Power of the Rosary---is this True?

[MariaG]

Hi Edwin,
Everyone who is Christian, understands and loves the Holy Spirit. Everyone who is Christian does not love and understand the role of Mary. Catholic Christians do not feel the need to show how important the Holy Spirit is in our lives because we all assume other Christians are very much aware of this fact. Obviously this is a wrong assumption.

Not a perfect analogy but: Do you love child #1 less than child #2 just because your neighbor only hears you say I love you to child #2? Does this mean just because your neighbor never hears you saying I love you to child #1 that you don’t love him as much or that you don’t even tell him you love him? Or is it that your neighbor just doens’t hear you saying it? You only have a small portion of Catholic beliefs that are discussed. Usually what gets discussed is what other Christians disagree about, like Mary or the Pope, and not what we agree about.

Here is a more balanced view. monksofadoration.org/121.html

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. Unlike the
Father and Son, we do not have an image of Him except that of a
dove. Yet, the Holy Spirit is very intimately part of our life.
Those in the state of grace are temples of the Holy Spirit - He dwells in them. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is one of correspondence. He inspires us, sometimes even without our full realization, to love God and neighbor. At times His work is very evident - we feel drawn to go to Confession, we weep over a picture of Our Lord’s Passion, we remember a certain passage from Sacred Scripture, etc. The Holy Spirit, also known as the Sanctifier, is
trying to form us into the Image of Jesus. We need to learn to
discern His promptings within us. As we become more docile we will enter into a deeper relationship with Him.

This site is made not for apologetics, but for Catholic Christians to reach deeper into their relationship with Christ. Try going there and reading some things. I think you will get a much more balanced idea of Catholic Christian prayer and worship.

I hope this helps you to understand that Catholics Christians have a deep and personal relationship with Christ, that we look to the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. And that our relationship with Mary in no way diminishes our love and worship of God, but only strenghthens it. (Kind of like surrounding yourself with good Christians makes it easier to follow Christ than if you hang out in a bar every night.)

I hope you go there and get a more balanced view of what Catholics actually do and believe. It is all about Christ.
Your sister in Christ,
Maria

 

[edwinG]

MariaG:

Hi Edwin,
Everyone who is Christian, understands and loves the Holy Spirit. Everyone who is Christian does not love and understand the role of Mary. Catholic Christians do not feel the need to show how important the Holy Spirit is in our lives because we all assume other Christians are very much aware of this fact. Obviously this is a wrong assumption.

Not a perfect analogy but: Do you love child #1 less than child #2 just because your neighbor only hears you say I love you to child #2? Does this mean just because your neighbor never hears you saying I love you to child #1 that you don’t love him as much or that you don’t even tell him you love him? Or is it that your neighbor just doens’t hear you saying it? You only have a small portion of Catholic beliefs that are discussed. Usually what gets discussed is what other Christians disagree about, like Mary or the Pope, and not what we agree about.

Here is a more balanced view. monksofadoration.org/121.html

This site is made not for apologetics, but for Catholic Christians to reach deeper into their relationship with Christ. Try going there and reading some things. I think you will get a much more balanced idea of Catholic Christian prayer and worship.

I hope this helps you to understand that Catholics Christians have a deep and personal relationship with Christ, that we look to the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. And that our relationship with Mary in no way diminishes our love and worship of God, but only strenghthens it. (Kind of like surrounding yourself with good Christians makes it easier to follow Christ than if you hang out in a bar every night.)

I hope you go there and get a more balanced view of what Catholics actually do and believe. It is all about Christ.
Your sister in Christ,
Maria

Hi Maria,
Thank you for the caring post.
I will go to the site but I am short of time as I am back at work so it may take me a few days. Is it a forum? I want to see an outpouring for the Holy Spirit greater than I see for Mary, because there is no comparison between them. As I asked in an earlier post, tell me the name of the post and the number on any thread here on this site and let us compare the posts of Mary and the Holy Spirit. Your tongue reveals your heart Maria, so you can not hide the fact by saying you love the Holy Spirit but you dont talk about it very much. He is working in your life every moment of every day and you dont want to praise Him? I am aghast.
Convince me I am wrong and make me happy Maria.
Christ be with you
walk in love
edwinGhttp://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon7.gif

 

[faithfulservant]

contarini,
the link maria gave you is just a reflection of one of the monks in florida on the Holy Trinity and prayer… there are many more articles on the site reflecting on many things… it’s what that order does…they are contemplatives dedicated to Eucharistic Adoration, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

 

[sarcophagus]

I’ve always been atheist, well I know there is a God, but I don’t know anything about it. I was raised that way. Actually, my family doesn’t even believe in God, they only become christians when it is convenient, ie. funerals, weddings, where everyone else is. The only christian influences I have was my nanny, my husband and his family. The only catholic influence was my nanny. As a child, she used to teach me many things, one was the rosary. I do know the prayers but never pray them because I was taught not to. I still have the rosary she gave me, it hangs on the wall above our bed. Although I don’t really undrestand it’s power, I know that I feel great comfort from it’s presence, i guess that means it’s pretty powerful.

 

[Stylteralmaldo]

edwinG:

…As I asked in an earlier post, tell me the name of the post and the number on any thread here on this site and let us compare the posts of Mary and the Holy Spirit…

…Convince me I am wrong and make me happy Maria.

Hello EdwinG. The key to understanding Marian devotion is understanding that it is all about God…including the Holy Spirit. Right in the middle of the glorious mysteries Catholics meditate on the descent of the Holy Spirit (3rd Glorious mystery). I love meditating on this mystery of God…True devotion of meditating on the rosary is understanding that Mary is praying with us.

Have you looked at marian devotion with the possibility that it could be a proper prayer or have you looked at it as probably not being a proper prayer? If it is the latter, you are not giving the devotion a fair trial.

Take care and God bless.

 

[faithfulservant]

sarcophagus:

I’ve always been atheist, well I know there is a God, but I don’t know anything about it. I was raised that way. Actually, my family doesn’t even believe in God, they only become christians when it is convenient, ie. funerals, weddings, where everyone else is. The only christian influences I have was my nanny, my husband and his family. The only catholic influence was my nanny. As a child, she used to teach me many things, one was the rosary. I do know the prayers but never pray them because I was taught not to. I still have the rosary she gave me, it hangs on the wall above our bed. Although I don’t really undrestand it’s power, I know that I feel great comfort from it’s presence, i guess that means it’s pretty powerful.

sarcophagus, if you know there is a God, then you are not atheist…

if you feel great comfort from the presence of your nanny’s rosary, then by all means, experience the true power of the Rosary by praying it …

read this… latinmass.bravepages.com/Rosary%20promises.htm then go here for the prayers of the Rosary… i ask you to pray it for nine days, for any intention, and see what you think … theholyrosary.org/ or rosary-center.org/howto.htm or here’s a virtual online rosary rosary.virtualave.net/

 

[DawnLarieMarie]

I owe my life to Our Blessed Virgin Mary, our Lord’s holy mother, and her blessed rosary. By praying this beautiful prayer, we are reminded of our Lord’s life…Next to the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar, it is the next most indulgenced prayer in the church!

Back to me…I remember as a young child, when I exerted myself, whether running outside or going up the stairs, I would get chest pains. These hurt like a knife going through me. I would either come in and sit down, or, I remember stopping on the steps and sitting down, trying to stretch my chest because it hurt.

I’m 46 years old, and back in “those days,” doctors (specialists) were flown in from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio to see me. There were two of them. I remember removing my shirt, and holding an x-ray plate against my chest. Cold and scarey for a kid…

My mother told me years later that she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to look in the large envelope she received to give to our family doctor, who was supposed to give her the diagnosis, but she did. I had an enlarged heart, that was 3 times the size of the cavity in my chest reserved for it. I did not have rhumatic fever or scarlet fever or any other medical reason for having such a large heart. There was nothing they could do for me.

My mother picked up the rosary, and stormed heaven with her requests for her small child, me. I mean, she prayed hard from her heart, had faith, was desperate, and persevered. Her prayers were answered…After a couple of years of me going through this, all at once one day, my heart went down in size to normal for a child my age. I ran track and played softball and basketball and was very athletic in school.

Mom said I was written up in the New England Journal of Medicine as a medical miracle, because there is no way that a human heart, being ‘muscular substance’ as it is, could reduce in size. Mom knew, and so do I that this was truly a miracle from heaven, and it has never been forgotten.

I just pray that for whatever reason I lived, I am accomplishing what God would have for me to please Him.

+Peace Be With You.
-Dawn in Texas

 

[Mimi]

Yes, I believe sincerely of the power we have through intercession of Our Lady to Jesus, and by praying the rosary devoutly and consistently. I’m a cradle Catholic; attended parochial school and we had nuns who were very dear to us. We went to Mass daily in a cathedral in a very small town. I think my very first rosary was green glass, but to me they were emeralds! I remember looking at rosaries on display for sale, and thinking how beautiful they were, knowing they weren’t jewelry, but something quite special and extraordinary. I still get the same feeling looking at them in catalogues. I have a small collection of rosaries that belonged to my family. It’s a sort of connection with the past, knowing the many times those beads were fingered, and how much their worries and petitions were probably like my own.

This is a true story, and I want to tell it especially now since the anniversary of the event is coming up next Tuesday, on my birthday! Our oldest of 3 sons, Nick, is in the Navy. At the time of this incident, he was stationed in Sicily at the Naval Air Base there. I had begun praying the rosary daily about 1 yr or so before that and had also done a 27 day novena for the saving of our children’s souls finshing it just one month prior to the accident. Here is an edited version of what I sent to my father:

Today I received a very special birthday present.

Nick called about 2:30 our time (so it was about 8:30 in Sicily) to say he’d been in a car accident – he is FINE!

He had worked late (is on nights now) and was going to go out with friends, but stopped long enough to have only one beer, then
drove to his apt. off base (10 -15 min. drive, I guess). [He was very dehydrated, so the alcohol probably affected him more.]
He fell asleep at the wheel going about 65 (possibly faster). No one else was on the road. After rescuers arrived, they figure he
rolled sideways twice, but - get this- the car landed back on all four wheels on the road (I think) facing the opposite direction
he’d been going. All the windows were busted out, but the windshield popped out in one piece. The roof is caved in, and it’s pretty much totalled. Nick escaped with minor scratches on one hand! He believes God’s hand is in this, and so do I. He was tested for DWI, but none showed on the test. That would’ve meant an extra fine and a demotion (he’d just gotten a promotion). He was glad his roomie decided not to come along back with him then, too, or he might’ve gotten hurt. Oh yes; one more curious thing – there was a rose bush stuck in the front of the car. (Nick said when he saw it, it “scared the cr_p” out of him; hardly anything grows in that
particular area.) A definite sign to me personally that all the rosaries I’d been saying for protection have been heard. God is
Good!

Nick said he was not aware of what had happened, but that he’d felt like he’d been tumbled around in a dryer or something!

That was 3 years ago. Nick is back in the states now. We recently talked on the phone and he recalled how much fluid they used IV on him in the hospital. I reminded him that Our Lady has a watch over him. He isn't religious, but hopefully this incident will help bring him closer to Jesus. Thank you Lord for that birthday present! And just last year, I received another miraculous answer to prayer ... but that's another story! 
God Bless all, especially those most in need of His mercy

 

[edwinG]

Stylteralmaldo:

Hello EdwinG. The key to understanding Marian devotion is understanding that it is all about God…including the Holy Spirit. Right in the middle of the glorious mysteries Catholics meditate on the descent of the Holy Spirit (3rd Glorious mystery). I love meditating on this mystery of God…True devotion of meditating on the rosary is understanding that Mary is praying with us.

Have you looked at marian devotion with the possibility that it could be a proper prayer or have you looked at it as probably not being a proper prayer? If it is the latter, you are not giving the devotion a fair trial.

Take care and God bless.

Hi Stylteralmaldo,
Today, I saw your message and I answered it. I look at praying to any saints as being anti scriptural. To me they are aware but resting and I can find convincing evidence in the Holy Scripture for this view. I could not, in any faith, pray to any saint. My faith would be zero.
Christ be with you
walk in lovehttp://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon7.gif
edwinG

 

[edwinG]

MariaG:

Hi Edwin,
Everyone who is Christian, understands and loves the Holy Spirit. Everyone who is Christian does not love and understand the role of Mary. Catholic Christians do not feel the need to show how important the Holy Spirit is in our lives because we all assume other Christians are very much aware of this fact. Obviously this is a wrong assumption.

Not a perfect analogy but: Do you love child #1 less than child #2 just because your neighbor only hears you say I love you to child #2? Does this mean just because your neighbor never hears you saying I love you to child #1 that you don’t love him as much or that you don’t even tell him you love him? Or is it that your neighbor just doens’t hear you saying it? You only have a small portion of Catholic beliefs that are discussed. Usually what gets discussed is what other Christians disagree about, like Mary or the Pope, and not what we agree about.

Here is a more balanced view. monksofadoration.org/121.html

This site is made not for apologetics, but for Catholic Christians to reach deeper into their relationship with Christ. Try going there and reading some things. I think you will get a much more balanced idea of Catholic Christian prayer and worship.

I hope this helps you to understand that Catholics Christians have a deep and personal relationship with Christ, that we look to the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. And that our relationship with Mary in no way diminishes our love and worship of God, but only strenghthens it. (Kind of like surrounding yourself with good Christians makes it easier to follow Christ than if you hang out in a bar every night.)

I hope you go there and get a more balanced view of what Catholics actually do and believe. It is all about Christ.
Your sister in Christ,
Maria

Hi MariaG
I went to that site and read the contents. And this just convinces me further that you are not aware of the Holy Spirit in your life. How sad it is that you can not testify to His power and love in your life. How sad it is that you have to use someone elses’ words and those not of witnessing.
On this same thread are people witnessing to Mary and the Rosary. This is not the Holy Spirit. You spell the Holy Spirit H-o-l-y S-p-i-r-i-t and you spell Mary , M-a-r-y. I have not seen any one on this forum witness for the Holy Spirit. Has anyone? Let me have the location so I too can be edified by such postings.
Christ be with you
walk in lovehttp://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon7.gif
edwinG

 

[TTM]

Hi EdwinG!

edwinG:

I have not seen any one on this forum witness for the Holy Spirit. Has anyone? Let me have the location so I too can be edified by such postings.

I believe that it is the Holy Spirit who guides the Catholic Church, and I believe that he convicts us of our sins, and gives us his gifts to lead us closer to Jesus and the Father. However, I do understand that there is some lack of acknowledgment of the Holy Spirit within the Church, simply because the Charismatic Renewal is a recent phenomenon (that is, among the average laity. The Saints * tend to show signs of great Charismatic gifts), and there is also a (somewhat understandable) resistance toward his work in the Church, because it seems “alien” to the more contemplative spirituality that the average Catholic is used to (when in reality, it is an outpouring of grace).

If you’d like to know more about the workings of the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Church, I recommend visiting the Catholic Charismatic Spiritual Talk and Sharing thread. However, please do understand that the Holy Spirit works within the Church even when there are no obvious manifestations of his gifts. Afterall, the greatest Charism is love.

God bless,
TTM*

 

[AndyF]

sparkle:

Some thoughts here?

Hi Sparkle!

You bet it works! Actually I was quite a skeptic, but has I did what I was instructed tongue in cheek, and only with the spirit of giving it the benefit of the doubt, I bacame to feel an attachment.

At first there was a dryness and detachment, and I know now was a test for sincerity, as I suppose so many people come into devotion and she helps them and they leave after getting what they want.

She promised:

“Say the Rosary every day…
Pray, pray a lot and offer sacrifices for sinners…
I’m Our Lady of the Rosary.
Only I will be able to help you.
…In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

Our Lady at Fatima​

Pretty strong word ONLY hey! Can you imagine such caring, from our Universal Mother?, that she would even put her reputation on the line by saying that word? It invites " this child of mine, I’ll take care of myself".

Just before I go, can I make just one suggestion? Unless you are going to say the Rosary after mass,don’t take it to mass. At mass concentrate on the ceremony.

In closing you can’t go wrong, and now I’ve come to love saying it just for the contact.

www.theholyrosary.org

Andy

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

OfTheCross:

Did you bother to read the posts above? The Hail Mary’s are not the focus of the Rosary. A Rosary without meditation on the mysteries of Christ is no Rosary at all.

Peter John

Then why not leave out all the Mary stuff, and make the Rosary unambiguously Christ-centred ?​

If the Rosary is Christ-centred - why is it thought of, and presented, as a Marian devotion ?

For someone who is not the centre of attention in this devotion, Mary gets an awful lot of attention in it.

Wouldn’t it be less misleading to drop Mary where Christ is not mentioned, and to have mysteries which don’t mention her ? The Assumption of Mary could then become the Exaltation of Christ, and, the Coronation could be said in honour of the Return of Christ as Judge. ##

 

[kepha1]

If the Rosary is Christ-centred - why is it thought of, and presented, as a Marian devotion ?

Because Mary brought Christ into the world, she presents Christ to us. True Marian devotion is totally Christ centred.

For someone who is not the centre of attention in this devotion, Mary gets an awful lot of attention in it.

Think of a boat without water, or steering a parked car.

When you see a boat, is the attention on the water that holds it up? When you drive a car, is the attention on the parts and the gas, or the direction you are going?

The brain has a left side, and a right side. Your right side is the creative/spiritual side. The left side is the mechanical/logic side. Theoretically, we meditate on the mysteries of the rosary using the right side, and we recite, which is mostly scripture, the prayers using the left side of the brain.

We also pray with our bodies, by holding the beads or counting fingers, to keep order. We can walk, lie down, kneel, or ride a bus, it doesn’t matter. Our minds ascend to God in the mysteries of the rosary, as the top 20 events in Christianity are meditated on. By meditation, I mean thinking about being there when Jesus was born, or at the wedding of Cana etc.

So the rosary helps you to

1.   pray with your whole mind

2.  pray with your whole heart

3.  pray with your body

4.  pray unceasingly.

The above is my opinion, and not necessarily the official teachings of the Catholic Church.

 

[kepha1]

How well can a person pray/meditate for 20 minutes on say, the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging at the Pillar, the Crowning of Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion, in an orderly manner without an aid of any kind?

Too many “Hail Mary’s” and not enough “Our Father’s”?

Consider an apple tree. Do the leaves take away from the apples? Are there not more leaves than apples?

The rosary, when said properly, is a very, very powerful prayer. It is the scourge of the devil.

No one is obligated to say the rosary, but why sell yourself short?

 

[kepha1]

Wouldn’t it be less misleading

to drop Mary where Christ is not mentioned, and to have mysteries which don’t mention her ? The Assumption of Mary could then become the Exaltation of Christ, and, the Coronation could be said in honour of the Return of Christ as Judge./QUOTE]
Less misleading?

From Genesis to Revelation, from Bethlehem to Cana to Calvary, the most powerful procession of images in Scripture is the dazzling vision of the Woman and her Seed, the Virgin and her Son, the Queen-Mother and the King, the Daughter of Zion and the messianic Son of Man, the New Adam and the New Eve.

This striking sequence of scriptural icons locked itself into the minds and hearts of the Christian faithful, starting with the Apostolic Community of the first century, the first Fathers and the earliest Councils, and resulted in a vast treasury of doctrinal and devotional masterpieces.

The union of Mother and Son in the Son’s mission of salvation and in the war against the Serpent is a persistent theme of Scripture mirrored in Christian doctrine and devotion through the centuries. This union of the New Adam and the New Eve has been portrayed from a wide variety of perspectives, the most recent being the union of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

To see the Son without the Virgin Mother, the Seed without the Woman, the King without the Queen-Mother, the New Adam without the New Eve is to do violence both to Scripture and to all of Christian history. For the Christian who enters the mind of the NewTestament Church, the idea of “Jesus alone” without Mary is as unthinkable as the idea of the New Testament alone without the Old or the divinity of Jesus without the Humanity.
mariology.com/

You can’t drop Mary without dropping Christ. You end up with all kinds of Christological errors, starting with Nestorianism, a heresy that is threaded in much of evangelical theology.

 

[TTM]

Hi!

Then why not leave out all the Mary stuff, and make the Rosary unambiguously Christ-centred ?

As it has been pointed out earlier, devotion to Mary itself is Christ-centered. Think of it this way. If you were an Israelite in the battle field, would you not thank God for the Arc of the Convenant, which assures you of victory? It’s the same here. Mary, the Arc of the New Covenant, is given to to the Church, and we, the Church militant fighting the unseen forces of darkness, are greatful for the powerful Arc, and so we invoke her intercession and thank God for her. In the process, our love for God increases, because we meditate on the goodness of God, who gave us such a great gift.

God Bless,
TTM

 

[larry_j]

The rosary as prayer…why it works(ed) for me…

There was time in my life when I could not even say a rosary properly….I called them,l ooking back, my “crappy” rosaries….too many images running around my head to properly pray anything to anyone, but, my childhood practice of praying the rosary came back to me thank God (and thanks to my wife’s fervent prayer support and the prayer support of my Cursiollo community). In my state of mind at the time, especialy at night (a state considerably affected by what I considered too many prescription drugs) I was just fortunate to have the rosary. It was a prayer, yes, that I was barely able to stumble through taking hours at times to complete with little or no serious meditation possible…….but I did it. Later I was able to decide that the medications had to go or I was going to go (probably straight to hell it seemed). Anyway to make long story short…….consider me one of Mary’s army.

And thank you Lord Jesus Christ for the ability to once again contemplate you wonderful mysteries.

A simple old rote(sp?) prayer….sometimes we can say no more………other times we are blessed too pray no less.

 

[faithfulservant]

## Then why not leave out all the Mary stuff, and make the Rosary unambiguously Christ-centred ?

If the Rosary is Christ-centred - why is it thought of, and presented, as a Marian devotion ?

For someone who is not the centre of attention in this devotion, Mary gets an awful lot of attention in it.

Wouldn’t it be less misleading to drop Mary where Christ is not mentioned, and to have mysteries which don’t mention her ? The Assumption of Mary could then become the Exaltation of Christ, and, the Coronation could be said in honour of the Return of Christ as Judge. ##

it’s a Marian devotion, not because of the Hail Marys but because the Blessed Mother has asked us to pray it…obedience is a good thing

if we dropped the Assumption and Coronation, then we would have a protestant rosary 2 out of 20 mysteries recognizing two truths about our Blessed Mother is not excessive , is it?

 

[edwinG]

kepha1:

How well can a person pray/meditate for 20 minutes on say, the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging at the Pillar, the Crowning of Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion, in an orderly manner without an aid of any kind?

Hi kepha 1
Have you tried the Holy Spirit? This is a sincere question.
Christ be with you
walk in love
edwinGhttp://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon7.gif