The Rosary and the promises of Our Lady

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Remember The Rosary is prayer. It is contemplative prayer, vocal prayer, and meditative prayer. Prayer is essential to salvation, grace and knowing God’s will. A focus on “The Promises” is a misguided focus. The Rosary when prayed well guides the sinner through the gospels and THE good news of Jesus Christ. It can be viewed as a prayer with Our Lady in contemplating the face of Jesus in all his trials, tribulations, and triumphs. Imagine being The Mother and going through all that she had to endure with her Son. Praying The Rosary is an excellent response to God’s Grace in your life and IF you should be so graced and blessed to recognize a response or promise given to you as a result…then wow! Praise God! Always remember to be humble in spirit and to watch for prideful movements of your heart…we are all sinners far removed from holiness through our earthly condition who deserve no consolations whatsoever. It is through faith in Jesus, not faith in faith, whom is the object of our belief. Our blessed Mother has tried to help us along the way. And Fatima is approved by The Church and clearly Our Lady told us to say our Rosary daily for the salvation of sinners, for reparation and penance, and for peace in the world. It is our weapon against the unseen principalities and powers looking to devour souls. In the end, Mary will triumph and her redemptive role will be known to the world!

Furthermore, be careful not to rationalize divine revelation whether private or public… it is a snare of the devil using our very weakness to pull us away from faith and prayer! Being well informed and using your reason with a humble heart is a safer way to journey through this mess we are in!

The Rosary is a powerful weapon - let us not worry so much about the promises and start trusting in the power of prayer!

And remember in The Bible who crushes the head of the serpent!!! Our Blessed Mother!
 
Elizabeth_Long said:
… And remember in The Bible who crushes the head of the serpent!!! Our Blessed Mother!
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I agree with the rest of your post, as stated, but this is incorrect.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; *he *will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”

This agrees even with Saint Jerome, who translated the original Vulgate. The idea that a female will crush the head of the serpent is actually a copyists error, which became a very popular concept later but does not follow Catholic scripture in the original.

The passage refers to Jesus.
 
Hesychios said:
I agree with the rest of your post, as stated, but this is incorrect.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; *he *will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”

This agrees even with Saint Jerome, who translated the original Vulgate. The idea that a female will crush the head of the serpent is actually a copyists error, which became a very popular concept later but does not follow Catholic scripture in the original.

The passage refers to Jesus.
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It is through the Immaculate Conception and the pure beauty of Our Blessed Mother’s soul that we have Our Lord and Savior Jesus, both man and God. At the first instance of her conception she was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin. By this singular grace and privilege given to her by almighty God and in virtue of of the merits of Jesus Christ, we have our Lord and Savior.

You can choose to focus on words, story telling in the bible, etc…however, the fact remains that Jesus came to us through Mary willed by almighty God.

And so it proceeds that evil, demons, serpents, or other like creatures will be conquered by Jesus and Mary in the end.

There are private revelations which have shown Mary standing on a Globe while crushing the head of the serpent.

What is so great about our Catholic faith is that we have tradition, The Bible, and Saints all of which have revealed to us in some way the secrets of heavens gate.

It is a matter of the heart in the end! You can reason all day long using your book knowledge to convince, persuade, unintentionally confuse, but if you have not love you have nothing and have missed all the beauty and dignity for which we live for!

Knowledge and intelligence is only as good as the charity it performs for it’s neighbor.

God Bless!
 
The way I see the concept of Mary being the Mediatrix of all graces is that she was the mediator, so to speak, for Jesus when she carried Him in her body. The definition of a “mediator” is: one who acts as a link between parties, in our case, between heaven and earth.

“The Word; the Alpha and the Omega; the Way, the Truth and the Life”, passed through Mary first before He came into the world. From there it seems only natural that God would also send forth all His graces for the world firstly through the Mother of the Living, Mary. :signofcross:
 
Elizabeth_Long said:
…
There are private revelations which have shown Mary standing on a Globe while crushing the head of the serpent.

What is so great about our Catholic faith is that we have tradition, The Bible, and Saints all of which have revealed to us in some way the secrets of heavens gate.

It is a matter of the heart in the end! You can reason all day long using your book knowledge to convince, persuade, unintentionally confuse, but if you have not love you have nothing and have missed all the beauty and dignity for which we live for!

Knowledge and intelligence is only as good as the charity it performs for it’s neighbor.

God Bless!
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So, what are you suggesting then?

Are you suggesting that knowledge and intelligence should be set aside when it conflicts with what you want to believe? I thought that knowledge and intelligence were the hallmarks of Catholicism, the better portion.

I keep running into people who want to mythologize the faith, and it is really amazing to me. There is plenty of mystery and paradox in it to begin with, without us adding to that intentionally. Now we have an example of people making scriptural exegesis based upon copyist errors, and insisting that in charity they be allowed to keep and spread these ‘traditions’ based upon mistakes. It boggles the mind.
 
nickybr38 said:
Let’s just address the promise of receiving whatever you ask for.

Now, let’s say one particular person prays that they will become President of the United States. Say this person prays devoutly every single day and his intention everytime is to become the President of the United States. Say he is devout in every way and he desires to be the President so that he can be an active religious leader.

The 11th promise says you will obtain whatever you ask for.

Now, say this person is a citizen of Madagascar. On top of that, let’s say four others are praying with the exact same intention, and each are equally devout.

None of these who are praying will become President. Therefore the promise has not been fulfilled.

This is why I have issues with these promises. Perhaps if 11 didn’t exist I wouldn’t take such issue with them but as it stands I simply cannot propogate or repeat them.
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Do you have issues with Jesus as well?
Luk 11:8 Yet if he shall continue knocking, I say to you, although he will not rise and give him because he is his friend; yet, because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
Luk 11:9 And I say to you: Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you.
Luk 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth: and he that seeketh findeth: and to him that knocketh it shall be opened:
Luk 11:11 And which of you, if he ask his father bread, will he give him a stone? Or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luk 11:12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he reach him a scorpion?
Luk 11:13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask him?
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This promises reminds us of the gospel does it not?
 
crazzeto said:
Do you have issues with Jesus as well?

This promises reminds us of the gospel does it not?
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Not necessarily. I do believe the Gospels say repeatedly that whatever we NEED will be provided, not whatever we WANT. There’s a vast difference. 🙂
 
nickybr38 said:
Not necessarily. I do believe the Gospels say repeatedly that whatever we NEED will be provided, not whatever we WANT. There’s a vast difference. 🙂
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Yes, indeed, And when we pray, we must follow the pattern given by Jesus ; Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, and we must read the parables in that light.

In other words, we must want what God wants, and then our prayers will be answered.

These so-called Promises give an unhealthy slot-machine view of the Rosary.
 
Hesychios said:
So, what are you suggesting then?

Are you suggesting that knowledge and intelligence should be set aside when it conflicts with what you want to believe? I thought that knowledge and intelligence were the hallmarks of Catholicism, the better portion.

I keep running into people who want to mythologize the faith, and it is really amazing to me. There is plenty of mystery and paradox in it to begin with, without us adding to that intentionally. Now we have an example of people making scriptural exegesis based upon copyist errors, and insisting that in charity they be allowed to keep and spread these ‘traditions’ based upon mistakes. It boggles the mind.
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You have taken what I have written way out of context. There is nothing mythological in what I have said.

Simply put, you have the choice to believe in tradition, The Bible, and/or private revelation (approved and not approved). Yes our faith is based on intelligence and reason, it is not a blind faith.

Moreover, you can choose to break down each and every response to find an “error” or something not in line with your own thinking and experience.

HOWEVER…choosing to use your God given faculties and graces for the good of your neighbor (meaning anyone in your life) unselfishlessly is faith in action.’ and the whole point of living.

Without action or deeds attached to God’s vine, your faith is weak at best. Being “book smart” only takes one so far…then once again it is a matter of the heart!

There is NOTHING mythological about this point repeated in a different manner.

Give your mind a little break, it needs it from time to time!

We have strayed way off the main question and that is promises of the Rosary. And my simple response way back in the thread was a focus on Prayer vs. Promises. And the redemptive role of our Blessed Mother.
 
I find great comfort in both the rosary and the Jesus prayer.-they truly alleviate anxiety and remind me who I am and why I am here.
 
Regarding #11:

I don’t think that such promises should be taken as a magic formula.
But they do mean something.

35 years ago the hospital had a patient who had been diagnosed with permanent severe brain damage due in part to a caregiver mistake. We prayed for her for three days and nothing happened. My wife and I decided to pray the rosary one night for her recovery and the next morning, over night, she was well !! There was no placebo effect possible.

Clearly we were praying for God’s will and not our just our own wants. This is one of the times in my life that answer was clearly from prayer, amoung thousands of others where there was an answer but it could not be said absolutely to be the result of prayer only. I remember the absolutes to remind me that the other times are through God’s grace and action also.
 
Ann1231 said:
Elizabeth Long;6918939:
In the end, Mary will triumph and her redemptive role will be known to the world!
QUOTE]

Don’t you mean JESUS will triumph? and the Rosary doesn’t save sinners, JESUS DOES!
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Do you think it’s possible for Mary to triumph but not Jesus? There’s no competition between Jesus and His Mother… if she triumphs, He does, and vice versa. She does His will.

Mary and the Rosary will triumph BY bringing people to Jesus. He is using the Rosary to help souls.
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Monica4316 said:
Ann1231;6923202:
Do you think it’s possible for Mary to triumph but not Jesus? There’s no competition between Jesus and His Mother… if she triumphs, He does, and vice versa. She does His will.

Mary and the Rosary will triumph BY bringing people to Jesus. He is using the Rosary to help souls.
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I talked with my priest about this and he said some people focus so much on Mary that they lose sight of the fact that Jesus is our sole salvation. Yes, Mary was blessed, but it’s Jesus we should be focusing on. God sent Jesus to be with us to be our direct line to Him. We should honor her but he felt many were taking this to an extreme as far as giving her the credit (prayers, focus, etc.) that we should be giving Jesus. The apostles followed and listened to Jesus, they didn’t “follow Mary” in the same sense so why are some people today? I tend to agree with him.
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Ann1231 said:
I talked with my priest about this and he said some people focus so much on Mary that they lose sight of the fact that Jesus is our sole salvation. Yes, Mary was blessed, but it’s Jesus we should be focusing on. God sent Jesus to be with us to be our direct line to Him. We should honor her but he felt many were taking this to an extreme as far as giving her the credit (prayers, focus, etc.) that we should be giving Jesus. The apostles followed and listened to Jesus, they didn’t “follow Mary” in the same sense so why are some people today? I tend to agree with him.
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Your priest is sorely mistaken. (Say an ‘Ave Maria’ for our priests!)

If a person truly focuses on Mary, they cannot lose sight of Jesus. It’s impossible. We cannot love Mary more than Jesus does. Our love for Mary (or anyone) cannot be too great. The problem, perhaps, is that our love for Jesus is too small.

Mary leads to Jesus, that is the essential truth of faith about Mary. Everything the Church teaches about Mary safeguards what the Church teaches about Jesus.

Have you read St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary? If not, I highly recommend it, to both you and your priest. 🙂

From True Devotion to Mary:
“Jesus Christ our Saviour, true God and true Man, ought to be the last end of all our other devotions, else they are false and delusive. Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, of all things. We labor not, as the Apostle says, except to render every man perfect in Jesus Christ; because it is in Him alone that the whole plenitude of the Divinity dwells together with all the other plenitudes of graces, virtues, and perfections. It is in Him alone that we have been blessed with all spiritual benediction; and He is our only Master, who has to teach us; our only Lord on whom we ought to depend; our only Head to whom we must be united; our only Model to whom we should conform ourselves; our only Physician who can heal us; our only Shepherd who can feed us; our only Way who can lead us; our only Truth whom we must believe; our only Life who can animate us; and our only All in all things who can satisfy us. There has been no other name given under Heaven, except the name of Jesus, by which we can be saved. God has laid no other foundation of our salvation, our perfection or our glory, than Jesus Christ. Every building which is not built on that firm rock is founded upon the moving sand, and sooner or later infallibly will fall. Every one of the faithful who is not united to Him, as a branch to the stock of the vine, shall fall, shall wither, and shall be fit only to be cast into the fire. Outside of Him there exists nothing but error, falsehood, iniquity, futility, death and damnation. But if we are in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ is in us, we have no condemnation to fear. Neither the angels of Heaven nor the men of earth nor the devils of Hell nor any other creature can injure us; because they cannot separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ. By Jesus Christ, with Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ, we can do all things; we can render all honor and glory to the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost; we can become perfect ourselves, and be to our neighbor a good odor of eternal life (2 Cor. 2:15-16).
If, then, we establish solid devotion to our Blessed Lady, it is only to establish more perfectly devotion to Jesus Christ, and to provide an easy and secure means for finding Jesus Christ…” pgs. 61-62
 
ann i have to agree with anne, though i don’t believe this, the ‘church’ has made this proclamation.
 
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