Bishop urges faithful to pray the rosary daily in October

Since October is the month of the Holy Rosary, Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos has called for the daily recitation of the rosary in his diocese.

The prelate asked the faithful to offer their prayers for the healing of the land amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Let us recite daily the Holy Rosary, offering it for the healing of our land," Santos said in his pastoral directive dated September 30.

The Balanga prelate also asked the faithful to include a particular barangay in their parish or persons in their daily prayers.

"Let us offer each day for a particular barangay in our whole town or parish and for a particular persons such as our healthcare
workers, our men and women in uniform, our LGU's, our essential service providers, our sick and elderly, our family, faithful departed, and so forth, until we complete the 31 days of October," said Santos.

The prelate also urged the faithful to pray the rosary with utmost devotion.

"Let us be faithful in reciting the Holy Rosary. We should pray it with devotion - reflectively and meditatively, not mechanically, prayerfully and not routinely," Santos said.

In 2011, Monsignor Pedro Quitorio III, Media Director of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said although not every Filipino Catholic owns a rosary, still, it’s important for the faithful to know not only the story behind the rosary but also the importance of praying it.
“Although it’s a Marian prayer, it’s not only about Mary but it’s also about Christ…it’s really about the work of Christ in saving men,” he said.

“When you pray the Rosary you meditate on the mysteries, you meditate on the whole mystery of salvation,” added Quitorio.