mary, but also with Mary.  She makes herself present in our life with this simple and profound prayer of the Rosary.  A prayer so easy and at the same time so rich that it is worthy of being conserved and recovered wherever necessary, by the Christian community, the family, and all Christians,” he added.

Every Christian community should pray this prayer, Bishop Del Hoyo went on. “Teach it to the children and to young people.  I am sure that if we help them to understand and appreciate it they will surprise us adults once again by praying with their characteristic enthusiasm this prayer that is so full of meaning,” he explained.

The Spanish bishop also noted that the Rosary is the prayer of preference of the infirm and the elderly, and sometimes their only prayer. “I hope you receive my words of encouragement to maintain this prayer of ours before the Lord and to unite our voices.  It is probably the most efficacious prayer, together with the Mass, in our Church.  It is the most authentic daily encounter with our Mother of Heaven,” he said in conclusion.