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The Holy Rosary
For centuries Catholics - and others - have realised the astonishing value of the prayer, the Holy Rosary.
We have noted the battle of Lepanto, where the Holy Rosary was the impulse that lead to the miraculous defeat of a massive Muslim fleet by a small Catholic fleet.
POn October 7, 1571, members of the Confraternity of the Rosary in Rome, processed praying the Rosary for a blessing on the Christian fleet fighting the Turks at Lepanto.
Pope St. Pius V, a Dominican,
joined them,
and God revealed to him
that Mary had at that hour
obtained a glorious victory
for the Christian fleet.
This great victory saved Europe from the Mohammedan peril.
Pope Pius XI stated that the Rosary of Mary is, as it were,
the principle and foundation
on which the very Order
of St. Dominic
rests
for making perfect the life of its members and obtaining the salvation of others. The Catholic Church looks to the Dominicans as official promoters of both the Rosary and the Rosary Confraternity. P St. Dominic and the Rosary by Robert Feeney.
I would hope these most complimentary words about the Dominicians hold true today.
John Paul the Great also proposed the Holy Rosary as a prayer of the greatest potential:-
PThe Popes and the Rosary 2. Numerous predecessors of mine attributed great importance to this prayer. Worthy of special note in this regard is Pope Leo XIII who on 1 September 1883 promulgated the Encyclical Supremi Apostolatus Officio, 3 a document of great worth, the first of his many statements about this prayer, in which
he proposed the Rosary
as an effective spiritual weapon
against the evils afflicting society.
Among the more recent Popes who, from the time of the Second Vatican Council, have distinguished themselves in promoting the Rosary I would mention Blessed John XXIII 4 and above all Pope Paul VI, who in his Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus emphasized,
in the spirit
of the Second Vatican Council,
the Rosary's evangelical character and its Christocentric inspiration. I myself have often encouraged the frequent recitation of the Rosary. P
There are innumerable quotes from Popes and Saints that absolutely recommend The Holy Rosary as a prayer of real greatness.
I have read a great many of these praises for The Rosary, over several decades, and I have felt the efficacy of this miraculous prayer. Yet I am only now becoming to realise that
the many and great praises are actually
precisely
correct!
I suppose it is like learning that two and two equal four. We were taught that, and we accepted it but never really thought about it. Then one day, we sat down with two sticks and joined them to another two, and were satisfied that yes, 2 + 2 = 4.
I can now perceive more clearly what I have always subconsciously accepted -
The Holy Rosary
is the prayer
that will rescue
the entire world
from evil.
In that respect - what is sure evidence that a person is a real-Catholic?
When you observe a person
saying The Holy Rosary,
you know that here we have
a real-Catholic.
Here is, definitely, a child of The Woman of Scripture, those who keep God's commandments and hold fast to the Truth concerning Jesus. (Apocalypse 12:18)
And this Woman of Scripture - Mother of Jesus Christ; The Immaculate Conception - defeats the great fiery-red dragon with seven heads and ten horns. (Apocalypse 12:3)
What is the weapon that the children of The Woman use?
It is The Holy Rosary.
The realisation of this fact is extremely startling!
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