October is Month of the Holy Rosary
The St. Joseph the Worker Community encourage everyone to pray the Holy Rosary Daily for the month of October. SJWC will be open at specific time daily for this purpose of reciting the Holy Rosary as a group.
As advise by the Catholic church a plenary indulgence may be gained by those reciting five decades of the Holy Rosary in church, as a family at home, as a religious community, or a pious fraternity, or in general whenever several persons have gathered together for a good purpose.
Like many of our saints, Saint Padre Pio have great devotion to our Lady. We want to share an article taken from Fatima Network regarding Saint Padre Pio as a true son of our Lady.
As a true son of Our Lady, Padre Pio loved the Rosary and is reputed to have said a 15-decade Rosary as many as 35 times per day. In many photographs, he is shown with his right hand hidden within the pocket where he always kept his Rosary beads. Indeed, he urged all Catholics to "love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for the Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world."
When asked about the role of Our Lady in God’s plan for salvation, Padre Pio responded by saying that "all graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother." It was with that understanding that he almost daily offered the Mass of the Immaculate Conception in the last decade of his life on earth. He is quoted as saying of Our Lady that She "accompanies me to the altar and remains at my side while I offer up the Holy Mass."
Padre Pio daily expressed his special devotion to Our Lady of Fatima as he knelt and prayed at Her shrine within the monastery, before a large picture surrounded by burning candles. Indeed, he credited the Virgin of Fatima with saving his life.
In 1959, the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima visited Italy. At the same time Padre Pio became very ill and was diagnosed with a fatal, cancerous tumor. On August 6, the statue of Our Lady arrived in San Giovanni Rotondo. Rising from his sick bed, Padre Pio prayed before the statue and kissed Her feet. As the statue left by helicopter, he said: "O Mother of mine, when you came to Italy, you found me with this sickness. You came to visit me here in San Giovanni and found me still suffering from it. Now you are leaving and I am not delivered from my illness!"
As Padre Pio spoke this prayer, a miracle occurred. High above the monastery, the helicopter with Our Lady’s statue suddenly circled the building three times. The pilot would later say that he could not explain why. At the same time, Padre Pio felt a shudder immediately run through him. His body was penetrated by a flow of light and he felt the tumor burst. He cried out, "I am healed! Our Lady has healed me!"
"Thank the Virgin of Fatima for me," he subsequently wrote. "On the very day She left here, I felt well again. I have been back to celebrate Mass since three days ago.
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Pray for our Community.
May we become your true sons and daughters at St. Joseph the Worker Community
