Liturgy and Lectio: Quasi Rosa

The text below, the Offertory Chant from the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, is also inscribed around the tympanum above the door of the Basilica at Lourdes, France (photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.)

Quasi rosa plantáta super rivos aquárum fructificáte.
As a rose planted by the banks of the waters, blossom forth.

Excerpt from the Dominican Offertory Chant for Holy Mass on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary – Sirach 39:13b.

A Sister shares her reflections:

In the glorious symphony of nature, Our Lady is the perfect rose. She is ever flourishing, ever fruitful, ever beautiful because of where she has been planted: in close contact to the waters of Life itself. She rejoices and delights the Triune God, giving forth all the sweetness of her soul, simply by existing for God and letting Him love her, nourish her and do His good work in and through her. She is all receptivity, opening her petals before the Sun’s rays above and drinking deeply of the hidden source of living water beneath. Living so close to Jesus, the source, Mary’s contemplative gaze is rich beyond measure, as she keeps and ponders all His mysteries in her heart. In the precious gift of her Rosary, Our Lady opens the treasury of her heart and invites me to share that real and living contact. As the beads pass lovingly through my fingers, the prayer of my soul is that I may be given the grace to respond like the perfect rose, that I may live and love where I have been planted, nourished deeply by the source, Jesus Himself.