Hold the Torch High!

If you go to the Basilica of St. Dominic in Bologna, Italy, where his tomb is found, an amazing portrait of the saint will greet you. St. Dominic appears with a book in his left hand and a staff topped with a cross in his right hand. He projects the image of a man on a mission. At his side is a dog with a flaming torch in its mouth looking quite eager to run. This canine is often pictured with St. Dominic because of a dream that his mother, Blessed Jane of Azma, had while carrying St. Dominic in her womb. She dreamt of a dog with a lighted torch in its mouth running around the world, setting everything ablaze. Puzzled by her dream, Blessed Jane went to a nearby monastery and asked one of the monks what the dream meant. He replied that the child she bore would be a great preacher and would set the world ablaze by his proclamation of the truth of the Faith.
 
St. Dominic has certainly fulfilled this prophecy by his own personal zealous preaching and certainly through the members of the order that he founded, the Dominicans, over these last 800 years.
 
He is also renowned for his great devotion to the Mother of God and her Rosary, which she entrusted to him. When he was struggling to bring people to Christ by his preaching. He asked for her help. As she appeared to him, Our Lady assured him that prayer was the answer, specifically the Rosary that she gave to him. Why was the Rosary the answer?
 
It is because the Rosary leads those who pray it to Christ as they meditate on the mysteries of his life and those of His Holy Mother. It is all about leading people to the Savior. By seeking the intercession and assuming the attitude of Our Lady before the mysteries of her Son, those who pray the Rosary learn to set their hearts on the Heart of Jesus. It was indeed the answer—pray the Rosary to attune the hearts of people to the truth of who Jesus Christ is.
 
We could say that the torch of the dog in Blessed Jane’s dream was a symbol of the Rosary. The flame of the torch was the mysteries of the life of the Savior. Praying the Rosary and meditating on the mysteries shone a great light and inflamed the hearts of those who prayed so that they could see the truth of Christ by the light of the flame and be filled with the ardor of His charity. They could then accept the truth of Christ in their hearts with great love and then live their lives following Him.
 
This wonderful dynamic has continued through the centuries and is dynamically at work in the world today. On October 11, the Vigil of the Jubilee for Marian Spirituality, in St. Peter’s Square Pope Leo presided over an evening of prayer at which the Rosary of Our Lady was prayed. It ended with Exposition and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. As Our Holy Father lifted up Jesus Christ truly present in the Holy Eucharist, he did exactly what St. Dominic was born to do—he was born to contemplate the Mystery of Our Lord as he prayed and taught the faithful to do the same in the praying of  the Rosary. Then, St Dominic lifted up the Lord for all to see by preaching His Passion, Death and Resurrection.  This is exactly what Pope Leo did in that beautiful Vigil. With the thousands of people gathered there, he contemplated with reverence and love the mysteries of the life of Christ and His Mother. Then he lifted up the Eucharistic Presence of Jesus for adoration and benediction.
 
We, my dear brothers and sisters, are in good company for we are called to do the same. We are invited by Our Holy Mother to take up the Rosary daily and contemplate the Face of Christ with and through His Holy Mother Mary. Then we are summoned by the Lord to go forth and lift up the torch of truth, the Gospel of Christ, for all the world to see.
 
We should be faithful as St. Dominic was, unfailing in prayer, lifting up the Rosary of Our Mother and then lifting up the torch of truth for all the world to see. In every aspect of our life, we must lift up the truth of Christ. In the Month of Respect Life, we should raise the torch of truth that says every human person possesses inherent dignity and worth. We follow Our Holy Father’s example and request in praying the Rosary to end all wars and for peace throughout the world. We should pray for and seek protection for all those whose lives are in peril and whose lives are not cherished and respected. We pray the Rosary for all who are in danger and in need, most especially for the unborn children in their mothers’ wombs who are without a doubt the most vulnerable in our midst. These tiny precious persons are defenseless, forgotten, unwanted, and denied the dignity that is theirs. They are often refused the gift of life and the right to live. We pray for their mothers who often suffer great adversity in their lives. Every single life matters! Let us tell the world!  Let us lift our torches high!
 
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh