• Holy Rosary Shrine - Santuario del Santo Rosario
    Holy Rosary Shrine - Santuario del Santo Rosario

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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: The Incredibles

Not too long ago we watched a movie called “The Incredibles Two”. The Incredibles are a family of superheroes that prove to society that the world needs public witnesses to save lives and crush evil. Superheroes had been forced to go into hiding due to misunderstanding and a distrust in the supernatural. We see something similar today with a decline in the consecrated life and disbelief in what is unseen. The superheroes of today are the men and women who listen to the voice within their soul and become something extraordinary.

St. Clare was one of the first women to profess vows of poverty and virginity that were publicly recognized by the Church. She came from a family of “Incredibles” whose superpowers of poverty and virginity were a leaven for society. Jesus says in the Gospel, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt. 10:37). Only sixteen days after Clare escapes from her home, her sister Agnes follows in her footsteps. Agnes is violently attacked by armed knights who wish to drag her back to the confines of her home. As St. Clare prostrates herself before the altar, God miraculous intervenes and Agnes becomes as heavy as a boulder and unable to move! Clare’s motherly intervention allows Agnes to reach her full potential. Eventually, Clare’s own mother and other sister Beatrice would enter the monastery at San Damiano.

Painting of St Clare

St Clare, by Simone Martini – Public Domain, Link

The consecrated life is a leaven for society. We are superheroes! Our life of assiduous prayer and union with God is how we give public witness to the primacy of God’s grace in the world. In “The Incredibles Two” Edna, the witty seamstress, speaks words of truth to Mr. Incredible who is struggling to raise his son Jack-Jack: “It is not unknown for Superheroes to have more than one power when they are young. Like all babies they have enormous potential. And your child is no exception. Jack-Jack is pure unlimited potential!”.

What is the potential you see in your children? Have you considered their call to the consecrated life or priesthood?

Let us pray for more vocations to the practice of the evangelical vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Then we will see once again how the public witness of poverty and virginity is a leaven for society.

Fr. Francis