Giussani, Luigi. Il Santo Rosario. Cinisello Balsamo: San Paolo, 2003.

Il presente libretto contiene le riflessioni di Giussani ai misteri del Santo Rosario; ogni mistero è preceduto da un brano evangelico, seguono le Litanie Lauretane (pp. 43-45) e le preghiere dell’Angelus (p. 46) e del Veni Sancte Spiritus (p. 47).

I commenti dell’Autore ai misteri gaudiosi, dolorosi e gloriosi erano già stati pubblicati nel maggio 2001 in Litterae Communionis-Tracce con il titolo “Il Santo Rosario” (5, 2001: inserto. Con traduzioni), e riproposti nel 2002 come parte del sussidio per il pellegrinaggio a Loreto in occasione del ventesimo anniversario del riconoscimento pontificio della Fraternità di Comunione e Liberazione (Pellegrinaggio a Loreto: 19 ottobre 2002, Fraternità di Comunione e Liberazione, 2002, pp. 19-29).
Rispetto alle edizioni precedenti, la presente edizione include per la prima volta anche le riflessioni ai Misteri della Luce (pp. 17-21), introdotti da Giovanni Paolo II nel 2002.

Joyful Mysteries
To reflect on the Mystery of the Incarnation, we are encouraged by the Author to identify with Our Lady’s state of mind as she silently contemplated her Son that was present. From the moment of her conception, Mary was filled with the memory of that event, and she found herself in a new light; and what was born of this light was the charity that prompted her to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant.
A new life comes to us from the Mystery of Christ’s Birth, that is, from the certainty of “God with us.” Fr. Giussani pleads for every action of man to be filled with this living memory of Christ.

Mysteries of Light
Just as He gave Himself to Our Lady, Christ gives Himself to man to change him through Baptism, from which every concrete action becomes a revelation of Christ. The kingdom of God is at hand—every moment, in fact, is fulfilled through His transfiguration, in which His glory is manifested giving rise to a different humanity. We need our lives to change in order to operate in history as the body and blood of Christ so that we can cooperate in the liberation of the world. Fr. Giussani asks Our Lady to make us more like Her as we wait for the Father’s will to be done.

Sorrowful Mysteries
Jesus states the Father’s will even before the Cross. The correspondence between the Angelus and the Passion of Christ is obedience. It is virginity—obedience through a cross and resurrection from which a limitless fecundity springs forth for man. Christ’s statement “not my but Your will be done” consists in the recognition of the Mystery that makes all things—sacrifice is what enables the truth of a relationship. Christ’s companionship with man outraged by man himself is the greatest tragedy in history, yet the good plan of God goes right through this evil. Only faithfulness to Christ, even within sacrifice, can lead man to the experience of the Resurrection. Only by fixing his gaze on the cross does man perceive how necessary it is to adhere to it for his own salvation and for the salvation of the whole world.

Glorious Mysteries
Mary’s “Yes” is recognizing that “Everything consists of Him.” In the seed placed in Her womb lies the victory over death. For Christ rose to remain among us, and the sign of His stay is unity among men. Through Baptism, man is aware that the truth of himself lies in his identity with Christ, in living life as memory. In His Ascension, Jesus shows us that He is so powerful as to save our lives without leaving us in the clutches of death. Through Mary’s Assumption into Heaven she reveals to us that nothing of us will be lost, for our relationship with the Infinite passes precisely through the flesh. The glory of Paradise is here and now—in the acknowledgment that everything consists of Christ.