Overcoming Lust with the Rosary

Chastity.com ^ | Matt Fradd

[Morgana]

Since today is the feast of the Holy Rosary, in this post I'd like to remind us that the rosary is a powerful weapon in our battle against unchastity and in particular pornography.

“To recite the rosary,” wrote Pope John Paul II, “is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.” To commit to praying the rosary, perhaps even daily, is to commit to spending fifteen to twenty minutes in quiet contemplation.

Quieting the Mind

Often those who use pornography habitually say they experience an inner disquiet that can make contemplation seem almost impossible. The rosary is a practical and beautiful way to reverse that problem, to begin quieting our minds and our passions.

Some people dismiss the rosary as too simple, a prayer for blue-haired church ladies. Though it’s true that the rosary is a humble prayer, this is by no means a defect. Consider the humble offering of the young boy who volunteered five barley loaves to our Lord (John 6:9).

That too was a simple offering, but its result was magnificent! In the same way, when we offer the five decades of the rosary to Jesus through the hands of our Blessed Mother, what can he not do?

The famous words of one bishop, Hugh Doyle, are appropriate here: “No one can live continually in sin and continue to say the rosary: either they will give up sin or they will give up the rosary.”

I'd like to encourage us to offer a holy rosary today for all those affected by the sin of pornography: consumers, producers, and the victims who call themselves "stars."

Let's conclude by taking a look at five powerful quotes about the rosary that I hope will inspire you (and me) to greater devotion.

5 Quotes About the Rosary

1. "If you say the Holy Rosary every day, with a spirit of faith and love, our Lady will make sure she leads you very far along her Son's path." — St. Josemaria Escriva

2. "The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin. . . . If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors." — Pope Pius XI

3. The Rosary is the Weapon. — St. Pio

4. The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God . . . and if you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary. — Pope Saint Pius X

5. "The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the rosary is beyond description." — Venerable Fulton Sheen

Today offer a rosary for all those addicted to pornography as well as those who are in the industry.

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Matt Fradd works for Covenant Eyes, and is the author of the new book Delivered: True Stories of Men and Women who Turned from Porn to Purity. He is also the founder of The Porn Effect (www.theporneffect.com) a site dedicated to exposing the reality behind the fantasy of porn and offering help to those seeking authentic sexual liberation.

Read more from Matt at his website www.mattfradd.com.

[Arthur McGowan]

You just reminded me of a woman I knew some years ago. Terrible stroke. Couldn’t say a word, not a syllable. But, no doubt through years of repetition, when her friends prayed the Rosary, she joined in loud and clear. What a joy that must have been for her!

[Arthur McGowan]

Old Yeller Post 63:"Why do Catholics memorize prayers, instead of speaking to God from the heart and spontaneously?"

The key words you have used are "instead of."

That Catholics use one form of prayer "instead of" some other form of prayer is a pure assumption on your part.

[defconw]

Indeed! Maybe that is a gift to us in our waning days.