Exploring the Power of the Rosary

Mariology Without Apology: A Masterclass in Mariology No. 16 - Our Lady and the Rosary

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Summary

Join Dr. Mark Miravalle and Dr. Robert Fastiggi in this masterclass session exploring the historical and spiritual significance of the Rosary, one of Our Lady's major devotions. They delve into its origins, development, and the powerful role it plays in personal sanctification and against heresies. The Rosary is showcased as a profound prayer tool with deep Marian and Biblical roots, acting as a spiritual weapon throughout history and offering extraordinary graces to the faithful who embrace it.

Highlights

The Rosary combines Biblical prayers with meditations on key gospel events. 📜
Marian apparitions often emphasize the Rosary as a necessary spiritual practice. 🚀
The Rosary can powerfully influence global and personal events through prayer. 🌍
St. John Paul II's addition of the Luminous Mysteries reflects the Rosary's dynamic nature. 🌈
The Rosary is depicted as a spiritual chain linking believers to the divine. 🔗

Key Takeaways

The Rosary finds its roots in scripture and has developed over centuries into a powerful prayer. 🕊️
St. Dominic is traditionally associated with the Rosary's development, through divine inspiration. 🙏
The Rosary was pivotal in historic victories, such as the Battle of Lepanto, demonstrating its spiritual potency. ⚔️
Prominent Marian apparitions consistently highlight the Rosary, reinforcing its spiritual importance. 🌟
Praying the Rosary with devotion is said to offer special graces and protection against evil. 💪

Overview

Join Dr. Mark Miravalle and Dr. Robert Fastiggi in exploring the Rosary, one of the most cherished Marian devotions. In this engaging masterclass, they delve into the Rosary's rich history, tracing its roots back to scripture and its development through Divine inspiration credited to figures such as St. Dominic.

Both hosts highlight the Rosary's transformative power, using historical events such as the Battle of Lepanto to illustrate its effectiveness as a spiritual weapon. Numerous popes and Marian apparitions have emphasized its importance, underscoring its role in supporting the faithful through challenges.

Dr. Miravalle and Dr. Fastiggi also discuss the Rosary's structure, noting St. John Paul II's addition of the Luminous Mysteries to more fully encapsulate the Gospel's essence. This tool of devotion is depicted not just as prayer, but as a symbolic chain connecting believers to Christ through Mary, offering protection and grace.

Chapters

00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Overview In this chapter titled 'Introduction and Overview', Dr. Mark Marali and his colleague Dr. Robert Fistigi introduce a master class in Mariology. The discussion begins by emphasizing the importance of balancing truth and love when understanding the devotions and the role of Our Lady. They highlight that an understanding of truth without love would be incomplete or disintegrated, as they prepare to explore major devotions to Our Lady.
00:30 - 05:00: History and Development of the Rosary The chapter discusses the history and development of the Rosary, touching upon the different perspectives and controversies surrounding its origin and evolution. The conversation suggests a deep respect and dedication to 'our lady's Rosary', indicating its spiritual significance and central role in some religious practices. Despite differing views, the Rosary is portrayed as a significant element of worship and devotion.
05:00 - 10:00: St Dominic and the Rosary The chapter titled 'St Dominic and the Rosary' explores the historical background of the Rosary, emphasizing its foundation and development through history. The discussion reflects on the idea popularized by Pope Leo XIII in his Rosary encyclical, which suggests that the Rosary was given to St. Dominic through the direct intervention of Our Lady. This foundational narration provides context to the spiritual and devotional significance of the Rosary in Christian tradition, starting from its biblical origins linked to 'Ave Maria'.
10:00 - 15:00: The Power of the Rosary This chapter discusses the significance of the Rosary, focusing on its origins and biblical references. It highlights the greeting of the angel to Mary in the Gospel of Luke, 'Hail Mary full of grace,' and the words of Elizabeth, 'Blessed art thou among women.' These scriptural quotes form the foundation of the Hail Mary prayer, central to Rosary devotion, emphasizing its spiritual importance and reverence for Mary, the mother of Jesus.
15:00 - 25:00: Papal Recognitions and Marian Apparitions The chapter 'Papal Recognitions and Marian Apparitions' explores the historical development of the Hail Mary prayer, tracing its origins back to fourth and fifth-century Eastern liturgies. It notes the ancient heritage of combining specific Biblical verses into a unified formula, which later appeared in 7th-century liturgical anthems. By the 11th century, the initial part of the Hail Mary was a widely used prayer in the West, frequently included in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
25:00 - 35:30: 15 Promises of the Rosary The chapter titled '15 Promises of the Rosary' discusses the historical development of the Rosary, tracing back to the 10th Century. It explains how people in the Middle Ages, many of whom were illiterate and did not have access to books, began using beads as a substitute for the 150 Psalms recited by monks. This practice evolved over time from using prayers like the Pater Noster (Our Father) and Ave Maria (Hail Mary) into the structured form of the Rosary known today.
35:30 - 45:00: Role of Mary as Mediatrix of All Graces The chapter discusses the role of Mary as the Mediatrix of All Graces, focusing on various forms of prayer and St. Dominic's connection to this role in the early 13th century. It touches upon the debate regarding the historicity of these accounts, specifically pointing out the legend surrounding Alanus de Rupe in the 15th century. The chapter also references work from a notable French myologist who studies these aspects.
45:00 - 60:00: Rosary's Christocentric Nature and Modern Developments The chapter discusses the Christocentric nature of the Rosary and its modern developments, focusing on a citation from a Dominican named Mt Pon. It raises questions about whether St. Dominic had knowledge of the Rosary through interior grace or an extraordinary charism.
60:00 - 85:00: Final Thoughts on the Rosary's Spiritual Impact The chapter discusses the impact of the Rosary on spiritual practices, particularly within the Dominican tradition. It highlights how the Rosary has been organized and practiced, drawing from medieval monastery customs, and is supported by Papal declarations. The Rosary is seen as a practice inspired by divine grace while also incorporating human faculties and existing religious customs.

Mariology Without Apology: A Masterclass in Mariology No. 16 - Our Lady and the Rosary Transcription

00:00 - 00:30 hello and welcome to a master class in mariology this is Dr Mark marali I'm joined by my colleague and dear friend Dr Robert fistigi as we continue to ponder the great truths of our Lady uh and now uh as we are now transitioning into some of her major devotions also love of our Lady um any concept that you would have truth without love would be a dis integrated understanding of who our
00:30 - 01:00 lady is and how we should respond to her Robert thanks for being with us in this program uh dedicated to our lady's Rosary oh thank you so much this is a wonderful topic CL our hearts so let's go through um let's start with the history of the Rosary and of course there's a some divergency uh some some even uh controversy According to some about you know
01:00 - 01:30 how we get the rosary but let's go to a kind of a foundation of the historical reality of the Rosary uh which we can also accentuate as Pope Leo the 13th does in his Rosary en cyclical of the reality that this came as a result of our lady's direct intervention to St Dominic but let's let's start with you know a general sense of history of the Rosary yes well of course it goes back to scripture you know to the a Maria uh and
01:30 - 02:00 and so it it goes back to Luke 128 and 142 you know a Maria gra you know Hail Mary full of grace all right in the in when when the angel greets Mary in Luke 1 128 he doesn't say her name but obviously speaking to her you know so Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee and then Elizabeth's words blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus and the union of
02:00 - 02:30 these verses into one formula goes back to Eastern liturgies of the fourth and fifth centuries so this has a has an ancient uh uh Heritage and then the union of these two verses is found in some lurgical antons of the 7th Century by the 11th century the first part of the Hail Mary was widely used as a prayer in the west and it was often included in the little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary which dates from the
02:30 - 03:00 10th Century so we're talking about our lady's Salter as it came to be known that uh back in the Middle Ages of course they they didn't have books and and a lot of people couldn't read but the monks would have their uh their cycle of the 150 Psalms and so people began substituting with the use of beads either the p no or the a Maria and then gradually it came to be synthesized in
03:00 - 03:30 various forms of of prayer but uh uh the one who's of course um connected to this is St Dominic in the early 13th century and of course there's lots of literature about how this is a legend and it's you know really a 15th century Legend to alanus De rupe or also called you know aland uh but I I there's a great myologist in France in fact he's the
03:30 - 04:00 president of the French mariological society and he in the book that you you edited has this um wonderful uh citation from uh a Dominican named uh Mt Pon and I think he he he says did St Dominic have knowledge of the Rosary by an interior Grace or even by an extraordinary charism or did he even
04:00 - 04:30 deploy his personal genius in organizing through his preaching a devotional practice current in medieval monasteries without overlooking the antecedants the Dominican tradition consecrated by papal and cyclical declares in favor of heavenly in Inspiration obviously such a Grace does not exclude the play of natural faculties in terms of what concerns existing Customs without any doubt the rosary is divinely Incorporated in the
04:30 - 05:00 personal vocation of St Dominic so I mean this is this and then uh really there might have been either our lady revealed the way the rosary would eventually come to be uh said or she just encouraged the recitation of the uh of the Maran Salter at that time and what she said to him was very important your preaching will be more powerful I mean this is the order of preachers so
05:00 - 05:30 that by by uh by uh praying the a Maria you'll find that your preaching is so much more powerful regarding the uh uh the heresies like the albigensian heresy and so on so that that really is uh at the heart of this whatever early form of the Rosary or whether he had a vision of the way the rosary would be that all these popes uh who have uh just repeated this Legend
05:30 - 06:00 people call it a legend but often these Legends have a great deal of Truth to them yeah that's right Robert and and again when you have uh numerous uh papal statements uh referring to St Dominic as the recipient of the Rosary uh there should be a certain Credence that that we give to that unless there's some clear reason or some clear historical evidence that you know they they were all incorrect on a historical level you
06:00 - 06:30 know as you're talking you know I think it's so important to remember what was the alian heresy and this was a manism of you know all things um physical are evil all things spiritual are good and so they reject of course the beauty of children and all other things material but that our lady would give St Dominic and there's a very good summation of this by Gulag Gran the great Dominican
06:30 - 07:00 in in his uh work on the three ages of the Interior life also uh where he talks about how our lady inspired Dominic to preach on three fundamental Mysteries number one the Incarnation when we now refer to those as the Joyful Mysteries number two Redemption those are the sorrowful mysteries and number three eternal life those are the Glorious Mysteries and so it's almost analogous because we're not saying this is
07:00 - 07:30 scriptural but it's analogous to the Dual authorship that uh we know is true in Scripture that God ins the Holy Spirit inspires the sacred writer but then the sacred writer also uses his own abilities and that's why Luke has a different tone than Mark and Mark has a different tone than John that they're not autonom this is how God respects the human vehicle so I think what's key is this is initiated by an intervention ion of our
07:30 - 08:00 Lady to St Dominic could it later admit of some development well certainly it could but that doesn't take away the fact that you know our lady says you know this is for uh the specific reference about being against an instrument a tool against a weapon against future heresies in the church and the grunch points out that the rosary is a CR it's a Creed in itself the Incarnation Redemption eternal life uh so if there's some
08:00 - 08:30 process and of course we know at that time yeah because when St Thomas aquinus does his commentary on the Hail Mary it ends with the word Jesus so we don't have part two of the Hail Mary yet uh so even that presupposes some development uh and uh many say that the second part of the Hail Mary came as a result of the plague Fon Sheen has this position for example that're they're praying for our ladies intercession now and at the hour
08:30 - 09:00 of their deaths which was very proximate during the time of the plague so if that's you know development in the 14th century on into the 15th century if the number of DEC number of mysteries was adjusted uh in the 14th century we also know there was what we called the rosary manuals which had up to 150 Mysteries meditations for the 150 Hail Marys and uh people that fell out of practice because people didn't want
09:00 - 09:30 to carry around a book and so that's a development those things happen so I think as long as we establish the supernatural origin Our Ladies appearance inspiration Vision to St Dominic then of course it can develop in in the wisdom in the womb of the church so to speak yes exactly I mean in terms of the you know the a Maria there wasn't a uniform second part there was of you know but but clearly by the 15th century
09:30 - 10:00 people were saying holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners this is found in the sermons of St Bernardine of Sienna who died in 1444 and then in the prayer books of the carthusian monks and in some German dases also they find this part but the Servite order also included the phrase now and at the hour of our death mortis no and this is really the way the Dominicans started uh continued praying
10:00 - 10:30 it and when when St Pas I you know uh more or less formalized the rosary you know in in in 1569 um this was the way it was said and then the the you know the mysteries of the as you said the joyful the the sorrowful and the Glorious they all were were there by I'd say by the end of the 15th century um pretty much the way and and the Beautiful notion of a Rose Garden you know the roses and St Louis
10:30 - 11:00 de monford has that in his secret of the Rosary is like 49 roses these beautiful meditations on it and I I speaking of St Louis de monford he has one uh very interesting quote from the Jesuit Theologian uh and philosopher Francisco Suarez and Suarez was a very learned uh uh Theologian I mean if you look at his oah Omnia 6 26 volumes it's how could one man write this much but he
11:00 - 11:30 reportedly had great Devotion to Mary and he was not a very good student but when he prayed to Mary suddenly he started started his Brilliance came out but there's a saying that that he said people were so impressed with his learning he said I would gladly exchange all my learning for one hell Mary rightly said yeah isn't that beautiful that's then that's you know that it's so
11:30 - 12:00 refreshing Robert when you get these these brilliant theologians but they have a heart of a child it's not just about the head I'm always mindful of St Maxim Colby's statement the greatest Theologian of all time in terms of pure knowledge was Satan and look where it gets him it's not about just the intellect it's got to kick into the will and so even that process you know in in what's approved in the apostolic Constitution
12:00 - 12:30 by Pope St Pius I you know what for example was required for obtaining the Indulgence which the church offered he says two things first of all you have to pray the art fathers and hail Mar's secondly you have to meditate on the Mysteries so you got vocal prayer and you have meditation and of course two years later we have the great battle of leono in 1571 which essentially has the the praying of the Rosary which which saves
12:30 - 13:00 western civilization and the the much smaller Christian Fleet under the 24-year-old Don Juan of Austria taking on a much bigger Muslim Fleet uh of of Muslim Turks coming in and then there's the U miraculous changing of the wind where the the the the the men rowing on the Christian fleets can can now come up on board and and battle and uh one of the greatest naval victories in all
13:00 - 13:30 history happens in about four or five hours with a with a phenomenal victory of the Christians and Pi i f gets a type of internal knowing that they've won and that happens on October 7th that's why we celebrate October 7th uh as originally Our Lady of the victories and then turned to Our Lady of the Rosary so this is not just Ivory Tower history and theology this is a super Supernatural unleashing of power uh by praying the
13:30 - 14:00 rosary it has the power of changing the course of human history and we see that in events like lantto exactly exactly and confraternities of the Rosary were praying also when there was the Muslim invasion of Vienna Austria in 1683 and then uh Yan so seski the Polish King comes to the aid of the of the Imperial Catholic Army and they're
14:00 - 14:30 defeated and then there was the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary complement that and then then that's what's so beautiful about the rosary repeating these two beautiful names Jesus and Mary and that's why it's such a great protection against the evil one and in invoking uh Mary's power of intercession but we think of um there had developed and then it was promoted by St Louis de monford
14:30 - 15:00 all these promises of the Rosary and it came to be uh 15 Promises of the Rosary and I there there's special protection promised but there there's the number five the soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish and then the 15th kind of complements that devotion for my rosary is a great sign of
15:00 - 15:30 predestination isn't that remarkable you know Robert I think we have time on our program to hear all 15 uh promises uh talk about you know these are these are things that heaven has revealed to us so could you go through all 15 uh just so we get a clear idea of you know after the lurgical prayer of the church the most powerful prayer is exactly what we're talking about the rosary you're able to through um those
15:30 - 16:00 15 promises I think it's all of our betterments okay very good because this is you know it's one thing to know about the history of the Rosary what is more important is to pray it with devotion and then these are the promises that uh were enunciated in a special way by a 15th century Dominican frier according to tradition aland Ro or Alan or rupe uh but this these would be the promises those who Faithfully serve me by the
16:00 - 16:30 recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal Graces or uh significant or special Graces to I promise my special protection and the greatest Graces to all those who shall recite the rosary so it's a it's a you know we want The Graces of God and this this promise the rosary number three shall be a powerful armor against hell it will destroy Vice
16:30 - 17:00 decrease sin and defeat heresies so this goes back to St Dominic against the albigensian heresy exactly fourth the recitation of the Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish it will obtain for Souls the Abundant mercy of God it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities and will lift them to the desire of Eternal things oh that the souls would sanctify themselves by this
17:00 - 17:30 means and it is said that aland receiv received special Revelations about this yes this is really from our lady uh five the Souls which recommend it uh which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish so again a kind of sign of predestination number six those who recite my rosary devoutly applying them elv to the consideration of its sacred Mysteries
17:30 - 18:00 shall never be conquered by Misfortune in his Justice God will not chastise them nor shall they perish by an unprovided death I.E be unprepared for heaven Sinners shall convert the just shall persevere in Christ and become worthy of eternal life so this is H about the great power of the Rosary for Trans forming Sinners and protecting
18:00 - 18:30 us from Vice number seven those who have a true Devotion to the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the church know holy Mary Mother of God pray for us now and at the hour of our death so we want to be in the State of Grace but we want Mary to be praying for us at that very special hour and receive the sacraments those who Faithfully recite the Rosary shall have during their life
18:30 - 19:00 and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of his graces at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise so that we we were joined together with all the saints we think of all the saints like St Pas I St John Paul II um you know St Louis deont who promoted the rosary so we're United with all of them and of course the queen of the Saints the Blessed
19:00 - 19:30 Mother um and then number nine I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the rosary so if at the end of our life we need some final purification our lady will intercede for us in purgatory and this is also related to the scapular promises um number 10 the faithful Children of the Rosary shall Merit a high degree of Glory in heaven so those devoted to the rosary
19:30 - 20:00 will you know there are degrees of Glory in heaven there won't be any jealousy but we want to have all the you know the the GL when one part of the body is honored the whole body is honored number 11 by the recitation of the Rosary you shall obtain all that you ask of me so if we have a special need or we're praying for a special intention the Rosary is really a powerful prayer
20:00 - 20:30 number 12 those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities and number 13 I have obtained from my Divine son that all The Advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of their death think of that we pray the rosary we're joined by the whole celestial Court of the Saints of the
20:30 - 21:00 Angels that's remarkable and then number 14 all who recite the rosary are my beloved children and the brothers and sisters of my only son Jesus Christ this is very interesting because we Mary is the mother of Jesus and then by being devoted to her we become the brothers and sisters we're part of the family united to her divine div son so we have Divine filiation we become adopted Sons
21:00 - 21:30 and Daughters of God and then of course the 15th devotion for my rosary is a great sign of predestination yeah Robert thank you for going through those and you know what what comes forward from all of them is this critical role given to Our Lady by The Most Holy Trinity that she is the mediatrix of all graces that gives her uh and again depending on
21:30 - 22:00 how you want to go theologically whether you want to support Mary's moral instrumentality by the way of intercession or whether like I believe most of the greatest myologist to accept a physical instrumentality which means that Jesus gives our lady a certain jur jurisdiction over all Graces those were the words of Pope Benedict the 15 that uh in fact Jesus bestows on our lady
22:00 - 22:30 this task of distribution of dispensation of The Graces which allows the great Saints to say things like the monford Mary distributes Graces as she Wills to whom she Wills when she wills and and you know for people who would not objection to that you have to remember what would be the concern that our lady would do something against Jesus well she was Immaculate conceived she didn't sin in her Earthly life she's going to start going rogue in heaven well that's not the case and so why
22:30 - 23:00 would Jesus give Mary the jurisdiction of all Graces including these remarkable Graces we just heard in the rosary because every time a human being cooperates with God's Providence it's greater glory for God and it's greater sanctity for the human it's a winwin and that's why all of those remarkable promises from a greater prote against Satan to a sign of of
23:00 - 23:30 predilection and pred uh predestination uh those are all indications that the mother does have the ability to make good on these promises because she is and will always be the mediatrix of all Graces that's why the rosary is so powerful and that's also why mediatrix of all Graces is the foundation of all the major devotions Robert we're going to talk about the rosary the scaper Maring consecration all of those pre presuppose mediatrix of
23:30 - 24:00 all Graces and mediatrix of all Graces presupposes her role as the co-redemptrix exactly exactly and Pope Leo I 13 was the great Rosary encyclical Pope I mean some say it's 11 but I I believe it's really 12 that's what father Thomas Thompson had listed 12 and he had a long pontificate but almost every October he would have a either a letter or an encyclical on the Holy Rosary but what
24:00 - 24:30 you just said is articulated in his 1894 encyclical yuk you know pleasing always it means in English but he talks about the rosary and he said a soul that shall devoutly repeat these prayers that shall Ponder with faith these Mysteries will without doubt be filled with wonder at the Divine purposes of this great virgin and in the work of the restoration of
24:30 - 25:00 mankind so in other words when we pray the rosary we realize this was God's will for her to have such a Sublime role in the Restoration in the Redemption of humanity that's right he refers he goes on to speak about her role as the powerful mediatrix yes yes and at the very end of the encyclical he says now may God who in his most power his most Merc merciful Providence gave us this
25:00 - 25:30 mediatrix and decreed that all good should come to us by the hands of Mary receive propitiously our common prayers and fulfill our common hopes that he repeats it this is God's will you know that that in in his encyclicals he he he stresses this this was God's will that we receive all Graces always through Mary what does it say that the Pope that
25:30 - 26:00 brought us into the 20th century into the century with arguably the greatest loss of human life uh of of of centuries before that and some would even say of the 19th century before that you it's estimated that around 150 million are are are put to death solely under atheistic communism uh let alone World War I and World War II but what does it say that that the Holy Spirit through our lady would Inspire Leo the 13 to to
26:00 - 26:30 author 12 encyclicals on the rosary just as we would enter if not the most challenging of the most challenging uh centuries in in in in in human history I mean is that not a clear indication that the rosary is is a weapon that we are called to use both for Spiritual sanctification but also to put off the the ubiquitous and perennial attacks of the ancient Serpent of of the old Dragon
26:30 - 27:00 exactly and as we know Leo the 13th consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and then uh the at the dawn of the 20th century and then in 1917 our lady appears at Fatima and says God wishes to establish Devotion to my Immaculate Heart and this really goes back to St uh Lewis uh St St Jean udes the union of the two hearts
27:00 - 27:30 this is the closest Union he says short of the hypostatic union and so they that that really in the 20th century were encouraged to unite and make reparation to the hearts of Jesus and Mary and and let's go back to Fatima for a moment Robert because we have a rather significant addition to the rosary that comes directly from Fatima the Oh my Jesus prayer you know oh my Jesus that
27:30 - 28:00 that prayer asking for the greatest Mercy for the greatest Sinners which again is her role as mediatrix of Mercy it was almost uncommented uh when John Paul II in Divas my cordi was 19 uh 80 encyclical uh calls our lady the mediatrix of Mercy especially in preparation for the second coming of Christ well that's a powerful title uh
28:00 - 28:30 and you know is that not contained in her requested tale if you will addition at the end of each decade Oh my Jesus you know this this this call for Mercy which also connects Fatima to the Divine Mercy uh uh event that would happen decades later that that's right I mean even you know going back to Our Lady of Lords are she's praying the Rosary there in The Apparition of St bernardet but
28:30 - 29:00 the this seems to be the great devotion that heaven wishes us to promote I mean these are these are uh approved Maran apparitions but of course then we have the words of the Pope you know so it's it's not like saying all these are just private Revelations this is a coming so strongly from popes I mean we have Pas I 12 saying the rosary is a compendium of the whole gospel and then that's repeated by St Paul v 6 in
29:00 - 29:30 his marialis Cultus uh 1974 you know on on true Devotion to Our Lady and he recommends the angelist and the rosary and then we have the great John Paul II having the year of the Rosary October uh uh 2002 to October 2003 and that marvelous uh Apostolic letter wrote Arium virgin Mar maybe you could say
29:30 - 30:00 something about why what is so significant about that Apostolic letter yeah Robert I I find it just to be a treasure Trove of truths regarding both our lady uh and the the nature of the Rosary uh and John Paul makes a bold move in terms of again Rosary development when he adds the Luminous Mysteries uh of the Rosary and I remember at the time um you know
30:00 - 30:30 sometimes the Vicor of Christ just can't win for losing and he he does this beautiful uh fulfillment of the Rosary because you know we basically go from Jesus in the temple to the agon in the garden and we don't have anything of his public Ministry and so the Holy Father uh fulfills that idea that the rosary is a compendium of the Gospel by giving us five mysteries uh during his public uh Ministry uh and some said uh oh you know who are
30:30 - 31:00 you to add to the rosary and the answer is he's the Vicor of Christ he can added the rosary whenever he wants and then uh some liberals said oh why is he bothering with this kind of lightweight devotional things but you know the pope is a sign of contradiction certainly St John Paul II was so powerfully but you know that he says at the beginning of that Apostolic letter Robert that he's doing this for two reasons one is in light of the new dangers that have
31:00 - 31:30 entered he and he and he he specifies the 911 disaster which is rare it's rare that in a Papal Apostolic letter and cyclical that they would get that historic but John Paul was saying look we need this prayer now we're now entering a new phase where uh we have to pray for World Peace so his first intention was World priest world world peace secondly he says in the document it's because and keep in mind this is the guy who had as his motto be not
31:30 - 32:00 afraid he said I fear for the future of the family and so he brings the rosary back precisely as a family protection prayer as a domestic prayer so it's almost like you could picture your your home and a golden Rosary surrounding the home as a protection against Satan and the ubiquitous attacks of Satan on Family Life on marriage on the nature of
32:00 - 32:30 marriage between a man and a woman on on on uh the the really the what a sacramental nature of children and so it is such a timely uh Apostolic letter it reminds one of the great prophecy of Don Bosco St John BOS the great dream where the the bark of Peter is being brought in between two pillars the Eucharist on the top of the highest pillar but our lady on the top of the other one are The Help of Christians and it seemed like St John
32:30 - 33:00 Paul II in his final years did exactly that he he did the is uh is a document on the Eucharist and then he does this document on the rosary so much trying to get the bark of the church between these great two pillars exactly and and regarding the power of the Rosary over Satan he in rosarium virgin Maria brings out the remarkable story of blessed Balo Longo
33:00 - 33:30 who was a brilliant lawyer but had lost his way and actually joined a satanic group and became a satanic priest and then through the influence of of a Dominican frier had a had a had a great conversion and but then he was fearful because he had given his life over to Satan and and then he was thinking I'm going to be damned but then the promise of the Rosary those who promote the rosary will not suffer Eternal death you
33:30 - 34:00 know Eternal damnation and it's a sign of predestination so he dedicated the rest of his life to Our Lady of Pompei and promoting Devotion to the rosary and John Paul II mentions this rather bold statement um but he doesn't deny it he says it just has to be understood properly that Mary has omnipotence through Grace per I love that statement and
34:00 - 34:30 which was a you know again a statement of blessed baralo um and you know there's certainly in this document there's a lot of blessed Balo so think Robert if you're the pope and you have three saints that you or blessed that you can point out in all of history who' you come up with well St John Paul II starts with Padre peo uh who good biographers say did between you know 23 to 25 rosaries a day
34:30 - 35:00 as phenomenal as that is number two St Louis M to monford with the secret of the Rosary and number three along those two giants is blessed baralo lungo um and it was so much of a sense of he was called by Leo the 13th the Apostle of the Rosary uh after this you know satanic pass so I think one of the reasons that St John called the second highlight blessed balos because we have
35:00 - 35:30 a lot of people today who in weakness and error have dabbled with the Diabolical uh who have gone astray in so many ways but if a satanic priest someone who is trained in Satanic ritual can fully convert and become the Apostle of the Rosary and the blessed that that's a that's such a signal Grace to use one of the promises the rosary that no one will be lost if they go to the mother through this most powerful prayer of the Rosary exactly exactly and
35:30 - 36:00 and St John Paul II also cites the Insight of blessed baralo that the that the beads we wonder why these beads but they are like a chain of he says blessed Balo Longo saw the beads as a chain which links us to God a chain yes but a sweet chain for sweet indeed is the bond to God who is also our father a fial chain which puts us in tune with
36:00 - 36:30 Mary the handmade of the Lord and most of all with Christ himself who though he was in the form of God made himself a servant out of love for us so that that that we're chained to God through the rosary and he became linked to us through his mother so isn't it it it's so uh fitting that we through the chain of the Rosary be be linked to him and that it it's centered around the crucifix so there's no opposition at all
36:30 - 37:00 between Mary and the saving mystery and the work of her Divine son she was included in it she was there under the cross so that this Union of Mary this uh you know inexorable Bond or this you know you know this this bond this close link uh Inseparable Bond the hearts of Jesus and Mary are in separable as St John UD says and then St Louis de
37:00 - 37:30 monford says you are O Lord always with Mary and Mary is always with you and as Pope Francis said uh you know repeating an an image from the akathistos himym the akathist prayer that she is the bridge between us and God for she made the Lord Of Glory our brother you know it's beautiful and what to say that she's a bridge between you know God and man is to bring us back to St Bernard of
37:30 - 38:00 claro uh and the whole concept of mediation and of course how do you say that in one title mediatrix of all Graces that that that's never going to go away and and thanks be to God it's not but you know the the Holy Father ends this Apostolic letter by exhorting with strength all Cardinals bishops priests deacons to preach the value of the Rosary it's almost like the Holy Father really acting as father at the
38:00 - 38:30 end saying look uh I'm directing you to to preach and teach about the power of this rosary and he ends with that beautiful quote by blessed bartalo Longo about that sweet chain that links us to God but I also want to go back to the earlier part of that Apostolic letter Robert because in numbers 78 and N he also refers to the Great apparitions which have called us to pray
38:30 - 39:00 the rosary and so he makes reference to Lords Fatima uh and others U and it's interesting what he means by the others but if we look to the Maran message to the modern world we will not find any major Apparition that's been approved by the church even though now the church can't really approve apparitions anymore but that's a that's another discussion um you're not going to find one that that doesn't talk about the rosary and
39:00 - 39:30 the importance of the Rosary and praying the rosary you know that the last speaker at the 224 Eucharistic uh Congress in Indianapolis uh was Mother Adela Galindo uh who is who founded a beautiful order of the Pierce hearts of Jesus and Mary and at the end of her presentation she says strangle the Devil with the rosary strangle him now that's powerful language but it it's in the line of the
39:30 - 40:00 great Saints of saying that's how important I mean the fact that our lady would not give any major apparitional appearance without either the example of the Rosary as we have at Lords and her title at Fatima you know Robert's important remember she did not say I am Our Lady of Fatima she said I am Our Lady of the Rosary asked Fatima and and so the you you can't be responsive you can't be appreciative and C can't be obedient to the overall marriage Mar message of the
40:00 - 40:30 modern world without this call of the daily Rosary exactly and and we think of uh padrio St Padre Pio referring to the rosary as a as a weapon but Leo the 13th had already used that word but it's a spiritual weapon but you know and and I have met most Reverend Oliver Dash do a a bishop of majori in Nigeria and maybe you could tell the story of his uh his his vision yeah it's rather
40:30 - 41:00 remarkable Robert because his dicese was the predominant dicese that had been uh attacked by boo harim uh the the al-Qaeda extension into Nigeria and he went from around 120,000 members in his dases to less than 50,000 because Boo Haram had set up a really roadblocks I mean first of all
41:00 - 41:30 they destroyed at least 50 churches and and and buildings by by firing them but also had roadblocks and and people had to stop and say uh they would ask are you Christian or are you Muslim if they said Christian they would shoot him on the spot so Bishop do went before the Blessed Sacrament and essentially said Lord I am their Shepherd and the wolves are eating the Sheep I have to protect them what can I do and he testified and
41:30 - 42:00 then went on a speaking tour in sharing this that our Lord appeared to him and held out a sword and when Bishop Oliver reached for the sword it turned into a rosary and Jesus three times said boo Haram gone Bo Haram gone Bo Haram gone and you know this was so shocking for the bishop for six weeks he didn't tell anybody finally he told his clergy uh
42:00 - 42:30 and then it became a world story and in fact the presence of Boko Haram has almost been entirely eliminated in that dasis of majuri because of the power of the Rosary and this is a present day testimony to the rosary's absolute power over Satan and those who are sadly following the satanic route of violence and hatred uh and uh Waring on the faith yes exactly and and Bishop do endorsed
42:30 - 43:00 this wonderful book champions of the Rosary by father Callaway uh and father Callaway attests in his autobiography you know that that he was deep in into drugs and sin and and and and but it was really our lady who helped lift him out of this so This our lady makes use of people who were immersed in sin like blessed bartalo Longo father Callaway and then they
43:00 - 43:30 promote the rosary and they they they see its power and course maybe maybe you could respond to some people who say well it's so repetitious it's repetitious prayer uh how I mean I I could respond but I'd like to hear from you yes in fact you know U John Paul II talks about this as well the repetition is Meaningful repetition not monotonous repetition it's not the repetition that Jesus kind of condemns in in in
43:30 - 44:00 scripture the Mindless repetition it's precisely for the fact for the purpose of Greater depth in the prayer so you know there's a certain hierarchy to the prayer remember a book back in the 1940s by Ma Ward uh on the rosary uh where she says the beads are there for the sake of the prayer the prayers are there for the sake of the Mysteries and so when you have that repetition it's very much like the Divine Office the repetition we have in certain Psalms it's to get into a
44:00 - 44:30 greater depth of the mystery so this is not you just don't stay on the vocal level although the vocal level as you pointed out earlier is biblical the first part is clearly biblical the second part is a ecclesial prayer but the purpose is to get to the mystery and so I find it interesting that you know Eastern forms of meditation which cardinal Ron rightly warned against because they have a certain neoism to
44:30 - 45:00 them oftentimes that is to say the goal is not a union with God the goal is to annihilate self which can never be a Christian concept still there's a value to the repetition and John Paul in Rosario makes reference to people trying all these new more forms of repetition and and meditation he says why not try the rosary because that's the purpose of the repetition is a greater entry into the mystery no exactly and like St Paul
45:00 - 45:30 I 6 he stresses that it's a Biblical prayer it's a christocentric prayer it's a contemplative prayer and uh so we we we unite uh we remember Christ with Mary through this through the rosary we learn Christ from Mary when we pray the rosary we are conformed to Christ with Mary when we pray the rosary and we pray to Christ with Mary all of these are like headings there in rosarium virginis
45:30 - 46:00 Maria and we also Proclaim Christ with Mary so it's you know the you know uh holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death but it it it always you know uh blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus so really we get to the the the Heart of Jesus through Mary and that that she brought
46:00 - 46:30 Jesus to the world and now uniting with her because her heart like Cardinal Fernandez once said her heart is the deepest gospel so you we enter into her heart we have her as the teacher and then we unite to Christ with her right and and and in that document too and as as as we know through the history the rosary there's these three elements and I'm going to end you know with these three elements
46:30 - 47:00 and ask for any final words from you Robert first of all uh it's a Biblical prayer it is a it is a it is the greatest summary of The Gospel there's no way you could better summarize the New Testament than the now you know the 150 Mysteries uh the you know the 15 Mysteries and now 20 Mysteries of the Rosary it's the best possible we can have of the New Testament so first of all it's biblical secondly it's
47:00 - 47:30 this this combination of vocal prayer and meditation and in John Paul's rosarium document he says meditation leads to contemplation it's a it's a meditational effort on our part but it leads to contemplation where the Holy Spirit really takes over and becomes as is classically defined in mystical prayer the primary mover But ultimately it's a christocentric prayer because both greetings end with Jesus so people that
47:30 - 48:00 think that the rosary is somehow a competition between Jesus and Mary have missed the whole essence of the Rosary it is as John Paul says in that document it's contemplating the face of Christ with and Through the Heart of Mary and it doesn't get better than that than trying to really give all of our hearts to be United to the Sacred Heart of Jesus going through the sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of our Lady any final thoughts Robert well I just remember once reading an article by a Trappist
48:00 - 48:30 Monk and he was talking about how his mother was not you know educated in theology but she was faithful to the rosary and he said I always remember this he said I cannot see how anyone who praise the rosary devoutly cannot become a saint beautiful we have a universal call to Holiness and we have all of these holy men and women popes say um and our lady herself promoting the
48:30 - 49:00 rosary we would be foolish just to not not to pray it and I think some people have difficulty with it because they don't pray in the right way or if they have difficulty then learn to pray with a group you know and and and we think of the five uh first Saturday devotions you know that our lady uh um promoted it to through sister Lucia but what is what what is there there's the rosary there's the Eucharist and there's
49:00 - 49:30 confession these are our great supports of the faith right and it's interesting that she she she doubles down on the rosary and those promises five decks of the Rosary and then 15 minutes while meditating on any of the Mysteries with the intention of making reparation to me but some would say and you know sometimes I have students say well if we pray the rosary well can we just Nick the other 15 minutes the answer is no because our lady wants a guarantee
49:30 - 50:00 that we are meditating people that have problems with the rosary and again you know there could be a variety of reasons but many are just using it on the level of vocal prayer because if you have a problem with meditating on the rosary you really have a problem with the gospel and we don't want to have a problem with the gospel so the rosary is as bottomless it's as extensive as the New Testament and so that why it's so beneficial for us to ponder it so Robert
50:00 - 50:30 thank you so much uh for the excellent ex uh discussion of the Rosary but also a manifestation of testimony and exhibition of of faith in our lady in the rosary if she's not the mediatrix of all Graces we don't have a rosary thanks be to God she is and we do so thanks so much for being with us and I want to thank all of you for following us and continuing to uh Journey with us through through this master class in mariology we will continue with more Maran
50:30 - 51:00 devotions in our upcoming programs thanks again Robert uh and thank you all for being with us God bless you all