By Fr. James Kosek
TRADITIO Traditional Roman Catholic Internet Site
E-mail List: traditio@traditio.com, Web Page: http://www.traditio.com
Copyright 1994-97 CV. Reproduction prohibited without authorization.
[From Volume 12, No. 3, of The Catholic Voice. Made available on the TRADITIO Internet Site with permission of The Catholic Voice, a
publication of The Society of Traditional Roman Catholics.]
Reading books has always been a passion of mine, ever since I was a child. My favorite books were adventure stories, science fiction
stories, and, oddly enough, stories about the lives of the saints. To enjoy reading the lives of the heroes of our Faith of itself isn't odd, for these stories are much more real and adventuresome than any
adventure could be. To this day, it never ceases to amaze me how these heroic individuals fought so gallantly for their Faith, in the face of overwhelming op position. Their commitment to Almighty God, and their cooperation with God's grace, gave them the ability to overcome the enemy and defeat him.
These soldiers of Christ fought in the army of God against the
enemies of God. They were trained for battle in the basic training camp better known as our Holy Mother Church. Their training manuals and
exercises for spiritual combat against the enemy were the Gospels and teachings of Jesus Christ, the catechism of Holy Mother Church;
attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the reception of the
Sacraments and daily prayer.
In order to give these soldiers every possible chance at victory,
they were also given training in the use of spiritual combat weapons known as sacramentals. One of the most important of these sacramentals is the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This treasure of spiritual gifts and blessings was given to St. Dominic by the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a tremendous weapon against the enemies of God.
The wealth and beauty of this devotion is unveiled as we journey
through the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries. From the
Annunciation by St. Gabriel, to the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and earth, each mystery gives us inspiration and strengthens our faith and love for Almighty God.
Praying the Rosary with love and meditation is like drinking cool
water in the midst of our spiritual desert. Because of this, the very presence of those who are devoted to reciting the Rosary instills fear into the hearts of the enemies of Christ. In fact, the Holy Rosary is feared to such a degree, that the forces of evil have gone out of their way to try to erase this holy devotion from the minds of Roman Catholics all over the world.
The chief agents carrying out this task have been the humanist-
modernists of our time. Not being content with tampering with and
destroying the Mass, they have even taken it upon themselves
to alter the words of the Our Father and the Hail Mary. Since the novus ordo reformation of the Second Vatican Council, modernists all over the world have attacked the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary the only way that they could do it and get away with it. They have ignored this
beautiful devotion in stead of propagating it.
One would think that the modernist clergy would do everything in
their power to please the Mother of God instead of ignoring Her Holy Rosary. How can this be? An answer might be found in a quotation from one of our great popes, Leo XIII. This holy Pope wrote so much on the devotion of the Holy Rosary to the point that history remembers him as
"The Pope Of The Rosary".
Regarding the importance of the Rosary, Pope Leo said, "We have
elsewhere brought it to the attention of the devout Christian that, not least among the advantages of the Rosary, is the ready means it puts into his hands to nurture his faith and to keep him from ignorance of his religion and the danger of error."
Now it becomes clear why the modernists do not want to propagate the devotion of the Holy Rosary. If, as Pope Leo XIII said, "it will keep him from ignorance of his religion and from the danger of error," how can the modernists succeed with a flock of well-informed sheep that refuse to follow them into error? As long as the Holy Rosary is being said, people saying it will receive the grace they need to avoid
error and seek out God's Truth.
We, as Roman Catholics, have an obligation entrusted to us by the
Holy Mother of God. She placed this most powerful weapon into our
hands. She wants us to use it in spiritual combat to defeat the enemy.
We need to keep up the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary and spread this devotion as far as we can.
We should never forget that we are at war! Our whole life is combat, and we can't rest from it for a minute. We need all the spiritual
weapons we can use to defeat the enemies, and the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the gre atest weapons we can use in the fight for salvation and eternal life. Let's make sure to take up this weapon of the Mother of God and shake it in the face of the devil and his minions. Acting thus, in a fearless manner, we can be sure we will gain the victory. Nothing is more powerful than prayer, and the Rosary is our sure prayer of victory after Holy Mass.
