Part three (6): Xxxviii. Rosary of Jesus, Maria

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The third decade should be recited in honor of the divine meekness and charity which Jesus and Mary practised towards others in their thoughts, words, actions and sufferings.

The fourth decade should be said in honor of the most holy obedience of Jesus and Mary to every operation of God's holy will. They never sought to do their own will, but rather chose the will of God in all and by all things, and the will of others for the love of God. What is more, they sought their entire satisfaction and joy in submitting to all that was willed by God and in fulfilling His every command or wish.

The fifth decade should be offered in honor of the boundless and ardent pure love of Jesus Christ for His Heavenly Father and of Mary for Jesus: for they both lived in an uninterrupted act of this pure love, and never had a thought or uttered a word or performed any action save in this pure love. It should also be said in honor of the last day, the last hour, the moment, and the death of Jesus and Mary-a death all divine and all for love.

Now, as you say each decade:

1. You should meditate on each of these virtues of Jesus and Mary, considering their eminent sanctity and with what perfection they practised each virtue throughout their lifetime in thought, word and action.

2. You should consider yourself and see how far removed you are from this virtue, and how little you resemble your Father and Mother (that is, Jesus and Mary) in this. Then, you should profoundly humble yourself on this account and beg them to forgive you, to make reparation for your failures and to offer to the Eternal Father all the honor accorded Him by their practice of this virtue, in satisfaction for the faults you have committed against it.

3. Offer yourself to Jesus and to His holy Mother with an earnest resolution to attend with more care to the practice of this virtue in future, imploring the Divine Son, by His absolute power and the inviolate Mother by her prayers and merits, to destroy in your soul all that can possibly prevent you from making this progress, and to establish the reign of this virtue for His pure glory.

But please remember well what I have said elsewhere, that in all

these devotions, even though I may suggest various ideas and practices to you, there is no need for you to make use of them all every time, but only of those from which you happen to derive the most spiritual benefit. Or else, use now one, now another, according to the inspiration of Our Lord's grace. For instance, i f your mind finds enough to occupy it in contemplation of one or two of the virtues that have been mentioned, or in some other virtues of Jesus and Mary, there is no need to go on to the consideration of the others, which may be considered at another time.

It remains to be said that, when you recite the last decade in honor of the last hour and most holy death of Jesus and Mary, you should offer them the last moment of your life and the instant of your death, i n honor of the last day, the last hour, and the last moment of their life, and their most holy death, imploring them to grant that all that shall occur in your last day and moment may be consecrated to the homage and the glory of what took place on their last day and at the moment of their death and that you may die in the state and practice of divine love, and that your last breath may be an act of most pure love for Jesus.

Xxxviii. Rosary of Jesus, Maria

You should earnestly desire that the last words you utter in life should be: Jesus, Maria. And i n order to dispose yourself to obtain this grace from divine mercy, it would be a good thing to end each day with the recitation of this very brief rosary, which I call the rosary of Jesus, Maria, because it i s composed of these two words alone: Jesus, Maria, "Jesus, Mary." These Holy Names contain all that i s greatest and most admirable in heaven and on earth, together with the entire virtue and sanctity of the most excellent prayers and devotions that could possibly be practised.

This rosary is made up of thirty-four small beads in honor of Christ's thirty-four years on earth, in honor of Mary's participation in them and the honor she gave Him always.

To begin with, you should say three times Veni Domine lesu: "Come Lord Jesus," with the intentions suggested for the Rosary of the Glory of Jesus, which may be found in 'Tart Six" of this book.

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On each small bead pronounce the words Jesus, Maria, "Jesus, Mary," trying to say each with all the love and devotion you would want to have if you were at the hour of death, and as if it were the last word you should ever utter. Your intention should be to pronounce each name with all the love, or in union with all the love (for these two terms mean but one thing), which ever was offered or shall be offered forever i n heaven and on earth, to Jesus and Mary. You should give them this totality of love as something of your own, since, as has been said, everything belongs to you, making the offering in satisfaction for all your failures to love and serve them during your life.

On the large beads say the words: Benedicta tu in Mulieribus et benedictus fructus ventris tui , Jesus, 'Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is fruit of thy womb, Jesus"; and as you say them, offer to Jesus and Mary all the praises and blessings that ever were, are, or shall be given to Him forever On earth and in heaven, in reparation for your failures to bless and glorify them. 191-