The Rosary: Our Weapon Against the Approaching Evils

The following comes from the Catholic Gentleman:

We live in evil times. I hardly need elaborate the multitude of crises that fill the globe. Sadly, many are being swept away by this flood of evil and are succumbing to an overwhelming anxiety and discouragement. But no matter how tempting it is, we must not shrink back. We must pray and fast with a living faith and a firm confidence—and there is no better way to do this than by praying the Holy Rosary.

Through this prayer of immense power, countless miracles have been obtained and victories won. In fact, we celebrate the feast of the rosary on this day, because through it, a powerful military victory was obtained at the battle of Lepanto.

In these dark days, we must not be afraid. Like our forebears in faith, we must one again turn again to the rosary, calling on the Immaculate Virgin to come to our assistance and put our enemies to flight.

Here are 15 quotes from popes and saints to encourage you in praying this powerful prayer.

1. “The Rosary is the ‘weapon’ for these times.” -Saint Padre Pio

2. “Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.” – Blessed Pope Pius IX

3. “The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.” – Saint Francis de Sales

4. “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.” -St. Padre Pio

5. “Go to the Madonna. Love her! Always say the Rosary. Say it well. Say it as often as you can! Be souls of prayer. Never tire of praying, it is what is essential. Prayer shakes the Heart of God, it obtains necessary graces!” -St. Padre Pio

6. “The holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you’ll be amazed at the results.” -St. Josemaria Escriva

7. “Say the Holy Rosary. Blessed be that monotony of Hail Mary’s which purifies the monotony of your sins!” -St. Josemaria Escriva

8. “For those who use their intelligence and their study as a weapon, the Rosary is most effective. Because that apparently monotonous way of beseeching Our Lady as children do their Mother, can destroy every seed of vainglory and pride.” – St. Josemaria Escriva

9. “You always leave the Rosary for later, and you end up not saying it at all because you are sleepy. If there is no other time, say it in the street without letting anybody notice it. It will, moreover, help you to have presence of God.” – St. Josemaria Escriva

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

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

12. ““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

13. “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

14. “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.” -Sister Lucia dos Santos of Fatima

15. “Here is an example to help you understand the efficacy of the Rosary. You remember the story of David who vanquished Goliath. What steps did the young Israelite take to overthrow the giant? He struck him in the middle of the forehead with a pebble from his sling. If we regard the Philistine as representing evil and all its powers: heresy, impurity, pride, we can consider the little stones from the sling capable of overthrowing the enemy as symbolizing the Aves of the Rosary.

“The ways of God are entirely different from our ways. To us it seems necessary to employ powerful means in order to produce great effects. This is not God’s method; quite the contrary. He likes to choose the weakest instruments that He may confound the strong: “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong — Infirma mundi elegit ut confundat fortia” (1 Cor 1:27).

“Have you not often met poor old women who are most faithful to the pious recitation of the Rosary? You also must do all that you can to recite it with fervour. Get right down, at the feet of Jesus: it is a good thing to make oneself small in the presence of so great a God.” – Dom Columba Marmion, Christ, the Ideal of the Priest

If you practice no other devotion in the spiritual life, pray the rosary. Through it, you will obtain all that you need and will vanquish the enemies of your soul. Through it, you will find peace and joy in the trials of life. Conquer the devil—pray the rosary.

Our Lady of the Rosary: Freedom and Joy

The following comes from the Catholic Exchange:

The almost imperceptible lapping of the tide against the hull of the flagship, the stillness of the night, the breathing of the slaves slumped over their oars, and the spirited but hushed murmurs of the small assembly betrayed the fury of the battle that was just hours away. Tension and quiet. The young captain general, Don John of Austria, had mustered his admirals to his stateroom to review once more the order of battle. To the man each one had greater seafaring and war-fighting experience than he.

Among them was Spain’s greatest sea captain, Don Alvaro de Bazan, the Marquis of Santa Cruz. Also Venice’s greatest—Sebastian Veniero. At 74, Veniero had three times the years on his back as Don John of Austria.

Also among Don John’s admirals was a Genovese naval commander with an impeccable pedigree. Gianandrea Doria was the nephew of none other than Andrea Doria, who a generation before had served Emperor Charles V as imperial admiral. The elder Doria’s prowess under fire, to say nothing of his guile in politics, had made him one of the most powerful men in Italy. His nephew, heir to the Doria legacy, was, alas, more ship owner than sailor.

Gianandrea opened his palm, raised his eyebrow, and offered, “There is still time, your Grace, to avoid a pitched battle.” In the breast of the natural son of Charles V, however, beat the heart of a lion. He caught and held Doria’s gaze for a moment before looking each of his other admirals in the eye.

“Gentlemen,” said Don John in a low voice. “The time for counsel has passed. Now is the time for war.”

The outcome of the following day’s battle in the Bay of Lepanto we celebrate to this day: October 7, Feast of the Holy Rosary. The fleet of the Holy League sank or captured all but 13 of some 300 Turkish vessels, and Western Europe was saved from Islamic conquest. The sides were evenly matched and well led, but to each of his warriors Don John had issued a weapon more powerful than anything in the Turkish arsenal: a Rosary.

The men of the Holy League prepared for war by falling to their knees on the decks of their galleys and praying the Rosary. Back in Rome, and up and down the Italian peninsula, at the behest of Pius V, the churches were filled with the faithful praying their beads. In Heaven, the Blessed Mother inclined her ear toward her children and then, with her Immaculate Heart aflame brought down the full might of Heaven on the forces of darkness threatening to overshadow Christendom: “They fling great shadows foe-ward making Cross and Castle dark,” as Chesterton put it in his magnificent ballad celebrating the day.

Well known is this story, and many inspirations can we draw from it, among them is the intersection of freedom and joy.

Read the rest here.

Five Ways to Improve Your Prayer Life

The following comes from Fr. Broom at the Catholic Exchange:

How much time and energy is exerted in obtaining a degree from some prestigious University?  How much blood, sweat and tears are expended to win a trophy from some sporting event? How much time and energy can even be consumed in preparing for a surprise Birthday party?   If we can expend so much time, money, emotional and physical energy for such natural pursuits, should we not at least expend more of our time and energy in what is the greatest of all arts, “The art of all arts” and that is learning the Practice of Prayer?

St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church, calls prayer the key to salvation and following are five short, clear and concrete steps we can undertake to improve our personal prayer life, grow in holiness, be a source of holiness to many others and experience a nearly constant peace and overflowing joy!

1.    Conviction. First, we must be convinced of the importance of prayer in our life and for our eternal salvation.  St. Alphonsus expresses it concisely: “He who prays will be saved; he who does not pray will be damned.” St. John Damascene defines prayer: “Lifting of the mind and heart to God.” St. Augustine has a catchy way of expressing the indispensable character of prayer: “He who prays well lives well; he who lives well dies well; and for he who dies well, all is well.”  A final easy analogy: as air is to the lungs, so must prayer be to our soul.  No air for the lungs, death arrives quickly. Likewise, the prayer-less person can easily fall prey to temptation and fall into mortal sin and lose out on God’s Friendship.

2.     Confession.   If we are not at peace with God, if our conscience is reproaching us, if we have unforgiven and unconfessed sins we will find that talking face to face with God as friends will be all the more difficult. If we hurt our friend, we apologize, seek forgiveness, and then return to amicable relations.

3.    Set a time and a place to pray.  Man is a creature of habit. We do certain things every day at the same time and place.  Of capital importance should be to form the habit of prayer. This habit will result in our salvation and possibly the salvation of many others.  We can pray at any time and any place and in any circumstance. However, there are “Prime times” that we should pray. Morning prayer upon arising from sleep, grace before meals, before going on a trip, the family Rosary in the evening before dinner, and night prayers—these are traditional times for prayer.

4.    Mass and Holy Communion.  By far the greatest prayer in the world is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Sunday Mass is obligatory, under pain of mortal sin. However, if we are truly in love with God, we should not aim for the minimum but rather the maximum!   The greatest action and gesture under the heavens that will lead us to eternal life in heaven is to assist at Holy Mass and receive Holy Communion fervently, humbly, and with great confidence.  The angels in heaven experience a holy envy towards us because even the greatest of angels cannot receive Jesus in Holy Communion. How privileged we really are!

5.     Seek Our Lady of the Rosary.  Our Lady of Fatima appeared in 1917 from May to October. In every one of the Apparitions she insisted on the praying of the Rosary. Blessed Pope John Paul II, in Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary, also insisted that we pray the Rosary and for two specific important intentions: 1) for world peace, 2) for the sake of the family.   The Rosary priest, Father Patrick Peyton, coined these immortal proverbs: “The family that prays together, stays together….”  And “A world at prayer is a world at peace.”   The family should find a time and place and pray the Rosary every day. May the father who is the spiritual head of the family initiate this practice, bring the family together, and persevere in this prayer for the salvation of his entire family.

If we can implement these five concrete practices in our personal prayer life then we will bring forth fruit and fruit in abundance! May Our Lady of grace inspire us to undertake a daily growth in our prayer life.

Saint John Paul II: "Be prepared to undergo great trials"

The following comes from In God's Company 2:

St. John Paul II in that candid interview with pilgrims in Germany:
November 1980

We must be prepared to undergo great trials in the not-too-distant future; trials that will require us to be ready to give up even our lives, and a total gift of self to Christ and for Christ. Through your prayers and mine, it is possible to alleviate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it, because it is only in this way that the Church can be effectively renewed. How many times, indeed, has the renewal of the Church been effected in blood? This time, again, it will not be otherwise. We must be strong, we must prepare ourselves, we must entrust ourselves to Christ and to His Mother, and we must be attentive, very attentive, to the prayer of the Rosary. —POPE JOHN PAUL II

Spiritual Combat: Weapons for Your Arsenal

The following comes from Fr. Ed Broom at Catholic Exchange:

The word of God teaches us that our life on earth is warfare and the Lord reminds us that if we have decided to follow the Lord we must be prepared for combat. The Sacrament of Confirmation strengthens the Gifts of the Holy Spirit within our souls and transforms us into “Soldiers of Christ” the King.   With the “Cristero” martyrs of Mexico our battle cry must be “Viva Cristo Rey”—long live Christ the King!

The devil exists, has keen intelligence (in a perverted way), is exceedingly sly and crafty, and is constantly at work and persistent in his work (temptations). However, God, Mary, His angels and saints are far more powerful than the devil. Two extremes must be avoided with respect to the devil. These were warnings given by the Servant of God Pope Paul VI. The first extreme to avoid is to deny that the devil exists. Indeed this is one of the tactics of the devil. On the other hand, we should never give the devil too much importance. Individuals, fearful alarmists, speak more of the power of the devil than of the Omnipotence of God Himself. Let us avoid the two extremes!

Spiritual Weapons to Conquer the Devil 

Vigilance. Stay awake and pray so that you are not put to the test and overcome by the temptations of the devil. The precise reason for the Apostles’ fall, abandoning Jesus in the Garden, was that they were not vigilant in prayer.

Name it and Claim it. When the temptation breaks it can prove exceedingly useful to simply admit in a very calm manner, “I am being tempted by the devil, the enemy of God!”  Name it! Claim it! And then tame it!  Discovering the enemy on the attack is half the battle! Ignorance of the enemy’s presence can augment his power over us.

Avoid the Near Occasion of Sin. Often we are tempted because we place ourselves in the near occasion of sin. Remember the many proverbs!  “Do not play with fire!” and “He who plays in danger will perish in danger!” “He who walks on thin ice will fall in!” One of the reasons why Eve ate from the forbidden fruit was due to the simple reason that she was near the tree that God told her not to eat from.

State of Desolation. While in this state St. Ignatius arms us with four key weapons: more prayer, more meditation, examine your conscience (to see why you are in desolation) and finally to apply yourself to some suitable penance. Some devils are expelled only through prayer and penance! Sacramentals. The proper use of Sacramentals can prove to be very efficacious in fighting against the devil, and especially three: the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the medal of Saint Benedict, and finally HOLY WATER.  St Teresa of Avila insists on using Holy Water to expel the devil from our presence. Why?   The devil is inflated with pride and Holy water is small and inconspicuous—this the devil hates and cannot endure. Exorcisms have recourse to holy water!

Fiery Darts That Penetrate the Sky. When being assaulted by the enemy it is highly recommended to offer short and fervent prayers; these can prove exceedingly efficacious in putting the devil to flight. Some examples of these short but powerful prayers might be: Jesus I trust in you… Sweet Heart of Mary be my salvation… Lord, save me… Lord come to my rescue…and of course invoking with faith and confidence the Holy names of Jesus, Mary, and St. Joseph.

Reject Immediately. Part of the problem in spiritual combat is the lethargic, slow and anemic response to the temptation. God’s grace must always prevail through the weapon of prayer. Still, we must engage our own will in manfully and forcefully rejecting the temptation from the start. Frequently temptations get a stronghold over us because we open up the door and the tail of the devil enters and it is difficult to kick him out!

Laziness. On one occasion in the Diary of St. Faustina the devil was roaming the corridors frantically looking for somebody to tempt. St Faustina stopped the devil and told him out of obedience to Jesus to tell her what was the greatest danger to the nuns. Reluctantly the devil responded— Lazy and indolent souls!  All of us have heard the proverb: “Idleness is the workshop of the devil!”  This means that if we do not have anything to do then the devil will give us a lot to do. The great St. John Bosco mortally feared vacation time for his boys in the Oratory. Why? Too much free time gives full entrance and game to the devil in the life of the youth! How often have we sinned preceded by moments, hours or even days of indolence and laziness!  Our philosophy should be that of St. Alberto Hurtado, “There are two places to rest: the cemetery and heaven.” In the present it is time to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. May St. Benedict’s motto be ours: Ora et Labora. Work and Pray.

Jesus in the Desert as Supreme Example: His Three Weapons. Of course our best example for all is Jesus who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”  At the end of forty days in the desert, the devil came to tempt Him. Jesus forcefully and easily conquered the devil by using three weapons that we must learn to use: prayer, fasting, and the use of the Word of God.  Jesus had a prolonged prayer experience in the desert. Added to that was forty days of fasting; He ate nothing. Finally the devil tempted Him by using the Word of God; Jesus also used the Word of God as a sharp arrow to puncture the efforts of Satan. Fervent and prolonged prayer, constant self-denial, and familiarity with the Word of God, both meditating on it and putting it into practice are efficacious weapons indeed to combat and conquer Satan.

Openness to Your Spiritual Director. Once again, the Master Saint Ignatius comes to the rescue! In the 13^th Rule of Discernment the saint warns us that the devil likes secrecy in the sense that if one is in a profound state of desolation that to open up to a Spiritual Director can conquer the temptation. By clamming up it is like a cut or wound that is hidden beneath a band aid. Until that wound is exposed to the sun and a disinfectant the wound not only will not heal but it will become all the more infected, it will fester and risk the danger of gangrene or worse yet amputation.   Once the temptation is revealed to an able Spiritual Director it is often conquered.  Overwhelmed by temptation, doubt and confusion shortly before making her vows, St. Therese opened up to her Novice Mistress and Superior revealing her state of soul. Almost immediately the temptation disappeared, she made her vows and went on to be one of the greatest modern saints.  What would have happened to her if following the counsel of the devil she kept her state of soul secret? Undoubtedly we would not have Saint Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church.

St. Michael the Archangel. In our battle with Satan we should use all the weapons in our arsenal.  God chose Saint Michael the Archangel as the faithful angel, the Prince of the Heavenly Host, to cast into hell Satan and the other rebellious angels. St. Michael, whose name means, “Who is like unto God”, is just as powerful now as he was in the past. In the midst of the storm of temptations, why not lift up your heart to St. Michael and call upon him.  You can pray the famous prayer “St. Michael the archangel, defend us in battle….” Or simply beg for his intercession!  His help from the heights of heaven will help you to be victor in your combat with the devil.

Mary Most Holy. As a whole the Mexican people have great devotion to Mary, especially under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. However, in Guadalajara, Mexico, in addition to venerating Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe as Patron of Mexico and the Americas, they honor her with another title:  “La General del ejercito!”—- meaning that she is the “General of the Army”.  In our battle against the ancient serpent, Genesis 3:15 honors the woman who crushes the head of the serpent with her heal.  “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between her offspring and yours; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”  (Gen. 3:15). Indeed the ancient serpent the devil can strike out at us with his ugly tongue and spew out venom, but when we rely on and trust in Mary she will crush his ugly head. Viva Cristo Rey! Viva Maria Reina! Long live Jesus and Mary!

The Fruit of Faithful Prayer of Two Mothers

The following comes from In God's Company 2:

In June of 2012, our pilgrimage group visited the “castle” in Medjugorje to hear the testimony of Patrick Latta. Patrick began his testimony by introducing himself as a businessman from Canada. He began, “I quit going to school when I was 16 to go wash cars in a car lot….10 years later I bought the company. I was a super salesman. I bought my own Honda dealership. I bought my own BMW dealership. We were the top gun in Western Canada. Nobody could outsell us.”

   Patrick’s wife, Nancy, popped in as he was speaking. “This is my wife, Nancy –  this is my treasure."  Nancy says the story he is telling is not their story, but the fruit of 48 years of prayer by Patrick’s mother – an orphan raised by sisters of St. Joseph – and the faithful prayer and perseverance of her own mother, who was praying for her for 30 years. “The story you are about to hear is a story of God's mercy and grace. We have never seen Our Lady. We have had no mystical experiences. We have no special gifts. This story is a result of the faithful prayer of two mothers.”

   Patrick continued his story. “I had nothing to do with God, church, marriage, sacraments, school. I had a horrible time in Catholic school." One day, when Patrick was on the football field, the head coach yelled in front of everyone, “Hey, Latta, you can't play because you don't pay to come here." Patrick did not know he did not pay. "That was the end of my school – that was the end in believing in God."

    "I have four children [from two previous marriages]. My children never saw the inside of the church – ever."  He used to say to his children, "This is god," and would hold up money. “When you have enough of this, you have all the god you want." Patrick lamented, “That's a father speaking to his children.” He said that one day his youngest son came home from school and announced he had been baptized Anglican. Patrick said to his son, “You're supposed to be Catholic." "Dad, you never took me inside a church." Patrick again lamented, “Wasn't I a great father? And that's how I lived – no God, no prayer, no church. But my business was fantastic, so I have a huge successful business and I don't need God. It was I, I, I …”

   After his second divorce, Patrick met Nancy. Within two months they were living together. “No God, no prayer, no church, no marriage, no sacrament – nothing – living in mortal sin. We lived together six years.”  One day, Nancy said that they should get married. Patrick agreed, and they got married the next day in a helicopter on top of a mountain. He hired a JP and asked the pilot to be the best man. He didn't even know his name. When he came home from work the next day, Nancy was crying. She said, "I don't feel married." She wanted to get married in a church. Patrick said, “Nancy, do you know how much that helicopter cost?" She said, “I don't care about your helicopter. We have to get married in a church." Patrick reminded her that he had two previous divorces.

   Nancy went to see the bishop, who had documentation on Patrick's annulment from his first marriage. Patrick did not even know the marriage was annulled! The second document said that Patrick’s second marriage was never valid. The next day Nancy went to a church called “Immaculate Heart of Mary” to ask the priest to marry them. The priest agreed, but said to Nancy, “You’re out of your mind to marry this guy in church. He'll never change. He's the worst case I've ever seen. You are not going to make a success of this marriage –  there's no chance." Patrick agreed to attend marriage preparation classes and he made many promises – go to Mass, Confession, etc. – but admits he is a “professional promiser” since he is a car dealer. They did get married in the church, but Patrick said it didn't mean anything, and he broke every promise he made. That's how they lived… until one day when Nancy's brother sent them a book of messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje.

   When they received the book, Patrick was not interested, so he handed the book to Nancy, but she gave it back to him and said, "Here, my pagan husband, you throw them away and it's on your conscience." The word “conscience” wouldn't let Patrick throw the book away. He opened it and looked for the shortest message in the book. It said, “I call you to conversion for the last time." Then something happened. The tears just started and they wouldn't stop. He asked Nancy, "Why didn't you tell me about these messages? Why didn't you tell me they were true?"  Patrick confessed, “I saw myself for the first time – I'm Catholic and lived in mortal sin for 30 years. And it came back to me in one second – boom! In one minute everything changed in my life.”  He warned, “The day you see yourself as you live on this earth and you are Catholic and you are living in mortal sin – it's the worst day of your life, because reality hits you so hard and it's the truth."  

   Patrick began to read the messages – they became his whole life. He and Nancy even traveled to Oregon to attend a conference about the messages. Patrick was very touched when a priest at the conference suggested that everyone consecrate their children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

   At this point in the talk, Patrick decided to do some audience participation. There was a group of high school boys there from Boston, so he chose three of them to role-play as his sons. He said to the first boy that the school called and said he was expelled for using drugs and possibly dealing drugs. Patrick said – as he held up some money – that the principal had told him that this was the problem. “Your kids have too much." Patrick said that his son, who had dreadlocks at the time, replied, “This is my life. Leave me alone." Then Patrick called over the boy who was to play another of his sons, and said this kid was a super rugby player, but had a drinking problem. He mentioned the time that this son could not find his yellow Barracuda in a parking lot because he was so drunk.

   Then Patrick called over a young woman from our group to play his 17 year-old daughter who wanted to get married. When she was divorced at age 19, Patrick gave her his car and his credit card and told her to go to California and find someone else. That's exactly what she did, and two years later she was divorced again.

   “Drugs, alcohol, divorce – a fourth kid I can't even talk about. His immorality is so off-the-wall. Why that lifestyle?” His son told him, “Because I never had a father.” Patrick looked at the young people who were playing his kids. “These are my four children that I never baptized. I never said a prayer with you from the day you were born. I never took you inside a church… You had everything money could buy. Your cars were $70,000.”

   Referring to the priest at the conference, Patrick said, “And the priest said to consecrate these kids to the Mother of God. Well, they’re the most helpless situation you could have with four children. These words ‘consecrate them to the Mother of God’ hit me so hard.” Patrick didn't know how to do the consecration. So he looked at the statue of Our Lady at the conference and said, "Blessed Mother, take my kids, and, Blessed Mother, You be the parent that I never was, because I'm a total failure.” 

  Patrick and Nancy spent two days at this conference and learned all about the messages. He said the number one message of Our Lady is to pray the Rosary, because when you do, you’ll see miracles in your family. The second message of Our Lady is to go to Mass – minimum of Sunday. Patrick started to say the Rosary and go to Mass.

   The third message Patrick said is the most difficult. Our Lady said She wants us to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. Patrick looked up all the messages on fasting, and found that Our lady said, "When you pray and fast you can stop wars."  Patrick thought, “What war am I going to stop?”  Then the light went on – “I got a war on drugs, I got a war on alcohol, I got a war with divorces, I got a war on immorality you can't even talk about. My house is a war zone!”  He repeated, “Fasting stops wars." So they learned to fast every Wednesday and Friday. “When you fast you have no fear of the future.” Patrick admitted he had a hard time fasting. “It's the hardest message because we think fasting is for somebody else, but if you don't listen to the coach he can’t help you.”

   The next message is reading the Bible. They didn't even own a Bible, so Nancy had to buy one. Patrick said the fifth message is the big message of Medjugorje. “You can't start conversion without Confession.” Patrick had not been to Confession for 30 years and had lots to confess." You know what the priest did? He said, ‘I absolve you.’ I broke into tears. ‘I absolve you.’ Who can say that? Nobody has that power – only a priest. I'm shocked at the mercy of God and I'm shocked at the power the priest has in Confession. 30 years of mortal sin went down the drain in one Confession!”

   Speaking about the “castle” Patrick and Nancy built, Patrick said, “This is why this is a house of prayer for priests –  because the priest in Confession saved my life. Everything changed with that Confession.”  They have 300-400 priests a year come there, and also look after the religious, sisters, and seminarians and young men looking for vocations.

    Patrick went back to talking about his kids. He asked the youngest son if he’d like to pray a Rosary with them and he declined for months before he finally agreed. Today, 19 years later, that son is a Catholic, married, with two beautiful kids. He is a teacher at a Catholic high school, and one year he even took 52 kids from his school to Medjugorje.

   The second son went to Medjugorje once, and Patrick gave him a rosary. He went back to Canada and later called Patrick to tell him he quit drinking, quit rugby, and became a fireman.  Patrick said, “How is that possible?” And the son said, "The rosary you gave me in Medjugorje." Today he is married and has two beautiful kids. Patrick paraphrased, “Our Lady said if you do this (holding up the rosary), I'll show you miracles in your family.”

   For 10 years, Patrick did not hear from his daughter. In February of 2012, he got a phone call from her. She said she was in Canada and wanted to come to Medjugorje."Daddy, I want to start again. Daddy, I don't want to be separated from the family anymore."  At this point, she had been through three divorces.  She came for two weeks to Medjugorje. She got a healing of her problem with alcohol and went back to the University for a nursing degree. Her life completely changed. “The divorce is gone – the alcohol is gone – the drugs are gone – from someone who started to pray.”  Patrick asked for prayers for his oldest son who still lives an immoral lifestyle. Our Lady said that when you consecrate your kids to the Immaculate Heart, they will be saved. For 48 years, as Patrick's mother prayed, she saw nothing; but then he went home to Canada one time, and took his mother to Mass. She cried, "The black sheep is home; the prodigal son has come home!" 

   This year Patrick and Nancy will celebrate their 25th anniversary. Patrick held up his rosary as he recalled how the priest said their marriage would not work. Patrick sold his car dealerships, boat, house, cars, and everything to move to Medjugorje without even knowing where it was. Why? He quipped, “The Mother of God lives here and I want to be Her neighbor.” Patrick said that Our lady appeared 17 times on their property, since Marija lives next door. During an apparition, Marija consecrated their property to Our Lady and Her Son. Our Lady smiled and said, "I'm joyful that you consecrated this place to me. Those who come here I will bless and protect." Patrick beams, “A real message from the Mother of God to a guy who did everything wrong – 30 years of mortal sin. Can you imagine the mercy of God?”  Holding up a rosary, he concluded, “This is the answer to every problem. This is the answer to your marriage. This is the answer to your kids."

Deacon Greg: Two popes, one mother and the rosary

The following comes from Deacon Greg:

In 2005, the monthly magazine 30 Days invited 20 cardinals from around the world to share their remembrances of the just-deceased Pope John Paul II.

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio—now, of course, Pope Francis—wrote the following:

If I remember well it was 1985. One evening I went to recite the Holy Rosary that was being led by the Holy Father. He was in front of everybody, on his knees. The group was numerous; I saw the Holy Father from the back and, little by little, I got lost in prayer. I was not alone: I was praying in the middle of the people of God to which I and all those there belonged, led by our Pastor.

In the middle of the prayer I became distracted, looking at the figure of the Pope: his pity, his devotion was a witness. And the time drifted away, and I began to imagine the young priest, the seminarian, the poet, the worker, the child from Wadowice… in the same position in which knelt at that moment, reciting Ave Maria after Ave Maria. His witness struck me. I felt that this man, chosen to lead the Church, was following a path up to his Mother in the sky, a path set out on from his childhood. And I became aware of the density of the words of the Mother of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego: “Don’t be afraid, am I not perhaps your mother?”. I understood the presence of Mary in the life of the Pope.

That testimony did not get forgotten in an instant. From that time on I recite the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary every day.

Pray the Rosary, don't just say it!

Don't just say the Rosary, but pray it!

The Month of Mary Part 2 – 1917

The following comes from the Catholic Exchange:

What do Russia, the rise of Communism, the fall of Communism, Islam and Catholicism share in common? Fatima, 1917. We will unpack these connections over the next few blog posts as we reflect on the revolutionary message of Fatima.

When we look at the complex web of world events today, it can be too easy to get caught up in daily news reports that tirelessly remind us we are living in one of the most challenging times in history, but never ask the right questions, beginning with “Why?” What is tragic in the midst of that reporting is that most of the time, we do not receive the truth of world events when it comes to their causes. And this is why having a Catholic view of the world is so important. Society has been conditioned to focus only on what are the symptoms of today’s evils and not relentlessly pursue the truth of their causes. When we have the courage to pursue the truth about “what is wrong with the world” (to borrow a phrase of G.K. Chesterton), we discover that most things in the present world are not what they seem. And instead of focusing on all the “whats” going on in the world, we should be focusing on the “why;” because, as Venerable Fulton Sheen said during World War II, the real reason behind today’s wars and evils is not dialectical, but theological. The world has rejected God and that rejection comes with earth-shattering consequences—consequences we are living with today.

So, how do we understand this reality and what do we do about it? After the French Revolution dealt the death blow to the last vestiges of Christendom, which included the rejection of intelligence (for God is Intelligence Himself), God did not abandon His Church—nor did He abandon a deeply wounded world and those declared to be His enemies.

Beginning in 1830 with Mary’s appearances to St. Catherine Labourè, God inaugurated the greatest Marian age in history, and He did so in the same city which launched the darkest philosophical age in world history, Paris. Now, the very fact that God sent His Mother onto the world stage should be enough to make us pause and ask how serious our times truly are that the King of Kings sent His own Mother as a last resort to beckon the world back to Christ.

Following Paris were the Marian apparitions at La Salette in 1846, followed by those at Lourdes in 1858. Shortly after Lourdes, in 1862, St. John Bosco received his now famous vision of the two pillars that would save the Church during its most tumultuous time in history—the pillars of Mary, Help of Christians, and Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. In his vision, it was only when the Church chained itself to both pillars that She was able to defeat Her enemies. And in his dream, it was the Pope who steered the ship and bound it between those two pillars. Mary, the Eucharist and fidelity to the Pope are at the heart of surviving our troubling times.

The prophetic nature of this dream of Don Bosco was already being played out by Mary’s visitations just mentioned and would be confirmed shortly after during a year which marked the announcement of two revolutions: 1917.

It was in 1917 that Russia would declare its revolution against God, replacing God with the counterfeit absolute of the totalitarian state. We know it as the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, which began the cancerous spread of Communism in the East. At the same time another revolution was declared that would involve the revolution within the heart of every man, and it took place in an obscure city in Portugal, a little place whose name is now known in every corner of the world: Fatima.

Venerable Fulton Sheen described how Mary’s visitations to Fatima were no mere coincidence as they played a significant part in God’s plan for Russia and the world:

It is particularly interesting that the theology of the Russians, before they were overshadowed by the cold heart of the anti-God, taught that, when the world rejected the Heavenly Father, He sent His Divine Son, Jesus Christ, to illumine the world. Then they went on to predict that, when the world would reject Our Lord as it has done today, on that Dark Night the light of His Mother would arise to illumine the darkness and lead the world to peace. The beautiful revelation of Our Blessed Mother at Fatima in Portugal from April to October 1917 was another proof of the Russian thesis that, when the world would fight against the Savior, He would send His Mother to save us. And her great revelation took place in the very month the Bolshevik Revolution began (The World’s First Love, Chapter 22, paragraph 12).

Most are familiar with the apparitions of Mary between the months of May and October 1917 to the three children: Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco. But, many do not know that the seeds of the Marian revolution would be sewn a year prior in 1916 and in a way that aligns completely with the message of Don Bosco’s dream of the two pillars. In the Spring of 1916 “the Angel of Portugal,” who first identified itself as “the angel of peace,” visited the three little seers and offered them a catechesis on prayer and adoration in preparation for the coming of the Mother of God and her message to the world.

The oldest of the seers, Lucia, described the encounter in this way [taken from the EWTN website]:

. . . a light whiter than snow in the form of a young man, quite transparent, and as brilliant as crystal in the rays of the sun. As he came near we were able to see his features. We were astonished and absorbed and we said nothing to one another. And then he said: 

[The angel said]: Do not be afraid. I am the angel of peace. Pray with me.

He knelt, bending his forehead to the ground. With a supernatural impulse we did the same, repeating the words we heard him say:

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You.

After repeating this prayer three times the angel rose and said to us:

Pray in this way. The hearts of Jesus and Mary are ready to listen to you.

In the third and final apparition of the Angel of Portugal, the angel taught the children a beautiful prayer of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as recounted by Lucia:

After we had repeated this prayer I don’t know how many time[s] we saw… shining over us a strange light. We lifted our heads to see what was happening. [T]he Angel was holding in his left hand a chalice and over it, in the air, was a host from which drops of blood fell into the chalice. The Angel leaves the chalice in the air, kneels near us and tells us to repeat three times:

Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. And by the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.

We therefore see that the proper preparation for the visitations of the Blessed Virgin Mary (and integral to her message) involved frequent acts of adoration, frequent prayers of reparation and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We also see in these angelic messages the revelation of the end for which Mary will come – to restore peace in the world by teaching the world the perfect way back to her Son. And that way is set forth throughout the messages of Our Lady of Fatima which can be summed up as follows:

1. Pray the Rosary daily for peace in the world.

2. Consecrate Russia [and the world] to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in order to end its evil of Communism.

3. “Make sacrifices for sinners, and say often, especially while making a sacrifice: O Jesus, this is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for offences committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary” [Mary’s words to the children, 13 July 1917].

4. “I shall ask that on the First Saturday of every month Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world” [Mary’s words to the children, 13 July 1917].

In our upcoming blogs this May, we will take a special look at why Mary would single out the Rosary as such an important prayer for our times, as well as the significance and power of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for achieving the triumph Mary promised at Fatima.

But wait, some of you are probably asking, “You said the apparitions at Fatima have a connection with the Moslems. What’s that about?” Well, make sure you check out next week’s blog post to find out. Between now and then, let’s be like the children of Fatima who were faithful to Our Lady’s request to pray the Rosary each day, especially in our families.

Nigerian Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme: Rosary will defeat Boko Haram

(CNA/EWTN News) A Nigerian bishop says that he has seen Christ in a vision and now knows that the rosary is the key to ridding the country of the Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram.

Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme says he is being driven by a God-given mandate to lead others in praying the rosary until the extremist group disappears.

“Towards the end of last year I was in my chapel before the Blessed Sacrament… praying the rosary, and then suddenly the Lord appeared,” Bishop Dashe told CNA April 18.

In the vision, the prelate said, Jesus didn’t say anything at first, but extended a sword toward him, and he in turn reached out for it.

“As soon as I received the sword, it turned into a rosary,” the bishop said, adding that Jesus then told him three times: “Boko Haram is gone.”

“I didn’t need any prophet to give me the explanation,” he said. “It was clear that with the rosary we would be able to expel Boko Haram.”

The bishop said he didn’t want to tell anyone, but “felt that the Holy Spirit was pushing him to do so.”

He started with the priests of his diocese, and then told participants in the April 17-19 #WeAreN2015 congress in Madrid, Spain. The event is being sponsored by the Spanish Catholic sister groups hazteoir.org and CitizenGo to gather ideas on how to preserve the Christian presence in nations where they are most persecuted.

Bishop Dashe leads the Diocese of Maiduguri, in northeastern Nigeria's Borno State. In 2009, there were around 125,000 Catholics under his guidance. After a surge in violence from the Islamist extremist group called Boko Haram, today “there are only 50 to 60 thousand left,” he said.

Most of those who fled sought safer areas in other parts of Nigeria, he said. Some of the same families are now returning home as armed forces from Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon liberate their homes.

In 2014, Boko Haram became known worldwide when members kidnapped nearly 300 girls from a school in Borno State. On March 7, 2015, five suicide bombers killed 54 and wounded nearly three times as many in the capital city of Maidaguri, where the bishop lives and works.

The group has killed 1,000 people across Nigeria in the first three months of 2015, according to Human Rights Watch, which reports that more than 6,000 have died in Boko Haram-led violence since 2009.

Just last month, the group pledged its allegiance to ISIS – also known as the Islamic State – which launched a bloody campaign in Iraq and Syria last summer.

Meanwhile, Bishop Dashe has just completed a “consolation tour” to communities in his diocese, promoting forgiveness and continued faith. He believes he was asked by Jesus to spread devotion to the rosary in order to aid them as they do so.

“Maybe that’s why he did it,” said the bishop, referring to Jesus in his vision.

Bishop Dashe said he has a strong devotion to Christ’s mother, and that “I never joke with ‘Mamma Mary.’ I know she is here with us.”

And he is not the only Nigerian bishop putting the future of the country in the hands of Mary. The nation’s bishops’ conference has consecrated the country to her twice in recent years.

Bishop Dashe believes that one day his diocese will completely recover and grow thanks to her intercession.

“These terrorists… think that by burning our churches, burning our structures, they will destroy Christanity. Never,” Bishop Dashe told several hundred people from the dais of the #WeAreN2015 congress.

“It may take a few months or a few years … but ‘Boko Haram is gone.’”

He later told CNA that “prayer, particularly the prayer of the rosary, is (what) will deliver us from the claws of this demon, the demon of terrorism. And of course, it is working.”

Pope Francis: Pray the Rosary in the fight against evil!

The Rosary: Our Weapon

Pope Benedict: Pray the Rosary Every Day!

The following comes from Zenit.org:

Benedict XVI is encouraging the daily recitation of the rosary, emphasizing that it is a tool to grow in the theological virtues and a path for cooperating in the plan of salvation.

The Pope said this Wednesday at the end of the general audience when he gave multilingual greetings to various groups gathered with him in St. Peter's Square.

In Slovakian, he referred to the rosary as a "school of prayer for us," and he expressed his wish that the month of October, which is dedicated to the rosary, would assist in discovering "the beauty of this simple but efficacious prayer."

Oct. 7 is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

The Holy Father invited Portuguese-speakers to "persist in the daily recitation of the rosary."

He reflected that through this prayer, families can be united with Our Lady, and "fully cooperate in the plans of salvation God has for you."

A similar message went to Hungarians, when the Pontiff presented the rosary as a prayer to "strengthen you ever more in faith, in hope and in love."

Pope Benedict: Pray the Rosary!

The following comes from the CNA:

Pope Benedict XVI issued a special call to pray the Rosary during May, the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The pontiff spoke at the conclusion of his May 11 General Audience. He exhorted “everyone to intensify the pious practice of the Holy Rosary, especially in this month of May dedicated to the Mother of God.”

“I invite you, beloved young people, to value this traditional Marian prayer, which helps us better understand and assimilate the central moments of the salvation wrought by Christ,” the Pope said.

He then encouraged the sick “to turn with confidence to the Virgin through this pious exercise, entrusting all your needs to her.”

He concluded by addressing newlyweds and inviting them to “make the recitation of the family Rosary a time of spiritual growth under the gaze of the Virgin Mary.”