Third Decade

The excellence of the holy Rosary in the meditation on the life and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Twenty-First Rose

60. A mystery is a sacred thing, difficult to comprehend. The works of Jesus Christ are all sacred and divine, because he is God and man at once. The works of the Blessed Virgin are very holy, because she is the most perfect of all purely created beings. The works of Jesus Christ and of his holy Mother are rightly called mysteries, because they are filled with countless wonders, perfections, and profound and sublime teachings, which the Holy Spirit reveals to the humble and simple souls who honor them. We may further call the works of Jesus and Mary admirable flowers, whose fragrance and beauty are known only to those who draw near, who breathe in their scent, and who open them by attentive and serious meditation.

61. St. Dominic divided the life of Jesus Christ and of the Blessed Virgin into fifteen mysteries, which represent their virtues and principal actions as fifteen pictures whose features should serve us as a rule and model for the conduct of our lives. They are fifteen torches to guide our steps in this world; fifteen burning mirrors to know Jesus and Mary, to know ourselves, and to kindle the fire of their love in our hearts; fifteen furnaces to consume us entirely with their heavenly flames. The Blessed Virgin taught St. Dominic this excellent method of praying and commanded him to preach it, in order to awaken the piety of Christians and revive the love of Jesus Christ in their hearts. She also taught it to Blessed Alan de la Roche. "It is a most useful prayer," she told him, "and a service very pleasing to me, to recite a hundred and fifty Angelic Salutations. But those will do still better who recite the salutations with the meditation on the life, passion, and glory of Jesus Christ, for this meditation is the soul of these prayers." Indeed, the Rosary without the meditation on the sacred mysteries of our salvation would be almost a body without a soul, an excellent matter without its form, which is the meditation that distinguishes it from all other devotions.

62. The first part of the Rosary contains five mysteries: the first is the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin; the second, the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin to St. Elizabeth; the third, the Nativity of Jesus Christ; the fourth, the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple and the Purification of the Blessed Virgin; the fifth, the Finding of Jesus in the Temple among the doctors. These are called the Joyful Mysteries, because of the joy they brought to the whole world. The Blessed Virgin and the angels were filled with joy at that happy moment when the Son of God became incarnate. St. Elizabeth and St. John the Baptist were filled with joy by the visit of Jesus and Mary. Heaven and earth rejoiced at the birth of the Savior. Simeon was consoled and filled with joy when he received Jesus in his arms. The doctors were rapt with admiration at hearing the responses of Jesus. And who can express the joy of Mary and Joseph on finding Jesus after three days' absence?

63. The second part of the Rosary is also composed of five mysteries, called the Sorrowful Mysteries, because they show us Jesus Christ overwhelmed with sadness, covered with wounds, loaded with reproaches, sufferings, and torments. The first of these mysteries is the Prayer and Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Olives; the second, his Scourging; the third, his Crowning with Thorns; the fourth, the Carrying of the Cross; the fifth, his Crucifixion and Death on Calvary.

64. The third part of the Rosary contains five other mysteries, called the Glorious Mysteries, because in them we contemplate Jesus and Mary in triumph and in glory. The first is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ; the second, his Ascension into heaven; the third, the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles; the fourth, the Assumption of the glorious Virgin; the fifth, her Coronation. These are the fifteen fragrant flowers of the Mystical Rose Bush, upon which devout souls pause like wise bees to gather their admirable nectar and make from it the honey of a solid devotion.

Twenty-Second Rose

65. The chief concern of the Christian soul is to strive for perfection. "Be imitators of God, as beloved children," says the great Apostle. This obligation is contained in the eternal decree of our predestination, as the sole means ordained for attaining eternal glory. St. Gregory of Nyssa says gracefully that we are painters. Our soul is the canvas on which we must apply the brush; the virtues are the colors that must enhance its splendor; and the original we must copy is Jesus Christ, the living image who perfectly represents the Eternal Father. Just as a painter, to make a lifelike portrait, keeps the original before his eyes and looks at it with each stroke of the brush, so the Christian must always have before his eyes the life and virtues of Jesus Christ, in order to say nothing, think nothing, and do nothing that does not conform to them.

66. It was to help us in the important work of our predestination that the Blessed Virgin directed St. Dominic to set before the faithful who recite the Rosary the sacred mysteries of the life of Jesus Christ — not only that they might adore and glorify him, but principally that they might regulate their lives and actions according to his virtues. For just as children imitate their parents by seeing them and conversing with them; just as they learn their language by hearing them speak; just as an apprentice learns his trade by watching his master at work — so the faithful members of the Rosary confraternity, by seriously and devoutly contemplating the virtues of Jesus Christ in the fifteen mysteries of his life, become like this divine Master, with the help of his grace and through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin.

67. If Moses commanded the Hebrew people, in the name of God himself, never to forget the blessings with which they had been favored, how much more may the Son of God command us to engrave upon our hearts and keep constantly before our eyes the mysteries of his life, his passion, and his glory, since they are so many blessings by which he has shown the excess of his love for our salvation. "O all you who pass by," he says, "stop and consider whether there was ever sorrow like the sorrow I endured for love of you. Remember my poverty and my abasements; think of the wormwood and the gall that I drank for you in my passion." These words and many others that could be cited convince us well enough of the obligation we have, not to content ourselves with reciting the Rosary vocally in honor of Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin, but to recite it with the meditation on the sacred mysteries.

Twenty-Third Rose

68. Jesus Christ, the divine Spouse of our souls, our most sweet friend — Jesus desires that we remember his blessings and esteem them above all things. He and the Blessed Virgin, together with all the saints of paradise, experience an added joy when we devoutly and affectionately meditate on the sacred mysteries of the Rosary, which are the most signal effects of his love for us and the richest gifts he can bestow upon us, since it is by such gifts that the Blessed Virgin herself and all the saints enjoy their glory. Blessed Angela of Foligno once asked Our Lord to teach her by what exercise she could best honor him. He appeared to her nailed to the Cross and said: "My daughter, look at my wounds." She learned from this most loving Savior that nothing is more pleasing to him than the meditation on his sufferings. Then he revealed to her the wounds of his head and several details of his torments, and said to her: "I suffered all this for your salvation. What can you do to equal my love for you?"

69. The holy sacrifice of the Mass honors the Most Holy Trinity infinitely, because it represents the passion of Jesus Christ and we offer in it the merits of his obedience, his sufferings, and his blood. The whole heavenly court also receives an added glory from it, and several doctors, with St. Thomas, tell us for the same reason that it rejoices at the communion of the faithful, because the Blessed Sacrament is a memorial of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, and through it men share in its fruits and advance the work of their salvation. Now, the holy Rosary, recited with meditation on the sacred mysteries, is a sacrifice of praise to God for the blessing of our Redemption, and a devout remembrance of the sufferings, death, and glory of Jesus Christ. It is therefore true that the Rosary brings an added glory, an added joy, to Jesus Christ, to the Blessed Virgin, and to all the blessed, for they desire nothing more for our eternal happiness than to see us engaged in an exercise so glorious to our Savior and so salutary for ourselves.

70. The Gospel assures us that a sinner who repents and does penance causes joy to all the angels. If it is enough to fill the angels with joy when a sinner leaves his sins and does penance, what joy, what jubilation must fill the whole heavenly court, what glory must it bring to Jesus Christ himself, to see us here on earth devoutly and lovingly meditating on his humiliations, his torments, his cruel and ignominious death! Is there anything more powerful to move us and bring us to sincere repentance? The Christian who does not meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary shows great ingratitude toward Jesus Christ and little esteem for all that the divine Savior has suffered for the salvation of the world. His conduct seems to say that he is ignorant of the life of Jesus Christ and cares very little to learn what he did and what he suffered to save us. Such a Christian ought greatly to fear that, not having known Jesus Christ, or having forgotten him, Christ will reject him on the day of judgment with this reproach: "I tell you truly that I do not know you." Let us therefore meditate on the life and sufferings of the Savior through the holy Rosary; let us learn to know him well and to acknowledge his blessings, so that he may acknowledge us as his children and his friends on the day of judgment.

Twenty-Fourth Rose

71. The saints made the life of Jesus Christ the principal object of their study; they meditated on his virtues and his sufferings, and by this means they attained Christian perfection. St. Bernard began with this exercise and always continued it. "From the beginning of my conversion," he says, "I made a bouquet of myrrh composed of the sorrows of my Savior; I placed this bouquet upon my heart, thinking of the scourges, the thorns, and the nails of his passion. I applied my whole mind to meditating every day on these mysteries." This was also the exercise of the holy martyrs. We admire how they triumphed over the most cruel torments. Whence could this admirable constancy of the martyrs have come, says St. Bernard, if not from the wounds of Jesus Christ, upon which they made their most frequent meditation? Where was the soul of these generous athletes when their blood flowed and their bodies were crushed by torments? Their souls were in the wounds of Jesus Christ, and those wounds made them invincible.

72. The most holy Mother of the Savior occupied herself throughout her life with nothing but meditating on the virtues and sufferings of her Son. When she heard the angels singing their canticle of joy at his birth, when she saw the shepherds adoring him in the stable, her mind was filled with wonder and she meditated on all these marvels. She compared the grandeurs of the Incarnate Word with his deep humiliations — the straw and the manger with his throne and the bosom of his Father; the power of a God with the weakness of a child; his wisdom with his simplicity. The Blessed Virgin once said to St. Bridget: "When I contemplated the beauty, the modesty, and the wisdom of my Son, my soul was transported with joy; and when I considered his hands and his feet, which would be pierced by nails, I shed a torrent of tears, and my heart was rent with sorrow and grief."

73. After the Ascension of Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin spent the rest of her life visiting the places that the divine Savior had sanctified by his presence and by his sufferings. There she meditated on the excess of his charity and the rigors of his passion. This was also the continual exercise of Mary Magdalene during the thirty years she lived in the holy cave of Sainte-Baume. And St. Jerome says it was the devotion of the first faithful. From every country in the world they came to the Holy Land, to engrave more deeply in their hearts the love and remembrance of the Savior of men, by the sight of the objects and places he had consecrated by his birth, his labors, his sufferings, and his death.

74. All Christians have but one faith; they adore but one God; they hope for but one happiness in heaven; they know but one mediator, who is Jesus Christ. All must imitate this divine model, and for that purpose they must contemplate the mysteries of his life, his virtues, and his glory. It is an error to imagine that meditation on the truths of the faith and the mysteries of the life of Jesus Christ concerns only priests, religious, and those who have withdrawn from the business of the world. If religious and clergy are obliged to meditate on the great truths of our holy religion in order to respond worthily to their vocation, lay people are at least equally obliged to do so, because of the dangers they face every day of losing their souls. They should therefore arm themselves with the frequent remembrance of the life, the virtues, and the sufferings of the Savior, which are set before us by the fifteen mysteries of the holy Rosary.

Twenty-Fifth Rose

75. No one will ever be able to comprehend the admirable riches of sanctification contained in the prayers and mysteries of the holy Rosary. This meditation on the mysteries of the life and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ is, for all who practice it, the source of the most marvelous fruits. Today people want things that strike, that move them, that produce deep impressions in the soul. What is there in the world more moving than this wonderful story of our Redeemer unfolding before our eyes in fifteen pictures, recalling the great scenes of the life, death, and glory of the Savior of the world? What prayers are more excellent and sublime than the Lord's Prayer and the Angelic Salutation? In them are contained all our desires and all our needs.

76. The meditation on the mysteries and prayers of the Rosary is the easiest of all forms of prayer, because the diversity of the virtues and states of Jesus Christ that one studies marvelously refreshes and strengthens the mind and prevents distractions. The learned find in these formulas the most profound teaching, and the simple find the most familiar instructions. It is necessary to pass through this easy meditation before rising to the most sublime degree of contemplation. Such is the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas and the counsel he gives us when he says that one must first exercise, as in a field of combat, in the acquisition of all the virtues, of which we have the perfect model in the mysteries of the Rosary; for it is there, says the learned Cajetan, that we acquire that intimate union with God without which contemplation is nothing but an illusion capable of leading souls astray.

77. If the false illuminists of our day, or the Quietists, had followed this counsel, they would not have suffered such terrible falls or caused so much scandal in the realm of devotion. It is a strange illusion of the devil to believe that one can make sublimer prayers than the Our Father and the Hail Mary, by abandoning these divine prayers, which are the support, the strength, and the safeguard of the soul. I admit that it is not always necessary to recite them vocally and that interior prayer, in a sense, is more perfect than vocal prayer; but I assure you that it is very dangerous, not to say pernicious, to leave off the recitation of the chaplet or the Rosary of one's own accord, under the pretext of a more perfect union with God. The subtly proud soul, deceived by the noonday devil, does everything it can inwardly to raise itself to the sublime degree of prayer of the saints; it despises and abandons for this purpose its former ways of prayer, good enough for ordinary souls. It closes its ears of its own accord to the prayers and the salutation of an angel, and even to the prayer that God himself composed, practiced, and commanded: Sic orabitis: Pater noster — "You shall pray thus" — and thereby falls from illusion to illusion and from precipice to precipice.

78. Believe me, dear brother of the Rosary: do you wish to attain a high degree of prayer, without aspiring to it presumptuously and without falling into the illusions of the devil, which are so common among persons of prayer? Then say your entire Rosary every day, if you can, or at least the chaplet. Have you already reached this high degree by the grace of God? If you wish to maintain it and to grow in humility, keep up the practice of the holy Rosary; for a soul that says its Rosary every day will never become a formal heretic or be deceived by the devil — this is a proposition I would sign with my blood. If, however, God in his great mercy draws you, in the middle of your chaplet, as powerfully as he has drawn some saints, let yourself be drawn; let God act and pray within you and recite the Rosary in his own way; let that suffice you for the day. But if you are only in active contemplation, or ordinary prayer — prayer of quiet, of the presence of God, or of affection — you have even less reason to abandon the Rosary, and far from falling back in prayer and virtue by reciting it, it will be a marvelous aid and the true ladder of Jacob, which had fifteen rungs, by which you will go from virtue to virtue, from light to light, and will easily arrive without deception at the fullness of the age of Jesus Christ.

Twenty-Sixth Rose

79. Be careful not to imitate the stubbornness of that devout woman of Rome of whom the wonders of the Rosary speak so much. She was so devout and fervent that her holy life put to shame the most austere religious in the Church of God. Wishing to consult St. Dominic, she went to confession to him, and he gave her a single Rosary as a penance and counseled her to say it every day. She excused herself, saying she had her regular exercises, that she visited all the stations of Rome every day, that she wore a hairshirt and a cilice, that she took the discipline several times a week, that she fasted so much, and practiced other penances besides. St. Dominic urged her again and again to follow his counsel, but she would have none of it. She left the confessional almost scandalized at the advice of this new director, who wanted to persuade her of a devotion she could not appreciate. Then, being at prayer and rapt in ecstasy, she saw her soul obliged to appear before the Sovereign Judge. St. Michael placed all her penances and other prayers in one pan of the scales and all her sins and imperfections in the other. St. Michael raised the balance: the pan of her good works flew up in the air and could not outweigh the pan of her sins and imperfections. In great alarm, she cried for mercy and turned to the Blessed Virgin, her advocate, who let fall into the pan of her good works the single Rosary she had said for her penance, and it was so heavy that it outweighed all her sins as well as all her good works. At the same time the Blessed Virgin reproved her for having refused to follow the counsel of her servant Dominic, to say the holy Rosary every day. When she came back to herself, she threw herself at the feet of St. Dominic, told him what had happened, begged his forgiveness for her unbelief, promised to say the Rosary every day, and by this means attained Christian perfection and eternal glory. Learn from this, souls of prayer: the power, the value, and the importance of this devotion of the holy Rosary with the meditation on the mysteries.

80. Who was more advanced in prayer than St. Mary Magdalene, who was carried seven times each day by the angels above the holy peak, who had been at the school of Jesus Christ and of his holy Mother? And yet, when she one day asked God for a sure means of advancing in his love and attaining the highest perfection, the Archangel St. Michael came from God to tell her that he knew of no means other than meditating, before a cross that he planted in front of her cave, on the sorrowful mysteries she had seen accomplished with her own eyes. Let the example of St. Francis de Sales, that great director of spiritual souls in his century, oblige you to join this holy confraternity: saintly as he was, he bound himself by vow to say the entire Rosary every day as long as he lived. St. Charles Borromeo also recited it every day and strongly recommended this devotion to his priests and clergy in the seminaries and to all his people. Blessed Pius V, one of the greatest popes who ever governed the Church, recited the Rosary every day. St. Thomas of Villanova, Archbishop of Valencia, St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier, St. Francis Borgia, St. Teresa, St. Philip Neri, and many other great men whom I pass over in silence, excelled in this devotion. Follow their examples; your spiritual directors will be very pleased, and if they are informed of the fruits you can draw from it, they will be the first to urge you on.

Twenty-Seventh Rose

81. To inspire you still further with this devotion of great souls, I add that the Rosary, recited with meditation on the mysteries: first, gradually raises us to a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ; second, purifies our souls from sin; third, makes us victorious over all our enemies; fourth, makes the practice of virtue easy for us; fifth, sets us on fire with the love of Jesus Christ; sixth, enriches us with graces and merits; seventh, furnishes us with the means to pay all our debts to God and to men; and finally, obtains from God all kinds of graces for us.

82. The knowledge of Jesus Christ is the science of Christians and the science of salvation; it surpasses, says St. Paul, all human sciences in value and excellence: first, for the dignity of its object, who is a God-man, in whose presence the whole universe is but a drop of dew or a grain of sand; second, for its usefulness, since human sciences only fill us with the wind and smoke of pride; third, for its necessity, since no one can be saved without the knowledge of Jesus Christ, whereas one who is ignorant of all other sciences will be saved, provided he is enlightened by the science of Jesus Christ. Happy Rosary, which gives us this science and knowledge of Jesus Christ by making us meditate on his life, death, passion, and glory! The Queen of Sheba, admiring the wisdom of Solomon, exclaimed: "Happy are your servants and your attendants who are always in your presence and hear the oracles of your wisdom!" Happier still are the faithful who attentively meditate on the life, the virtues, the sufferings, and the glory of the Savior, for by this means they acquire that perfect knowledge of him in which eternal life consists. Haec est vita aeterna.

83. The Blessed Virgin revealed to Blessed Alan that as soon as St. Dominic preached the Rosary, hardened sinners were touched and wept bitterly for their crimes; even young children performed incredible penances. Fervor was so great wherever he preached the Rosary that sinners changed their lives and edified everyone by their penances and the amendment of their conduct. If you feel your conscience burdened with sin, take your Rosary and recite a part of it in honor of some of the mysteries of the life, passion, or glory of Jesus Christ, and be assured that while you meditate upon and honor these mysteries, he will show his sacred wounds to his Father in heaven, plead for you, and obtain for you contrition and the pardon of your sins. He once said to Blessed Alan: "If these wretched sinners would recite my Rosary frequently, they would share in the merits of my passion, and I, as their Advocate, would appease divine Justice."

84. This life is a continual warfare and temptation; we have to fight not against enemies of flesh and blood, but against the very powers of hell. What weapons shall we take to fight them, if not the prayer our great Captain taught us, the Angelic Salutation that has driven out the demons, destroyed sin, and renewed the world, and the meditation on the life and passion of Jesus Christ? It is with the thought of these that we must arm ourselves, as St. Peter commands, to defend ourselves against the same enemies whom he conquered and who daily attack us. "Since the devil," says Cardinal Hugo, "was conquered by the humility and passion of Jesus Christ, he can scarcely attack a soul armed with the meditation on his mysteries; or if he does attack, he is shamefully defeated." Induite vos armaturam Dei (Eph 6:11).

85. Arm yourselves, then, with these arms of God — with the holy Rosary — and you will crush the head of the devil and stand firm against all his temptations. This is why even the material Rosary is so terrible to the devil, and why the saints have used it to bind him and drive him from the bodies of the possessed, as many accounts bear witness.

86. A man, says Blessed Alan, having tried in vain all sorts of devotional practices to be delivered from the evil spirit that possessed him, thought of hanging his Rosary about his neck, which gave him relief. Discovering that when he removed it from his neck, the devil tormented him cruelly, he resolved to wear it about his neck day and night, which drove the devil away for good, unable to endure so terrible a chain. Blessed Alan testifies that he himself delivered a great number of possessed persons by thus placing the Rosary about their necks.

87. The Reverend Father John Amat, of the Order of St. Dominic, while preaching Lent in a place in the kingdom of Aragon, was brought a young girl possessed by the devil. After exorcising her several times in vain, he placed his Rosary about her neck, and immediately she began to utter terrible screams and howls, crying: "Take them off, take them off — these beads that torment me!" At last the Father, out of compassion for the poor girl, removed his Rosary from her neck. The following night, while the Reverend Father was resting in bed, the same devils who possessed the girl came to him, foaming with rage, to seize him; but with his Rosary, which he held firmly in his hand, despite the efforts they made to tear it away, he beat them soundly and drove them off, saying: "Holy Mary, Our Lady of the holy Rosary, come to my aid!" The next day, as he was going to the church, he met the poor girl, still possessed. One of the devils within her said, mocking him: "Ha, friar! If you had not had your Rosary, we would have dealt with you well!" Then the Reverend Father threw his Rosary once more about the girl's neck, saying: "By the most sacred names of Jesus and of Mary, his holy Mother, and by the power of the most holy Rosary, I command you, evil spirits, to leave this body at once!" Immediately they were forced to obey, and she was set free. These stories show us the power of the holy Rosary to conquer every kind of temptation of the demons and every kind of sin, because the blessed beads of the Rosary put them to flight.

Twenty-Eighth Rose

88. St. Augustine assures us that there is no exercise so fruitful and so useful for salvation as thinking often on the sufferings of Our Lord. Blessed Albert the Great, the master of St. Thomas, learned by revelation that the mere remembrance or meditation on the passion of Jesus Christ is more meritorious for a Christian than fasting every Friday for a year on bread and water, or taking the discipline until the blood flows every week, or reciting the entire psalter every day. If this is so, how great must be the merit of the Rosary, which commemorates the entire life and passion of Our Lord! The Blessed Virgin once revealed to Blessed Alan de la Roche that, after the holy sacrifice of the Mass, which is the first and most vivid memorial of the passion of Jesus Christ, there is no devotion more excellent or more meritorious than the Rosary, which is like a second memorial and representation of the life and passion of Jesus Christ.

89. The Reverend Father Dorland relates that the Blessed Virgin said one day to the venerable Dominic, a Carthusian devoted to the holy Rosary, who resided at Trier in the year 1481: "Every time a faithful soul recites the Rosary with the meditations on the mysteries of the life and passion of Jesus Christ, in the state of grace, he obtains full and entire remission of all his sins." She also said to Blessed Alan: "Know that although there are already many indulgences granted to my Rosary, I will add many more for each set of fifty to those who recite it without mortal sin, on their knees, devoutly; and whoever perseveres in the devotion of the holy Rosary with these conditions and meditations, I will obtain for him, as a reward for this good service, full remission of the punishment and guilt of all his sins at the end of his life. And let this not seem incredible to you: it is easy for me, since I am the Mother of the King of heaven, who calls me full of grace; and being filled with it, I will pour it forth abundantly upon my dear children."

90. St. Dominic was so well convinced of the efficacy and merit of the holy Rosary that he gave scarcely any other penance to those he heard in confession, as we have seen in the story I related of the Roman lady to whom he gave only a single Rosary as her penance. Confessors should also, to walk safely in the footsteps of this great saint, enjoin the Rosary upon their penitents, with reflection on the sacred mysteries, rather than other penances that are not of such great merit, nor so pleasing to God, nor so salutary to souls for advancing them in virtue, nor so effective in keeping them from falling into sin. Moreover, by saying the Rosary, one gains many indulgences that are not attached to most other devotions.

91. "Indeed," says Abbot Blosius, "this Rosary, with the meditations on the life and passion, is most pleasing to Jesus Christ and to the Blessed Virgin and most effective for obtaining all things. We may say it for ourselves and for those recommended to us and for the whole Church. Let us therefore have recourse to the devotion of the holy Rosary in all our needs, and we shall infallibly obtain what we ask of God for our salvation."

Twenty-Ninth Rose

92. Nothing is more divine, according to St. Denis, nothing more noble or more pleasing to God than to cooperate in the salvation of souls and to overthrow the schemes of the devil, who strives to destroy them. This was the motive that brought the Son of God down to earth. He had ruined the empire of Satan by founding the Church, but that tyrant had regained his strength and exercised cruel violence over the souls of the Albigensians, through the hatred, dissension, and abominable vices he caused to reign in the world in the eleventh century. What remedy for these great disorders? How to defeat the forces of Satan? The Blessed Virgin, protectress of the Church, gave no more effective means for appeasing the wrath of her Son, for uprooting heresy, and for reforming the morals of Christians than the confraternity of the holy Rosary — as the results have confirmed. It renewed the charity and the frequentation of the sacraments of the first golden centuries of the Church, and reformed the morals of Christians.

93. Pope Leo X declared in his bull that this confraternity was founded in honor of God and of the Blessed Virgin, as a wall to hold back the misfortunes about to fall upon the Church. Gregory XIII declared that the Rosary was given from heaven as a means to appease the wrath of God and implore the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. Julius III declared that the Rosary was inspired to open heaven to us more easily, through the favors of the Blessed Virgin. Paul III and Blessed Pius V declared that the Rosary was established and given to the faithful to procure for them more effectively spiritual rest and consolation. Who would neglect to join a confraternity established for such noble ends?

94. The Carthusian Father Dominic, very devoted to the Rosary, once saw heaven opened and the whole heavenly court ranged in admirable order, and he heard them chanting the Rosary with a ravishing melody, honoring at each decade a mystery of the life, passion, and glory of Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin. He noticed that when they pronounced the sacred name of Mary, they all made an inclination of the head, and at the name of Jesus, they all genuflected and gave thanks to God for the great blessings he has bestowed upon heaven and earth through the holy Rosary. He also saw the Blessed Virgin and the saints presenting to God the Rosaries that the members of the confraternity recite on earth, and praying for those who practice this devotion. He further saw innumerable crowns of most beautiful and fragrant flowers, prepared for those who devoutly recite the holy Rosary, for each time they recite it they fashion a crown with which they will be adorned in heaven. The vision of this devout Carthusian agrees with the vision of the beloved disciple, in which he saw an innumerable multitude of angels and saints praising and blessing Jesus Christ for all that he did and suffered in this world for our salvation. Is this not what the devout members of the Rosary confraternity do?

95. One must not imagine that the Rosary is only for women, children, and the ignorant; it is also for men, and the greatest of men. As soon as St. Dominic had reported to Pope Innocent III the command he had received from heaven to establish this holy confraternity, the Holy Father approved it, exhorted St. Dominic to preach it, and wished to be enrolled in it himself. Even the cardinals embraced it with great fervor, so that Lopez records these words: Nullum sexum, nullam aetatem, nullam conditionem ab oratione rosarii subtraxit se. Thus we see in this confraternity all sorts of persons: dukes, princes, and kings, as well as prelates, cardinals, and sovereign pontiffs, whose enumeration would be too long for this summary. And you, dear reader, by joining this confraternity, will share in their devotion and their graces on earth, and in their glory in heaven. Cum quibus consortium vobis erit devotionis, erit et communio dignitatis.

Thirtieth Rose

96. If privileges, graces, and indulgences make a confraternity commendable, it may be said that the confraternity of the Rosary is the most commendable in the Church, since it is the most favored and enriched with indulgences. Scarcely a pope since its institution has failed to open the treasures of the Church for its benefit; and since example persuades better than words and favors, the Holy Fathers could not better show the esteem in which they held this holy confraternity than by enrolling themselves in it. Here is a brief summary of the indulgences the Sovereign Pontiffs have granted in full to the confraternity of the holy Rosary, confirmed anew by our Holy Father Pope Innocent XI on July 31, 1679, received and permitted to be published by the Archbishop of Paris on September 25 of the same year: first, on the day of enrollment in the confraternity, a plenary indulgence; second, at the hour of death, a plenary indulgence; third, for each of the three chaplets of the Rosary recited, ten years and ten quarantines of indulgences; fourth, each time they devoutly pronounce the holy names of Jesus and Mary, seven days of indulgences; fifth, for those who devoutly attend the procession of the holy Rosary, seven years and seven quarantines of indulgences; sixth, for those who, truly penitent and having confessed, visit the chapel of the Rosary in the church where it is established, on the first Sundays of each month and on the feasts of Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin, a plenary indulgence; seventh, for those who attend the Salve Regina, a hundred days of indulgence; eighth, for those who devoutly and as an example carry the holy Rosary openly, a hundred days of indulgences; ninth, for sick members of the confraternity who, being unable to come to church, having confessed and received communion, recite the holy Rosary or at least the chaplet on the day appointed for gaining the indulgence, a plenary indulgence; tenth, the Holy Fathers, with great liberality toward the members of the holy Rosary, have given them the faculty of gaining the indulgences of the stations of Rome by visiting five altars and reciting before each one five Our Fathers and five Hail Marys for the happy state of the Church. If there are only one or two altars in the church where the Rosary is established, they shall recite twenty-five Our Fathers and Hail Marys before that altar.

97. This is a great favor for the members of the holy Rosary, because in the station churches of Rome there are plenary indulgences, deliverances of souls from purgatory, and many other great remissions, which the members of the confraternity can gain without effort, without expense, and without leaving their own country. And even if the confraternity is not established in the place where the members reside, they may gain these indulgences by visiting five altars in any church whatever, by the concession of Leo X. Here are the days on which they may gain them, determined and fixed for those outside the city of Rome by a decree of the Sacred Congregation established for indulgences, approved by our Holy Father on March 7, 1678, which ordered that it be inviolably observed: all the Sundays of Advent; the three days of the Ember Days; the vigil of Christmas, at the Masses of midnight, dawn, and daytime; the feasts of St. Stephen, St. John the Evangelist, and the Holy Innocents; the Circumcision and Epiphany; the Sundays of Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima; and from Ash Wednesday every day until Low Sunday inclusively; the three Rogation Days; Ascension Day; the vigil of Pentecost and all the days of its octave; and the three Ember Days of September. Dear brother of the Rosary, there are a great many other indulgences. If you wish to see them, read the summary of the indulgences granted to the members of the Rosary. There you will find the names of the popes, the years, and many other details that this summary does not permit.