PeterAs wars drag on they escalate, and the weapons and tactics escalate proportionately. Against the wickedness of man, God has rolled out weapons of greater power in the fullness of time, culminating in the Mass, which literally warps time and space around it by the transubstantiation of bread into God Himself made present: Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. The Mass, by some mysterious way that cannot be understood, much less comprehended, compresses the infinite into the finite without detracting from it in any way, so that we, in our limitedness can communicate directly with God.
Equally mysterious is how the hierarchy somehow forgot to tell this to two thirds of Catholics in the United States, but with all the global cooling global warming climate change reforms, I suppose it’s quite understandable. But I digress.
As the centuries have marched on after the Ascension, inevitably drawing closer to the end times, the seven sacraments have been supplemented by an arsenal of spiritual weapons as crises surge and recede. The Brown Scapular, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the Miraculous Medal, all have been given to us directly from heaven in the form of private revelation.
But the spiritual devotion par excellence, a weapon truly created to be wielded in the most apocalyptic spiritual battlefields, is the Rosary. The Rosary was rolled out in a vision to St. Dominic during the Albigensian Heresy that threatened to rip apart France. It was a potent tool in the conversion of sinners, and the results speak for themselves.
Have you ever met an Albigensian?
The Rosary is so powerful it has actually been deployed onto physical battlefields with literally miraculous results, scoring upsets against overwhelming odds. This occurs so routinely that the veneration of the title of Our Lady of the Rosary includes the title of Our Lady of Victory, which very intentionally shares its feast day.
Its scope has increased over time. The often terrifying predictions of Fatima and Akita are balanced by the promise that the Rosary is the weapon by which we can resist the more dire predictions.
In one’s personal struggle which is always raging, the Rosary is just as effective as routing enemy hordes or combating evil on a global scale. Praying the Rosary daily draws one closer into the mysteries of Christ’s life and into a special relationship with his mother which, as St. Louis Marie De Montfort says, is the easy way to heaven. Given how hard life is, most of us could use as much ease as we can get.
The key to the Rosary is not the simple recitation of the words but meditating on the mysterious. This is a critical aspect to its efficacy. Meditation is a higher form of prayer that allows the soul to communicate with the divine beyond mere words, directly into the intellect.
I could wax on about the Rosary all day, but why listen to little ole me when you can hear Our Lady herself describing its benefits to Alanus De Rupe:
- Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
- I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
- The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
- It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the heart 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.
- The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.
- Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries, shall never be conquered and never overwhelmed by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death (unprepared for heaven). The sinner shall convert. The just shall grow in grace and become worthy of eternal life.
- Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
- Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have, during their life and at their death, the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
- I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
- The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven.
- You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
- All those who propagate the holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
- I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
- All who recite the Rosary are my sons, and brothers of my only son Jesus Christ.
- Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
Our souls are caught up in a spiritual war, and as General Philip Petain once opined, “Firepower Kills.” Pray the Rosary every day and get that extra bang.