* Pope Calls for a Rediscovering of the Rosary and the Year of the Rosary
* Learning to Meditate the Mysteries of Light
* Rosaries of Reparation and First Saturdays for the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart
* Fatima Family Apostolate in Poland
* What's Eating Away at USA?
* Fatima is for Holiness of the Family
* Blessed Jacinta and Blessed Francisco of Fatima - Why We Should Teach Their Lives to Today's Children
* Sermon of Pope John Paul II in Consecrating Poland's Fatima Sanctuary Shrine
* Love-giving and Life-giving Marriages
* Mary's White League in Poland
* Editorial - The Year of the Rosary - Why?
* Finally Home for Christma
* Pilgrimage to Damascus-Soufenieh and Poland, November 10-28, 2003
* Fatima Family Forum
* Questions & Answers
* News Briefs & Comments
* FFA Chatterings

Editorial - The Year of the Rosary - Why?

We know what is required for peace in the Church, peace in our families. Yet, the majority of our Catholic people have not been following the road map needed for these objectives. That which would bring peace to the world, families, the Church, is sadly neglected.

We are often poor stewards of the richness of Jesus Christ. Our Lord ended the parable of the unworthy steward of the rich man, saying: "For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light" (Luke 16:1-8).

We are indeed children of light. We have a great richness in the fullness of true faith. Jesus, the Light of the world, shows us the certain way. How well do we avail ourselves of the riches of the Kingdom of God?

Jesus has sent his Mother repeatedly. At Fatima she was "all of light". That is the way Sister Lucia describes the beautiful Woman from heaven. The heavenly Lady gave her name at the time of the miracle of the sun, "I am the Lady of the Rosary". Each time our Mother, all of light, asked that we pray the Rosary every day. She requested that it be prayed properly, namely, while meditating on the mysteries. She showed little Jacinta, only a seven-year-old, pictures of the Mysteries, teaching her how to meditate while praying the Rosary.

Now we have Pope John Paul giving us five additional mysteries, called "Mysteries of Light". In this issue we offer an extensive review of the Pope's Apostolate Letter on the Rosary of the Virgin Mary. Our Holy Father pleads with a sense of urgency for the proper praying of the Rosary as he considers the conditions of the world, the family, the Church. Families are asked to return to the practice of the daily Rosary and to evangelize their children by teaching them to meditate 20 Mysteries of the Rosary. He suggests the use of icons or visual aids to focus on the particular mystery being meditated.

What the Pope suggests is exactly the way Mary's White League presents the Rosary to be prayed properly. You'll find this in the booklet, Illustrated Rosary Meditations for Children. The illustrations can be set up for the family to see, after the meditation is read, and while the ten Hail Mary's are prayed. Meditation which the Holy Father suggests for the Rosary is the way the Fatima Family Apostolate incorporates the praying of the Rosary in prayer groups as seen in the Marian Manual.

The Pope knows the state of the world. He sees the forces at work to disturb the Church and attack the family. He looks to the family as the basic unity of society and sees what the meditated praying of the Rosary will do for the family, thus for the Church, for the world. No one can pray the Rosary daily and meditate its mysteries and remain separated from Jesus Christ.

The Pope has declared October 2002 to October 2003 inclusive the "YEAR OF THE ROSARY". The call is not for just a year, but to use this year to promote the Rosary, rediscover the Rosary, learn to pray it better thereafter. The Church would be renewed, family life would be renewed, the world would find peace, if all Catholic families and individuals began praying the Rosary properly each day. Love and unity would return to the Church, to our families, to the world. Mere simplification? No. It is what Our Lady of Fatima has promised,if we study Fatima in depth as it reaffirms the Gospel. It is what Pope John Paul II is saying, this Marian Pope, who loves intensely Our Lady of Fatima, whose message has been the secret which motivates his pontificate.

Don't just scan the article in this issue which reviews in detail the Pope's letter on the Rosary. Study it. Also study the meditations which this issue offers on the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary.

The world is fragile; handle with prayer. Families are fragile and failing; strengthen with prayer - the prayer of the Rosary. The Pope explains how the meditated Rosary will lead us all to a more fruitful participation in the divine liturgy, the Mass and the Sacraments. Mary always leads to Christ Jesus, her Son.

Have an assigned time for the family Rosary. If every member of the family cannot be present, those present should pray the Rosary. If your family is too busy to pray the Rosary, your family is in deep trouble. The trouble is not with the Rosary, it's with your family falling away from faith and union with each other in Jesus Christ.

Pray the rosary properly, not mechanically. Then soon you'll discover great peace in your home among your family members. RJF

About the cover: Song of the Angels by W.A. Bouguereau.