St. Louis Marie de Montfort - The Secret of the Rosary

[Shin]

The Secret of the Rosary
by St. Louis De Montfort

PART I - WHAT THE ROSARY IS

First Rose

The prayers of the Rosary

The rosary is made up of two things: mental prayer and vocal prayer. In the Holy Rosary mental prayer is none other than meditation of the chief mysteries of the life, death and glory of Jesus Christ and of His Blessed Mother. Vocal prayer consists in saying fifteen decades of the Hail Mary, each decade headed by an Our Father, while at the same time meditating on and contemplating the fifteen principal virtues which Jesus and Mary practised in the fifteen mysteries of the Holy Rosary.

In the first five decades we must honor the five Joyous Mysteries and meditate on them; in the second five decades the Sorrowful Mysteries and in the third group of five, the Glorious Mysteries. So the Rosary is a blessed blending of mental and vocal prayer by which we honor and learn to imitate the mysteries and virtues of the life, death, passion and glory of Jesus and Mary.

Second Rose

Origin

Since the Holy Rosary is composed, principally and in substance, of the Prayer of Christ and the Angelic Salutation, that is, the Our Father and the Hail Mary, it was without doubt the first prayer and the first devotion of the faithful and has been in use all through the centuries from the time of the Apostles and disciples down to the present.

But it was only in the year 1214, however, that Holy Mother Church received the Rosary in its present form and according to the method we use today. It was given to the Church by Saint Dominic who had received it from the Blessed Virgin as a powerful means of converting the Albigensians and other sinners.

I will tell you the story of how he received it, which is found in the very well-known book "De Dignitate Psalterii" by Blessed Alan de la Roche [1]. Saint Dominic, seeing that the gravity of people's sins was hindering the conversion of the Albigensians, withdrew into a forest near Toulouse where he prayed unceasingly for three days and three nights. During this time he did nothing but weep and do harsh penances in order to appease the anger of Almighty God. He used his discipline so much that his body was lacerated, and finally he fell into a coma.

At this point Our Lady appeared to him, accompanied by three angels, and she said:

"Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?"

"Oh, my Lady," answered Saint Dominic, "you know far better than I do because next to your Son Jesus Christ you have always been the chief instrument of our salvation."

Then Our Lady replied:

"I want you to know that, in this kind of warfare, the battering ram has always been the Angelic Psalter which is the foundation stone of the New Testament. Therefore if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them over to God, preach my Psalter."

So he arose, comforted, and burning with zeal, for the conversion of the people in that district he made straight for the Cathedral. At once unseen angels rang the bells to gather the people together and Saint Dominic began to preach.

At the very beginning of his sermon an appalling storm broke, out, the earth shook, the sun was darkened, and there was so much thunder and lightning that all were very much afraid. Even greater was their fear when looking at a picture of Our Lady exposed in a prominent place they saw her raise her arms to heaven three times to call down God's vengeance upon them if they failed to be converted, to amend their lives, and seek the protection of the Holy Mother of God.

God wished, by means of these supernatural phenomena, to spread the new devotion of the Holy Rosary and to make it more widely known.

At last, at the prayer of Saint Dominic, the storm came to an end, and he went on preaching. So fervently and compellingly did he explain the importance and value of the Holy Rosary that almost all the people of Toulouse embraced it and renounced their false beliefs. In a very short time a great improvement was seen in the town; people began leading Christian lives and gave up their former bad habits.

[1]. De Dignitate Psalterii. The importance and Beauty of the Holy Rosary, by Blessed Alan de la Roche, O.P., French Dominican Father and Apostle of the Holy Rosary.

[Shin]

Any interest in reading this short book online with a little discussion together folks?

[James - a humble servant]

Yeah, sounds good. I have this book and still haven't finished it. I'll join ya' Sir Mr. Shin !!!

[Shin]

Any others? Or perhaps instead St. Louis Marie de Montfort's other book?

I'm looking for what has the most support! 

Well perhaps we'll try a few chapters of this one and see if folks join in or not, and that'll be the test. 

Anyone can copy past a chapter or portion thereof for reading of this book to this thread to move it along! Please do!

[Paul]

My favorite book by De Montfort is True Devotion to Mary.

[James - a humble servant]

I'm open for whatever we choose to read

[Shin]

Does anyone want to start a thread with a first chapter of True Devotion? Or shall I?

 

[odhiambo]

The Secret of the Rosary
by St. Louis De Montfort

 Vocal prayer consists in saying fifteen decades of the Hail Mary, each decade headed by an Our Father, while at the same time meditating on and contemplating the fifteen principal virtues which Jesus and Mary practised in the fifteen mysteries of the Holy Rosary.

Now it is 20 decades of Hail Mary.

[Shin]

Well, no, it's the 15 decade Rosary. Some folks add on five more mysteries, some folks don't. 

[odhiambo]

I am glad that it is not mandatory to pray the Luminous Mystery on Thursdays; I did not know this, I just assumed that this is the sate of affairs in our Church as far as the Holy Rosary is concerned.
I am all for Tradition, I do not like additions and subtractions.

[odhiambo]

We will learn from Saint Dominic and embrace this Devotion.
 What I am not sure about is the 15 Mysteries daily. I wonder why the Church assigns different days for the four groups of mysteries yet the earlier practice has been to pray them all daily.
I pray though that the Blessed Virgin Mary helps me with this.

[odhiambo]

Third Rose

12 The miraculous way in which the devotion to the holy Rosary was established is something of a parallel to
the way in which God gave his law to the world on Mount Sinai, and it obviously proves its value and
importance.
 Inspired by the Holy Spirit, instructed by the Blessed Virgin as well as by his own experience, Saint Dominic
preached the Rosary for the rest of his life. He preached it by his example as well as by his sermons, in cities
and in country places, to people of high station and low, before scholars and the uneducated, to Catholics and
to heretics.
 The Rosary, which he said every day, was his preparation for every sermon and his little tryst with our Lady
immediately after preaching.
13 One day he had to preach at Notre Dame in Paris, and it happened to be the feast of St. John the
Evangelist. He was in a little chapel behind the high altar prayerfully preparing his sermon by saying the
Rosary, as he always did, when our Lady appeared to him and said: "Dominic, even though what you have
planned to say may be very good, I am bringing you a much better sermon." Saint Dominic took in his hands the book our Lady proffered, read the sermon carefully and, when he had
understood it and meditated on it, he gave thanks to her.
 When the time came, he went up into the pulpit and, in spite of the feast day, made no mention of Saint
John other than to say that he had been found worthy to be the guardian of the Queen of Heaven. The
congregation was made up of theologians and other eminent people, who were used to hearing unusual and
polished discourses; but Saint Dominic told them that it was not his desire to give them a learned discourse,
wise in the eyes of the world, but that he would speak in the simplicity of the Holy Spirit and with his
forcefulness.
 So he began preaching the Rosary and explained the Hail Mary word by word as he would to a group of
children, and used the very simple illustrations which were in the book given him by our Lady.
14 Carthagena, the great scholar, quoting Blessed Alan de la Roche in De Dignitate Psalterii, describes how
this took place.
 "Blessed Alan writes that one day Father Dominic said to him in a vision, 'My son, it is good to preach; but
there is always a danger of looking for praise rather than the salvation of souls. Listen care-fully to what
happened to me in Paris, so that you may be on your guard against this kind of mistake. I was to preach in the
great church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and I was particularly anxious to give a fine sermon, not out of
pride, but because of the high intellectual stature of the congregation.
 "'An hour before the time I had to preach, I was dutifully saying my Rosary - as I always did before giving a
sermon - when I fell into ecstasy. I saw my beloved friend, the Mother of God, coming towards me with a book
in her hand. "Dominic," she said, "your sermon for today may be very good indeed, but no matter how good it
is, I have brought you one that is very much better."
 "'Of course I was overjoyed, and I took the book and read every word of it. Just as our Lady had said, I
found exactly the right things to say in my sermon, so I thanked her with all my heart.
 "'When it was time to begin, I saw that the University of Paris had turned out in full force, as well as a large
number of noblemen. They had all seen and heard of the great things that the good Lord had been doing
through me.
 "'I went up into the pulpit. It was the feast of Saint John the Evangelist but all I said about him was that he
had been found worthy to be the guardian of the Queen of Heaven. Then I addressed the congregation:
 "'My Lords and illustrious doctors of the University, you are accustomed to hearing learned sermons suited
to your refined tastes. Now I do not want to speak to you in the scholarly language of human wisdom but, on
the contrary, to show you the Spirit of Cod and his greatness."'
 Here ends the quotation from Blessed Alan, after which Carthagena goes on to say in his own words,
"Then Saint Dominic explained the Angelic Salutation to them, using simple comparisons and examples from
everyday life."
15 Blessed Alan, according to Carthagena, mentioned several other occasions when our Lord and our Lady
appeared to Saint Dominic to urge him and inspire him to preach the Rosary more and more in order to wipe
out sin and convert sinners and heretics.
 In another passage Carthagena says, "Blessed Alan said our Lady revealed to him that, after she had
appeared to Saint Dominic, her blessed Son appeared to him and said, 'Dominic, I rejoice to see that you are
not relying on your own wisdom and that, rather than seek the empty praise of men, you are working with great
humility for the salvation of souls.
 "'But many priests want to preach thunderously against the worst kinds of sin at the very outset, failing to
realize that before a sick person is given bitter medicine, he needs to be prepared by being put into the right
frame of mind to really benefit by it.
 "'That is why, before doing anything else, priests should try to kindle a love of prayer in people's hearts and
especially a love of my Angelic Psalter. If only they would all start saying it and would really persevere, God in
his mercy could hardly refuse to give them his grace. So I want you to preach my Rosary."'
16 In another place Blessed Alan says, "All priests say a Hail Mary with the faithful before preaching, to ask
for God's grace.' They do this because of a revelation that Saint Dominic had from our Lady. 'My son,' she said
one day, 'do not be surprised that your sermons fail to bear the results you had hoped for. You are trying to
cultivate a piece of ground which has not had any rain. Now when God planned to renew the face of the earth, he started by sending down rain from heaven - and this was the Angelic Salutation. In this way God reformed
the world.
 "'So when you give a sermon, urge people to say my Rosary, and in this way your words will bear much
fruit for souls.'
 "Saint Dominic lost no time in obeying, and from then on he exerted great influence by his sermons." (This
last quotation is from "The Book of Miracles of the Holy Rosary," written in Italian, also found in Justin's works,
Sermon 143.)
17 I have been very pleased to quote these well-known authors word for word for the benefit of those who
might otherwise have doubts as to the marvellous power of the Rosary.
 As long as priests followed Saint Dominic's example and preached devotion to the holy Rosary, piety and
fervour thrived throughout the Christian world and in those religious orders which were devoted to the Rosary.
But since people have neglected this gift from heaven, all kinds of sin and disorder have spread far and wide.

[Shin]

I wonder why the Church assigns different days for the four groups of mysteries yet the earlier practice has been to pray them all daily.
I pray though that the Blessed Virgin Mary helps me with this.

I always understood that as that was the mystery you began with that day, and then you finished the full Rosary.

As long as priests followed Saint Dominic's example and preached devotion to the holy Rosary, piety and
fervour thrived throughout the Christian world and in those religious orders which were devoted to the Rosary.
But since people have neglected this gift from heaven, all kinds of sin and disorder have spread far and wide.

A sad state of affairs and too true in these times too!

I also have the impression that only praying a third or less was something more oriented towards beginners or children. 

"Then Saint Dominic explained the Angelic Salutation to them, using simple comparisons and examples from
everyday life."

Blessed simplicity and clarity! Nothing like the ambiguity of the devil!

[Shin]

I am all for Tradition, I do not like additions and subtractions.

There's nothing like tradition!  

[odhiambo]

I always understood that as that was the mystery you began with that day, and then you finished the full Rosary.

Oh, O.K.

Blessed simplicity and clarity! Nothing like the ambiguity of the devil!

Assuredly!

[odhiambo]

Is anyone here a member of the The Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary?
I want it clarified whether members pray the fifteen decades daily, three times a week or pray the 15 decades in the course of one week, i.e. 5 decades daily for three days in a week ?