THE POWER OF THE ROSARY

St. Louis de Montfort states in his classic book, The Secret of the Rosary:

If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins, you shall receive a never fading crown of glory. For even if you are now on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil…sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and save your soul. If–you say the Rosary devoutly every day of your life.

St. Alphonsus Liguori says that at each Hail Mary the angels are attracted to us, while the devils are repelled

THE POPES ON THE POWER OF THE ROSARY

Pope Pius IX once said, "If I had an army to say the Rosary, "I could conquer the world." And he said this because the Rosary, next to the Mass, is the most powerful weapon in the Church’s arsenal.

Pope Leo XIII said, "The Rosary, if devoutly used is bound to benefit not only the individual, but society at large." In addition to this, he went so far as to state that "the Rosary is our best hope, since it can more than anything else implore from God the help that we need." And interestingly, he added, "the Rosary is the best prayer to help the cause of Christian unity."

Pope Pius XII believed its recitation is the key to peace and happiness in our age. For he wrote, "We put great confidence in the Rosary for the healing of the evils that affect our times." In fact, he said, "there is no surer means of calling down God’s blessings upon the family and especially of preserving peace and happiness in the home than the daily recitation of the Rosary."

Pope John XXIII spoke about the Rosary as "a prayer of love breathed from the heart." And in another he gave us new insights about how to use the Rosary as a form of meditation. He wrote:

The true substance of the well-meditated Rosary consists in a three-fold element that gives unity and cohesion…to the episodes in the life of Jesus and Mary… For in each decade of Hail Marys there is a picture, and for each picture a three-fold emphasis which is simultaneously: mystical contemplation, intimate reflection and pious intention.

Pope Paul VI explained how the Rosary can improve social life on earth and also help the poor souls in purgatory. "Through your Rosary you can succeed in giving comfort to the sick, in saving the dying, in converting sinners, in helping the missionaries, and in freeing souls from purgatory."

Besides this, he also strongly recommended praying the family Rosary. "There is no doubt," he wrote, "that the Rosary should be considered as one of the best and most powerful prayers in common that the Christian family could recite."

Pope John Paul II used to lead the Rosary every First Saturday in St. Peter’s Basilica, and he has been widely quoted as saying that "the Rosary is my favorite prayer."

He said the "Rosary is a privileged means of averting the danger of war and of obtaining the gift of peace from God," but also that the Rosary "dispels the seeds of family disintegration."

Pope Benedict XVI on the Rosary. “This Prayer Helps to Put Christ at the Center."In the current world, so dispersive, the Rosary helps to put Christ at the centre, as the Virgin did, who meditated within all that was said about her Son, and also what he did and said. When reciting the Rosary, the important and meaningful moments of salvation history are relived. The various steps of Christ's mission are traced. With Mary the heart is oriented toward the mystery of Jesus. Christ is put at the centre of our life, of our time, of our city, through the contemplation and meditation of his holy mysteries of joy, light, sorrow and glory.