Pray the Rosary

What Happens When We Pray The Rosary?

“The soul is filled with gratitude and love before these proofs of Divine love; it's hope becomes enlarged and it's desire is increased for those things which Christ has prepared for such as have united themselves to Him in imitation of His example and in participation in His sufferings.” Pope Leo XIII, his encyclical on the Rosary

“The word ‘Rosary’ means ‘Crown of Roses,’ that is to say that every time someone says the Rosary devoutly, they place a crown of one hundred fifty-three red roses and sixteen white roses upon the heads of Jesus and Mary. Being heavenly roses they will never fade or lose their exquisite beauty.” St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of the Rosary

“With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love.” Blessed John Paul II, his apostolic letter on the Rosary.

“There is no surer means of calling down God’s blessings upon the family . . . than the daily recitation of the Rosary.” Pius XII



Who Supports Praying the Rosary?

“The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying.” Pope Leo XIII

“The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.” St. Francis de Sales

“The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A marvellous prayer! Marvellous in its simplicity and in its depth. . .the simple prayer of the Rosary beats the rhythm of human life.” Blessed John Paul II

“Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.” Pope Pius IX

Praying the Rosary daily will put you in some pretty awesome company: St. Jose Maria Escrivia, St. Louis de Monfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Padre Pio, St. Bernadine, St. Bernard, St. Dominic, St. John Vianney, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Albert, St. Bonaventure, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Robert Bellarmine and many more!

And as for those who don’t see purpose in the repetitive nature of the Rosary, Bishop Fulton Sheen said it best: “The beautiful truth is that there is no repetition in, ‘I love you.’”

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us and for all the intentions we receive through this ministry.

Family Rosary

The family that prays together stays together.

Excerpt from The Rosary Priest Remembered
Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, began his ministry 70 years ago with the goal of building family unity through daily prayer of the Rosary. He was inspired by his own father, who more than a century ago started praying the Rosary with his family in their poor but spiritually rich home.

That became the foundation for Father Peyton (1909-92), also known as the “Rosary Priest,” who went on to lead millions in prayer at rallies around the world and created a ministry that would use radio, movies, television, billboards and more to spread his message of support for families. His efforts to serve the faithful continue today through his cornerstone mission, Family Rosary, (founded in 1942), and Family Theater Productions (founded in 1947), as well as the Father Peyton Family Institute, all serving Jesus Christ and His Church throughout the world by promoting and supporting the spiritual well-being of the family.

Father Peyton devoted his life to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and praying her Rosary. He became gravely ill as a seminarian and the doctors had no hope of recovery. So he did as his father, John, had taught him back home in Ireland. The result changed his life and the lives of millions of other people.

“Father Peyton was a seminarian, studying at the University of Notre Dame, when he was stricken with tuberculosis,” said Father John Phalen, CSC, President of Holy Cross Family Ministries. “He prayed his Rosary to the Blessed Mother and made a miraculous recovery. From that moment, he knew he was to be the one to carry out her apostolate, her ministry to bring families together for Rosary prayer, just as his family had done.”

A World at Prayer is a World at Peace.

Armed with that conviction, Father Peyton went on to become one of the most influential American Catholic priests of the 20th century. He was a media pioneer, using the entertainment industry to further his mission of family Rosary prayer in honor of Mary and her son Jesus. The programs he produced featured some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, Bing Crosby, Loretta Young, Grace Kelly, James Cagney, Bob Hope and many more, while his Family Rosary Crusades were attended by millions of people around the globe.

During the course of his ministry, which would span half a century, Father Peyton would touch the lives of countless individuals with his kindness, sincerity and devotion to Mary. Over the years, he would advocate for families by preaching two powerful and memorable sayings: “The Family That Prays Together Stays Together” and “A World at Prayer is a World at Peace.”

“On the 70th anniversary of Family Rosary, we honor Father Peyton’s memory as we continue his mission to bring families together in Rosary prayer to fulfill his vision that the family that prays together stays together,” said Father John Phalen, CSC, President of Holy Cross Family Ministries, the organization originally founded by the sainthood candidate.



The Rosary prayer is truly the essence of Christian devotion. No other prayer is like it and no other prayer can unite families together and with God. This ministry is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. We entrust all the intentions we receive to her powerful intercession and ask Father Peyton to intercede for us. Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us. Servant of God, Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, pray for us.

Saint Anne and Saint Joachim

Today is the Feast Day of Saints Anne and Joachim, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They nurtured Mary, taught her and brought her up to be the worthy Mother of God. It was their teaching that led her to respond to God's request with faith, "Let it be done to me according to Your Will." It was their example of parenting that Mary must have followed as she brought up her own Son, Jesus. It was their faith that laid the foundation of courage and strength that allowed her to stand at the foot of the cross as her Son was crucified. Such parents are examples and models for all parents.

In the Scriptures, Matthew and Luke traced ancestry to show that Jesus is the culmination of great promises. The heroism and holiness of the parents of Mary established the whole family atmosphere around her in the Scriptures. We see in her a fulfillment of many generations of prayerful persons, herself steeped in the religious traditions of her people.

The strong character of Mary in making decisions, her continuous practice of prayer, her devotion to the laws of her faith, her steadiness at moments of crisis, and her devotion to her relatives, all indicate a close-knit, loving family. Saints Joachim and Anne faithfully performed their duties and practiced their faith quietly.

Saint Anne is the patron saint of mothers, grandmothers and pregnant women. Devotion to her was the beginning of this prayer ministry. The novena to Saint Anne had a powerful impact on the pregnancy and birth of Lily Grace because of a community of people who were praying the novena to her that this precious baby would have abundant life. The prayers were answered in the gift of this child who brings love and joy to everyone she meets.

"Joachim and Ann, how blessed and spotless a couple! You will be known by the fruit you have born, as the Lord says: By their fruits you will know them. The conduct of your life pleased God and was worthy of your daughter. For by the chaste and holy life you led together, you have fashioned a jewel of virginity: she who remained a virgin before, during and after giving birth. She alone for all time would maintain her virginity in mind and soul as well as in body." Saint John Damascene, Early Church Father and Doctor of the Church

Good Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, pray for us and for all those for whom we pray.

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

Saint Pio was a man of simple prayer.

Pray, hope and don't worry.

Words of Padre Pio about the Trinity and Our Blessed Mother

"May your heart always be the temple of the Holy Spirit. May Jesus always be the helmsman of your little spiritual ship. May Mary be the star which shines on your path and may she show you the safe way to reach the Heavenly Father. Amen."

"Hold on tightly to the Rosary. Be very grateful to the Madonna because it was she who gave us Jesus. Love Our Lady and make her loved; always recite the Rosary and recite it as often as possible."

"May the Mother of Jesus, and our Mother, obtain for us from her Son the grace to live a life according to the heart of God, a life that is entirely interior and hidden in Him. Give yourself up into the arms of your Heavenly Mother. She will take good care of your soul."



Saint Pio, patron of all who suffer, pray for us and for all the names we receive through this prayer ministry, dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary.

Adoramus Te Domine

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
Matthew 11:28-30



The Beautiful Hands of a Priest
We need them in life's early morning. We need them again at its close. We feel their warm clasp of true friendship. We seek it while tasting life's woes. When we come to this world we are sinful, the greatest as well as the least and the hands that make us pure as angels are the beautiful hands of a priest. At the altar each day, we behold them. The hands of a king on his throne are not equal to them in their greatness. Their dignity stands all alone. For there in the stillness of morning, ere the sun has emerged from the east. There God rests between the pure fingers of the beautiful hands of a priest. When we are tempted and wander to pathways of shame and sin, tis the hand of a priest that absolve us, not once but again and again. And when we are taking life's partner, other hands may prepare us a feast, but the hands that will bless and unite us, are the beautiful hands of a priest. God bless them and keep them all holy, for the Host which their fingers caress, what can a poor sinner do better than to ask Him who chose them to bless. When the death dews on our lids are falling, may our courage and strength be increased by seeing raised o'er us in blessing the beautiful hands of a priest.

May Our Lady bless and protect her Beloved Priests who bring us the Eucharist. May Jesus draw us into His Presence in Eucharistic adoration and give us rest.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Garment of Mary's Grace
Today is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Hermits lived on Mount Carmel near the Fountain of Elijah in northern Israel in the 12th century. They had a chapel dedicated to Our Lady. By the 13th century they became known as “Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.” They soon celebrated a special Mass and Office in honor of Mary and founded the Carmelite Order devoted to contemplative life and sacrificial prayer for others. In 1726 it became a celebration of the universal Church under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. For centuries, the Carmelites have seen themselves as specially related to Mary. Their great saints and theologians have promoted devotion to her and often championed the mystery of her Immaculate Conception.

Saint Teresa of Avila called Carmel “the Order of the Virgin.” While Teresa was in a crisis, her mother died. Afflicted and lonely, Teresa appealed to the Blessed Virgin to be her mother. Saint John of the Cross credited Mary with saving him from drowning as a child, leading him to Carmel and helping him escape from prison. Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus believed that Mary cured her from illness. On her First Communion, she dedicated her life to Mary. During the last days of her life, she frequently spoke of Mary.

Our Blessed Mother appeared to Saint Simon Stock, a leader of the Carmelites. He pleaded with Mary for some special sign of her protection. On July 16, 1251, she designated the scapular as the special mark of her maternal love. Mary told him to promote devotion to it. The scapular is a modified version of Mary’s own garment. It symbolizes her special protection. She calls the wearers to consecrate themselves to her in a special way. The scapular reminds us of the Gospel call to prayer and penance, a call that Mary models in a splendid way.



Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is worldwide, and most Catholics are familiar with the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also known as the Brown Scapular. When Mary appeared to Saint Simon Stock and gave him the scapular, she said: "This will be for you and for all Carmelites the privilege, that he who dies in this will not suffer eternal fire." The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was instituted for the Carmelites in 1332, and extended to the whole Church by Benedict XIII in 1726.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, protect us and all the little ones for whom we pray. Lead us always to your Beloved Son Jesus.

Today we celebrate the Feast Day of Blessed Kateri Tekawitha, Virgin and patron of consecrated virgins, the environment and ecology. Kateri was born near the town of Auriesville, New York, in the year 1656, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior. She was four years old when her mother died of smallpox. The disease also attacked Kateri and transfigured her face. She was adopted by her two aunts and an uncle. Kateri became converted as a teenager. She was baptized at the age of twenty and incurred the great hostility of her tribe. Although she had to suffer greatly for her faith, she remained firm in it. Kateri went to the new Christian colony of Indians in Canada where she lived a life dedicated to prayer, penances, and caring for the sick and aged. Every morning, even in bitterest winter, she stood before the chapel door until it opened at four and remained there until after the last Mass. She became known as the "Lily of the Mohawks."

Kateri's family did not accept her choice to embrace Christ. After her baptism, Kateri became the village outcast. Her family refused her food on Sundays because she would not work. Children would taunt her and throw stones. She was threatened with torture or death if she did not renounce her religion. Because of increasing hostility from her people and because she wanted to devote her life to working for God, Kateri left her village and fled more than 200 miles through woods, rivers, and swamps to the Catholic mission of St. Francis Xavier at Sault Saint-Louis, near Montreal. Kateri's journey through the wilderness took more than two months. Because of her determination in proving herself worthy of God and her undying faith, she was allowed to receive her First Holy Communion on Christmas Day, 1677.

Although not formally educated and unable to read and write, she taught the young and helped those in the village who were poor or sick. Her favorite devotion was to fashion crosses out of sticks and place them throughout the woods. These crosses served as stations that reminded her to spend a moment in prayer. Kateri's motto became, "Who can tell me what is most pleasing to God that I may do it?" She spent much of her time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, kneeling in the cold chapel for hours. When the winter hunting season took Kateri and many of the villagers away from the village, she made her own little chapel in the woods by carving a Cross on a tree and spent time in prayer there, kneeling in the snow. Often people would ask, "Kateri, tell us a story." Kateri remembered everything she was told about the life of Jesus and his followers. People would listen for a long time. They enjoyed being with her because they felt the presence of God. One time a priest asked the people why they gathered around Kateri in church. They told him that they felt close to God when Kateri prayed. They said that her face changed when she was praying. It became full of beauty and peace, as if she were looking at God's face.

On March 25, 1679, Kateri made a vow of perpetual virginity, meaning that she would remain unmarried and totally devoted to Christ for the rest of her life. Kateri hoped to start a convent for Native American sisters in Sault St. Louis but her spiritual director, Father Pierre Cholonec discouraged her. Kateri's health, never good, was deteriorating rapidly due in part to the penances she inflicted on herself. Father Cholonec encouraged Kateri to take better care of herself but she laughed and continued with her "acts of love." She died on April 17, 1680 at the age of twenty-four.

Devotion to Kateri is responsible for establishing Native American ministries in Catholic Churches all over the United States and Canada. Kateri was declared venerable by the Catholic Church in 1943 and she was Beatified in 1980. Her Canonization is expected this year.

Kateri loved the Rosary and carried it around her neck always. She was devoted to the Holy Eucharist and to Jesus Crucified.

I have felt a connection in prayer with Blessed Kateri ever since we began praying for baby Lily Grace and I discovered she was known as Lily of the Mohawks. I feel even more connected with her because of her love of Jesus and Mary.

Novena to Blessed Kateri
Kateri, favored child and Lily of the Mohawks, I come to seek your intercession in my present need: (State your intention here) I admire the virtues which adorned your soul: love of God and neighbor, humility, obedience, patience, purity and the spirit of sacrifice. Help me to imitate your example in my state of life. Through the goodness and mercy of God, Who has blessed you with so many graces which led you to the true faith and to a high degree of holiness, pray to God for me and help me.

Obtain for me a very fervent devotion to the Holy Eucharist so that I may love Holy Mass as you did and receive Holy Communion as often as I can. Teach me also to be devoted to my crucified Savior as you were, that I may cheerfully bear my daily crosses for love of Him Who suffered so much for love of me. Most of all I beg you to pray for me that I may avoid sin, lead a holy life and save my soul. Amen.

In Thanksgiving to God for the graces bestowed upon Kateri: (Recite the following prayers) Our Father...Hail Mary...Glory Be...(3 times)

Blessed Kateri, pray for us and for all the babies, little ones and the families we pray for through this ministry.

Saint Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr

Fidelity and Forgiveness
Today is the feast day of Saint Maria Goretti. She was born in 1890 in Corinaldi, Italy. Blessed John Paul II often commented on the virtues and example of Saint Maria Goretti. In a Homily commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the virgin martyr's birth, he emphasized her importance for our own troubled times. She did not flee from the voice of the Holy Spirit, from the voice of her conscience. Through the gift of fortitude, the Holy Spirit helped her to judge and to choose with her young spirit. She chose death when there was no other way to defend her virginal purity.

Maria Goretti's blood was shed in a sacrifice of total fidelity to God. She reminds us that we are also called to offer ourselves to the Father. We are called to seek the Divine Will and to be holy and pleasing in His sight. Our call to holiness, which is the vocation of every baptized person, is encouraged by the example of this young martyr. She is a special model for adolescents and young people, defending purity of heart and body and being committed to the struggle against evil and sin. Her life shows us not to be afraid to take a counter-cultural stance, to reject the things of the world and to be courageous witnesses by love, purity and virginity.

In her silent heroism, Maria Goretti is a teacher of truth and true love. She teaches us to see in Christ the value of the truth which frees us from slavery "to the world" by seeking good which always overcomes evil. Before she died at the age of twelve, Maria forgave her attacker, Allesandro. He was sent to prison for her death. After six years of prison, he was near the brink of despair. Then one night, Maria appeared to him in his cell. She smiled at Alessandro and she was surrounded by lilies, the flower symbolic of purity. From that moment, peace invaded Alessandro's heart, and he began to live a constructive life. After serving his sentence, Alessandro lived at a Capuchin monastery, working in the garden as a tertiary. He asked pardon of Maria's mother and accompanied her to Christmas Mass in the parish church where he spoke before the hushed congregation, acknowledging his sin and asking God's forgiveness and the pardon of the community. Forty years later, on June 24, 1950, Maria was canonized at St. Peter's basilica in Rome, with Alessandro's heart now firmly converted to the Lord. A miraculous fruit of Maria's life of forgiveness!

"Oh Saint Maria Goretti who, strengthened by God's grace, did not hesitate even at the age of twelve to shed your blood and sacrifice life itself to defend your virginal purity, look graciously on the unhappy human race which has strayed far from the path of eternal salvation. Teach us all, and especially youth, with what courage and promptitude we should flee for the love of Jesus anything that could offend Him or stain our souls with sin. Obtain for us from our Lord victory in temptation, comfort in the sorrows of life, and the grace which we earnestly beg of thee (here insert intention), and may we one day enjoy with thee the imperishable glory of Heaven. Amen."

My Jesus, as you gave Saint Maria Goretti the crown of martyrdom, help us keep faithful to your teachings with her courage.

Daughter, your faith has saved you.

Call on Jesus, trust Him and He will provide all our needs. He is never far. He is always with us. Cry out to Him. Call on His name and He will come to our rescue.

And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23



There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to Jesus, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."
Mark 5:25-34

Jesus, we cry out to You. We bring our petitions to You through the most powerful intercession of Mary, Queen of Peace. Jesus, we trust in You.