8.
Moreover, we may well believe that the Queen of Heaven herself has
granted an especial efficacy to this mode of supplication, for it was
by her command and counsel that the devotion was begun and spread abroad
by the holy Patriarch Dominic as a most potent weapon against the
enemies of the faith at an epoch not, indeed, unlike our own, of great
danger to our holy religion.
The
heresy of the Albigenses had in effect, one while covertly, another while
openly, overrun many countries, and this most vile off spring of the
Manicheans, whose deadly errors it reproduced, were the cause in stirring
up against the Church the most bitter animosity and a virulent
persecution. There seemed to be no human hope of opposing this fanatical
and most pernicious sect when timely succour came from on high through
the instrument of Mary's Rosary.
Thus
under the favour of the powerful Virgin, the glorious vanquisher of all
heresies, the forces of the wicked were destroyed and dispersed, and
faith issued forth unharmed and more shining than before. All manner of
similar instances are widely recorded, and both ancient and modern history
furnish remarkable proofs of nations saved from perils and winning
benedictions therefrom.
There
is another signal argument in favour of this devotion, inasmuch as from
the very moment of its institution it was immediately encouraged and put
into most frequent practice by all classes of society. In truth, the piety
of the Christian people honours, by many titles and in multiform ways, the
Divine Mother, who, alone most admirable among all creatures, shines
resplendent in unspeakable glory. But this title of the Rosary,
this mode of prayer which seems to contain, as it were, a final
pledge of affection, and to sum up in itself the honour due to Our
Lady, has always been highly cherished and widely used in
private and in public, in homes and in families, in the meetings of
confraternities, at the dedication of shrines, and in solemn processions;
for there has seemed to be no better means of conducting sacred
solemnities, or of obtaining protection and favours.
9. Nor
may we permit to pass unnoticed the especial Providence of God displayed
in this devotion; for through the lapse of time religious fervour has
sometimes seemed to diminish in certain nations, and even this pious
method of prayer has fallen into disuse; but piety and devotion have
again flourished and become vigorous in a most marvellous manner, when,
either through the grave situation of the commonwealth or through some
pressing public necessity, general recourse has been had-more to this than
to even other means of obtaining help - to the Rosary, whereby it has
been restored to its place of honour on the altars. But there is no need
to seek for examples of this power in a past age, since we have in the
present a signal instance of it. In these times - so troublous (as we have
said before) for the Church, and so heartrending for ourselves - set as We
are by the Divine will at the helm, it is still given Us to note with
admiration the great zeal and fervour with which Mary's Rosary is
honoured and recited in every place and nation of the Catholic world.
And this circumstance, which assuredly is to be attributed to the Divine
action and direction upon men, rather than to the wisdom and efforts of
individuals, strengthens and consoles Our heart, filling Us with great
hope for the ultimate and most glorious triumph of the Church under the
auspices of Mary.
10. But
there are some who, whilst they honestly agree with what We have said, yet
because their hopes - especially as regard the peace and tranquillity of
the Church - have not yet been fulfilled, nay, rather because troubles
seem to augment, have ceased to pray with diligence and fervour, in a fit
of discouragement. Let these look into themselves and labour that the
prayers they address to God may be made in a proper spirit, according
to the precept of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if there be such, let
them reflect how unworthy and how wrong it is to wish to assign to
Almighty God the time and the manner of giving His assistance, since
He owes nothing to us, and when He hearkens to our supplications and
crowns our merits, He only crowns His own innumerable benefits;(8) and
when He complies least with our wishes it is as a good father towards his
children, having pity on their childishness and consulting their
advantage. But as regards the prayers which we join to the suffrages of
the heavenly citizens, and offer humbly to God to obtain His mercy for the
Church, they are always favourably received and heard, and either obtain
for the Church great and imperishable benefits, or their influence is
temporarily withheld for a time of greater need. In truth, to these
supplications is added an immense weight and grace - the prayers and
merits of Christ Our Lord, Who has loved the Church and has delivered
Himself up for her to sanctify her . . . so that He should be glorified in
her.(9) He is her Sovereign Head, holy, innocent, always living to make
intercession for us, on whose prayers and supplication we can always by
divine authority rely. As for what concerns the exterior and temporal
prosperity of the Church, it is evident that she has to cope with most
malicious and powerful adversaries. Too often has she suffered at their
hands the abolition of her rights, the diminution and oppression of her
liberties, scorn and affronts to her authority, and every conceivable
outrage. And if in their wickedness her enemies have not accomplished all
the injury they had resolved upon and striven to do, they nevertheless
seem to go on unchecked. But, despite them the Church, amidst all these
conflicts, will always stand out and increase in greatness and glory.
Nor can human reason rightly understand why evil, apparently so dominant,
should yet be so restricted as regards its results; whilst the Church,
driven into straits, comes forth glorious and triumphant. And she ever
remains more steadfast in virtue because she draws men to the acquisition
of the ultimate good. And since this is her mission, her prayers must have
much power to effect the end and purpose of God's providential and
merciful designs towards men. Thus, when men pray with and through the
Church, they at length obtain what Almighty God has designed from all
eternity to bestow upon mankind.(10) The subtlety of the human
intelligence fails now to grasp the high designs of Providence; but the
time will come when, through the goodness of God, causes and effects will
be made clear, and the marvellous power and utility of prayer will be
shown forth. Then it will be seen how many in the midst of a corrupt
age have kept themselves pure and inviolate from all concupiscence of the
flesh and the spirit, working out their sanctification in the fear of
God;(11) how others, when exposed to the danger of temptation, have
without delay restrained themselves gaining new strength for virtue from
the peril itself; how others, having fallen, have been seized with the
ardent desire to be restored to the embraces of a compassionate God.
Therefore, with these reflections before them, We beseech all again and
again not to yield to the deceits of the old enemy, nor for any cause
whatsoever to cease from the duty of prayer. Let their prayers be
persevering, let them pray without intermission; let their first care be
to supplicate for the sovereign good - the eternal salvation of the whole
world, and the safety of the Church. Then they may ask from God other
benefits for the use and comfort of life, returning thanks always, whether
their desires are granted or refused, as to a most indulgent father.
Finally, may they converse with God with the greatest piety and devotion
according to the example of the Saints, and that of our Most Holy Master
and Redeemer, with great cries and tears.(12)
8) S.
August. Epi CXCIV al 106 Sixtum, c. v., n. 19.
9) Eph
5.25-27.
10) S. Th. II-II, q
LXXXIII, a. 2, ex S. G. reg. M.
11) 2 Cor 7.1.
12) Heb 5.7.
The
Blessed Virgin Mary first gave the Rosary to St. Dominic of Guzman in a
vision in 1208, as he earnestly begged God for a solution to the
Albigensian heresy then aggressively infecting the south of France.
After St. Dominic began to preach the Rosary, the days of the
Albigensian error were numbered.
On
May 13, 1917, there began in Fatima, Portugal a series of apparitions
of a luminous lady to three little Portuguese shepherds, Lucia dos
Santos and Francisco and Jacinta Marto. She asked them to return to the
same spot for five consecutive months, and that in October she would
work a miracle for all to believe and reveal who she was. In every
apparition the lady asked for the daily recitation of the Rosary as a
remedy to life’s ills, and for peace in the world. On October 13, 1917, a
crowd of 70,000 people witnessed the astounding miracle of the sun, as
the fiery orb performed a fantastic dance in the sky above. The heavenly
lady then revealed her name: “I am the Lady of the Rosary”.
No
sooner had he pronounced these words, the picture came alive and
extending her hand, the heavenly Lady laid it reassuringly on the
priest’s arm, saying:
But
it was only in the year 1214, however, that Holy Mother Church received
the Rosary in its present form and according to the method we use
today. It was given to the Church by Saint Dominic who had received it
from the Blessed Virgin as a powerful means of converting the
Albigensians and other sinners.
"I
want you to know that, in this kind of warfare, the battering ram has
always been the Angelic Psalter which is the foundation stone of the New
Testament. Therefore if you want to reach these hardened souls and win
them over to God, preach my Psalter."
It
often happens that while traveling with the Fatima statue we get into
conversations with host families about the Fatima message. Such was the
case one evening in Atlanta, Georgia while chatting with one father and
his 12 year old daughter, Lillie.
Alphonsus,
King of Leon and Galicia, very much wanted all his servants to honor
the Blessed Virgin by saying the Rosary. So he would hang a large rosary
on his belt and always wear it, but unfortunately never said it
himself. Nevertheless, his wearing it encouraged everyone to say the
Rosary very devoutly.