Living Under The Mantle: Novena Of Beauty, Day 6

I didn’t want to be Catholic any more. 1992 was the worst year of my life and I was a bitter, angry shell. But somehow, against my will, I was drawn to the Rosary. I didn’t even know how to pray it, but I asked my mother to teach it to me. A whirlwind conversion followed, the power of which stays with me to this day.

Even after the Blessed Mother had drawn me back to Jesus and to the sacramental life of the Church, I swore I’d never wear that “ugly” brown scapular. But when my God-child, Samantha, who was attending Saint Thomas Aquinas College at the time, explained its power to me, I was suddenly overcome with a desire to wear it. Again, deeper conversion and many signal graces accompanied this new reliance on the Blessed Mother’s intercession.

One day, I caught sight of the best bumper sticker I have ever seen. It read, “ANGRY? Need a Weapon? Pray the Rosary!” I laughed, because the angry person I was no longer existed. My life had been transformed.

Saturday has long been considered “Mary’s day,” as Sunday is the Lord’s day. Devotion to Our Lady is especially highlighted through liturgies, prayers, and songs.

So, today, let’s remember Mary’s request, given to the shepherd children at Fatima, that we all pray for peace through the daily recitation of the Rosary, and take hope in the promises of Our Lady to all who pray the Rosary.

The 15 Promises of Our Lady made to St. Dominic and Bl. Alan de la Roche

1) To all those who shall recite my Rosary devoutly, I promise my special protection and very great graces.

2) Those who shall persevere in the recitation of my Rosary shall receive some signal grace.

3) The Rosary shall be a very powerful armor against hell; it will destroy vice, deliver from sin, and dispel heresy.

4) The Rosary will make virtue and good works flourish, and will obtain for souls the most abundant divine mercies; it will substitute in hearts love of God for love of the world, and will lift them to the desire of heavenly and eternal things. How many souls shall sanctify themselves by this means!

5) Those who trust themselves to me through the Rosary, shall not perish.

6) Those who shall recite my Rosary devoutly, meditating on its mysteries, shall not be overwhelmed by misfortune. The sinner shall be converted; the just shall grow in grace and become worthy of eternal life.

7) Those truly devoted to my Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.

8) Those who recite my Rosary shall find during their life and at their death the light of God, the fullness of His graces, and shall share in the merits of the blessed.

9) I shall deliver very promptly from purgatory the souls devoted to my Rosary.

10) The true children of my Rosary shall enjoy great glory in heaven.

11) What you ask through my Rosary, you shall obtain.

12) Those who propagate my Rosary shall be aided by me in all their necessities.

13) I have obtained from my Son that all the members of the Rosary Confraternity shall have for their brethren the saints of heaven during their life and at the hour of death.

14) Those who recite my Rosary faithfully are all my beloved children, the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.

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