Motivation to Pray the Rosary

...So when you give a sermon, urge people to say my Rosary, and in this way your words will bear much fruit for souls. - Our Lady to St. Dominic

For you, my dear neighbor. Please pray for me.

Table of Contents
About the Rosary............................................................................. 4 The Written Gospels as Motivation to Pray the Rosary........................... 8 Devotion to Mary as Motivation to Pray the Rosary..............................15 The Catholic Church as Motivation to Pray the Rosary..........................19 Motivation to Pray the Rosary Because it Strengthens Our Faith............22 The God Infusion as Motivation to Pray the Rosary........................... 27 The Rosary is the Weapon Against the Evils of the World.....................31 Rosary Quotes............................................................................... 40 The 15 Promises of Our Lady to Christians Who Recite the Rosary........47 Appendix of Quotes Attributed to St. Padre Pio...................................48 Appendix on Divine Mercy................................................................59 Appendix of Thomistic Philosophy..................................................... 64 Appendix on Confession (transcribed from an old children's missal)......70

About the Rosary

Welcome. The aim of this book is to convince you to pray your rosary. Your first assignment, if you have not already done so, is to get a rosary. It doesn't have to be expensive! A cheap plastic one will work as well as one made of fine gems. You can even make your own. Precious stones and metals are a beautiful symbol of our devotion to God but the real beauty comes from how we use our beads, not the material they are made from. The use of a physical device to count prayers with is an ancient practice in the Christian religion. One of the ways in which early Christians prayed was to recite the Psalter of David which had foretold the coming of Jesus Christ. As members of His mystical body, these writings have special relevance to Christians. In fact, when monks began going into the deserts of Egypt, it was their custom to pray the entire 150 Psalms every day. However, because some of the monks were not able to read, they would need to either memorize the Psalms or say other prayers in place of them. These monks kept count of their prayers by casting pebbles into a bowl, but this was somewhat awkward, and could not easily be performed when outside of their cell. Later the use of a knotted rope helped the monks to pray unceasingly, whether inside their cell or outside about their work, thereby complying quite literally with Saint Paul's command to "Pray without ceasing" (I Thessalonians 5:17). This is not to say you are required to recite prayers all day. Another way to pray without ceasing is by frequently lifting your thoughts to God and offering Him your efforts on whatever work is currently at hand. Anything that is done out of necessity for your state in life is accepted by God as a prayer if you have the intention of offering it as such. (It is, however, worth mentioning that there have been several saints - among them St. John Vianney and St. Padre Pio - who were virtually never seen without a rosary in their hand.) The Rosary combines vocalized prayer with meditative prayer and in a sense it is as ancient as Christianity itself. For example the Our Father was spoken by Our Lord as part of His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13). And in the Hail Mary we greet God's Mother with the same words as those used by the Angel Gabriel: Hail [Mary], full of grace, the Lord is with thee. (Luke 1:28) and then with the words spoken by Mary's cousin Elisabeth: Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, [Jesus] (Luke 1:42). Likewise, the meditations of the Rosary themselves center on events taken from the lives of 4

Jesus and Mary. These events (which are called the Mysteries of the Rosary) have been known to Christians since the time of the Apostles and most of them are recorded in the written Gospels. Nevertheless, it was not until the year 1214 that the Church received the Holy Rosary in the form and with the method according to which we pray it today. According to legend it was given to St. Dominic by the Blessed Virgin herself as a means of converting the Albigensians. This event is written of in the book The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort:

ppearing to him with three angels she said, My dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?

O my Lady, answered St. Dominic, you know better than I because next to your Son Jesus Christ you have always been the chief instrument of our salvation. hen Our Lady replied: I want you to know that in this type of warfare, the principle weapon 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.
The Rosary is sometimes referred to as the Angelic Psalter or Mary's Psalter in order to more directly note it's correspondence to the Psalter of David from the Old Testament. As previously mentioned, much of the devotion which eventually became the Rosary grew naturally from the ancient practice of reciting the Psalms as prayers of thanksgiving, repentance and praise. There are 150 Psalms of David and corresponding to this are the 150 Hail Marys in the Rosary established by St. Dominic. Old Testament Israelites read the Psalms in anticipation of the promised Messiah. New Testament Christians meditate on His life, passion and glory as illustrated in the Mysteries of the Rosary. In the Old Testament it was Eve's disobedience which prompted Adam to sin, bringing death and disorder into the world. In the New Testament it was the Second Eve's faith which permitted the Word to take flesh when she said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word (Luke 1:38). Much of what we know about the origin of the Rosary comes to us from the writings of 5

Blessed Alan de la Roche. He was a zealous promoter of the Rosary and began this great work in 1460, after a special warning from our Lord. This is how he reportedly received that urgent message as written in the book, The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort:

ne day when he was offering Mass, our Lord, who wished to spur him on to preach the holy Rosary, spoke to him in the Sacred Host. "How can you crucify me again so soon?" Jesus said. "What did you say, Lord?" asked Blessed Alan, horrified. "You crucified me once before by your sins," answered Jesus, "and I would willingly be crucified again rather than have my Father offended by the sins you used to commit. You are crucifying me again now because you have all the learning and understanding that you need to preach my Mother's Rosary, and you are not doing it. If you only did that, you could teach many souls the right path and lead them away from sin. But you are not doing it, and so you yourself are guilty of the sins that they commit."

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his terrible reproach made Blessed Alan solemnly resolve to preach the Rosary unceasingly.

ur Lady also said to him one day to inspire him to preach the Rosary more and more, "You were a great sinner in your youth, but I obtained the grace of your conversion from my Son. Had such a thing been possible, I would have liked to have gone through all kinds of suffering to save you, because converted sinners are a glory to me. And I would have done that also to make you worthy of preaching my Rosary far and wide."
Such messages from heaven can be a great encouragement for us. And since miraculous claims from hundreds of years ago often loose their impact or might seem more difficult to believe, we will plan, time permitting, to examine the credibility and significance of relatively more recent apparitions and miracles such as those that have happened in Lourdes, France in 1858 and Fatima, Portugal in 1917. At Fatima, for example, heavenly messages were not only given to three little children but these messages were then supported by a spectacular public miracle with the very day of its occurrence given out months in advance. This Miracle of the Sun was witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people who, on the appointed date, flocked to the promised location to see if the claims were true. The significance of the Fatima apparitions as regards to the 6

Rosary can be seen in that the Blessed Mother, deeply saddened at the loss of so many souls very dear to her, requested that an additional prayer be added at the end of each Mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. An excellent book you may want to read is The True Story of Fatima by Fr. John de Marchi. Fr. de Marchi was an Italian Catholic Priest who moved to Fatima for seven years while he researched this topic at length. For now, we will simply be content to state that a central message of this and many other miraculous events throughout history has been Pray the Rosary! The Rosary is largely associated with the Catholic Church. This is due to the Church's historically wholehearted reception and enthusiastic promotion of this devotion. Since the time of Blessed Alan in the 1400's through to our present day, virtually all of the Popes have celebrated and exulted it. Pope St. Pius V attributed the surprisingly successful defeat of an invading Turkish fleet in 1571 to the fact that the victory coincided with the processions of the Rosary confraternities at Rome and elsewhere. He established an annual commemoration of the Rosary to be held on the anniversary of that date. Pope Leo XIII who reigned from 1878-1903 issued a record-setting 11 encyclicals on the Rosary and was dubbed the Rosary Pope. Countless Saints have been devoted to the Rosary. Padre Pio (1887-1968) was recently canonized in the last decade and is best known as being the priest who bore the Stigmata. For 50 years he carried with him the visible, bleeding, painful and supernatural wounds corresponding to the wounds of our crucified Lord. And this is actually only one of many miraculous phenomena attributed to St. Pio, with some of his others arguably even more remarkable than the stigmata. He was also highly devoted to the Rosary and is quoted as saying: "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." Near the end of his life, when asked what legacy he would like to leave behind for his spiritual children, he replied My child, the Rosary. The primary reason why the Rosary devotion has been so warmly received by so many people is because of the marvelous effect which it has upon those who practice it. St. Louis de Montfort assures us that by the Rosary sinners obtain pardon; those who thirst are refreshed; those who are fettered are set free; those who weep find joy; those who are tempted find peace; those in need find help; religious are reformed; the ignorant are 7

instructed; the living learn to resist spiritual decline; and by our prayers the Holy Souls in Purgatory find relief. A primary reason why the Rosary devotion is not nearly as widely practiced as it should be is because so many people are entirely unaware of it's benefits either through ignorance or a lack of faith. It will be our goal then to dispel this ignorance and strengthen faith. In these first few pages we have already touched on many important motivational topics. The strategy for upcoming lessons is to take a close look at these topics one-by-one.

The Written Gospels as Motivation to Pray the Rosary

The first motivation to pray the Rosary that we will be looking at in depth are the written Gospels. Many of the Rosary's prayers and Mysteries are recorded in the written Gospels. This will inspire us to pray the Rosary according to our faith in the Gospels. There is much in the way of evidence for us to examine so that our faith can be well founded. First we will compare how closely the modern texts of the Gospels match up with those used in ancient times. We don't have the original copies of the Gospels. But there are literally thousands of cataloged manuscripts and fragments of manuscripts of the New Testament. By examining the ancient Greek New Testament manuscripts we can conclude that the modern text of the New Testament goes back to at least 200 A.D. Since there are no older manuscripts of the Gospels that are still preserved for us to compare modern translations with, we next go on to look at the indirect evidence provided by the writings of early ecclesiastical writers. A few examples of such writers are St. Irenaeus of Lyons in Gaul (c. 140 203), Clement of Alexandria in Egypt (c. 150 211) and Tertullian of Carthage in North Africa (c. 150/160 220). Between these three, they quote the New Testament over 10,000 times. From their writings alone it is possible to reconstruct most of the entire New Testament. In doing so we find that it is essentially unchanged as compared to today. Another writer, Tatian (c. 120 180) compiled all 4 Gospels into one continuous narrative of the Gospels called the Diatesseron. The text of the Gospels that Tatian used when he wrote shortly after the middle of the Second Century matches the Gospels of modern times. Since Tatian himself became acquainted with the Gospels via St. Justin Martyr (c. 103-165), we can safely conclude that the text of the Gospels goes back virtually unchanged to at 8

least 140 A.D.1 It is also worth noting that the written Gospels were widely diffused among the early Christian communities where they were collectively read. St. Justin (c. 103-165) writes of this:

or the Apostles in the records which they have made and which are called the Gospels, have declared that Jesus commanded them to do as follows, He took bread and gave thanks and said, Do this in commemoration of Me.2

nd on the day which is called Sunday, there is an assembly in the same place of all who live in cities or in country districts, and the records of the Apostles are read as long as there is time.3
This distribution of the written scriptures was well known to the pagan authorities who would routinely give order that they be surrendered over for burning as is described in documents related to the trial of early Christians. 4 More evidence of the wide diffusion of the Gospels comes from a group of fourteen writings known as the Apostolic Fathers (composed between c. 70 A.D. And 155 A.D.). These were written in widely separated parts of the world.

or example, St. Ignatius (d. 107 A.D.) was from Syrian Antioch; the First Epistle of Clement proceeds from the Christian community of Rome to the Christian community of Corinth (96/98 A.D.); St. Polycarp of Smyrna (d. 155/166 A.D.) in Asia Minor wrote a letter to the Christian community in Philippi in Macedonia. ...The Apostolic Fathers give unmistakable evidence of being acquainted with all the Gospels.

he oldest extant writing which extensively defends the integrity of the Gospels is Tertullian's Adversus Marcionem written about 207/211 A.D. Tertullian's refutation pointed out that all the Gospels were integral because at an
1 College Apologetics by Fr. Anthony Alexander. 1954, Chicago, Il. Chapter V page 48 2 I Apology 66. 3. by St. Justin Martyr 3 I Apology 67. 3. by St. Justin Martyr 4 College Apologetics by Fr. Anthony Alexander. 1954, Chicago, Il. Chapter V page 50

early date measures were taken to insure the agreement of the transcriptions with the originals.5 ( Quoted from Chapter V of College Apologetics by Fr. Anthony Alexander)
The more diffused a writing is the more protected it becomes from corruption during transcriptions. If a text is widely diffused, errors will be readily noticed and localized. Because historical documentation convincingly points to such diffusion we can reasonably conclude that the Gospels of today are essentially the same as the original autographs. And who were the original authors? It is widely held that the authors of these documents were St. Matthew the Apostle, St. Mark the Evangelist, St. Luke the Evangelist and St. John the Apostle writing the First through Fourth Gospels, respectively. But as the authors' names did not appear on the original Gospel manuscripts, we will examine what evidence exists in favor of this long held tradition. In his book, College Apologetics Fr. Anthony Alexander looks to the Ante-Nicene writers for just such evidence. The passages that follow are taken from Chapter VI of this book:

he tradition which Tertullian [(c. 160 220)] knew concerning the authorship of the Gospels is set down in his work entitled Adversus Marcionem as follows:

We affirm, first of all, that the source of proof which the Gospels furnish indicates the Apostles to be their own authors. I maintain that this Gospel of Luke existed from the very beginning of its publication in the Apostolic churches and in all those which were united to them through a common bond of faith, while that of Marcion was unknown to most of the congregations and if known to any was bitterly condemned. The same authority of the Apostolic churches also supports the other Gospels which we possess through them and after them namely the Gospels of John and Matthew as well as the Gospel of Mark which is designated as that of Peter whose interpreter

5 Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem Bk. IV. 4. 5. Cf. also Eusebius H.E. Bk. V. xxviii. 18; and St. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses Bk. IV. 32

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Mark was.6

t. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 140 202/203) was born in Asia Minor and spent some time in study there. He also knew the tradition of the West for he succeeded Pothinus (d. 177/178) as the bishop of Lyons. Besides this, he explicitly states that he set out to discover personally the tradition of Rome. While St. Irenaeus was in Asia Minor, he was the disciple of St. Polycarp of Smyrna (d. 155/156) who in turn was a disciple of St. John the Apostle.7 In Lyons he learned the ancient tradition of this region from Pothinus who was about ninety years old when he was martyred. [Irenaeus writes:]

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Matthew published his Gospel among the Hebrews and in their own language at the time when Peter and Paul were preaching the glad tidings in Rome and founding the church there. After departure Mark also, the pupil and interpreter of Peter, has given us what has been preached. Luke, however a companion of Paul, has chronicled in his work the Gospel as it was preached by that Apostle. After that John, the disciple of the Lord, who was reclining on his breast, published his Gospel while he was residing at Ephesus in Asia.8 renaeus then adds that this knowledge was the universal tradition of the Church.9

rigen (c. 185-254/255 A.D.) of Alexandria in Egypt succeeded Clement as head of the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Clement, in turn, was taught by men of olden times who came from many parts of the Greek speaking world. Origen's testimony regarding the authorship of the Gospels is
6 Adversus Marcionem Bk. IV. 5. MPG Vol. II, Col. 365. De Praescriptione Haereticorum 32. 7 Adversus Haereses III. 3. 6. 8 Adversus Haereses III. 1. 1. MPG Vol. VII, col. 844 9 Adversus Haereses III. 11. 8.

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summarized in his first commentary on Matthew. In it he states that he,

...learned from tradition concerning the four Gospels which alone are unquestionable in the Church of God under heaven, that first was written that according to Matthew, who was once a tax collector, but afterwards an Apostle of Jesus Christ who published it for those who from Judaism came to believe, composed as it was in the Hebrew language. Secondly, that according to Mark, who wrote according to Peter's instructions Thirdly, that according to Luke, who wrote for those who from the Gentiles came to believe, the Gospel that was preached by Paul. After them all, that according to John.10
Numerous similar passages could be produced. These three that were selected are representative of the principle geographical regions of the ancient world where Christianity was active, suggesting a universality of this tradition among early Christians and confirming the correctness of our traditional beliefs regarding the authorship of the Gospels. There is additional so-called internal evidence within the text of the New Testament itself. 11 For the sake of time I will not go into this except to mention that the claims entirely support what is already believed by tradition and what can be concluded from the Ante-Nicene literature, namely that: St. Matthew the Apostle wrote the First Gospel in Hebrew for the Jews. St. Mark was an associate of the Apostle St. Peter and wrote the Second Gospel for Christians in Rome. St. Luke was something like a physician who was closely associated with the Apostle St. Paul and wrote the Third Gospel for the non-Jewish converts to Christianity. Last of all, St. John the Apostle wrote the Fourth Gospel, partly as an opposition to a group identified as Cerinthians who denied the divinity of Christ.

I will refer you to Chapter VI of College Apologetics by Fr. Anthony Alexander for more
10 Quoted by Eusebius in H. E. (Bk. VI. Xxv. 4-6), trans. By Lake & Oulton in Loeb Classical Library (London; Heinemann, 1926). 11 College Apologetics, Chapter VI

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information on this topic. It is obvious that the Evangelists were in an excellent position to accurately narrate the events of Christ's life and His teachings. Two of them were Apostles and two of them worked closely with the Apostles. It is not difficult to imagine these zealous souls emboldened with the Holy Spirit going forth to preach the New Law of Grace. After preaching the Gospel for some time, they prudently preserve it in a written form. It is then transcribed and used by the various emerging Christian communities, each with their own bishop and priests. After fighting the good fight, the Apostles in general go on to pass the ultimate test of sincerity by being tortured and martyred for the love of God and fellow man. This is a compelling meditation by itself and there is no shortage of evidence to support - for example - the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul in Rome as well as countless other early Christian Martyrs. However, let us further note that the nature of Christianity is so completely tied to it's founder that it compels the convert to learn all he can about Christ. At the beginning of Christianity this would involve an investigation into the truthfulness of the Gospels. Fr. Alexander writes on this:

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he existence and the activities of Jesus were widely known. Persons who were already adults when Christ died, were but from fifty to sixty-five years old when the first three Gospels were written; and some ancient writers cite instances of certain exceptional eye-witnesses who lived until after the writing of the Gospel of St. John. he events of the Gospels were a stumbling block to belief for the Jews. They wanted a Messiah who would liberate them from the Roman yoke and make Jerusalem the political and cultural center of the world. But the Gospels portrayed the Messiah as one who did not care for earthly kingdoms and who even predicted the destruction of Jerusalem. Naturally, then, the decisive means at the disposal of the Jews by which they could replace their deeply embedded, popular notion of the Messiah with the notion of the spiritual Messiah of the Gospels was to investigate thoroughly the truth of the spoken and written Gospels. Yet it can be proved that many Jews12 became Christians.

12 H.E. VI. xxv. 4.

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he pagans considered it foolishness to pay homage and allegiance to a Person who seemed too helpless to prevent men from putting Him to death in such a disgraceful way as crucifixion. To become a member of the religion founded by Christ meant that one would have to live with the possibility either of losing his property by confiscation, or of martyrdom continually imminent. Naturally speaking, how could these pagans bring themselves to accept Christ and the consequences of being His followers? The principal means by which this could be accomplished was by an investigation into the truth and claims of Christ as they were outlined in the Gospels. Even pagan sources show that many were converted to Christianity.13
After defending the reliability of the Gospels (in Chapter VII of College Apologetics) Fr. Alexander goes on to discuss the theories of critics:

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he illogical procedure of the critics is apparent at once. Instead of applying the rules of historical method to the Gospels, the critics apply false philosophical principles to them.14 Their conclusion is drawn before the investigation begins. With the major premise that miracles are impossible, the conclusion must be that the Gospels are not historical. These critics show themselves ready to modify the facts with their theory, whereas a theory should be modified by the facts. he [Myth Theory puts] the Gospels on par with pagan mythologies, stating that they had their origin in the imagination of the people, and as such could command no degree of credibility. Strauss [(1808-1874)] knew well that it takes time for facts to assume the trappings of myths and so was forced by his own theory to assign the composition of the Gospels to the Second Century. And this assigning of the composition of the Gospels to the Second Century proved to be the weak link in the whole theory, for the evidence of the ante-Nicene literature is overwhelmingly opposed to setting it at such a late date. Every
13 Tacitus, Annales Bk. XV. 44; Pliny, Ep. 96 ad Trajani, Letters Bk. 10 14 The false philosophical principles are that miracles and supernatural occurrences are impossible on earth. They are not impossible for there is nothing contradictory about them from the standpoint of God, or man, or the things themselves. -Fr. Alexander

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argument in favor of the integrity and authorship of the Gospels is implicitly an argument against this theory.
Our above investigations support and commend a faith in the written Gospels as reliable and historically accurate documents of the Church. Since the written Gospels contain a good deal of the Rosary's substance, this should compel us to persevere in our devotion.

Devotion to Mary as Motivation to Pray the Rosary

The Rosary is a Marian Devotion. This will motivate us to pray the Rosary to the degree that we are motivated to honor Mary. With an aim of increasing our desire for this devotion, lets look at devotion to Mary from a historical perspective. In the previous section, we concluded that the Gospels read today are essentially unchanged as compared to those reverenced by the early Christians. In a similar spirit, Blessed John Henry Newman (1801 1890) set about the task of showing that the beliefs and devotions that we have today regarding Mary are the very same as those practiced by the early Christians. In one of his manuscripts, Blessed John Newman quotes 12 different early Christian writers and shows that from the very beginning Mary was recognized as a type of second Eve. Let's now consider what that implies. Adam, who was charged by God with the naming of all things, called Eve the Mother of all the living. She had her own general relation to the human race and her own special place regarding its trial and its fall in Adam. She cooperated personally in the sin and brought it about. Blessed John Newman observes the following:

n that awful transaction there were three parties concerned: the serpent, the woman, and the man; and at the time of their sentence, an event was announced for the future, in which the three same parties were to meet again: the serpent, the woman, and the man. But it was to be a second Adam and a second Eve, and the new Eve was to be the mother of the new Adam. I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. The Seed of
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the woman is the Word Incarnate, and the Woman whose seed or son He is, is His mother Mary. This interpretation and the parallelism it involves, seem to me undeniable but at all events (and this is my point) the parallelism is the doctrine of the Fathers from the earliest times; and, this being established, we are able, by the position and office of Eve in our fall, to determine the position and office of Mary in our restoration.
Whereas Blessed John Newman goes on to quote 12 early Christian writers to illustrate this Marian devotion among the primitive Church, we are going to reproduce only 3 of them here: St. Justin Martyr (A.D. 120 165), St. Irenaeus (120 200), and Tertullian (160 240). These writers were appealed to in the previous chapter to show the integrity of our traditions concerning the written Gospels. We now use them to show that our traditions concerning Mary are equally reliable. The following passage comes from the writings of Blessed John Henry Newman:

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1.

ertullian represents Africa and Rome; St. Justin represents Palestine; and St. Irenaeus Asia Minor and Gaul, or rather he represents St. John the Evangelist, for he had been taught by the Martyr St. Polycarp who was the intimate associate of St. John and of the other Apostles. St. Justin:

We know that He, before all creatures, proceeded from the Father by His power and will, ...and by means of the Virgin became man, that by what way the disobedience arising from the serpent had its beginning, by that way also it might have an undoing. For Eve, being a virgin and undefiled, conceiving the word that was from the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death; but the Virgin Mary, taking faith and joy, when the Angel told her the good tidings, that the Spirit of the Lord should come upon her and the power of the Highest overshadow her, and therefore the Holy One that was born of her was Son of God, answered, 'Be it to me according to Thy word.' Tryph. 100.

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2.

Tertullian:

3.

God recovered His image and likeness, which the devil had seized, by a rival operation. For into Eve, as yet a virgin, had crept the word which was the framer of death. Equally into a virgin was to be introduced the Word of God which was the builder-up of life so that what by that sex had gone into perdition, by the same sex might be brought back to salvation. Eve had believed the serpent; Mary believed Gabriel. The fault which the one committed by believing, the other by believing has blotted out. De Carn. Christ. 17. S t. Irenaeus:

With a fitness, Mary the Virgin is found obedient, saying, 'Behold Thy handmaid, O Lord; be it to me according to Thy word.' But Eve was disobedient; for she obeyed not, while she was yet a virgin. As she, having indeed Adam for a husband, but as yet being a virgin ...becoming disobedient, became the cause of death both to herself and to the whole human race, so also Mary, having the predestined man, and being yet a Virgin, being obedient, became both to herself and to the whole human race the cause of salvation. And on account of this the Lord said, that the first should be last and the last first. And the Prophet signifies the same, saying, 'Instead of fathers you have children.' For, whereas the Lord, when born, was the first-begotten of the dead, and received into His bosom the primitive fathers, He regenerated them into the life of God, He Himself becoming the beginning of the living, since Adam became the beginning of the dying. Therefore also Luke, commencing the line of generations from the Lord, referred it back to Adam, signifying that He regenerated the old fathers, not they Him, into the Gospel of life. And so the knot of Eve's disobedience received its unloosing through the obedience of Mary; for what Eve, a virgin, bound by incredulity, that Mary, a virgin, unloosed by faith.

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 Adv. Haer. Iii. 22. 34. A nd again:

As Eve by the speech of an Angel was seduced, so as to flee God, transgressing His word, so also Mary received the good tidings by means of the Angel's speech, so as to bear God within her, being obedient to His word. And, though the one had disobeyed God, yet the other was drawn to obey God; that of the virgin Eve the Virgin Mary might become the advocate. And, as by a virgin the human race had been bound to death, by a virgin it is saved, the balance being preserved, a virgin's disobedience by a virgin's obedience. Ibid. v. 19. ow what is especially noticeable in these three writers is that they do not speak of the Blessed Virgin merely as the physical instrument of our Lord's taking flesh, but as an intelligent, responsible cause of it; her faith and obedience being accessories to the Incarnation and gaining it as her reward. As Eve failed in these virtues and thereby brought on the fall of the race in Adam, so Mary by means of [these virtues] had a part in its restoration. they unanimously declare that she was not a mere instrument in the Incarnation such as David or Judah may be considered. They declare she cooperated in our salvation by specific holy acts, the effect of the Holy Spirit within her soul; that as Eve forfeited privileges by sin, so Mary earned privileges by the fruits of grace; that as Eve was disobedient and unbelieving, so Mary was obedient and believing; that as Eve was a cause of ruin to all, Mary was a cause of salvation to all; that as Eve made room for Adam's fall, so Mary made room for our Lord's reparation of it; and thus, whereas the free gift was not as the offense, but much greater, it follows that, as Eve cooperated in effecting a great evil, Mary cooperated in effecting a much greater good.
Blessed John Newman goes on to quote several other sources and then shows how various distinguishing features of Mary such as her Immaculate Conception and her Assumption into heaven can be seen to flow from her office as the Second Eve. By the Immaculate Conception of Mary is meant that she was conceived in the womb of her mother, St. Anne, without original sin, having the grace of God from the first moment of her being, as it had 18

been given to Eve. By her Assumption is meant that not only her soul, but her body also, was taken up to heaven upon her death, so that there was no long period of her body remaining in the grave, as is the case with others, even great Saints, who wait until the last day for the resurrection of their bodies. Perhaps one reason for this is that she was so transcendentally holy, so full and overflowing with grace. Adam and Eve were created upright and sinless and had a large measure of God's grace bestowed upon them. In consequence of this their bodies would never have crumbled into dust if they had not sinned. Therefore Mary, having never sinned, retained the gift which Eve by sinning lost. After quoting a dozen early Christian writers, Blessed John Henry Newman concludes, I fully grant that devotion towards the Blessed Virgin has increased among Catholics with the progress of centuries. [However,] I do not allow that the doctrine concerning her has undergone a growth, for I believe that it has been in substance one and the same from the beginning.

The Catholic Church as Motivation to Pray the Rosary

As mentioned before, the Catholic Church has highly endorsed and promoted the devotion of the Rosary. This will inspire us to pray the Rosary to the degree we reverence and respect the guidance of the Catholic Church. In order to develop this reverence within us I would like us to look at a few different points. The first point that I would like to draw attention to is the fact that the Church was established by Jesus Christ Himself. Our bishops today were ordained by bishops who were ordained by bishops who were ordained by bishops who were ordained by bishops and so on and so on all of the way back to the Apostles who themselves were ordained by Jesus Christ. This mark of Apostolic succession was very important to the early Christians and it was used as early as the Second Century by Tertullian of Carthage to defend the integrity of the written Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John against the errors of various gnostic gospels that were appearing at that time. Tertullian writes "we affirm first of all that the source of proof which the Gospels furnish 19

indicates the Apostles to be their own authors I maintain that this gospel of Luke existed from the very beginning of its publication in the Apostolic churches and in all those that are united to them through a common bond of faith while that of Marcion was unknown to most of the congregations and if known to any was bitterly condemned. The same authority of the Apostolic churches also supports the other Gospels which we possess through them and after them; namely, the Gospels of John and Matthew as well as the gospel of Mark which is designated as that of Peter whose interpreter Mark was." After persecutions of the Christians ended and it became legal to be a Christian in the Roman Empire, the bishops at that time were able to take council and come together in their united faith. One of the artifacts from these early councils and in particular the Council of Nicaea is what is known as the Nicene Creed or sometimes simply The Creed. In essence it is very similar to the Apostle's Creed which tradition holds was formulated at a much earlier date. The Mark of Apostolic succession is one of four marks attributed to the Church in this creed wherein it is stated I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Apostolic here is a reference to the Apostolic succession which the bishops of the Church possess. Catholic in this sense means universal and this is a reference to the universal teachings of the Church which are the same regardless of where one goes and regardless of what time period one looks at. Since its foundation the Church has consistently taught the same doctrines throughout all time and in all places that it has been present. The Church is Holy in its founder, Jesus Christ. It is also holy in the effect it has upon the souls of those who adhere to Her faith and receive Her Sacraments. And although the Catholic Church is spread throughout the world with it's numerous dioceses and parishes, it is One. It is one in its teachings and one in its mission. It is one as the Mystical Body of Christ. It is one in its leader, Jesus and it is one in its visible head on Earth, the Pope who, as Bishop of Rome, is the successor of St. Peter, the first Bishop of Rome and the disciple to whom Our Lord said, Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The Pope is truly Christ's vicar on Earth. There are bishops outside of the Catholic Church who also stem from the Apostolic Succession. The Orthodox Church for example - which is essentially a collection of independent bishoprics with no distinct leader among them - also have Apostolic 20

succession. They split away from the Catholic Church, however, when the Archbishop of Constantinople felt that since his city had become so prosperous and in some instances was even being referred to as New Rome that he should be given a similar level of authority as the Pope who was the Bishop of Rome. What the Patriarch of Constantinople failed to appreciate was that the Pope does not derive his authority from any earthly power such as the prosperity of the City of Rome. Neither does the authority depend on him leading a holy life. Rather the Pope derives his power by being the successor of St. Peter upon whom our Lord bestowed the primacy of authority. King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church and created a separated Church of England also known as the Anglican church. This was because he was upset that the Pope would not allow him to get divorced. Therefore he declared himself to be the head of the Church of England. Again this confuses the spiritual kingdom of God with temporal kingdoms. It specifically confuses their roles. Ideally, the temporal kingdoms are subject to the spiritual kingdom of God. Unfortunately, those with worldly power often desire the Church to be subject to their own will. The damage done to the Church by King Henry set a precedent making it much easier for Martin Luther to effect his so-called Reformation shortly thereafter. Additionally the Reformation would never have been successful if it had not been for the support of various princes and nobles who conspired together and desired to steal the Church's authority and possessions. An example of a true reformation would be the reformation effected by St. Francis of Assisi who was called by our Lord to rebuild His Church and who in humble poverty and always in obedience to his superiors set about this task by working within the existing framework and doctrines of God's One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The next point that I would like to draw attention to is that there have been numerous miracles in the Church that are unexplainable by any natural means. Jesus himself performed the miracles that are written about in the Gospels and in a previous lesson we have that the Gospels can be taken as historically reliable documents. Furthermore, the lives of the Saints are filled with accounts of miracles. Various Saints through all different ages have performed astounding miracles even to our present days. Modern miracles include the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima and the stigmata of Padre Pio. And when we look at the message of Fatima for example, we see that the Catholic spirit is still very much alive in God's mind. The words or Our Lady addressed and stressed the 21

importance of several Catholic topics such as the reception of Holy Communion and the Sacrament of Confession, the need for penance, the existence of purgatory and hell and, of course, the Rosary. And the final point to be made is that in addition to administering Her Sacraments, the Church has a mandate from God to teach the faithful what they are to believe and do in order to save their souls. Jesus said to His Apostles and disciples: Go forth and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Since the Church is the institution established by God to teach in His name, we can have great confidence in Her teachings and in embracing the Rosary which has been so beloved by the Church.

Motivation to Pray the Rosary Because it Strengthens Our Faith

There are several dangers to the faith of our souls. To a certain degree this has always been true, and especially today there are specific dangers I would like to address and in this way motivate ourselves to strengthen our faith by praying the Rosary. The first danger I would like to look at is the philosophy of Materialistic Naturalism. Today's modern world views are largely based on this philosophy. It claims to look to science to solve problems and give answers to life's questions but like all philosophies it often becomes nothing more than a tool for vain arguments with no concern for truth. Science is, by it's own definition, a method of obtaining knowledge. By using scientific methods we can predict a variety of interesting, observable patterns in nature. Nature usually behaves in very predictable ways. We can then exploit those patterns to achieve a variety of useful and impressive technological feats. Materialistic Naturalism claims to use scientific observations as first principles in a philosophy to address the pressing questions and concerns of our lives. However in order to give reliable answers, these first principles need to be complete. That is, Naturalism necessarily requires that the supernatural does not exist. If the supernatural exists, then Naturalism is an inadequate method for obtaining truth.

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Shifting our attention from Naturalism in general, let's look at the theory of evolution in particular. Many people accept evolution as solid fact. As far as science is concerned, evolution is nothing more and nothing less than the meaning people have attached to observations of the world as they try to make sense of their measurements. If an engineer were designing a bridge, he might use a mathematical model of the various forces involved at key points along its structure in order to test and determine an appropriate form. If a geologist was looking for a fossil in the shape of a certain creature, I suppose he might use evolutionary principles to model the world and determine where he had the best chance of finding such a rock. And If we want to see the world the way the great Saints throughout history did, then we should be using a model of the world that takes into account it's corruption due to the sin we have inherited from our first parents Adam and Eve, and due to the sins that have been committed since that time as well. I don't know this to be based on official Church teaching but I personally believe that if the world presently behaves in a way consistent with the theory of evolution then that is due to the Fall of Man and because of our additional sins since that time. Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, for example, saw the Garden of Eden in a vision with all it contained and it was said to be a perfect picture of the Kingdom of God. She is also quoted as saying, "Were Man and the earth in perfect harmony, there would be paradise here below. Prayer governs the weather... I see the life of nature intimately connected with that of the soul." Man, sects, societies and governments, however, generally structure their behavior as though we had no immortal soul, basing their decisions instead on the appearance of naturalistic principles or no principles at all. Without infallible first principles and honest, unambiguous logic, the many possible conclusions that can be reached are all invalid. They are nothing more than splashes in an infinite sea of groundless and vain philosophy. It is upon the shifting, sandy shores of such a philosophic sea that modern structures, governments and worldviews have been established. And because the instability and fallibility of modern beliefs are not generally admitted but instead presented as certain fact, these are very hazardous times for a soul's faith. I do not mean that there is no place for philosophy. Philosophic reasoning can be a great way for our minds to organize and fortify our beliefs, and to draw conclusions based on first principles. However, there is a need for caution. When a scientific hypothesis is proposed, it is then tested using data from experimental measurements and if the hypothesis is

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successful in accurately predicting future measurements, a scientist will place more and more trust in the hypothesis. Similarly, we need to test the various philosophies that are proposed to us. If a philosophy helps to reinforce the truths which God has revealed to us then we can place our trust in that philosophy. Alternatively if a philosophy reaches results that conflict with our well founded religious beliefs then we humbly submit our intellect to revealed truth, even if we do not immediately see where the philosophical error was made. By submitting our intellect to revealed truth we are not in any way limiting what we are able to know. Rather we are saving ourselves from innumerable errors and learning things that we would not otherwise have any way of knowing. There are certain things such as the doctrine of the Trinity for example, that unaided reasoning alone could never have revealed to us. Once a person receives the seed of faith and accepts God's teachings as their primary source of knowledge and the lens through which they evaluate all other information, they will have access to a vast treasure of knowledge that is largely neglected by the generality of mankind. Using philosophy, St. Thomas Aquinas came up with various ways to "prove" God's existence but his proofs are not the basis for Catholic belief in God. Rather, we believe in God because that belief is part of the unchanging Christian Faith that has been handed down to us from the Apostles. In St. Thomas' day, there was no "Big Bang Theory. He proves God's existence by causality and arrives at the conclusion that cause-and-effect necessitates a "First Efficient Cause" and that this is but another name for God. However, a modern atheist might say, "No, that's another name for the Big Bang." To be fair, if you look at the different galaxies with appropriate equipment you likely really will get measurements consistent with the model of an expanding universe just as scientists claim. I furthermore would wager that if you extrapolate this model 14 or so billion years into the past you will arrive at a singularity where everything you are modeling is at a single point. So far I am content to take the scientists at their word. The difference is that most scientists believe that this model represents a reality in which the universe is billions of years old whereas I simply don't know what it represents, except for a useful way of predicting what you'll see if you look through a telescope in the here and now. Maybe God created the Universe with a Big Bang and then again, maybe those galaxies didn't even exist until people started looking at them. We just don't know.

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Many people look at the beauty of nature and see a reflection of God's perfection. Others adhere to philosophies that say such beauty is simply in the eye of the beholder, claiming we have evolved according to the usefulness of aesthetic appreciation. Whereas our ancestors believed everything on Earth was created to suit life, modern philosophers say rather, that life evolved to fit the Earthly environment. That the earth is suitable to life is no miracle (say these philosophers). It is bound to be this way simply because life does indeed exist on Earth. After all, if the planet was significantly different, we would not be here to notice its lack of utility. We can see that the universe is very big. In fact, it is so big that philosophers claim it is really not so remarkable that some parts of it contain conditions useful for life. And since we ourselves are alive, it goes without saying that our planet is one such part. And so here we are on our perfectly composed little planet with our perfect ocean keeping temperatures stable and our perfect magnetic field protecting us from our perfectly distanced, perfectly sized and abnormally stable star. Closer to home, our perfect moon stirs things up, creating tides and reflecting periodic nighttime light for the life below. And for the intelligent life below, there are even perfect eclipses to witness on occasion since the apparent shape of the sun and moon are roughly identical as seen from Earth. There is no apparent requirement for these shapes to correspond so conveniently. Perhaps a materialist would be willing to chalk this up to coincidence or maybe he would speculate that eclipses provided some necessary stimulus for intelligent life. Being necessary, it is no longer remarkable to his mind but simply the result of a large number of blind chances. Things become more tricky to explain as scientists start looking at the observed conditions of not only our perfect planet but our perfect universe itself. There is no apparent underlying reason why various masses and forces of particles should have the values they do. If these values were changed, even by just a little bit, then the universe would be very different. There would be no stars and no planets, no heavy elements and presumably no life. This is all somewhat irrelevant to us since we already have well grounded reason to believe the teachings of the Church; teachings that tell us we were created by an intelligent God who is outside of time and space. It is equally easy for Him to create in an instant as it would be to use billions of years in the process. However, many modern philosophers will obstinately defend their groundless animosity towards Church teachings. So let us continue to study their tactics.

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In order to explain away the annoying coincidence that the universe itself (not just our planet) is extremely well suited for life, philosophers are forced to create a hypothetical infinity of universes. So in this new model, ours is but one of an unlimited number of universes making the term universe a bit of a misnomer. With so many universes available, one of them ended up having the unlikely combination of matter, physical laws and constants of nature perfect for creating a huge number of galaxies and stars along with a variety of heavier elements that can interact with each other in useful ways. Then with all of those stars available, at least one of them turned out to be well suited for life, containing a perfect planet at the perfect distance, etc... Okay. So that's not really any harder of a concept grasp than our previous scenario when they set out to explain why the Earth is so ideal for sustaining life. The major difference is that the previous logic only required a big universe. That is something we know that we do indeed have. (Or at least our telescope measurements would seem to indicate as much.) But these other universes? They are groundless fantasy! The invention of philosophers! This sort philosophical fantasizing happens all of the time under the guise of science. The nonsense is objectified with a name (in this case, the Anthropic Principle) and validated in the public mind by pseudo-scientific books and articles as philosophers oh so confidently present us with their discovery du jour. Go to the science section of a popular bookstore and it will contain vast quantities of books that are filled with these untestable and groundless theories having nothing to do with the scientific method. Perhaps this error has been exasperated in recent times by the concurrent rise of impressive technological innovations. The application of authentic science has resulted in these technologies. However, since various philosophies are also presented as science, it is easy and quite natural for most people to associate them with these inventions and by extension, to the improved standards of living they perceive themselves as having. Thus people are tricked into confusing philosophic insanities with scientific truth. The main point to be made is this: it is easy to become tangled up in the views that are presented to us by the world as standard. It is easy to become distracted from the much more reliable teachings that God (who it Truth Itself) has revealed to us. The Rosary is a great way to realign our souls with revealed truth. Let's conclude this section with a prayer of St. Bede the Venerable.

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et me not, O Lord, be puffed up with worldly wisdom, which passes away, but grant me that love which never abates, that I may not choose to know anything among men, but Jesus, and Him crucified. - St. Bede (died 735 AD)

The God Infusion as Motivation to Pray the Rosary

Our next motivation to pray the Rosary is the fact that Our Lady's Rosary, devoutly recited, brings God into our souls and obtains for us, through Mary's intercession, His abundant mercy. Related to this is the fact that the Rosary is effective at obtaining the conversion of people for whom we pray and relief for the suffering souls in purgatory. According to Sister Lucy, one of the three shepherd Children to whom Our Lady of Fatima appeared, the Rosary is a "Eucharistic prayer." She notes that although it may not possible for Christians to hear Mass every day, it is possible for them to recite the Rosary daily. Sister Lucy goes on to say, "The Most Holy Virgin, in these last times in which we live, has given new efficacy in the recitation of the Holy Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in families, of the families in the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot solve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary we will save ourselves. We will sanctify ourselves. We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls." That the Rosary is a "Eucharistic Prayer" is truly quite a statement. The Eucharist (Holy Communion) brings God Himself bodily into our heart and soul. When we are not able to receive God in this way, we can still receive God spiritually into our hearts through prayer. This indwelling of God within our souls is referred to as Sanctifying Grace. It is a participation in the divine nature and according to Venerable Louis of Granada (1505 1588), it so transforms man into God that, without ceasing to man, his soul assumes the beauty, nobility and virtues of Jesus Christ.

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Sanctifying Grace can also be thought of as our "ticket to heaven." This is because the whole of our salvation is contingent on the state of our soul at the moment of death. If we have God in our soul at that most critical point in time, then we will have Him for all eternity. Once acquired, Sanctifying Grace can only be completely lost by committing a mortal sin, and after death we can no longer sin. A soul often requires purification in the fires of purgatory before entering Heaven. Purgatory is a place of extreme suffering but also one of hope and even some amount of joy because the souls have been saved and will one day behold God in Heaven. If we do not have Sanctifying Grace in our soul when we die then we will enter into the fires of hell. The fire of hell is not substantially different from the fire of purgatory but after death there is no longer time for the soul to repent, have it's sins forgiven and to receive the corresponding infusion of Sanctifying Grace that accompanies and accomplishes such forgiveness. Lacking God's grace, the souls in Hell are tormented without being purified. Instead of joy and hope, the damned are plagued by bitter sorrow and despair. God's great mercy is for them a source of continual regret. They are grieved to see how they could have had recourse to heaven while yet living and how they would have been affectionately welcomed as prodigal children. The Blessed Virgin revealed as much to Venerable Mary of Agreda, specifically in regards to devotion to St. Joseph:

In the last day when all men will be judged, the unhappy damned will weep bitterly for not having known, because of their sins, this powerful and efficacious means for their salvation [devotion to St. Joseph] and for not having availed themselves of it, as they could have done, to recover the grace of the just Judge. The world has been greatly ignorant of the magnitude of the prerogatives which the supreme Lord has accorded to my holy spouse, and how powerful is his intercession with His Divine Majesty; for be assured that he is one of the greatest favorites of God, and one of the most capable of appeasing His justice against sinners. I desire you to be most grateful to the goodness of the Lord for the favor which I have granted to you on this occasion, and that you will render Him continual thanks for the illumination that you have received touching this mystery. Endeavor also, in the future, to augment your devotion for my holy spouse, and bless the Lord for that He has favored him with so much

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liberality, and also for the consolation that I enjoyed in bearing him company and knowing his perfections.
It is God's grace that makes us capable of living in heaven. When you are unable to confess your sins to a priest, then in the meantime confess them to Mary and beg her to ask Jesus to forgive you. When you are unable to receive Jesus in Holy Communion, then pray to Mary and ask her to place her divine Son in your heart. Mary is our Mother and it is She who gives supernatural life to our souls. God gives His grace to the world through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of His Mother. There is no grace given that does not pass through Mary's hands on it's way to souls. She is the Queen of Sinners and the Queen of Mercy. She turns no one away, not even the greatest sinner, if he will surrender to her care. Note, however, the necessity of the sacraments (when available). It is true that God has not limited Himself in His mercy. He is especially generous when one is unable to receive the sacraments, but they remain the regular means of receiving His grace. Now, to be effective unto the forgiveness of our sins, contrition must arise from love of God and sorrow for having offended Him. Attrition is a sorrow for one's sins because of a fear of the punishment due to them whereas contrition is a sorrow for your sins because you love God and are sorrowful for having offended Him. For sacramental confession, attrition is sufficient to be forgiven. But for forgiveness outside of confession, contrition is needed. This sorrow springing forth from love is so pleasing to God that He forgives your sins even before they are confessed. If we know ourselves to have committed any mortal sins since our last confession we are still bound by duty to confess them before receiving Communion again. It is true that God is all-powerful and can heal you without confession. Yet this is the way established by God in His wisdom as the way he wants to forgive sins. Keep in mind what Jesus said to the lepers when they came to Him to be healed, "Show yourselves to the priests." Also note that St. John Vianney, the patron Saint of parish priests spent about 12 hours every day hearing confessions. You should frequently ask God to give you contrition for all of your sins be they venial or mortal. This can be as simple as saying throughout the day, "God grant me the grace of true repentance, a perfect contrition for my sins." This contrition of heart is not something we can obtain without God's help. It is a pure gift from God and not due to any merits of our own. Prayer is, however, an indispensable requisite for obtaining this gift. 29

In addition to getting us into heaven, grace goes hand in hand with virtue. And the virtue of humility is the foundation of Christian spiritual life. It is the characteristic spirit of the Gospel. Together with the other virtues, it enables us to cooperate with God's grace and secures our steps along the path that will lead us to heaven. Imitate Mary's humility, and ask God for a humble heart. Grace, moreover, keeps us on the path of Hope. This is the narrow road between presumption and despair. When conversing with Venerable Mary of Agreda, the Blessed Virgin Mary stated, "In this dangerous pilgrimage of life God has ordained, that no one shall know for certain, whether he is worthy (Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 1) of His love or hate; for if he uses his reason rightly, this uncertainty will urge him to seek with all his powers the friendship of that same Lord." Even St. Thomas Aquinas, who never committed even a single mortal sin in his life was terrified at the thought of loosing God's grace. When visited by an angel, the first question he asked was, "Am I in a state of grace?" It was perhaps this uncertainty that allowed him to keep out of sin. Excessive worry beyond a healthy fear of offending God and losing His grace is not, however, good for the soul nor useful. If we find ourselves overcome with anxiety, let us keep in mind the words of St. Padre Pio: "Pray, hope and don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer." The importance of prayer and the need to ask for graces is illustrated in the following story:

n November 27, 1830, [St.] Catherine reported that the Blessed Mother returned during evening meditations. She displayed herself inside an oval frame, standing upon a globe, wearing many rings of different colors, most of which shone rays of light over the globe. Around the margin of the frame appeared the words Marie, conue sans pch, priez pour nous qui avons recours vous (in English, O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee). As Catherine watched, the frame seemed to rotate, showing a circle of twelve stars, a large letter M surmounted by a cross, and the stylized Sacred Heart of Jesus crowned with thorns and Immaculate Heart of Mary pierced with a sword. Asked why some of her rings did not shed light, Mary replied, "Those are the graces for which people forget to ask. "

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atherine then heard Mary ask her to take these images to her father confessor, telling him that they should be put on medallions, and saying "All who wear them will receive great graces."
Originally named the Medal of the Immaculate Conception this medal is today known as the "Miraculous Medal" due to the countless miracles that have been attributed to it's use. Grace is not something you can feel. It is true that God sometimes gives spiritual consolations to souls during prayer or at other times. But these consolations should not be confused with grace. Neither should we think ourselves especially loved or holy because we receive these consolations but consider rather that God knows our weakness and gives these consolations as guidance and as a type of "training wheels" without which we would never learn to walk in His ways. The great saints were often deprived of such consolations and subjected to every sort of temptation and discomfort imaginable. To resist temptations and stay out of sin, the Saints are in universal agreement that it is necessary to pray often, to keep a humble heart and even to deprive oneself on occasion from some legitimate worldly consolations even though such things may not be sinful in themselves. If we fall, let us trust in God's mercy and get right back up. Useful acts of penance can be as simple as small actions throughout the day that are required of you in your daily life. For example, if you need to wake up early in the morning and find the task of getting out of bed unpleasant but necessary you can say, "O my Jesus, this is for love of you, the conversion of sinners and in reparation for offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary." This prayer was taught to the Fatima Children by the Blessed Virgin Herself who requested them to say it frequently and especially when they made small sacrifices. The children for their part also included a prayer for the Holy Father in this petition.

The Rosary is the Weapon Against the Evils of the World

This motivation to pray the Rosary comes to us from St. Padre Pio who said, Love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for Her Rosary is the Weapon against the evils of the world today.

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And what are the evils of the world today? Well in a certain sense they are preparations for the eventual reign of Antichrist. St. Paul tells us that even in Apostolic times, the mystery of iniquity was already begun that will some day culminate in the person he calls the Man of Sin. In the same letter, we are told that there will first come a general falling away from the faith and that before all of this happens, we are not to be scared out of our wits as if the day of the Lord were at hand (2 Thessalonians, Chapter 2).

The Antichrist
There is actually quite a bit of disagreement on the exact nature of Antichrist among the early Church Fathers and there is therefore very little official (infallible) Church teaching about the man. Scripture seems to indicate that there will be ten kings of Antichrist, all being of one mind (Revelation, Chapter 17). Perhaps they will be governors of various regions of the world over which Antichrist will be the supreme leader. We can speculate that he will possibly establish these kings so as to more easily reign or maybe these kings will already be in power with Antichrist then assuming a leadership role among them. Ten may here be a literal number or it may be symbolic. Just as all fingers (and thumbs) are needed to represent the number 10 on our hands, so too will Antichrist's reign be universal and consume all. It is worth noting that although Antichrist will be at the head of the controlling powers of the world, he might not actually be known to very many people as such. Perhaps he will be revered throughout the world as king, or perhaps he will only be known and worshiped by the higher echelons of secret societies. In the latter case, mankind in general would be largely ignorant of the architects at work behind the facade governments of those days. This is, however, speculation and there is little we know as certain about Antichrist except that he will be one man enthroned at the head of the Anti-Christian forces at work during a period of apostasy from the Catholic faith.

Historical Background
Although the writings of Saint Paul reveal to us that the mystery of iniquity was already at work in his day among those who did not accept Christ, the early Church period was characterized by a rapid growth of those who did profess Jesus Christ. Their numbers grew to the point of converting the entire Roman Empire. Christianity thus went on from being a 32

persecuted fringe to become the universal religion of the civilized world. Seeded with the blood of countless martyrs, the converted Holy Roman Empire was the social reign of Jesus Christ. It's laws and structures mirrored divine order and allowed virtue to flourish under the sweet yoke of Christ. Kings were truly Christian and at their coronation they were sometimes anointed by the Pope or local bishop as a mark of receiving from God the authority to rule. The proud Synagogs of Satan had been dealt a death-blow by the humble Church of Jesus Christ and for a long period of time it was not uncommon for members at all levels of society to lead good and holy upright lives. But as centuries passed, the religious grew cold, and philosophers bold, with a proud and spiteful zeal. After a marked decline in the Church's fervor and virtue, the French Revolution and other similar revolutions were able to be successfully plotted and executed. The wounded beast was revived as divine authority was replaced by a false authority of Man. Large estates that were once self-contained communities, despite failing to make a great deal of money for their owners, were the pillars of social stability and provided for the common good and well-being of the inhabitants. These were systematically dismantled and replaced by money-making endeavors having profit as their chief aim. Social structures were subverted and rebuilt to serve their new owners who used convenient philosophies of the day to achieve their aims. These revolutionaries portrayed themselves as liberators from the oppression of monarchs and the Church. Social injustices were highlighted to fuel their cause as peasants were told to become enraged at the excesses of indulgent kings. But true freedom can only be found under the sweet yoke of Christ. Having unbridled society from this saving constraint, very real injustice prevailed thereafter. Peasant children who had once been able to live off of the land that they themselves farmed now had to work relentless hours in dangerous factory conditions. Their wage was miniscule and did not supply for even their most basic needs. Wealth became very concentrated as those who had it were able to generate more while the poor were left without resources to produce for themselves. To a large degree, this problem continues in the world to the present day. The philosophy of Karl Marx offered a solution of communism that might look very nice on paper. In practice, however, it is no more than an efficient tool used for more revolution, most notably in Russia. And following suit to their industrialist counter-parts, the new Bolshevik rulers were several times more vicious and unbearable than the Christian Czars 33

they replaced. Not content to overthrow mere earthly monarchies, there are alleged records that detail the plans of secret societies to infiltrate and destroy the Church Herself. One such record that was uncovered in the mid 1800's is named the Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita and appears to be an instructional document produced by the highest lodge of the Carbonari, an Italian secret society. Its aim was to subvert the Church from within. Members were encouraged to acquire for themselves the reputation of being good Catholics even to the point of becoming priests and religious and then to use that reputation and authority to introduce changes in Catholic ideas and trends. The document itself anticipates the process to be long and drawn out, spanning multiple generations. A more recent report of this type of infiltration is AA-1025: The Memoirs of an Anti-Apostle. These memoirs were allegedly discovered by a French nurse in the 1960's. The nurse was treating a man fatally injured in a car accident. After his death, she searched through his belongings in an attempt to identify the man. Writings that were apparently his own claimed that he was an undercover agent of the Soviet Union ordered to infiltrate the Catholic Church by becoming a priest. After ordination, he was to put forth modernist ideas through a teaching position that would undermine the main doctrines of the Church. In 1884, Pope Leo XIII warned against the practices associated with secret societies by writing a papal encyclical, Humanum Genus (translates in English to The Human Condition). Early on in this letter the Holy Father quotes St. Augustine as follows, Two loves formed two cities: the love of self, reaching even to contempt of God, an earthly city; and the love of God, reaching to contempt of self, a heavenly one. Pope Leo then goes on to discuss how those of the earthly city mindset were actively organizing to lay the Church to waste.

What Would God's Enemies Do?

In his book, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis takes a unique look at the life of a typical man, by portraying it from the theoretical point of view of two devils. In a somewhat similar fashion, let's see if we can get a better understanding of the world by looking at it from a different angle. Let's ask ourselves: What would God's enemies do? Imagining we ourselves are the avowed enemies of God, how do we go about our business of ridding the world of Christendom? Well, this certainly isn't the work of a day. We achieve our goal only progressively and by 34

degrees, repeatedly choosing the lesser of two goods or the greater of two evils. Therefore, a Protestant flavor of Christendom suites us better than the Catholic and Apostolic Faith; a Protestant sect that rejects the Sacraments, better still; and before long we have Christians rejecting even belief in One God that is Three Persons. Once we remove people from the vine of the Church and her unchanging and infallible teachings, it is then easy to dispel their pious devotions and introduce erroneous teachings. Though Christian in name, they know little of the religion they profess. We are not content to merely hide the Faith from people. When possible, we disfigure and tarnish people's notion of Christianity with a boundless display of bad examples. Various selections of our corrupt businessmen, lying politicians, generic imbeciles, and over-the-top bigots invoke Christ as they convincingly play their roles. We juxtapose these with friendly and beloved public figures who display charity disconnected from any connotation of religion. This scandal produces marvelous effects for us. On the one hand it gives people of goodwill a distaste for religion, providing many with the necessary push to abandon their faith. On the other hand it provides Christians with an array of bad role models. Furthermore, by all available means we encourage vice. That which was known in past times to be deadly to the life of souls, we glorify and present as worthy life aims. We engross humanity with the pleasures of the senses and faith loses the place it once had in their life. Hopefully it will be crowded out entirely. It is only the grace of God that enables Man to keep the commandments. We do all in our power to discourage the reliable means of recovering this grace: namely, prayer and the Sacraments. In addition to faith, we seek to do away with charity as well. If people knew the value of patiently bearing trials out of love for God and neighbor, and the eternal reward that it merits for them, we would certainly lose our battle. Hiding this knowledge from them and subtly attacking it with our contrary philosophies, charity easily dies. We leave them with only an ambiguous and blinding love that means little more than desire or enjoyment and is generally disconnected from any willingness toward hardship or sacrifice. As we corrupt and pervert society, all sense of duty and respect for authority shall be lost as positions of social leadership increasingly become filled by those most unworthy to hold them. Greed, love of pleasure, love of self, and ambition shall alone motivate mankind. People will inevitably think about death from time to time. But under our influences, this does not inspire them to prepare for eternity. Rather, the thought of death is just a reminder

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of the vain pleasures that still need to be checked off of one's bucket list. When we cannot occupy people with worldly amusements, we distract and unsettle them with anxiety. Above all, we want them to be entirely consumed with the cares of this world so that they give no thought to the next. We capitalize on dramatic disasters, drawing men into unsettling debates, and contrived movements and causes. We create problems and then offer solutions that further advance our course of affairs. In all cases, we shift as much blame as possible onto religion. For those rare occasions when men do think about the afterlife, we are prepared with an impressive display of psychics, mediums, miracles and prophecies to compete with the very best that the Church has to offer. Our aim is to thus drown orthodox Christianity in a flood of alternative religions, philosophies and scientific discoveries all suggesting that it doesnt really matter what a man believes. To be sure, we study deceits all day long. With our calm voice, assured demeanor and natural gestures we put on a most impressive display calculated to arouse trust and goodwill. Our disarming words are able to hide the most insidious lies and blasphemies. Discretion is often necessary as we stamp out God's Kingdom on earth. Attacking too openly at the wrong time draws unwanted attention and is counter-productive in our quest to bury and erase the religion of Jesus Christ. However, by spewing our assaults at organized religion in general, we accomplish much as we teach people to be grateful for having gotten out of the dark ages when Christianity held sway. It is the Devil who must be served in order for our authority to reign supreme. To accomplish this we need the assistance of numerous people. Unfortunately, if they knew the truth, most men would run back to their merciful God. No, we need to carefully screen our proselytes, revealing only what we want them to know. In stages, we teach and guide those that best suite our needs. A certain corruption is necessary and for this we plot schemes that cause men to sin and despair of their salvation. Only when we are certain that they have no aspirations towards heaven do we admit them into our higher ranks. We use whatever lie and philosophy is convenient, telling them certain sins are unforgivable, falsely interpreting scripture or even tricking them into thinking they themselves are demons and gods. They are then easily incited to take revenge on their Creator who in His too great of mercy, even still wants to see them saved.

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Gods infinite mercy calls to them: As I live, saith the Lord, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways and why will you die?" (Ezekiel 33:11) But our faithful dupes have no desire towards God's forgiveness. They eagerly fall in line and do our bidding. It gives us great satisfaction to think of the eternal horror and confusion they will bear after death as they are tormented with us here in hell. ...Such are the sentiments of God's enemies, if not of men then certainly of demons.

Private Revelation
There are a number of predictions made regarding the future that come to us from private revelations. By private revelation is meant that the information is not directly contained in the Deposit of Faith handed down to us from the Apostles. Catholics are not required to believe in private revelations such as what is said to someone during an apparition of a Saint and so forth. However in certain cases (for example, when the message is accompanied by miracles and approved by Church authorities as worth of belief) it would seem prudent to at least take notice. The general gist of several such revelations warn of an impending chastisement that is to come upon the world. There are many sources that speak to this effect. The words spoken by the Blessed Virgin to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa on Oct 13, 1973 are one such example. Some might consider these to be more reliable than other sources because they are relatively more recent and because they were accompanied by other miraculous happenings and given ecclesiastical approval. Mary spoke as follows:

s I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests.

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T T
. ..

he work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres...churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. he demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them

ray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able still to save you from the calamities which approach. Those who place their confidence in me will be saved."

What Are Christians to Do?

It's been foretold since the very beginning of Christianity (which is to say, the beginning of Catholicism) that there would be a time when people would no longer endure sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:3). It certainly seems that we are living in such a time. However, it is not for us to know the time or the moments (Acts 1:7). Perhaps the Church will one day again flourish on earth more gloriously than ever before. There are a number of private prophecies that talk of a future Christian utopia to come upon the world after a period of evil times and persecution of the faithful. Jesus Himself said to St. Margret Mary, "Fear nothing, I will reign in spite of My enemies and of those who endeavor to oppose me. This Sacred Heart will reign in spite of Satan and of all those whom he raises up to oppose it." And then again, maybe Jesus will return today and the world as we know it will end. It is not necessary for us to know what is to occur in order for us to structure our time profitably. Who knows what secrets were heard by St. John from the seven thunders in the Apocalypse (Revelation 10:4)? However, these were not the things he was commanded to write. Rather, St. John was told to write, Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). And in the same book it is Jesus who says, Blessed are they that wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 22:14). That 38

is what it is important for us to know. It is important to know that even if we have been an instrument of evil for most of our life, we can always have recourse to God's mercy and beg Him for the grace to die well. That is the critical time. Two thieves died on either side of Jesus, and one day we will also die. We can either die unrepentant like the first thief or we can have recourse to Jesus like the good thief did. And Jesus said to him, Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43). St. Francis de Sales writes, Many people are tormented at death with the remembrance of their sins, and seeing that they have done no penance, are tempted to despair. He tells us that there is a perfect remedy Namely, to accept death and unite your death with that of Jesus Christ. And I do not at all doubt that he who is grieved for having offended God and accepts death willingly in satisfaction for his sins will immediately obtain pardon. St. Alphonsus Liguori likewise notes, To accept death in order that the will of God may be fulfilled, merits for us a reward similar to that of the martyrs, because they accepted death to please God. He who dies in union with the will of God makes a holy death; and the more closely he is united to it, the more holy death he dies. The Venerable Blosius declares that an act of perfect conformity to the will of God at the hour of death not only delivers us from Hell but also from Purgatory. At the end of time, when all is revealed, it will be shown how much sin, deceit and abuse of God's grace was required to maintain the illusion of objective order and authority disconnected from God and His Church. All sufferings, injustices and evils from third world starvation to human trafficking, from war and famine to the destruction of our earthly environment will be clearly seen to have flown from the sins of mankind; from the sins of God's enemies but also from our own numerous sins. And not only from those sins that directly effect these evils but from sins that seem entirely disconnected as well, and each according to it's severity. In a similar fashion, all that is good and all reparation for sin owes it's origin, first and foremost to the merits of the Incarnate Word and by extension, to all of the Masses said since the time He instituted His Church. Our own prayers, good deeds, virtuous acts, small sacrifices and reception of the Sacraments are able to acquire merit, repair for sin and pour down God's blessings inasmuch as we are united to Christ as members of His Mystical Body.

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It was the Blessed Virgin who, co-operating with the Holy Spirit, conceived the Word of God and clothed Him with flesh. Furthermore, Her prayers and virtues, united with the anticipated merits of Her Son, actively contributed to bring about His Incarnation. God so structured His plans as to make the coming of Christ entirely contingent upon Her free will and actions. Mary is the most perfect resemblance of God that is possible in a mere creature. By the ordinance of God, Her power is without limit. All that He could give to Mary, He has given. In addition to being the daughter of the Father, and spouse of the Holy Spirit, She alone of all creatures has the dignity of being God's very Mother. God furthermore gives all of His graces through Her Immaculate Heart and there is no grace given but that it comes to us through Her. Even Sacramental graces pass through Mary's hands on their way to souls. As Mother of God, she is also the Mother of the life of your soul. On the supernatural realm, She is your Mother just as truly as the woman who gave birth to you is your mother on the natural realm. There has never been another mother who loved her child as much as Mary loves and cares for you. More than all of the other saints and angels combined, the Blessed Virgin shares in Jesus' glory because more than all of the other saints and angels combined, She shared in His sufferings. Her entire life was a prolonged martyrdom and affliction of spirit. By Her profound humility and patient long-suffering, She has earned the right to be called the Queen of Sinners and the Queen of Mercy. Devotion to Her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart is the sure means to obtain the graces necessary for your salvation.

Rosary Quotes

If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory. Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if-- and mark well what I say-- if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day
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until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins." - St. Louis De Montfort

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 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

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

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Rosary"

Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been so favored by so many miracles as the devotion of the Most Holy

- Pope Pius IX

Never will anyone who says his Rosary every day be led astray. This is a statement that I would gladly sign with my blood."

- Saint Louis de Montfort

The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary" -Saint Francis de Sales

When the Holy Rosary is said well, it gives Jesus and Mary more glory and is more meritorious than any other prayer."

- Saint Louis de Montfort

One day through the Rosary and the Scapular I will save the world." -The Virgin Mary to St. Dominic

The Holy Rosary is the storehouse of countless blessings." -Blessed Alan de la Roche
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You must know that when you 'hail' Mary, she immediately greets you! Don't think that she is one of those rude women of whom there are so many on the contrary, she is utterly courteous and pleasant. If you greet her, she will answer you right away and converse with you!" - Saint Bernardine of Siena

Recite your Rosary with faith, with humility, with confidence, and with perseverance."

- Saint Louis de Montfort

The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God...and if you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary." - Pope Saint Pius X

Never will anyone who says his Rosary every day become a formal heretic or be led astray by the devil." -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

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spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us [or] 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, Fatima seer

When you say your Rosary, the angels rejoice, the Blessed Trinity delights in it... 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

'Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!' No creature has ever said anything that was more pleasing to me, nor will anyone ever be able to find or say to me anything that pleases me more." - Our Lady to Saint Mechtilde

" The Rosary is the scourge of the devil" -Pope Adrian VI.

" The Rosary is a treasure of graces" -Pope Paul V.

P ope Leo XIII wrote 9 encyclicals on the Rosary.

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P
S

ope John XXIII spoke 38 times about Our Lady and the Rosary. He prayed 15 decades daily.

t. Louis de Montfort wrote: "The Rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who loves His Mother."

Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world." - Our Lady of Fatima, 1917

Those who say the Rosary daily and wear the Brown Scapular and who do a little more, will go straight to Heaven." -St. Alphonsus Ligouri [after they die that is to say, they will have a short purgatory or no purgatory at all]

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 blessing upon the family than the daily recitation of the Rosary." -Pope Pius XII

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We put great confidence in the Holy Rosary for the healing of evils which afflict our times." -Pope Pius XII

The Rosary is a school for learning true Christian perfection." -Pope John XXIII

t. Thomas Aquinas preached 40 straight days in Rome, Italy on just the Hail Mary.

Those who say the Rosary frequently and fervently will gradually grow in grace and holiness and will enjoy the special protection of Our Lady and the abiding friendship of God." - Bishop Hugh Boyle

If our age in its pride laughs at and rejects Our Lady's Rosary, a countless legion of the most saintly men of every age and of every condition have not only held it most dear and have most piously recited it but have also used it at all times as a most powerful weapon to overcome the devil, to preserve the purity of their lives, to acquire virtue more zealously, in a word, to promote peace among men." - Pope Pius XI

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The 15 Promises of Our Lady to Christians Who Recite the Rosary

According to legend, the following promises were given from Mary to Blessed Alan de la Roche: 1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people 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. 5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish. 6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death. If he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8. 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. 9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.

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11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities. 13. 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. 14. All who recite the Rosary are my children, and the brothers [and sisters] of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15. The devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Appendix of Quotes Attributed to St. Padre Pio

tay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is I want it to be a place of consolation for You. . .

Don't allow any sadness to dwell in your soul, for sadness prevents the Holy Spirit from acting freely. The more you are afflicted, the more you ought to rejoice, because in the fire of tribulation the soul will become pure gold, worthy to be placed and to shine in the heavenly palace. You must not be discouraged or let yourself become dejected if your actions have not succeeded as perfectly as you intended. What do you expect? We are made of clay and not every soil yields the fruits expected by the one who tills it. But let us always humble ourselves and acknowledge that we are nothing if we lack the Divine assistance. Keep your eyes fixed on Him who is your guide to the heavenly country, where He is leading you. What does it matter to you whether Jesus wishes to guide you to Heaven by way of the desert or by the meadow, so long as He is always with you and you arrive at the possession of a blessed eternity?
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You must concentrate on pleasing God alone, and if He is pleased, you must be pleased. In the first place, I want you to know that Jesus needs someone to mourn with Him for human wickedness. This is why he leads me along the sorrowful paths. But blessed be His charity forever. He knows how to combine the bitter with the sweet and convert the fleeting pains of this life into eternal happiness. In all the events of life, you must recognize the Divine will. Adore and bless it, especially in the things which are the hardest for you. You must always humble yourself lovingly before God and before men, because God speaks only to those who are truly humble and He enriches them with His gifts. Hold on tightly to the Rosary. Be very grateful to the Madonna because it was she who gave us Jesus. Charity is the measure by which Our Lord judges all things. It would be well to remember that the graces and consolations of prayer are not waters of this earth but of Heaven. Therefore, all our efforts are not sufficient to make them fall, even though it be necessary to prepare oneself with great diligence. The earth could exist more easily without the sun than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. If we only knew how God regards this Sacrifice, we would risk our lives to be present at a single Mass. As long as you receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament every morning, you must consider yourself extremely fortunate.
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As regards mortification of the flesh, St. Paul warns us that those who belong to "Christ Jesus, have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" - Galatians 5:24. From this holy Apostle's teaching it is apparent that anyone who wants to be a true Christian, that is to say, who lives according to the true spirit of Jesus Christ, must mortify his flesh for no other reason than devotion to Jesus, who for love of us, mortified His entire body on the cross. The mortification must be constant and steady, not intermittent, and it must last for one's whole life. Let us keep before our minds that which makes up real holiness. Holiness means getting above ourselves; it means perfect mastery of all our passions. It means having real and continual contempt for ourselves and for the things of the world to the point of preferring poverty rather than wealth, humiliation rather than glory, suffering rather than pleasure. Holiness means loving our neighbor as our self for love of God. In this connection holiness means loving those who curse us, who hate and persecute us and even doing good to them. Holiness means living humbly, being disinterested, prudent, just, patient, kind, chaste, meek, diligent, carrying out one's duties for no other reason than that of pleasing God and receiving from Him alone the reward one deserves Take care of your spirit, flee idleness and all immoral conversation. . .always remembering the words of the Apostle, that our virtue is preserved in very fragile vessels. Bless Him in all that He makes you suffer on this earth and rejoice in it, for each victory gained has a corresponding crown in paradise. Do not let the persecution of world-lings and of all those who live without the Spirit of Jesus Christ deter you from following the road trodden by the saints. Jesus permits the spiritual combat as a purification, not as a punishment. The trial is not unto death but unto salvation. Renew your faith by attending Holy Mass. Keep your mind focused on the
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mystery that is unfolding before your eyes. In your mind's eye transport yourself to Calvary and meditate on the Victim who offers Himself to Divine Justice, paying the price of your redemption. There are moments when I think of the severity of Jesus and I start to worry; then I begin to think of His tenderness and I am consoled. It would be impossible for me not to abandon myself to this sweetness, this happiness. God commands us to love Him, not as much as He deserves, because He knows our capabilities and therefore He does not ask us to do what we cannot do. But He asks us to love Him according to our strength, with all our soul, all our mind, and all our heart. Give yourself up into the arms of your Heavenly Mother. She will take good care of your soul. But let us take heart. . .Let us glance at the Divine Master who prayed in the Garden and we will discover the true ladder which unites the earth to Heaven. We will discover that humility, contrition and prayer make the distance between man and God disappear, and act in such a way that God descends to man, and man ascends to God, so that they end up understanding, loving and possessing one another. In darkness, at times of tribulation and distress of the spirit, Jesus is with you. In such a state you see nothing but darkness, but I can assure you on God's behalf that the light of the Lord is all around you and pervades your spirit. . .You see yourself forsaken and I assure you that Jesus is holding you tighter than ever to His divine Heart. O Jesus, how many generous souls. . .have kept Thee company in the Garden, sharing Thy bitterness and Thy mortal anguish. . .How many hearts in the course of the centuries have responded generously to Thy invitation. . .May this multitude of souls, then, in this supreme hour, be a comfort to Thee, who, better than the disciples, share with Thee the distress of Thy heart, and cooperate with
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Thee for their own salvation and that of others. And grant that I also may be of their number, that I also may offer Thee some relief. Don't lose heart if it is your lot to work a lot and gather little. If you considered what one soul alone costs Jesus, you would never complain. Let us remember that the Heart of Jesus has called us not only for our own sanctification, but also for that of other souls. He wants to be helped in the salvation of souls. When disturbed by passions and misfortunes, may the sweet hope of His inexhaustible mercy sustain us. Let us hasten confidently to the tribunal of penance where He awaits us at every instant with the anxiety of a father; and even though we are aware of our inability to repay Him, let us have no doubts about the solemn pardon pronounced over our errors. Let us place a tombstone over them, just as the Lord has done. Don't worry about tomorrow because the very same Heavenly Father who takes care of you today will have the same thought tomorrow and always. . . What does a child in the arms of such a Father have to fear? Be as children, who hardly ever think about their future as they have someone to think for them. They are sufficiently strong just by being with their father. My only regret is that I have no adequate means with which to thank the Blessed Virgin Mary, through whose intercession I have undoubtedly received so much strength from the Lord, to bear with sincere resignation the many humiliations to which I am subjected day after day. . . And I do not believe this strength comes to me from the world. You ought to ask our Lord for just one thing, to love Him. All the rest should be thanksgiving. I confess in the first place that for me it is a great misfortune to be unable to express and pour out this ever-active volcano which burns me up and which
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Jesus has placed in this very small heart of mine. It can all be summed up as follows - I am consumed by love for God and love for my neighbor. We must humble ourselves on seeing how little self-control we have and how much we love comfort and rest. Always keep Jesus before your gaze; He did not come to rest nor to be comfortable either in spiritual or temporal matters, but to fight, to mortify Himself and to die. I have never trusted in myself; I can state before my conscience that I never took a step without the advice of another, and as for the steps already taken I always reconsidered, always asked for new insight from as many people as I happened upon. We must keep the eye of faith fixed on Jesus Christ who climbs the hill of Calvary loaded with his Cross, and as he toils painfully up the steep slope of Golgotha we should see him followed by an immense throng of souls carrying their own crosses and treading the same path. Oh, what a beautiful sight this is. Let us fix our mental gaze firmly on it. We see close behind Jesus our most holy Mother, who follows him perfectly, loaded with her own cross. Then comes the Apostles, Martyrs, Doctors, Virgins and Confessors. . .Jesus himself, despite all our unworthiness, has associated us with this beautiful company. We must make every effort to merge ourselves increasingly in these ranks and hasten with them along the road to Calvary. We should look to the end of the journey and not separate ourselves from this fine company; we must refuse to follow any other way than the one they tread. My usual manner of praying is this: I no sooner begin to pray than my soul becomes enveloped in a peace and tranquility that words cannot describe. . .All I can say about this prayer is that my soul seems to be completely lost in God and that in those moments it gains more than it could in many years of intensive spiritual exercises. Serene in our faith and tranquil in our soul, let us pray and continue to pray, because intense and fervent prayer pierces the heavens and is backed up by a
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Divine guarantee. I do not know what will happen to me; I only know one thing for certain, that the Lord will never fall short of His promises. "Do not fear, I will make you suffer, but I will also give you the strength to suffer," Jesus tells me continually, "I want your soul to be purified and tried by a daily hidden martyrdom". . ."How many times," Jesus said to me a little while ago, "would you have abandoned me, my son, if I had not crucified you." In order to attract us the Lord gives us many graces and we imagine we are almost in Heaven. We do not know, however, that to grow we need hard bread crosses, humiliations, trials and contradictions.

ou are mistaken, greatly mistaken, when you want to measure the soul's love for its Creator by the delightful feelings it experiences in loving God. This kind of love belongs to those who are still spiritually immature. . .On the other hand, the love of those who have left this spiritual infancy behind them is a love which experiences neither taste nor delight in what is called the sensitive part of the soul. We have a sure sign that these people really love God when we observe their readiness to keep God's holy law; their constant watchfulness so that they may not fall into sin; their habitual desire to see the heavenly Father glorified, while losing no chance to spread the kingdom of God as far as lies in their power; when we see them praying continually to God the Father in the same words of our divine Master, Our Father. . .Thy kingdom come. Place your heart gently in Our Lord's wounds. Have great confidence in His mercy for He will never abandon you. In this life Jesus does not ask you to carry the heavy cross with Him, but a small piece of His cross, a piece that consists of human suffering. If there wasn't anything else in a soul but the desire to love God, this would be sufficient because God Himself is there. He is not present where there is no desire to love Him.

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All our life, all our actions and all our aspirations must be directed in reparation for the offenses that our ungrateful brothers continually commit. The Mass is infinite like Jesus. . .Ask an angel what the Mass is, and he will reply to you in truth,"I understand what it is and why it is offered, but I do not, however, understand how much value it has." One angel, a thousand angels, all of Heaven know this and think like this. Our imperfections will accompany us to the grave; we cannot walk without touching the ground. It is true that we must not lie on the ground nor turn our face to it, but neither should we attempt to fly, for in the ways of the spirit, we are like young birds that have not yet grown wings. My heart is filled with a fire of love....It is a delicate and very gentle flame which consumes without causing any pain....this is a wonderful thing for me, something I will perhaps never understand until I get to Heaven. In our thoughts and in confession, we must not dwell on sins that were previously confessed. Because of our contrition, Jesus forgave them at the tribunal of penitence. It was there that He faced us and our destitution, like a creditor standing before an insolvent debtor. With a gesture of infinite generosity, He tore up and destroyed the promissory notes which we signed with our sins, and which we would certainly not have been able to pay without the help of His Divine clemency. Remember, our suffering is brief but our reward is eternal. You must remain calm, or at least resigned, but always convinced in the voice of authority. You must confide in it, without fearing the rages of the storm, because the vessel of your soul will never be submerged. Heaven and earth may pass away, but the Word of God, that assures the one who obeys it will find victory, will never pass away and will always remain fixed in indelible script in the Book of Life: I will exist forever. The thought of God's mercy is the only thing that sustains me.
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Souls are not given as a gift; they are bought. Don't you know what they cost Jesus? They must be paid for with the same coin. Remember that our soul is the temple of God, and as such, we must keep it pure and spotless before God and His angels. Divine help will not be lacking. Don't desire this state to be removed but say to Jesus, "Lord, act in the way and to the extent You wish. If You are happy, I am happy." How many times I have entrusted to this Mother [the Virgin Mary] the painful anxieties of my heart. And how many times she has consoled me.....With what great attention she accompanied me to the altar this morning. It seemed to me that she had nothing else to think about but me, filling my heart with holy sentiments. I felt a mysterious fire in my heart, which I could not understand. I felt the need to put ice on in in order to extinguish the fire that was consuming me. Keep in good spirits, abandon yourself to the Divine Heart of Jesus, leaving all your anxieties to Him. Consider yourself always last among our Lord's lovers. . .clothe yourself with humility toward others, because He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. The more the graces and favors of Jesus increase in your soul the more you must humble yourself, always keeping in mind the humility of our celestial Mother, who the instant she became the Mother of God, declared herself servant and handmaid of God. The Christian's motto is the cross. You will recognize God's love by this sign, by the sufferings He sends you. The field of battle between God and Satan is the human soul. This is where it takes place every moment of our lives. The soul must give free access to our Lord and be completely fortified by Him with every kind of weapon. His light must illuminate it to fight the darkness of error. He must put on Jesus Christ, His
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truth and justice, the shield of faith, the word of God to overcome such powerful enemies. To put on Jesus Christ we must die to ourselves. The Lord is willing to do great things, but on condition that we are truly humble. Let us now consider what the soul must do to be certain of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is all a question of mortification of the flesh with its vices and concupiscence. . . . .On this subject the Apostle warns, "If we live for the Spirit we will walk in the Spirit," as if he wanted to tell us for our edification: Do we want to live spiritually, that is to say, to be moved and guided by the Holy Spirit? Then let us take care to mortify our spirit, which, when it is satisfied, makes us impetuous and weary. Let us take care to repress vainglory, wrath and envy. These are three evil spirits that enslave the majority of mankind. These three evil spirits are extremely opposed to the Spirit of the Lord. The good we endeavor to do to others will always result in the sanctification of our own souls. We have a double life; one is natural, that which we have from Adam through human generation and therefore an earthly life - corruptible, self-centered and full of passions. The other which we have from Jesus in baptism is supernatural and therefore a spiritual life - heavenly and with a capacity for virtue. Through baptism, a real transformation is made in us. We are brought to die to sin; we are grafted onto Jesus Christ in such a manner that we live His very same life. Jesus continues to love me and to draw me closer to Himself. He has forgotten my sins, and I would say that He remembers only His own mercy. . .Each morning He comes into my heart and pours out all the effusions of His goodness. The Spirit of God is a spirit of peace. Even in the most serious faults He makes us feel a sorrow that is tranquil, humble, and confident. This is precisely because of His mercy. The spirit of the devil, instead, excites, exasperates, and makes us feel, in that very sorrow, anger against ourselves. We should, on the contrary, be charitable with ourselves first and foremost. Therefore if any thought agitates
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you, this agitation never comes from God, who gives you peace, being the Spirit of Peace, but from the devil. Endure tribulations, illness, and pain, for the love of God and for the conversion of poor sinners. May the Mother of Jesus, and our Mother, obtain for us from her Son the grace to live a life according to the heart of God, a life that is entirely interior and hidden in Him. Humility and charity are the main supports of the whole vast building and all the other virtues depend on them. One makes up the foundation; the other, the roof of the building, the sturdiness of which depends on both. If the heart constantly dedicates itself to the practice of these two virtues, it will have no difficulty with all the others. Our Lord loves you and loves you tenderly; and if He does not let you feel the sweetness of His love, it is to make you more humble and abject in your own eyes. Place all your trust in the heart of sweet Jesus......Never abandon your faith and renew it always. Faith has never abandoned any man, and far less so will it forsake a soul that yearns to love God. Consider that we are always in the presence of God to whom we have to give account for our every action, both good and bad. Let us try to serve the Lord with all our heart and will. He will always give us more than we deserve. I am ready for anything as long as Jesus is happy and will save the souls of my brethren, especially those He has entrusted to my care. He wants you entirely for Himself. He wants you to place all your trust and all
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your affection in Him alone. The souls that suffer the most are favorites of the Sacred Heart; and you may rest assured that Jesus has chosen your soul to be the favorite of His adorable heart. You must hide yourself in this Heart; in this Heart you must give vent to your ardent desires, in this Heart you must live out the days that Providence will grant you; in this Heart you must die when the Lord so wishes.

Appendix on Divine Mercy

Taken from the book, "The Way of Divine Love" these words of Our Lord to Sr. Josefa Menendez make clear how much He loves us and wants to forgive our sins if we will only let Him:

fter the betrayal in the Garden of Olives, Judas wandered away, a fugitive, a prey to the reproaches of his conscience which taxed him with the most execrable of sacrileges. And when he heard that I was condemned to death, he gave himself up to despair and hanged himself.

W A
O

ho can measure the deep and intense grief of My Heart when I saw this soul so long taught by love... the recipient of My doctrine, one who had so often heard from My lips words of forgiveness for the most heinous crimes, finally throw himself into hell fire? h! Judas, why not throw yourself at My feet that I may forgive you too? If you are afraid to come near Me because of the raging mob that surrounds Me, at least look at Me... My eyes will meet yours, for even now they are lovingly intent upon you. all you who are steeped in sin, and who for a time more or less long have lived as wanderers and fugitives because of your crimes... if the offenses of which you have been guilty have hardened and blinded your hearts... if to
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grant satisfaction to one or other of your passions you have sunk into evil ways... Ah! When the motives or accomplices of your sin have forsaken you, and you realize the state of your soul, O then, do not yield to despair! For as long as a breath of life remains a man may have recourse to mercy and ask for pardon.

f you are still young, if already the scandals of your life have lowered you in the eyes of the world, do not be afraid... Even if there is reason to treat you as a criminal, to insult and cast you off... your God has no wish to see you fall into the flames of hell... On the contrary He ardently desires you to come to Him so that He may forgive you. If you dare not speak to Him, at least look at Him and let the sighs of your heart reach Him, and at once you will find His kind and fatherly hand stretched out to lead you to the springs of pardon and life.

hould it happen that you have spent the greater part of your life in impiety and indifference, and that the sudden approach of the hour of death fills you with blinding despair... Ah! Do not let yourself be deceived, for there is still time for pardon. If only one second of life remains to you, in that one second you can buy back eternal life!

f your whole life has been spent in ignorance and error... if you have been a cause of great evil to other men, to society at large, or to religion, and if through some set of circumstances you have come to realize that you have been deceived... do not allow yourself to be crushed by the weight of your sins and of the evil of which you have been the instrument; but with a soul penetrated with deep contrition throw yourself into an abyss of confidence, and hasten to Him who awaits your return only to pardon you.

he case is the same for a soul that has been faithful to the observance of My law from childhood, but who has gradually cooled off into the tepid and unspiritual ways of an easy life. She has so to say forgotten her soul and its higher aspirations. God was asking of her greater efforts, but blinded by habitual failings, she has fallen into tepidity worse than actual sin, for her deaf and drowsy conscience neither feels remorse nor hears the voice of God.

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hen, perhaps, that soul awakens with a shock of realization: life appears to have been a failure, empty and useless for her salvation... She has lost innumerable graces, and the evil one, loath to lose her, makes the most of her distress, plunges her into discouragement, sadness and dejection... and finally casts her into fear and despair.

soul whom I love, pay no heed to this ruthless enemy... but as soon as possible have recourse to Me, and filled with deepest contrition implore My mercy and have no fear. I will forgive you. Take up again your life of fervor, and you will have back your lost merits, and My grace will never fail you.

inally, shall I speak to My chosen souls? Supposing that one has spent long years in the constant practice of the Rule and of her religious duties... a soul that I have favored with My grace and instructed by My counsels... a soul long faithful to My voice and to the inspirations of grace... and now this soul has cooled in her fervor on account of some petty passion... occasions of faults not avoided... some yielding to the claims of nature and a general relaxation of effort... and in consequence has fallen to a lower level... to a commonplace kind of life... then lastly, to give it its true name, tepidity. If, for one cause or another, you awake from this torpid state, the devil will instantly attack you in every way, jealous of a soul he hopes to claim. He will try to persuade you that it is too late, and that any effort is useless, he will accentuate your repugnance to make an avowal of your state of soul... he will, so to speak, throttle you to prevent you from seeking and accepting the light... he will do his best to stifle trust and confidence in your soul.

ut listen rather to My voice, and let Me tell you how to act: As soon as your soul is touched by grace, and before the struggle has even begun, hasten to My Heart; beg of Me to let a drop of My Blood fall on your soul... Ah! Hasten to My Heart... and be without fear for the past; all has been swallowed up in the abyss of My mercy, and My love is preparing new graces for you. The memory of your lapses will be an incentive to humility and a source of merit, and you cannot give Me a greater proof of affection than to count on My full pardon and to believe that your sins will never be as great as My mercy, which is infinite.
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emain hidden, Josefa, in the abyss of My love, praying that souls may be filled with the same sentiments."

The young Spanish sister to whom these revelations were made died in the early 20 th Century after a short religious life of great suffering and great fidelity. ...this book is something more than an account of extraordinary graces granted to a humble soul; it is the Message which Our Lord Himself desired to be made known to the world. It is His own words. "Tell them... My Heart is not only an abyss of Love; it is also an abyss of Mercy." On November 13th, shortly before her death, Our Blessed Lord said to Sister Josefa: "My words will be light and life for an incalculable number of souls, and I will grant them special graces of conversion and illumination." (from the back cover) Prayer not only obtains God's grace for ourselves but for others as well. Another quote from the same book ("The Way of Divine Love") expounds on this below:

osefa writes, "How is it that when prayer is made for a soul month after month there seems to be no result? ... How is it that He who so longs for the conversion of sinners, leaves their hearts untouched, so that many prayers and sacrifices are lost? ... and I spoke to Him of three sinners and especially of two, for whom we have been praying so long!"

When a soul prays for a sinner with an intense desire for his conversion," Our Lord answered graciously, "his prayer generally obtains the sinner's conversion, though sometimes only at the last moment, and the offense given to My Heart is repaired. But in any case, prayer is never lost, for on the one hand, it consoles Me for the pain sin has occasioned, and on the other, its efficacy and power are applied, if not to that sinner, then to others better disposed to profit by it." - taken from the book, "The Way of Divine Love"
The following are more words spoken by Jesus to Sr. Josefa Menendez:

Now, I want something more, for if I long for love in response to My own, this is not the only return I desire from souls: I want them all to
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have confidence in My mercy, to expect all from My clemency, and never to doubt My readiness to forgive. I am God, but a God of love! I am a Father, but a Father full of compassion and never harsh. My Heart is infinitely holy but also infinitely wise, and knowing human frailty and infirmity, stoops to poor sinners with infinite mercy. I love those who after a first fall come to Me for pardon . . . I love them still more when they beg pardon for their second sin, and should this happen again, I do not say a million times but a million million times, I still love them and pardon them, and I will wash in My Blood their last as fully as their first sin. Never shall I weary of repentant sinners, nor cease from hoping for their return, and the greater their distress, the greater My welcome. Does not a father love a sick child with special affection? Are not his care and solicitude greater? So is the tenderness and compassion of My Heart more abundant for sinners than for the just. This is what I wish all to know. I will teach sinners that the mercy of My Heart is inexhaustible.

et the callous and indifferent know that My Heart is a fire which will enkindle them, because I love them. To devout and saintly souls I will be "The Way," that making great strides in perfection, they may safely reach the harbor of eternal beatitude. Lastly, of consecrated souls, priests and religious, My elect and chosen ones, I ask, once more, all their love and that they should not doubt Mine, but above all that they should trust Me and never doubt My mercy. It is so easy to trust completely in My Heart." (June 11, 1923).
Also spoken by Our Lord to Sr. Josefa: "As soon as a soul throws itself at My feet and implores My forgiveness, Josefa, I forget all her sins." To Saint Faustina Jesus said, "My dear daughter, speak to the whole world about my unfathomable Mercy. Before coming as a Just Judge, I first come as the King of Mercy. Also spoken by Jesus to St. Faustina:

Human misery is not an obstacle to My mercy. My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy: urge all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all."
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St. Francis de Sales writes, Many people are tormented at death with the remembrance of their sins, and seeing that they have done no penance, are tempted to despair. He tells us that there is a perfect remedy Namely, to accept death and unite your death with that of Jesus Christ. And I do not at all doubt that he who is grieved for having offended God and accepts death willingly in satisfaction for his sins will immediately obtain pardon. St. Alphonsus Liguori likewise notes, To accept death in order that the will of God may be fulfilled, merits for us a reward similar to that of the martyrs, because they accepted death to please God. He who dies in union with the will of God makes a holy death; and the more closely he is united to it, the more holy death he dies. The Venerable Blosius declares that an act of perfect conformity to the will of God at the hour of death not only delivers us from Hell but also from Purgatory.

Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: "Jesus, I trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish."

Appendix of Thomistic Philosophy.

The following is based on the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. It is not directly taken from his writings but is rather a paraphrasing of some of his ideas. The teachings of St. Thomas are not infallible like the teachings of the Church but if you get lost in the philosophy or have an issue with his logic, it is comforting to know that the results of these exercises in thought, that is the conclusions St. Thomas reaches, are Church teachings. I want to again emphasis that this philosophy is not the basis for the Church's teaching but rather a way for our logical minds to integrate and organize those beliefs. Finally, it is worth noting that St. Thomas performed numerous miracles and led a very virtuous life. He had a humble, mild and kind demeanor and is regarded among the greatest of Saints. One way St. Thomas proves the existence of God is from the fact that there are things in the world which move. Where did motion originally take its rise? It was certainly not derived from any single mover in a series or from all the movers of the series taken together. The reason for this is that the movers taken individually or as a group still have but "received" motion. Extending the series endlessly into the past does not make it 64

responsible for the motion which is transmitted. It is necessary to arrive at a first mover which is set in motion by no other, and this is understood to be God. God then is a being outside the series of movers. He did not receive the power to move from anyone. He is the first mover who acts by himself, Who is His own action and consequently His own being, for operation follows being and the mode of operation is the mode of being. The prime mover must be pure Act and hence He must be the Self Subsisting Being. Another way to prove God's existence is from causality. In a cause-and-effect series there might be a few or there might be many intermediary causes but there cannot be so many that the series goes back endlessly. The impossibility of this lies in the fact that you cannot have an end of the series without also having a beginning. If one holds that the series of causes and effects goes back endlessly, he is forced to hold that it never started. And it is as foolish to hold this as it is to hold that there can be a stick with only one end. Since reason demands that the series of subordinated causes had a beginning, it also demands that the series must have been started by a Being who owes His power to bring about such an effect to no one. He always possessed this power. He is the First Efficient Cause. And this is but another name for God. Yet another way to prove the existence of God is by noticing that there are in the world things which exist but which do not have to exist. The fact that there are things in the world which are dependent upon others points to the existence of a Being Who is not dependent on any other for existence. This being is God. The fourth way of proving the existence of God given to us by St. Thomas Aquinas is based upon the fact that there are things that possess perfection. Perfections are in themselves limitless or inexhaustible but the things that possess them have them in varying degrees and in a limited fashion. For example looking specifically at the perfection of life, no matter how great or how many living things of limited perfection could be combined they still would not constitute all possible life for the term life of itself does not admit any limitation. It makes no difference how great a limited thing is, it cannot possess an exhaust-less perfection for the finite cannot contain the infinite. It follows then that a limited perfection is a received perfection. And if there are things in existence possessing limited or received perfections, as indeed there are, there must exist a being who possesses perfection in an inexhaustible an infinite degree. This being we call God. The final proof of the existence of God that we are going to look at is a proof from design. 65

There are about us things that serve a purpose. There are many things in the world which were made for a definite reason. The designing of a useful thing involves several factors. The designer must first conceive his goal. It takes intelligence to arrange the parts of an object so that it will serve a purpose. For example an outside intelligence must have been in operation in designing the eye. The eye, which exhibits purposefulness, we shall call A. Being material, it clearly did not design itself. The designing intelligence we shall call B. If B is a limited intelligence, then it was given intelligence by C. The existence of a series of beings in which each intelligence received its intelligence from another intelligent being does not account for the source of all intelligence. One must ultimately admit the existence of a being whose intelligence was not acquired from another. This being is called the un-acquired intelligence. This is but another name for God. And now a bit of philosophy concerning the nature of God. All of the five proofs for God's existence brought out the point that there was absolutely nothing prior to God in existance. For this reason we must say that there was no power that could make in God a combination of any kind. God has an essence and an existence but they are not found in combination. They are one and the same. It is his nature to exist. He is a spirit. God must be a spirit because he is devoid of all composition. Indeed we proved that there is no being prior to God who could affect the composition. He is infinitely perfect since there is no being prior to God that could in any way limit him we must conclude that he is an infinite being. To be infinite being is to be infinite perfection for perfection cannot exist without being. He is immutable. By divine immutability we mean that God can in no way change. This flows from the fact that he is infinitely perfect. Change of any kind implies imperfection. When something gains by change it implies imperfection in the past. When it loses by change it implies imperfection in the present. God does neither. He cannot gain because he is already infinite and perfect. He cannot lose part of his being because he does not possess parts. For God to lose anything he would have to lose everything. He would have to be completely destroyed but this is absolutely impossible. His nature is to exist. God is then immutable. He is necessarily eternal. Eternity is infinity under the aspect of duration. As has been repeatedly pointed out God exists but he owes his existence to no one. He does not have a received existence and so he never had a beginning. Since he is in no way changeable, he 66

cannot have an end. These are the notes of a necessarily eternal being and God alone has them. In attempting to grasp the meaning of God's eternity we must carefully avoid thinking that he existed and will exist for an endless number of centuries. An endless series is a contradiction. A series cannot be endless. It must have a beginning and an end for otherwise it is not a series. A series implies succession and succession implies change. God has neither; with God there is no such thing as past and future. There is only the present. He is unique. When we say that God is unique we mean that not only is he one but there can be none other equal to him. When we say that God is infinitely perfect, we mean that he possesses all possible perfection. There is no perfection actual or possible that God does not already possess. If there could be two Gods, then it is a manifest contradiction to say that they both possessed all possible perfection. One would be limited by what the other had and so neither could be infinite. Since God is infinite, he is unique. He is omnipotent. God can do all things. He can bring into the realm of actuality anything that is in the realm of possibility. There is no effect that he cannot produce. Since effects of their very nature are finite, it follows that no number of effects can exhaust the infinite power or perfection of God and so He is omnipotent. He is omniscient. He knows all things past, present, future, and possible. We proved that God is the supreme intelligence. There is no perfection that he does not already possess. It follows then, that God in knowing himself, knows all that has, will and can come to pass and so he is omniscient. Let's now talk about the existence of the soul. The difference between man and animals is that, although they are very similar in bodily structure, man has a spiritual soul, whereas animals have not. Since an idea is immaterial it must be conceived by power which is of the same order, that is to say the intellect is an immaterial power. There is another solid reason for saying that man's intellect is an immaterial power. It is the fact that it can reflect upon its own operations. It can turn its attention upon itself and analyze its own activities. Reflection is impossible for a material organ, that is, for that which is made up of parts. The eye is material so it cannot see itself seeing; the ear cannot hear itself hearing. But the intellect can know itself thinking thus proving that it is an immaterial power. Other indications of the intellect being an immaterial power are man's ability to speak and to progress, that is, to 67

improve upon his own inventions. These activities involve the ability to form abstract ideas and to appreciate the relations between them after they are once formed. Since man can directly or indirectly come to know all things, created and uncreated, finite and infinite, actual and possible, material and spiritual, the object of his intellect is being in general. The will: Experience plainly shows that man has the ability to strive to possess things which he knows. Man's striving power is called his will. Like the intellect, the will is an immaterial power. They can strive to possess anything which is presented to it as good or desirable. These goods need not be of the material order. They can be immaterial as well. Since the will can strive to possess any type of good, it must be an immaterial power. In its action the will is free. There is no force which can compel the will to act in a certain way. The key argument in showing that the will is internally free lies in the fact that the rational aspect of the soul, which guides the will, cannot be forced to judge a particular good to be desirable in every aspect. And because the intellect is free in changing its judgment, the will is free in its choice, for the intellect guides the will. The soul: a man's intellect and will are powers of a single immaterial substance called the human soul. It does not have to exist in something else. If the intellect and will were powers of separate substances they could not exert their influence on each other. But since they do act, they must be powers of one spiritual substance called the soul. When a living thing breaks down into its component parts so that it can no longer carry on the function of life it is dead. But notice carefully what death implies. It implies that the living thing must have parts which are able to disassociate or dissolve. Only material things have parts. The soul of man however has no parts. The soul therefore cannot die. It is immortal. It is clearly impossible for the soul to be produced by a material cause for then an effect would be produced which is greater than the cause. It is impossible for the soul to have a "parent" soul which is limited and finite. The souls of men, angels and devils are finite spirits but they cannot bring other souls or spirits into existence. They cannot create a soul for this requires unlimited power. They cannot produce the soul by dividing themselves in the manner of reproduction of the lower plants and animals because this process cannot be carried out with the thing which does not have parts. There remains but one way in which the soul can be produced. It is creation. Creation is 68

an action proper to a being who has unlimited power. This infinite cause is God and he it is who directly creates every human soul which is infused into a body. The necessity of religion: One of the most striking features of recorded history is the fact that there never was a race of people which did not have some notion of religion. A phenomenon as widespread and as enduring as the practice of religion cannot be ascribed to custom or arbitrary legislation. Reason alone, for example, can arrive at the fact that there exists but one supreme being upon whom all are dependent, that man has an immortal soul; that he has certain duties to God, his neighbor and to himself which are the precepts of the natural law. We say that unaided reason can discover the truths of natural religion but we must hasten to add that this is by no means an easy task. If the generality of men are left to their own devices they will not acquire the truths of natural religion even though they have the equipment to do so. The history of pagan thought in all ages delivers one of the most crushing arguments against that tenet of rationalism which holds that man never need be given outside assistance in discovering the truth that will guide him to his goal in life. Even before the inquiry into the actuality of revelation begins, rationalists say that it has not taken place because it is impossible. They rightly conclude that if a thing is impossible, to inquire into its existence is wasted effort. But the weakness of the rationalist position lies in the fact that they cannot show how the making of a revelation involves a contradiction that would render it impossible. If it can be proved that supernatural revelation is a historical fact, then man is not free to practice natural religion. Religion taken subjectively: Religion is defined as man's recognition of the existence of God, and the worship of Him because of his excellence and sovereignty over all things. Since the dependence of man on God is absolute and inescapable, the obligation to recognize it and to act accordingly is also absolute and inescapable. It is rooted in man's contingent nature. There are three elements in the act of religion. They are adoration, thanksgiving and love. Man seeks perfect happiness. God does nothing in vain for he is infinite wisdom. It would be against God's wisdom for him to implant in everyman the desire to be perfectly happy 69

without there being anything that could fill up this desire. By possessing God we become perfectly happy. St. Augustine beautifully summarized God's role in our lives and happiness when, speaking of God, he said, "For Thyself, Thou hast created us, O God, and our hearts are not at rest until they rest in Thee." The object of the intellect is to know things as they are. It is to grasp their nature, to form ideas which correctly embody the essence of an article. Man puts his intellect to the best possible use when he uses it to know God. And since there can be no substitute for God in the order of importance, it follows that to know him is the primary reason why this power was given to us. Since the primary reason why man was given an intellect and will is to know God and to possess God, it follows that his primary duty in life is to practice religion. In summary we say that man's obligation to practice religion stems from the fact that he is absolutely dependent on God for his whole being, that he cannot escape the desire to be perfectly happy, and that the supreme object of his intellect and will is unlimited truth and goodness. If it can be proved that God has revealed to man how He is to be worshiped, then man must obey him to the letter. The question of whether or not God has made supernatural revelation to man leads one to investigate the soundness of the foundations of the different religions in existence today. The procedure that was used in the book "College Apologetics" by Fr. Anthony Alexander is to investigate the foundations of Christianity for evidence of divine authority and revelation. Since Christian apologetics makes special use of the Gospels, their worth and reliability must be proved. To do this Fr. Alexander examines them from the points of view of integrity authorship and historicity such as we did in the section on the written Gospels.

Appendix on Confession (transcribed from an old children's missal)

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE WHY WE GO TO CONFESSION 70

Catholics must seek forgiveness of serious sins by telling them to the priest in confession because Christ wants us to do this and it is the law of His Church. The priest has the power to forgive our sins because Christ said: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." The priest keeps secret what you tell him in confession. He would rather die than tell it. PRAYER BEFORE CONFESSION O Holy Spirit, come in Thy mercy, give light to my mind and strength to my will so that I may know my sins, humbly confess them, and sincerely promise to lead a better life. Mary my Mother, refuge of sinners, help me. O Holy Angels and Saints of God, pray for me. FIRST - KNOW YOUR SINS Confession is made easier if you know which sins are mortal, which venial; and how to tell them in few words. It is also a good idea to go to the same confessor every time. The same confessor can do you more good. [NOTE: Although this can be very helpful, it is not a requirement. You are free to confess to any priest who has permission from the local bishop to hear confessions. You can go to the same priest repeatedly or a different priest every time. It is up to you.] A LIST TO HELP YOU REMEMBER MORTAL SINS ( * )Missing all or most of Mass on Sunday or Holy Day of obligation. ( * )Eating a large piece of meat on Friday. (There are reasons which can excuse you from hearing Mass or allow you to do servile work on Sunday or to eat meat on Friday. If you have need to know more about this, ask the Confessor.) [Edit: Catholics are no longer required to abstain from meat on Fridays outside of Lent as long as they make some other sacrifice of their choice in place of this abstinence.] ( * )Receiving Holy Communion knowing you have a mortal sin not confessed; or knowing you broke the Communion fast. ( * )Doing things which you know are mortal sins against purity. (If you are not sure what these things are, ask the confessor.)

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( * )Stealing a large amount of money or doing much damage to property, on purpose REMEMBER: No sin can be mortal unless you know it is seriously wrong and you do it anyway, on purpose. VENIAL SINS ( * )Being late and missing a small part of Mass on Sunday or day of obligation. ( * )Eating a small bite of meat on Friday or other day of abstinence. ( * )Stealing a small amount of money, toys, candy or other things. ( * )Wasting some food, damaging property, clothing and other things. ( * )Doing things that you know are dangerous to purity; such as looking at certain pictures, talking impurely with bad companions, thinking about things dangerous to purity, and so on. Misbehaving in Church by talking, playing, looking around, bothering others. Showing disrespect to parents, teachers, superiors, by arguing rudely, calling names, talking back. Disobeying parents, teachers, superiors. Cheating in school work or in games. Telling lies. Quarreling, fighting, calling bad names. Using God's name in an unholy way - to make fun or as an angry expression. Getting very angry for no good reason. Eating so much it makes you sick. Venial sins like those marked ( * ) can become mortal sins when the matter is more serious; such as eating a LARGE piece of meat on Friday; missing a LARGE part of Sunday Mass; 72

stealing a LARGE amount of money. You should also understand that some things are NO SIN AT ALL - like forgetting prayers at meals; or eating meat on Friday because you forgot. Neither is it a sin to be late for Mass or even to miss Mass when you have a serious excuse; like the car breaking down; or when you have a bad cold and cough. But be honest! Do not excuse yourself carelessly in such matters. And if you do not know whether a sin is mortal or venial, ask your Confessor. NOW READ THIS CAREFULLY The worst thing in the whole world is mortal sin. It kills the divine life in your soul and makes you deserve to suffer in hell. After mortal sin, the next worst thing is venial sin. Some young persons and even old ones care nothing about venial sin. "It is only a venial sin" they say, "and venial sins do not make you deserve to suffer in hell." How stupid! Persons who do not try to keep out of venial sin find it hard to keep out of mortal sin. And besides, who wants to suffer in Purgatory for being careless about venial sins? Be smart! Try to keep out of all sins - mortal and venial. HOW TO BE SORRY FOR YOUR SINS Some persons worry because they do not FEEL sorry or sad about sins, especially sins that give pleasure - like eating candy which is stolen. It is a mistake to worry like this because it is not necessary to FEEL sorry or sad in order to have true contrition. To have true contrition for sins means that you admit they are evil and deserve punishment; you wish you did not do them; and you will try not to do them any more. To understand how really evil every sin is, even if it gives pleasure, we should think of the pains Jesus suffered dying on the cross to make up for our sins. Turn to the Way of the Cross [not included here but easily found with an Internet search]. Think about Jesus' sufferings. Or even better - make the stations. It takes only a few minutes. ACTS OF CONTRITION You should know by memory the long Act of Contrition from the Catechism - and understand it. Always say it BEFORE you go into the confessional. Here it is: "Oh my God I am heartily sorry for having offended You and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most of all because they offend You, O my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of 73

Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen." THINK THIS OVER ...heartily sorry means really and truly sorry. Do I MEAN what I say? ...sorry means that I wish I had not sinned; but I do not have to FEEL sad about it. ...to offend God means to do something that is not pleasing to Him. ...to dread the loss of heaven means to be terribly afraid of having to live forever without any friends, or pleasure or happiness. ...pains of hell are most of all being without God or any one to help us; and suffering the torture of burning in fire. ...I firmly resolve means making a serious promise which I intend to keep. ...help of Your grace. I need God's help but I must also do MY part. ...to amend my life by avoiding sin and the persons or places which cause sin. PERFECT CONTRITION What is perfect contrition? When you are sorry for your sins because they are against God who is good even by Himself; Who loves you and is good to you - this is perfect contrition. This act of love pleases God so much that He forgives all mortal and venial sins even before they are told in Confession. Even the punishment which mortal and venial sins deserve in this world or in Purgatory can be forgiven partly or entirely by a very good act of perfect contrition. Make perfect contrition your favorite daily prayer so that when you die you may go quickly to heaven. (Perfect contrition does not excuse you from telling mortal sins in Confession.) ACT OF PERFECT CONTRITION "O my God, I believe in You. I hope in You. I love You above all things with all my soul, with all my heart, and with all my strength. I love You because You are infinitely good and worthy of being loved. Because I love You I am sorry with all my heart for having offended You. Have mercy on me a sinner. Amen."

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WHAT TO DO IN THE CONFESSIONAL Enter the confessional, kneel down, and when the priest is ready say: "Bless me, Father. My last Confession was (........) ago and these are my sins." Now, if you have any MORTAL SINS, TELL THEM FIRST and how many times each. Next, tell the venial sins. Then say: "For these and all my sins I am truly sorry. I ask pardon of God and of you Father penance and forgiveness." NOW LISTEN while the priest tells you the penance you must say. Then say the SHORT act of contrition. Here it is: O Lord Jesus, I am truly sorry for all my sins because they caused You pain and sorrow on the cross; and with Your help, my good and loving Savior, I will always love You and never sin again." WAIT until the priest finishes giving you absolution. Then leave and say your penance as soon as you can. Always say the Catechism Act of Contrition [found up above in this appendix]. BEFORE you go into the confessional. When you are in the confessional, say the SHORT Act of Contrition [up above]. If you forget how to start, say: "Father, how do I start?" If you have no mortal sins, tell your venial sins - but do not try to tell every one you can remember. Tell only the ones you commit most of the time. If you forget some serious sins, tell them in your next Confession - if you can think of them then. If you forget what penance the priest gave you, say the prayers you usually are told to say as a penance. If you want to know whether something is a mortal sin, or venial, or no sin at all, say: "Father is this a sin..."

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If you think you made a bad confession last time, say, "Father I think I made a bad Confession last time. Please help me." If you hear something said in someone else's Confession, NEVER talk about it to anyone except the priest in Confession. PRAYER AFTER CONFESSION O Lord Jesus, I thank You for having pardoned me my sins. Help me never more to sin against You and to love You always. Amen. RULES FOR FAST BEFORE COMMUNION Solid foods like crackers and candy are allowed up to [one hour] before Holy Communion. Drinks like coffee, milk, pop, are allowed up to one hour before Communion. Drinks of water and medicine like nosedrops or aspirin DO NOT break the fast. VENIAL SINS AND PURGATORY Persons who make an effort to avoid mortal sins but who are careless about venial sins are making a big mistake. And they have to pay for it in this life or in Purgatory. Don't YOU make the same mistake. YOU can have a short Purgatory or perhaps none at all if you make this your rule of life: Stay out of sin, both mortal AND venial Pray and receive the sacraments regularly Say the Rosary daily if you can Make the daily offering [not included but easily found via Internet search] Gain indulgences every day for yourself and for the suffering souls in Purgatory. An indulgence is a pardon. It takes away the punishment due to sin in this life and in Purgatory. You can keep the indulgences you earn, for yourself; or you can offer them for the souls in Purgatory. A plenary indulgence removes ALL the punishment. A partial indulgence removes part of it.

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To gain a plenary indulgence you must be free from mortal and venial sin. Always say an act of Perfect Contrition first so you can gain the full plenary indulgence. Say the prayers which carry the indulgence silently - but move your lips; or say them out loud if it will not disturb other persons. [The following prayers and devotions carry plenary indulgences: Way of the Cross. Move from station to station and think of Our Lord suffering. Reading of Sacred Scripture with veneration due to the divine word. A plenary indulgence is granted if reading is continued for at least one half hour. Recitation of the Rosary. A plenary indulgence is granted, if the Rosary is recited in a church or public oratory or in a family group, a religious community or pious association. Visiting the Blessed Sacrament to adore it. A plenary indulgence is granted, if the visit lasts for at least one half hour. In addition to the described work, obtaining a plenary indulgence also has the following requirements: Confession - within eight days before or after the indulgence is gained. Communion on the day before, the day itself, or within seven days after gaining the indulgence. Prayer for the Holy Father (Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be... or the like) Furthermore, To the faithful in danger of death, who cannot be assisted by a priest to bring them the sacraments and impart the Apostolic Blessing with its plenary indulgence, the Church grants a plenary indulgence to be acquired at the point of death, provided they are properly disposed and have been in the habit of reciting some prayers during their lifetime. The use of a crucifix or a cross to gain this indulgence is praiseworthy. The condition: provided they have been in the habit of reciting some prayers during their lifetime supplies in such cases for the three usual conditions listed above required for the gaining of a plenary indulgence. The plenary indulgence at the point of death can be acquired by the faithful, even if they have already obtained another plenary indulgence on the same day.] 77

To gain the partial indulgences attached to short prayers, it is enough to think the prayer without speaking out loud or moving your lips. There are many of these indulgenced prayers. Here are some: My God I love Thee. (300 days***) My God and my all. (300 days***) Thy will be done. (500 days***) Jesus, Mary and Joseph. (7 years***) Heart of Jesus I trust in Thee. (300 days***) My Jesus mercy. (300 days***) Blessed be the name of the Lord. (500 days if said when someone swears***). *** the practice of assigning "days" to partial indulgences is no longer used. Partial indulgences are now granted by the Church in direct proportion to the devotion of the person gaining the indulgence. Furthermore any action done with the intention of gaining a partial indulgence is now rewarded as such. As an FYI, the "days" and "years" associated with partial indulgences used to refer to the equivalent amount of penance that such an indulgence replaced. A 300 days indulgence was equivalent to performing 300 days of penance as far as making satisfaction for punishment due to sin was concerned. A pretty good deal!

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