The Secret of the Rosary - Forty-fourth Rose

Forty-fourth Rose - A Good Method

WHEN YOU have asked the Holy Spirit to help you pray
well, put yourself for a moment in the presence of God and
offer up the decades in the way that I am going to show you
later. [See Chapter 50.]
Before beginning a decade, pause for a moment or two----
depending upon how much time you have----and
contemplate the mystery that you are about to honor in that
decade. Always be sure to ask of Almighty God, by this
mystery and through the intercession of the Blessed Mother,
one of the virtues that shines forth most in this mystery or
one of which you stand in particular need.
Take great care to avoid the two pitfalls that most people fall
into during the Rosary. The first is the danger of not asking
for any graces at all, so that if some people were asked their
Rosary intention they would not know what to say. So,
whenever you say your Rosary, be sure to ask for some
special grace. Ask God's help in cultivating one of the great
Christian virtues or in overcoming one of your sins.
The second big fault a lot of people make when saying the
Holy Rosary is to have no intention other than that of getting
it over as quickly as possible! This is because so many of us
look upon the Rosary as a burden which is always heavier
when we have not said it----especially if it is weighing on
our conscience because we have promised to say it regularly
or have been told to say it as a penance more or less against
our will.
It is really pathetic to see how most people say the Holy
Rosary----they say it astonishingly fast and mumble so that
the words are not properly pronounced at all. We could not
possibly expect anyone, even the most unimportant person,
to think that a slipshod address of this kind was a
compliment and yet we expect Jesus and Mary to be pleased
with it! Small wonder then that the most sacred prayers of
our holy religion seem to bear no fruit, and that, after saying
thousands of Rosaries, we are still no better than we were
before! Dear Confraternity members, I beg of you to temper
the speed which comes all too easily to you and pause
briefly several times as you say the Our Father and Hail
Mary. I have placed a cross at each pause, as you will see:
Our Father Who art in Heaven, +hallowed be Thy name,
+Thy kingdom come, +Thy will be done +on earth as it is in
Heaven. +Give us this day +our daily bread +and forgive us
our trespasses +as we forgive those who trespass against us,
+and lead us not into temptation +but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, +the Lord is with Thee, +blessed art
thou among women +and blessed is the Fruit of Thy womb,
Jesus. +
Holy Mary, Mother of God, +pray for us sinners, now +and
at the hour of our death. Amen.
At first, you may find it difficult to make these pauses
because of your bad habit of saying prayers in a hurry; but a
decade that you say recollectedly in this way will be worth
more than thousands of Rosaries said all in a rush----without
any pauses or reflection.
Blessed Alan de la Roche and other writers (including Saint
Robert Bellarmine) tell the story of how a good confessor
advised three of his penitents, who happened to be sisters, to
say the Rosary every day without fail for a whole year. This
was so that they might make beautiful robes of glory for Our
Lady out of their Rosaries. This was a secret that the priest
had received from Heaven.
So the three sisters said the Rosary faithfully for a year and
on the Feast of the Purification the Blessed Virgin appeared
to them at night when they had retired. Saint Catherine and
Saint Agnes were with her and she was wearing beautiful
robes that shone and all over them "Hail Mary, full of grace"
was blazoned in letters of gold. The Blessed Mother came to
the eldest sister and said "I salute you, my daughter, because
you have saluted me so often and beautifully. I want to
thank you for the beautiful robes that you have made me."
The two virgin Saints who were with Our Lady thanked her
too and then all three of them vanished.
An hour later Our Lady and the same two Saints appeared,
to them again, but this time she was wearing green which
had no gold lettering and did not gleam. She went up to the
second sister and thanked her for the robes she had made
Her by saying her Rosary. Since this sister had seen Our
Lady appear to the eldest much more magnificently dressed
she asked Her the reason for the change. The Blessed Mother
answered: "Your sister made Me more beautiful clothes
because she has been saying her Rosary better than you."
About an hour after this she appeared to the youngest of the
sisters wearing tattered and dirty rags. "My daughter" she
said "I want to thank you for these clothes that you have
made Me. The young girl was covered with shame and she
called out: "Oh, my Queen, how could I have dressed you so
badly! I beg you to forgive me. Please grant me a little more
time to make you beautiful robes by saying my Rosary better
." Our Lady and the two Saints vanished, leaving the girl
heartbroken. She told her confessor everything that had
happened and he urged her to say her Rosary for another
year and to say it more devoutly than ever.
At the end of this second year on the very same day of the
Purification, Our Lady, clothed in a magnificent robe and
attended by Saint Catherine and Saint Agnes, wearing
crowns, appeared to them again in the evening. She said to
them: "My daughters, I have come to tell you that you have
earned Heaven at last----and you will all have the great joy
of going there tomorrow." The three of them cried:
"Our hearts are all ready, dearest Queen; our hearts are all
ready." Then the vision faded. That same night they became
ill and so sent for their confessor who brought them the Last
Sacraments and they thanked him for the holy practice that
he had taught them. After Compline Our Lady appeared
with a multitude of virgins and had the three sisters clothed
in white gowns. While Angels were singing "Come, spouses
of Jesus Christ, receive the crowns which have been
prepared for you for all eternity," they departed from this
life.
Some very deep truths can be learned from this story:
1. How important it is to have a good director who will
counsel holy practices, especially that of the Most Holy
Rosary;
2. How important it is to say the Rosary attentively and
devoutly;
3. How kind and merciful the Blessed Mother is to those
who are sorry for the past and are firmly resolved to do
better;
4. And finally, how generous she is in rewarding us in life,
death and eternity, for the little services that we render Her
faithfully.

The Canada54 National Novena includes a daily reading from the Secret of the Rosary.

There are exactly 54 readings. 

• A white rose for priests;
• A red rose for sinners;
• A mystical rose tree for devout souls;
• A rosebud for little children;
• Plus 50 roses representing each Hail Mary recited during 5 decades of the Rosary

JesusMarie.com  - Le Secret du Rosaire - ICI

To purchase a hard copy of this defining work by St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, please visit

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Read the not-for-profit public domain PDF version HERE

Do you pray the Rosary? For the most powerful way to pray, click HERE

Do your children pray the Rosary? Click HERE

Visiting Our Lady of the Cape on Pilgrimage? What you need to know HERE

A priest discovers a pig chewing on a Rosary. What he does next transforms his dying parish into a National Shrine!

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