“The daily Rosary has so many enemies that it seems to me one of the most important favours of God to be able to persevere in the practice of this devotion until death.” (Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Monfort)
Newsdesk (01/09/2022 9:00 AM, Gaudium Press) A few weeks ago, an article in the American magazine The Atlantic, written by the young historian Daniel Panneton, scandalized the Catholic public by its ostensibly offensive, inaccurate and arbitrary content. In that article, he refers to the Holy Rosary as an “extremist symbol, linked to conspiratorial politics and gun culture”.
Far from arguing against this flatus vocis, which seeks in vain to sully the immaculate physiognomy of Holy Church and the Blessed Virgin Mary, we will give here the 10 genuine “extremisms” of the Holy Rosary, based on the book “The Secret of the Rosary” written by Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort.
It is extremely useful for avoiding sin: “With the daily Rosary you will attain what is necessary to avoid mortal sin, to overcome all temptations, amid the torrents of iniquity of the world which often snatch away those who think themselves more secure, amidst evil spirits more cunning than ever before, and knowing that they have little time left to tempt, they do so with greater astuteness and success”.
Extremely effective in leading us to Jesus: Its recitation is a real ladder of twenty rungs by which we climb from virtue to virtue until we reach Jesus.
Extremely exorcistic: “Wield God’s weapon, which is the Holy Rosary! With it you will crush the devil’s head and will be able to resist all temptations. Hence it follows that even the physical Rosary is so terrible for the devil that the saints have used it to chain him and to pull him out of the bodies of the possessed – as so many stories attest”.
Extremely fruitful: Thus said the Blessed Virgin to St. Dominic, “My son, remember that when God wanted to renew the world, he first sent the rain of the Angelic Salutation. Thus the world was renewed. Exhort people in your sermons, then, to pray the Rosary and you will reap great fruits for souls”.
Extremely attacked: “Although the devotion of the Holy Rosary has been authorized by Heaven with many miracles and has received the approval of the Church by means of pontifical bulls, today there is no lack of libertines, impious and proud people who dare to defame the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary or to turn away the faithful from it. It is easy to recognize that their tongues are infected with the poison of hell and that they are moved by the impulse of the Evil One.
Extremely valuable in gaining Heaven: “One day Our Lord appeared to St. Gertrude, counting some gold coins. ‘What are you doing’ – she asked the Lord – ‘I count your Hail Marys – Jesus Christ replied – they are the coins with which Heaven is bought!'”.
Extremely victorious: “Our life is one of continual warfare and temptation (Cf. Job 7:1). We must fight not against enemies of flesh and blood, but against the infernal powers themselves (Cf. Eph 6:12). What better weapon can we wield to combat them than the Sunday Prayer (the Our Father) taught by our own Captain and the Angelic Salutation (the Hail Mary), which has driven away demons, destroyed sin and renewed the world?
Extremely infallible: “The Rosary, together with meditation on the life and Passion of the Lord, is very pleasing to Jesus Christ and to the Blessed Virgin and is very efficacious in obtaining what you desire. Let us therefore have recourse to the devotion of the Holy Rosary in all our needs, and we shall unfailingly obtain whatever we ask God for our salvation”
Extremely beneficial: Because it fills us with grace during life, with peace at the hour of death, and with glory in eternity.
Extremely pleasing to the Blessed Virgin: “Greet the Blessed Virgin, honour your kind Mother! (…) Present to her at least fifty Hail Marys every day, each containing fifteen precious stones, which please Mary more than all the riches on earth. What will you not then be able to expect from her generosity?”
“The Daily Rosary has so many enemies that it seems to me one of the most important favours of God to be able persevere in the practice of this devotion until death. Persevere and you will attain the wonderful crown, prepared in heaven for your fidelity: Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life (Rev 2:10)” (150).
By Guillermo Torres Bauer
