Rosary | Rosary Beads | Rosaries | Rosary Necklaces | How to Pray the Rosary

Time 2020-09-25 03:03:07

Web Name: Rosary | Rosary Beads | Rosaries | Rosary Necklaces | How to Pray the Rosary

WebSite: http://www.rosary.name

ID:58797

Keywords:

Rosaries,Necklaces,Rosary,

Description:

The rosary (from Latin rosarium, meaning "rose garden") or "garland of roses" is a popular and traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary. The prayers consist of repeated sequences of the Lord's Prayer followed by ten prayings of the Hail Mary and a single praying of "Glory Be to the Father" and is sometimes accompanied by the Fatima Prayer; each of these sequences is known as a decade. The praying of each decade is accompanied by meditation on one of the Mysteries of the Rosary, which recall the life of Jesus Christ. The traditional 15 Mysteries of the Rosary were standardized, based on the long-standing custom, by Pope St. Pius V in the 16th century. The mysteries are grouped into three sets: the joyful mysteries, the sorrowful mysteries, and the glorious mysteries.The rosary probablybegan as a practice by the laity to imitate the monastic DivineOffice (Breviary or Liturgy of the Hours), during the course of whichthe monks daily prayed the 150 Psalms. The laity, many of whom couldnot read, substituted 50, or even 150, Ave Marias (Hail Marys) forthe Psalms. This prayer, at least the first half of it so directlybiblically, seems to date from as early as the 2nd century, asancient graffiti at Christian sites has suggested. Sometimes a cordwith knots on it was used to keep an accurate count of the Aves.The first clear historicalreference to the rosary, however, is from the life of St. Dominic(died in 1221), the founder of the Order of Preachers or Dominicans.He preached a form of the rosary in France at the time that theAlbigensian heresy was devastating the Faith there. Tradition has itthat the Blessed Mother herself asked for the practice as an antidotefor heresy and sin.One of Dominic's futuredisciples, Alain de Roche, began to establish Rosary Confraternitiesto promote the praying of the holy rosary. The form of the rosary wehave today is believed to date from his time. Over the centuries thesaints and popes have highly recommended the holy rosary, thegreatest prayer in the Church after the Mass and Liturgy of theHours. Not surprisingly, it's most active promoters have beenDominicans.Rosary means a crown ofroses, a spiritual bouquet given to the Blessed Mother. It issometimes called the Dominican Rosary, to distinguish it from otherrosary-like prayers (e.g. the Franciscan Rosary of the Seven Joys orFranciscan Crown, the Servite Rosary of the Seven Sorrows). It isalso, in a general sense, a form of chaplet or corona (crown), ofwhich there are many varieties in the Church. Finally, in English ithas been called Our Lady's Psalter or the beads. This last derives from an Old English word for prayers (bede) and torequest (biddan or bid).The holy rosary has beencalled the preparation for contemplation and the prayer of saints.While the hands and lips are occupied with the prayers (it can andshould be prayed silently), the mind meditates on the mysteries ofthe Incarnation and Redemption represented by the decades. Meditationis the form of prayer by which the one who prays uses the mind andimagination to consider a truth and uses the will to love it and formresolutions to live it. In this way the heart, mind, and soul of theChristian is formed according to the Gospel examples of the Saviorand His First Disciple, His Mother. In God's own time, when thispurification of the heart, mind, and soul has advanced sufficientlythe Lord may give the grace of contemplative prayer, that specialdivine insight into the truth which human effort cannot achieve onits own.Why pray the Rosarytoday?Praying the rosary enablesone to have a commitment to daily prayer and connects one to JesusChrist, through the intercession of his mother, Mary. The holyrosary helps one to grow in holiness and in one's prayer life. Hereare some other ideas as to why the rosary should be prayed often: 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 Pius IX). Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world (Our Lady of F tima). There is no surer means of calling down God's blessings upon the family . . . than the daily recitation of the Rosary (Pope Pius XII). We do not hesitate to affirm again publicly that we put great confidence in the Holy Rosary for the healing of evils of our times (Pope Pius XII). can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary: either they will give up sin or they will give up the Holy Rosary (Bishop Hugh Doyle). My impression is that the Rosary is of the greatest value not only according to the words of Our Lady at F tima, but according to the effects of the Rosary one sees throughout history. My impression is that Our Lady wanted to give ordinary people, who might not know how to pray, this simple method of getting closer to God (Sister Lucia, one of the seers of F tima). St. Louis de Montfort warns us against both the ignorant and scholars who regard the Rosary as something of little importance... the Rosary is a priceless treasure inspired by God. A Rosary in redOur Lady has revealed toseveral people that each time they say a Hail Mary they are givingher a beautiful rose and that each complete Rosary makes her a crownof roses. The rose is the queen of flowers, and so the Rosary is therose of all devotions and it is therefore the most important one. TheHoly Rosary is considered a perfect prayer because within it lies theawesome story of our salvation. With the Rosary in fact we meditatethe mysteries of joy, of sorrow and the glory of Jesus and Mary. It'sa simple prayer, humble so much like Mary. It's a prayer we can allsay together with Her, the Mother of God. With the Hail Mary weinvite Her to pray for us. Our Lady always grants our request. Shejoins Her prayer to ours. Therefore it becomes ever more useful,because what Mary asks She always receives, Jesus can never say no towhatever His Mother asks for. In every apparition, the heavenlyMother has invited us to say the Rosary as a powerful weapon againstevil, to bring us to true peace. It is also very important to keep inmind when we recite the rosary the words said by Our Blessed Motherto St. Eulalia that 5 decades said slowly and devotedly were morepleasing than 15 said hurriedly with little devotion. With yourprayer made together with Your heavenly Mother, you can obtain thegreat gift of bringing about a change of hearts and conversion. Eachday, through prayer you can drive away from yourselves and from yourhomeland many dangers and many evils.RosaryDevotions and SpiritualityDevotionto the rosary is one of the most notable features of popularCatholic spirituality. Catholics place devotion to the rosary at thevery center of Christian spirituality and among the finest and mostpraiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation.Saints and popes haveemphasized the meditative and contemplative elements of the rosaryand provided specific teachings for how the rosary should be prayed,for instance the need for focus, respect,reverence and purity of intention during rosaryrecitations and contemplations.From a historicalperspective, the growth of rosary devotions built on the desire tofocus on a central theme with the help of a universal prayer formula,building on the biblical exhortations for constant prayer, e.g. as inLuke (18:1-7) and Luke (21:36).Following theestablishment of the first rosary confraternities in the fifteenthcentury, the devotion to the rosary spread rapidly throughout Europe.From the sixteenth century onwards, rosary recitations often involved picture texts that assisted meditation. Such imagerycontinues to be used to assist in rosary meditations. Saints havestressed the importance of meditation and contemplation. Scripturalmeditations on the rosary build on the Christian tradition of LectioDivina, (literary divine reading)as a way of using the Gospel to start a conversation between the souland Christ. Padre Pio, who was devoted to the rosary, said: Throughthe study of books one seeks God; by meditation one finds him. TheologicalSignificanceThe rosary is part of the Catholic veneration of Mary, which has beenpromoted by numerous popes, especially Leo XIII, known as TheRosary Pope , who issued twelve encyclicals and five apostolicletters on the rosary and added the invocation Queen of the mostHoly Rosary to the Litany of Loreto. Pope Pius V introduced therosary into the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar as the Feast ofOur Lady of the Rosary, celebrated on October 7. The Rosary isexperiencing a new springtime, it is one of the most eloquent signsof love that the young generation nourish for Jesus and his Mother.To Catholics, the rosary is a meditation on all important moments ofsalvation history. Pope Pius XII and his successors activelypromoted the veneration of the Virgin in Lourdes and Fatima, which iscredited with a new resurgence of the rosary within the CatholicChurch.Thetheologian Romano Guardini defined the Roman Catholic emphasis on therosary as participation in the life of Mary, whose focus wasChrist . His statement echoed the view that in Roman CatholicMariology the path to Christ is through Mary, with Mariology beinginherent in Christology; a sentiment also expressed by saints such asLouis de Montfort who was a strong rosary advocate. Pope Leo XIIIalso viewed the rosary as a vital means to participate in the life ofMary and to find the way to Christ.Many similar prayerpractices exist in other Christian communities, each with its own setof prescribed prayers and its own form of prayer beads, such as theprayer rope in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. These other devotionsand their associated beads are usually referred to as chaplets .The rosary is sometimes used by other Christians ,especially in Lutheranism, the Anglican Communion and the OldCatholic Church .History of the RosaryA Rosary in redAccording to tradition,the rosary was given to Saint Dominic in an apparition by the BlessedVirgin Mary in the year 1214 in the church of Prouille. This Marianapparition received the title of Our Lady of the Rosary. In the 15thcentury Alanus de Rupe (aka Alain de la Roche or Alan of the Rock),who was a learned Dominican priest and theologian, received a visionfrom Jesus about the urgency of reinstating the rosary as a form ofprayer as His Blessed Mother had requested.Alanus de Rupe alsoreceived the Blessed Mother's 15 Promises attached to therecitation of the Rosary. Alan is responsible for having founded manyrosary confraternities which helped the spread of the rosarydevotion. Before his death on Sept. 8, 1475 and through his devotionto the Blessed Mother, he reinstituted the rosary in many countriesjust as Jesus had requested. Before St. Dominic and St. Alan,however, most scholarly research suggests a more gradual and organicdevelopment of the rosary.Prayers with beads like the rosary may have begunas a practice by the laity to imitate the monastic Liturgy of theHours, during the course of which the monks prayed the 150 Psalmsdaily. As many of the laity and even lay monastics could not read,they substituted 150 repetitions of the Our Father (Paternoster in Latin) for the Psalms,sometimes using a cord with knots on it to keep an accurate count.During the middle ages, evidence suggests that both the Our Fatherand the Hail Mary were recited with prayer beads. In the 7th century,Saint Eligius wrote of using a counting device to keep track of the150 Hail Marys of the Psalter of Mary.In 13th century Paris, four trade guilds existed of prayer beadmakers, who were referred to as paternosterers,and the beads were referred to as paternosters,suggesting a continued link between the Our Father (Paternoster in Latin) and the prayer beads.In the 12th century, the rule of the English anchorites, the AncreneWisse, specified how groups of 50 HailMarys were to be broken into five decades of ten Hail Marys each.Gradually, the Hail Mary came to replace the Our Father as the prayermost associated with beads. Eventually, each decade came to bepreceded by an Our Father, which further mirrored the structure ofthe monastic Divine Office.Thepractice of meditation during the praying of the Hail Marys isattributed to Dominic of Prussia (1382 1460), a Carthusianmonk, who called it Life of Jesus Rosary .In the sixteenth century, Saint Peter Canisius, a Doctor of theChurch, who is credited with adding to the Hail Mary the sentence Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at thehour of our death , was an ardent advocate of the rosary and itsconfraternities. He developed and stressed the importance of themeditative aspects of the rosary and was one of the first among theearly Jesuits to teach that the principle virtue of each mystery ofthe rosary should be applied to daily life. Promoted by his superiorAdolf von Essen and others, his practice became popular amongBenedictines and Carthusians from Trier to adjoining Belgium andFrance, where it was greatly promoted by the preaching of theDominican priest Alan de Rupe, who helped to spread the devotion inFrance, Flanders, and the Netherlands between 1460 and his death in1475.In1475 James Sprenger formed one of the first rosary cofraternities inCologne. Rosary confraternities in Veniceand Florence were formed in 1480 and 1481.In the 16th century,Rosary confraternities for women spread in France and Italy, partlybecause women were excluded from most other societies and becausethis typed did not involve common masses or processions merelyprayer. In 1571 Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray therosary for victory at the Battle of Lepanto, in which the Christianbelligerents included the Papal States. This battle marked the highpoint of Turkish (Muslim) advance on European soil with the Balkansand the regions west and north of the Black Sea returning to Western(Christian) hands in the succeeding centuries. This victory, aftertwo earlier defeats at the same location, was attributed to Our Ladyof the Rosary as special processions were made on that same day inRome for the sake of this crucial victory. The Christian victory atLepanto was at first celebrated as the feast of Our Lady ofVictory on October 7th, but was later renamed the Feast of OurLady of the Rosary.In 1569, the papalbull Consueverunt Romani Pontificesby the Dominican Pope Pius V officially established the devotion tothe rosary in the Catholic Church. Saint Peter Canisius, a Doctor ofthe Church, was an ardent advocate of the rosary and promoted it (andits Marian devotion in general) as the best way to repair the damagedone to the Church caused by the Protestant Reformation.From the 16th to the early20th century, the structure of the rosary remained essentiallyunchanged. There were 15 mysteries, one for each of the 15 decades.In the 20th century the addition of the Fatima Prayer to the end ofeach decade became popular.Since the 17thcentury, the Rosary began to appear as an element in key pieces ofRoman Catholic Marian art, often in art that depicts the Virgin Mary.Key examples include Murrillo's Madonnawith the Rosary at the Museo del Pradoin Spain, and the statute of Madonnawith Rosary at the church of San NazaroMaggiore in Milan. Several Roman Catholic Marian churches around theworld have also been named after the rosary, e.g. OurLady of the Rosary Basilica, in RosarioArgentina, the Rosary Basilicain Lourdes and Nossa Senhora do Ros rioin Porto Alegre, Brazil.St.Dominic, Preacher of the RosarySince the Rosary iscomposed, principally and in substance, of the prayer of Christ andthe Angelic Salutation, that is, the Our Father and the Hail Mary, itwas without doubt the first prayer and the principal devotion of thefaithful and has been in use all through the centuries long beforethe time of St. Dominic, from the time of the apostles and disciplesdown to the present.How St. Dominicreceived the RosaryIt was only inthe year 1214, however, that the Church received the mission toseriously spread the devotion of the Rosary in its earlier form andaccording to the method as was then used as an antidote to heresy andsin. It was given to the Church by St. Dominic, who had received itfrom the Blessed Virgin as a means of converting the Albigensianheretics and other sinners.The story of how St. Dominicreceived the Rosary, is found in the very well-known book DeDignitate Psalterii, by Alan de la Roche. Saint Dominic, seeing thatthe gravity of people's sins was hindering the conversion of theAlbigensians, withdrew into a forest near Toulouse, where he prayedcontinuously for three days and three nights. During this time he didnothing but weep and do harsh penances in order to appease the angerof God. He used his discipline so much that his body was lacerated,and finally he fell into a coma.The power of the RosaryAt this point our Lady appeared tohim, accompanied by three angels, and she said, Dear Dominic,do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reformthe world? Oh, my Lady, answered Saint Dominic, you know far better than I do, because next to your Son JesusChrist you have always been the chief instrument of oursalvation. Then our Lady replied, I want you toknow that, in this kind of warfare, the principal weapon has alwaysbeen the Angelic Psalter, which is the foundation-stone of the NewTestament. Therefore, if you want to reach these hardened souls andwin them over to God, preach my Psalter. So he arose,comforted, and burning with zeal for the conversion of the people inthat district, he made straight for the cathedral. At once unseenangels rang the bells to gather the people together, and SaintDominic began to preach.At the very beginning of his sermon,an appalling storm broke out, the earth shook, the sun was darkened,and there was so much thunder and lightning that all were very muchafraid. Even greater was their fear when, looking at a picture of ourLady exposed in a prominent place, they saw her raise her arms toheaven three times to call down God's vengeance upon them if theyfailed to be converted, to amend their lives, and seek the protectionof the holy Mother of God.God wished, by means of thesesupernatural phenomena, to spread the new devotion of the holy Rosaryand to make it more widely known.At last, at the prayer ofSaint Dominic, the storm came to an end, and he went on preaching. Sofervently and compellingly did he explain the importance and value ofthe Rosary that almost all the people of Toulouse embraced it andrenounced their false beliefs. In a very short time a greatimprovement was seen in the town; people began leading Christianlives and gave up their former bad habits.Inspired by theHoly Spirit, instructed by the Blessed Virgin as well as by his ownexperience, Saint Dominic preached the Rosary for the rest of hislife. He preached it by his example as well as by his sermons, incities and in country places, to people of high station and low,before scholars and the uneducated, to Catholics and toheretics.The Rosary, which he said every day, was hispreparation for every sermon and his little tryst with our Ladyimmediately after preaching.Sermon of St. DominicOneday he had to preach at Notre Dame in Paris, and it happened to bethe feast of St. John the Evangelist. He was in a little chapelbehind the high altar prayerfully preparing his sermon by saying theRosary, as he always did, when our Lady appeared to him and said: Dominic, even though what you have planned to say may be verygood, I am bringing you a much better sermon. SaintDominic took in his hands the book our Lady proffered, read thesermon carefully and, when he had understood it and meditated on it,he gave thanks to her.When the time came, he went up into thepulpit and, in spite of the feast day, made no mention of Saint Johnother than to say that he had been found worthy to be the guardian ofthe Queen of Heaven. The congregation was made up of theologians andother eminent people, who were used to hearing unusual and polisheddiscourses; but Saint Dominic told them that it was not his desire togive them a learned discourse, wise in the eyes of the world, butthat he would speak in the simplicity of the Holy Spirit and with hisforcefulness.So he began preaching the Rosary and explainedthe Hail Mary word by word as he would to a group of children, andused the very simple illustrations which were in the book given himby our Lady.Blessed Alan, according to Carthagena, mentionedseveral other occasions when our Lord and our Lady appeared to SaintDominic to urge him and inspire him to preach the Rosary more andmore in order to wipe out sin and convert sinners and heretics. Inanother passage Carthagena says, Blessed Alan said our Ladyrevealed to him that, after she had appeared to Saint Dominic, herblessed Son appeared to him and said, 'Dominic, I rejoice to see thatyou are not relying on your own wisdom and that, rather than seek theempty praise of men, you are working with great humility for thesalvation of souls. 'But many priests want to preachthunderously against the worst kinds of sin at the very outset,failing to realize that before a sick person is given bittermedicine, he needs to be prepared by being put into the right frameof mind to really benefit by it. 'That is why, beforedoing anything else, priests should try to kindle a love of prayer inpeople's hearts and especially a love of my Angelic Psalter. If onlythey would all start saying it and would really persevere, God in hismercy could hardly refuse to give them his grace. So I want you topreach my Rosary. 'All things, even the holiest, aresubject to change, especially when they are dependent on man's freewill. It is hardly to be wondered at, then, that the Confraternity ofthe Holy Rosary only retained its first fervor for a century after itwas instituted by Saint Dominic. After this it was like a thingburied and forgotten.Doubtless, too, the wicked scheming andjealousy of the devil were largely responsible for getting people toneglect the Rosary, and thus block the flow of God's grace which ithad drawn upon the world.Thus, in 1349 God punished the wholeof Europe with the most terrible plague that had ever been known.Starting in the east, it spread throughout Italy, Germany, France,Poland and Hungary, bringing desolation wherever it went, for out ofa hundred men hardly one lived to tell the tale. Big cities, towns,villages and monasteries were almost completely deserted during thethree years that the epidemic lasted.This scourge of God wasquickly followed by two others, the heresy of the Flagellants and atragic schism in 1376.St. Dominic's vision of the Blessed Virgin MaryHowAlan de la Roche re-established the RosaryBlessed Alan dela RocheLater on, when these trialswere over, thanks to the mercy of God, our Lady told Blessed Alan torevive the former Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. Blessed Alan wasone of the Dominican Fathers at the monastery at Dinan, in Brittany,France. He was an eminent theologian and a famous preacher. Our Ladychose him because, since the Confraternity had originally beenstarted in that province, it was fitting that a Dominican from thesame province should have the honor of re-establishing it.BlessedAlan began this great work in 1460, after a special warning from ourLord. This is how he received that urgent message, as he himselftells it:One day when he was offering Mass, our Lord, whowished to spur him on to preach the holy Rosary, spoke to him in theSacred Host. How can you crucify me again so soon? Jesussaid. What did you say, Lord? asked Blessed Alan,horrified. You crucified me once before by your sins, answered Jesus, and I would willingly be crucified again ratherthan have my Father offended by the sins you used to commit. You arecrucifying me again now because you have all the learning andunderstanding that you need to preach my Mother's Rosary, and you arenot doing it. If you only did that, you could teach many souls theright path and lead them away from sin. But you are not doing it, andso you yourself are guilty of the sins that they commit. Thisterrible reproach made Blessed Alan solemnly resolve to preach theRosary unceasingly.Our Lady also said to him one day to inspirehim to preach the Rosary more and more, You were a great sinnerin your youth, but I obtained the grace of your conversion from mySon. Had such a thing been possible, I would have liked to have gonethrough all kinds of suffering to save you, because converted sinnersare a glory to me. And I would have done that also to make you worthyof preaching my Rosary far and wide. Saint Dominicappeared to Blessed Alan as well and told him of the great results ofhis ministry: he had preached the Rosary unceasingly, his sermons hadborne great fruit and many people had been converted during hismissions.He said to Blessed Alan, See what wonderfulresults I have had through preaching the Rosary. You and all who loveour Lady ought to do the same so that, by means of this holy practiceof the Rosary, you may draw all people to the real science of thevirtues. Briefly, then, this is the history of how SaintDominic established the holy Rosary and of how Blessed Alan de laRoche restored it.The Psalter ofJesus and MaryFrom the time SaintDominic established the devotion to the holy Rosary up to the timewhen Blessed Alan de la Roche re-established it in 1460, it hasalways been called the Psalter of Jesus and Mary. This is because ithas the same number of Hail Marys as there are psalms in the Book ofthe Psalms of David. Since simple and uneducated people are not ableto say the Psalms of David, the Rosary is held to be just as fruitfulfor them as David's Psalter is for others.Ever since BlessedAlan de la Roche re-established this devotion, the voice of thepeople, which is the voice of God, gave it the name of the Rosary,which means crown of roses. That is to say that everytime people say the Rosary devoutly they place on the heads of Jesusand Mary 153 white roses and sixteen red roses. Being heavenlyflowers, these roses will never fade or lose their beauty.OurLady has approved and confirmed this name of the Rosary; she hasrevealed to several people that each time they say a Hail Mary theyare giving her a beautiful rose, and that each complete Rosary makesher a crown of roses.So the complete Rosary is a large crownof roses and each chaplet of five decades is a little wreath offlowers or a little crown of heavenly roses which we place on theheads of Jesus and Mary. The rose is the queen of flowers, and so theRosary is the rose of devotions and the most important one.Introduction to the PsalterMysteriesof the RosaryThe Mysteries of therosary follow the life of Christ from the Annunciation to theResurrection. They are meant as meditations on the life of Christ.The meditations are known as the Joyful(sometimes Joyous)Mysteries;the Sorrowful Mysteries;and the Glorious Mysteries.Each of these Mysteries has within it five different stages ofChrist's life to be contemplated.Joyful Mysteries Annunciation. Fruit of the Mystery: Humility The Visitation. Fruit of the Mystery: Love of Neighbour The Nativity. Fruit of the Mystery: Poverty (poor in spirit), Detachment from the things of the world, Contempt of Riches, Love of the Poor Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Fruit of the Mystery: Purity, Obedience The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple. Fruit of the Mystery: True Wisdom and True Conversion, Piety, Joy of Finding JesusSorrowful Mysteries The Agony in the Garden. Fruit of the Mystery: Sorrow for Sin, Uniformity with the will of God The Scourging at the Pillar. Fruit of the Mystery: Mortification, Purity The Crowning with Thorns. Fruit of the Mystery: Contempt of the world, Courage The Carrying of the Cross. Fruit of the Mystery: Patience Crucifixion. Fruit of the Mystery: Salvation, ForgivenessGlorious Mysteries Resurrection. Fruit of the Mystery: Faith The Ascension. Fruit of the Mystery: Hope and desire for ascension to Heaven The Descent of the Holy Spirit. Fruit of the Mystery: Holy Wisdom to know the truth and share with everyone, Divine Charity, Worship of the Holy Spirit The Assumption of Mary. Fruit of the Mystery: Grace of a Happy Death and True Devotion towards Mary The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Fruit of the Mystery: Perseverance and Crown of Glory, Trust in Mary's IntercessionTheFifteen Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the RosaryBesides the Indulgencesattached to the Rosary, Our Lady revealed to St. Dominic and BlessedAlan de la Roche additional benefits for those who devoutly pray theRosary. Our Lady's promise is shown in red text. Additionalexplanation on and doctrinal connections to each promise followafterwards. Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.Signal Gracesare those special and unique Graces to help sanctify us in our statein life. See the remaining promises for an explanation for whichthese will consist. St. Louis de Montfort states emphatically thatthe best and fastest way to union with Our Lord is via Our Lady [TrueDevotion to Mary, chapter four]. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.Our Lady isour Advocate and the channel of all God's Grace to us. Our Lady issimply highlighting that She will watch especially over us who praythe Rosary. [a great more detail is available on this topic in TrueDevotion to Mary, chapter four, by St. Louis de Montfort] The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies.Thispromise, along with the next, is simply the reminder on how ferventprayer will help us all grow in holiness by avoiding sin, especiallya prayer with the excellence of the Rosary. An increase in holinessnecessarily requires a reduction in sin, vice,and doctrinal errors (heresies). If only the Modernists could beconvinced to pray the Rosary! St. Louis de Montfort states SinceMary alone crushed all heresies, as we are told by the Church underthe guidance of the Holy Spirit (Office of the Blessed VirginMary)... [True Devotion to Mary #167] It will cause 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.This promise,along with the previous, is the positive part, that being to live invirtue. Becoming holy is not only avoiding sin, but also growing invirtue. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.Since OurLady is our Mother and Advocate, She always assists those who call onHer implicitly by praying the Rosary. The Church reminds us of thisin the Memorare prayer, ... never was it known that anyone whofled to your protection, implored your help or sought yourintercession, was left unaided Whosoever 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.This promisehighlights the magnitude of Graces that the Rosary brings to whomeverprays it. One will draw down God's Mercy rather than His Justice andwill have a final chance to repent (see promise #7). One will not beconquered by misfortune means that Our Lady will obtain for theperson sufficient Graces to handle said misfortune (i.e. carry theCrosses allowed by God) without falling into despair. As SacredScripture tells us, For my yoke is sweet and my burden light. (Matthew 11:30) Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.This promise highlightsthe benefits of obtaining the most possible Graces at the hour ofdeath via the Sacraments of Confession, Eucharist, and ExtremeUnction (Anointing of the Sick). Being properly disposed whilereceiving these Sacraments near death ensures one's salvation(although perhaps with a detour through Purgatory) since a finalrepentance is possible. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the Light of God and the plenitude of His Graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the Merits of the Saints in Paradise.Our Lady highlights thegreat quantity of Graces obtain through praying the Rosary, whichassist us during life and at the moment of death. The merits of theSaints are the gift of God's rewards to those persons who respondedto His Grace that they obtained during life, and so Our Ladyindicates that She will provide a share of that to us at death. Withthis promise and #7 above, Our Lady is providing the means for theperson to have a very holy death. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.Should one requirePurgatorial cleansing after death, Our Lady will make a specialeffort to obtain our release from Purgatory through Her intercessionas Advocate. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of Glory in Heaven.This promise is a logicalconsequence of promises #3 and #4 since anyone who truly lives aholier life on earth will obtain a higher place in Heaven. The closerone is to God while living on earth, the close that person is to Himalso in Heaven. Spiritual progress tends toward ever more union withChrist. You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary. This promiseemphasizes Our Lady's role as our Advocate and Mediatrix of allGraces. Of course, all requests are subject to God's Most PerfectWill. God will always grant our request if it is beneficial for oursoul, and Our Lady will only intercede for us when our request isgood for our salvation. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.If one promotes thepraying of the Rosary, Our Lady emphasizes Her Maternal care for usby obtaining many Graces (i.e. spiritual necessities) and alsomaterial necessities (neither excess nor luxury), all subject to theWill of God of course. 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.Since Our Lady is ourAdvocate, She brings us additional assistance during our life and atour death from all the saints in Heaven (the Communion of Saints). All who recite the Rosary are my Sons, and brothers of my Only Son Jesus Christ.Since theRosary is a most excellent prayer focused on Jesus and His Life andactivities in salvation history, it brings us closer to Our Lord andOur Lady. Doctrinally, Our Lady is our Mother and Jesus is our EldestBrother, besides being our God. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.Predestinationin this context means that, by the sign which is present to a personfrom the action of devoutly praying the Rosary, God has pre-ordainedyour salvation. Absolute certainty of salvation can only be trulyknown if God reveals it to a person because, although we are givensufficient Grace during life, our salvation depends upon our responseto said Grace. (See Summa Theologica, Question 23 for a detailedtheological explanation). Said another way, if God has guaranteed aperson's salvation but has not revealed it to Him, God would wantthat person to pray the Rosary because of all the benefits and Gracesobtained. Therefore the person gets a hint by devotion to the Rosary.This is not to say that praying the Rosary guarantees salvation - byno means. In looking at promises #3 and #4 above, praying the Rosaryhelps one to live a holy life, which is itself a great sign that asoul is on the road to salvation. In fact, St. Louis de Montfort sayseven more strongly that an infallible and unmistakable sign bywhich we can distinguish a heretic, a man of false doctrine, an enemyof God, from one of God's true friends is that the hardened sinnerand heretic show nothing but contempt and indifference to OurLady... [True Devotion to Mary, #30]Reminder:these promises mean that, by faithfully and devoutly praying theRosary and by being free from a deliberate will to sin, Our Lady willobtain for us the necessary Graces to obtain said promises. It isstill up to each individual soul to respond tothose Graces in order to obtain salvation. Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution - Share Alike License. Please Download and Share our DVDs, Videos and Books in order to save souls!

TAGS:Rosaries Necklaces Rosary 

<<< Thank you for your visit >>>

Free DVDs & Books: Buy Rosaries, Rosary Beads, Rosary Necklaces - How to Pray the Rosary

Hot Websites