Concluding
Prayer
Hail, Holy
Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to
thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile, show to us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement,
O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary:
V.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let
us add for the intentions of the Holy Father ;
Our
Father
Hail
Mary
Glory
Be
In the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
a final thought...
Peace
40. The grave challenges confronting the world
at the start of this new Millennium lead us to think that only an intervention from on high, capable of guiding the hearts
of those living in situations of conflict and those governing the destinies of nations, can give reason to hope for a brighter
future.
The Rosary is by its nature a prayer for peace, since it consists in the contemplation of Christ, the Prince of
Peace, the one who is "our peace" (Eph 2:14). Anyone who assimilates the mystery of Christ – and this is clearly
the goal of the Rosary – learns the secret of peace and makes it his life's project. Moreover, by virtue of its meditative
character, with the tranquil succession of Hail Marys, the Rosary has a peaceful effect on those who pray it, disposing
them to receive and experience in their innermost depths, and to spread around them, that true peace which is the special
gift of the Risen Lord (cf. Jn 14:27; 20.21).
The Rosary is also a prayer for peace because
of the fruits of charity which it produces. When prayed well in a truly meditative way, the Rosary leads to an encounter with
Christ in his mysteries and so cannot fail to draw attention to the face of Christ in others, especially in the most afflicted.
How could one possibly contemplate the mystery of the Child of Bethlehem, in the joyful mysteries, without experiencing the
desire to welcome, defend and promote life, and to shoulder the burdens of suffering children all over the world? How could
one possibly follow in the footsteps of Christ the Revealer, in the mysteries of light, without resolving to bear witness
to his "Beatitudes" in daily life? And how could one contemplate Christ carrying the Cross and Christ Crucified, without feeling
the need to act as a "Simon of Cyrene" for our brothers and sisters weighed down by grief or crushed by despair? Finally,
how could one possibly gaze upon the glory of the Risen Christ or of Mary Queen of Heaven, without yearning to make this world
more beautiful, more just, more closely conformed to God's plan?
In a word, by focusing our eyes on Christ, the
Rosary also makes us peacemakers in the world. By its nature as an insistent choral petition in harmony with Christ's invitation
to "pray ceaselessly" (Lk 18:1), the Rosary allows us to hope that, even today, the difficult "battle" for peace can
be won. Far from offering an escape from the problems of the world, the Rosary obliges us to see them with responsible and
generous eyes, and obtains for us the strength to face them with the certainty of God's help and the firm intention of bearing
witness in every situation to "love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Col 3:14).
The family: parents...
41. As a prayer for peace, the Rosary is also,
and always has been, a prayer of and for the family. At one time this prayer was particularly dear to Christian families,
and it certainly brought them closer together. It is important not to lose this precious inheritance. We need to return to
the practice of family prayer and prayer for families, continuing to use the Rosary.
