August 14, 1992

In 1942, FATHER PATRICK PEYTON brought into being the FAMILY ROSARY CRUSADE. As soon as the Crusade was launched, it found itself helped, in a hundred and one ways, by interventions of our Lady. Throughout the world, the two great slogans of the FAMILY ROSARY CRUSADE became known to millions: THE FAMILY THAT PRAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER. A WORLD AT PRAYER IS A WORLD AT PEACE.

This year, on the occasion of the golden year of the FAMILY ROSARY CRUSADE, I ask you, the people of God in the Archdiocese of Manila, to renew your promise to give the family rosary a place in your homes. John Paul II, in addressing Father Peyton on this jubilee year, said: “I pray that all Christian families may discover the treasure of the Family Rosary in order that their family life may be strengthened and blessed.”

In the encyclical Redemptoris Mater, the Holy Father tells us that every mother-son relationship is unique and “one of a kind”; how the love of a mother for every one of her children is also unique and “one of a kind.” No matter how many sons and daughters a good mother has, each one is loved as the “one and only,” for his or her own sake. So it must be, of course, with the love which Our Lady, has for each one of us.

As we celebrate the golden year of the FAMILY ROSARY CRUSADE we should make an act of faith in that truth. And, in all our diversity, ask Mary to teach us to love one another, even as she loves each one of us. The family that prays together stays together. Jesus, through Mary, will grant us this grace.

Whenever we meditate on Mary as our mother, we begin at the foot of the Cross, and go to the Gospel of John, to those verses where Jesus gives His Mother to the disciple, and the disciple to Mary to be her own son. Christian tradition, and especially Catholic tradition, has always seen every follower of Jesus in the beloved disciple.

The Holy Father, in Redemptoris Mater, follows the lead of some Scripture scholars, who take the words, “And from that moment the disciple took her into his own,” to mean, not just “into his own house,” but rather “into his own life. ”

St. Augustine says that the disciple took Mary into that communion of life which the words of Jesus on the cross established between the mother and the son. “He took her into his own, he took her for his own:” into his own life, into every joy and sorrow, every plan and hope, every action... everything that was part of his own existence, from that day forward. Jesus offers us the gift of His mother. On the day that we actually take her into our home, our life, our heart, then she becomes experientially our mother.

Mary is the gift of Jesus to us to be our mother in the spirit. We actually have two mothers — one in the flesh, the other in the spirit. Much more is known about the former, much more has been written about the latter. There is no more rivalry between these two mothers than between our earthly fathers and our heavenly Father.

This year, we especially want to acknowledge with gratitude the priceless gift of Jesus to us — His mother. We open our hearts and souls in gratitude to Mary for her steady intercession for the Filipino family and for the Filipino nation.

I challenge you all to promise that you will try to win one more family to the practice of praying the rosary together.

We are called to take our Blessed Mother into the hospitality of our hearts, into the warmth of our homes, into everything that makes up our lives.

Let us place ourselves in faith in God’s loving presence and let us pray:

“O Mary, Mother of God, I entrust myself entirely to you. At the foot of the cross your Son gave you to me as my mother. And He gave me to you as your son. With all my heart’s love, I place my life and my ministry in your gentle hands, that you may lead me, Mary, to the heart of your Son.

Mother of God, I entrust the people of the Archdiocese, and the people of our beloved land to your motherly heart. Our people have suffered so much in the past years. So many disasters have visited us. We have known so much hardship and privation. Turn your eyes of mercy on our people. I know you love our people, for they are yours. By a hundred titles they are yours. We have never turned to you, in trust, but you have heard us, and walked with us in our trials. You always hear our prayers. Mary, take our people into your love. Guard them in your heart; keep them close to you. Be near especially to the poor and the powerless among us. And bring to all of us, from our president down to the littlest ones, the gift of your peace.

Mary, our Mother, we pray for peace. Let there be peace, in each heart where love dwells, in each family, where life grows, in each community where forgiveness heals, in each nation where justice triumphs, in our world, where God reigns.

AMEN!

(Sgd.) + Jaime L. Cardinal Sin, D.D.

Archbishop of Manila