1st Sunday in October

Summary of the Morrow's Meditation.

We will meditate to-morrow upon the chaplet, which is a third part of the Rosary, and we will consider: 1st, the excellence of this prayer; 2d, the manner in which to say it well. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to say the chaplet every day and to have one constantly about us; 2d, to say it with great devotion and piety, employing the different means which the saints teach us in order to say it well. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the verse of the angelic salutation: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us."

Meditation for the Morning.

Let us adore the love of the Holy Ghost towards the Blessed Virgin; He has it so much at heart to make her honored that He has inspired the faithful of all times and of all places with the devotion of the chaplet. Let us thank Him for a procedure so glorious to Mary, and one which gives us, at the same time, so easy a means whereby to render her our homage.

FIRST POINT.

The Excellence of the Chaplet.

This excellence consists in: 1st, the prayers of which it is composed, the "Pater" and the "Ave," which are the most authentic prayers of the Church, the most holy in themselves, the most agreeable to Jesus and to Mary; 2d, the authority of the Church, which has encouraged this practice by many indulgences, and the authority of God, who has confirmed it by many miracles; 3d, it consists in the examples afforded us by the saints, of whom several recited it every day, and thereby obtained extraordinary graces; 4th, it consists in the relations which unite us to the Blessed Virgin; for what can be more right or sweeter to the heart of a son than to salute his mother by saying to her, "Hail, Mary!" than to praise and exalt her merits and her greatness, as we do when we say: "Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus"? What can be more useful in regard to our salvation than to call to our aid her who, as mother of God, is omnipotent through her prayers, and who, as being the mother of men, is more than maternal in her loving-kindness, always ready to use her omnipotence in protecting us during life, and above all at that decisive moment of death on which eternity depends, as we ask of her when we say, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, now and at the hour of our death"? Doubtless such a beautiful prayer, when it is recited by routine without any thought of the elevated sense of which it is the expression, becomes insipid and uninteresting, but when it is said intelligently and from the heart, each time it is recited it becomes more interesting, more beautiful, and more touching. Is it thus that we have appreciated the prayer of the chaplet? Have we not felt it to be wearisome, because we said it with a mind given up to distractions and with a careless heart? Have we not spoken of it disrespectfully, looking upon it as a devotion good for the simple and the ignorant? Have we had it at heart to make the advantages of it appreciated and to excite others to say it? Have we carried it about us as a token of our fidelity towards the Blessed Virgin, thereby following the example of St. Francis de Sales and many pious persons? Above all, have we been faithful to the practice of saying it every day, whatever may have been our occupations?

SECOND POINT.

The Manner of Saying the Chaplet Properly.

There are different manners in which to say this prayer well. The first is to attach ourselves to the sense of the words, such as we have explained them; to enjoy them, to penetrate into them; the mind tires and is wearied, the heart never. A second manner is to propose to ourselves, before commencing each decade, a special intention, which, by occupying the mind and the heart whilst reciting it, obviates the weariness of repetition by means of the particular interest attached to each intention. For example: One decade may be said for some fault which requires to be corrected; another for such or such a virtue to be acquired; a third for such or such a grace which we desire; a fourth for the conversion of sinners, or for some sinner in particular; and a fifth for the souls in purgatory. A third manner is to occupy ourselves with the mysteries of the Rosary; one day with the joyful mysteries—the Annunciation, the Visitation, Christmas, the Purification, and the finding of Jesus in the Temple; the second day a meditation may be made on the sorrowful mysteries—Jesus in the Garden of Olives, scourged, crowned with thorns, bearing His cross, crucified; the third day it will be the glorious mysteries—the Resurrection, the Ascension, Pentecost, the Assumption, and the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin in heaven. Is there not abundant and varied matter for our meditations in all these great mysteries, and shall we still dare to speak of monotony? A fourth manner of reciting the chaplet is to consider the Blessed Virgin in the first decade as daughter of the Father; in the second, as mother of the Son; in the third, as spouse of the Holy Ghost; in the fourth, as Queen of the Church triumphant; in the fifth, as Queen of the Church suffering; in the sixth, as Queen of the Church militant. These are new points of view eminently suited to sustain piety during the recitation of each decade. Have we recourse to these different means for saying the chaplet well?

Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.