October 7, 2026
Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary
Gospel: Luke 11:1–4

Today is Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. According to the recently published Roman Missal: this feast was originally called “Our Lady of Victories,” commemorating the Battle of Lepanto (October 7, 1571), when a Christian fleet defeated the Turks. Pope Saint Pius V attributed this victory to the recitation of the Holy Rosary. This great devotion of the Rosary is sometimes traced back to Saint Dominic and his confreres in the thirteenth century, who preached against the Albigensian heresy; although it more likely took its familiar form in the fifteenth century. Since then, it has spread all over the world and has produced marvelous fruits, leading countless Christians to Jesus through the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Today, the passage from the Holy Gospel according to Luke presents us with the scene of Jesus teaching His disciples how to pray to the Heavenly Father. This scene perfectly aligns with the feast we celebrate today. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.

First, Luke tells us:

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” (Cf. Lk 11:1)

In the writing of the Evangelist Luke, we see Jesus at prayer many times. For example, before choosing the Twelve Apostles, He went up the mountain to pray and spent the whole night in prayer to God. (Cf. Lk 6:12) Another instance: after the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, He also prayed alone. (Cf. Lk 9:18) In today’s Gospel passage, we see Jesus at prayer once again. Clearly, Luke intends to tell us through this that prayer is essential in the life of faith.

We know that in Jesus’ time, the disciples who came to Him already had a new way of life. Although there were various prayers derived from the Old Testament — the most famous being the Psalms — perhaps John had also taught his disciples to pray with the Psalms, but Jesus had never taught His own disciples how to pray. Therefore, the disciples came to Jesus, hoping that He, like John, would teach them to pray.

Today, the prayer Jesus taught His disciples differs from the teachings of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the rabbis of His time. He invites His disciples to offer prayer directly to the Heavenly Father, to express our gratitude to Him, thanking Him for creating us from nothing, for giving us life, and for nourishing us with all the creatures of heaven and earth, enabling us to live in this beautiful world. And we ask Him to grant us abundant grace, so that we may imitate Christ, emptying ourselves in order to better receive the grace bestowed upon us by God, and to assist God in the work of redemption on earth, so that the pilgrim Church on earth may continue to practice all that Christ has taught her, imitating Christ in every time and place, and courageously bearing witness to the truth in the world, doing the holy will of God.

Now, let us consider what we ask of God when we offer our prayers to Him. I still remember a conversation with a certain priest who served in a rural parish. He told me that he once saw a brother requesting him to offer a Mass for the sake of taking revenge on his enemy. This reminds me of another invitation Jesus extends to us today. He invites us to lay down hatred and seek His Word (Cf. Lk 11:3–4), for only His Word can truly calm our restless hearts, enabling us to listen to the Heavenly Father’s converse with us in the depths of our hearts, and preventing us from losing our way or stumbling in the changing circumstances of this earthly life.

I recall the teaching of a certain deceased bishop: living in this changing world, it is not enough for us to offer prayers to God by ourselves; we also need the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word and Queen of the Rosary, because Jesus always hearkens to the prayers the Blessed Virgin Mary offers to Him on behalf of her children. Building upon this deceased bishop’s teaching, I would further like to invite all brothers and sisters in the Lord: in addition to seeking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Rosary is also an excellent supplement, for through the Twenty Mysteries of the Rosary we can behold the beauty of Christ’s holy countenance and draw abundant grace therefrom.

This feast also brings to mind the teachings of the Roman Pontiffs on the Rosary. I would like to take this opportunity to quote some of them:

“The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A wonderful prayer! In its simplicity and its depth, it contains the whole breadth of the Gospel message… Through the Rosary, the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the mother of the Redeemer. At the beginning of the third millennium, I entrust this Apostolic Letter to you, Bishops, priests, and deacons in your Churches, and to all the People of God, that you may rediscover the beauty of the Rosary. A family that prays the Rosary remains united. By placing Jesus at the center of life, the family can share in His joy and suffering, entrusting its future hope into His hands. May the Rosary return to Christian families, making them schools of the Gospel, where it is proclaimed and lived.” (Pope Saint John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Apostolic Letter, October 16, 2002)

“Today we confirm together once again that the Holy Rosary is not a rite belonging to the past, remembered with nostalgia. On the contrary, the Rosary is experiencing a new spring. This is undoubtedly one of the most eloquent signs that the new generation of young people is filled with love for Jesus Christ and His Mother Mary. In today’s fragmented world, this prayer can help us place Christ at the center of our lives, just as the Blessed Virgin Mary did. She pondered all things concerning her Son in her heart. When we pray for the Rosary, we relive those important and crucial moments in the history of salvation. It not only turns our hearts to Christ, but also brings true peace, reconciliation, and healing to our hearts and to the world.” (Cf. Pope Benedict XVI, Address at the Recitation of the Rosary in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, May 3, 2008)

“Dear brothers and sisters: the month of May is approaching, a month in which God’s people express their love and devotion to the Virgin Mary with particular fervour. During this month, it has become a tradition for families to pray the Rosary together. The secret to praying the Rosary in families lies in ‘simplicity.’ Excellent models of prayer that can be imitated are easily found online. Contemplating the face of Christ together and having a heart like that of the Blessed Virgin Mary will enable us to grow closer to one another spiritually and help us overcome the trials of the present time. I pray for all of you, especially for those who are suffering most.” (Pope Francis, Letter to All the Faithful on the Recitation of the Rosary in the Month of May 2020, April 25, 2020)

“How heartening it is to hear Christians chanting with devout hearts full of faith, holding candles as they process toward their Heavenly Mother — the mother given to us by Jesus on the Cross. The Blessed Virgin’s intercession is by no means secondary; through the Blessed Virgin, all things become possible once more for each of us.” (Cf. Pope Leo XIV, Address at the Candlelight Rosary Procession in Lourdes, France, September 27, 2026)

On this Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, let us follow the teachings of the Popes and together offer our prayers to God:

Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord,
your grace into our hearts,
that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son
was made known by the message of an Angel,
may, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
by his Passion and Cross
be brought to the glory of his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica