All her friends say Carolyn Killian gives the best birthday gift ever. The best, and that’s no overstatement.
Not an Amazon gift card. Nothing from Saks. Not even Nordstrom.
She prays the Rosary for their intentions, and that’s a birthday gift money can’t buy. A birthday gift with rewards you’ll never fully appreciate until the next life.
And when they tell her it’s a great gift, Carolyn responds, “Yes, it’s the best gift that you didn’t even know you needed.” Plus, it opens their eyes to what is truly important in life.
The Blessed Virgin, herself, urged us to recite the Rosary during her apparitions at Lourdes and Fatima, where she told thousands of people, who gathered on October 13, 1917: “I am the Lady of the Rosary. I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask for pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord anymore, for he is already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary. Let them continue saying it every day.”
The Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary is October 7, and during this month, Catholics should make an extra effort to say the Rosary faithfully because the Blessed Mother never hesitates in answering our prayers, and there’s historical proof.
On October 7, 1571, a Catholic alliance of warships confronted the Islamic empire off the western coast of Greece in the Battle of Lepanto.
The night before the naval battle that would determine the future of Christian Europe, sailors knelt in prayer to the Blessed Mother, in union with the faithful throughout Christendom.
Dominican Pope Pius V believed Our Lady’s spiritual assistance was their only hope in a fight where the fleet of the Holy League, from Christian maritime kingdoms, was gravely outnumbered. A loss would let the Ottoman Turks take over European territories, including Rome.
After four hours of battle, involving 400 warships, the much smaller fleet of the Holy League was victorious. Pope St. Pius V saw the Blessed Mother in a vision, announcing the victory, and in appreciation, he instituted the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, which eventually became the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary.
We need the Rosary now more than ever. I recently saw a bumper sticker that said, “Save America. Pray the Rosary.” It’s pretty clear America needs saving. Politicians can’t do it, even though most of us spend our lives intoxicated by that fantasy. So instead of putting our faith in a system that’s flawed, why not put our faith in someone who is flawless and keeps her promises: Our Lady of the Rosary.
Venerable Lucia dos Santos, one of the three seers at Fatima, once said, “There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot solve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.”
St. Padre Pio famously proclaimed, “The Rosary is the weapon for these times.” And Blessed Pope Pius IX was so confident of its power he said, “Give me an army saying the Rosary, and I will conquer the world.” If you’re not praying the Rosary, it’s time to start. I’m convinced that when we get to the heavenly banquet, the people sitting at the head of the table won’t be world leaders or the powerful or the rich and famous or the celebrities with millions of followers. It will be ordinary people, among whom are those who recited the Rosary and urged Our Lady to open the infinite reservoirs of grace for this troubled world.
Father Jim Sullivan, rector of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury, Conn. often recounts stories from many years ago of his family in Ireland, when in the evening you could walk through the village, and look through open windows to see every family praying the Rosary by candlelight. It’s time for the ways of our fathers to become the ways of our future.
How often do we watch the evening news and come away despairing because of another scandal, another conflict that threatens to turn into World War III, or another instance of good being called evil and evil being called good?
Our only hope for true change is prayer, and one of the most powerful prayers, preferred by the Blessed Mother, is the Rosary.
So start praying it every day and become a person committed to changing the world for the better. Pray for your family, pray for your friends, pray for your enemies, pray and don’t stop praying.
