The Rosary is an instrument of God’s Wisdom, an abundant fountain of graces known and unknown

Saint of the Day – October 31, 1966

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

“A Roman and Apostolic Catholic, the author of this text submits himself with filial devotion to the traditional teaching of Holy Church. However, if by an oversight anything is found in it at variance with that teaching, he immediately and categorically rejects it.”

 The words “Revolution” and “Counter-Revolution” are employed here in the sense given to them by Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira in his book Revolution and Counter-Revolution, the first edition of which was published in the monthly Catolicismo, Nº 100, April 1959.

 

Our Lady of Las Lajas (Colombia)

Today, October 31, is the last day of the month of the Rosary and so it is opportune to read something about it in the Complete Visions and Revelations of Catherine Emmerich. She recounts this vision:

“I saw the Rosary of Mary with all its mysteries. A pious loner honors Mary, the Mother of God, by making flower wreaths for her. He has a profound understanding of the meaning of the flowers and leaves of those wreaths, which he offers each time with greater fervor. Then, the Virgin asks Her Divine Son for a grace for him. The grace is granted, and it is the Holy Rosary.”

“I saw the Rosary surrounded with three different types of flowers on which were represented, in transparent images, all the mysteries of the Church in the Old and New Testaments. At the center of the Rosary was Mary with the Child, surrounded on one side with angels, and on the other with virgins holding hands. The cross came out of a fruit similar to the apple of the forbidden tree; pierced from side to side, it had a special color and was full of small nails. Its lower part showed a young man out of whose hand came a reed that extended on the arms of the Cross, on which other figures were seen who suck liquids from that branch. The intersection of the branches was formed by rays or threads of different colors, intertwined according to their natural or mystical meaning.”

“Each of the Our Fathers was surrounded with a wreath of leaves out of which came a flower in which one saw the image of some of the dolorous or joyful mysteries of Mary. The Hail Marys were stars of precious stones. They depicted, in order, the patriarchs and forefathers of Mary in the works regarding the Incarnation and Redemption. Thus, the Rosary encompasses Heaven, earth, God, nature, history and the restoration of all things through the Savior born of Mary. This is the Rosary as the Mother of God gave it to men; it is the devotion most pleasing to Her. Few pray it well. Only grace, simplicity and piety can understand it. Hidden and distant from all things earthly, it only becomes close to souls through meditation and the practice of this devotion.”

It is hard to give an idea of the beauty of this vision, exactly because of the riches of its details. But as you saw, this was given to a person who put together material wreaths and offered them to Our Lady. And Our Lady took that act of piety by that soul whom She loved, as an occasion to grant all mankind, and especially the whole Catholic Church, an immense favor which is devotion to the Holy Rosary.

In other words, She took that act of piety and, as if thanking for it in appreciation, She transformed that devotion, of giving Her material flowers, into a devotion of giving Her a spiritual wreath of flowers. And this spiritual wreath is richer in symbols of all sorts.

Symbolic values: each Hail Mary is represented by a shining star

What do all these things that she saw actually represent? Here we have symbolized three kinds of values. First, the properly religious spiritual values implied in the devotion, that is, devotion to Our Lady with the Child Jesus, the cross and the whole suffering that it represented. This is represented in the images that appeared on the beads assigned to the Our Fathers and Hail Marys.

You saw that Our Lady sees each Hail Mary of the Rosary as if She is being offered a resplendent star. Thus, each time we say a third of the Rosary to Her, we offer Her fifty shining stars. And by saying a whole Rosary we offer Her 150 shining stars. You see the proportion from the rose to the star; as a symbol, the star is much more eloquent. One thing is to offer a simple rose; another is to offer something shining like a brilliant, a jewel that resembles a star.

That man offered Our Lady material flowers. The Rosary has a spiritual meaning. But spiritual things have such a value that, as symbols of them in the material world we only have the stars, which enchant men with their beauty. Hence the comparison of the Rosary with shining stars.

Now here is what is most interesting: The Rosary is, in this way, something supernatural that represents something natural. It is a supernatural devotion that represents and recalls roses; and the flower is something that brings together all things gracious and beautiful in nature. And since the rose is the queen of flowers, one can say that from a certain standpoint, the rose represents all Creation. So that all Creation is employed to represent things of a supernatural, extraordinary character, above matter.

An historic representation parallel with the Rosary

But, something which I find even more curious, there is a whole historic representation parallel with the Rosary. And all the forefathers of the Savior, His whole genealogy, all that the prophets of old did, is mysteriously linked to each bead of the Rosary. So that the whole history that preceded the Church, and the whole history of the Church, are represented by the beads of the Rosary in a way that one does not know how to pinpoint well, because it is not explicitly contained in the various points of meditation. But it means that when one prays the Rosary, in some way Our Lady sees the representation of all these mysteries. She sees a homage to these mysteries, as it were a continuity of these past events in the various beads of the Rosary.

So you understand how, by Her intention, the Rosary was enriched with most precious symbolic values and it is thus a prayer that has an extraordinary and somehow unfathomable value; for these historic correlations are obviously unfathomable to our intelligence. Our intelligence is not capable of adequately enunciating and describing the rich connections between these historic events linked to the Rosary, and the Rosary itself.

Here we see how much finesse is necessary to consider things of a supernatural character. If you look at the way the Rosary was established as a good popular devotion, you note people have a confidence in the Rosary that goes beyond the simple merits of the Our Fathers and Hail Marys; it goes beyond the simple excellence of the method of meditation. Note that many religious orders have made the Rosary a part of their habit.

How many founders of religious orders, almost always saints, wanted the Holy Rosary always to hang from their habit. How many people, moved by an instinct, by a grace of the Holy Ghost, continuously carry the Rosary with them and do not part with it day or night; they put the Rosary in the pocket of their pajama when they go to bed, so as to be always united with the Rosary. How many are those who have the Rosary hanging from their bed. How many have faced temptations and scared away the devil by brandishing the Rosary. What a confidence people have simply by carrying the Rosary with them, that they will thus keep the devil at a distance. What a mysterious hatred the devil has against the Rosary.

Something in the Rosary has the strength of a sacramental

You see that Our Lady, in numerous apparitions, in Lourdes for example, presented herself with the Rosary. You see there is something mysterious, imponderable in the Rosary that is most rich and cannot be reduced to a mere explicitation. In the Rosary there is something that has a mystery and the strength of a sacramental, something that makes the Rosary such an aide to for persevering in virtue and fighting against the devil, which is not just the fact of saying the Rosary; the instrument with which we pray protects man in such a way, that many saints have called the Rosary the most decisive weapon against the devil.

There is something mysterious in it. A blessing that Our Lady put there, which the piety of the faithful understood or glimpses through but does not know how define. And this revelation of Catherine Emmerich gives at least part of the explanation. Our Lady wanted to make, of the Rosary, that which is very well said at the end: “In this way, the Rosary encompasses heaven and earth, God, nature, and the history and restoration of all things through the Savior born of Mary.” That is to say, the whole Creation and Redemption are symbolically linked to the Rosary. This is something imponderable but of enormous value, which we must consider so that our devotion to the Rosary becomes ever greater.

But that is not enough. If Our Lady wanted to gather all these symbolic elements in the Rosary, it is evidently to give a grand overall view of the ensemble. See that the Rosary gathers all these things: Heaven, he earth, God, nature, history, and the restoration of all things through the Savior. In other words, everything that exists in Creation, the whole Redemption, and the very Creator Himself are represented in the Rosary. That means that the Rosary has something of an architectonic value in that it all these symbols form an architectural whole representing the whole general ensemble of all that God has made and, even more, a general conception or consideration of God Himself. And thus it gives men a global vision of what they must see to be saved.

The Rosary is an instrument of God’s Wisdom

The Rosary is, therefore, an instrument of God’s wisdom. It is God’s wisdom that comes through Our Lady and touches us, who pray the Rosary. And thus it is the weapon of those who want to be children of the Eternal Wisdom and thus children of Our Lady, who is the Seat of Wisdom. Indeed, what is wisdom? Wisdom is a virtue that makes us see not only this or that or the other thing but the whole general ensemble of things in their architectonic order. It is an eminently architectonic virtue. And it is through wisdom that we in fact unite ourselves with God and with Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is Eternal and Uncreated Wisdom.

So we have in the Rosary all the values that we know. The value of the Our Father, a prayer taught by Our Lord Jesus Christ; the value of the Hail Mary, a prayer taken directly from the angel’s salutation; the Glory Be, which is a most holy prayer that the angels continually sing in Heaven. But we have this linked with the meditation on the mysteries of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the life of Our Lady. And furthermore, we have yet another mysterious riches, fertile in graces, which communicates to us an architectonic vision of the whole work of God and the whole Catholic Religion and thus we have in the Rosary an opulent fountain of graces that we know, and of graces that we do not know; so that all this should make us even more desirous to increase our devotion to the Holy Rosary.

This devotion to the Holy Rosary is such that every member of the Group should consider as normal to say the three thirds of the Rosary daily. He who out of weakness or some problem fails to pray these three thirds daily, must consider himself to be in a lamentable situation which he must deplore and out of which he must try to get with all his strength so as to say the Rosary always, without stopping even for a day. The normal thing for a member is that he never, never, never fails to say the three thirds of the Rosary daily.

I believe I have already commented here on this episode in the life of St. Alphonsus Liguori. He was old, ninety, I believe, paralytic, had a lay brother who served him and was taken in a wheelchair through the convent’s corridors to relax a bit. And at times he would say the Rosary while his wheel chair was being pushed by this lay brother. Sometimes he would turn to the latter and ask: “Have we already said the three thirds of the Rosary?” The brother would answer, “Well, I’m not sure we said the three or whether something is missing. But you are so tired and sick, you can perfectly skip it.” He would say: “No! Just in case, let us pray everything we are not sure we did.” And then he would explain why: “Because my eternal salvation depends on this. If I say the Rosary every day I will be saved. If I do not say the Rosary every day, I will not be saved.” He was a saint, a Doctor of the Church, a bishop and a founder. What could be said of us?

We must have an ardent desire to say the Rosary every day

In other words, we must have an ardent desire to say the Rosary every day. If someone does not pray the Rosary every day, I give him this recommendation: in the part of the Rosary that he prays, ask for the grace to say the Rosary entirely every day. To the one who says the Rosary every day: let him never fail to do it. Take the Rosary as you take daily Communion. Daily Communion is something one does not miss without danger. The same can be said of the Rosary. Pray it always, every single day of the year, never fail to say the Rosary.

And here is a small but very important recommendation: always have your Rosary with you. Carry it always in your pocket and keep it always on you while sleeping, in whichever way you prefer. It is a beautiful and pious custom to have the Rosary hanging from the bed. But I think it is even better to have it around the neck like a necklace or in the pocket of the pajama, or in any other way, but to have it always on you. Because it is such a defense against the ambushes of the devil and it continually attracts Our Lady’s protection, that I really do not know anything better in this regard than having the Holy Rosary continuously on us.

So let us dedicate our nightly prayer to ask Our Lady to give us this twofold grace: to say the Rosary daily, if we still do not have that habit, and to persevere with this grace until our last breath if we have already received this favor of praying the Rosary daily.

At times, a sophism can be raised against this: Dr. Plínio, I do not say the Rosary well, and thus I prefer not to pray it. This is completely absurd. In the eyes of Our Lady, a prayer poorly said out of weakness, lack of capacity for concentration or attention can be worth absolutely as much as one well said. But let us say it is worth only one fifth of a well said prayer. If my Rosary is worth only one fifth of what it should be worth, this is no reason not to pray any. It is a reason to pray five times more. Of course. For if it is absolutely necessary for me to present Our Lady an X amount of prayers, then I cannot tell Her: “Look, you know what? I pray so little I thought it wasn’t worth it.”

On the contrary. Suppose you have some medicine. You go to the doctor and he says, “look, your medicine is good but it is kind of old. Its healing capacity has been reduced to one-fifth.” Imagine you have a piercing pain like neuralgia, for example, and the doctor comes to you and says, well, you had better put up with the pain, for the medicine has been reduced to one-fifth…  You reply: “No way, get me five times as much medicine and I’ll take five pills at a time, but I will put an end to this pain.”

“Our Lady of the lazy, give me the grace to overcome laziness!”

Thus, if our prayers are worth little, then let us pray more and try to give greater quantity, if we can’t give quality. For there is one thing that we cannot give, and that is zero. This is the rationale of the lazy. So it is better to say, “I am lazy, I do not have the courage to say more than an ejaculation. Then, o my Mother, Who art so good and compassionate, accept the recognition that I make of my laziness! And if Thou art the Refuge of Sinners, as laziness is a form of sin, then accept me! I offer Thee my laziness to enter under Thy protection.” And here is an ejaculation: “Our Lady of the lazy, give me the grace to overcome laziness!”

I understand this the prayer of the publican who knocks on his chest and says, I am really bad but I want to improve. What I don’t understand is an attitude whereby I find a rationale not to pray: I am zealous for prayer and very pious, but I don’t pray. This is a joke! Therefore, pray the Rosary in all circumstances, on every occasion. This is the recommendation and the grace which we should ask for tonight.

Recommendations on holy water

Since I am talking about this point and see many members from other states gathered here, I would like to deal with another question, and will ask you, out of curiosity, what the situation is in this regard. A member of the Group must habitually have holy water on his night table. The traps of the devil are countless and one needs to sprinkle oneself with holy water before going to bed.

When one wakes up at night, or goes to sleep, one crosses oneself with holy water. And that is the first thing to do when one wakes up in the morning. There are a number of little miseries that take these good habits away from us: I do not have a good container to keep holy water; my holy water is dirty. So and so, don’t you have holy water? No. Why? Because my glass container broke. Or: “I don’t want to go ask the priest.”

None of these reasons is valid. In fact, we must always have holy water in the font at the entrance of our seats. And always have a container of holy water, which can be augmented as you know so as to diminish the number of visits to ask the priest. Three are a thousand little containers useful for holy water, even more so in these times of plastic containers.

The only advantage I have found for plastic so far is to contain holy water. Take empty little plastic containers of sweeteners, they are so easy to wash and fill with holy water! We should get a large number of them, empty them out, fill them with holy water and put them into circulation for those who want to carry them. This is a most precious thing!

Just think that every time one sprinkles oneself with holy water one has the certainty to receive God’s blessing; for God’s blessing is immanent in that sacramental and there is no doubt whatever that by using the sacramental we receive the blessing. We know how many cases there are of devils that are put to run with holy water; we know the temptations man can suffer – noturna phantasmata – the nocturnal phantoms which the Completes asks us to be freed from.

So, to neglect having holy water is a kind of slackness. Here is an indiscreet question: How many of you here have holy water on your night table, raise your arms. Hum, almost all, but with some important “gaps,” visible “gaps,” if you permit.

I very much recommend that all heads of groups make sure to find little plastic containers so our people can carry holy water with them.