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The
Year of the Rosary... The
Era of Fatima... The
Role of the Blue Army
In a historic
Apostolic Letter by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis
Mariae, issued on October 16, 2002, the beginning of the twenty-fifth year of his
pontificate, the Holy Father proclaimed October 2002 to October 2003 as
the "Year of the Rosary" and proposed five new "Mysteries
of Light" to add to the Holy Rosary. The blue Army of Our Lady
of Fatima received this news with great joy.
Our Lady of
the Rosary
At Fatima, the Mother of God identified herself as "The Lady of the
Rosary." Our Lady of Fatima came to earth to give us a Message
of peace and hope for the world, which included the directive: "Pray
the Rosary every day." As a part of our Blue Army Pledge to Our
Lady of Fatima, we promise to pray five decades of the Rosary each day.
Year of the Rosary
At the Blue Army, we have
been at the forefront of promoting the Holy Rosary with National Rosary
Novenas, National Rosary Congresses and programs such as the
"National Rosary Crusade for America" and the "Little
shepherds Program." During this special "Year of the
Rosary" we intend to increase our efforts and distribute more
rosaries than we ever have before.
Era of Fatima
The
Vicar of Christ on earth has made it abundantly clear that the Message of
Fatima is a message for our times. During the Jubilee Year, the Holy
Father entrusted the Third Millennium to Mary Most Holy before the image
of Our Lady of Fatima flown in from the site of the apparitions in
Portugal. He could have chosen any other representation of Our
Blessed Mother from around the world, but he chose to draw attention to
Our Lady of Fatima in reference to the next one thousand years. The
Message of Fatima is an urgent message for our times and for the
generations yet to come. The new Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul
II is further evidence of the importance of the Message of Our Lady of the
Rosary. Fatima is more relevant now than it ever has been before.
The
Rosary is the Weapon
Canonized
on Father's Day of this past year, the Spiritual Father of the Blue
Army, Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, was known to
have said, "The Rosary is the weapon!" During the
"Year of the Rosary" we will celebrate the 120th Anniversary of
Pope Leo XIII's Encyclical, Supremi Apostolatus Officio,
in which Pope John Paul II noted that this "Pope of the Rosary"
proposed the Rosary as "an effective spiritual weapon against the
evils afflicting society." In the official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore
Romano, the frontpage headline of the year's October 2' edition was:
"Pray the Rosary as a Weapon of Peace."
Mysteries of Light
The five new
"Mysteries of Light" proposed by the Holy Father in Rosarium
Virginis Mariae include the: 1) Baptism in the Jordan; 2) Wedding
Feast at Cana; 3) Proclamation of the Kingdom of God; 4) Transfiguration;
and 5) Institution of the Eucharist. This issue of Soul (page 14)
reflects upon the new Luminous Mysteries as seen in the light of Fatima.

Bishop Serafim of Fatima
Closely allied with the
Pope in the promotion and safeguarding of the Fatima Message is the Bishop
of Leiria-Fatima, the Most Reverend Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e
Silva. The Blue Army USA was pleased to have had Bishop Serafim come
to the Nation Blue Army Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in
2002. In addition, we accompanied Bishop Serafim, along with a
statue of Our Lady of Fatima, to "Ground Zero" and to the
Vatican Mission to the United States in New York City. The full
account of this historic visit is on page 4, of Soul Magazine,
November-December 2002 issue.
Role of the Blue Army
Each and every member of
the Blue Army must answer this call and "set out into the deep"
to get others to pray the Rosary. We at the National Office, the
volunteers, staff, Handmaids of Mary Immaculate and priests, stand by to
assist you in your efforts and to pray for your success.
Written by Father Ladis J. Cizik Executive Director and
Editor of Soul Magazine
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