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."



November 2: Solemnity of All Souls

Posted by Jacob

Yesterday, November 1, we celebrated the Solemnity of All Saints—those holy men and women, known and unknown, who have attained the sanctity of heaven through the grace of God. Today, on the Solemnity of All Souls, we turn our attention from the Church Triumphant (Heaven) to the Church Suffering (Purgatory). Today, we pray for the purification of the souls in Purgatory, remembering those who have gone before us, and entreating the Lord to take them into Heaven.

Theologically, we realize that some individuals, at the moments of their death, are immediately granted the rewards of Heaven. These are the saints we recognize and pray to for intercession. However, we also realize that for some of the faithful departed, ho died in the faith of friendship of the Lord, their souls (upon departing from the body) are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions. These souls cannot not yet attain the Beatific Vision—the reality and goodness of God and Heaven, and must be purified from the temporal effects of their sins. The Church refers to his purification of the elect as “Purgatory,” and recognizes that the faithful on earth can help the elect trhough prayers, alms, deeds and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass.

While no official dogma exists regarding the duration or extent of purification in Purgatory, saints and writers (among them, Saint Augustine), have referred to Purgatory through the metaphor of fire. Pope Benedict XVI has stated that Purgatory may be an “existential state” as opposed to a temporal plane, and may be experienced outside the confines of space and time as we understand it. We look to Purgatory as a time of preparation, as we are scrubbed clean before entering the pure presence of the Almighty God.

The Church's teaching about Purgatory, the place of purification, is explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

"All who die in god's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter heaven.


The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:


As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.


This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: 'Therefore [Judas Maccabeus' made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.' From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead.”

We pause today, on this, the Feast of All Souls, to remember those who went before us marked by the sign of faith. Together, in the communion of the saints, Our Lord, and Our Blessed Mother, we pray for their purification and eternal joy in the light of Heaven!



Merciful Father,
hear our prayer and console us.
As we renew our faith in Your Son,
whom You raised from the dead,
strengthen our hope that all our departed brothers and sisters
will share in His resurrection,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen




Year 2: Day 306 of 365
Prayer Intentions: The purification of the souls of Purgatory.
Requested Intentions: Restoration of a marriage (A); Peace and tolerance in a family, support for those with Parkinson’s Disease (M); For the restoration of a daughter’s marriage, end to debt (S); Employment and continued strength (K); Successful examinations for a son (J); Employment and blessings of a child (S); Employment and financial security (F); Successful work placement, continued health (A); Grace and healing for a family (P); Healing of a father (M); Academic success for son, employment for husband and brother (B); Freedom from anxiety and panic attacks (R); Health and healing in preparation for surgery (C); Healing of a chronic illness (P); Safety of a family during storms (A); Successful home ownership (P); Healing of a marriage (M); Employment for a husband, blessings for a marriage (E); Successful examinations for a daughter, healing of a relationships (V); Blessing for a family (V); Healing of baby girl M and all children suffering (M); Special intentions (R); Business success, peace, health (E); Conversion and deliverance of those who suffer, increase in vocations (M); Financial security and safe housing (M); For a daughter (K).

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