When the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the shepherd children of Fatima, she identified herself as Our Lady of the Rosary. As we know, everything she says is significant. In this case, by claiming the title of Our Lady of the Rosary,  the title of Our Lady of Victory was implied. For history is replete with her victories through her most Holy Rosary.

The Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on October 7th because of Our Lady’s Victory at the Battle of Lepanto where the murderous hordes of Mohammed were driven from Christendom on that day in 1571. Today, the Church is beset by enemies from within who are just as determined as the attacking hordes of  centuries ago. This month, it is good to dwell on Our Lady’s Rosary as the means by which she will be victorious in the ongoing battle with the forces of satan in the world and within the Church itself.

We know Our Lady has already given us the keys to victory – her Rosary and devotion to her Immaculate Heart. The evil within the heart of our Church can only be defeated by Our Lady of the Rosary, Victorious in Battle. To help illustrate this we share with you a prophetic vision from St. John Bosco, which possibly refers to our current time or its proximity:

THE PROPHECY OF ST. JOHN BOSCO

“It was a dark night. Men could no longer tell which way to take in order to return to their homes. Suddenly there appeared in the heavens a very bright light that illuminated the steps of the travelers as though it were mid-day. At that moment there was seen a host of men and women, of young and old, of nuns, monks and priests with the Holy Father at the head. They were going out from the Vatican and were arranging themselves in line for a procession. “Then there came a furious storm which clouded that light somewhat and made it appear that light and darkness were engaged in battle. In the meantime, they arrived at a little square covered with dead and wounded, some of whom cried aloud and asked for help.

“Very many were dropping out of the line of procession. After having walked for a time that would correspond to two hundred risings of the sun (200 days) they all realized that they were no longer in Rome. Struck with fear they all ran to the Holy Father to defend him personally and to attend his wants. Instantly two angels were seen carrying a banner, going they presented it to the Holy Father and said: ‘Receive the banner of He Who fights and scatters the strongest armies of the world. Your enemies are dispersed. Your children with tears and sighs beg you to return.’ “Looking at the banner one could see written on one side, ‘Queen conceived without sin,’ and on the other side, ‘Help of Christians.’

In this vision, as in his prophecy of the Two Pillars, St. John Bosco affirms that Christ the King prefers to conquer through means of His Most Blessed Mother. The banner of Christ the King bears two of her titles: The first, “conceived without sin” is of course, the Immaculate Conception and the second title is also very informative, Mary Help of Christians, that is, Our Lady of Victory.

That is her title for vanquishing the Muslims, which will be accomplished at her last (seventh) apparition at Fatima to end the Islamist war on Christians with the conversion of muslims to the true faith. It is obvious as well, that this Queen will also vanquish the heresies which have thrown the Church into such darkness and disarray. She has promised us, “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

A NOVENA OF ROSARIES

The following Novena prayer is for a Novena of Rosaries, that is, nine days of praying the 15 decade, complete Rosary. For those unable to complete the entire Rosary each day, it can also be prayed as a 27 day novena, by saying one five-decade rosary daily, which makes a complete 15 decade rosary each 3 days. For that longer Novena it is good to mark each day on the calendar as it’s completed. There is another lovely tradition, which has worked many miracles, of praying yet another 27 day novena following the first, in thanksgiving for the favor requested. The willingness to pray with faith and gratitude for a favor perhaps not yet granted, is said to be very pleasing to Our Lady. On a personal note, I have made use of this as a 54 day novena of Rosaries on several occasions and have been astounded at Our Lady’s generosity. She truly never fails us when we pray for the salvation of others with this novena of rosaries.

This Rosary Novena is very powerful, so please be sure to continue it, even though your prayers may be answered before the completion.

Our Lady Of The Rosary Novena Prayer

Dearest Lady, Queen of the most Holy Rosary, from Calvary’s cross, thy dear Son entrusted us to thy care. Behold thy weak and sinful child in supplication at thy feet. I beg thee, accept this Holy Rosary, offered for the glory of God, in reparation for the offenses to thine Immaculate Heart and to the Sacred and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, for the salvation of sinners and for the special intention: ____________.

Please, dear Mother, place these poor prayers of mine in the chalice of thine Immaculate Heart and offer them to Jesus. Conscious of my own unworthiness, I trust in thine Immaculate Heart, the fountain of infinite mercy. Amen.

One simple and effective way for us to minimize distractions when saying the Rosary is to prepare carefully for our first Rosary of the day. After morning offering/renewal of consecration, make a spiritual communion. It doesn’t take very long and it enables us to stay focused. After spiritual communion and thanksgiving, pray the Angel of Fatima’s Prayer, that is:

“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the same Son Jesus Christ present in the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for all the sacrileges, outrages, and indifferences by which He Himself is offended. Through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.”

After that, call to mind the particular Mystery, such as Joyful, Sorrowful or Glorious. It helps greatly if we have previously spent some time reading and thinking about these mysteries. If there is interest in it, perhaps we’ll offer a post on Rosary Meditations. Briefly however, in the Joyful Mysteries, we consider Mary’s humility and obedience. The Sorrowful Mysteries are about obedience and humility in action, that is, on the way of the Cross. Jesus has commanded us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Him. The Glorious Mysteries encourage us with hope for the fruits of virtue and help instill in us an ever greater faith, hope and love for Our Lord and His Blessed Mother.

HAIL MARY, KEY TO VICTORY

It is also helpful to consider the words of the Angelic Salutation (Hail Mary) itself.

“Hail Mary, full of Grace”  This is the Angel’s salutation to Mary. Angels are messengers of God, and thus, it is God’s saluation to Mary. And this divine saluation asserts that Mary is  the Immaculate Conception as she confirmed at Lourdes to St. Bernadette. Mary was conceived immaculate from sin, in order to contribute the Body and Blood of Christ. Why is that concept is so difficult for protestants? Why would they want Our Lord Jesus Christ to spend the first nine months of His earthly existence in a sinful body?

It must be because they do not understand that sin is the greatest evil in the world, more so than pain, or even death itself, because sin is death of one’s eternal soul. That is why each Hail Mary begins with the affirmation of the Blessed Virgin’s Immaculate Conception – it is an affirmation of the perfect justice and mercy of God.

“The Lord is with thee”  reminds us that Mary is always with the Most Holy Trinity. She is the most favored Daughter of God the Father, the most beloved Mother of God the Son and the most glorious Spouse of God the Holy Ghost. So, whenever we are praying the Hail Mary, the Holy Trinity is right there with us, too.

“Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”  These are the words of Mary’s kinswoman, Elizabeth. (Luke 1, 42) The Church in her wisdom, added the sacred name of Jesus, by which name we are blessed each time we utter it respectfully. By these Biblical praises, we console Our Blessed Mother and Our Lord for the blasphemies against them. Jesus told Sister Lucia that the Immaculate Heart of His Mother is pierced with numerous thorns caused by ungrateful sinners. He called for us to make reparation. We must not be indifferent to His request.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” When praying this intercession, we refer back mentally to the Fatima prayer above, which by Divine inspiration applies the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary to the conversion and salvation of sinners. Mary is truly the Mother of Mercy. The first revelation of Fatima was of the huge number of sinners falling constantly into Hell. We are commanded to pray and offer penance for them in order that they be saved. This part of the Hail Mary supplies this need if it is coupled with a clear intention.

At the Doxology, as we pray, “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost”,  we recall that Mary is always praying that prayer, so dear to her Heart, with us, as are all the choirs of Heaven. For she is Queen of Heaven, and beloved of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Then follows the Fatima Decade Prayer, “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of Hell and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy.”  Once again, we ask Jesus to apply that infinite merit to all poor sinners.

We have written on the Our Father in two previous posts, Meditations on the Our Father. I will restore those links as soon as I can.

PRAYER,  PENANCE AND ROSARIES

In numerous apparitions from Our Lady of Good Success, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and on up to La Salette, Lourdes and Fatima, both Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother have asked for prayer and penance. One certain way to fulfill both requests (prayer and penance) is to make time in our busy day for the full rosary of fifteen decades.

As St. Louis de Monfort tells us, “…nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because (Mary) obtains for her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins and by means of this they obtain God’s forgiveness and mercy.”

I would add that it is likely that no one will be lost for whom we earnestly pray our Rosaries. Our Lady will never fail her children!

If you are concerned about the well-being of your loved ones, or for our Church in these days of apostasy and confusion, there is no better way to help than by praying the Holy Rosary. At Fatima, in response to Lúcia’s question, “Who are you?” Our Lady replied, “I am Our Lady of the Rosary.” Sister Lúcia explains:

“The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Holy Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.”

Frère Michel tells us that Sister Lúcia often stressed that in every one of her six apparitions, Our Lady made sure to repeat the request, always in the same terms, with the same insistence: “Recite the Rosary every day!”

“This shows how much this beautiful prayer, so traditional in the Church, is supremely pleasing to Her motherly heart. Far from being a completely secondary and optional devotion, the Virgin of Fatima came to reveal to us that the Rosary is the most ordinary condition to infallibly obtain all the graces that we ask of Her.

“Yes, She is the Mediatrix of all graces, by the good pleasure of Her Son. But this outpouring of favours which She holds in Her Heart, She can only release on each of our souls, our families, our countries and the world, in response to the humble and suppliant imploring of innumerable Rosaries. If, just as at Lourdes, She willed to appear at the Cova da Iria holding in Her hand this blessed instrument, guide of our prayers, it was to show us that it is the surest means, because it is the easiest and the humblest, of winning Her Heart and obtaining Her graces.

Frère Michel quotes Sister Lúcia: “The Rosary is, for the great part of souls who are living in the world, as it were their daily spiritual bread. To deprive them of it, inciting them to neglect or ignore this prayer, is to snatch from their mouth the bread of grace.”

And yet, indifference to the Holy Rosary prevails today! In so many of the Novus Ordo parishes, the Divine Mercy false devotion is far more popular, while the devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary have declined greatly. We need strong Father-figures, good Catholic men to lead the Rosary before Mass in every parish throughout the world if we are to turn the diabolical tide. Please pray that Our Lady send us laborers to this harvest! She has promised to answer our prayers, let us renew our efforts with confidence.

Take heart – The battle is far from over – Our Blessed Mother is always victorious!
Rejoice, O Virgin Mary for thou alone hast destroyed all heresies in all the world.

Post Note: There is a potent grace at work when we recite the full 15 decade Rosary for 9 days; it tends to become habitual. Our Lady begins to exert a calming effect even in the most hectic and demanding times.  You will find yourself adding a few Aves to your last Rosary of the day in fond thanksgiving for being given these tremendous graces. In time, even the inevitable aridity holds a certain peace; for you will know that she is there with you and so you are right where you belong, truly working for the cleansing of the Church and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of our Mother.

Thank you for reading. I pray for you always.

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

† Most Glorious Queen of Heaven, by thy holy Rosary, bind us to thee and lead us to Jesus!

† Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

† Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.

† St. Joseph, guardian of the Holy Family, protect our families, protect our priests.

† St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!