A Whole Month Dedicated to the Holy Rosary
Dedicating the month of October to the Holy Rosary is a long-standing tradition in the Church; Pope Leo XIII formally established it in 1883. But praying the Rosary is not just an inherited tradition: it is like an impregnable shield that frees souls from sin and makes the virtues of faith grow.
Prayer plays an essential role in living the Christian faith; how much more so prayer to our Mother Mary and asking for her intercession! She has a great, many-sided and perfectly harmonious place in God’s plan for our salvation in Christ.
History knows how many, many miracles have happened thanks to praying the blessed Rosary of the Virgin.
A miracle made him look terrifying because of his mortal sins; he confessed and amended his life (from The Secret of the Rosary by Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort).
“Saint Dominic had a relative named Perez, or Pedro, who led a very immoral life. When he heard that his relative was preaching the wonders of the Rosary, and learned that many people had repented and amended their lives through it, he said: ‘I had given up and lost all hope of being saved, but now I am beginning to take heart again. I really must listen to this man of God.’
So one day he came to one of Saint Dominic’s sermons. When the saint saw him, he attacked sin with redoubled fervour and more zeal than ever before, and prayed to God from the depths of his heart to enlighten his relative and let him see how wretched and miserable the state of his soul was.
At first Perez was somewhat frightened, but he was still not resolved to change his ways. He came back again to hear the saint preach, and the saint, seeing that a heart as hardened as his would only be moved by something extraordinary, cried out in a loud voice: ‘Lord Jesus, grant that this whole congregation may see the state of this man who has just come into your house!’
Then all the people saw Perez surrounded by a band of devils in the form of frightful beasts, holding him with great iron chains. People fled in all directions in utter terror, and he was even more frightened to see everyone running away from him. Saint Dominic told them all to stand still, and said to his relative:
‘Unhappy man, acknowledge the deplorable state you are in and throw yourself at the feet of Our Lady, the Virgin Mary. Take this Rosary, pray it with devotion and true sorrow for all your sins, and make a firm resolution to amend your life.’
Perez knelt down and prayed the Rosary; then he felt the desire to go to confession, and he did so with sincere contrition. The saint told him to pray the Rosary every day; he promised to do so and had his name entered in the register of the confraternity.
When he left the church, his face was no longer terrifying to look at but shone like an angel’s. From then on he persevered faithfully in devotion to the Rosary, lived a well-ordered life and had a good and happy death.”
