A Better Catholic

"To pray the rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and his Mother." - John Paul II

Did you ever wonder what the 15 promises of the Blessed Virgin Mary were and where they came from?  


Blessed Alan de la Roche and Dominic the Prussian, revived the Rosary during the last quarter of the 15th century, after a period of about 100 years where the Rosary had been forgotten. Thousands were inspired by Bl. Alan's claim that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him, telling him to take up the work started by St. Dominic, the founder of Bl. Alan's own order.


1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.


2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.


3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.


4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.


5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.


6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.


7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.


8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.


9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.


10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.


11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.


12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.


13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.


14. All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.


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

I remember when I was a child, I used to practice and pray the Holy Rosary.  I have a pamphlet which my mother bought me that guide me on how to pray the rosary.

I admit that as I grew up I wasn't able to recite this anymore.  All I did was to study and do the usual daily activities, until I graduated and worked and forget about the holy rosary, though I do pray to God daily, and I'm sure of that!

Now as I grew old I want to know more about God and his teachings and I believe that praying the Holy Rosary is one means of becoming a better catholic.

How to Pray the Rosary

1.While holding the crucifix make the Sign of the Cross and then recite the Apostles Creed.

2.Recite the Our Father on the first large bead.

3.On each of the three small beads recite a Hail Mary for an increase of faith, hope and charity.

4.Recite the Glory Be to the Father on the next large bead.

5.Recall the first Rosary Mystery and recite the Our Father on the next large bead. The Joyful Mysteries are meditated on Monday and Saturday, Sundays of Advent and after Epiphany until Lent. The Sorrowful Mysteries are meditated on Tuesday and Friday, and Sundays in Lent. The Glorious Mysteries are meditated on Wednesday and Sunday. The Luminous Mysteries are meditated on Thursday.

6.On each of the adjacent ten small beads (also refered to as a decade) recite a Hail Mary while reflecting on the mystery.

7.On the next large bead, recite the Glory Be to the Father. The Fatima decade prayer may also be said.
8.Each succeeding decade is prayed in a similar manner by recalling the appropriate mystery, reciting the Our Father, ten Hail Marys, the Glory Be to the Father, and the Fatima decade prayer (optional) while reflecting on the mystery.

9.When the fifth mystery is completed, the Rosary is Customarily concluded with the Hail, Holy Queen.

How about you, do you remember reciting the Holy Rosary during your childhood days?

What the Rosary Is

The word Rosary means "Crown of Roses". Our Lady has revealed to several people that each time they say a Hail Mary they are giving her a beautiful rose and that each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses. The rose is the queen of flowers, and so the Rosary is the rose of all devotions and it is therefore the most important one.

The Rosary is made up of two things: mental prayer and vocal prayer.

In the Holy Rosary mental prayer is none other than meditation of the chief mysteries of the life, death and glory of Jesus Christ and of His Blessed Mother. The original fifteen mysteries are divided into Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious. John Paul II added in 2002 the Luminous Mysteries, or Mysteries of Light.

Vocal prayer consists in saying fifteen or five decades of the Hail Mary, each decade headed by an Our Father, while at the same time meditating on and contemplating the fifteen principal virtues which Jesus and Mary practised in the fifteen mysteries of the Holy Rosary.The complete Rosary consists of fifteen decades, but is more commonly said in five decades.

So the Rosary is a blessed blending of mental and vocal prayer by which we honor and learn to imitate the mysteries and the virtues of the life, death, passion and glory of Jesus and Mary.

The Holy Mother Church received the Rosary in its 15 mysteries form in 1214 in a miraculous way, when Our Lady appeared to Saint Dominic and gave it to him as a powerful means of converting the heretics and other sinners. Since then the devotion spread around the world with incredible and miraculous results.

Benefits of the Rosary

1. It gradually gives us a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ.
2. It purifies our souls, washing away sin.
3. It gives us victory over all our enemies.
4. It makes it easy for us to practice virtue.
5. It sets us on fire with love of Our Lord.
6. It enriches us with graces and merits.
7. It supplies us with what is needed to pay all our debts to God and to our fellow men; and finally, it obtains all kinds of graces for us from Almighty God.

Blessings of the Rosary

1. Sinners are forgiven.
2. Souls that thirst are refreshed.
3. Those who are fettered have their bonds broken.
4. Those who weep find happiness.
5. Those who are tempted find peace.
6. The poor find help.
7. Religious are reformed.
8. Those who are ignorant are instructed.
9. The living learn to overcome pride.
10. The dead (the Holy Souls) have their pains eased by suffrages.

Source:  Our Lady Of Guadalupe