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It’s one thing to “say” the Rosary. It’s quite another thing to “know” the Rosary. In  Champions of the Rosary , by Donald H. Calloway, MIC, we not only learn how to “say” the Rosary, but we also learn of its history, as well as of those greats who came before us who championed the recitation of the Rosary. Most importantly, Fr. Calloway communicates to us WHY we should say the Rosary. The Rosary is a spiritual weapon, a heavenly sword, fashioned by the hands of the Divine Craftsman .  1 Fr. Calloway takes great pains to explain that the Rosary is a gift from God, given to St. Dominic via a visitation from the Blessed Mother. It is God, Himself, who designed the Rosary. It would take centuries to make the weapon, but, once completed, it would have the power to slay the malicious dragon since it would be equipped with the only thing capable of defeating him – the saving mysteries of the God Man.   2 Fr. Calloway teaches us that it is the faithful’s recitation of the Rosary th

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, marking the first of six visitations to three children in Fatima, Portugal. On May 13,1917, Lucia dos Santos, and Francisco and Jacinta Marto were tending their sheep when Mary first appeared to them, asking them to come to that same place on the 13 th  of every month for the next few months. Our Lady of Fatima Calls Us to Pray the Rosary In her visitations, Our Lady asked them to pray the Rosary daily to obtain peace. This request was made at the time of the first World War. On her third visitation, Our Blessed Mother gave the children a prayer to recite. We now say this prayer at the end of each of the five decades of the Rosary: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of thy merc y. In her apparitions, Our Blessed Mother continuously requested prayers for the reparation of sinners. Many times, when we recite the Rosary, we do just that; we pray f

With the upcoming Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, on Oct 7 th , I thought it might be appropriate to share with you a wonderful book, written by Meggie K. Daly. In  Bead by Bead: The Scriptural Rosary , Daly treats us to an insightful way to pray the Scriptural Rosary. You need not be an aficionado on the Rosary to appreciate this book. Perhaps you never said the Rosary but might be interested in learning how to do it. No sweat – Daly covers the basics to get you started. Bead by Bead, We Walk with Mary to Jesus Daly provides a history of how the Rosary evolved over the centuries. We learn that the Rosary is a living prayer, meant to change over time. For example, for several centuries, we said only the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries. Then in the 1970’s, Saint Pope John Paul II created the Luminous Mysteries to add to the Rosary. Anyone now can look back and go – duh! – of course we should have the Luminous Mysteries! You see, the Joyful Mysteries cover Jesus’

Madonna of the Rosary , Lorenzo Lotto  [ Web Gallery of Art ] Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.  When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of   James.  All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers ( Acts 1:12-14 ). First Reading, Mass of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. Still-Life with Symbols of the Virgin Mary , Dirck de Bray  [ Web Gallery of Art ] In October 2014 I published here a series of posts on the Rosary under the general title  The Rosary with the Great Painters , each post featuring five mysteries. Here I give links to each of those posts. Continue here .

by   childlogiclabs I know the devils plan.  The devil has been working up to this moment for a very long time. You see the devil has a lot of time to think and he is constantly retracing his steps to see where he went wrong ... TO READ THE REST OF THE DEVIL'S PLAN: CLICK HERE!

My hour of Perpetual Adoration was vastly different than I expected it to be. God has an incredible sense of humor, and he let me know right away who was in control. Click here   continue reading at  The Not So Perfect Catholic.

Have you been praying for the Rosary for years or maybe like me you avoided it because the very idea just screamed tedium. Thanks to some major Holy Spirit moments - I've been able to add this powerful prayer to my spiritual repertoire.  Spiritual Abacus My mind likes to wander, keeping my thoughts on a subject for longer than 15 seconds can sometimes be a challenge. My short attention span wreaked havoc on my ability to complete a Rosary until the Holy Spirit inspired a perfect plan for my brain. The beads on one of my favorite rosaries just happen to slide. As I was fingered my way through the prayers, I thought how it sort of resembled a Chinese Abacus. Suddenly, I thought, “What if I use each bead to as a counter – creating a ‘spiritual abacus’?” Now as I pray my Hail Mary's, I recall a particular person or intention as I moved from bead to bead. BUT wait there is more.... All rights reserved, Allison Gingas 2017

St. Francis Adoring the Crucifix The Catholic Church calls those that have extra-ordinary revelation, "mystics."  I do not like this term, The mystical is shunned and looked down on in our society because some people look on the mystic as someone unbalanced, or if their revelations are believed, then they are looked upon as a person who has attained a friendship with God to which no one else can attain. There is nothing farther from the truth... TO READ MORE CLICK HERE.

Today in prayer I asked God to send me to where there was the blackest of heart that needed prayer. I was inspired to go to a local Hospice.  I went into the building, not sure if I was in the right place, and finding the directory, I found where I needed to be.  Coming out of the elevators, I saw a chair and sat down.  To my right what looked like a sheriff standing guard outside one of the rooms.  There was a middle aged woman talking to him.  It was obvious that something very serious was happening in that room. ... TO READ MORE...CLICK HERE. 

Over the centuries many Saints have told us how powerful the Rosary is, but they didn’t tell us why or how the Rosary makes such a change in our world.  The following is an attempt at an explanation of the power of the Rosary The Rosary is one of the most powerful tools of portable semi- exorcism and soul purification.   Soul Purification: The Holy Rosary, if prayed with dedication, and singularity of heart, allows one that prays purification, a desire for the things of God's church which include the sacraments, and as God allows the soul will touch the edge of eternity in preparation for their judgment.  How can one prepare for eternity, if we have no tangible concept of the Holy Realm?  Can the finite touch the infinite? Yes, but only as God allows, for not by our own merit can man interact with eternity unless our hearts are aligned with God. God in His goodness has given us the Holy Sacraments of the Church as the way that a sinfully inclined man who will one day taste d

In all history of God there have been three ages and we are in the  last  of the three ages. The first age was the  Age of the Prophets ,  ....to find out what the other two ages are... CLICK HERE!

Did you get a load of this  New York Post article ? A New Yorker named Wednesday Martin just wrote a memoir called  Primates of Park Avenue , due out June 2. The book chronicles her experience with Upper-East-Side women who wear motherhood like an assault rifle. According to Maureen Callahan's article about the book, these moms pay $400 an hour for play-date tutors, enroll 3-month-old infants in music classes, and time pregnancies so their children will be the oldest ones in class. Loyola Press offers a  rosary kit  for children ages four and up. They sent me a kit and asked me to share my thoughts. So, I turned right around and shared the kit with some families (including one family with a son who has developmental delays), and asked what  they  thought. The  Loyola Press  rosary kit includes 61 prayer cards, 1 lacing string, 4 Mysteries of the Rosary cards, and a diagram explaining how to pray the rosary. Join me at Praying with Grace for the whole article!

Virgin with Jesus giving Holy Rosary to St. Dominic The most treacherous path you will ever take is the Warrior's Path You do not choose to be a Warrior,  God  chooses you , and His choice is quite terrifying.    When God chooses the Warrior, there is no false humility.  When God says to you,  "You ARE a Warrior,"  you don't say, "Oh no God...not me."  On the contrary, you say,  "Yes sir!"  and then you tremble  at what being a Warrior for God could truly mean.    The fear at being called as a Warrior, is to shake so violently before the Lord that you think every bone in your body will break.    The fear comes on the realization that a warrior will be given souls to fight for, and  will be asked to account  for them. When you are called to the path of the Warrior, it is a responsibility to be pure, obey,  and seek only the good of the other ,  never  thinking that you are doing anything for God. TO READ MORE...CLICK HERE!

There is no room in the new economy of God for Arrogant Catholics. We are arrogant about our faith with Protestants, and even arrogant among our selves as we have the Latin Mass click who thinks there's is the only Holy Mass.  Somehow their Mass is 'better' than any other.   Catholics who are arrogant have no clue what it means to truly be a Catholic.   The demon LOVES to see these squabbles!     The Catholic is for the OTHER, not for themselves, that mean's everyone.  There is no Holy Mass greater than another, for it is the same Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, and the same Jesus offered to God.    Is the Latin Mass beautiful, yes.  Is it awesome to kneel and receive Holy Communion, yes, but these are gifts, we have no "rights" to them.  To READ MORE...CLICK HERE!

Drawing by Anna Ponchak I believe God calls us to the vocation that is going to best help us encounter him and help us grow in holiness. The more we encounter him and grow in holiness, the more joy we will have. For me, that vocation is Motherhood.  My children have definitely helped me in my quest for holiness and have helped me grow closer to Christ. Through my first two, the Lord started teaching me about resting in him and receiving his grace. The next two helped teach me perseverance. Through my fifth child however, I feel like I have grown the most. You see, she was miserable from day one and continued to be that way until she turned four.        Continue Reading @ Beautifulthorns >

One day a new demon was asking questions of his demonic mentor, the elder demon assigned to show him the ropes so to speak.  "Why does the illustrious evil one hate humans so?"  asked the new demon. "You don't know?"   TO HEAR THE REST OF THE CONVERSATION...CLICK HERE!

I wrote this quite a while ago, but never shared it here. I have gone back to praying the rosary every day.  Usually at night before I go to bed.  The rosary is a prayer that I can easily get lost in.  I can lose my place, lose my focus or even drop it and wonder which bead I'm on! You can read the rest at Being Catholic ... Really .

This encounter started sometime back, I will begin there.   For some time after my husband's death, I had been not living a good life.  I was breaking a commandment pretty regularly.  It wasn't I was mad at God for my husband's death, it was because of the intensity of the pain I was suffering because of grief.   In truth, it hurt worse to go to Church than it did to sin.   I knew better, I had already had the Vision of the Eucharist, so I knew the truth, and I would say to myself, "What are you doing! You know better!!"  After three years, when my heart had healed sufficiently, it was time to come home. Mother calls.  ....TO READ MORE OF THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE VIRGIN...CLICK HERE.

Virgin and Child with a Rosary , Murillo, 1650-55 Museo del Prado, Madrid ‘The Rosary belongs among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation. Developed in the West,it is a typically meditative prayer, corresponding in some way to the “prayer of the heart” or “Jesus prayer” which took root in the soil of the Christian East.' [St John Paul II,  Rosarium Virginis Mariae , No 5.]’ The Rosary here is the formula prayed by members of the  Legion of Mary . There are various ways of beginning and ending the Rosary but the Five Mysteries are the heart of the prayer. The most common formula of the Rosary is  here . I have posted the four sets of the Mysteries of the Rosary on the Forum page of MISYONonline.com , the magazine of the Columbans in the Philippines of which I am editor. The links are below. You can also find the same posts on my personal blog, Bangor to Bobbio . All paintings from   Web Gallery of Art    The Joyful Mysteries ,  The M

Mom and Dad Head-to-Head in Family Jeopardy Today is my first post on this lovely, collaborative blog. How exciting! I'd like to share some intriguing stories about my recent family reunion which involved 43 people, a giant tent, a rotted board with rusty nails, a shattered patio table . . . and prayer.  Here's an excerpt to pique your interest: My mom and dad gave our whole family a great gift: they taught us how to pray. We prayed at meals, at bedtime, and whenever we heard a siren. We prayed the rosary. We went to church every weekend. We prayed at tense moments: when fighting grew chaotic, Mom would holler above the noise: "LET US SPEAK OF THE CHRIST CHILD!" We are strong-willed, flawed human beings, but we pray. I am convinced that this instinct to pray--an instinct cultivated by my parents through God's grace--has helped us remain conscious of our dependence on God. Read the whole report at Praying with Grace !