[Robert Drobot]

The Most Holy Rosary Of The Blessed Virgin Mary "I am the Lady of the Rosary" ~~ Speaking to the three children of Fatima. 'Wonder not that you have obtained so little fruit by your labors, you have spent them on barren soil, not yet watered with the dew of Divine Grace. When GOD willed to renew the face of the earth, He began by sending down on it the fertilizing rain of the Angelic Salutation. Therefore preach my Psalter composed of 150 Angelic Salutations and 15 Our Fathers, and you will obtain an abundant harvest'. 'The rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and lift them to the desire of eternal things.' ~~ Words of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Dominic Prayer To The Lady Of The Rosary Beloved Lady of the Rosary, I thank you for your great gift of your psalter. As the beads slip through my fingers, may my heart and my lips sing your praise, and my brain contemplate those sacred mysteries of my Holy Faith. May my meditations on your beloved Rosary draw me ever closer, trustingly, to you, and through you to your divine son, my Lord and my God. The Mysteries of Rosary of The Blessed Virgin Mary Joyful Mysteries Often said on Monday and Saturday, the Joyful Mysteries include: The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Birth of Our Lord, The Presentation of Our Lord, and The Finding of Our Lord in the Temple. Glorious Mysteries Often said on Wednesday and Sunday the Glorious Mysteries include: The Resurrection, The Ascension, The Coming of the Holy Spirit, The Assumption of our Blessed Mother into Heaven, and The Coronation of our Blessed Mother. Mysteries of Light Often said on Thursday, the Mysteries of Light as inspired by and proposed in 1957 by Saint George Preca: 1. When Our Lord Jesus Christ, after his baptism in the Jordan, was led into the desert. 2. When Our Lord Jesus Christ showed, by word and miracles, that He is true God. 3. When Our Lord Jesus Christ taught the Beatitudes on the mountain. 4. When Our Lord Jesus Christ was transfigured on the mountain. 5. When Our Lord Jesus Christ had his last Meal with the Apostles. Sorrowful Mysteries Often said on Tuesday and Friday the Sorrowful Mysteries include: The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross, and The Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord. History Of The Rosary Tradition holds that Our Lady gave the Rosary to Saint Dominic Guzman in 1206 as a form of gospel-preaching and popular prayer. For more than seven centuries, the Rosary devotion has been one of the most popular devotional practices in the church. Its combination of vocal and mental prayer have made it a prime tool for contemplation. Jesus is the author and source of grade; Our Lady's Rosary is the key to open the treasury of grace to us. Although prayer beads had been popular before Dominic's time, he and his friars quickly adopted the Rosary as an excellent way to teach the mysteries of Christianity to a largely illiterate European population. In 1470, Blessed Alan of Rupe founded the first Rosary Confraternity, and thereby launched the Dominican Order as the foremost missionaries of the Rosary. Through the efforts of Blessed Alan and the early Dominicans, this prayer form spread rapidly throughout Western Christendom. The meditations on the fifteen mysteries serve as reminders of incidents in the lives of Christ and Mary. These are divided into the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries. Thirteen of the mysteries come from incidents in the New Testament. One, the assumption of Mary into heave, comes from Sacred Tradition. The fifteens, the Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven is thought to be derived from images in the Book of Revelation. These meditations make the Rosary a reflection on the fundamental beliefs of our Faith. Through the years, Our Lady has re-affirmed her approval of this devotion, and her pleasure in the title "Queen of the Rosary." To Blessed Alan, she made fifteen promises to those who devoutly recite her beads. She told him, ".. immense volumes would have to be written if all the miracles of my Holy Rosary were to be recorded." Our Lady's promises are: Those who shall have served me constantly by reciting the Rosary shall receive some special grace. I promise my special protection and great graces to all who devoutly recite my Psalter. The Rosary shall be a most powerful armor against hell; it shall destroy vices, weaken sin, overthrow unbelief. It shall make virtues and good works to flourish again; it shall obtain for souls abundant mercies of God; it shall win the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and life them to a desire of things eternal. Oh, how many souls will be sanctified by this means ! The soul which has recourse to me through the Rosary shall not perish. Whoever shall have recited the Rosary devoutly and with meditation on its mysteries, shall never be overcome by misfortunes, shall not experience the anger of God, shall not be lost by a sudden death; but if he be in sin he shall be converted; and if he be in grace, he shall persevere and be made worth of eternal life. Truly devoted servants of my Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments. It is my will that those who recite my Rosary have, in life and in death, light and the plenitude of graces; and in life and death, may participate in the merits of the saints. Every day I deliver from Purgatory souls devoted to my Rosary. True servants of my Rosary shall enjoy great glory in heaven. Whatever you shall ask through the Rosary, you shall obtain. I will assist in every necessity those who propagate my Rosary. I have obtained from my Son that all members of the Confraternity of my Rosary may have in life and in death all the blessed as their associated. All who recite my Rosary are my children and the brethren of my Only Begotten Son Jesus ChriSaint Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination. Our Lady told Blessed Bartolo Longo to propagate the Rosary, and promised that those who would propagate this devotion would be saved. In 1884, Our Lady of Pompeii appeared at Naples to Fortuna Agrelli, who was desperately ill. She told Fortuna that the title "Lady of the Holy Rosary" was one which was particularly pleasing to her, and cured Fortuna of her illness. At Lourdes, Our Lady told Saint Bernadette to pray many rosaries. When Bernadette saw the beautiful lady, she instinctively took her Rosary in her hands and knelt down. The lady made a sign of approval with her head, and took into her hands a Rosary which hung on her right arm. As Bernadette prayed, Our Lady passed the beads of her Rosary through her fingers, but said nothing except the Gloria at the end of each decade. At Fatima, Mary told the children to pray the Rosary often. Popes throughout history have loved the Rosary. Not a single Pope in the last four hundred years has failed to urge devotion to the Rosary. From Pope Sixtus IV, in 1479, to the present day, all popes have urged the use of this devotion, and enriched its recitation with indulgences. Pius XI dedicated the entire month of October to the Rosary. Pope Saint Pius X said : "Of all the prayers, the Rosary is the most beautiful and the richest in graces; of all, it is the one most pleasing to Mary, the Virgin Most Holy." Pope Leo XIII repeatedly recommended the Rosary as a most powerful means whereby to move God to aid us in meeting the needs of the present age. In 1883, he inserted the invocation, "Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us ! " into the Liturgy for the Universal Church. John XXIII who was particularly faithful to the daily recital of the whole Rosary has said, " We can never sufficiently recommend the saying of the Rosary, not simply with the lips but with attention of the soul to the divine truths, with a heart filled with love and gratitude." John Paul II tells us to "... love the simple, fruitful prayer of the Rosary." Many of the Saints, and a number of the religious orders have praised the Rosary. Saint Charles said he depended on the Rosary almost entirely for the conversion and sanctification of his diocese. Founders of most religious orders have either commanded or recommended the daily recitation of the Rosary. The Benedictines speedily adapted this devotion in their ancient cloisters. The Carmelites were happy to receive the Rosary as well as their rule from the Dominicans. The Franciscans made their rosaries out of wood, and preached this devotion as well as poverty. The Servites wore their rosaries as a badge of that servitude which is the only true liberty. Inspired by the example of their founder, the Jesuits invariably propagated the devotion. Saint Francis Xavier used the touch of his chaplet as a means of healing the sick. Saint Vincent de Paul instructed the members of his order to depend more on the Rosary than upon their preaching. Our ancestors had recourse to the Rosary as an every- ready refuge in misfortune, and as a pledge and a proof of their Christian faith and devotion. Saint Dominic used the Rosary as a weapon in his battle against the Albigensian heresy in France. In the last century, the Christian successes over the Turks at Temesvar and at Corfu coincided with the conclusion of public devotions of the Rosary. During the penal days in Ireland, the Rosary bound the Irish Catholics together as the church militant. When it was a felony to teach the Catholic Catechism, and death for a priest to say Mass, the Irish mothers used their rosaries to tell their little ones the story of Jesus and Mary, and thus kept the Faith green in the hearts of their children. Saint John Vianney, the Cure d'Ars, declared emphatically that in the nineteenth century it was the Rosary which restored religion in France. Likewise, in the dark days of persecution in Mexico, in our own century, the sturdy Mexican Catholics clung faithfully to their rosaries. The martyr Miguel Pro was allowed his last request before being shot by a firing squad --- he knelt and prayed his Rosary. A special society, the Society of the Living Rosary, was founded by the Venerable Marie Pauline Jaricot in the city of Lyons, France, in 1826. She formed bands of fifteen members who each said one decade of the Rosary daily. Thus, the entire Rosary is said collectively by the members of each circle daily. Father Timothy Ricci, O.P., instituted the Perpetual Rosary, or Mary's Guard of Honor, in 1635. The aim of this devotion is to unite the members in such a way that some devoted watchers will ever be found in prayer and praise at Our Lady's shrine, telling their beads for the conversion of sinners, the relief of the dying, and the succor of the dead. In Belgium, the Dominican nuns of the Third Order established a monastery for the express purpose of maintaining the Perpetual Rosary, so that there it became not merely the devotion of a society, but the distinctive work of a community. A number of shrines of the order are to be found in the United States. Here, the Rosary is said day and night by members of the community. Rosary processions are held, and pilgrims sing again and again the praises of the Heavenly Queen of all Roman Rite Catholics. Our Lady has 117 blessed titles. Above all, She selected this title at Fatima: "I am the Lady of the Rosary." Saint Francis de Sales said the greatest method of praying is: Pray the Rosary. Saint Thomas Aquinas preached 40 straight days in Rome Italy on just the Hail Mary. Saint John Vianney, patron of priests, was seldom seen without a rosary in his hand. "The rosary is the scourge of the devil" -- Pope Adrian VI "The rosary is a treasure of graces" -- Pope Paul V Padre Pio the stigmatic priest said: "The Rosary is the weapon". Several popes wrote encyclicals on the rosary. John XXIII spoke 38 times about our Lady and the Rosary. He prayed 15 decades daily. Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort wrote: "The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who so loves His Mother." Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary that never was it known that anyone who fled to Your protection, implored Your help, or sought Your intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, we fly to you, O Virgin of virgins, our Mother. To You we come; before You we stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but in Your mercy, hear and answer us. Amen.

[Robert Drobot]

Commemorating † The Feast of Saint Eulogius, Holy Priest and Martyr † Saint Eulogius beheaded, by Lochner > Saint Eulogius was a Spanish priest and martyr of the ninth century. Because of his fearless and intrepid confession of Christ, he was scourged and beaten with rods, and finally beheaded during a Saracen persecution in the city of Cordova. A.D. 850 the Cordoban caliph initiated a violent persecution against the Catholics. Eulogius, a member of one of the most distinguished families of the area, stood out for his writings defending the various martyrs of that persecution. He defended the voluntary martyrs who presented themselves to be killed, a position criticized by many as rash. The Muslims, surprised to see so many Catholics offering themselves as martyrs, became fearful of a Catholic uprising that could threaten their rule. Caliph Abd-er-Rahman II called together the Bishops to meet in Cordoba and put a halt to these voluntary martyrdoms. In fact, the council convened and forbade anyone henceforth to offer himself as a martyr. But the council did so in ambiguous and allegorical terms so that the Bishops might remain in the good graces of the caliph, while not directly condemning the martyrs, who were very popular. Saint Eulogius did not approve of this dissimulation and strongly resisted it. As a result, he was persecuted by both the Muslims and the Catholics who favored adaptation of the Faith to mollify the ruling Muslims. Firm in the defense of the voluntary martyrs, he was beheaded A.D.11 March 859. Comments of Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira : At that time, there were two different problems: one moral and another political. The moral problem is based on a psychological presupposition. For many persons, it is an unbearable torment to spend one’s life running away from danger. The ninth century persecution in Spain obliged Catholics to hide and run under cover of night from one place to another in order to avoid being caught and killed. For some of these Catholics, it was much easier to present themselves to the Arab authorities and say: “I am a Catholic. Kill me if you so desire.” It was a way to end the affliction of continuous flight. This psychological position, which is understandable, is accompanied by a moral problem. Would this voluntary deliverance for martyrdom be a kind of suicide? It is a valid question. Saint Eulogius defended these Spanish martyrs, as did Saint Francis of Sales many centuries later. Both argued that this action did not constitute suicide, and that the ones who acted in this way were true Catholics and real saints. At any rate, this was the reason why many Catholics delivered themselves to martyrdom in this way. The number of martyrs was growing so much that the caliph of Cordoba became concerned and decided to convene a council of Bishops so that they would put a stop to it. It seems strange that a caliph could call together a council of Bishops, but one should remember that the Catholic Religion was only tolerated by the Muslims under the condition that Catholics would not cause any problems for the authorities. Therefore, the Bishops were under pressure and obeyed. It is similar to the policy that Communism adopts in the countries it dominates. It tolerates the Catholic religion only so long as it does not create any problems that could threaten its stability. It is a bad - but intelligent - policy, since it smashes the authentic Catholics and permits only the collaborators to survive. The good Catholics are destroyed or forced underground. Since the number of voluntary martyrs in Cordova was increasing, the caliph feared that this phenomenon could generate a general radicalization that would endanger Muslim dominion over that part of Spain. So, he convened a council of Bishops to put a halt to the preaching of Saint Eulogius against Islamism and his praise of the movement of voluntary martyrdom. As the caliph expected, the council condemned both the Saint and voluntary martyrdom. That condemnation was both ambiguous and groundless. Saint Eulogius resisted the order and continued to courageously support the martyrs. He was so bold in his defense that the only way they found to silence him was to kill him. He became a martyr. What is the lesson we can take from this? In all epochs of the Church there are two currents within her bosom. One wants to be faithful to the Faith as it is. Another is composed of soft Catholics who want to accommodate, to lead good lives, to die tranquilly, and to that end, they compromise the Faith. One is a current of heroism, and the other of accommodation, compromise, and treason. Today, we have those true Catholics who want to keep the Church with the face she always had, and those compromised Catholics who want to adapt themselves as well as the Catholic Faith to the demands of the Revolution in our days. Saint Eulogius fought like a lion and passed through the difficult trial of being condemned by the Catholic Episcopate. It is easy to imagine how this made a man with the soul of a saint suffer. Notwithstanding, he resisted the bad Bishops and, doing so, he gave us an example of how an authentic love for the Church should be. That is, we should love the Church and her institutions in such a way that, even should the men who occupy places of authority condemn us, we would defend the Faith against them, since we should obey God first, and then men. We must be willing to suffer the condemnations and persecutions of those who want to accommodate the Faith to the world. In this sense, Saint Eulogius is our patron saint, and we should ask him to give us the special kind of courage to face such situations, which in many cases is more meritorious than the courage of martyrdom. Α ☧ Ω