Satan hates it when we pray. He hates anything that strengthens our faith or assists us in growing closer to God. So, naturally, he hates when we pray the Rosary. This beautiful spiritual weapon is often overlooked, dismissed, or barely thought about by many Catholic faithful.
But as October is the month of the Rosary, we wanted to share how truly important the Rosary is in our fight against evil in today’s world—especially when it comes to threats to human beings, such as abortion.
A good mother is always ready and willing to help her children. If this is so with fallible people, it is even more so with our Blessed Mother. And in nearly every apparition, she has told people to faithfully pray the Rosary. In fact, legend tells us that Our Blessed Mother gave 15 promises to St. Dominic about devotion and recitation of the Rosary. Included among them are these: “You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary” and “All those who propagate the holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.”
There are many instances throughout history when the faithful prayed the Rosary, asking for Mary’s intercession and aid. One of the most famous was the Battle of Lepanto.
The year was 1571, and the Turks had been threatening invasion of the island of Cyprus, which would have then given them control of the Mediterranean Sea and put them in a greater position to attack and conquer countries such as France, Italy, and Spain. For many years, Pope Pius V had attempted to form an alliance of some of these countries, but it wasn’t until May 1571 that he was able to gather enough support and create the Holy League, which was made up of forces from Spain and Italy. They set sail, and on October 7, 1571, they met the Muslim fleet—which far outnumbered the Holy League—in the Gulf of Lepanto, off the coast of Greece. Pope Pius V asked all Catholics to pray the Rosary for the success of the Holy League. And after a five-hour battle, this vastly outnumbered fleet defeated the Muslims.
Pope Pius gave all the credit to Mary’s intercession and declared October 7 the Feast of Our Lady of Victory. Just two years later it was renamed the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and today we not only celebrate this victory, but we dedicate the entire month of October to this powerful spiritual weapon.
Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the children that Mary appeared to at Fatima, once said: “There is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families . . . that cannot be solved by the Rosary.”
Understanding that, American Life League founded the Marian Blue Wave—a Rosary initiative calling Catholics to “pray a weekly Rosary with the specific intentions of ending all surgical, pill, contraceptive, and IVF abortion and shutting down every Planned Parenthood facility in the United States.”
Abortion is the greatest evil of our time. We know that the slaughter of millions of innocent children breaks not only our hearts, but the hearts of Jesus and His mother. This is why we fight so hard to change hearts and minds about abortion and to teach the sanctity of all human beings, especially the preborn.
Over the last four years, the MBW has found great success, and as it prepares to celebrate its fourth birthday, it sees proof of Mary’s goodness in all its efforts. Our Lady has truly blessed this program. Today, MBW prayer partners number over 10,000 and come from all 50 states and 31 countries.
When you do the math, that comes to more than 520,000 Rosaries a year!
We know the immense power of prayer, and we know that all of these Rosaries said to protect innocent life are doing good. They are saving lives, for Mary does not make empty promises. We can take to heart her promise that she will come to our aid.
The MBW has not only been a blessing to the babies but to the participants and to the leaders of the program, as they can see the life-changing effects that a weekly Rosary has had. Katie Brown, director of the Marian Blue Wave, stated recently, “Leading this program has certainly given me a front-row seat to the good works of others and has helped me grow in virtue myself. But perhaps the best part is knowing this program has helped others grow in their faith and help grow a devotion to Our Lady.” She continued, “Praying a Rosary regularly has helped people deepen their faith and deepen their advocacy for life.”
Why is this so? Because the Rosary not only transforms individuals, it has the power to transform the world. Through the recitation of the prayers and the reflection on Christ’s life, we deepen our faith, we deepen our understanding of Christ’s love, and we attain the ability to then go and evangelize.
The Rosary truly changes us. It changes us because God’s love and Mary’s promises are the two most important things in this world that we can count on. When we invoke Mary’s help in fighting the evils of this world—including abortion—we know that she will come to our aid.
So this month of the Rosary, let us renew our devotion to this spiritual weapon. Let us take the time for this beautiful prayer. And let us never forget the promises Mary has made to us, for we can be sure that she will come to our aid.
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Some old geezer of my acquaintance walks 2.5 miles daily and prays a Rosary en route…takes an hour with all the intentions and reflections. The Rosary gives peace to the soul.
The term ‘abortion’ is a misnomer that plays into the hands of the atheists. It is murder in the womb, not abortion.
There is also no such thing as ‘pro-choice’ as ~60% of ‘Catholics’ reputedly are. One is either pro life or one is not.
Thanks to these people for popularizing the Holy Rosary.
Our priest doesn’t even join our very small Rosary group before our once a week daily Mass and will not allow it in the nave of the church before vigil or Sunday Mass cuz choir practice. All the chit chat sounds like an outdoor picnic.
getting frustrated. I have prayed the rosary pretty faithfully for a long time and have had some prayers answered through Mary’s intercession especially my cancer being cured years ago and with helping of family members with medical problems. I just cannot get my prayer answered to help fix or end my relationship that I am in. I have been praying for this for years. I know God’s time isn’t our time,but I am suffering and not happy in this relationship. I wish Mary would intercede and help either make it better for us or just end this realationship in a congenial way. Mary please help!
Our lady, I have the same problem with my husband. Our relation has gone so deeply broken that I ask your interaction to pray to Jesus to solve this situation. I also ask you to pray for my loved ones who have lost their faith and don’t practice their Catholic faith. Please mother Mary pray for their salvation of their soul. 🙏
We have had a weekly Rosary Rally for The Unborn in Savannah GA. for years and continue to go strong!
Blessings, All, on this First Saturday, Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary; thank you for this pro-life article of Rosary miracles, and for your dedicated work, Susan.
Mary’s 1208 Apparition giving St. Dominic the Heavenly aid, the Rosary, was gifted to him- of the Order of Preachers- to soften the hearts of the congregation before his Mass sermons ‘to water the dry soil of their hearts to bear fruit’, ridding the Albigensian heresy, reforming sinners. Tree of Life, Mary, Ark of the New Covenant, loves her priests- in persona Christi, and she likewise saves us, like Noe prefiguring Christ- in the Ark of Her Son’s Church. She birthed Our Savior, Our Church Head, and St. Louis De Montfort claimed, “in like manner, in the order of grace, the Head and the members are born of one and the same Mother” (True Devotion to Mary, 1843, p. 12). In the Descent of the Holy Ghost Mystery, he called Mary faithful Spouse of the Holy Ghost, and his Coronation Mystery stated She is “treasurer of the graces of God, the merits of Jesus Christ, and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost (Secret of the Rosary, 1863, p. 109).
Mr. S. Marshall, I had your same experience at an irreverent N. Ordo Liturgy and cannot return. My soul is in love with the glories of the Traditional Latin Mass. Note the connection of the Holy Rosary Mysteries to the Feasts of the Mass. The Holy Rosary and Traditional Mass’ sermons’ catechism sanctified my heart and my behaviors. As Rosary devotion promotes, I’m now evangelizing our parish neighborhood with our Legion of Mary, grateful for our Ark, the Church!
Rosary Devotee, Barry, I’m praying for your discernment; God’s timing is exquisite. May you evangelize your partner’s heart, sharing Truth in love. -Melodie Kirby
Since October 7th, I pray the rosary for life every day. Twice a month in front of a hospital with friends in Christ and Mary. Prayer is so important, hallelujah! Thank you, Melodie and Susan.
For your kind words, I am grateful; thank you, Paulo. I’m gifted to learn of our Faith; I’m delighted sharing herein.
Your daily Rosary prayers are commendable. Especially heroic, Church Militant Prayer Warrior, is your prayer witness, standing in front of a- (Please, Lord, “pro- life”?!) hospital for healings/saving God’s vulnerable pre-born.
True men kneel for Christ, saving God’s people. Columbus Day I learned of Blessed Fr. Michael McGiveny, who, having lost his own father, needed time away from his seminary studies to financially secure his mother and 12 siblings’ homestead. In his late twenties, Fr. Michael established the Knights of Columbus, as a holy Fraternity to serve widows and their children after the death of their husbands/father. (Rivaling the unholy Freemasons, the Knights routed them from his church town!)
Please pray for Fr McGiveny’s canonization? God seems to be spotlighting him- he, who is depicted in the church wall mural- holding the Monstrance, above a kneeling Knight of Columbus! His Thomaston, CT church is the site of a study determining authenticity of claims of a Eucharistic miracle this past year! —🎶Melodie Kirby
Abortion always meant killing the life in the womb. Because the realities inside there were not conspicuous or, in plain view, they had to rely on quickening to determine that there was life. So that even then, if the woman kept silent about the quickening, she knew the wrong she would do by bringing it to a termination. But in terms of sin, we can apply what our Lord said about adultery, just having it in your heart to kill the child, can amount to a mortal sin. People who support “pro-choice” and abortion, you are in grave danger of damnation, even never having abortion on your own child; it’s not mere politics.
Be clear in your mind that abortion was always known by men to be evil and such was the case long before the Christian Revelation. This is attested to in the Hippocratic Oath of the ancient Greeks. In the modern version of this oath, relevant parts are removed.
Men not only reject Christ they move themselves to want evil.
The emphasis in the rendering of the Oath, below, is added by me.
‘ I SWEAR by Apollo Healer, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and by all the gods and goddesses, MAKING THEM MY WITNESSES, that I will carry out, according to my ability and judgment, this oath and this indenture.
To hold my teacher in this art equal to my own parents; to make him partner in my livelihood; when he is in need of money to share mine with him; to consider his family as my own brothers, and to teach them this art, if they want to learn it, without fee or indenture; TO IMPART PRECEPT, oral instruction, and all other instruction to my own sons, the sons of my teacher, and to indentured pupils who have taken the Healer’s oath, but to nobody else.
I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients according to my greatest ability and judgment, and I will do no harm or injustice to them.
NEITHER WILL I ADMINISTER A POISON TO ANYBODY WHEN ASKED TO DO SO, nor will I suggest such a course.
Similarly I WILL NOT GIVE TO A WOMAN A PESSARY to cause abortion.
BUT I WILL KEEP PURE AND HOLY BOTH MY LIFE AND MY ART.
I will not use the knife, not even, verily, on sufferers from stone, but I will give place to such as are craftsmen therein.
Into whatsoever houses I enter, I will enter to help the sick, and I WILL ABSTAIN FROM ANY INTENTIONAL WRONGDOING OR HARM, ESPECIALLY FROM ABUSING THE BODIES AND MAN AND WOMAN, BOND OR FREE.
And whatsoever I shall see or hear in the course of my profession, as well as outside my profession in my intercourse with men, if it be what should not be published abroad, I will never divulge, holding such things to be holy secrets.
Now if I carry out this oath, and break it not, may I gain for ever reputation among all men for my life and for my art; BUT IF I BREAK THIS OATH AND FORSWEAR MYSELF, may the opposite befall me. ‘
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath