Why pray the Rosary every day for a year?


Each time the Blessed Virgin has appeared-- whether it be to Saint Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes; to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco at Fatima; or to Mariette Beco at Banneux-- she has asserted the importance, saving grace, and power of praying the Holy Rosary on a daily basis. Based upon her words, the Rosary is penance and conversion for sinners, a pathway to peace, an end to war, and a powerful act of faith in Jesus Christ. Pope Paul VI presented the Rosary as a powerful means to reach Christ "not merely with Mary but indeed, insofar as this is possible to us, in the same way as Mary, who is certainly the one who thought about Him more than anyone else has ever done."

To show us how this is done, perhaps no one has been more eloquent than the great Cardinal Newman, who wrote: "The great power of the Rosary consists in the fact that it translates the Creed into Prayer. Of course, the Creed is already in a certain sense a prayer and a great act of homage towards God, but the Rosary brings us to meditate again on the great truth of His life and death, and brings this truth close to our hearts. Even Christians, although they know God, usually fear rather than love Him. The strength of the Rosary lies in the particular manner in which it considers these mysteries, since all our thinking about Christ is intertwined with the thought of His Mother, in the relations between Mother and Son; the Holy Family is presented to us, the home in which God lived His infinite love."


As Mary said at Fatima, "Jesus wants to use you to make Me known and loved. He wishes to establish the devotion to My Immaculate Heart throughout the world. I promise salvation to whoever embraces it; these souls will be dear to God, like flowers put by Me to adorn his throne."



July 7: Saint Palladius, First Apostle to the Scots

Posted by Jacob

Today, July 7, we celebrate the feast day of Saint Palladius (died 450), the first bishop of the Church in Ireland, and apostle to the Scots. Saint Palladius preceded Saint Patrick, paving the way for mass conversion of the green isle.


Saint Palladius was born in Rome, and is likely to have lived there, serving the Roman community for the majority of his adult life. He is known to have been married, and with his wife raised a daughter. Drawn to the contemplative life, however, he secluded himself from his family, and lived as an ascetic in Sicily, allowing his daughter to be raised by nuns in a convent on that island.

Rejoining Roman society, Saint Palladius was ordained a priest in 415, and was eventually elevated to Archdeacon of the Roman Church under Pope Celestine. In this role, he advised and encouraged the pope to send the Bishop Germanus to Britain, where he guided “the Britons back to the Catholic faith.”

Given the success of Bishop Germanus, Palladius himself was sent as the first Bishop to the Irish by Pope Celestine in the year 430. He had a difficult time, as a contemporary described: “God hindered him…and neither did those fierce and cruel men receive his doctrine readily, nor did he himself wish to spend time in a strange land, but returned to him who sent him.”

For twenty years, Saint Palladius labored in Ireland and Scotland, particularly around Leinster and Mearns. While he had little luck in Ireland, founding only three churches in his time, his foundational work is said to have prepared the countries for the arrival of Saint Patrick. Saint Palladius has considerably more success in Scotland, forming a considerable church, preaching with great zeal, and bringing many to the faith. He is referred to as the First Apostle to the Scots for this reason.

Church of Saint Palladius
Saint Palladius died at cell Fine (near modern-day Killeen), where his books, writings, and relics of Saints Peter and Paul were discovered. A church bearing his name remains.

While we know little of the life of Saint Palladius, we recognize the courage and zeal required for one to leave a home, travel to a distant land, and preach to an unwelcoming population. We pray today for that same courage and zeal, for the Word of God, and for those who have yet to hear it and believe.



Year 2: Day 188 of 365
Prayer Intentions: Zeal for the Word of God
Requested Intentions: For a daughter’s successful examination results (A); Occupational success, health and safety of family (S); Reduction in anxiety for husband, financial freedom (S); Healing for a sister-in-law (J); For a family experiencing a difficult child custody case (M); Reunification of a family struggling with separation (M): For a son struggling with mental illness (M); Successful examination results (B); To be freed from the chains of sin (J); Admission to a good university (M); For successful surgery (T); For a mother’s mental health and for kindness and forgiveness, for housing problems, for dental health (T); For the soul of a departed friend (X); Restoration of health (D); Successful employment for couple (N); For employment for children (K); For health of friend, for successful relationships for children, for safe pregnancy for daughter (C); For the health of a mother (J); Virtue for daughter (V); Successful acceptance to college for nephew (M); For the health of a cousin (T); Freedom from legal difficulties for husband (S); Husband’s freedom from illness (L).

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