He made this known in a homily during the October 4, 2025 Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary’s presence in Ghana, which was also the anticipated Mass of the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, which falls on 7th October. The Mass took place at the Holy Rosary Sisters Convent, Asikasu, in the Kwahu Afram Plains North.
According to Bishop Asiedu, the Blessed Virgin Mary is a perfect example of one who surrendered her will totally to God. At the Annunciation, she responded to God’s message with a ‘Yes’. She offered her total self to God, without any reservation, for God to use her for his holy purpose.
Reflecting on Mary’s total submission to God, which could be reflected in the words: “Whatever God says, I accept,” the Bishop called on the faithful to learn from Mary’s response, the world’s greatest Prayer – “God, thy will be done”.
The Chief Shepherd shed light on how the Feast of the Holy Rosary came to be. According to him, the Feast was instituted by Pope St. Pius V to gratefully commemorate Mary’s role in the victory of Europe over the Turks in the great naval battle of Lepanto, fought on October 7, 1571, which saved Christianity.
He further explained that the Feast was so called in keeping with the fact that the victory was basically the fruit of the Rosary. He shared the popular belief that the Christians won the battle because of the help of Mary, whom they invoked by praying the Rosary.
The prelate traced the origin of the Rosary to a revelation in a vision by Our Lady to St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominican Order, or the Order of Preachers. He noted that it was through the Dominicans that devotion to the Rosary spread through Northern France and to the rest of Europe. He further declared that Pope Leo X accorded the Rosary official approbation in 1520 and declared October the month of the Holy Rosary.
By Fr. Matthew Akakpo // Sr. Sylvie Lum Cho, MSHR (DEPSOCOM-AVD)
