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.
