~The following piece was published in The Marian Room last year. Today, as we are in the month of October, the month dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary in the Roman Catholic Church, I am re-posting it with a few edits and additions.
May you have a good day. ~SCF
“The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families…that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.” -Sister Lucia dos Santos of Fatima, in an interview with Father Fuentes in 1957
I was perusing Facebook the other day, and I came across the following sentence, all in caps (caps omitted for today): “When you start praying the daily rosary, you can stop fearing death.” That was startling, and it was followed up by the Fifteen Promises of the Rosary, and a slew of quotes from saints and popes on the efficacy of this spiritual weapon (St. Padre Pio). It is simply amazing how many testimonies on the efficacy of the Rosary are given to us. The ones listed were but a few of the ones available. There are books on the Rosary, papal encyclicals, Church teachings, etc.; and yet, the Rosary is rarely mentioned from the pulpit or in the classroom. The people have not been taught it, and it has been neglected by the Church in the post-Vatican II era.
Well, it is our time now: our time to instruct our children and families; our time to tell others of the glories of this Mysterious Chain, to promote it on our social media sites, to give out books about this Chain of Love (can you not think of so many lovely titles to call this gift?). It is our time to reclaim our Catholic identity: to take hold of this Golden Chain, to pray it, and to (hopefully) not only bring our souls to heaven, but to bring a large amount of souls with us. That is not an impossibility. It is completely possible, and we must become once again, the Church Militant. Yes, perhaps we are just lay people, but, in the quiet of our homes, in the car on the way to work, on the treadmill at the gym, as you walk through the airport to catch your next flight, as you wash the dishes, wherever, you can pray this Chain, and this Flowering, Fruitful Chain will link you to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in a mysterious manner, a manner known by our ancestors in the Faith.
The following are the Fifteen Promises of the Rosary, and various quotes on the Rosary:
“The Blessed Virgin Mary promised to Saint Dominic and to all who follow that, ‘Whatever you ask in the Rosary will be granted.’ She left Fifteen Promises to those who recite the Holy Rosary; these promises were imparted to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche:
1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
4.The Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenititude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
9. I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
14. All who recite the Rosary are my sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters of my only Son Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
Quotes on the Rosary:
“The Rosary is the ‘weapon’ for these times.” -Saint Padre Pio
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“Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.” – Blessed Pope Pius IX
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“The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.” – Saint Francis de Sales
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“The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.”- Mary to St. Dominic
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“Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother. Love the Madonna and pray the rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today. All graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother.” -St. Padre Pio
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“Go to the Madonna. Love her! Always say the Rosary. Say it well. Say it as often as you can! Be souls of prayer. Never tire of praying, it is what is essential. Prayer shakes the Heart of God, it obtains necessary graces!” -St. Padre Pio
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“Mary has recommended the Rosary at Lourdes and Fatima because of it’s exceptional value for us and our times.” – St. Pio of Pietrelcina
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“Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been so favored by so many miracles as the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary” -Pope Blessed Pius IX
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“The word rosary means ‘Crown of Roses,’ that is to say that every time people say the Rosary devoutly they place a crown of one hundred and fifty-three white roses and sixteen red roses upon the head of Jesus and Mary. Being heavenly flowers these roses will never fade or lose their exquisite beauty.” -St. Louis De Montfort
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“The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin…If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors.” – Pope Pius XI
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“The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the rosary is beyond description.” – Archbishop Fulton Sheen
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“The faults of children are not always imputed to the parents, especially when they have instructed them and given good example. Our Lord, in His wondrous Providence, allows children to break the hearts of devout fathers and mothers. Thus the decisions your children have made don’t make you a failure as a parent in God’s eyes. You are entitled to feel sorrow, but not necessarily guilt. Do not cease praying for your children; God’s grace can touch a hardened heart. Commend your children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When parents pray the Rosary, at the end of each decade they should hold the Rosary aloft and say to her,’With these beads bind my children to your Immaculate Heart’, she will attend to their souls.” -St. Louise de Marillac
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“The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying.” Pope Leo XIII
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“No one can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary: either they will give up sin or they will give up the Rosary.” – Bishop Hugh Doyle
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“Never will anyone who says his Rosary every day be led astray. This is a statement that I would gladly sign with my blood.” -Saint Louis de Montfort
“The Rosary is a long chain that links heaven and earth. One end of it is in our hands and the other end is in the hands of the Holy Virgin…The Rosary prayer rises like incense to the feet of the Almighty. Mary responds at once like a beneficial dew, bringing new life to human hearts.”
-St. Therese of Lisieux
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“When people love and recite the Rosary they find it makes them better.” -St. Anthony Mary Claret
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“The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God…and if you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary.” -Pope Saint Pius X
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“When you say your Rosary, the angels rejoice, the Blessed Trinity delights in it, my Son finds joy in it too, and I myself am happier than you can possibly guess. After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, there is nothing in the Church that I love as much as the Rosary.” -Our Lady to Blessed Alan de la Roche
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“One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, Our Lady will save the world.” -Saint Dominic
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“Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins.” -Saint Louis de Montfort
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“If you persevere in reciting the Rosary, this will be a most probable sign of your eternal salvation.”-Blessed Alan de la Roche
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“One day, St. Dominic prayed to Our Lady that she would force the devils who possessed a man to reveal the truth about devotion to her. The devils were forced by Our Lady to reveal: Listen to what the devils said, ‘Now that we are forced to speak we must also tell you this: Nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because she obtains for her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins and by means of this they obtain God’s forgiveness and mercy.’”
“You must know that when you ‘hail’ Mary, she immediately greets you! Don’t think that she is one of those rude women of whom there are so many — on the contrary, she is utterly courteous and pleasant. If you greet her, she will answer you right away and converse with you!” -St. Bernardine of Siena
“It was not courage, not arms, not leaders, but Mary of the Rosary that made us victors.” -Venetian Senators after Battle of Lepanto
“The Rosary is the Bible on a String.” -Fr. Ronan Murphy
“If our age in its pride laughs at and rejects Our Lady’s Rosary, a countless legion of the most saintly men of every age and of every condition have not only held it most dear and have most piously recited it but have also used it at all times as a most powerful weapon to overcome the devil, to preserve the purity of their lives, to acquire virtue more zealously, in a word, to promote peace among men.” -Pope Pius XI
(end of promises and quotes)
It is interesting that Pope Pius XI noted that, “…a countless legion of the most saintly men of every age and of every condition have not only held it most dear and have most piously recited it.”
“Saintly men of every age and of every condition.”
By using the term “men,” he made it clear that the Rosary is for both men and women; it is not simply a prayer for older women, as it has been erroneously characterized in the past (not the long-past, but in the past fifty years).
The Rosary is manly.
To verify this assertion, a person may recall Padre Pio, the famous Italian Capuchin saint-priest of the last century who bore the Stigmata: he vigorously promoted the Rosary, was always seen with it in his hand, and he was quite manly.
Hopefully, we will see a return of the, if I may call it this, the popularity of the Rosary.
I will end with the public profession of Hilaire Belloc; his 1906 profession of Faith which he made while running for Parliament which included a profession of his love for the Rosary. He stated:
“Gentlemen, I am a Catholic. As far as possible, I go to Mass every day. This [taking a rosary out of his pocket] is a rosary. As far as possible, I kneel down and tell these beads every day. If you reject me on account of my religion, I shall thank God that He has spared me the indignity of being your representative.”
Hilaire Belloc (b. 1870- d. 1953), excerpt from a 1906 speech he gave to voters in South Salford, excerpt from The Life of Hilaire Belloc
That is a voice from the archives of the Church Militant.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.
•SCF
For further reading:
•The Rosary: Mary’s Psalter, the history of the Rosary, how to pray the Rosary, link
•Text of a 2006 homily on the Rosary, The Rosary is Not Optional, by Fr. Patrick Perez : link
•Image: A. Therese, October 2018, the car Rosary makes an appearance ♥