White Rose

1. Ministers of the Most High, preachers of the truth, trumpets of the Gospel, permit me to present to you the white rose of this little book, that you may place in your hearts and on your lips the truths set forth here simply, without embellishment. In your hearts, that you may yourselves take up the holy practice of the Rosary and taste its fruits. On your lips, that you may preach to others the excellence of this practice and convert them by this means. Take great care, I beg you, not to regard this practice as small and of little consequence, as do the common people and even many proud scholars; it is truly great, sublime, and divine. Heaven itself gave it to us, and gave it to convert the most hardened sinners and the most obstinate heretics. God has attached to it grace in this life and glory in the next. The saints have practiced it, and the sovereign Pontiffs have authorized it. How happy is the priest and director of souls to whom the Holy Spirit has revealed this secret, unknown to most people, or known to them only superficially! If he receives a practical knowledge of it, he will recite it every day and have others recite it. God and his holy Mother will pour grace abundantly into his soul to make him an instrument of his glory; and he will produce more fruit by his preaching, however simple, in one month than other preachers in several years.

2. Let us not content ourselves, then, my dear brothers, with merely counseling it to others; we must practice it ourselves. We may well be convinced in our minds of the excellence of the holy Rosary, but if we do not practice it, people will take very little notice of what we recommend, for no one gives what he does not have: Coepit Jesus facere et docere. Let us imitate Jesus Christ, who began by doing what he taught. Let us imitate the Apostle, who knew and preached only Jesus Christ crucified. This is what we shall do by preaching the holy Rosary, which, as you will see hereafter, is not merely a composition of Our Fathers and Hail Marys, but a divine summary of the life, passion, death, and glory of Jesus and Mary. If I believed that the experience God has given me of the efficacy of preaching the holy Rosary for the conversion of souls could persuade you to preach the holy Rosary, despite the contrary fashion among preachers, I would tell you of the marvelous conversions I have seen brought about by preaching the holy Rosary; but I will content myself with relating in this summary a few ancient and well-attested stories. I have, however, for your benefit, inserted several Latin passages drawn from good authors to support what I explain to the people in French.