Une Minute avec Marie
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As his order’s “General Promoter of the Rosary,” Dominican Father Lawrence Lew dedicates himself to preaching and promoting the Rosary worldwide. In keeping with Dominican tradition, the Dominican priest combines his passion for theology and the sacred arts to inspire devotion through retreats, books and international missions.(...)
Reflecting on the origins of the Dominican Order, Father Lawrence explained: “There is a beautiful story that Our Lady begged from her Son the gift of an order that would teach, preach and correct error, and it was seen to be an act of divine mercy that such an order should exist. And for that reason, because Our Lord granted the prayers of Mary for this order to exist, the order came to be called the Order of Mary.”
“There are many other beautiful Marian stories connected to the order,” the Dominican Father added. “For example, the white scapular worn by Dominicans was given to the order by Our Lady. She also gave us the Rosary, which is the most precious gift that she entrusted to the order.” (...) While the extent of St. Dominic’s contribution to the development of the Rosary remains disputed, it can be said with certainty that he prayed and preached the Rosary to convert unbelievers. In fact, at least a dozen popes have mentioned St. Dominic’s connection with the Rosary, and he is traditionally credited with spreading and popularizing the practice.
Reflecting upon Mary’s undeniable role in the history of salvation and emphasizing how it was through Mary’s “Yes” that God became man, and that creation was renewed, the Dominican priest explained how fitting it is to pray the Rosary to honor Our Lady and her Son through her prayer.
“In a nutshell,” Father Lawrence explained, “God has become man so that man can become God, as St. Athanasius said. And I think that sums up what the Rosary is about: It is a presentation of the mysteries of our salvation, as the great Dominican teacher Garrigou-Lagrange noted. It is not so much the chronology of Christ’s life that we are looking at, but the theological story of what he has done for us: Christ became man, died for our sins, and rose from the dead, that we might rise and be divinized with him.”
“When I preach the Rosary,” Father Lawrence added, “I basically preach about how we can participate in the life of Christ, how his life divinizes us and sanctifies us today.”
Recalling the worrying levels of social isolation, loneliness and emotional distress caused by the recent pandemic, Father Lawrence noted that he observed “a real proliferation of Rosary prayer groups who prayed through Zoom and other means.”
“The Rosary is the prayer that many of us will take with us throughout our Catholic life,” Father Lawrence observed. “It is so beautiful that we turn to the Rosary when we are sad, when we are anxious, when something happens in our lives that causes us distress, but also in happy times and to celebrate.”
Reflecting on the fittingness of praying the Rosary during May, Father Lawrence explained that the English word “rosary” comes from the Latin rosarium, meaning a garden or garland of roses. Hence, in the most literal sense, the Rosary is “a beautiful garland of flowers that we offer to our Blessed Mother, as a spiritual bouquet of prayers.”
Since May is the month of spring, “when everything is in bloom” and coming alive after winter, it is thus natural that “we are moved to remember Our Lady, the Mother of all the living,” and pray to her for her intercession.
“We have a beautiful tradition in the Dominican Order,” Father Lawrence shared, “following the Latin word ros, which also means ‘dew.’” According to tradition, “St. Dominic was told that heresy would not be eradicated until prayers rose like dew from the ground. And so there is this beautiful idea that, as we pray, we are praying spiritual dewdrops that bring refreshment and new life to a parched world.”
The world becomes parched by sin, by violence, division and warfare. The Rosary, the Dominican Father continued, “is therefore all the more needed so that we can water the earth with the dewfall of God’s grace, the dewfall of the Holy Spirit.”
“That is what the Rosary is: It is placing ourselves, like Mary, at the disposal of God’s grace to be obedient to God, to say ‘Yes’ to God. It is striving to bring about a new creation, to bring about peace in the world.”