ROSARY

BASIC R.C. BELIEF

The most popular devotion of the Roman Catholic Church. Prayers are recited

for each bead. After introductory prayers, the main part of the Rosary

consists of 10 Hail Marys and one Our Father repeated five times, during

which time five mysteries of the Rosary are contemplated. The mysteries

recall joyful, sorrowful and glorious occurrences in the lives of Jesus and

Mary. A complete Rosary is 15 decades (each of 10 Hail Marys and 1 Our

Father); it is more usual to pray 5 decades.

St. Dominic is credited with preaching the Rosary as an antidote to the

Albigensian heresy. He called it "the rampart of the Church of God" and

"the Book of Life." Popes have described it as "The salvation of

Christians;" "the dispeller of heresies;" "the scourge of Satan"; and

"promoter of God's Glory."

The Rosary received great impetus by the words of our Lady at Fatima in

1917.

Msgr. O'Sullivan in EXTERNALS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH says, "Repetition in

prayer is a very ancient custom. It would seem natural for man to recite

his prayers over and over. The Buddhist has his long string of beads which

he uses to measure his eternal repetitions of the praises of Buddha."

From SACRAMENTALS, Catholic Information Center, page 21. "It is difficult

to determine just how this special form opf repeated prayer began. We know

that. . . repeated prayer is common in many religions. That is what we

would expect since it is natural to human beings."

From HOW TO SAY THE ROSARY, Imp. Patrick Hayes, Archbishop of New York.

"THE FIFTEEN PROMISES OF MARY TO CHRISTIANS WHO RECITE THE ROSARY.

(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

grace 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)It will cause abundant 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 left

them to the desire of 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 will recite the

Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred

mysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortunes. 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 to 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 penitude 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 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 brothers of My Only Son Jesus Christ. (15)Devotion of My Rosary

is a great sign of predestination. (Given to St. Dominic and Blessed

Alan.)"

POST VATICAN II

An additional ejaculation, given at Fatima, is often inserted between

decades of the Rosary, "O my Jesus, forgive us our sins; save us from the

fires of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are most in

need of Thy mercy."

From WOMAN CROWNED WITH STARS by Michael Malone (Imp: Bishop Sullivan,

Baton Rouge, 1981). "Our Blessed Mother's Rosary concludes with the Mystery

of the Coronation of the Immaculate Virgin Mary as Queen of all creation;

however, the crowning of Our Lady is not the culmination, but the actual

commencement, of all that has even happened from the very beginning of

time."

From SIMPLICITY, John Michael Talbot. "Personally, I have found praying the

Rosary to be one of the most powerful tools I possess in obtaining simple,

childlike meditation on the life of Jesus Christ."

From HEAVEN'S WEAPONS, published by Apostolate of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

St. Martinville, LA. "Ventimiglia, the author of an ancient history of the

Carmellite order, revealed how God inspired St. Dominic to prophesy that

some day the Blessed Mother would give us two devotions to be known as the

Rosary and the Brown Scapular, AND ONE DAY, THROUGH THE ROSARY AND THE

SCAPULAR SHE WOULD SAVE THE WORLD.

"In the year 1214 while St. Dominic was trying to convert sinners

without success. Our Lady appeared to him, gave him the Rosary and taught

him how to use it. Many miraculous conversions resulted!"

From READ ME OR RUE IT by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan. Imp. Joannes Timotheus,

Archiepiscopus, Cincinnatenesis, 8/22/25. Re-printed 11/2/74 by National

Centre for Padre Pio, 11 N. Whitehall Rd., Norristown, PA 19403.

Blessed John of Massias, a Dominican lay brother, obtained by his

prayers (chiefly the recitation of the Rosary), the liberation of one

million four hundred thousand souls!

CATHOLIC JOURNALS

From THE CHURCH WORLD, 3/26/87. "This brings us to the heart of the matter:

The Eucharist and the Rosary! It is generally recognized by the spiritually

`advanced' and by common Catholic consciousness that in Catholic

spirituality these are the mpost powerful means of prayer through which one

can more deeply enter into the life of God and thereby more seriously

confront the reign of Evil. By spiritually `advanced,' I mean people as

Thomas Aquinas, Teresa of Avila, Padre Pio, Dorothy Day, the Cure d'Ars,

Mother Teresa.

"For example, Padre Pio - who appears to be one of the most

extraordinary human beings of the 20th century, a stigmatic for 50 years, a

healer withour peer, a man who spent innumerable hours a day in prayer -

says, `The Rosary is THE weapon.' Now when a person with such spiritual

credentials makes such a definitive statement about how to overcome evil,

it seems to me it can only be ignored or dismissed with fear and trembling.

"Beyond this, the major Marian appartition of the 20th century - Fatima -

explicitely relates the daily recitation of the Rosary to an ending of war

and the obtaining of peace. As described by Lucia, on July 13, 1917, in the

Cova da Iria, Mary said, `. . . Pray the Rosary every day in honor of Our

Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain preace for the world and the end of

war. . . ' With such endorsements it would seem that the Rosary would be a

part of every Catholic peace gathering, small or large."

From LEAVES, Sept/Oct 1979. "The rosary goes back tho the first century of

Christianity. (In fact, legend has it that when the Apostles found that

Mary's body had been assumed into heaven and only roses remained where she

had lain, they used the petals to offer psalms of joy to God.)"


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