OCTOBER 2026

Dear Rev. Fathers, Religious, and People of God,

The Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Rosary on 7th October and as such this month is dedicated to Our Lady of Rosary. Etymologically, the word Rosary come from the Latin word Rosarium, which means a bouquet of rose flowers. The defeat of the Turks in the battle of Lepanto in 1571 is due to the recitation of Rosary. On 7th October in 1571, when the battle was fought a Rosary procession was offered at St. Peter's Squire for the success of war. After the victory, Pope Pius V instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory to commemorate it. The title of this feast was changed to Our Lady of the Rosary in 1969 by Pope Paul VI.

At this month, our diocese celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Rosary at the parish of Karumanthanpatty on 4th of October. This parish is shrine of our diocese and the Basilica of our diocese. A concourse of pilgrims visits the Basilica and during the novena days and feast time, huge crowd across Tamil Nadu visits the shrine. Plenty of pilgrims have been receiving numerous miracles through the intercession of Our Lady. Many Christians and non-Christians testified their miracles. Kindly instruct your parishioners to participate in the feast, it being the feast of the diocese.

A good catholic who does not know and pray the rosary is hard to imagine and it will be an anomaly. It is a very popular and easy form of prayer in which we contemplate the life of Christ as well as the mysteries of our redemption. In addition, it is simple and rich form of prayer. In all her apparitions, Mother Mary has repeatedly and warmly recommended the praying of the rosary. In 1917, when Our Lady appeared to the three children at Fatima in Portugal, she asked the visionaries to recite the rosary to end the first world war and she revealed her name as the “Our Lady of the Rosary”. In order to lead a happy family life filled with peace and blessings of God, you have to instruct your catholic to recite rosary at home. A family which recites rosary lives together. The rosary is a biblical prayer as it recalls the events narrated in the Gospel. It is a Christological prayer as it dwells upon the nativity, manifestation, suffering, death, resurrection and glorification of Christ. The rosary is also very much a Trinitarian prayer. Besides repeating the Lord's prayer and the glory be, it recalls the annunciation that brought the Heavenly Father's message to Mary, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon her and her becoming mother of Jesus who became man.

In this month, the Church celebrates the Mission Sunday. In words of Vatican documents, the Church, by its very nature, missionary and we, who are her members, are missionaries. The works of missions are not optional but mandatory which is commanded by Jesus Himself. While celebrating the Mission Sunday, we have the duty to contribute generously for this noble cause. The collections and donations given by people are sent to different parts of the world for missionary activities. The Mission Sunday is an opportunity to show our love, concern and solidarity with our less fortunate brethren who share our faith through the sacrament of Baptism. I am happy to say and thankful that over the years, we have contributed a lot to this cause. Please motivate your Catholics to contribute to the mission generously.

Thanking you and with God's blessings,

Yours devotedly in Christ,

+L. Thomas Aquinas

Bishop of Coimbatore