The Secret of the Rosary

A White Rose

1 Dear ministers of the most high God, you my fellow priests

who preach the truth of God and who teach the gospel to all

nations, let me give you this little book as a white rose that

I would like you to keep. The truths contained in it are set

forth in a very simple and straightforward manner, as you will

see.

Please keep them in your heart so that you yourselves may

make a practice of the Rosary and taste its fruits.

Please have them always on your lips too, so that you will

always preach the Rosary and thus convert others by teaching them

the excellence of this holy devotion.

I beg of you to beware of thinking of the Rosary as

something of little importance - as do ignorant people, and even

several great but proud scholars. Far from being insignificant,

the Rosary is a priceless treasure which is inspired by God.

Almighty God has given it to you because he wants you to use

it as a means to convert the most hardened sinners and the most

obstinate heretics. He has attached to it grace in this life and

glory in the next. The saints have said it faithfully and the

Popes have endorsed it.

When the Holy Spirit has revealed this secret to a priest

and director of souls, how blessed is that priest! For the vast

majority of people fail to know this secret or else only know it

superficially. If such a priest really understands this secret,

he will say the Rosary each day and will encourage others to say

it. God and his blessed Mother will pour abundant grace into his

soul, so that he may become God's instrument for his glory; and

his word, though simple, will do more good in one month than that

of other preachers in several years.

2 Therefore, my dear brothers and fellow priests, it will not

be enough for us to preach this devotion to others; we must

practice it ourselves, for if we firmly believed in the

importance of the holy Rosary but never said it ourselves, people

could hardly be expected to act upon our advice, since no one can

give what he does not have: "Jesus began to do and to teach." We

ought to pattern ourselves on our Lord, who began practising what

he preached. We ought to emulate St. Paul, who knew and preached

nothing but Jesus crucified.

I could tell you at great length of the grace God has given

me to know by experience the effectiveness of the preaching of

the holy Rosary, and of how I have seen, with my own eyes, the

most wonderful conversions it has brought about. I would gladly

tell you all these things if I thought that it would move you to

preach this beautiful devotion, in spite of the fact that priests

are not in the habit of doing so these days. But instead of all

this, I think it will be quite enough for this little summary

that I am writing if I tell you a few ancient but authentic

stories about the holy Rosary. These excerpts really go to prove

what I have outlined for the faithful.

A Red Rose

3 Poor men and women who are sinners, I, a greater sinner than

you, wish to give you this rose, a crimson one, because the

precious blood of our Lord has fallen upon it. Please God that

it may bring true fragrance into your lives - but above all, may

it save you from the danger that you are in. Every day

unbelievers and un-repentant sinners cry, "Let us crown ourselves

with roses." But our cry should be, "Let us crown ourselves with

the roses of the holy Rosary."

How different are theirs from ours! Their roses are

pleasures of the flesh, worldly honours and passing riches which

wilt and decay in no time, but ours, which are the Our Father and

Hail Mary which we have said devoutly over and over again, and

to which we have added good penitential acts, will never wilt or

die, and they will be just as exquisite thousands of years from

now as they are today.

On the contrary, sinners' roses only look like roses, while

in point of fact they are cruel thorns which prick them during

life by giving them pangs of conscience, at their death they

pierce them with bitter regret and, still worse, in eternity they

turn to burning shafts of anger and despair. But if our roses

have thorns, they are the thorns of Jesus Christ, who changes

them into roses. If our roses prick us, it is only for a short

time, and only in order to cure the illness of sin and to save

our souls.

4 So by all means we should eagerly crown ourselves with these

roses from heaven, and recite the entire Rosary every day, that

is to say, three rosaries each of five decades, which are like

three little wreaths or crowns of flowers. There are two reasons

for doing this: first of all, to honour the three crowns of Jesus

and Mary - Jesus' crown of grace at the time of his Incarnation,

his crown of thorns during his passion, and his crown of glory

in heaven, and of course the three-fold crown which the Blessed

Trinity gave Mary in heaven. Secondly, we should do this so that

we ourselves may receive three crowns from Jesus and Mary, the

first a crown of merit during our lifetime; the second, a crown

of peace at our death; and the third, a crown of glory in heaven.

If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure

you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins "you shall receive

a never-fading crown of glory." Even if you are on the brink of

damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have

sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black

magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil,

sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life

and save your soul, if - and mark well what I say - if you say

the Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of

knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your

sins.

In this book there are several stories of great sinners who

were converted through the power of the Rosary. Please read and

meditate upon them.

A Mystical Rose Tree

5 Good and devout souls, who walk in the light of the Holy

Spirit, I do not think you will mind my giving you this little

mystical rose tree which comes straight from heaven and which is

to be planted in the garden of your soul. It cannot possibly harm

the sweet-smelling flowers of your contemplations; for it is a

heavenly tree and its scent is very pleasant. It will not in the

least interfere with your carefully planned flower-beds; for,

being itself all pure and well-ordered, it inclines all to order

and purity. If it is carefully watered and properly attended to

every day, it will grow to such a marvellous height, and its

branches will have such a wide span that, far from hindering your

other devotions, it will maintain and perfect them. Of course,

you understand what I mean, since you are spiritually minded;

this mystical rose tree is Jesus and Mary in life, death and

eternity.

6 Its green leaves are the Joyful Mysteries, the thorns the

Sorrowful ones, and the flowers the Glorious Mysteries of Jesus

and Mary. The buds are the childhood of Jesus and Mary, and the

open blooms show us both of them in their sufferings, and the

full-blown roses symbolize Jesus and Mary in their triumph and

glory.

A rose delights us because of its beauty: so here we have

Jesus and Mary in the Joyful Mysteries. Its thorns are sharp, and

they prick, which makes us think of them in the Sorrowful

Mysteries, and last of all, its perfume is so sweet that everyone

loves it, and this fragrance symbolizes their Glorious Mysteries.

So please do not scorn this beautiful and heavenly tree, but

plant it with your own hands in the garden of your soul, by

making the resolution to say your Rosary every day. By saying it

daily and by doing good works you will be tending your tree,

watering it, hoeing the earth around it. Eventually you will see

that this little seed which I have given you, and which seems so

small now, will grow into a tree so great that the birds of

heaven, that is, predestinate and contemplative souls, will dwell

in it and make their nests there. Its shade will shelter them

from the scorching heat of the sun and its height will keep them

safe from the wild beasts on the ground. And best of all, they

will feed upon the tree's fruit, which is none other than our

adorable Jesus, to whom be honour and glory forever and ever.

Amen.

God Alone

A Rosebud

7 Dear little friends, this beautiful rosebud is for you; it

is one of the beads of your Rosary, and it may seem to you to be

such a tiny thing. But if you only knew how precious this bead

is! This wonderful bud will open out into a gorgeous rose if you

say your Hail Mary really well.

Of course it would be too much to expect you to say the

whole fifteen mysteries every day, but do say at least five

mysteries, and say them properly with love and devotion. This

Rosary will be your little wreath of roses, your crown for Jesus

and Mary. Please pay attention to every word I have said, and

listen carefully to a true story that I want to tell you, and

that I would like you to remember. Two little girls, who were

sisters, were saying the Rosary very devoutly in front of their

house. A beautiful lady suddenly appeared, walked towards the

younger girl, who was only about six or seven, took her by the

hand, and led her away. Her elder sister was very startled and

looked for the little girl everywhere. At last, still not having

found her, she went home weeping and told her parents that her

sister had been kidnapped. For three whole days the poor father

and mother sought the child without success.

At the end of the third day they found her at the front door

looking extremely happy and pleased. Naturally they asked her

where on earth she had been, and she told them that the lady to

whom she had been saying the Rosary had taken her to a lovely

place where she had given her delicious things to eat. She said

that the lady had also given her a baby boy to hold, that he was

very beautiful, and that she had kissed him again and again.

The father and mother, who had been converted to the

Catholic faith only a short time before, sent at once for the

Jesuit Father who had instructed them for their reception into

the Church and who had also taught them devotion to the Rosary.

They told him everything that had happened, and it was this

priest himself who told me this story. It all took place in

Paraguay.

So, dear children, imitate these little girls and say your

Rosary every day as they always did. If you do this, you will

earn the right to go to heaven to see Jesus and Mary. If it is

not their wish that you should see them in this life, at any rate

after you die you will see them for all eternity. Amen.

Therefore let all men, the learned and the ignorant, the

just and the sinners, the great and the small, praise and honour

Jesus and Mary night and day, by saying the holy Rosary. "Greet

Mary who has laboured much among you."