The Rosary is particularly effective in enabling us to receive the graces which come from God and a most excellent way by which we can cooperate with those graces - all through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Consider the Rosary Miracles of Austria after WW II and the Miracle Bridge in Quebec (1879). Both St. Anthony Mary Claret and St. Teresa have much to teach us about prayer and the Rosary.
God will never allow you to be tempted beyond your capability – because He is good and faithful. During these trials, He offers graces that you may grow in faith, charity, prayer, etc. Know that a trial tests and purifies your faith. When you cooperate with His grace, His cross triumphs (exalts!) in your life. Our Lady loved and venerated the cross, that is, privations, humiliations, mortifications, and sufferings. Turn to Our Lady of Sorrows for the graces to have the same sentiments that are in her Immaculate Heart.
The Rosary is a marvelous treasury of all the virtues man needs. By meditating on its mysteries, we renew our mind and put on the ‘New Man’ of whom St. Paul speaks. Yet we must pray for this grace of renewal. Stories of rosary miracles fill us with confidence: a serial killer was prevented from killing a young girl (1978), and Our Lady stopped tanks from bulldozing nuns and faithful in the Philippines(1986).
A common daily way by which we receive God’s grace is praying the Rosary. The Rosary eliminates heresy, dissipates vice, spreads virtue, implores God’s mercy, and obtains Mary’s protection. One of reasons we don’t achieve more through the Rosary is because we don’t pray well enough. Every single one of us can pray the Rosary better. In 2008, Colombia averted war through the Rosary. In 2011, 33 Chilean miners attributed their rescue to it. Modern miracles and those of the past serve to strengthen our faith.
Everything about Mary reveals the greatness and goodness of God. We can’t fathom the incredible power which God has placed in her hands. Mary’s special cult (dulia) increases the honor given to God. A true Catholic restoration is not possible without her. Be familiar with the basics of our Catholic Faith in the Blessed Virgin Mary, including the dogmas of her Divine Maternity, Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, Assumption, Co-Redemptrix or Mediatrix.
In the Collect, we beg God to guard His Church. We acknowledge that humans fail and it is God who must keep the Church from harm and guiding souls to salvation. The duty of every Catholic is to pray for the Church, the light of this world. Pray that she continue her mission of redemption faithfully, always being the source of truth. Although the Church is divine, she is also composed of humans who have free will and can choose to sin. All priests need your prayers. Avoid calumny, backbiting, and rash judgments against the pope, bishops, and priests, even when [...]
Although today’s gospel is about gratitude, it is about much more. Jesus comes to heal our body and save our souls. All ten lepers were cleansed in body, but only one was told his faith had saved him. We must enter into the mystery hidden in this event. Then we see parallels between the Samaritan leper and both St. Paul and Cornelius the Centurion. Moreover, we see practical implications for how we must navigate the crisis in the Church today.
Never forget God’s sweet presence, as do the greater part of men. Speak to God as often as you can for He wishes that you to speak with Him. Pray in trials, in joys, after a fault, and in doubts. Let prayer be the first thing you do when you awake and the last thought as you retire for the night. Pray for your neighbor. In mental prayer make again and again acts of contrition, love of God, and oblation of self. Above all, ardently long for Heaven in your prayer. If you wish to make spiritual progress, foster a devotion [...]
Strive to foster a devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; not just in externals but according to a true Catholic spirit. At bare minimum, practice the First Saturday devotion well. We can learn much from the teaching of the saints. Consider as well how the Scriptures present her Heart as a sacred depository and faithful guardian of all the mysteries of salvation, right dogma, and true liturgy.
St. Anne made a great sacrifice for the love of God: she willingly gave up her daughter. Ancient traditions hold she died before Jesus’ birth, but medieval ones hold she lived to hold the Messiah. What is certain is that her intercession is vast and powerful on account of her close proximity to Jesus. This highlight a principle: Jesus Christi is the center of our existence and everything in our holy religion is related to professing true faith in Him. The Church too exists to faithful transmit the Deposit of Faith, that is, the truths Jesus Christ teaches as the foundation [...]
