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Provincial: Letter for the Month of May 2020

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Dear Brothers,

On April 25 the Holy Father sent a letter to the whole Church encouraging the faithful to dedicate the month of May to honour the Blessed Virgin Mary. This month by tradition is dedicated to honouring Mary and we are asked to pray the Rosary in private and in the family. The Holy Father says:

“The month of May is approaching, a time when the People of God express with particular intensity their love for and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It is traditional in this month to pray the Rosary at home within the family.  The restrictions of the pandemic have made us come to appreciate all the more this “family” aspect, also from a spiritual point of view”.

As members of the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary and of the Order of Preachers, we should join the Holy Father in this important exercise of piety and devotion, since we believe that Mary’s intercession has always been so powerful and present in the history of the Church and of the Order.

I, therefore, encourage the brothers to recite the Rosary in a special, humble, filial and devout manner for the intentions of the Holy Father and the liberation from the pandemic of the Covid 19. It should be a time to remember all those who have died as a consequence of this worldwide infection and to remember also the broken families who have seen their love ones depart without being able to be at their side and express their love and gratitude to them. As one of them said: “Mother you gave me life and I should have been with you when you departed, but I was not allowed. I am sorry.”

The Rosary has always been considered a biblical devotion in all its parts, a catechetical instruction, a medium of filial devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and a sign of hope. Likewise, the Rosary is a very useful opportunity to ponder upon the greatest mysteries of our redemption as we meditate through the most important and significant events of Jesus’ life and death. Moreover, as our minds and hearts go over the different prayers we receive the assurance of Divine protection and help as we repeat: your will be done on earth as it is in heaven… or, pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death. “Nothing is impossible to God.”

A brother, in his regular messages, tells us: "Those who are from the earth see things from the earth, while those who are from heaven see them from heaven. I consider myself to be from heaven because I am a man of faith. Definitely! I look at this plague from above, from the sky. What do I see? A great opportunity for everyone … to know our vulnerability, to relativize postures, to change, to attend to your interior, to hear the call of God, to discover Jesus Christ, to reconcile with God and even to become a Christian… I hear almost nothing about things from heaven. However, I offer my prayers for those who feel the need for something new in their lives. With these little articles that I write every day, I hope to be able to help some to enter the dynamics of the first Christians and to enjoy the great experiences they lived.”

Let us, then, avail of this month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary to meditate through the recitation of the Rosary as we make our own the needs of so many families together with ours, that the Blessed Virgin Mary may intercede, protect and help us in all our needs!

United in prayer, I remain fraternally yours in St. Dominic,

Fr. Bonifacio Garcia Solis OP

Prior Provincial