Come, Contemplate with Mary the Face of Christ

Holy Rosary Shrine is dedicated to fostering union with Jesus through Our Blessed Mother and her Holy Rosary. Central to our mission is beautiful and reverent worship, preaching His Word, devotional and evangelization events, and service to those in need. Staffed by the Franciscans of the Poor Christ, we offer extended hours for the Sacrament of Confession, Eucharistic Adoration, retreat days and Franciscan and Marian spiritual formation. The Shrine has a rich history of being home to many different ethnic groups in the "Immigrant City" of Lawrence, Massachusetts which continues to this day.

Confession Times

Confession Times

Information about confession times and days and how to make a good confession.

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How to Pray the Rosary

How to Pray the Rosary

The Rosary Center & Confraternity. Promoting devotion to the Rosary for more than 500 years.

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Rosarium Virginis Mariae

Rosarium Virginis Mariae

Letter from St. John Paul II about the importance of the Holy Rosary.

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From the Friars: On the Holy Rosary and Data Centers

Data Centers have become a political hot potato. People are worried about their impact on the lives of those who live near them, not to mention their effect on humanity itself. One of the many things they do is store data or provide computer memory. Global data storage is fast approaching 200 zettabytes or 200 trillion gigabytes. The human brain has a memory capacity of about 2.5 million gigabytes. The individual human person could never hope to compete with data centers in storing and processing information. But the human mind has abilities that AI will never have. It is not just neurons and synapses but is united with a spiritual element called the soul.

Picture of a Rosary

Public Domain, Link

Which brings us to the Holy Rosary. The first step in praying the Rosary is to engage the memory. It is our spiritual power to make present, to bring up on our interior screen information, images and/or other beings. Thus, I can be aware of, or put myself into, the actual presence of God. Then I can remember and meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary, which are the main events in the Life of Jesus. My best friend shares His life with me, most powerfully through the mediation of His Holy Mother.

But the human memory is also a kind of mirror on the Divine. Eternal truths are planted in the human memory and are illuminated by the Light of Christ when we pray. God is eternal, without limits. He is all-powerful and all knowing. Prayer allows Him to share His Truth with us and gives us a certitude that mere human knowledge does not have. For example, a person may be given a profound experience, a certain knowledge, of the truth of their identity as an adopted son or daughter of God while meditating on the Baptism of Jesus. This is an illumination of our memory. No machine can do this.

Before scrolling, consider accessing the Divine Data Center with the Holy Rosary. The knowledge that is most important will only come through a personal relationship with the One Who holds us in existence.

“You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and revealed them to the childlike.” (Mt 11:25)

Happy Feast of the Three Saints!
Fr. Peter