The Excellence of the Rosary

The Excellence of the Rosary

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Title: The Excellence of the Rosary Conferences for Devotions in
Honor of the Blessed Virgin
Author: M. J. Frings
Release Date: April 14, 2006 [EBook #18170]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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THE EXCELLENCE OF THE ROSARY
CONFERENCES FOR DEVOTIONS IN HONOR OF THE BLESSED
VIRGIN
BY REV. M. J. FRINGS

NEW YORK JOSEPH F. WAGNER
Nihil Obstat REMIGIUS LAFORT, D.D. Censor
Imprimatur JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY Archbishop of New York
NEW YORK, September 19, 1912
Copyright, 1912, by JOSEPH F. WAGNER, NEW YORK
CONTENTS
I. THE NAME OF THIS DEVOTION II. THE ORIGIN OF THE
ROSARY III. THE POWER OF THE ROSARY IV. THE SIGN OF
THE CROSS V. THE APOSTLES' CREED VI. THE GLORY BE TO
THE FATHER VII. THE OUR FATHER VIII. THE HAIL MARY IX.
THE PRAYER TO INCREASE THE THREE DIVINE VIRTUES X.
THE EXCELLENCE OF THE ROSARY IN REGARD TO ITS FORM
XI. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE ROSARY ON ACCOUNT OF THE
MYSTERIES COMMEMORATED

THE ROSARY CONFERENCES FOR SODALITIES B. V. M.

I. THE NAME OF THIS DEVOTION
"I was exalted as a rose plant in Jericho."--Eccles. xxiv, 18.
My dear brethren, when Pope Pius IX, on May 23, 1877, gave audience
to a number of pious pilgrims he said to them: "Have courage, my dear
children! I exhort you to fight against the persecution of the Church and
against anarchy, not with the sword, but with the rosary, with prayer
and good example." This Pope, who with great wisdom and strong
hand has guided for thirty-two years the bark of Peter, which in many
violent storms had been rocked to and fro, he who well knew the great
dangers of our times, regarded the rosary as a conquering weapon.

What great confidence his successor, Pope Leo XIII, placed in the
veneration and invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by means of the
rosary! He exhorted all Christianity to pray the rosary daily during the
month of October, in order to obtain assistance in these distressing
times. In his brief on this occasion Leo XIII says: "It has been a
favorite and prevalent custom of Catholics, in times of need and danger,
to take refuge in Mary, and to seek consolation from her motherly
concern."
Thus the firm reliance and confidence rightly placed by the Catholic
Church in the mother of God is stanchly avowed.
As a matter of fact, Mary, the immaculate Virgin, free from original sin,
the chosen mother of God, is endowed with such power by her Son, as
no other creature, man or angel, has ever received or can receive.
The efficacy of this great devotion to the great Queen of Heaven had
been demonstrated especially when false teachings, depravity, or other
great enemies threatened disaster to Christians.
History, early and recent, relates how public and private devotion to the
mother of God was held in times of calamity and distress, and how
these prayers were heard, and help was granted. Thus originated the
exalted titles which Catholics give to the Blessed Virgin, such as Help
of Christians, Refuge of Sinners, etc.
To these titles was added another, when under date of December 10,
1883, Leo XIII directed that the title "Queen of the Rosary" be added to
the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. In his brief the Holy Father expresses
the desire that all the faithful practise daily the devotion of the rosary.
If, therefore, the rosary is considered of such great power and efficacy
by the head of the Church, the representative of Christ, it is befitting
that we heed his words and pray often and devoutly by means of the
rosary.
If this prayer were better understood it would be prayed with more
devotion, and greater benefit would come from it. In order, then, to
spread a better knowledge, and to urge the devout recital of the rosary,

let us contemplate this devotion in a course of instructive addresses.
The name rosary may be the subject of to-day's discourse.
The devotion of the rosary consists in the recital of a fixed number of
Our Fathers and Hail Marys, combined with the meditation on certain
mysteries from the lives of Jesus and Mary. The name rosary is
significant. It is a symbol of Mary, also of the devotion to her. We will
endeavor to make this