1. The Holy Rosary:
The Ultimate Weapon of
Mary’s Army
Communion of Reparation Vigil
October 4-5, 2013
2. Our Lady of the Rosary:
A title given us by Mary
The title “Our Lady of the Rosary”
is one that has been endorsed by
Mary herself.
When the Blessed Mother
appeared to St. Bernadette in
1858 in Lourdes, She taught the
unlettered teenager how to pray
the rosary.
3. Later, when she appeared to the
three young children at Fatima in
1917, Mary endorsed the rosary,
which the children were saying.
When the children asked who
she was, Mary replied,
“I am the Lady of the Rosary”
4. This confirmed the Church’s
instruction on the rosary as Our
Lady’s prayer, which had been
highlighted by Pope Leo XIII in
1883.
He decreed that the invocation
“Queen of the Most Holy
Rosary” should be added to the
Litany of Loreto.
6. “When you pray, Do not babble like
pagans with their many words, for
they believe that the more they
say, the more chance they have of
being heard.” Matthew 6:7
Repeated Prayers in the Bible?
We need to understand the
context of Matthew 6:7.
7. Our Lord condemns the
NONSENSE repetition of words of
prayer. Pagans believe that by
repeating their words of prayer,
their Gods will hear them. They
believed that the efficaciousness
of prayer lie on how many times
you uttered the words. This is
what Our Lord forbids and
despise.
8. It means that the repitition of
meaningful prayers is not wrong
because Jesus himself prayed
repeatedly in the Garden of
Getsemane (Mt. 26:39-44)
The Jews who wanted to be
noticed and praised by people
were told by Jesus because of their
hypocrisy and pride while praying.
This is what Our Lord really means
when He says “empty phrases or
babbling”.
9. Passages in the Bible where repeated
prayers are mentioned:
“He left them again, and went to
pray the third time, saying the
same words” 1 Thess. 5:17
“Pray without ceasing and give
thanks to God at every moment.”
1 Thess. 5:17
“…day and night they sing
without ceasing: ‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God…’” Rev. 4:8
11. The traditional story of the rosary
was that the Virgin Mary herself
appeared to St. Dominic de
Guzman in the twelfth century. At
that time, tradition says she gave
him the rosary and promised
Dominic that if he spread the
devotion to the rosary, heresies
would be defeated and his
religious order would flourish.
12. Originally the rosary had 150
beads, the same number of
psalms in the Bible. In the twelfth
century, Religious orders recited
together the 150 psalms as away
to mark the hours of the day and
the days of the week. Those
people who don’t know how to
read wanted to share in this
practice, so praying on a string of
150 beads began as a parallel to
praying the psalms.
13. On October 16, 2002, Pope John
Paul II, declared that the
following year will be the “Year
of the Rosary”. For the first time
in centuries, a change was made
in the rosary. The Pope added
and defined 5 new mysteries
that concerned the events in the
public life of Jesus. These new
mysteries were called the or
“Luminous Mysteries”
“Mysteries of Light”.
14. Despite all the additions and
changes, the important core of
the rosary has always remained
the same. It is a way for God’s
people to make holy the day, and
to remember the life of Jesus and
His Mother. May these humble
origins always be with us each
time we pray the rosary.
16. St. John Bosco maintained that
the rosary is wonderful means
for acquiring the virtue of purity
and a sure protection against the
snares of the devil.
Praying the rosary offers our
Heavenly Mother the force of
intervening for the salvation of
many poor souls in purgatory.
17. By praying the rosary, we are able
to lay bare the plots of the evil
one. Through this prayer we are
able to escape many of Satan’s
deceptions. This prayer also
defends us from many dangers
the devils sets for us.
18. As in the past, so it shall be
today. The Church will be
defended and saved by it’s
victorious Mother, by means of
the frequent recitation of the
Rosary.
(Ex.: The miracle in Hiroshima,
Japan
Battle between Chrisians and
Moslems in Lepanto)
19. Today Satan is conquering
everything with the pride and
rebellion against God. But He is
however terrified by those who
follow the Heavenly Mother
along the road of littleness and
humility. The Red Dragon will find
himself humiliated and defeated
when He finds himself bound by
Our Lady not by a great chain but
by the very frail cord: the Holy
Rosary
20. Challenge!
It is clear that we should be devoted to the
Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary should
be part of our prayer life. In addition, we
must say it by combining two elements:
PRAYER and MEDITATION.
