“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

“I want you to pray the Rosary daily.”

Contents
Part 1: The Rosary’s Power
- What Mary, Saints, Popes and Magisterium have said on the Rosary
- Quotes from Mary
- Quotes from Saints
- Quotes from Magisterial Documents

- Internal Perfection of the Rosary

- Power of the Vocal Prayers
- Power of the Mental Prayers
- The Complete Rosary

Part 2: Praying the Rosary

- Rosary Tips
- Good Times to pray the Daily Rosary
- General Advice on the Rosary
- Tips/Methods for Meditation
- Common illusions and discouragements
- I don’t feel anything when I pray
- I’m not good at meditating
- The rosary is so boring and tough
- I’m too lazy to pray, I'm too busy

Part 3: FAQs
- Questions
- Aren’t all prayers and devotions equal, in and of themselves?
- Marian apparitions like Fatima are just private revelations though
- What about the Divine Office?
- Must I pray the rosary to be saved? Is it a sin to not pray the rosary?
- Why should Our Lady have told us to say the Rosary every day rather than to attend
Mass every day?
- How come no one spoke to me about the rosary this way before?
- What about the Luminous mysteries?
- Does the Rosary take away from Jesus?
- Is the rosary the only prayer I can pray?
- Is it superstitious to pray the Rosary?
- Bible condemns vain repetitions?
- Why Mary?

“it would be easier to separate the light from the sun than Mary from Jesus.”
- St Louis De Montfort, True Devotion to Mary
 ROSARY- Part 1
What Mary, Saints, Popes and Magisterium have said on the Rosary

What Mary Said

In almost every Major Church Approved Apparition since the 18th century, God, through
Mary, has been relentlessly pleading:

“Say the Rosary every day to bring peace to the world and the end of the war.”
“all must say the rosary to obtain such graces”
“I am the Lady of the Rosary”
-Our Lady of Fatima | Portugal | 19171

“Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary.”

-Our Lady of Akita | Japan | 1973

“I want the Rosary to be prayed every day.”

-Our Lady of Cuapa | Nicaragua | 1980

“Recite the Rosary every day…”

-Our Lady of Kibeho | Rwanda | 1981

“The Holy Rosary is the weapon to which the enemy fears the most; it is also
the refuge of those who look for lightening their grief and it is the door to enter
to My Heart.”
-Our Lady of the Rosary of San
Nicolas | Argentina | 1983

“I want you to pray the Rosary daily.”

-Our Lady of Gietrzwald | Poland | 1877

1
Fatima is the greatest Marian apparition in the Church:
In all 6 of her appearances, she asked for the daily rosary!
Major Church Approved Marian Apparitions Promoting the Rosary:

- Our Lady of Fatima | Portugal

- Our Lady of Lourdes2 | France
- Our Lady of Akita | Japan
- Our Lady of Kibeho | Rwanda
- Our Lady of the Rosary | San Nicolas, Argentina
- Our Lady of Cuapa | Nicaragua
- Our Lady of Gietrzwald | Poland

God performs some of the greatest miracles of the Church in Marian

Apparitions.
For Major approved apparitions to so consistently
carry the same message is an enormous testimony to the Rosary’s power.

What The Saints Said

“It would be almost impossible to exaggerate the importance which holy writers attach to the
practice of this devotion…” -Fr Henry James Coleridge SJ

- "The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary."

- “I want the Rosary said every day with as much love as possible.”
- Saint Francis de Sales
-
- “The Rosary is the most beautiful and the richest of all prayers to the Mediatrix of all
grace; It is the prayer that touches most the heart of the Mother of God. Say it each
day!”
- Pope Saint Pius X
-
- “If I did not pray my Rosary for even one day, I would fear for my eternal salvation”
- Saint Alphonsus

2
Mother Mary always held the rosary during her appearances at Lourdes, and only appeared to St
Bernadette while she was praying her rosary
- "No prayer is more meritorious for the soul and more glorious for Jesus and Mary
than a well recited Rosary. "
- “The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer,
who loves His Mother.”
- "It would hardly be possible for me to put into words how much Our Lady thinks of
the Holy Rosary and of how she vastly prefers it to all other devotions"
- "I have no better way of knowing if a man is for God than if he likes to say the
Hail Mary and the Rosary."
- “ [a priest who prays and preaches the Rosary] will do more good in one month
than that of other preachers in several years.”
- Saint Louis de Montfort
-
- “The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to
the recitation of the Rosary 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…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.”
- “All people of good will can and must say the Rosary every day”
- Sr Lucia of Fatima

-
- “One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular Our Lady will save the world. “

- St Dominic
-
- “Whoever spreads the Rosary is Saved”

- Blessed Bartolo Longo

●
● "If you persevere in reciting the Rosary, this will be a most probable sign of your
eternal salvation."
- Blessed Alan de la Roche
● "So many Rosaries means so many souls saved."

- Saint Maxamillian Kolbe

-
● “When you say your Rosary, the angels rejoice, the Blessed Trinity delights in it, my Son
finds joy in it too, and I myself am happier than you can possibly guess. After the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass, there is nothing in the Church that I love as much as the
Rosary.”

- Our Lady to Blessed Alan de la Roche

●
● “Go to the Madonna. Love her! Always say the Rosary. Say it well. Say it as often as
you can!”
● "The rosary is the weapon for our times… Hold on tightly to the Rosary!"
● "Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of
the Blessed Mother. Love the Madonna and pray the rosary, for her rosary is the
weapon against the evils of the world today. All graces given by God pass through the
Blessed Mother."

- Saint Padre Pio

-
● St Padre Pio the stigmatist prayed atleast 15 rosaries a day and spent almost all his free time praying it.
He once prayed up to 34 rosaries.
● St Teresa de Avila, Doctor of prayer, prayed her rosary daily throughout her whole life and went into
rapture once while praying it.
● St Francis de Sales set up Rosary Confraternities in every part of his diocese. He would not sleep till he
finished his rosary. He converted more than 40,000 Calvinists in Geneva.
● St. John Vianney, patron saint and model of Priests, was seldom seen without a rosary in his hand.
● St Dominic preached and spread the rosary everywhere, reaping the most marvelous fruits known to
the christian world. Through the rosary, he eradicated the wide-spread albigensian heresy, and helped
to usher in an era of unprecedented peace and progress (13th century).
● St Pope Pius V , in most dire times, called the whole church to pray the rosary to obtain a necessary
and miraculous victory at the Battle of Lepanto
Countless great Saints after the time of St Dominic were devoted to the rosary. Here is a
short list of a few:

“Saint Lawrence, Saint Peter Canisius, Saint Robert Bellarmine, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Francis de
Sales,Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, Charles Borromeo, Saint Philip Neri, Saint Francis Xavier and Saint
Louis de Montfort. The Holy Founders, Saint Camillus and Saint Ignatius wore their rosaries around their
necks; as did Saint John Vianney, Saint Joseph Cafasso, Saint Margaret, Saint Bernadette, Saint Bertilla,
Saint Stanislaus Kostka, and Saint John Berchmans,Saint Dominic, Saint Maria Goretti, Saint Catherine
of Sienna,and Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Saint Anthony Mary Claret, and St. Padre Pio.” - Praying the
Rosary with the Saints, Catherine Moran Ph.D.

You will have a difficult time finding a saint who did not have a powerful devotion to the
rosary. However, there was no Saint who did not have a great devotion to Mary.

What The Popes Said

Almost every Pope since the 15th century has upheld the Rosary.

"The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life.
It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of
praying."
-Pope Leo XIII

“The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers”

“Young man, i recommend whatever you ask for, ask for it by means of the Rosary”

“If there were one million families praying the Rosary every day, the entire world would be
saved.”
-Pope St Pius X
"There is no surer means of calling down God’s blessings upon the family… than the daily
recitation of the Rosary."
-Pope Pius XII

“It may justly be said that the Rosary of Mary is, as it were, the principle and foundation on
which the very Order of St. Dominic rests for the perfecting of the lives of its members, and
obtaining the salvation of others.”

-Pope Pius XI

"The Rosary is the glory of the Roman Church.... It takes its place ... after the Mass and the Sacraments."

"The Rosary is a magnificent and universal prayer for the needs of the Church, the nations and the entire
world."
-Pope John XXIII

"Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world."

- Pope Pius IX

“The Rosary is a prayer both so humble and simple and a theologically rich in Biblical content. I
beg you to pray it.”

"The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A prayer so simple and so rich; from deepest heart, I exhort all to
recite it.”

- St Pope John Paul II

Many other Popes, such as Leo X (1521), Pius V (1572), Gregory XIII (1585), Sixtus V (1590), Clement
VIII (1605), Alexander VII (1667), Bl. Innocent XI (1689), Clement XI (1721), Innocent XIII (1724) have
promoted this devotion.

A more extensive list of what popes have said on the Rosary can be found here
What the Magisterium Said:

Many Popes have taught the Rosary and commended it to the faithful in official
encyclicals and apostolic exhortations.

“… there is nothing better than devout and persevering prayer, provided it be joined with a love for and
practice of Christian life. And both of these, the spirit of prayer and the practice of Christian life, are best
attained through the devotion of the Rosary of Mary.”

- Magnae Dei Matris, Pope Leo XIII, 1892

“Now, among the several rites and manners of paying honor to the Blessed Mary, some are to be
preferred, inasmuch as we know them to be most powerful and most pleasing to our Mother; and for
this reason we specially mention by name and recommend the Rosary.”

- Octobri Mense, Pope Leo XIII, 1891

“There are, of course, more ways than one to win her protection by prayer, but as for Us, We think that the
best and most effective way to her favor lies in the Rosary.”

- Adiutricem, Pope Leo XIII, 1895

“Among the various supplications with which we successfully appeal to the Virgin Mother of God, the
Holy Rosary without doubt occupies a special and distinct place.”

- Ingravescentibus malis, Pope Pius XI, 1937

“(The Rosary is the prayer that) is most adapted to fostering widely piety and every virtue.”

- Fausto Appetente Die, Pope Benedict XV, 1921

“We well know the Rosary’s powerful efficacy to obtain the maternal aid of the Virgin. By no means is
there only one way to pray to obtain this aid. However, We consider the Holy Rosary the most
convenient and most fruitful means, as is clearly suggested by the very origin of this practice, heavenly
rather than human, and by its nature.”

- Ingruentium Malorum, Ven. Pope Pius XII, 1951

“ We have desired to revive everywhere this devotion, and to spread it far and wide among the faithful
of the world.”

- Vi È Ben Noto, Pope Leo XIII, 1887

 “(The Rosary is) a great public and universal prayer for the ordinary and extraordinary needs of the
holy Church, of the nations, and of the entire world,' for this Rosary is, as it were, 'the Gospel in
miniature,' and 'henceforth, a devotion of the Church.”

- Recurrens Mensis October, Pope Pius VI, 1969

Magisterial documents promoting the rosary:

● Supremi apostolatus. Superiore anno. Quod auctoritate. Vi E Ben Noto. Octobri

mense.Magnae Dei Matris. Laetitiae sanctae. Lucunda semper. Adiutricem
populi. Fidentem piumque. Augustissimae Virginis. Diuturni temporis. (Pope Leo
XIII)
● Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Redemptoris Mater (Pope St John Paul II)
● Marialis Cultus, Christi Matri (Pope Paul VI)
● Grata Recordatio (Pope John XXIII)
● Ad Caeli Reginam, Ingruentium Malorum (Pope Pius XII)
● Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum (Pope St Pius X)
● Ingravescentibus Malis (Pope Pius XI)
● Fausto Appetente Die (Pope Benedict XV)
● Consueverunt Romani Pontifices (Pope St Pius V)

Many Popes have incessantly promoted the rosary in their official capacity

E.g Pope Leo XIII who is known as the “Rosary Pope”,devoted 12 encyclicals and 5 apostolic letters to
this single topic. He showed in Adiutricem populi that the Rosary was the means of reuniting the Eastern
Orthodox Church with Rome. Pope John Paul II championed the rosary, called for a Year of The Rosary,
and introduced the luminous Mysteries. Pope John XXIII spoke on the rosary 38 times.

The Rosary is the most promoted devotion of the Church, so far beyond any other. The
Church even dedicates the whole month of October to it. It has been called on, time and
time again to be the answer to the Church’s problems.

"As long as priests followed Saint Dominic’s example and preached devotion to the Holy Rosary,
piety and fervor thrived throughout the Christian world and in those religious orders which
were devoted to the Rosary”- Secret of the Rosary, St Louis De Montfort
It is the one devotion that can truly be said to be backed up by all of Heaven.

Before continuing, keep in mind:

1. Without God’s Grace, we can do nothing

2. With God’s Grace, we can do all things
3. Prayer is the principal and ordinary means of obtaining Grace, and in
itself, the most necessary and best means of perfection3
4. Mary is the ‘Mediatrix of all Graces’ and most perfect way to Christ
5. The Rosary is both the supreme private prayer and supreme Marian
devotion

3
Prayer: The Great Means of Salvation and Perfection, St Alphonsus Ligouri
 “Whoever prays is certainly saved. He who does not is certainly damned. All the
blessed have been saved by prayer. All the damned have been lost through not praying.”
-St Alphonsus, Doctor of Prayer

- "Remember that one does not win the battle without prayer…The choice is yours."
- "Prayer is the best weapon we possess: the key that opens the heart of GOD."
- -St Padre Pio

-Pray Daily! You are only as holy as your habits

-There is no better way to spend your time than in prayer. ‘Pray without
ceasing’.

- “There is no surer or easier way than Mary in uniting all men with Christ”
- -Pope St Pius X

“All the Saints have a great devotion to Our Lady: no grace comes from Heaven without
passing through her hands.”
-St John Marie Vianney

“The future will be resplendent, and an untold number of souls will be saved, but on one
condition: that your sons be devoted to the Blessed Virgin.”
- St Dominic Savio

“Mary is the safest, easiest, shortest and most perfect way of approaching Jesus”
-St Louis De Montfort

-The Saints teach that those who go to Jesus through Mary, will be sanctified
greater and faster than those who, with the same effort, go to Jesus on their own.

-They unanimously teach she is a sure path to salvation and holiness.

Basically,

Prayer (Most perfect exercise) × Mary (Most perfect advocate) = Rosary

“Our Lady revealed to Blessed Alan that no sooner had Saint Dominic begun preaching the Rosary than
hardened sinners were touched and wept bitterly over their grievous sins. Young children performed
incredible penances and everywhere that he preached the Holy Rosary such fervor arose that sinners
changed their lives and edified everyone by their penances and change of heart.” - Secret of the Rosary, St
Louis De Montfort

The internal perfection of the Rosary

The Body of the rosary- Vocal Prayer:

The rosary consists of the church’s chief vocal prayers

-The Our Father: Composed by Christ, our God himself. “Lord, teach us to pray”

St Thomas teaches "Among all other prayers, the Lord's Prayer holds the chief place"
-The Hail Mary: the very first words that marked the beginning of the most important event in all
of history, the incarnation, the salvation of all mankind, and the downfall of Satan's empire. How
powerful it is to often recite these sacred words. The Holy Mother of God is also invoked and honoured.

- St Thomas the wisest of Saints, spent 40 days in Rome preaching on just the Hail Mary. He called the
Hail Mary one of the easiest to pray but so powerful that it could convey indescribably great graces.

-Fr. Francisco Suarez, the eminent theologian, said upon his deathbed that he would willingly give all
the many learned books he had written and all the labors of his life's work for the merit contained in
just one Hail Mary.

-The Glory be: Our Triune God is called to mind and honoured. The trinity is the central mystery of the
Christian faith

-Apostles Creed: Composed by the Holy Apostles themselves, according to tradition

"And from well ordered study is gradually acquired the realisation that the most exalted, most
profound and most vital truths are nothing else than the elementary truths of the Christian
religion, such as are taught in the 'Lord's Prayer' or first lines of the Catechism"

- Fr Austin Woodburry, Commentary on the Summa Theologiae

Remember this when you pray the rosary and say the 'Our Father', 'Hail Mary', 'Apostles Creed' etc. The
rosary is simple yet so inexhaustibly profound

The Soul of the rosary- Mental prayer (Meditation):

You meditate on the life of Christ, day in and day out. You grow in knowledge and
love of him.

“I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”-Psalms 77:22

*Note that the church teaches that mental prayer is also the most effective spiritual
exercise. The rosary brings you to meditate (mental prayer) on the supreme and
inexhaustible mysteries of the incarnate God, and his life.
(Words highlighted in light green below are lines quoted or derived from St Louis De Montfort’s secret of the rosary)

“The Saints made our Lord’s life the principal object of their study; they meditate on his
virtues and his sufferings, and in this way arrived at Christian perfection.”

Knowledge and meditation on Christ’s life is supreme:

● Supreme in the dignity of the object: a God-man, compared to whom the

whole universe is but a drop of dew or a grain of sand;
● Supreme in value : The knowledge of Christ is the knowledge of wisdom and
salvation ; surpassing infinitely all other worldly knowledge in value and
perfection.
● Supreme in necessity: For no one can be saved without knowing Christ and
following his ways. “I am the way and the truth and the life.”-John 14:6

St Thomas teaches that we come to our best knowledge of God through the
contemplation on the life of Christ, with Christ as the highest and most perfect
revelation of God.

“Blessed is the Rosary which gives us this science and knowledge of our Blessed
Lord through our meditations on his life, death, passion and glory.”
The Saints hold that meditation on Christ’s passion is the most fruitful
spiritual exercise. The rosary is meditation not only of his passion, but
his entire life!

“St. Augustine assures us that there is no spiritual exercise more

fruitful or more useful than the frequent reflection on the
sufferings of our Lord. Blessed Albert the Great, who had St. Thomas
Aquinas as his student, learned in a revelation that by simply thinking of or
meditating on the passion of Jesus Christ, a Christian gains more merit than if
he had fasted on bread and water every Friday for a year, or had beaten himself
with the discipline once a week til blood flowed, or had recited the whole
Book of Psalms every day. If this is so, then how great must be the merit
we can gain from the Rosary, which commemorates the whole life
and passion of our Lord?"

"Blessed is the man …whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on
the law day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." -Psalms 1:1-3

Psalms 1 says blessed is the man who meditates on the word of the law
day and night. How much more blessed are you, who meditate on the
Word of God incarnate, and his life, day and night?
“To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of
Christ.”- St John Paul II

You contemplate on the 3 central mysteries of the faith:

- The Incarnation (Joyful Mysteries)

- The Passion and Redemption (Sorrowful Mysteries)
- The Resurrection (Glorious Mysteries)
- The Luminous mysteries encompass his holy ministry as well

You impress these heavenly mysteries upon your mind and soul, day in and day out.

“ whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such
things.”-Philippians 4:8

-
"Set your minds on the things above, not on earthly things" -Colossians 3:2

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” -Romans
12:2

“I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.”-Psalms 143:5

The rosary beautifully integrates Vocal, Mental and Contemplative prayer.

Vocal Prayer ⇒ Mental Prayer ⇒ Contemplative Prayer

It is designed to lead you from a lower form of prayer to a higher form of

prayer. Each stage of prayer acts like a step in a ladder, helping you to
advance step by step.

- Without a solid life of vocal prayer, you won't get very good at mental prayer. And
without a good life of mental prayer, your vocal prayers will become dry.
-
- Through practice of vocal and mental prayer, your soul is sanctified and better disposed
to receiving contemplative prayer from God. Hence, the rosary harmoniously integrates
all elements.
*Note: Meditation is essential and very important! Praying the rosary without
meditating (or trying to meditate) is like a body without its soul.

The Rosary is not simply saying a bunch of Our Fathers+ Hail Marys + meditating on
the life of christ. But when all its aspects and perfections are stirred together in the
rosary, it becomes an indescribable weapon that calls down the omnipotence of God.

The Rosary is the Key that unlocks all the doors.

By doing this one thing, you eventually gain everything else

If it comes from Mary, it is most perfect, for she is the most perfect of all of God’s
creatures.

Mary repeatedly asked for the Rosary specifically. Why not the mass, wearing
scapulars/medals, holy hour, other chaplets, lectio divina, confession etc? Because
she knows that by doing this 1 thing, everything else will come!

It does not “compete” with other spiritual exercises, but it serves to enhance their
fruits! By doing your rosary, all these other holy devotions will come. Mary will
guide you and bring in all the most fruitful spiritual practices suited for you. (Eg:
Mass, adoration, confession , spiritual reading, lectio divina, Divine office etc)

By praying your daily rosary, your soul will be disposed to receive even more from
the Mass and sacraments. Like being put in the right frame of mind and soul to really
benefit by it.

you will find yourself being led to engage in more spiritual practices, all with greater
devotion.

(You will find that many who go to daily mass also have a habit of praying the daily rosary)
Just do this one thing and everything else will fall into place

The Complete Rosary

Many who pray 5 decades (‘the rosary’) daily might feel that the rosary’s efficacy
appears over-exaggerated, based off your own experience with it.

There is some truth to that sentiment, and this is because

you aren’t really praying 'the Rosary'

The Complete Rosary is actually all 15 decades! (3 mysteries)

- the Saints and Mary are referring to all 15 decades when they refer to the daily
“Rosary”
- St. Pope Pius V, himself a Dominican, issued an apostolic letter establishing the 15
decades as the official Church-authorized Rosary
- 5 decades are for those who are just starting out, or for children4, as St Louis
acknowledges. The norm is to pray all 3 mysteries daily. That is the
complete rosary. (Secret of the Rosary
- When Mary gave the rosary to St Dominic, she asked him to “Preach my
psalter”, which was all 150 Hail Marys.
- The 15 promises of the rosary correspond to the 15 decades.

Don't be overwhelmed. Though seemingly challenging, once you get into the habit, it
is actually very doable and your spiritual life will rocket. You can start out with 5
Decades and work your way up.

It takes about 45 mins or so in total. Time well spent on God. Also, split the 3 or 4
mysteries throughout the day.

If only you consider how little time is being asked of you! (15×3 =45 mins)
4
“Dear little friends…Of course it would be too much to expect you to say the whole fifteen mysteries every day,
but do say at least five mysteries, and say them properly with love and devotion. “ Secret of the Rosary, St Louis De
Montfort
 We easily spend hours on rather useless things like social media, games, messaging
etc. Spend just a fraction of your day on God, the most important thing.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added
unto you.” - Matthew 6:33

(At Fatima, Mary asked for at least a third of the full rosary as a minimum, so praying 5 decades is still
fulfilling her request)

These 15 promises contain virtually everything a Christian would ever wish for
The Fruits of the rosary are truly miraculous. Problems of any kind, vices and
addictions that people just cannot overcome, are so quickly conquered. You will see a
great change in just a few months' time.

Bonus:

The Rosary has been the cause of more miracles than any other prayer.

8 Jesuit Missionaries miraculously survived the

Hiroshima bomb blast, living the message of Fatima

The bomb exploded half a mile from the Jesuit Church of Our Lady’s Assumption. More than
100,000 people were killed instantly and thousands more died months later from the effects of
radiation.

To the doctors’ amazement, Father Schiffer and the other priests had no radiation or ill-effects
from the bomb (Article here)
“we survived because we were living the message of Fatima.”- Fr Schiffer

(This coincides with the bomb in Nagasaki, where the brothers of the Franciscan friary St Maxamillian
Kolbe founded, were also miraculously unharmed as they prayed their daily rosary)

Dr Stephen Rinehart’s analysis (US Dept of Defence):

“From a scientific viewpoint, what happened to those Jesuits at Hiroshima still defies all human logic
from the laws of physics as understood today (or at any time in the future). It must be concluded
that some other (external) force was present whose power and/or capability to transform energy
and matter as it relates to humans is beyond current comprehension.” ( more can be read here )

Mary can protect her children from a nuclear blast. What can she not do for
you?

The Rosary is more powerful than the Atomic bomb!

Commit to praying it daily!

 ROSARY- Part 2
Tips to pray the rosary

Tips to pick up the habit of the Daily Rosary:

- Good times to pray the daily rosary

- General Advice
- Tips/Methods for Meditation

Good times to pray the daily rosary:

- 1 rosary (15-20 mins) when you wake up, with morning offering
(Mornings are the most important time for prayer)*
- 1 or 2 rosaries while commuting to school/work/wherever
- 1 rosary during lunch break
- A few decades during pockets of time throughout the day
- A few decades while walking around/doing simple work
- 1 rosary/few decades during adoration
- 1 rosary/few decades on the way to mass or before/after mass to
prepare yourself
- 1 or 2 rosaries while commuting home
- 1 rosary in the evening before/after dinner
- 1 rosary before bed
Just mix and match the above combination to get at least 3 (or 4) rosaries in
daily (4 rosaries takes 60~75 mins roughly). You'll see it's actually very very
doable

The rosary is like a portable chapel, accessible anytime, anywhere. If you

have 2 minutes to spare, you can pray a decade.

Use your time well! Don’t waste it! Nothing is more valuable than time,
and time is never better spent than with God (i.e. in prayer)

How you spend your hours, is how you will spend your life.
Time well spent gains eternal rewards. Sanctity is your highest duty and
highest interest
“in every moment, if we spend it well, we can acquire treasures of merits for heaven” - St Alphonsus

General Advice:
- *Mornings are the most important and critical time of the day to
pray, as the Saints teach. Give your first fruits to God. God lays
up for you the necessary graces for the day in the morning. You
start the day off bad, the rest of the day is likely ruined. The
reverse is also true.
“We must take great care never to do anything before having said our morning
prayers...The Devil once declared that if he could have the first moment of the
day, he was sure of all the rest.” - St. John Vianney

- Spend 15- 25 mins on 1 rosary. Try not to take too long! The
quality of your prayer is not defined by its length. Keep it fairly
short, practical and sustainable.

- Praying while commuting is excellent. Instead of using your phone

etc, you can pray! The most useless part of your day just became
your most valuable. For perspective, you could technically pray
2-4 rosaries during your time just spent on commuting

- If you want to pray all 3 or 4 mysteries daily, a great rule is to get

in your first 2 rosaries by noon. This practice will secure your
habit

- Some days you might not hit all the rosaries you wanted. It's ok!
That's just part of the process of forming habits. Simply continue
 the next day like nothing happened. Don't entertain vain
discouragements.

- Spread your rosaries throughout the day to punctuate it with

prayer and better keep the presence of God. This helps you be
continually strengthened, protected and nourished by grace as
your day progresses

- Pray the intro prayers (Apostles Creed, 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, 1
Glory be) only on the first rosary. The rosary was meant to be 1
continuous prayer split up throughout the day. The Hail holy
queen can be repeated once each time. Note this is all flexible

- Start off with 1 daily rosary (15 mins). Give God 1% of your day.
Then slowly work up to 4 rosaries a day (60 mins) to give God 4%
of your day.

- BUT If truly desirous, you can try to pray the complete rosary from
the get-go (as it was intended), rather than just 1 daily. You will
actually find that it's easier to pray all 3 or 4 rosaries daily,
rather than just 1 rosary. I mean it. Each rosary comes with
grace to help you keep going and sustain you. You will see rapid
and tremendous growth like never seen before when you pray the
rosary as it was intended. Your spiritual life will rocket. The more
you run, the easier each run becomes. 1 rosary will gradually
become like no sweat. God is not outdone in generosity.

- Keep a rosary with you wherever you go

- Use your fingers to pray if you don't have a rosary

- Try to recollect yourself before beginning and keep the presence

of Mary as best you can! (important)
 - Recommended to say the rosary in chronological order if you are
doing all 4 mysteries (joyful, luminous, sorrowful, glorious). But
this is entirely flexible and you can do the same mysteries more
than once in the day.

- Pray with your families and invite your friends! Your prayers will
become more powerful
“If families give Our Lady fifteen minutes a day by reciting the Rosary, I assure them that
their homes will become, by God’s grace, peaceful places.”- Father Patrick Peyton

“Somebody who says his Rosary alone only gains the merit of one Rosary, but if he says
it together with thirty other people he gains the merit of thirty Rosaries. This is the law of
public prayer. How profitable, how advantageous this is!” - St Louis De Montfort

If you pray 3 to 4 rosaries, it does not mean you will end up having to rattle off your
rosary as fast as possible, or have no time left for yourself! You have more than enough
time in the day.
Simply commit certain blocks of time for prayer. Roughly 15-20 mins per rosary is a good
and comfortable pace.
However “whenever the Rosary clashes with a duty of one's state in life, holy as the Rosary is,
one must give preference to the duty to be performed. Similarly, sick people are not obliged to say
the whole Rosary or even part of it if this effort might tire them and make them worse.” - St Louis
De Montfort
Tips/Methods for Meditation:
- Spend awhile recollecting the Presence of God and Mary before
beginning to pray (foundational and essential, applies for all
prayers!).Ask Jesus and Mary to help you meditate before
beginning.Glance at the crucifix to recall God’s love. Pray for and
mention a particular intention at the start (e.g. conversion of so and so,
help for an exam, grace to overcome a chief vice etc).
- Read rosary meditations as you pray (many found online, This one is
great)
- Do the scriptural rosary (many variations found online)
- Focus on a particular virtue our lord is displaying in each mystery that is
speaking to you (I.e. opposite of your chief vice). See how you can set
out to imitate him and practically live out that virtue in your own life.
(Really excellent fruitful method, yet simple enough for anyone to do)
- Say the names of Mary and Jesus with great reverence in the Hail Mary
- Use the 'I desire' method: Say a particular grace/virtue you are desiring
at the moment, which is called to mind by the mystery, at the beginning
of the decade (E.g 1st Glorious mystery, Resurrection of Jesus: 'I desire
a greater faith/greater love for God/ greater peace etc)
- Put yourself in the shoes of a person in the mystery. Imagine the sights,
sounds and smells etc. (More Ignatian method, can work well for some)
- Look at holy images related to the mystery
- Get into the proper and reverent posture of prayer whenever possible.
(Eg kneeling or sitting etc). Do not overlook this, it makes a big
difference. What you do with your body affects your soul.
- Say the words out loud
- Add a phrase after the name of Jesus in the Hail Mary, relating to the
mystery. For example, during the 4th Sorrowful Mystery, “...the fruit of
thy womb, Jesus who is carrying the cross. Holy Mary Mother of
God…”.
(Suggested by St Louis de Montfort)
- Make a specific and practical resolution, relevant to the mystery, when
you pray. Eg for the 2nd joyful mystery where Mary visits and helps
elizabeth:
"the next person in need that I see, I will go and help them"
Or "I will help my mom wash the dishes today" etc
 (Taught by St Francis de Sales)

This is very important. The goal of mental prayer is to inflame the heart
and set the will in motion. In a word, meditation ought to lead to love
and to action. You can have 1 or 2 main resolutions you commit to.
(Overlaps with the green tip above)

“[Resolutions] constitute the principal fruit of mental prayer”

- Catechism of Mental Prayer, Rev Joseph Simler

“Prayer does not yield to us all its fruit, unless it results in a practical resolution
that corresponds to our needs, and which dwells in the memory in order to be put
in practice. A prayer, which does not result in this, is like a remedy that is never
applied, an instrument that is never used, a sword that remains in the scabbard.”
- The Ways of Mental Prayer, Rev Leodey O.C.R
- Learn and study more about the mysteries over time for a deeper
appreciation.(absolutely necessary). Reading rosary meditations, like
the one linked above, are very good. Over time you learn more.
- Meditate on the words of the vocal prayers.
- Close your eyes when you pray. This can be helpful.
- Glance at the crucifix on the rosary and recall what it means to you.
- Search more methods to pray the rosary
- Try to shut out distractions as often as you become aware of them
- Do not get discouraged when distracted. EVERYONE will get
distracted at times.Keep praying the rosary, being distracted is normal
and not necessarily even a bad thing. God knows our limitations. Just
make sure you were sincerely trying to meditate and keep persevering.
- Don't be too scrupulous, be brief and get the rosary done.
Don’t overthink and end up giving up on the rosary all together!

Common illusions and discouragements

 - I don't feel anything when I pray!
- But…I'm not good at praying the rosary. It's hard to meditate
- The Rosary is so boring and tough!
- I’m really quite lazy to pray. I have no time

I don't feel anything when I pray!

- Grace is not a feeling. Just because you don't feel anything does not mean countless
graces are not being poured out on you. Even if you don't feel like you are changing,
keep at it, you will see the immense differences, though it is not perceptible from day
to day.

"Meditation performed with a good will is necessarily attended by progress in virtue, though the
progress may not be perceptible from day to day."
- Catechism of Mental Prayer, Rev Joseph Simler

“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”
- Bishop Hugh Doyle

“Never will anyone who says his Rosary every day be led astray. This is a statement that I would
gladly sign with my blood.”
- St Louis de Montfort

"The recitation of the Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish. It will obtain for souls the
abundant mercy of God. It will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its
vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by
this means."
- Our Lady, 4th promise of the Rosary

But…I'm not good at praying the rosary. It's hard to meditate

- You don't have to be “good” at it. Just give your best, try to meditate well, and Mary
will reward you for that. God rewards our faith, not so much our success.
(Consider using the green meditation tip above. It is easy to do yet very fruitful.)
 - Sometimes we are distracted or just tired. It's ok, just pray it. The Saints teach that
the harder it is to pray your rosary, the more meritorious it is (generally speaking),
because it requires a stronger resolve in the will.

- Attempt to banish distractions as often as you can. They are not culpable as long as
they are involuntary. Even if the rosary meditations ended up terrible, it is still very
noble that you persevered through it.
- It is good to try and meditate well but aim first to persevere in the habit of prayer. You
will only get better as you continue.

"the sincere will to do what is required for meditation is in itself already a good meditation,and ensures all the
fruits thereof; besides, the greater our efforts to overcome difficulties, the greater our merits ."
- Catechism of Mental Prayer, Rev Joseph Simler

“Our ‘bad‘ meditations, when we have no grounds to attribute them to our own fault, are generally the most
fruitful. . . . It is no little thing to be able to endure ourselves and our own imperfections. On the contrary, it is a fine
act of humility, and draws us on towards perfection."
- The Ways of Mental Prayer, Rev Leodey O.C.R

"Being human, we easily become tired and slipshod----but the devil makes these difficulties worse when we are
saying the Rosary. Before we even begin he makes us feel bored, distracted or exhausted----and when we have
started praying he oppresses us from all sides. And when, after much difficulty and many distractions, we have
finished, he whispers to us: "What you have just said is worthless. It's useless for you to say the
Rosary. You had better get on with other things. It's only a waste of time to pray without
paying attention to what you're saying; half an hour's meditation or some spiritual reading
would be much better. Tomorrow when you're not feeling so sluggish you'll pray better;
don't finish your Rosary until tomorrow." By tricks of this kind the devil gets us to give up the Rosary
altogether or else hardly say it at all, and we keep putting it off or else change to some other devotion.

Dear friend of the Rosary Confraternity, do not listen to the devil, but be of good heart, even if your imagination
has been bothering you throughout your Rosary, filling your mind with all kinds of distracting thoughts, so long
as you tried your best to get rid of them as soon as you noticed them.
Always remember that the best Rosary is the one with the most merit, and there is more merit in
praying when it is hard than when it is easy. Prayer is all the harder when it is, naturally speaking, distasteful
to the soul and is filled with those annoying little ants and flies running about in your imagination, against your will,
and scarcely allowing you the time to enjoy a little peace and appreciate the beauty of what you are saying."
- St Louis De Montfort, Secret of the Rosary
 The Rosary is so boring and tough!
- Yes, it will often be that way. It is arguably the hardest prayer to pray properly.
"When the Rosary is well said it gives Jesus and Mary more glory and it is more meritorious for the soul
than any other prayer. But it is also the hardest prayer to say well and to persevere in, owing especially
to the distractions which almost inevitably attend the constant repetition"
- St Louis De Montfort, Secret of the Rosary
- But God knows our struggles, and deliberately made it this way. We always
seek instant gratification (especially in today's world). We want things easy,
and end up effeminate. By praying this often difficult prayer, we deny
ourselves, as Christ commanded, and strengthen our wills to unite with God’s
will.
- It is also penitential, which helps to save souls

- Anyone can pray when it is easy, but can you pray when it is hard? Think
about prayer not so much as a nice time sinking into a hot tub (though it can
be that way at times), but picture, rather, a soldier who marches on, even in
crushing times. This is true love. Much more pleasing in the eyes of God.

"Never give up prayer, and should you find dryness and difficulty, persevere in it for this very reason.
God often desires to see what love your soul has, and love is not tried by ease and satisfaction."
- St John of the Cross

"an ounce of prayer, made in the midst of desolations, weighs more before God than a hundred pounds
weight of it made in the midst of consolations."
- St Francis De Sales

" during dryness we gain most merit,"

- St Alphonsus

"Do not stop saying your Rosary even if it is hard to say and you have absolutely no sensible devotion. It is
a terrible battle, I know, but one that is profitable to the faithful soul."
- St Louis De Montfort, Secret of the Rosary
 I’m really quite lazy to pray. I'm too busy

- Every Christian has a duty to pray. Daily prayer is a necessity.

“Those who pray are saved, those who do not pray are certainly damned”
- St Alphonsus, Doctor of Prayer
"A Catholic without prayer - it is the same as a soldier without arms."
- St Padre Pio

- If the full rosary is too much, start small with 1.

- But think about it this way:
- 1 rosary = 15~20 mins
- The complete rosary = 45~60 mins

- We can spend hours and hours everyday on the phone, social media, friends, TV
shows, games, hobbies, studies, work, family etc…. Surely we can spend an hour
with God.

"Could you not spend one hour with me?" - Matt 26:40

“But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken
away from her.” - Luke 10:42

- At the hour of your death, you would not be pleased to have spent hours on your
phone, games, work etc, but hours on your Rosary and in prayer.

“Holy Mary Mother of God, Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.Amen”

- God is the greatest priority of our life, so far above all else. It's not that we have no
time, but no priorities.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added onto
you." - Matthew 6:33

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. -Psalms 37:4

- The christian life never takes away anything, but only adds. Peace will reign in your
life and God will help you in all your needs. You will do much better in your
endeavors by praying the rosary, than if you simply pour more time into them, to the
neglect of prayer.
 ROSARY- Part 3

FAQ
1. Aren’t all prayers and devotions equal, in and of themselves?
2. Marian apparitions like Fatima are just private revelations though
3. What about the Divine Office?
4. Must I pray the rosary to be saved? Is it a sin to not pray the rosary?
5. Why should Our Lady have told us to say the Rosary every day rather than to attend Mass every
day?
6. How come no one spoke to me about the rosary this way before?
7. What about the Luminous mysteries?
8. Does the Rosary take away from Jesus?
9. Is the rosary the only prayer I can pray?
10. Is it superstitious to pray the Rosary?
11. Bible condemns vain repetitions?
12. Why Mary?

1. Aren’t all prayers and devotions equal, in and of themselves?

No. The misunderstanding is that, while properly speaking, a prayer is defined by the particular instance
of the action of prayer and its depth, there are prayers which are more effective in bringing about depth of
prayer due to their content and method.

Objectively considered, in and of themselves/ all things being equal, some forms of prayer are superior
to others.
(E.g. The Our Father, the one prayer the God-man explicitly taught us, is not the same as any other random prayer.
“The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect of prayers.... In it we ask, not only for all the things we can rightly desire, but
also in the sequence that they should be desired. This prayer not only teaches us to ask for things, but also in what
order we should desire them”. - St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II-II, 83, 9.)

The church does give a multiplicity of devotions one can practice; however, Popes and Saints have
consistently taught that, all things being equal, the rosary is the greatest private prayer of the Church.

2. Marian apparitions like Fatima are just private revelations though

Yes they are private revelations and not public revelations, so they are not dogmatically binding on the
faithful. Hence a catholic could reject it and remain catholic.

However, the major Church approved Marian apparitions (such as Fatima, Lourdes etc) should not be
simply dismissed simply because they are private revelation. Accepting apparitions such as Fatima
(greatest marian apparition) is not a question of dogma but of prudence. :

- Fatima has greater evidence than the resurrection in some respects. The resurrection forms the
foundation of our faith. If you believe in the resurrection, you should believe in Fatima. “if Christ
be not raised, your faith is vain”- 1 Cor 15:17
- The miracles from the Marian apparitions bear some of the greatest miracles in Catholicism. (eg
Countless medically verified miracles in Lourdes etc)
- The prophecies of those such as Fatima and Kibeho did come to pass (World War 2 and the
Rwandan Genocide)
- The apparitions have borne abundant good spiritual fruit for the church
- The approved apparitions have also been received into the church’s liturgical calendar and
celebrated worldwide/locally.
- Pope Benedict XIV declares “When the Church has examined and approved these visions, no one
may any longer doubt their supernatural and divine origin.”
- Where the Church has given her approval to any particular private revelation, it is no longer
permitted to ridicule or to despise it. To do so is to fail in the respect due to the Church5. “It is
not right to despise such revelations.”- Cardinal Franzelin, de div. trad. 22
- Marian apparitions have been taking place throughout the life of the church, from the earliest
centuries. it should not be treated as something novel and foreign.
- The approved apparitions contain nothing contrary to the Catholic faith and simply reinforce and
promote what has already been taught by the church.

That is more than enough to show that we should take their messages seriously. It would be imprudent
for someone to simply ignore them, since the question is not about whether it is dogmatically binding on
the faithful, but whether they actually happened or not, and the evidence is quite clear on the matter.

3. What about the Divine Office?

There is a categorical difference between the office (public prayer) and the rosary (private prayer).
The office is the church's great public prayer, while the rosary is the greatest private prayer. The mass and
divine office are in a separate and higher liturgical category of their own.
However, both private and public prayers are ordinarily required for salvation. Neither form of prayer can
be neglected in the life of a christian. The rosary is the church’s preeminent private prayer, the richest in
graces and all are called to pray it. Private prayer complements liturgical public prayer and disposes you
to receive even more from the liturgy.

5
The Casuist, Vol. I 1906
For most of history, the office was in Latin and largely foreign to the faithful, being mainly practiced by
the clerics and religious. The Rosary was to the great mass of catholics, what the office was to those
bound to recite it. Only in more recent times, after the second Vatican Council, has it also been
encouraged to the laity. Throughout history and in current times, the rosary has been promoted far more
by the Magisterium, Saints and theologians for its faithful. In nearly all the apparitions of Our Lady in
modern times that have received the Church’s approval, the Mother of God does not ask for the Divine
Office, but for the Rosary. Both the breviary and rosary are glorious and should be prayed, it is not an
either/or. Yet everyone should find a secured place for the rosary in their devotional life.

4. Must I pray the rosary to be saved? Is it a sin to not pray the rosary?

Not at all. It is not even a venial sin. There is no absolute necessity to pray the rosary. However, it is the
Church’s most powerful and espoused private prayer.

So it would be very imprudent not to pray it, since:

- (1) You neglect so powerful a means of grace and sanctification that God is offering to you
- (2) You do not heed the request of Mary, who being the best of mothers, recommends the best of
gifts to her children, having also performed the greatest of miracles to express the gravity of the
matter
- (3) You do not heed the advice of Popes and numberless Saints, who were learned authorities and
masters of the interior life
- (4) We live in truly unprecedented times where temptations and evils are so rampant, such that we
urgently need a most powerful armour and weapon against evil forces

“Say the Rosary every day”

“Multitudes of souls are falling into hell like snowflakes”
- Our Lady of Fatima

All should pray it and (eventually) find a secured place for it in their devotional life. All need to pray the
rosary, in terms of its relative necessity, not absolute necessity.

5. How come no one spoke to me about the rosary this way before?

Because all hell fears this prayer and devote their efforts for it to be greatly neglected.

The rosary is greatly neglected in our times, despite it being the most popular prayer in the church. Many
only understand it superficially and so rarely do it. “Familiarity breeds contempt”. Most priests hardly
promote it and some even discourage its devotion “Satan always tries to destroy this prayer”- St Padre Pio
“… the most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid any attention to Her Message,
neither the good nor the bad. The good continue on their way, but without giving any
importance to Her Message. The bad, not seeing the punishment of God actually falling upon
them, continue their life of sin without even caring about the Message. But believe me, Father,
God will chastise the world and this will be in a terrible manner. The punishment from
Heaven is imminent.”

- 1957 Sister Lucia said to Fr Fuentes

"As long as priests followed Saint Dominic’s example and preached devotion to the Holy Rosary,
piety and fervor thrived throughout the Christian world and in those religious orders which
were devoted to the Rosary. But since people have neglected this gift from Heaven, all kinds
of sin and disorder have spread far and wide."

- St Louis De Montfort, Secret of the Rosary

The rosary becomes greatly neglected during periods of the church’s life:

- In the time of Blessed Alan - more than 100 years after St Dominic, people started
neglecting the rosary and there was great moral degradation and disaster struck (Black
plague, Great Western Schism etc)
- In the time of St Louis de Montfort it had also been neglected (Gallicanism, Jansenism,
French revolution)
- In the times of Fatima - World War 2 still ended up taking place because not enough
people listened to her request, despite the miracles
- In Padre Pio’s day, many viewed the rosary as something outdated, superstitious, and
for uneducated people. He responded saying "Satan always tries to destroy this prayer,
but he will never succeed, it is the prayer of those who are victorious"
- The period leading up to the Rwandan genocide, our Lady of Kibeho warned the people
to pray the rosary to avoid destruction.
- Even now most people hardly pray it and many are leaving the church

Mary is sad because, after repeated great apparitions, people still do not pray their rosary and ignore her
request.

The enemy constantly wants the rosary to be neglected and forgotten:

- “Oh, it's just a nice prayer”

- “The rosary? Oh yea it's a popular devotion. What about it?”
- “The rosary is alright I guess”
 - “The rosary is just not really my preference”

No. It is the best weapon for our times. The rosary is not “just another prayer”, its power is indescribable.
Many are unaware of its immense power. The Queen of Heaven asked ALL to pray her rosary, and she
meant it.

“The power of the Rosary is beyond description”

- Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“It would hardly be possible for me to put into words how much Our Lady thinks of the Holy Rosary and
of how she vastly prefers it to all other devotions. Neither can I sufficiently express how highly she
rewards those who work to preach the devotion, to establish it and spread it, nor on the other hand how
firmly she punishes those who work against it.”

When the Holy Spirit has revealed this secret to a priest and director of souls, how blessed is that priest!
For the vast majority of people fail to know this secret or else only know it superficially. If such a
priest really understands this secret he will say the Rosary every day and will encourage others to say it.
God and His Blessed Mother will pour abundant grace into his soul, so that he may become God’s
instrument for His glory; and his word, though simple, will do more good in one month than that of
other preachers in several years.

- St Louis De Montfort, Secret of the Rosary

6. Why should Our Lady have told us to say the Rosary every day rather than to attend Mass every day?

1. Sr Lucia of Fatima suggests that:

“God is a Father who adapts Himself to the needs and possibilities of His children. Now if God,
through Our Lady, had asked us to go to Mass and receive Holy Communion every day, there
would undoubtedly have been a great many people who would have said, quite rightly, that this
was not possible…

On the other hand, to pray the Ro­sary is something everybody can do, rich and poor, wise and
ignorant, great and small.” The Rosary request keeps everyone in the loop. Anyone can pray the
Rosary anywhere, whenever they are able…

All people of good will can and must say the Rosary every day.”

Sr Lucia goes on to describe how she believes that, besides the Holy Mass, the Rosary “is the
most pleasing prayer we can offer to God and one which is most advantageous to our own souls.”

“Those who give up saying the Rosary and who do not go to daily Mass have nothing to sustain
them, and so end up by losing themselves in the material­ism of earthly life.”
 She concludes, “Thus, the Rosary is the prayer which God, through His Church and Our Lady,
has recommended most in­sistently to us all as a road to and a gateway of salvation: ‘Pray the
Rosary every day.’”

2. The rosary is an act of mixed mental prayer. Mental prayer disposes you to receive more from the
sacrament of the Eucharist and Mass, for not all are bestowed an equal degree of grace in
receiving the eucharist. Those who are more disposed and prepared to receive Christ, will be able
to receive more graces.

Those with larger buckets can receive more water from the vast ocean. Those with a greater love
for Christ will have the capacity to receive even more.

The Rosary prepares and disposes you to receive more from each mass as you grow in the
sanctity and love of God, through meditating on his life. It prepares you to love and appreciate the
mass, as you come to know Christ intimately.

7. What about the Luminous mysteries?

They were added by St John Paul II in more recent times, but still very good and should be prayed.
Praying the 3 original mysteries is the “Rosary” and fulfilling the request of Mary, but praying the
additional 4th one in your daily rosary is even more powerful.
All things being equal, more prayer = more merits.
“He who prays most, receives most”- St Alphonsus

The Luminous mysteries help to illuminate the other mysteries and help you appreciate the fullness of
Christ’s life.

It also reinforces many important aspects of the faith under attack in our world:
- Baptism at the Jordan (Keeping to baptismal vows, Freedom from sin, Striving after holiness)
- Wedding at Cana (Sanctity of Marriage, Chastity)
- Christ’s proclamation of the Gospel (Holy and Orthodox preaching)
- Transfiguration (The belief in Christ’s divinity)
- The institution of the Eucharist (The belief in the real presence, Love and reverence for the
Eucharist, Vocations to the priesthood)

Also, Mary was holding the 6 decade (carmelite/bridgetine) rosary at Lourdes. There have arisen
different variations of the Rosary (with different meditations and forms) throughout history, and Mary
would still find them acceptable.
8. Does the Rosary take away from Jesus?

No. Mary always points us to Christ and only intensifies our relationship with him, not take away. We
meditate on the life of Jesus, together with Mary. It is the gospel on a string.

Interesting to note that the Hail Mary reference Jesus an equal number of times as Mary:

- “Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with you, blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the
fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God…”

Jesus and Mary are inseparable. She always leads us to her son.

- "It would be easier to separate light from the sun than Mary from Jesus." -St. Louis Marie de Montfort”.

9. Is the rosary the only prayer I can pray?

Nope. That would be silly. All forms of prayer are efficacious and good.That being said, the Rosary is the
preeminent devotion of the church, so all sufficiently matured christians should (eventually) be
incorporating it into their prayer life.

It is also interesting to note that virtually every possible focused point of meditation found in other
devotions (divine mercy, sacred heart, Jesus Prayer, various litanies etc) can be found or derived, one
way or another, from meditating on the life of Christ, which is exactly what you do when praying the
Rosary.

10, Is it superstitious to pray the Rosary?

No. The power of the Rosary comes from God, not of itself, and is meant to bring us to a closer loving
relationship with him. If some people misunderstand this, it is simply a (grave) mistake on their part.

11. Bible condemns vain repetitions?

Yes, the bible condemns the vain repetitions, but not repetitions in prayer. Vain repetitions are prayers
from the mouth, but not the heart.

"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." -Mathew 15:8

God wants us to pray from the mouth, but more importantly from the heart.
- Jesus repeated his prayers in the garden of Gethsemane.
- The seraphim “day and night they never cease to sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God
Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
 - Psalms have repetitious prayer (eg psalm 136, “His steadfast love endure forever” is repeated 26
times)

Archbishop Sheen, commenting on criticism of the Rosary as vain repetition, asked a question: “Do you
ever tire of hearing someone you love say ‘I love you'?”

Prayer beads of some form are found in almost every religion, even from the earliest days of civilisation.
Repeating prayers is something that comes naturally to man

12. Why Mary?

“If then we are establishing sound devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only in order to establish devotion to
our Lord more perfectly, by providing a smooth but certain way of reaching Jesus Christ.”

“Mary is the safest, easiest, shortest, and most perfect way of approaching Jesus.”

"It was through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus came into the world, and it is also through her that
he must reign in the world."

- St. Louis Marie de Montfort .

Mary is the medium in which God in his wisdom willed to enter and save the world.
Those who go to Jesus through Mary, will make more progress than if they had gone to Jesus on their
own. She is the mediatrix of all grace, the most perfect way to Jesus. Every single Saint had an immense
devotion to Mary. It is no coincidence.

Knowing Mary helps you know and love Mary even more.
A relationship with Mary only deepens your relationship with Christ. To be Christ-like is to love what he
loves and hate what he hates. He loved Mary as a Mother. So go be Christ-like and love her too.

Consider:

- She is the closest person to Christ, in every way; knowing and loving him more than anyone else
as his own mother. Only she can share a unique relationship with God no one else in mankind can
share, being God’s mother.
- She was the means by which God chose to enter this world, he did not strictly need her, but yet he
willed it in his infinite wisdom.
- The life of Christ began and ended with Mary, and so your life in Christ should be the same.
- The apostles knew Jesus for 3 years, Mary knew him for 33 years.
- The Holy Spirit prophesied that ‘all generations shall me blessed’ and the same spirit made
Elizabeth cry out in awe ‘Why should the mother of my Lord come to me?’
 - Mary was the 1st disciple, christian, and person to receive christ (literally and spiritually).
- Moses spent 40 days with God on the mountain and his face glowed. Mary spent 30 years living
with God, not "as a friend" ,but as family. Her light in heaven surpasses that of all other Saints
- Jesus received his human nature through Mary. She's the only person who is biologically related
to Jesus. They resemble each other in heaven. Even the flesh and blood offered up on the cross
shared the same DNA as Mary.
- Mary contained in her womb the uncontainable, unfathomable,infinite and everlasting God. She
was destined by God from all eternity to play a crucial role in the salvation of man, through the
incarnation, the greatest event in human history.
- Simeon, as a "just man" was privileged to present Jesus to the Father. Mary was privileged to be
God's own mother, bearing him in the womb, and presenting him daily to the father
- She is the ark of the covenant who bears God, the new eve who played the role in redeeming man
with the new Adam, and the Queen mother of the new Davidic Kingdom.
- Every good son is pleased to see his mother honored. Christ is the best of all sons.

Theologians commonly teach that the consummated grace of Mary in Heaven is higher than that of
Angels and Saints combined; also that the final grace of Mary at the moment of death, and even her grace
at the moment of the Incarnation, surpassed the final grace of all the Saints at the term of their earthly
lives.

All the Saints, without exception, were devoted to her. She led them to the ways of her son.

Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too

much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.
-Saint Maximilian Kolbe
"The greatest saints, those richest in grace and virtue will be the most assiduous in praying to the
most Blessed Virgin, looking up to her as the perfect model to imitate and as a powerful helper to
assist them." - Saint Louis de Montfort

"As mariners are guided into port by the shining of a star, so Christians are guided to heaven by
Mary." - Saint Thomas Aquinas

"Devotion to you, O Blessed Virgin, is a means of salvation which God gives to those whom he
wishes to save." - Saint John of Damascus

"No matter how sinful one may have been, if he has devotion to Mary, it is impossible that he be lost." -
Saint Hilary of Poitiers

"Mary having co-operated in our redemption with so much glory to God and so much love for us, Our Lord
ordained that no one shall obtain salvation except through her intercession." - Saint Alphonsus Maria de
Liguori

"In trial or difficulty I have recourse to Mother Mary, whose glance alone is enough to dissipate
every fear." - Saint Therese of Lisieux

"Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence." -
Saint Francis de Sales

"If you invoke the blessed Virgin when you are tempted, she will come at once to your help, and
Satan will leave you." - Saint John Vianney

“No one will ever be the servant of the Son without serving the Mother.” -Saint Ildephonsus, Bishop

"O sinner, be not discouraged, but have recourse to Mary in all your necessities. Call her to your
assistance, for such is the divine Will that she should help in every kind of necessity."- Saint Basil