The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-05-13

to God and His Holy Mother; ID it
instructs the faithful; IT'D it is easy
and consoling and powerful; and IN)
it is fruitful in results.
- The Rosary is agreeable to God
,and. to. Mary beyond all expression,
for the reason that it is composed of
brayersf the most holy and. the most
perfectly that can be OFFERED in sight
of Heaven, the Lord S T5'aycr, the
Angelica Salutation and the DoXol-
ogy. The constant repetition of
these prayers, far from diminishing
their value, helps rather to enhance
ii, by inspiring greater fervor in
those who use the Rosary and by
rendering their piety more solid.
What augments the excellence of
the Rosary in the sight of God is the
circumstance that it recalls the
sublime mysteries of our holy faith
and the events treating of our redemp-
ton, all of which should be the
ordinary subjects of our meditations.
Besides, what need have we of
further proofs that the Rosary is
agreeable to Mary than the fact of
Lourdes? We must not forget that
when she came down from Heaven
and appeared to the little peasant
girl, Bernadette Soubirous, in the
Pyrenees, she held a Rosary in her
hand. IS
The Rosary is an instructive prayer,
During the recital the faithful are
going over leisurely and without
effort the great mysteries which are
the summary of our holy religion,
We find ourselves contemplating the
fifteen most dramatic and most
impressive scenes in human history.
scenes which not merely reveal the
truths of our faith, but at the same
time present to our admiration the
privileges of our Lord and His
Blessed Mother and the splendid
examples of their virtues. The great
feasts celebrated by the Church also
pass before our eyes, one after the
other, and help us to enter into the
spirit of the liturgical year, so that
our personal piety may harmonic
with the solemnity of the celebra,
tions.
The Rosary is as easy to recite as
it is consoling; it is not necessary to
be able to read or write, nor is a
book required, nor need ones work
be interrupted. 1t is the prayer
suited to all conditions and all ages.
The learned and the ignorant,
travellers, the sick, the deaf and
dumb and blind, the just and the
sinner-all will find the Rosary the
prayer suited for them. And is it
not a consolation to be able at all
times, in sickness or in health, in
daylight or inudarkness, to "speake to-
Mary, our life, our sweetness and
our hope" to crave the intercession
of her who is the ''consoler of the
afflicted?' Many pious Catholics
are not satisfied with one daily
recital of the beads; they say the
full Rosary, sometimes repeating it,
so easy and so consoling is the
practice.
What need be said now of the re-
suits of the practice? 1t was through
the fervent recital of the Rosary that
Saint Dominic and his followers
triumphed over hercsy which began
to raVage France in his age 1t was
with the same powerful weapon that
Christian armies Overcame the Turks
several hundred years later. Needless
to enumerate the instances so fire.
quent in church annals. Suffice it to
say, the Rosary has, in past ages been
a bulwark in defence of tile Church;
it has helped hundreds of millions of
Catholics to hold their gift of faith;
it has preserved them from dangers
to soul and body. Even beyond the
grave the influence of the Rosary is
felt; for it assuages the sufferings of
the souls in Purgatory.
1t would be impossible to count The
number Of those whoshave distinguish
ed themselves in the service of God
and His Church who always held the
Rosary in the highest esteem Who
has not in mind the classic example
of the holy old lay brother Saint
Alphonsus Rodigue2, whose fingers
had grown callous through the con-
slant granting of his beads? Plus
V, Francis Xavier, Charles Borromeo,
Vincent Ferrer, Francis of Sales, John
Berchmans, Peter Claver, and thou
sands of other saints, were not merely
faithful to the daily recital of the
beads, but they urged others to adopt
the same holy practice. Our present
Pontiff Benedict XIV, who considers
the Rosary "the most beautiful flower
OF human piety, and fruitful source
OF heavenly graces," also asks the
children throughout the world to be
faithful to this holy practice as a
means to meet the needs of the
Church and the world and the welfare
of individual souls.
The sadness of the present hour,
the weakness of the spiritual life
among millions, the necessity of bring
ing back to convulsed nations the
benefits of peace, the great need of
divine clemency, all call for some
united effort in prayer. No prayer is
more suitable than the Rosary. The
daily recital of it is a holy practice,
one that will draw down many graces
on those who shall have acquired the
habit. Let all our members, there
fore, be assiduous in raising their
arms in prayer to our Blessed Mother
and in asking her intercession; Mary