In addition to the many, constant, and strong recommendations from the Holy See to pray the most Holy Rosary let us now take a look at the great power of the Rosary.

First, there are the Fifteen Promises given by our Lady to Saint Dominic and later repeated to Blessed Alan de la Roche. Read through this slowly and carefully and after doing so please ask yourself whether or not by simply considering these you realize you really ought to be praying the most Holy Rosary every day…

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.

15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

One cannot read these promises without tears coming to your eyes. For in these promises one can find your salvation, because without these special graces from praying the Rosary, in these days, we will all have lost our faith long ago and abandoned the sacraments, which are the only means of attaining eternal life.

There are many miracles associated with the prayer of the Holy Rosary, but none more amazing and incredible than that of the conversion of Blessed Bartolo Longo who is now known as the “Man of Mary” and the great Apostle of the Rosary of the 19^th Century, but who was for many years a satanic priest. After his conversion he suffered terribly from temptations of despair when thoughts of his former life came to mind, but he found solace in our Lady and her Rosary and became such a powerful promoter of her and this devotion that he was even publicly commend by the reigning Pope of the day who is known to us as the Pope of the Rosary: Leo XII, who we saw much of yesterday. If you would like to hear the full story of this wonderful Blessed have a listen to this great sermon about him: From Satanic Priest to the Man of Mary: Blessed Bartolo Longo

“The entire Rosary has the beauty of reproducing the theological thoughts concerning Mary, they are reproduced in the entire dialectic of truth and deduction. Marian theology and the Rosary are two poems that are united into one, two hymns forming one hymn, two magnificent temples, two cathedrals of thought and piety, that come together as one… Here in the Rosary, piety speaks in the language of theologians. Here meditation rises to the heights attained by scholars. Here prayer dwells where the scholars are brought to a halt. Marian theology and the Rosary are therefore similar to two temples having at the same height their pinnacles and spires. The people of God in the Church have found the Rosary, its Book of Psalms. The clergy have the Divine Office, the people have the Rosary. Like The Divine Comedy, the Rosary is a trilogy: it recall the joys, sorrows, and triumphs of Jesus and in perfect symmetry, for each part it has five chants, and each chant in turn is an episode. The Rosary could very well be called the poem of human redemption. The Rosary is a poem that takes its lively but simplistic hues from the pure palette of the Gospel; while at the same time it draws its logical ties, its harmonious responses, its entire intimate dialectic from the highest theology.” -Blessed Bartolo Longo the Man of Mary

Another story of an incredible conversion worked by the Rosary is recounted by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori in the second chapter of his great work The Glories of Mary:

“Father Bovio (Es. E. Mir. p. 1, es. 2) relates that there was a wicked woman, named, Ellen, who entered a church, and by chance heard a sermon on the Rosary. On leaving the church she purchased a set of beads, but wore them concealed, as she did not wish it to be known that she had them. She began to recite them, and though she did so without devotion, our most Blessed Lady poured such sweetness and consolation into her soul during the whole time, that she could not cease repeating the Hail Marys. At last she was filled with such a horror for her wicked life, that she could no longer find repose, and was obliged to go to confession. She accomplished this duty with such contrition that the priest was filled with astonishment. After her confession, she went to the foot of an altar of the most Blessed Virgin, and there, as a thanksgiving to her advocate, said the Rosary. The divine mother then addressed her from the image in the following words: “Ellen, thou has already too much offended God and me; from this moment change your life, and I will bestow a large share of my graces upon thee.” The poor sinner, in the deepest confusion, replied: “Ah! most Holy Virgin, it is true that hitherto I have been a wicked sinner; but thou canst do all, help me; on my part I abandon myself to thee, and will spend the remainder of my life in doing penance for my sins.” With the assistance of Mary, she distributed all her goods among the poor, and began a life of rigorous mortification. She was tormented with dreadful temptations, but constantly recommended herself to the Mother of God, and thus was always victorious. She was favored with many extraordinary graces, with visions, revelations, and even the gift of prophecy. Finally, before her death, which was announced to her by Mary some days before it took place, the most Blessed Virgin came herself, with her divine Son, to visit her; and when she expired, her soul was seen flying towards heaven in the form of a beautiful dove.”

Amazing! And again one cannot help but highly recommend to you Saint Louis Marie de Montfort’s incredible little book the Secret of the Rosary, which is jam packed with wonderful stories of the power of the Rosary. Here is one in which he relates the great danger of working against the promotion of the Rosary:

“The learned Franciscan, Carthagena, as well as several other authors, says that an extraordinary event took place in 1482. The venerable Fr. James Sprenger and the religious of his order were zealously working to re-establish devotion to the Rosary and its Confraternity in the city of Cologne. Unfortunately, two priests who were famous for their preaching ability were jealous of the great influence they were exerting through preaching the Rosary. These two Fathers spoke against this devotion whenever they had a chance, and as they were very eloquent and had a great reputation, they persuaded many people not to join the Confraternity. One of them, the better to achieve his wicked end, wrote a special sermon against the Rosary and planned to give it the following Sunday. But when the time came for the sermon he did not appear and, after a certain amount of waiting, someone went to fetch him. He was found to be dead, and he had evidently died without anyone to help him.

At last he admitted his fault and that of his friend and in his heart he silently besought our Lady to help him. He promised that if only she would cure him, he would preach the Rosary with as much zeal as that with which he had formerly fought against it. For this end he implored her to restore his health and his speech, which she did, and finding himself instantaneously cured he rose up like another Saul, a persecutor turned defender of the holy Rosary. He publicly acknowledged his former error and ever afterwards preached the wonders of the Rosary with great zeal and eloquence.”

Now to conclude here is a sermon concerning easily the greats public demonstration of the incredible power of the most Holy Rosary: the Battle of Leponto.