IV. It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the

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1 15 Promises of Our Lady for Those Who Pray the Rosary: As revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche Presentation by James F. Gontis Director of Religious Education Diocese of Harrisburg I. Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces. A. Signal graces would mean special graces. B. Would apply especially to our state of life. C. Would also apply to other circumstances of one life. D. In his classic work True Devotion to Mary de Montfort states that the fastest way to the Heart of Christ is through the hands of Mary. II. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. A. In the Introduction of his 2002 Apostolic Letter, Rosary of the Virgin Mary, Blessed John Paul II wrote that from the Rosary the faithful draw abundant graces. B. These graces can include physical and spiritual protection, but especially spiritual protection. C. Mothers protect their children. Mary is the best of mothers. She is our mother in heaven. She will protect those devoted to her. III. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. A. As Chapter 5 of Vatican II s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church states so clearly, we are all called to holiness. The Rosary helps us attain holiness. B. Padre Pio referred to the Rosary as The Weapon. It is the weapon for good over evil. C. Christian art depicting those being pulled into heaven by the Rosary. D. Increases virtue in us, decreases sin, and helps us to be faithful to the Church and her teachings and will help to defeat false teachings. IV. It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the

2 world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means. A. Because it helps us to increase in virtue, regular recitation of the Rosary helps us to be kind to others, to love God and neighbor, and to practice the works of mercy. B. Because it is a treasure-house of graces, the Rosary brings upon us many actual graces from God. C. Helps us to avoid vainglory and keep our eyes on heaven. This, by the way, can help to reduce much of life s stress and make life much more enjoyable. It gives us a hunger for heaven and helps us to be holy. That is what sanctify means. V. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. A. By the words, shall not perish, Our Lady means that those who consistently stay devoted to the Rosary, practicing what it teaches us, will not go to hell, but rather will go to heaven. B. Nobody, however, should be presumptuous about their salvation. To go to heaven, one must be in sanctifying grace when one dies. VI. Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an un-provided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. A. Paragraph 2708 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions the following: Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. B. This promise does not mean we will not suffer misfortune, but will not be conquered by it. We won t fall into despair. C. The second part of this promise promises that for those who stay devoted to the Rosary and what it teaches, we shall have the opportunity for the grace of a happy death, i.e. death in a state of sanctifying grace.

3 VII. VIII. Whoever shall have a true devotion to the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church. A. Does not guarantee that people devoted to the Rosary will not die suddenly. B. Rather, it promises that those who are devoted to the Rosary will have the opportunity to receive the last sacraments (Confession, Anointing of the Sick, Viaticum), particularly if they need to receive these at the hour of death. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. A. Jesus says that He is the light of the world. This promise is speaking of the fact that we will receive understanding and enlightenment from God, especially in spiritual matters. B. plenitude of His grace speaks to the fact that we will be bombarded by God with actual graces in life and at the hour of death if devoted to the Rosary. C. Promises a share in their merits, which they merited during their lives through their cooperation with God s grace. IX. I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. A. Everyone in Purgatory will go to Heaven some day, because everyone in Purgatory died in a state of sanctifying grace. B. This promise seems to indicate that for those who were devoted to the Rosary, our Lady shall intercede in a special way for those who are in Purgatory, that they will be released from Purgatory more quickly than they otherwise would have. X. The faithful of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven. A. Everyone in heaven will be as happy as they can be. B. However, people will have merited varying degrees of glory in Heaven, depending upon their degree of cooperation with God s grace while on earth.

4 C. Those who ve been devoted to the Rosary, shall have merited a higher degree of glory. XI. You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary. A. In Matthew 7:7, Jesus tells us Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. This is a call to persistent, confident, and persevering prayer. The Rosary helps us to pray this way. B. What we ask has to be in accordance with God s will, e.g. He won t give us something that we ask for if it s bad for us. C. However, God does grant special favors, both spiritual and temporal, to those devoted to the Rosary. Does not mean we ll win the lottery. XII. XIII. XIV. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities. A. Especially spiritual necessities B. Also, however, includes temporal necessities I have obtained from my divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. A. This would refer to the intercession of all the Angels and Saints in Heaven for those who are dying and who have been devoted to the Rosary. All who recite the Rosary are my sons, and brothers of my only Son, Jesus Christ. A. Correlates to Baptism. Jesus is God and because we are baptized into Christ Jesus and into His Death and Resurrection, we become adopted sons of the Father in the only-begotten Son of the Father, Jesus Christ. So, through Baptism we become sons in the Son. B. Mary is our spiritual mother. She is also synonomous with the Church, which is also our spiritual mother. See the Vatican II Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium 8. C. However, this promise is also about a special affection that our Lord and our Lady have for those devoted to the Rosary.

5 XV. Devotion to the Rosary is a great sign of predestination. A. Predestination must be properly understood. B. God gives sufficient grace to all people to be saved. C. However, we must cooperate with His grace. D. St. Augustine said that The same God who made us without our consent, will not save us without our consent. E. True devotion to the Rosary is a great sign that a person is cooperating with God s grace. Note: These promises are very real, but not to be taken superstitiously. We must live the Christian life devoutly, we are to receive the sacraments regularly. We are to live a virtuous life and pray each day. We must strive to live consistently in a state of sanctifying grace. That said, devotion to the Rosary helps us to do these things.