CNS PHOTO/JUAN MEDINA, REUTERS The bishops’ synod on the New Evangelization begins Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

As the Church is set to begin the Year of Faith and a synod on the new evangelization, the rosary can play a key role in strengthening and spreading the word of God, said a leading American expert in Marian studies.

“This Year of Faith is a call for evangelization, a new evangelization that’s to start with ourselves” in reawakening one’s love for Christ and then reaching out to those who have become distanced from the Church, said Holy Cross Father James Phalan, director of Family Rosary International.

October is the month the Church dedicates to the rosary, and the world Synod of Bishops will start Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Pope Benedict entrusted the synod to Mary’s intercession, and he has said the rosary can stimulate missionary activity by leading Christians to meditate on the life of Jesus.

“Mary has always been the mother of evangelization,” Phalan told Catholic News Service, because “she’s always been the one who shows us Jesus.”