It is October again, the month dedicated to the Holy Rosary, and today on Rosary Sunday, we are reminded of how important the Rosary is. The Rosary is not a human invention. It comes from Heaven, because it was given by Our Lady to St Dominic in the early 13^th century as a weapon against the Albigensian heresy. The Albigensians denied the goodness of creation and the material world and that God had become man in JESUS Christ. Our Lady told St Dominic the Rosary would be the antidote, because it is a meditation on the mysteries of Christ, the very things the Albigensian heretics were attacking. And once St Dominic started to preach the Rosary, souls were converted, error was refuted and the truth of the Gospel triumphed. So the Rosary is the weapon from Heaven in times of crisis.

We complain a lot today about the state of our country and the world. Many believe we are on the brink of a Third World War. There is corruption in politics, dishonesty in the media, violence on the streets, children being corrupted and confusion in the Church. Sin is promoted and truth silenced. Evil is now so brazen, it parades itself openly in public. But complaining won’t fix anything or save a single soul. Our Lady, however, has given us the solution: the Rosary.

At the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, Christendom was facing complete destruction. Pope St Pius V (1504-1572) ordered the whole of Christendom to start praying the Rosary for victory over the Turkish fleet. The odds were hopeless, and yet through Our Lady’s powerful intercession, the Christian fleet was victorious. But that victory wasn’t won by ships and cannons. It was won by beads and prayer!

In 1917, Our Lady came to Fatima in Portugal. She warned of wars, persecutions of the Church and the loss of countless souls. And she gave the same instruction: “Pray the Rosary every day.” She didn’t say pray it once in a while or when you feel like it. She said pray it every day. If people didn’t heed her call, she prophesied catastrophic things for the world and for the Church, many of which have already come to pass. She said we can prevent or lessen the severity of what is still to come if we are faithful to the Rosary and the Devotion of the Five First Saturdays. The Mother of God has given us the solution to the world’s problems!

People often say, “I find the Rosary hard and I get distracted.” If that’s the case, don’t be discouraged. Even the greatest saints struggled with prayer. What matters is that we are faithful and that we stick at it. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Distractions will always come, but every time you refocus and carry on praying, you are proving your love for JESUS and Mary. And if an entire Rosary seems overwhelming, start with a single decade and pray it well. You can even pray it while you’re driving, walking or on the train. Carry your Rosary with you and use it throughout the day, and you’ll soon find it becomes a very natural thing to do. Families should pray the Rosary together. Children love it. Many years ago Fr Patrick Peyton (1909-1992), also known as  the “Rosary Priest” coined the phrase, “The family that prays together stays together” and he was meaning especially the Rosary.

And remember this: the devil hates the Rosary because it is so powerful. If you feel tempted to give up, that’s a sign you’re holding a weapon that really threatens him. Even when you’re tired and distracted, every Hail Mary is a rose placed in Our Lady’s crown and a hammer blow to the head of the devil. Our Lady told St Dominic that the Rosary was the “battering ram.” In other words, it takes many faithful Catholics praying all those Hail Marys to knock down the gates of Hell. So take courage! Pray as you can, not as you can’t. The important thing is to begin, to keep going, and then trust Our Lady to do the rest.

Fr Paul Gillham, IC