{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_18170/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_18170","id":"gutenberg_18170","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18170","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Rosary"],"text":"Produced by Michael Gray (Lost_Gamer@comcast.net\n\n\n\n\nTHE EXCELLENCE OF THE ROSARY\n\nCONFERENCES FOR DEVOTIONS IN HONOR OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN\n\nBY\nREV. M. J. FRINGS\n\nNEW YORK\nJOSEPH F. WAGNER\n\n\nNihil Obstat\nREMIGIUS LAFORT, D.D.\n_Censor_\n\nImprimatur\nJOHN CARDINAL FARLEY\n_Archbishop of New York_\n\nNEW YORK, September 19, 1912\n\nCopyright, 1912, by JOSEPH F. WAGNER, NEW YORK\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nI. THE NAME OF THIS DEVOTION\nII. THE ORIGIN OF THE ROSARY\nIII. THE POWER OF THE ROSARY\nIV. THE SIGN OF THE CROSS\nV. THE APOSTLES' CREED\nVI. THE GLORY BE TO THE FATHER\nVII. THE OUR FATHER\nVIII. THE HAIL MARY\nIX. THE PRAYER TO INCREASE THE THREE DIVINE VIRTUES\nX. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE ROSARY IN REGARD TO ITS FORM\nXI. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE ROSARY ON ACCOUNT OF THE MYSTERIES\nCOMMEMORATED\n\n\n\nTHE ROSARY\nCONFERENCES FOR SODALITIES B. V. M.\n\n\n\n\nI. THE NAME OF THIS DEVOTION\n\n\n\"I was exalted as a rose plant in Jericho.\"--Eccles. xxiv, 18.\n\nMy dear brethren, when Pope Pius IX, on May 23, 1877, gave audience to\na number of pious pilgrims he said to them: \"Have courage, my dear\nchildren! I exhort you to fight against the persecution of the Church\nand against anarchy, not with the sword, but with the rosary, with\nprayer and good example.\" This Pope, who with great wisdom and strong\nhand has guided for thirty-two years the bark of Peter, which in many\nviolent storms had been rocked to and fro, he who well knew the great\ndangers of our times, regarded the rosary as a conquering weapon.\n\nWhat great confidence his successor, Pope Leo XIII, placed in the\nveneration and invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by means of the\nrosary! He exhorted all Christianity to pray the rosary daily during\nthe month of October, in order to obtain assistance in these\ndistressing times. In his brief on this occasion Leo XIII says: \"It has\nbeen a favorite and prevalent custom of Catholics, in times of need and\ndanger, to take refuge in Mary, and to seek consolation from her\nmotherly concern.\"\n\nThus the firm reliance and confidence rightly placed by the Catholic\nChurch in the mother of God is stanchly avowed.\n\nAs a matter of fact, Mary, the immaculate Virgin, free from original\nsin, the chosen mother of God, is endowed with such power by her Son,\nas no other creature, man or angel, has ever received or can receive.\n\nThe efficacy of this great devotion to the great Queen of Heaven had\nbeen demonstrated especially when false teachings, depravity, or other\ngreat enemies threatened disaster to Christians.\n\nHistory, early and recent, relates how public and private devotion to\nthe mother of God was held in times of calamity and distress, and how\nthese prayers were heard, and help was granted. Thus originated the\nexalted titles which Catholics give to the Blessed Virgin, such as Help\nof Christians, Refuge of Sinners, etc.\n\nTo these titles was added another, when under date of December 10,\n1883, Leo XIII directed that the title \"Queen of the Rosary\" be added\nto the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. In his brief the Holy Father\nexpresses the desire that all the faithful practise daily the devotion\nof the rosary. If, therefore, the rosary is considered of such great\npower and efficacy by the head of the Church, the representative of\nChrist, it is befitting that we heed his words and pray often and\ndevoutly by means of the rosary.\n\nIf this prayer were better understood it would be prayed with more\ndevotion, and greater benefit would come from it. In order, then, to\nspread a better knowledge, and to urge the devout recital of the\nrosary, let us contemplate this devotion in a course of instructive\naddresses. The name rosary may be the subject of to-day's discourse.\n\nThe devotion of the rosary consists in the recital of a fixed number of\nOur Fathers and Hail Marys, combined with the meditation on certain\nmysteries from the lives of Jesus and Mary. The name rosary is\nsignificant. It is a symbol of Mary, also of the devotion to her. We\nwill endeavor to make this clear.\n\nThe realm of nature is the symbol of the realm of grace, as the realm\nof grace is a symbol of the realm of glory. It was God's intention to\nlet His earthly creation be a reflection of the divine perfections, of\nthe supernatural, of divinity, so that man might perceive the\nsupernatural through created things, and thus more readily understand\nit. \"For the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world,\nare clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made\" (Rom.\ni, 20).\n\nOur first parents obtained a clear conception of the supernatural\nthrough the natural things of this life. Nature was to them an open\nbook, in which they could read the divine perfections. Through sin the\nunderstanding of man was dimmed and he failed in the interpretation of\nnature. Instead of being led to God through it, he allowed himself to\nbecome estranged, and from a master became the slave of nature.\n\nThen Christ came and redeemed the world from the slavery of sin and\nagain granted to man the clear conception of the true God, as also the\nright understanding of nature. This is verified in the saints and we\nhave a beautiful example in St. Francis of Assisi. About his\ninterpretation and meditation of nature St. Bonaventure says: \"He\nconsidered all things created as original from God, and saw in each\ncreature the Creator and Preserver.\"\n\nEverything in nature was to him a symbol of spiritual life. He took\ndelight especially in flowers, because they reminded him of the flower\nfrom the root of Jesse, which refreshens and gladdens the whole world.\n\nSee, my dear brethren, this is the correct, the Christian way of\ncontemplating nature. The spiritual world is reflected in the visible.\n\nAnd Jesus being the King and Mary the Queen in the realm of grace and\nglory, nature contains symbols that refer to Jesus and Mary. All things\nof this creation: from the flowers of the valley to the brilliant stars\nthat illumine the night, all things in nature are symbols of the\nglorious mother of God. Among many such symbols used in Holy Scripture\nwe find Mary called the mystical rose. The Church therefore regards the\nrose as a symbol of Mary. Let us see in what the likeness consists.\n\nIf on a summer's day we enter a garden, where various flowers through\ntheir form, color and sweet odor delight and refresh us, our eye is\nchiefly attracted by the rose. We are especially well pleased with it.\nThe rose is the queen of flowers in form, color and fragrant odor,\nbecause of its beauty.\n\nLet us turn now our gaze to the spiritual garden, the Church of Christ.\nThe various flowers there are the faithful, adorned with piety and\nvirtue, and spreading the fragrance of saintliness with which God is\npleased. In the Canticle of Canticles the Lamb of God is pictured as\nfeeding among the lilies. A beautiful thought! It tells us how the Lamb\nof God, our divine Saviour, is fond of the flowers of God, the\nGod-loving souls, as is the lamb of the lilies.\n\nAnd in this garden of God, the Holy Church, Mary is the rose, the pride\nof the garden, the queen of the flowers. The rose is therefore the most\nbeautiful symbol of Mary, of all saints the queen, exalted above all\nsaints in sublimity, beauty, gentleness and sweetness. Therefore,\nbecause Mary is among the saints what the rose is among flowers, she is\ncalled \"the mystical rose.\" And the name rosary is to remind us of\nthis.\n\nThe rose, furthermore, signifies the virtuous life of Mary the virgin.\nThe rosebud is a beautiful symbol of virginity. It is hidden as under a\nveil. Lovely is the Christian virgin, hidden in the garb of innocence\nlike a rosebud. Mary is the Virgin of Virgins, and can above all be\ncompared to the fair and undefiled rosebud.\n\nThe open, blooming rose is an emblem of pure motherhood. Like the\nopened radiant rose the Christian mother is in the full vigor of life;\nher heart open with true love for her husband and children; and she\nunfolds her soul to heaven, so that through prayer she may receive the\nneeded assistance for herself and hers. Through her good example in\nChristian virtues she spreads around her the fragrance of a God-\npleasing life, and encourages those who associate with her to imitate\nher virtues.\n\nMary is the immaculate virgin and mother, mother of God, and of all\nmankind. She is the most noble and perfect of all mothers. Like a\nmagnificent rose she shines in the splendor of her virtues, and is the\nperfect example for all mothers. Because her heart is fired with love\nfor God and man, she is, as St. Jordanus says, likened to the flaming\nred rose.\n\nThere is no rose but has its thorns. The thorns are a figure of\nsuffering, of sorrow, of the temptations in life, under which only a\ntruly virtuous life can thrive.\n\nSt. Brigid relates in her revelations how she at one time was downcast\nbecause the enemies of Christ were so powerful, and how she was\nconsoled by the mother of God herself, who told her to remember the\nrose among the thorns. \"The rose,\" so said Mary, \"gives a fragrant\nodor; it is beautiful to the sight, and tender to the touch, and yet it\ngrows among thorns, inimical to beauty and tenderness. So may also\nthose who are mild, patient, beautiful in virtue, be put to a test\namong adversaries. And as the thorn, on the other hand, guards, so do\nwicked surroundings protect the just against sin by demonstrating to\nthem the destructiveness of sin.\"\n\nThe life of Mary was interwoven with many sorrows and she is justly\ncalled \"a rose among thorns.\" St. Brigid says: \"The Virgin may suitably\nbe called a blooming rose. Just as the gentle rose is placed among\nthorns, so this gentle Virgin was surrounded by sorrow.\"\n\nThe rose obtains its life through the stem, to which it is closely\nunited. A rose broken from the stem will soon wither. So Mary received\nall her graces from Jesus, with whom she was united through the\nliveliest faith and ardent love.\n\nMary is in truth a spiritual, a mystic rose. The rose therefore is a\nfitting symbol of the virtuous life of the mother of God. As mystical\nrose she deserves our admiration and veneration, and she must be our\nexample and model in all Christian virtues, the model of a true\nspiritual life.\n\nThe name rosary, therefore, is well suited to this devotion. For it is\na wreath of spiritual roses, as it were, which we place at the feet of\nMary, in order to show our love and veneration.\n\nThe rose has, moreover, been at all times regarded as a symbol of love.\nIt was already the custom of the early Christians to adorn on feast\ndays the pictures and statues of the saints with wreaths of roses,\nespecially on feast days of the Blessed Virgin.\n\nSt. Dominic, inspired and instructed by Mary, formed from the beautiful\nand efficacious prayers, the Our Father and the Hail Mary, together\nwith the principal mysteries from the lives of Jesus and Mary, a\nbeautiful wreath, and called it the \"Rosary.\"\n\nThe threefold mysteries represented in the devotion again give it a\nresemblance to the rose. The green of the rose is the color of hope and\nconfidence. It is represented in the glorious rosary. The thorns are\nrepresented in the sorrowful rosary. The beautiful red petals of the\nrose, finally, are represented in the joyful rosary, in the glories of\nJesus and Mary.\n\nThus is shown therefore the deep and significant meaning of the name\nrosary. And as the rosary reminds us of all the virtues, the spiritual\nbeauty and sublimity of Mary, and as it is a worthy manifestation of\nour love and veneration for the mother of God it is meet that we hold\nthe rosary in high esteem. And Mary finds delight in this devotion, for\nit reminds her of all the good God did for her, and for which all\nnations pronounce her blessed.\n\nOh, let us then resolve to wind this wreath frequently, to lay it often\nat the feet of the noble, the gracious queen of the Rosary!\n\n\n\n\nII. THE ORIGIN OF THE ROSARY\n\n\n\"The Highest himself hath founded her.\"--Ps. lxxxvi.\n\nMy dear brethren, in our consideration on the rosary let us to-day\nreflect upon its origin.\n\nIts origin and age bestow on this devotion a great dignity. From the\nearliest times of Christianity it has been the custom of the Christians\nto observe in their prayers method and perseverance. Thus it was the\ncustom of the hermits of the Orient, as far back as the fourth century,\nto devise a sequence of certain prayers, which they counted on pebbles.\nWe also know that long ago in England a so-called Paternoster-cord was\nused for this purpose. St. Gregory, at the end of the fourth century,\nspoke of such a method of devotion in veneration of the Blessed Virgin\nMary. This pious bishop thought a wreath of spiritual roses would be\nmore pleasing to the blessed Virgin than the natural roses with which\nthe faithful adorned her altar. He selected, therefore, a number of\nprayers, in praise of the blessed Virgin, and united them into a\nwreath. And this was the origin of the rosary, woven by pious hands for\nthe veneration of Mary, the mystical rose.\n\nIn the fifth century, St. Brigid urgently commended the devotion of the\nrosary, and she chose as its prayers the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and\nthe Creed, and united them into a wreath of prayers. In order to count\ntheir recital she strung little beads of stone or wood and made a\nwreath of them.\n\nThis custom subsequently spread through all Christian lands, and\nthrough the centuries, to our own days. That this devotion was always\nin great favor and esteem among pious Christians may be concluded from\nthe fact that in the grave of St. Norbert, who died in 1134, a rosary\nsimilar to ours was found.\n\nWe have proof, then, that the devotion of the rosary, such as we have\nit, was practised already in the early days of Christianity. And it was\npractised not only by monks and nuns, but found adherents among all the\nfaithful.\n\nThe particular manner in which we now pray the rosary was brought into\nvogue by St. Dominic. This is attested by the tradition of six\ncenturies. Twelve Popes bear witness to this fact. We will now speak of\nthe introduction by St. Dominic, and will also refer to the great\nefficacy of this devotion since its inception. May our reflections\ncontribute to the greater honor of God, and of the glorious Queen of\nthe rosary.\n\nI. The devotion of the rosary in its present form dates its origin from\nthe thirteenth century, and St. Dominic was selected by God as the\ninstrument of its introduction. Spain was the home of this great saint.\nIn one of the valleys of Castile there is situated an humble little\nvillage named Calarunga, where his parents possessed a small estate. He\nwas born there in the year 1170. While being baptized his sponsor saw,\nas if in a vision, a brilliant star over the forehead of the future\nsaint, shedding its brilliant light through the church. As Dominic\nadvanced in years he increased in wisdom, virtue and piety. In due time\nhe devoted himself to theology, believing that in this pursuit alone he\ncould find the wisdom of God. Not in the pleasures of this world, but\nin the knowledge of God, he sought his pastime. His favorite place was\nthe church and the solitude of the sanctuary. Two incidents from his\nschooldays throw a light upon his character. At the time of a famine\nDominic gave all that he possessed to the poor, even all but the\nnecessary clothes, and when he had nothing more to give, he sold even\nhis beloved books and gave the proceeds to the poor. When berated by\npeople for his excessive generosity, he said: \"How could I dare indulge\nin these lifeless books, when human lives are in danger of starvation?\"\nAt another time St. Dominic met a woman who was weeping bitterly\nbecause she had no money with which she could release her brother, who\nhad been imprisoned by the Saracens. Dominic offered to sell himself\ninto bondage to release this brother; but since God had destined him to\nrelease sinful mankind from the bondage of sin, of error and unbelief,\nHe did not permit Dominic to do as he offered.\n\nAt the age of twenty-five he was appointed upon the chapter of the\ncathedral at Osma. Here he was conspicuous among his brethren on\naccount of his humility, holiness, and zeal for prayer. He spent nine\nyears in Osma, during which time divine Providence prepared him for his\nimportant and great vocation. This vocation became plain to him when,\nin the year 1204, he went to France and saw the terrible devastation\nwhich the prevailing heresies had wrought against the Church of Christ.\nThe sight of this disaster nearly broke his heart. The poison of heresy\nhad spread among the faithful with great rapidity, and principally in\nsouthern France. From the city of Albi the heretics had assumed the\nname Albigenses. These Albigenses discarded the doctrines of\nChristianity and constructed new doctrines that played havoc with\nmorality and social order. They were violent enemies of Church and\nState, and preached disobedience and rebellion against spiritual and\ntemporal authority. An enemy of the Church is invariably also an enemy\nof the State; history and experience prove this.\n\nIn southern France the Albigenses secured the support of Prince\nRaimond, of Toulouse, a wealthy and mighty, but, at the same time, a\nmost godless and immoral prince of that time. He had several wives;\nassociated with heretics, and even gave his children to be educated by\nthem. This prince undertook the leadership of the heretical Albigenses,\nand with them, and other rabble by which France at that time was\noverrun, scoured the country, robbing and plundering wherever they\nwent. This lawless band, under the direction of this godless prince,\nrobbed churches of their treasures, murdered priests, even tore open\nthe tabernacles and desecrated the most holy Sacrament. A messenger of\nPope Innocent III was murdered by one of these knaves, who then found\nthe protection of this depraved prince. Under these conditions the Pope\nfinally saw the necessity of preaching a crusade against these\nheretics, who surpassed even the Saracens in the outrages committed. A\nterrible war then ensued, in which these enemies of Church and State\nwere subdued, but not converted. For this there was necessary an\nextraordinary spiritual effort, and divine Providence had already\nprepared the instrument. St. Dominic was the tool in the hand of God to\nintroduce and apply an efficacious remedy, and this remedy was the\nrosary.\n\nDominic had for many years taught the doctrines of the Catholic Church\nto the heretics, and had converted a number of them, but not enough to\nsatisfy his holy zeal. He often turned with humility to God and\nbesought Him with tears, and deeds of penance, that He might let him\nknow how to accomplish better results. Since childhood he had been a\nfaithful servant of Mary, and had often said that the devotion to her\nwas a powerful means of converting heretics and sinners.\n\nFinally his prayers were heard in a miraculous way. One day, while on\nhis way from Toulouse, Dominic threw himself down on his knees and\nresolved not to cease praying until his prayers were heard. Then, so\nthe legend tells us, the glorious Queen of heaven appeared to him,\nspoke words of encouragement, and taught him how to pray the rosary,\nassuring him that this would be the right weapon to conquer error and\nsin. With joy Dominic arose and returned to Toulouse, and began to\nspread the use of the rosary, as Mary had taught him and in the way we\nnow recite it. He preached this devotion, explained it, and taught the\npeople how to pray it. It proved indeed a most efficacious means for\nthe conversion of apostates, heretics, and sinners. Since the lack of\nknowledge in matters of faith had been the real cause why heresy so\nquickly spread, the principal truths of faith and morals were now\ncommunicated to the people through the rosary, and the principles of a\nChristian life were taught them in this most sublime prayer of the\nChurch. This was bound to bring results, and we will give now some\nthought to these results.\n\nII. According to the historians of those ages the effects of the rosary\nsermons of St. Dominic were truly wonderful. In all cities where he\npreached, the people gathered in great numbers to hear his heaven-\ninspired words and to pray the rosary with St. Dominic. Sinners were\nconverted, the faithful were strengthened and fortified, and many\nthousands of those who had been led into heresy opened their hearts\nagain to the true faith and returned to the holy Church. The inspired\nwords of St. Dominic met with such splendid results that, even if the\ntradition did not tell us so, the miraculous effects of this devotion\nwould prove its heavenly inspiration, and Pius IX, Leo XIII, as many\nPopes before them, have publicly avowed their belief that St. Dominic\nreceived the rosary from our blessed Mother.\n\nThe promise which Dominic received was fulfilled. Where all other means\nhad failed, the humble prayer of the rosary accomplished the victory\nover heresy. Thus divine wisdom and infinite power make use of humble\nthings to effect great achievements. Of this the great work of the\nredemption gives us an example. God made the Cross the instrument of\nthe redemption. The despised Cross, once a shame and disgrace, was\nraised on the height of Calvary and became the instrument of the\nredemption for all the world, the fountain of grace, a blessing for\ntime and eternity, the symbol of victory and glory.\n\nSt. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, writes: \"And I,\nbrethren, when I came to you, came not in loftiness of speech or of\nwisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of Christ. For I judge not\nmyself to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ, and him crucified.\nAnd my speech and my preaching was not in the persuasive words of human\nwisdom, but in the showing of the spirit and power. That your faith\nmight not stand on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. But we\npreach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and\nunto the Gentiles foolishness: But unto them that are called, both Jews\nand Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God; for the\nfoolishness of God is wiser than men; but the foolish things of the\nworld hath God chosen, that he may confound the strong. That no flesh\nshould glory in his sight\" (I Cor. i and ii). And so did God choose the\nrosary, this humble prayer, to work such great things, that human\neffort had not been able to accomplish. What an incentive to put all\nour trust in God, rather than in our own strength!\n\nThe devotion of the rosary soon spread from southern France to all\nother Catholic lands, and all peoples welcomed it with joy and prayed\nit with great zeal. Rosary societies were formed and approved of by the\nPopes, and were richly endowed with many indulgences. Ever since there\nhas been no other prayer practised so diligently as the rosary. And\noften there have been recorded miraculous effects of this devotion, no\nless miraculous than the conversion of the heretics in the south of\nFrance.\n\nThe devotion as now practised is therefore in use over seven hundred\nyears. The wonderful origin, its great age and the remarkable miracles\nthat were wrought by its use at all times, bestow a great dignity on\nthis devotion.\n\nWhen we consider the conditions that prevailed at the time of the\norigin of the rosary, and for the betterment of which divine Providence\nprovided this devotion, we can not fail to realize a similarity of\nconditions in our own times. Materialism and unbelief, connected with\nwidespread immorality, are now prevalent as they were then. They are\ncausing great injury to Church, State, and homes, and will become more\ndestructive if not checked by the right weapon. Pope Pius IX, as also\nPope Leo XIII, have declared the rosary to be that weapon, and have\nexhorted Christianity to resort to the zealous use of it. If all\nChristians would follow the advice of these supreme Pontiffs, we should\nsoon see the Catholic faith and good morals come into their own again,\nand ample blessing would, through this devotion, be bestowed upon\nprivate and public life. All the insistent endeavors of world-wise\nscholars and reformers will be of no avail if God's blessing does not\nrest upon their work. Only then, when the true faith and a life of\nfaith are made the standard of public and private merit and ethics,\nwill the temporal, no less than the eternal, welfare of nations and of\nindividuals be assured.\n\nLet us, through the rosary, call to Mary for her powerful intercession\nin the battle of the Church against the enemies of faith and morals,\nand with her intercession we shall be sure of victory. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nIII. THE POWER OF THE ROSARY\n\n\n\"Lo, here is the sword of Goliath. . . . There is none like that, give\nit to me.\"--I Kings xxi, 9.\n\nSYNOPSIS.--_David, with God's assistance, his only weapon a pebble,\nslew the giant. God gives us, as our weapon, the rosary. This has\nproven efficacious in the battles of the Church against heretics and\nheathen armies. Examples: Albigenses; Turks at Lepanto and Belgrade;\nmany epidemics abated or averted by the power of the rosary. This\ndevotion is just as powerful for the individual and for the family.\n\nGod has shown us that He wishes many to co-operate with the Church and\nwith the Christian in their fight for faith and salvation. Let all use\nthis weapon._\n\nMy dear brethren, in the first book of Kings we read how the\nPhilistines went forth to battle against the Israelites. The\nPhilistines arrayed their forces on a mountain, and the Israelites\noccupied a mountain on the opposite side, so that the valley was\nbetween them. Then there went out from the hordes of the Philistines a\nman named Goliath, a giant of enormous strength, who challenged the\nIsraelites to let one of their men fight him hand to hand, the result\nof this contest to decide the victory or defeat of either army. A youth\nnamed David, inspired and urged by the spirit of God, went forth with a\nfew smooth stones and a sling to meet this Philistine, and as Goliath\nrushed toward him David cast the stones with the sling and struck the\nPhilistine in the forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth.\nDavid then ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and\nslew him. Israel thus gained the victory over the Philistines. But when\nfor this victory exceeding praise was given to David, King Saul became\nangry and sought the life of the youthful hero. In his flight David\ncame to Nobe. Not having any weapon, he said to the high priest\nAchimelech: \"Hast thou here at hand a spear or a sword?\" The high\npriest answered: \"Lo, here is the sword of Goliath, whom thou slewest\nin the valley of Terebinth, if thou wilt take this, for there is no\nother but this.\" And David said, \"There is none like that, give it me.\"\n\nThese last words, which I have made the text for my address to-day, we\nmay fitly apply to the holy rosary. For the rosary has ever since its\norigin proven itself a conquering weapon for the Church, as also well\nas for the individual Christian, against the most powerful enemies of\nGod and of His Church. Let us consider the fact for the greater glory\nof God and of the Queen of the rosary.\n\nSince the introduction of the rosary by St. Dominic, for more than six\nhundred years therefore, the great victories of Christianity against\nthe many and ferocious enemies of the Church are ascribed to the\ndevotion of the rosary. The Church has at all times had enemies, who\nwith all their power and in all their evil ways have opposed and\npersecuted her. Nor is this surprising. Ever since Satan succeeded in\nbeguiling our first parents into sin, he has continued to sow\ndissention among mankind. Beginning with Cain and Abel, there have been\nchildren of God who obeyed God's commandments, and, on the other hand,\nchildren of Satan, as holy Scripture calls them, who seek their\nsalvation in the pleasures of this life. Since the time of Cain and\nAbel, mankind has been split into two divisions, one seeking the\nkingdom of God, the other the kingdom of the world, the kingdom of\nSatan.\n\nWhen our Saviour conquered Satan He left him power over those who make\nthemselves slaves to the sensual pleasures, and thus there exists an\nevil force against the Church, and it will exist to the end of time.\nThis is a fact that we must keep in view in order to fully understand\nand judge the conditions. The realm of darkness, Satan's realm, stands\nopposed to the realm of Christ. Satan and his adherents carry on the\nwarfare against the Church of Christ, as they assaulted Christ Himself.\n\"As they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you,\" so did\nChrist prophecy.\n\nThe Church of Christ demands the subjection of the flesh; she preaches\nagainst luxury, pride and selfishness. She preaches chastity and\nsubmission to the commandments of God; she preaches penance alike to\nthose of high and low station in life. This angers all those who would\nindulge in the evil things of this world. They cry: \"Let us break her\nbonds asunder; and let us cast away her yoke from us.\" But as Christ\nforetold the persecution of His Church, so He also foretold that the\ngates of hell would not prevail against her. The Church of God will in\ndue time conquer all her enemies, some will be converted, while others\nwho are obstinate will perish in the battle. In all these battles and\nvictories of the Church, Mary, blessed mother of her divine Founder,\nco-operates with the Church through her intercession. Mary was already\nspoken of in paradise as the one who would come to tread upon the head\nof the serpent, the spirit of darkness. This she has done by becoming\nthe mother of God, by bringing forth the Redeemer. And as Jesus through\nMary's co-operation came into this world, so He desires her\nco-operation in ruling the world. The history of the contests and\nVictories of the Church verify this throughout the centuries.\n\nThe evil spirit has a twofold weapon with which he assails and combats\nGod's Church; namely, the godless rulers of the world and heresy.\nThrough the godless authorities of the world Satan has endeavored since\nthe beginning to crush the Church; through heresy he attempts to\ndestroy the Church by internal dissension. Both weapons are used\ntogether, for heresy and calumny can not prevail without substantial\nsupport, and heretics seek worldly power and assistance. On every page\nof Church history we find recorded the clashes planned by these evil\nforces, from which the Church always came out not conquered, but a\nconqueror.\n\nThe history of the veneration of Mary tells us that the Blessed Virgin\nMary helped to win these victories. During the early times, when fierce\nbattles against the Church were raging, bishops and priests knew of no\nmore efficacious means to avert these dangers than to exhort the\nfaithful to pray to the Blessed Virgin. Thus we read in history that\nthe holy bishops and martyrs Ignatius and Irenaeus did this in the\nsecond century, and in the third century it was Pope Calixtus who\nadvised the faithful to take refuge with the Blessed Virgin in time of\npersecution of the Church. And so on through all Christian times.\n\nSince the introduction of the rosary by St. Dominic all great victories\nhave been credited to the devotion of the rosary. The first great\nconquest of the Church effected by the rosary was the victory over the\nAlbigenses, who had spread heresy in southern France and had caused\ngreat havoc in Church and State.\n\nSt. Bernard complained in those times: \"The churches are empty, the\npeople without priests, the Sacraments without reverence. People on\ntheir deathbed refuse the assistance of the Church, ridicule penance.\"\n\nHow the weapon with which this heresy was conquered was the rosary we\nhave related in a previous sermon. This was the first glorious victory\nthrough the devotion of the rosary. It was the sword with which the\nChurch slew the proud Goliath of heresy.\n\nAnother wonderful victory through this miraculous weapon of\nChristianity was the defeat of the Turkish navy at Lepanto, on October\n7, 1571. The so-called reformation, of which Martin Luther was the\noriginator, had spread over the whole of Europe, bringing in its trail\ndestruction, dissension and war. The Turks, who had long thirsted for\nvengeance upon the Christians, found situations favorable for their\nplans. They gathered all their forces to assail the Christian lands.\nThe princes of Europe were either indifferent, or were besieged with\ndifficulties in their own lands, and Luther even said he preferred the\nTurks to the papacy. Pope Pius V alone realized the great danger that\nthreatened Christianity and he called upon the Christian people to\ndefend country and Church against the common enemy.\n\nThe Christian forces which could be assembled were very small compared\nwith those of the Turks. Nevertheless Pius V knew of another power\nwhich he realized would be a mighty ally. With all his energy he\nexhorted his people to implore the Blessed Virgin and glorious Queen of\nheaven, through the rosary, to come to the assistance of the Christian\narmy. It was, as Leo XIII said in his Commendation of the rosary, an\nennobling sight, which drew the eyes of the whole world; on one side,\nnot far from the Corinthian Sea, the Christians prepared to sacrifice\nlife for religion and country; while gathered on the other side,\nimploring through the rosary Mary's assistance for the fighting\nChristians, were many Christians unable to take up arms.\n\nThe small army of Christians attacking the great force of the Turkish\nfleet was an undertaking similar to the assault of David upon the giant\nGoliath. On October 7, 1571, the deciding battle was fought, in the Bay\nof Lepanto. The battle raged from six o'clock in the morning until six\no'clock at night. It was one of the most terrific battles ever fought.\nAnd, lo! in the evening, toward six o'clock, the battle ended in the\nvictory of the Christians over their powerful enemy. This wonderful\nvictory of the Christians was undoubtedly due to the assistance of the\nBlessed Virgin. Pope Pius V so declared, and in memory of this\nwonderful achievement he added to the litany of the Blessed Virgin the\nsupplication: \"Help of Christians, pray for us!\" He also ordained that\nthe anniversary of this victory be celebrated as the feast of \"Our Lady\nof Victory,\" which Gregory XIII subsequently styled the \"Feast of the\nRosary.\"\n\nIn the annals of the Church there is another great victory over the\nTurks recorded which once more demonstrated the power of the rosary. It\nwas the great victory in the campaign against the Turks at the\nbeginning of the eighteenth century.\n\nAfter the Turks had been defeated at sea, they endeavored to conquer on\nland. They forced their way to Hungary, and had taken possession of\neight provinces, when Emperor Charles VII sent an army against them\nunder the command of Prince Eugene. This army was composed of only\nseventy thousand men. With this meager force Prince Eugene defeated two\nhundred thousand Turks and laid siege to Belgrade, their stronghold.\n\nPrince Eugene, before engaging the enemy, implored the help of the\nBlessed Virgin, through the rosary, and then with confidence in God's\nassistance went to battle and to glorious victory. Thirty thousand\nTurks were slain on the battlefield; the others fled. The rosary again\nhad won the victory, and on the feast day of the Blessed Virgin.\n\nIn the same manner as the rosary was a successful weapon against\nheretics and other enemies of the Church, it has demonstrated its\nwonderful efficiency in individual cases of stress, and of such I will\nmention a few instances. In the year 1578 a fearful epidemic devastated\nthe city of Pavia. The terrified people made a public vow to build a\nchapel to our Blessed Lady of the Rosary if the epidemic would cease.\nAnd the very day the vow was made the epidemic did abate. A similar\ncase happened in Cologne, where people were saved from an epidemic\nafter such a vow had been made. That cases like these are innumerable'\nis manifested by the many chapels built as a result of such vows, and\nby the votive tablets in pilgrimage churches dedicated to Mary. Sight\nis restored to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, the\nuse of their limbs to the crippled, diseases of all kind are cured, by\ninvoking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin by means of the\ndevotion of the rosary.\n\nThe conversion of a hardened sinner is, after all, a greater miracle\nthan all cures of disease. And such conversions to this day are as\nnumerous as they were at the time the rosary was introduced. Entire\nnations, provinces and cities have been converted to God through his\ndevotion. Blessed John, a companion of St. Dominic, wrote a book about\nthe miraculous power of the rosary. The blessed Alanus de la Roche\ntells of a bishop, in whose diocese morality was decadent, who finally\ntook up the devotion to the rosary, explained it to his people, prayed\nit with them, and had it introduced in all parishes. Soon the people\nabandoned their evil ways.\n\nSt. Clement Hofbauer assures us: \"When I am called to a sick man of\nwhom I know that he is averse to making his peace with God, on the way\nI pray my rosary, and when I reach him I am sure to find him desirous\nto receive the Sacraments.\"\n\nThe holy doctor Alphonsus of Liguori relates from his experience: \"The\nwalls of Jericho did not collapse more quickly at the trumpet call of\nJosue than false teachings disappear after the earnest praying of the\nrosary. The swimming pool of Jerusalem was not as healing for the\nbodily sick as the rosary is as remedy for the spiritually diseased.\"\n\nThese few examples, to which I could add hundreds of other similar\ninstances, prove the miraculous efficacy of the rosary. Oh, that all\nChristians would grasp this weapon to attack and conquer all enemies of\nChurch and soul!\n\nGreat dangers threaten the spiritual weal of the individual, family and\ncommunity. Let us, then, arise and grasp the mighty sword which is like\nto none, the holy rosary, and let us attack with it the Goliath of our\ntimes, corruption and godlessness. As David courageously met the enemy\nof Israel with the humble sling in his hand and conquered because God\nwas with him, so let us face the enemies of Christendom and of our\nsalvation, with the humble wreath of the rosary in our hands, and the\nintercession of the Blessed Virgin will secure for us God's grace and\nassistance, and with God to fight our battles, who will do us harm?\nAmen!\n\n\n\n\nIV. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF THE ROSARY\n\n(a) _The Sign of the Cross_\n\n\n\"The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains.\"--Ps. lxxxvi, I.\n\nDear brethren, we have seen in our previous discourses upon the rosary\nhow for more than six centuries the rosary has proved itself a great,\nindeed a marvelous, power and help in times of stress. This, of course,\nwas apparent from its very origin. It was a special instrument of\ndivine Providence in troublous times of Church and Society. The various\nparts of the rosary are admirably adapted to exercise such great power\nand efficacy. The Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Creed, the Glory be to\nthe Father, and the Sign of the Cross, which are said in reciting the\nrosary, are the most beautiful, I the holiest and most excellent of\nprayers, and for this reason also the most potent and efficacious. The\nmysteries of our holy faith, which are at the same time meditated upon,\nembrace the entire work of our redemption, in its work (joyful\nmysteries), its accomplishment (sorrowful mysteries), and in its fruits\n(glorious mysteries). Meditation combined with prayer as it is\ncontained in the rosary renders it a perfect prayer. The rosary\nfurthermore is the best means of honoring Mary, and therefore it is the\nbest means for obtaining Mary's powerful intercession.\n\nThat we may understand and perceive the whole beauty and excellence of\nthe rosary let us closely view its component parts, and we will begin\nto-day by considering the opening of the rosary, namely the sign of the\nCross. This has a most sublime meaning, and has of itself great power\nand efficacy. It is a sign of honor, of blessing and of power. In this\nthreefold aspect let us consider it to-day.\n\nI. The sign of the Cross is, first of all, a mark of honor. It reminds\nus of the holy Trinity and of our relation to the triune God. The\nFather has created us, the Son redeemed us, and the Holy Ghost has\nsanctified us. God the Father created us after His own image, and\ntherefore we bear a resemblance to God in our souls. Our soul is a\nspirit, as God is a spirit. It has understanding and free will; it can\nbe holy; it can become perfect, since our heavenly Father is perfect.\nOur soul is immortal, as God is immortal, and it is destined to partake\nin heaven of divine glory and happiness. Is there not in this\nresemblance and likeness to God an unspeakably high dignity and glory\nfor man? We are reminded of this by the sign of the Cross. The Son of\nGod redeemed us through the Cross. After sin had reduced the human race\nto a state of ignominious bondage the Son of God, moved by infinite\nlove, became incarnate for us, in order to make satisfaction for our\nsins and to remove from us their awful consequences. From slaves of sin\nand of the devil, He has made us just and children of God. Having been\nredeemed, we now call God our Father; and Jesus, the Son of the eternal\nFather, calls us His brethren. Of all this we are reminded by the\nCross, for we were redeemed through the Cross, and became children of\nGod and heirs of heaven. Thus the Cross is the glorious sign of our\nredemption. The Holy Ghost sanctifies us by dwelling in us and making\nof us His temples. What an honor for us! The sign of the Cross reminds\nus of this honor.\n\nIn truth is therefore this sign a mark of the highest honor, and the\nChristian's greatest glory. In this sense the Apostle wrote to the\nGalatians: \"But God forbid that I should glory, but in the Cross of our\nLord Jesus Christ\" (Gal. vi, 14). This means, according to Saint\nChrysostom: \"I glory only in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,\nnamely, in the faith, in grateful remembrance and contemplation of the\nbenefactions of the Cross, through which we were redeemed and have\nreceived the grace to lead a devout: life and to strive for eternal\nhappiness. In the Cross we recognize thoroughly the enormity of our\nguilt and the boundless love of God.\"\n\nWith what love and devotion should we, then, make the sign of the\nCross! As often as we sign ourselves with the Cross we profess our\nbelief in the holy Trinity, and in the merciful and blessed work of the\nredemption, and express our gratitude to the holy Trinity, Father, Son\nand Holy Ghost. It is hard to believe that there are Christians who are\nashamed to make the sign of the Cross; and yet: there are many such\nnowadays. Some act so from motives of cowardly human respect; others\nbecause their faith is dead. But to be ashamed of the Cross means a\ndenial of our faith. At all times the sign of the Cross has served as a\npublic and solemn profession of the Christian faith. Thus did in the\ndays of persecution the faithful profess their belief in Christ, and\nseal their profession with their blood, as the acts of the martyrs\nrecord. When the holy Bishop Polycarp was brought before the heathen\njudge, who said to him, \"Deny Christ and you will be free!\" Polycarp's\nreply was worthy of a true Christian. \"It is now over sixty years that\nI have served Him, and He never did me any harm. How, then, can I deny\nmy beloved Master, King and Saviour?\" So speaks the true Christian when\nan attempt is made to make him deny his God and Redeemer. The sign of\nthe Cross also serves as a mark of distinction from those sects, which\ncenturies ago separated themselves from the mother Church and abandoned\nthe beautiful custom of making the sign of the Cross. It is a great\ncrime, then, to be ashamed of a sign which serves for our honor and\ndistinction. And Jesus Christ says, \"For whosoever shall be ashamed of\nme, and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he\nshall come in his majesty, and of his father's, and of the holy angels\"\n(Luke ix, 26). \"But whosoever shall deny me before men, I will also\ndeny him before my Father, who is in heaven\" (Matt, x, 33). Thus does\nJesus Christ express Himself concerning those who are ashamed of the\nglorious sign of the true Christian, and those who reject this sign\nwith contempt.\n\nII. The Cross is, furthermore, a sign of blessing. It reminds us, in\nthe first place, as we have considered, of the source of all blessing,\nof all gifts and graces for body and soul. This source is the blessed\nTrinity. As often as we make the sign of the Cross we invoke the\nblessings of God upon us, for we owe all blessings to the infinite\nmerits of our divine Saviour, who died upon the Cross for us. The\nignominious instrument of torture and death, the Cross, has now become\nthe instrument of life and the source of salvation. Hence the Church\nnever dispenses blessing except in the sign of the Cross. St.\nChrysostom says therefore: Every blessing in which we participate is\naccomplished through the sign of the Cross. When regeneration (Baptism)\ntakes place, the sign of the Cross is employed. Whether we partake of\nthat holy mysterious food or receive any other of the Sacraments, it is\nalways under the sign of our victory, the sign of the Cross. We should,\ntherefore, earnestly endeavor to have this sign in our homes, and often\nsign our foreheads with it; for it is the commemoration of our\nsalvation and of our redemption. In making the sign of the Cross\ndevoutly we say to God: Heavenly Father, behold not our sins which\nrender us unworthy of thy grace, but the Cross of thy beloved Son, with\nwhich we sign our foreheads, which we profess with our lips and carry\ndevoutly in our hearts. For the sake of Jesus' bitter death upon the\nCross be merciful to us and grant us the assistance of thy grace in all\nour words and actions! This is the prayer which is contained in the\nsign of the Cross. That such prayer will not remain unheard is attested\nby numerous manifestations of grace which have been obtained through\nthis sign, and the countless miracles which at all times have been\nperformed through the same.\n\nIII. Finally, the Cross is a sign of power. Because Jesus upon the\nCross conquered the arch enemy, redeemed mankind and merited for us all\nblessings and graces, there lies in the sign of the Cross a miraculous\nstrength and efficacy. Jesus himself has said: \"Everything that you ask\nthe Father in my name, he will give you.\" The sign of the Cross calls\nfor help and grace through the Blood of Christ shed upon the Cross.\nWould God deny such prayer? The sign of the Cross is a particularly\npowerful weapon against the malicious and cunning assaults of the\ndevil. Of this St. Chrysostom says: \"When in the fulness of faith you\nmake the sign of the Cross upon your forehead no impure spirit will be\nable to tarry near you; for he beholds the sword that has given him the\ndeath blow.\" \"Write the sign of the Cross upon thy brow,\" says St.\nCyril, \"so that the devils when they see the sign of the king may\ntremble and take flight.\" St Augustine tells us that our mere\nremembrance of the Cross puts the devil to flight, strengthens us\nagainst his assaults, and preserves us from his snares. The sign of the\nCross provides us with a powerful weapon, wherewith we may conquer the\nunseen foe in every attack.\n\nWe know, too, from the testimony of Holy Writ, that the evil spirit can\ninjure mankind not only in body and soul but also in earthly\npossessions. Thus the devil, by God's permission, slew Job's children,\ndeprived him of his possessions and afflicted him with painful and\nloathsome maladies. Now, though Christ by His death has broken Satan's\npower, yet He has not completely removed it. For this reason the Church\nmakes the sign of the Cross over people, blesses food and drink,\ndwellings, water, soil, in brief everything that Christians come in\ncontact with. This she does in order to withdraw all these things from\nthe injurious influence of the evil spirit, to unite them with the\ndivine blessing and thus make them salutary. The grace before meals of\nChristians has the same purpose. It is indeed a sad token of ignorance,\nof indifference, or lack of faith, when in Christian homes grace before\nmeals is disregarded, as not infrequently happens in our days. We know\nfrom the testimony of history that the sign of the Cross was also\nemployed successfully against bodily evils. When St. Benedict was\nhanded a glass of poisoned wine, the saint made the sign of the Cross\nover it, and behold the glass broke in his hand, and he was saved from\ndeath. St. Gregory of Nissa testifies that his sister during an illness\ndesired her mother to make the sign of the Cross over her; and when it\nwas done the illness left her. Through the sign of the Cross Bishop\nFortunatus restored the sight to a blind man; St. Lawrence cured\nseveral others similarly affected. St. Roch cured the plague stricken,\nand the legend says that St. Corbinian brought the dead back to life by\nthis same sign. The lives of the saints are replete with examples that\ntestify to the miraculous power of the sign of the Cross.\n\nBecause the Cross is then a sign of honor, of blessing and power,\nbecause it is an effective remedy against evils of body and soul, the\nChurch has always exhorted the faithful by word and example to make\nzealous use of the same at all times. Since the time of the Apostles\nthe sign of the Cross has been made by the faithful in all their\nundertakings. Through this sign they dedicated their work to God and\ninvoke the divine blessing upon it.\n\nThe Fathers teach that this custom originated with the Apostles; it is\nrelated even by a pious legend that Christ Himself at His ascension\ninto heaven blessed the Apostles with this sign. How universal this\ncustom was among Christians of the early centuries may be learned from\nthe words of St. Chrysostom: \"We find everywhere the sign of the Cross,\nit is used by princes and subjects, by women and men, by the slaves and\nthe free. They all sign themselves with it by making it over their\nforeheads.\"\n\nLet us then imitate the pious Christians of those days when faith was\nmore lively and robust, and let us never be ashamed of this sign of\nhonor! What would you think of a soldier ashamed of his colors? Let us\nnot be ashamed of this sign, lest Jesus be ashamed of us, when He comes\nin power and majesty, with the Cross shining before Him like the sun.\nLet us not deprive ourselves of the manifold blessings of this sign,\neither through fear of our fellowmen or indifference. Let us make\nabundant use of this sign of power, so that we may participate in the\nblessing and protection that comes from the Cross, most especially when\nassailed by the enemies of our salvation. This sign of the Cross should\nbe placed upon the forehead, lips and breast, before our prayers, for\nby this our thoughts, our words, and the emotions of our heart are\nconsecrated and become more pleasing to God. This is the purpose of\nbeginning the prayer of the rosary with the sign of the Cross. But,\nremember, it is not enough to make the sign merely with the fingers,\nour spirit must take part in making it, and it should be made with\nreverence, devotion, with a lively faith and firm confidence in the\nmerits of Jesus Christ. Christians who make this sign thoughtlessly and\nwithout devotion deprive themselves of the great blessings of this holy\nsign. We, however, who have just contemplated this glorious token of\nsalvation will use it with the greatest zeal and piety, and profess\nwith it our faith in the blessed Trinity and in our holy mother Church.\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nV. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF THE ROSARY\n\n(b) _The Apostles' Creed._\n\n\n\"For with the heart, we believe unto justice: but, with the mouth,\nconfession is made unto salvation\" (Rom. x, 10).\n\nDear Brethren: At the beginning of the Rosary, the Apostles' Creed is\nrecited. Everything that we must believe, in order to attain to eternal\nlife, is contained in this Creed. It puts in explicit words all that of\nwhich the sign of the Cross is the symbol. Tradition tells us that this\nprofession of faith originated with the Apostles, and for this reason\nit is called the Apostles' Creed. To be sure not all the dogmas of the\nCatholic Church are declared in the twelve articles of the Creed, but\nany dogmas not expressly mentioned are included in the ninth article,\nwhich says: \"I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.\" In these words the\nCatholic declares that he believes everything which the holy infallible\nCatholic Church teaches and requires of us to believe.\n\nThe Creed is, therefore, by its origin, as well as its contents, a\ntruly holy and excellent prayer. It we duly appreciate this beautiful\nprayer we shall say it with more devotion, to the greater glory of God,\nand our own good.\n\nI. \"I believe in God.\" With these words I express my firm conviction\nthat there is a God, and that everything that God has revealed is\ninfallible truth, because God is truth itself and can neither deceive\nnor be deceived. With these words I submit my mind, my reason and my\nwill to the infallible authority of God.\n\n\"I believe in God the Father.\" This means that I believe that in God\nthere are three Persons, of whom the first Person is called the Father\nbecause He is the origin of all existence; because from all eternity He\nbegot the Son, who is equal to Him in essence but different in Person.\nFurther, He is our Father because He created us His children.\n\n\"I believe in God, the Father Almighty.\" It is befitting that at the\nbeginning of the Creed the omnipotence of God should be emphasized. Our\nfaith contains many mysteries, which no created understanding can\ncomprehend. Because I firmly believe in the omnipotence of God I\nprofess that to God nothing is impossible.\n\nIn His omnipotence, God, the Father, created the world, calling it into\nexistence from nothing. Hence we say: \"I believe in God, the Father\nAlmighty, the Creator of heaven and earth.\" But God not only created\nthe world, He also preserves and rules it through His omnipotence. As\nby virtue of His will He created the world, so does God cause it to\ncontinue in existence. A building erected by a master hand remains\nstanding even though the master absent himself; yet the world,\naccording to St. Augustine, could not continue to exist for one moment\ndid not God preserve it. This world which God called forth from nothing\nwould, the very moment that God should withdraw His almighty hand, fall\nback into nothing. \"And how could anything endure if thou wouldst not?\"\nThus we read of God in the Book of Wisdom (ii, 26). Since we are then\nso utterly dependent upon God that at any moment He could cut the\nthread of our lives, how greatly should we fear to offend Him?\n\nGod not only preserves, but also rules the world; He is solicitous for\nall things; He orders and governs all things with wisdom and mercy to\nthe end for which He created them. \"The eyes of all hope in thee, O\nLord: and thou givest them meat in due season. Thou openest thy hand,\nand fillest with blessing every living creature\" (Ps. cxliv, 15-16). Of\nwhat little value is a flower which so soon withers? And yet the divine\nsolicitude extends to this humble flower. Indeed, is not the flower of\nthe field clothed more beautifully by the hand of God, than was Solomon\nin all his glory? What is there about a man of less account than a\nsingle hair of his head? And yet each of these hairs is counted, and\nnot one falls from the head without the knowledge and will of God. We\nsee how the care and providence of God extends to all things, even the\nmost insignificant.\n\nGod, furthermore, orders and governs all things according to their\nappointed end. He created the world and all that is in it for His\nglorification and for the welfare of mankind, and provides in all\nthings that this end may be attained. Nothing can withdraw itself from\nthe rule of God. There is no blind chance, no blind fortune. The\nprophet Jeremias asks: \"Who is he that hath commanded a thing to be\ndone, when the Lord commandeth it not?\" (Lam. iii, 37). \"Thy\nprovidence, O Father, ruleth all things,\" so we read in the Book of\nWisdom. And so God orders and disposes everything in our lives, that we\nmay attain the eternal goal. We have but to commit ourselves to divine\nProvidence and place our trust in God. For this reason we should\nexclaim with David: \"The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing. For\nthough I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear\nno evils, for thou art with me\" (Ps. xxii).\n\nIn the first article we profess our faith, therefore, in the\nomnipotence of God, divine Providence, and all the divine attributes.\nGod has created us and preserves us. But He has done still greater\nthings for us. Is this possible? Yes, for God so loved the world that\nHe sacrificed His only begotten Son for it. And this brings us to the\nsecond article, which comprises the truths we must believe of God the\nSon.\n\nII. When the sin of our first parents had deprived us of the friendship\nof God as well as of our heirship to Heaven, there came to our rescue\nthe second Person of the Godhead, the only begotten of the Father. The\nsucceeding articles tell us of the love and sacrifice of the Son of God\nfor our race.\n\nThe second article is: \"And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.\"\nWhat does this mean? It means I believe that He is the Son of God, God\nof God, true God of true God. It means I believe that He became\nincarnate for the sake of our salvation. It means I believe in the\ndoctrines that He proclaimed, in the miracles that He performed. It\nmeans I believe in His presence in the holy Eucharist; in the effects\nof the holy Sacraments which He instituted. It means I believe in His\nholy Church, to which He transmitted His authority. To believe in Jesus\nChrist means, furthermore, to believe in His Passion and death, by\nwhich He redeemed the world; in His glorious resurrection and\nascension. He is the Divine Master, and as such the supreme Lawgiver\nwhom all creatures must obey. He is also the Judge of the universe, and\nas such will come again one day to preside at the general judgment,\nwhen He will judge all men according to their belief, according to the\nmanner in which each one has observed or transgressed His commandments,\nused or neglected the means of salvation. Then will be the end of time;\nand mankind will go to its reward or to its punishment once and for\nall. All this is proclaimed in the articles of faith that treat of\nJesus Christ. To believe in Jesus Christ means to believe everything\nthat the Gospel teaches and everything which the holy, infallible\nChurch requires us to believe.\n\nThe third chief part of the Creed declares what we must believe of the\nHoly Ghost, the third Person of the Godhead.\n\nIII. The Holy Ghost, the third Person of the Godhead, proceeds equally\nfrom the Father and the Son, from all eternity, and is of equal essence\nwith the Father and the Son from eternity.\n\nThe Holy Ghost, sent by the Father and the Son, came down upon earth\nand took charge of the Church founded by Christ, in order to apply\nthrough it the fruits of redemption to mankind.\n\nOnly in the true Church of Christ can be found the fruits of the\nredemption; only in her is the true priesthood of the Lord. The fruits\nof the redemption here on earth are truth and grace, and in the\nhereafter eternal salvation. The divine truth, as proclaimed by Christ,\nis alone contained in the holy Catholic Church; and through the\nco-operation of the Holy Ghost it is preserved uncorrupted in this Church.\nThe Church is the pillar and the beacon of the truth. She can not\ndeviate unto the end of the world one tittle from the doctrine received\nfrom Christ, because the Holy Ghost guides the teaching Church in all\ntruth, and sees to it that every truth is understood rightly by her and\nproperly interpreted and explained. Hence, to submit ourselves to the\nChurch's definition of the faith means to submit ourselves to the Holy\nGhost. The Holy Ghost operates in the Church, through the priesthood,\nand thus applies to the faithful the fruits of the redemption, so as to\nsanctify them and prepare them for eternal happiness. Thus it is the\nHoly Ghost who sanctifies us, who makes us holy, as our Father in\nheaven is holy; who leads us to perfection, as our Father in heaven is\nperfect.\n\n\"I believe in the Holy Catholic Church,\" is the next article of our\nCreed. The Holy Ghost lives and operates in the Church. This Church is\na \"Communion of Saints,\" a communion of faithful, part of whom have\nalready entered eternal life of bliss, and is called the Church\nTriumphant; another part is being cleansed from the remnants of sin in\nthe place of purification, and is called the Suffering Church; a third\npart is still struggling on the battlefield of the world for the crown\nof eternal life, and is called the Church Militant. All are true\nmembers of this great community of saints and children of God, allied\nthrough the bond of love. This doctrine is very consoling to us. It\nopens to us, as it were, even during our earthly life, the portals of\neternity. We may enter these in spirit, and seek and find help and\nconsolation amongst our glorified brethren, and also carry help and\nconsolation to our suffering brethren. One thing alone bars us from\nthis glorious communion and shuts heaven against us, and that is sin.\nBut in the Church there is provided for repentant sinners the\nAbsolution from Sins, the remission of sin and its penalty. When we\nfinally die in the grace of God our soul shall enjoy eternal life, and\nour glorified body shall be joined to it on the great day of\nresurrection.\n\nThis, then, is what we are taught to believe in the Apostles' Creed.\nWhen we say this Creed with devotion and perfect faith, we honor and\nglorify first of all the Blessed Trinity. But we refresh also the\nteaching of the Gospel in our minds, and thus strengthen our faith. It\nis an excellent means of awakening exalted sentiments of faith within\nus, and of inspiring us to a courageous profession of our holy\nreligion.\n\nThe Creed is possessed of great power against the temptations of the\nevil one. The Apostle exhorts us \"to resist the devil strong in faith\"\n(I Pet. v, 8), and Holy Scripture calls the faith a shield against\nwhich the darts of Satan are broken. Thus is the Creed, according to\nits origin, and its contents, and efficacy, a holy and excellent\nprayer. In conclusion, let me quote an exhortation from St. Augustine:\n\"Forget not,\" he says, \"to recite the profession of your faith when you\nrise in the morning, nor when retiring at night; repeat it frequently,\nfor its repetition is salutary for you, that no forgetfulness may\narise. Your creed should be your mirror. Examine yourself therein as to\nwhether you firmly believe everything you profess to believe, and\nrejoice daily in the possession of faith.\" Well, then, let us bear in\nmind this beautiful advice. Let us say the Creed daily, in order to\nstrengthen ourselves in the faith but especially let us say it with\ngreat devotion as part of the holy Rosary. If here below we are true to\nthe faith we shall one day behold in reality what we now see only with\nthe eyes of faith, and in this vision enjoy eternal glory and bliss\nwithout end. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nVI. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF THE ROSARY\n\n(c) _The Glory be to the Father_\n\n\n\"Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory, and honor, and\npower: because thou hast created all things.\"--Apoc. iv, II.\n\nDear Brethren, we know that the \"Glory be to the Father\" occurs very\nfrequently in the prayers of the Church and in our private devotions.\nIn the Rosary it is repeated with every decade. This prayer of praise\nis of great significance for the Christian life. In order to understand\nits meaning better we must join in spirit the choirs of the blessed\nbefore the throne of God. Isaias, the great prophet of the Old\nTestament, to whom was vouchsafed a profound insight into the mysteries\nof God, had a vision of heaven, and he says, \"I saw the Lord sitting\nupon a throne high and elevated, and his train filled the temple; upon\nit stood the seraphims: . . . and they cried one to another, and said:\nHoly, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts; all the earth is full of his\nglory\" (Is. vi, I). So also did John, the beloved disciple of Jesus,\nhave the grace to see heaven, and he saw the angels of heaven, and with\nthem the whole army of the saints and all the nations, tribes and\npeoples, standing before the throne in sight of the Lamb, and with a\nloud voice they praised God, who sat upon the throne, and the Lamb, who\nis the Lamb of God (Apoc. vii, 11).\n\nThus God has made known to us, through both these prophets, in what the\nunceasing occupation of the blessed in heaven consists. They behold the\nmagnificent beauty of God and praise Him on account of His majesty,\npower and love, and this occupation of the dwellers in heaven should\nalso be the task of the dwellers upon earth. It is indeed the duty of\nmankind, and an indispensable obligation. King David acknowledged this\nwhen he said: \"I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be\nalways in my mouth\" (Ps. xxxiii).\n\nTherefore, our whole life and endeavor should be one uninterrupted\n\"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.\"\n\nWe will make this obligation the subject of our consideration.\n\nI. The happy inhabitants of heaven as they behold God in His\nindescribable splendor extol Him with hymns of praise. To know God and\nto serve Him, to glorify Him, this is the supreme end of man, not only\nwhen he is admitted to heaven, but even here on earth. God himself\ntells us this through the Prophet Isaias. \"In order,\" thus He speaks,\n\"that man should glorify me, therefore have I created him and brought\nhim forth from nothing.\"\n\nWe mortals as yet can not behold God as the blessed do in heaven; but\nwe do behold Him in His works, and know Him from His revelation given\nus through the prophets, and through Jesus Christ, our Lord.\n\nThe works through which God has revealed Himself to us are creation,\nredemption and sanctification. Creation is a vast book which speaks to\nus unceasingly of God, and it is intelligible to all. If we contemplate\nthe magnificence of the starlit sky we must exclaim with David: \"The\nheavens show forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the\nwork of his hands\" (Ps. xvlii). Yet not only the heavens, but also the\nearth shows us, at every step, the omnipotence of God, His wisdom and\nlove. Mountain and valley, forest and field, river and ocean, they all\nremind us of God, their creator. Every flower of field and meadow is a\ngreat masterpiece, which no mortal man could create.\n\nThe animal world presents still greater marvels for our consideration.\nThe waters teeming with millions of animals of all kinds, from the\nsmallest jellyfish to the ship-destroying monsters, the beasts of the\nforest, the birds of the air, they all are called into existence by\nGod, and God has not merely called all these creatures into existence,\nbut His providence preserves them, and not even a sparrow falls from\nthe roof without His knowledge.\n\nBut we have not yet considered the masterpiece of creation: man, the\ncreature with an immortal soul, created according to God's own image\nand likeness. In man body and soul are joined together in a wonderful\nunity, so that man presents in himself a combination of the spiritual\nand material.\n\nMan is the masterpiece of creation, and all creation is for his\nservice. \"Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast\ncrowned him with glory and honor; thou hast set him over the work of\nthy hands\" (Ps. viii, 6).\n\nIn very truth we may say, therefore, the universe speaks to our mind\nand heart in powerful and impressive language. This language is its\nbeauty, its appropriateness, its greatness.\n\nBut yet more plainly than creation does the redemption proclaim the\nglory of God. It is \"not the immensity of the heavenly bodies,\" says\nSt. Gregory, \"not the brilliancy of the stars, not the adornment of the\nuniverse, not the preservation of the world, that point so much to the\nglory of the divine power and omnipotence, as does that divine\ncondescension to the feebleness of nature.\"\n\nJesus Christ, the Son of God, descended from heaven and brought into\nthe world a truer and fuller knowledge of God. The ancient people knew\nthere was a God, but they knew Him not. The knowledge of the true God\nwas drowned in paganism. Even among the Jews small had become the\nnumber of those who still possessed an undefiled knowledge of God. In\nthe Old Testament there was only an intimation of the blessed Trinity,\nnot a clear knowledge. Then Jesus Christ brought to us the knowledge of\nthe Triune God. In Him the divine attributes of love, sanctity,\njustice, wisdom, omnipotence and mercy were presented to our minds so\nthat we can comprehend them. He made known to us the merciful decrees\nwhich God had ordained for our temporal and eternal welfare. Through\nHis bitter passion and death He reconciled us to the Father, and\nacquired for us the heirship of heaven. He founded the Church, the\nkingdom of God upon earth, and He rules it through the Holy Ghost, who\nproceeds from Him and the Father.\n\nThrough this Church are applied the glorious fruits of the redemption.\nThrough this Church God would sanctify all mankind and lead them to\neternal salvation. The Church and the communion of the saints reveal to\nus God's glory and love far more than all the wonders of the world. A\nsingle saint is a greater miracle of the divine grace than the whole\nuniverse. The redemption made of earth a preparatory school for heaven,\nand it behooves us, as St. Augustine says, in this life to give praise\nto God, because in heaven our work will be an eternal proclamation of\nthe divine praises. Our whole earthly life, as a befitting preparation\nfor heaven, should be an imitation of the life of the blessed in\nheaven. It ought to be a perpetual praise of God, until after a happy\ndeath we are admitted to the ranks of the celestial choirs.\n\nII. Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, who has brought to us the\ntrue knowledge of God, taught us also the true worship of God. After He\nhad accomplished the work of the redemption and had founded the Church,\nHe returned to heaven. Before this, however, He provided that He should\nalso remain here upon earth. He instituted the most Holy Eucharist, the\nholy Sacrifice of the Mass, and thus remains in His Church until the\nend of time. Jesus, the Head of the Church, offers Himself to the\nFather unceasingly in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Thus the\nglorification of God takes place here upon earth as unceasingly as it\ndoes in heaven. The praise of God takes place here on earth,\nfurthermore, through the' ecclesiastical hourly prayer, in which all\nthe priests and religious of the Church unite throughout the world. The\nChurch dedicates the Sunday exclusively to the praise and service of\nGod. This day is to remind us of the creation accomplished by the\nFather, of the redemption accomplished by the Son, and of the\nsanctification accomplished by the Holy Ghost. On this day especially\nare the members of the Church invited to contemplate these great works\nof God, and praise and thank Him for the same.\n\nThe entire year has been divided by the Church into three great\nfestival cycles, Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, and thus is\nconsecrated to the Triune God.\n\nWe are exhorted to receive the holy Sacraments, and thus participate in\nthe fruits of the redemption, sanctifying ourselves by a Christian\nlife. A truly Christian life is the best and highest worship of God\nhere below, as it makes us worthy to be associated with the heavenly\nchoirs, there to continue eternally our praises in the blissful vision\nof God.\n\nWe see then how the Church admonishes us to make our whole lives and\nall our works an unending \"Glory be to God.\" In order that this may be\naccomplished we must above all things be faithful children and living\nmembers of the Church, brethren of Jesus Christ.\n\nWe must diligently and devoutly obey the Commandments, and receive the\nSacraments. The light of faith should lead us and hope should draw us\nheavenward, the love of God and of our neighbors must fill our hearts.\nHe who possesses these virtues is indeed in possession of all other\nvirtues. Love is the bond of perfection, for who so loves God and his\nneighbor has fulfilled the law. We should make a good intention the\nfirst thing in the morning, and renew it frequently throughout the day.\nThis certainly is not difficult. St. Paul exhorts us urgently to make\nthis good intention in the words: \"Therefore, whether you eat or drink,\nor whatsoever else you do; do all things for the glory of God\" (I Cor.\nx, 31)\n\nTo make this good intention, the \"Glory be to the Father\" is especially\nappropriate. If we utter the same frequently and devoutly we shall\nmakes our lives a continual praising and glorifying of God, a perpetual\nprayer. Glory be to the Father, who has created us; to the Son, who has\nredeemed us; and to the Holy Ghost, who sanctifies us. Glory be to the\nHoly Trinity through all our thoughts, words and works, as glory was to\nGod in the beginning, when He created heaven and earth, as now, and so\ntoo through all eternity in heaven. Yes, we will glorify God here below\nwith the militant Church, so that we may be worthy to behold Him one\nday with the triumphant Church, and to praise Him in blissful rapture\nfor all eternity! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nVII. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF THE ROSARY\n\n(d) _The \"Our Father\"_\n\n\n \"Lord, teach us to pray.\"--Luke xi, I.\n\nDear Brethren: The holiest, the most beautiful and most perfect, and\nfor this reason the most efficient prayer is the \"Our Father.\"\n\nThis prayer comes from Our Lord himself, who gave it to His disciples\nwhen they urged that He should teach them how to pray. The \"Our\nFather,\" therefore, had its origin with God himself, and, therefore, is\nthe holiest of prayers. It is a petition to His heavenly Father,\ncomposed by the God-man and bequeathed to us, His brethren. In this\npetition is contained everything we may ask for. Tertullian says in his\nwritings that the \"Our Father\" contains not merely the things for which\nman ought to ask God, but also everything the Lord has taught and\nordained, so that the whole Christian doctrine is briefly contained\ntherein. The separate petitions are arranged according to their\nimportance, and follow one another in a most appropriate way.\nTherefore, the \"Our Father\" is according to its origin, as also\naccording to its contents and its form, the perfect prayer.\n\nThe divine Saviour promised that everything we ask of our Father in\nheaven He will give us. When we recite the \"Our Father\" we not merely\npray in the name of Jesus, but in His own words. Hence the Lord's\nPrayer is to God the most pleasing prayer, and for that reason the most\nefficient and powerful of prayers. It is evident from the history of\nthe Church that the Lord's Prayer has, at all times been held by the\nfaithful in the highest esteem. It was used, as the fathers tell us,\nnot only in public, but also in private devotions.\n\nThis holy, excellent and most efficacious prayer forms a part of the\nRosary, and we will give it our consideration, in order the better to\nunderstand it, to appreciate it more fully, and to say it more\ndevoutly.\n\nI. The \"Our Father\" consists of a preface and seven petitions. The\npreface is intended to lift up our thoughts to God. Holy Scripture\nadmonishes us to such preparation, \"Before prayer, prepare thy soul:\nand be not as a man that tempteth God\" (Eccles. xviii, 23). When\nbeginning to pray we should present to our mind God as He is enthroned\nin heaven. We should approach God in humility and reverence with\nchildlike confidence and love. Thus prepared for prayer we will be\npleasing to God. To give our mind this disposition is the purpose of\nthe preface: \"Our Father, who art in heaven.\" Hence this preface should\nbe said with devotion and piety.\n\nThe seven petitions of the \"Our Father\" contain everything a Christian\nought and may ask for. But what may and should a Christian ask for? For\nall things necessary and serviceable for the proper fulfilment of his\nlife work. This prayer contains petitions for everything necessary for\nthe attainment of the last end for which we were created, and that is,\nin the first place, the glorification of God, and, in the second place,\nour eternal salvation. In the first four petitions Christ teaches us\nand commands us to beseech for the things that pertain to this last\nend, and in the last three petitions for protection against the things\nwhich hinder the attainment of this end.\n\n1. The glory of God is the first and chief purpose of all creation, as\nalso of redemption and sanctification. It should be the occupation of\nall mankind, as it is the occupation of the blessed in heaven. We\nglorify God when we recognize Him as the highest good; when we love Him\nabove all things, with a childlike love, serve Him faithfully, worship\nHim in all our thoughts, words and actions. As we are unable to do this\nby our own strength we must seek the assistance of grace, which we do\nin the words of the first petition: \"Hallowed be Thy name.\" By the\nwords \"Thy name\" must be understood here, God himself, as He has\nrevealed Himself to us and this petition is equivalent to saying:\n\"Thou, O God, shalt be glorified by us and by all mankind.\" We ask in\nthe first petition that God may not be blasphemed, but rightly known,\ntruly loved and duly revered. We implore God in this petition to\nenlighten the heathen that yet stand in the shadow of death, and all\nunbelievers and heretics, that they may learn to know and adore Him;\nand to grant sincere conversion to all sinners. We also ask, for\nourselves and our fellow Christians, the grace to grow in the knowledge\nof God, in His love and service and in Christian perfection, so that\nthereby God may ever be glorified more and more. A truly Christian life\nis our highest glorification of God, hence to obtain this grace we must\ndiligently pray.\n\nThis petition is placed first, because it is the most necessary to the\nglorification of God and to our salvation. It is also the foundation of\nthe other petitions.\n\n2. In the second petition \"Thy kingdom come,\" a threefold kingdom of\nGod is meant, for the coming of which we pray. It is the kingdom of God\nabout us, in us and above us. The kingdom of God about us is the Church\nof Christ. Christ founded it as His divine kingdom on earth, to glorify\nGod and lead mankind to Salvation. We ask that God may grant to all men\ngrace to recognize our holy Church as _the_ divine institution, to\nsubmit themselves to her authority, and to become members of this\nChurch find order to properly worship the true God, to glorify Him, and\nthus work their salvation.\n\nThe kingdom of God is within us, when we allow ourselves to be ruled\nand guided not by the spirit of the world, but by the spirit of God.\n\"Those who are moved by the spirit of God are God's children.\" In his\nsoul is the kingdom of God established whose faith agrees with the\nteaching of the Church, who hopes, loves and lives in the true faith.\n\nThe kingdom of God above us is the kingdom of heaven. The Church on\nearth is the kingdom of truth, of grace, of virtue; it will become in\nheaven the kingdom of glory.\n\nThrough this triple kingdom God is glorified on earth and in heaven,\nand this is the first and chief aim of every created thing. Through\nthis threefold kingdom we gain salvation, happiness and eternal life.\nThat this threefold dominion of God may come to us and to all mankind\nwe ask the Father in heaven in the second petition.\n\nIn order that what we ask for in the second petition may be attained we\nmust comply with the third petition: \"Thy will be done on earth, as it\nis in heaven.\" Almighty God is the supreme ruler of heaven and earth.\nAll creatures in heaven and earth must submit themselves\nunconditionally to His holy will. God makes His will known to us\nthrough His commandments, and through His holy Church. We must be ready\nand willing at all times to do the will of God, and to submit to it in\nall things. We must obey His commandments, we must gladly and humbly\nsubmit ourselves to His dispensations, no matter what they may be. That\nGod's will may at all times be done by us, and in us, and in all\nthings, this should be our ardent desire, not with a servile fear but\nwith filial love, as Jesus has taught us by His word and example. But\nthis far surpasses our own strength and for this reason Jesus teaches\nand enjoins us to beg the Father that He may grant to us and to all\nmankind the grace to do at all times His holy will. By this faithful\nsubmission of our wills to the will of God we glorify God in the most\nperfect way.\n\n3. In our earthly pilgrimage to heaven we require divine assistance in\norder to live our corporal and spiritual life according to the divine\nWill. For this reason Christ instructs us to pray in the fourth\npetition: \"Give us this day our daily bread.\" That means: Give us, O\nGod, what we stand in need of for body and soul that we may live\naccording to Thy holy will.\n\nWe depend upon God in all things. He is our Creator and also our\nPreserver. We could not live a single moment without his aid. As we\nare composed of body and soul our wants are twofold, we have\nrequirements for the body and others for the soul. We stand in need of\nfood, shelter and clothing for body. All, rich and poor alike, must\npetition God for these, for each one stands in God's hand. God can cast\nthe rich man down like Job, and free the poor man from all want. The\nword bread includes all necessities of life. \"Give me neither beggary\nnor riches: give me only the necessaries of life\" (Prov. xxx, 8).\n\nThat we are told to pray for our daily bread should remind us that we\nmust not be too solicitous for the morrow. He who gives unto us to-day\nwill also provide for us to-morrow if we humbly ask Him. We say: _Our_\nbread, because it is our duty to earn it in an honorable manner by\nindustry and labor. \"He who toils not, shall not eat.\" We say also\n_our_ bread, and not _my_ bread, because we wish the poor who can not\nhelp themselves to have it as well as we ourselves, and we must share\nit with them as much as our means allow.\n\nAs our body requires nourishment, so does our soul. The food of the\nsoul is the word of God, and the Bread of Life that came down from\nheaven. We must partake of this Bread of the soul by hearing the word\nof God, by reading and meditation, and by receiving the Sacraments.\n\nThus has Jesus in the four first petitions taught and commanded us to\nask for everything that is necessary for the attainment of our last\nend. In the three remaining petitions He instructs us to pray for\nprotection against all things which are obstacles to the attainment of\nthat end.\n\nII. In these three petitions we ask that everything may be averted that\nwould hinder us from attaining our true goal, our salvation and the\nglorification of God.\n\n1. This obstacle, however, is sin and its evil consequences and these\nthree petitions have reference to sin and its evil consequences. We,\nlike all men, are sinners, and in our sins we can not worship God\nproperly, nor can we attain our salvation if God does not show mercy to\nus. For this reason we humbly implore God in the fifth petition:\n\"Forgive us our trespasses.\" In these words we implore God to grant\nunto us and to our fellow men a sincerely contrite heart and to\ngraciously forgive us our sins and the punishment due for them. As a\ncondition of forgiveness, however, God exacts from us that we forgive\nthose who have offended us, as fully as we desire that God forgive us.\nTherefore, we add: \"As we forgive those who trespass against us.\"\n\n2. In the sixth petition we implore God that He would graciously\npreserve us from falling into sin. \"Lead us not into temptation.\" With\nthese words we urge God that He should keep from us temptation to sin,\nor, if through temptation He desires to try us, that He grant us\nabundant graces to conquer it. Temptations do not come from God, but\nfrom our own nature, from Satan and from the world. God permits them in\nHis wisdom to try our love for Him, to preserve us in humility, and to\nstrengthen us, to animate our zeal for virtue and to increase our\nmerits. God will assist us in temptation if we are exposed to it\nwithout any fault of ours.\n\nThose, however, who court the danger will perish in it. They can not\nexpect divine assistance who wilfully seek temptation and sin.\n\n3. The seventh and last petition is \"But deliver us from evil.\" After\nasking God not to lead us into temptation we urge Him to preserve us\nfrom evil of soul and body. We confidently trust God to guide us\naccording to His wisdom and mercy, and to deliver us from everything\nwhich is an obstacle to our salvation, even if in our own\nshortsightedness we may think it good and desirable.\n\nWe conclude the \"Lord's Prayer\" with the little word \"Amen,\" which is\nequivalent to \"So be it.\" With this single word we confirm all our\npetitions. It means: \"O God grant us these things for which we have\njust prayed.\"\n\nTruly this prayer, taught us by Our Lord, is of high dignity and\nimportance. It is not alone a prayer, but a sermon as well. It is a\nprayer which comprises in itself all other prayers. It is a prayer of\npraise, of thanksgiving and supplication. It is, therefore, appropriate\nfor all occasions. Are you discouraged and faint-hearted, go and say\nthe \"Our Father.\" The thought that you have an all-merciful Father in\nheaven will lift you up, inspire you with confidence and comfort you.\nDo self-love and pride strive for the mastery within you, go and say,\n\"Hallowed be Thy name.\" Is anger and malice in your heart, say,\n\"Forgive us our trespasses at we forgive those who trespass against\nus.\" If impatience is your fault say, \"Thy will be done on earth, as it\nis in heaven.\" When beset by temptation invoke God: \"Lead us not into\ntemptation,\" and in trial and adversity beseech God: \"Deliver us from\nevil.\"\n\nO that this holy and sublime prayer would be properly understood and\nappreciated. What blessings it would produce everywhere. May then our\ncontemplation contribute with the blessing of God toward our own love\nof this wonderful prayer and greater devotion in its recital.\n\n\n\n\nVIII. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF THE ROSARY\n\n(e) _The Hail Mary._\n\n\n\"And the angel said to her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,\nblessed art thou among women.\"--Luke i, 28.\n\nDear Brethren: To-day there is offered for our consideration one of the\nsweetest of prayers of our holy Religion. It is the \"Hail Mary,\" or\nAngelical Salutation, which we say so often, particularly in the\nRosary. Considered in its origin, its contents, and in its efficacy it\nis beautiful and sublime, and, with the exception of the Lord's Prayer,\nthe most excellent. Its origin is to be had in the words which the\nArchangel Gabriel addressed to blessed Mary, ever virgin. To these have\nbeen added the words of St. Elizabeth on the occasion of Mary's visit,\nand the holy Church has completed the prayer with a consoling\nsupplication. Its very origin, therefore, makes this prayer a holy and\nvenerable one.\n\nThe words of salutation are brief, but they contain everything that one\ncould ever say in praise of the Virgin Mother of God.\n\nThe petition includes briefly everything for which we may ask Mary.\n\nLet us then give our attention to this beautiful prayer in the name of\nJesus and Mary, His blessed mother.\n\nI. I said, that in the first part of the \"Hail Mary\" all the privileges\nand glories which made the blessed Virgin so worthy of praise are\ncontained. A closer examination will show us how true this is. Let us\ntransport ourselves in spirit to Nazareth, to the quiet little room\nwhere Mary is praying in deepest devotion. Suddenly there enters this\nroom one of the most exalted spirits that stand at the throne of the\nCreator. What does this messenger from heaven desire of this humble\nvirgin, unknown to the world? He desires no less than her participation\nin our redemption. The only begotten Son of God, in His infinite love\nfor mankind, has offered to take upon Himself human nature, to atone\nfor our sins and to redeem us. The time appointed by God's providence,\nwhen this great work was to be consummated, had now come. Mary, in the\ndivine counsels, is destined to be the mother of the Saviour. The\ncelestial messenger appears to bring this message to her, and to obtain\nher consent. God desired that Mary should voluntarily cooperate in the\nredemption.\n\nMary cooperated in our redemption by proving herself worthy to be\ncalled to the divine motherhood, as far as this is possible for a human\nbeing. This she did by cooperating faithfully with the abundance of\ngrace granted her by God, and thus proving herself worthy to become the\nmother of the Saviour. Through her virginity she rendered herself\nworthy according to the body, and through her most profound piety and\nhumility according to the spirit. Both virtues stand forth most\nbrilliantly in the annunciation of the angel. But she wished rather to\nforego the exalted dignity of divine motherhood, than relinquish the\nvirginity which she had dedicated to God. And when the highest dignity\nwhich can be bestowed upon a creature was announced to her, she called\nherself the handmaid of the Lord. Mary, when convinced of the will of\nGod, humbly consented, saying, \"Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it\ndone unto me according to thy word.\"\n\nThrough this consent Mary conferred upon the world an unspeakable great\nblessing, for which we should be eternally grateful to her. By this\nconsent she became the second Eve, me spiritual first parent of the\nredeemed race.\n\nThe angel, recognizing in Mary his future queen, now reverently set\nforth in brief words all the prerogatives which God had granted her,\nand was about to bestow upon her. These prerogatives are: (1) the\nfulness of grace which God had already granted unto her; (2) the\ndignity of mother of God which He now granted her, and, finally (3),\nthe veneration and glorification which on account of this fulness of\ngrace and this dignity she would partake of in heaven and earth.\n\nThe first privilege, fulness of grace, which she had received from God,\nthe angel expressed with the words \"full of grace.\" These words mean:\nthou art filled with all the divine graces in a measure possible to no\nother creature; thou hast received to the full all graces. As God will\nexalt thee to a dignity beyond that of the most exalted spirits of\nheaven, so He has granted you more and greater graces than even to the\nSeraphim and Cherubim. Now since thou hast cooperated in a perfect\nmanner with all these graces, thou hast become the most virtuous, the\nholiest, the most perfect of all creatures. Therefore, art thou worthy\nto become the mother of the Most High.\n\nMary's second privilege which the angel mentioned was her elevation to\nthe dignity of mother of God. \"The Lord is with thee,\" that is, God has\nbestowed upon thee every grace, and, finding thee worthy, thou art to\nbe the mother of His Son, to cooperate in the redemption and the\nsalvation of the world.\n\nIn the words \"The Lord is with thee\" is expressed the intimate\nrelationship of Mary to God, accomplished by the Incarnation. Not\nmerely through the fulness of His grace and love is God with her, but\neven according to the flesh God is intimately united to her.\n\nMary's third privilege announced by the angel is the exalted veneration\nwhich she merits for her dignity and sanctity. The angel expresses this\nin the words \"Blessed art thou among women.\" The angel had reference to\nthe promise given by God in Paradise, that there would come a woman who\nshould crush the serpent's head. He had in mind also the renowned women\nof the old law who had rescued the people of God from peril and\noppression, and who were for this reason blessed by the people, such as\nJudith and Esther. These heroic women were glorious prototypes,\npointing to Mary who was to crush the serpent's head, to destroy the\ndesigns of Lucifer, and to save the human race from destruction. Yes,\ntruly, Mary is blessed by God among all women, and is herself an\ninfinite blessing for the entire world. The Lord hath done great things\nin her. She realized this herself, in those prophetic words, \"Behold\nfrom henceforth all generations shall call me blessed, for he that is\nmighty hath done great things to me, and holy is his name.\" And so it\nhas been, and ever will be, as long as the sun illumines the earth. For\nmore than nineteen centuries the people and nations have joyfully\nrepeated the angel's words, \"Blessed art thou among women.\" By precept\nof the Church we add the words \"and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,\nJesus,\" in order to join to our praise of Mary that of Jesus, from whom\nand on whose account she received all her privileges, and for whose\nsake she receives all this praise.\n\nII. After the prayer of praise in the \"Hail Mary\" there follows the\nprayer of supplication which the Church has added. This supplication is\n\"Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of\nour death. Amen.\" A short petition, but a significant one by which we\ninvoke Mary's intercession in all our needs. The words holy Mary,\nmother of God, form the opening of this petition. They repeat the truth\ncontained in the prayer of praise, and are at the same time calculated\nto arouse our confidence in Mary. The name \"Mary\" alone should awaken\nour confidence in the blessed Virgin, because the name Mary means\nsovereign. Mary, is indeed a sovereign, a ruler. As mother of the King\nof heaven and earth, she is the Queen of heaven and earth, and our\nlady, our queen as well. Mary means also star of the sea. As star of\nthe sea Mary is to mankind what a kindly star is to the sailor who\nfinds himself on the stormy waters. This world resembles an ocean,\nwhere storms and perils abound to the menace of body and soul. The\nwinds and storms of temptations rise, the dangerous rocks of oppression\nthreaten, the stormy waves of passion, of pride, of ambition, of\navarice, of anger, envy, revenge, avidity beat upon us. All these\ndangers trouble the heart and fill it with sorrow and fear. And as the\nstar leads the sailor to a safe haven, so Mary is to us the kindly star\nthat inspires us with consolation and confidence and brings us rescue.\n\nHoly Mary, mother of God! As mother of God Mary possesses the power of\nmediation with her divine Son. The angels and saints all together can\nnot have the influence that Mary exercises. The holy fathers and\nteachers refer to this power, when they say Mary is omnipotent through\nher intercession, as God is omnipotent in Himself. Thus the opening of\nthe supplication inspires veneration and confidence in Mary. With this\nveneration and confidence then we ask, \"Pray for us sinners.\" Thou, the\nholy one, the powerful and good, pray for us miserable sinners, not\nworthy to approach God and be heard. Pray for us in all our temporal\nand spiritual necessities, in every danger of body and soul. Pray above\nall, to obtain for us the grace of a perfect conversion and repentance,\nand the grace of perseverance until the end of life. Pray for us, holy\nMary, mother of God, now, while it is yet time for us to merit\nsalvation, but pray for us especially when that solemn and sad hour of\ndeath has arrived. In that dark hour will be decided our eternal\ndestiny; at that dread hour forsake us not, Pray for us now, and at the\nhour of our death.\n\nWe have seen what an excellent prayer the Hail Mary is. It follows that\nit is also an efficacious prayer. When the Hail Mary was uttered for\nthe first time by the Archangel it ushered in the most stupendous of\nall miracles. And whenever we devoutly repeat this salutation with\nfaith and confidence, it will be for us also a means of grace and\nblessing. Whenever you salute Mary, says St. Bernard, she returns the\ngreeting, she gives you in return consolation and blessing.\n\nLet us then recite this beautiful and excellent prayer most diligently\nand piously, and let us give special preference to the devotion of the\nRosary which is a garland woven to blessed Mary from this prayer of\npraise. The quarter of an hour spent in reciting the beads will bring\nus blessings in life and a happy death. How we shall rejoice when we\nbehold Mary face to face and greet her with the words: Hail Mary, full\nof grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, and\nblessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, to whom be praise for all\neternity. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nIX. THE PRAYER TO INCREASE THE THREE DIVINE VIRTUES\n\n\n\"And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the\ngreatest of these is charity.\"--I. Cor. xiii, 13.\n\nDear brethren, in beginning the Rosary one Our Father and three Hail\nMarys are said in supplication for the three divine virtues. These\nvirtues are called divine because they have God for their Author or\ntheir object. In Baptism these virtues are infused into the soul\ntogether with sanctifying grace. Through sanctifying grace, received in\nBaptism, we are made children of God. From that moment there is imposed\nupon us the duty, as soon as we shall be able to use our reason, of\nthinking, speaking and acting as behooves the true children of God.\nThis duty we perform if we imitate the example of Jesus Christ, and if\nwe endeavor to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. But as\nthis cannot be done by human power, the Holy Ghost has willed to enable\nus to do so, by imparting to us, in Baptism, the three divine virtues.\nBy the infused grace of faith God gives us a supernatural light, in\naddition to the natural light of our reason, with the aid of which we\nmay comprehend His revelations. God bestows upon us thus, through the\nvirtue of faith, a share in His own wisdom. The supernatural grace of\nhope turns our thought heavenward, gives us an incentive to co-operate\nwith grace.\n\nThe supernatural virtue of charity renders us capable of loving God in\na worthy and meritorious manner and of loving that which God loves.\n\nAs the child arrives at the age of discretion, and obtains the right\nuse of reason, he is obliged to practise these virtues, and thus I\nstrengthen his soul and grow in grace.\n\nWe are obliged to awaken frequently faith, hope, and charity towards\nGod and our neighbor, in a practical manner. By the possession,\npractise and application of these three divine virtues we attain to\nChristian perfection. The more we learn to know these virtues, the more\nzealous we shall be in practising them, the more earnestly we shall\nstrive for their increase, the more incessantly shall we pray for them.\n\nLet us, therefore, take these three divine virtues for the subject of\nour consideration.\n\nI. Faith is the first of the three divine virtues; it is the foundation\nof the other virtues. Without faith in God, in His revelations and\npromises, there can be no Christian hope, no Christian charity. For\nthis reason faith is the foundation of virtuous living: Christian faith\nis a virtue infused by God into our souls by which we are enabled to\nbelieve firmly all that which God has revealed and which the infallible\nCatholic Church proposes for our belief.\n\nAn act of faith requires the use of the understanding and the use of\nthe will. The mysteries surpass our natural understanding; they are,\nfurthermore, to be believed in a supernatural manner, and we require,\ntherefore, the supernatural light of faith, added to the natural light\nof our understanding, and we require also that our natural willpower be\nstrengthened by the supernatural power of grace. This light and this\npower we receive in Baptism. The supernatural light of faith qualifies\nus to understand that the truths revealed by God are divine.\n\nIn order to believe it does not suffice to know the divine truths as\nthe Church teaches them, we must also, of our own free will, assent to\nthem, and acknowledge as divine truths even those mysteries which\nsurpass our human understanding. To that extent faith is a matter of\nthe will. God, through the light and the power of the grace of faith,\ncomes to the assistance of our reason and will, in order that we may\nconfidently submit both to divine revelation, that is, to God. In order\nthat the infused virtue of faith may be meritorious for us, we must\nco-operate with grace by readily submitting our understanding and our will\nto divine revelation. Then this virtue of faith will not only be an\ninfused one but, also, will be an acquired one and thus become a\nmeritorious virtue. This actual and acquired virtue is for every adult\nthe first condition of salvation. Still the acceptance of the divine\ndoctrine is alone not sufficient for salvation. We must live in\naccordance with our faith; we must do good and shun evil. Such is the\nteaching of faith. \"He truly believes who practises what believes,\"\nsays St. Gregory, and St. James tells us that \"Faith without works is a\ndead faith and avails nothing to salvation.\" A living faith is the\nfirst condition and the beginning of salvation. Eternal happiness\nconsists, as we are aware, in the vision of God. The living faith is a\nbeginning of this vision. We know God through the Christian faith, but\nonly as in a mirror. \"Now I know in part: but then I shall know even as\nI am known\" (I. Cor. xiii, 12).\n\nII. The second of the divine virtues is hope. Christian hope is a\nvirtue infused into our souls by which we confidently expect of God\neverything which He has promised us through the merits of Christ. God\nhas promised us eternal happiness, also all things which we stand in\nneed of, and that are profitable for us in our endeavor to attain\neternal happiness. Jesus has merited these for us, and God has promised\nthem to us for the sake of the merits of Jesus Christ. And because God\nhas promised them to us we must confidently expect and hope for them,\nbecause God is omnipotent, merciful and faithful to His promises.\n\nThis Christian confidence in God is bestowed by the virtue of hope,\ninfused into our souls at Baptism. We must frequently exercise it in\norder to make it conducive to salvation.\n\nThe virtue of hope is based upon the virtue of faith. Faith informs us\nof the promises of God, and that He is all-powerful and faithful in\nfulfilling His promises. Without faith Christian hope would not be\npossible. This the Apostle Paul teaches in his Epistle to the\nCorinthians, in plain words: \"Faith,\" he writes, \"is the substance of\nthings hoped for\" (Heb. xi, i). Hope is really, therefore, an active\nfaith in the mercy and generosity of God. Christian hope is just as\nnecessary for salvation as faith. \"For we are saved by hope.\" Thus the\nApostle writes in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. viii, 24). Hence,\nwhen we lose hope we forfeit our salvation.\n\nChristian hope is in part desire, in part confidence. It is a lively\ndesire for eternal happiness, for the possession of God and for the\nmeans which aid us in gaining salvation. It contains in itself a\nheartfelt desire for forgiveness of sins, and for liberation from the\npunishment due to sins. It includes an ardent longing for a virtuous\nChristian life. It is that hunger and thirst for justice of which\nChrist speaks in the eight Beatitudes. As God is the supreme good,\ncombining every other good, so our desire for the blessed possession of\nGod must be the sincerest, indeed, the sole, desire of our hearts. All\nother things we may desire only on God's account, and only in so far as\nthey are the means to help us to the possession of God. Whoever\nexperiences this desire will zealously pray for all things; he will be\na man of prayer.\n\nChristian hope is not only desire, but also confidence. God has\npromised us forgiveness of our sins and the grace to do the good that\nis required of us. He has promised us after a Christian life the\neternal happiness of heaven. He is ready to fulfil His promises. The\nfulfillment of the divine promise depends, however, upon our own\nco-operation, upon our sincere good-will, upon our co-operation with\ngrace. Our confidence must, therefore, never become presumption. The\nApostle admonishes us to work out our salvation in fear and trembling.\nSt. Francis de Sales calls confidence in God and distrust in ourselves\nthe two balancing poles by the help of which we are enabled to keep our\nequilibrium. To distrust ourselves, and to have the fullest trust in\nGod, this is the essence of Christian hope.\n\nChristian hope is an essential condition for eternal happiness. By hope\nwe anticipate life eternal. It is to us a pledge and a foretaste, and\nwhen we shall pass into eternity with this living hope, our hope will\nbe transformed into possession of that which we have hoped for the\npossession of God, the supreme good.\n\nIII. Charity, the third of the divine virtues, is the virtue infused by\nGod into our souls which enables us to love God above all things, and\nfor His sake to love our neighbor as ourselves. That such divine\ncharity surpasses human power is quite evident. It is inseparably\nunited to sanctifying grace. He who possesses sanctifying grace\npossesses also the virtue of divine charity. He who loses sanctifying\ngrace through mortal sin, loses also divine charity. The virtue of\ncharity is a participation in the divine charity with which God loves\nus. It is a divine commandment that we must love God with our whole\nheart, with our whole soul, with our whole strength, and that we must\nlove our neighbor as ourselves, for God's sake. To give oneself wholly\nto God, to prefer Him to all things, rather lose all things than offend\nHim, to seek to accomplish His holy will in all things, to observe His\ncommandments, to offer up to God every thought, word, and deed, to work\nand suffer for God, to live and die for God, this is the true love of\nGod.\n\n\"He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them; he it is that loveth\nme.\" Thus speaks the Son of God (John xiv, 21). To love God in this\nmanner is made possible for us by the divine virtue of charity,\nreceived in Baptism. We may, however, co-operate with it and so fulfil\nGod's commandments. Only in this manner does the infused virtue become\nan acquired and meritorious virtue. The Christian virtue of charity is\nthe greatest of all virtues. It presupposes faith and hope because we\nmust believe and hope in God before we can love Him: charity gives life\nto faith and hope. Without charity, faith and hope are dead and avail\nnot for salvation. Who so loves not remains in death. Charity is not\nmerely the greatest of all virtues, but it contains all Christian\nvirtues; it is the essence of the Christian life. Through Christian\nfaith we participate in the divine knowledge, through hope in the\ndivine power, and through charity we participate in the divine justice\nand sanctity. Christian charity renders us holy, as the heavenly Father\nis holy, and perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect. It is charity\nwhich here on earth unites us with God. \"He who abides in charity\nabides in God and God in him.\" It is a virtue which continues for all\neternity, when faith has become the vision, and hope the possession, of\nGod.\n\nThe love of God is inseparably united to the love of our neighbor; for,\nas St. Augustine says, there are two commandments but only one charity,\nbecause there is no other charity with which we love our neighbor than\nthat with which we love God. Who so says that he loves God, but does\nnot love his neighbor, in him there is no divine charity.\n\nWe have seen, therefore, how the three divine virtues are the\nfoundation of the Christian life, and that their practise constitutes\nChristian life. The true worship of God consists in practising these\nvirtues which, at the same time, are the sole way to eternal bliss.\nProgress in the Christian life keeps pace with the activity of these\nvirtues. This increase of virtue is, likewise, a gracious gift of God.\nWe are ever obliged to co-operate with grace. We must strive for the\nincrease of our faith, hope, and charity, by frequently practising\nthese virtues, by the worthy reception of the holy Sacraments, by\nattentively contemplating the divine truths and, especially, by humble\nand heartfelt prayer.\n\nHow feeble, indeed, is our faith, how wavering our hope, how\ninsufficient our love of God and our neighbor. They need the\nstrengthening grace of God.\n\nTo pray rightly, and to be worthy of being heard, we must awaken these\nfundamental virtues. Therefore, at the beginning of the Rosary we say\ndevoutly one Our Father and three Hail Marys to ask God for an increase\nof these virtues. Because faith, hope, and charity should be both the\nbasis and the fruit of the Rosary. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nX. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE ROSARY IN REGARD TO ITS FORM\n\n\n\"She reacheth therefore from end to end mightily, and ordereth all\nthings sweetly.\"--Wisdom viii, 1.\n\nThe disposition of the heart is in prayer of more consequence than the\nmanner of expression. Yet an appropriate form of prayer is helpful in\navoiding distraction and in inducing devotion. Our Divine Saviour\ntaught His disciples to make use of a special form of prayer, the \"Our\nFather.\"\n\nThe form of the Rosary helps appreciably in rendering the Rosary the\ngreat prayer it is. The Rosary has been aptly called the \"lay\nbreviary.\" For many centuries the faithful joined in the reciting of\nthe breviary. As late as in the eleventh century St. Peter Damian\nurgently exhorted the faithful to participate in the ecclesiastical\n\"hours\" of prayer. And when gradually participation in the\necclesiastical prayer ceased, Divine Providence supplied the Rosary to\ntake for the laity the place of the breviary. It may thus properly be\ncalled the \"lay breviary.\" In fact it reminds of the breviary of\npriests, for it contains verbal prayer and meditation, and the hundred\nand fifty \"Hail Marys\" of the Rosary correspond to the hundred and\nfifty psalms of the breviary.\n\nLet us now consider how appropriate the form of the Rosary is, and how\nit renders the Rosary a perfect prayer.\n\nThe form makes the Rosary both an excellent devotion and a perfect\nprayer. Prayer is the first duty of all men. It is an article of faith\nthat no man can work out his salvation without prayer. The real essence\nof prayer consists in the union of vocal prayer with meditation, or\ninterior prayer. The true prayer is a conversation, or intercourse, of\nman with God. The combination of meditating with vocal prayer is an\nexcellent means of participating in Divine grace. Meditation makes us\nrealize our needs, the faults which we should lay aside, and the\nvirtues which we must acquire. Sin makes man blind, meditation opens\nhis eyes. Vocal prayer alone is not of itself a protection from sin,\ndaily experience teaches this. There are many who say vocal prayers and\nyet fall into grievous sin and remain in that state. The reason is\nbecause they omit the contemplative prayer. Those who combine vocal\nprayer with meditation do not easily incur God's disfavor, or if they\ndo they at once resolve to amend and they lose no time in returning to\nGod. A combination of meditation and vocal prayer is therefore\ncalculated to preserve us from sin, and to rescue us from that state,\nif unfortunately we find ourselves in it. It is also the most effective\nmeans for us to reach Christian perfection and eternal salvation.\n\nWe should therefore combine with vocal prayers proper meditation if we\ndesire our prayers to be more perfect. When we say the \"Our Father,\" or\nthe \"Hail Mary,\" we should not merely utter the words with our lips,\nbut should contemplate the purport of the words, lifting the mind to\nGod, to whom we are praying, otherwise our prayer will be merely a\nprayer of the lips. Remember the words of our Divine Saviour: \"These\npeople glorify Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.\"\n\nIn saying the Rosary we combine vocal prayer with meditation upon the\nSacred Mysteries. Where there is time for it a longer meditation is\nvery beneficial and of great spiritual advantage. But if time is\nlacking, or when the Rosary is said in common with others, one should\nat least at every decade briefly put the mystery before the mind.\nPondering upon the mysteries whilst saying the prayers is ordinarily\nrequisite to gain the indulgences attached to the Rosary.\n\nThe Rosary in its union of vocal prayer and meditation is a perfect\nprayer. The parts of the Rosary so appropriately succeed one another as\nto form a beautiful chain of prayers. We begin the prayers of the\nRosary with the sign of the Cross, with which the Church commences all\nher prayers. This sign reminds us of the Most Holy Trinity in whose\nName we were baptized, and to whom we belong absolutely, through\ncreation, redemption, and sanctification. By making the sign of the\nCross we place ourselves vividly in the presence of God, to whom we are\npraying, and awaken within us acts of faith, reverence, love, and\nconfidence. Through the sign of the Cross there are dedicated to God in\nprayer the thoughts of the mind, the words of our lips, and the\nsentiments and feelings of the heart. Most assuredly the devout signing\nourselves with the Cross is an excellent introduction and preparation\nfor prayer.\n\nThen follows most appropriately the Apostle's Creed. It declares more\nfully that which the sign of the Cross indicates. The twelve articles\nof the Creed contain that which we must firmly believe if we would be\nsaved.\n\nThe Creed most properly opens the Rosary because it is the basis of our\nfaith. The Joyful Rosary expounds the article of faith: \"Conceived by\nthe Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary.\" The Sorrowful Rosary is a\ncommemoration of the article: \"Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was\ncrucified, died and was buried.\" The glorious is founded upon the\narticle: \"Rose again from the dead, ascended into Heaven and sitteth at\nthe right hand of God.\" Thus the entire Rosary is in truth a prayer of\nfaith, and draws from the faith its force and efficacy.\n\nAfter the Creed follows \"Glory be to the Father,\" which is repeated at\nevery decade of the Rosary as it is also said in the ecclesiastical\n\"hours\" after every Psalm. To give glory to God is our chief duty, it\nmust be our intention in all our words and works. To give glory to God\nmust also be our principal intention in saying the Rosary. As we repeat\nthis doxology at the end of each decade, we should again raise up our\nmind and heart to God with fresh sentiments of faith, love, and\nconfidence. This preserves us from distraction and gives new zeal to\nour prayers.\n\nAfter the first \"Glory be to God\" we say one Our Father and three Hail\nMarys for the increase of the three divine virtues. The three divine\nvirtues are the foundation of the right disposition which we must have,\nin order truly and worthily to honor God. St. Augustine says: \"God is\nto be glorified through faith, hope, and charity. They are the corner-\nstone of the Christian life.\" And the Apostle says: \"The just man\nliveth by faith\" (Heb. x, 38), meaning that man lays the foundation for\nhis justification through faith, receives the life of justification\nfrom faith, perseveres in this just life through faith, perfects this\nlife through the light and the power of faith whence hope and charity\nproceed.\n\nTo promote this kind of life is the aim of the devotion of the Rosary.\nThe more pious and virtuous we become, the more we glorify God and\nassure our temporal and eternal happiness.\n\nThese prayers are the introduction and preparation to the prayer of the\nRosary, which combines meditation of the Mysteries with the recital of\nthe Our Fathers and Hail Marys. The Rosary is a prayer indeed for the\nglory of God and for honoring and invoking Mary the Mother of God. The\nMysteries of the Rosary contain that which God has done in order to\nglorify Himself and to redeem, sanctify, and save mankind. At the same\ntime these mysteries from the lives of Jesus and Mary are fraught with\ntouching examples for our own lives. In the devout contemplation of\nthese mysteries, and in the application of the same to our own\nreligious moral life, lie the gist of the prayers of the Rosary and the\nchief fruits which we should draw from this saving devotion.\n\nCertain critics of the Rosary cannot understand why the Hail Mary is so\nfrequently repeated. But in the repetition lies the strength of the\nprayer, for holy perseverance is expressed by this repetition. The\npsalmist in the one hundredth and thirty-fifth Psalm repeats twenty-six\ntimes the words: \"For his mercy endureth forever.\" And the heavenly\nhosts proclaim their \"Thrice Holy\" for ever and ever.\n\nWe are perfectly right, therefore, in declaring that the Rosary is a\nthoroughly practical prayer, corresponding exactly to the necessities\nand peculiarities of our minds and hearts.\n\nWe might challenge the world to name a more beautiful, a more excellent\nprayer. The Church therefore numbers the Rosary amongst her most\nefficacious prayers, and she has endowed it richly with indulgences to\ninduce the faithful to say it frequently.\n\n\n\n\nXI. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE ROSARY ON ACCOUNT OF THE MYSTERIES\nCOMMEMORATED\n\n\n\"Unless thy law had been my meditation, I had then perhaps perished in\nmy abjection.\"--Ps. cxviii, 92.\n\nDear Brethren: In our former considerations of the Rosary we have\ndiscussed the prayers of which the Rosary is composed. The second chief\npart of the Rosary is the fifteen Mysteries. They are called Mysteries\nbecause the truths which they contain are hidden and cannot be\ncomprehended except by Divine revelation. These Mysteries and their\nsignificance will be the subject of our discourse to-day. It is the\nspirit and intention of the Church that these Mysteries be properly\nmeditated upon while saying the Rosary. This we do by reflecting upon\nthem, by applying to ourselves the lesson drawn! from them, and by\nresolving to amend our life or to perfect it according to this lesson.\n\nI. The consideration of the Divine truths of salvation is absolutely\nnecessary for all mankind, for no one can be saved who is not mindful\nof his salvation. We cannot attain happiness without serving and loving\nGod. Yet he knows not God who does not give any thought to things\ndivine. In order to learn to know God and to make progress in this\nknowledge we must contemplate the Divine attributes and perfections,\nand the works which proclaim them. The whole universe is preaching to\nus God's omnipotence, wisdom, and love. The heavens tell of God's\nglory, and the firmament proclaims the works of His hands. The tiny\nflowers in field and meadow, the birds in the tree, the stars in the\nsky, they all remind us of God and of His Omnipotence and Goodness. We\nought not regard these things thoughtlessly, they give us food for\nsalutary thought and meditation. They exhort us to show love and\ngratitude towards God, the merciful Father who has created all these\nthings for us.\n\nGod so loved the world as to sacrifice for it His only begotten Son.\nThe Son so loved Mankind that He became Man, suffered for us and died\nupon the Cross, in order to ransom us from sin and ruin. We learn to\nknow not only the malice, horror, and guilt of sin, but also the\ninfinite mercy and love of God by pondering on the works of God.\n\nIn the work of sanctification, specially ascribed to the Holy Ghost, we\nperceive fresh wonders of God's love. The Holy Ghost cleanses us from\nour sins and transforms us into children of God. He consoles us with\nheavenly consolation, and leads us with His hand, conducting us to\nChristian perfection and to life eternal. By considering these divine\nworks, often and earnestly, we learn to know God, and become desirous\nof loving Him and serving Him faithfully. To make progress in the\nknowledge of these divine things is the sacred duty of a Christian. But\nin order to be saved it is not sufficient to know God; we must also\nknow ourselves. For this reason St. Augustine besought God: \"Let me\nknow myself, and let me know Thee.\" We must learn to know our faults in\norder to correct them, and our evil inclinations so as to fight against\nthem. We must ascertain what virtues we are lacking in so that we may\nstrive to acquire them. We must understand the gravity of our sins to\nrepent of them sincerely. Finally, we must understand our inability to\nacquire merit, so that we may seek from God grace, strength, and help.\n\nIt is necessary also that we understand clearly the duties which we\nhave to perform.\n\nIf we were profoundly impressed by the excellence of the Divine Laws,\nof the magnificent rewards that will be the share of those who observe\nthe Commandments, and of the terrible chastisement awaiting the\ntransgressor, who would ever presume to transgress these Divine\nCommandments? And what is calculated to impress us with these truths if\nnot serious reflection upon them?\n\nThe royal Prophet exclaims: \"Blessed are they that search his\ntestimonies; that seek him with their whole heart\" (Ps. cxviii, 2).\n\nMeditation has drawn numberless sinners from the depths of sin and\nprotected untold numbers against sin. It is also, as St. Ignatius\nremarks, the shortest way to Christian perfection. Hence St. Teresa\nimplores those who have not yet begun this meditative prayer, to do so\nin the name of God, and through the love of Christ, and no longer\ndeprive themselves of this most precious and necessary good.\n\nObjection may be made by some that they cannot meditate, that they have\nnot the ability to do so. The reply is that for meditation no skill or\nscience is required. When you reflect upon an article of faith, upon a\ncommandment of God, upon sin or virtue, upon God, your duties, and then\nawaken acts of faith, hope and charity, contrition, and thanksgiving,\nfollowed by resolutions of amendment, petitions to God for His grace\nand assistance to keep these resolutions, you have made a very good\nmeditation. This much any one can do.\n\nAnother objection may be advanced, that one has no time for it. A man\nliving in the world has many business cares, but then the salvation of\nthe soul is the chief business of man. Our Divine Saviour has said that\none thing only is necessary, and this one thing is solicitude for the\nsoul's welfare. David had the cares of governing a great kingdom, and\nyet he said: \"O how have I loved thy law, O Lord, it is my meditation\nall the day.\" (Ps. cxviii, 97.) No, my brethren, time and ability are\nnot lacking. If anything is lacking, it is the good will. Therefore let\nus all make the firm resolution to give in the future due consideration\nto Christian meditation so as to place our soul's welfare in safety.\n\nII. The Mysteries of the Rosary offer us an easy method and material\nfor our meditation. They give us a brief sketch of the life, passion,\nand death of Jesus Christ and the sorrows and joys of our Mother Mary.\nThe fifteen Mysteries are divided into three parts: the Joyful, the\nSorrowful, and the Glorious Mysteries.\n\nThe joyful Mysteries of the Rosary contain events from the youthful\nlife of Jesus. These are the Annunciation, the Visitation of Mary, the\nNativity of Christ, the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, and the\nFinding of the Child Jesus in the Temple. These five Mysteries comprise\nthe foundation of the work of the redemption. With all of them is\nintimately connected Mary, the Blessed Mother of the Redeemer.\n\nThese five Mysteries set before us the example of Jesus and Mary. To\nmake of us children of God, the Son of God became incarnate, and He is\nfor us the model of a child of God. Mary, His holy Mother, is in all\nthings His faithful likeness and thus the model for us in the imitation\nof Christ.\n\nThe sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary remind us of the work of\nredemption, through the passion and death of Jesus Christ. He begins\nHis passion in the garden of Olives in an agony of sorrow. By the\nscourging He did penance for our sins of the flesh, and by the crowning\nwith thorns, for our sins of the mind. Then He bore His Cross to the\nplace of execution, and with it the sins of the world, in order to\nefface our debt upon this Cross. These Mysteries teach us how to\npartake of the merits of the redemption. The consideration of our sins,\nof their malice and guilt, and a sincere contrition for them is the\nfirst step. The second is the discipline of our flesh and its evil\ndesires by temperance, chastity, and mortification. The third step is\nthe discipline of the spirit by humble obedience towards God and His\nholy law. The fourth is the patient bearing of our cross, and the last\nis that we die completely to sin, and live only for Christ.\n\nThe glorious Mysteries of the Rosary tell us of the glorious fruits of\nthe redemption. These are a new life of grace, resurrection from the\ndead, and admittance into heaven. They speak to us also of the mission\nof the Holy Ghost, whose work is to sanctify us. In Mary's assumption\ninto Heaven we behold the most sublime work of the Holy Spirit, _viz_.,\nher holy life here upon earth and her coronation in Heaven, the reward\nof this holy life for all eternity. All these things are calculated to\ninduce in us a devout Christian life. We behold what God has prepared\nfor those who love Him, who live for Him, who work and suffer and die\nin His grace and love.\n\nThus the fifteen Mysteries give us a short summary of the lives of\nJesus and Mary. The events selected are best calculated to awaken our\nfaith, to strengthen our hope, to inflame our hearts with love for\nJesus and Mary, and to animate us to imitate the lives of Jesus and\nMary.\n\nThese Mysteries thus offer most excellent material for our meditations.\nThey are so simple that every believing Christian may understand them,\nyet so profound and full of meaning that those most learned and\nadvanced in the spiritual life may find therein ample food for\nedification. The public life of Jesus and Mary pass, as it were, before\nour eyes.\n\nHow fortunate did the Apostles esteem themselves to have known Jesus by\nsight, to have listened to the teachings from His own lips, to have\ngazed and meditated upon His holy life! We may draw the same profit\nfrom the diligent and devout meditation of the Mysteries of the Rosary.\n\nIf we daily say the Rosary, and picture the mysteries to ourselves,\nwhat advantage may we not draw from them for our life! It will be for\nus a daily intercourse and association with Jesus and Mary that will\nenlighten our minds, elevate and ennoble our hearts, and powerfully\ninvite our will to a true life of virtue. The Rosary is, therefore, an\nadmirable means to lead a truly Christian life, and an admirable\nmeans, consequently to attain eternal salvation. Let us all be zealous\nto avail ourselves of it and the Rosary will become a bond uniting us\nintimately with Jesus and Mary, and conducting us to the participation\nof their glory and happiness for all eternity. Amen.","title":"The Excellence of the Rosary: Conferences for Devotions in Honor of the Blessed Virgin","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":22584}