Our Lady holding Jesus as He accepts flowers from the shepherd child

Our Lady holding Jesus as He accepts flowers from the shepherd child

Welcome to our intercessory prayer ministry for families, babies, little ones and those who love them.

In our prayers for families, we pray for the sanctity of all life and for vocations to marriage, the priesthood and consecrated life, which are born and nurtured in families.

The
Prayer of Entrustment to Mary was prayed for this ministry at the icon of the Madonna Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the Roman People, Our Lady of Good Health) in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of Mary Major) in Rome, Italy, in Nossa Senhora do Rosario da Fatima (Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary) in Fatima, Portugal, in Eglise du Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart Parish Church), the site of St. Bernadette's baptismal font, in Lourdes, France and at The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts at the Shrine of the Holy Innocents before Our Lady of Guadalupe and at Basilica Papale de San Pietro in Vaticano (St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City) at the Tomb of St. John Paul II in Rome, Italy and at the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe) in Mexico City, Mexico.

This ministry is consecrated to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate, through the hands of Mary and dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. In our prayers to Mary, we honor and worship her Son Jesus. When He was on the Cross, He gave His Mother to John and she became our Mother as well. "Behold, your Mother." John 19:27

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
For the greater glory of God

August 30, 2015

Reflection: God is love...

Have you experienced an overwhelming sense of how much God loves you? Imagine a young father gazing at his newborn baby. See the love that is exchanged between them. Imagine a new mother holding her baby for the very first time. As they gaze at one another, feel the love that passes between them. Now place yourself in the arms of the Father. Feel the peace and comfort of his tender embrace. Rest in His arms, gaze at Him and allow His everlasting love to come upon you.

A beautiful way to experience God's love is to sit in a chapel before the tabernacle or during Eucharistic Adoration.  When you come before God in this way, He will make His Presence known to you. All you have to do is be still, just be. As you sit still in the quiet of His Presence, speak to Him. Pour out Your heart to Him. You will know He hears you and a peace will come upon you.

"For this reason, I bow before the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." Ephesians 3:14-15 

Jesus came to save us and to reveal God to us as our loving Father. The revelation is that God the Father is the Creator of the universe who made you and me in His image. God is our Papa and He wants to pour His love into our hearts.

"That He would grant you, according to the riches of His Glory,to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man." Ephesians 3:16

God will give you strength through the Holy Spirit which He will infuse into you.

"That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height." Ephesians 3:18  

A saint becomes a saint through the greatness and vastness of God's love. The saints are rooted and grounded in faith because they know His love. To know God, we must experience His love. Our hearts become so filled with love that they overflow in capacity. That is what God does when He pours His love upon us. We are overwhelmed by His love. God desires to overwhelm you with His love. This will require sacrifice. It will require dying to self.

"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." Ephesians 5:1-2

God wants your whole heart to be filled with love so His Presence can dwell in your whole heart completely. Focus on the naked Face of Jesus and you will experience His love. Jesus is God's love revealed. Always seek the Face of Jesus and He will overwhelm you with God's love. When this happens, the love of God will pour forth from you like a river.

Recently, I had the experience of being overwhelmed with God's love through the kindness of friends. I am overwhelmed with the goodness and grace that has been given to me. What can we do when we are overwhelmed with love? Receive the love and give thanks.

"Know that the Lord is God, He made us, we belong to Him, we are His people, the flock He shepherds. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His Name. Good indeed is the Lord. His mercy endures forever, His faithfulness lasts through every generation." Psalm 100:3-5

Everything that Jesus did revealed God's love in the Father whose arms are always outstretched ready to give His heart and His love to all who want to receive Him.


Come to the Father and let Him overwhelm you with His love...He is waiting with open arms to embrace you...

August 28, 2015

Reflection...Saint Augustine: Late have I loved You...

"Late have I loved You, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved You! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for You. In my unloveliness, I plunged into the lovely things which You created. You were with me, but I was not with You. Created things kept me from You; yet if they had not been in You they would not have been at all. You called, You shouted, and You broke through my deafness. You flashed, You shone, and You dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for You. I have tasted You, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace."  Excerpt from the Confessions of Saint Augustine

Recently, I was sick and became dehydrated. What a devastating experience! No matter how much water I drank I could not quench my thirst. I thought about this experience in reflecting on the words of Saint Augustine, "I drew in breath and now I pant for You. I have tasted You, now I hunger and thirst for more." Only God can quench our thirst through His Word and through the Body and Blood of Jesus.

Yesterday we celebrated the Feast Day of Saint Monica. Her persistent prayers for her son led to her sanctification. Today we celebrate the Feast Day of Saint Augustine. We know that through the trust and prayers of Saint Monica, Augustine converted and became one of the most influential thinkers of the Church. Saint Monica's life can never be separated from that of her son, the great Saint Augustine, convert, Bishop, and Doctor of the Church. What we know of her, for the most part, is the account that Augustine gives of her in his Confessions. The story of Augustine's life, up until his conversion, is written in the autobiographical Confessions, the most intimate and well-known glimpse into an individual's soul ever written, a beautiful philosophical, theological, mystical, poetic and literary work.

Monica's almsgiving and her habits of prayer annoyed her husband, but he treated her with a sort of reverence. By Monica’s sweetness and patience, she began a successful apostolate among the wives and mothers of her native town. They knew that she suffered, as they did, and her words and example had a great effect on them. All Monica's anxiety centered on her son Augustine. He was wayward and lazy. Monica prayed constantly to God for the soul of her son. She went tearfully to the bishop to ask him to help and he responded famously,

"the child of those tears shall never perish."

Augustine went to Rome and then Milan in 386. Monica followed him and they met Saint Ambrose. She was able to see the conversion of her son and his Baptism after her years of tears and prayer. Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, gave sermons that inspired Augustine to look for the truth that he had always sought in the faith he that he had rejected. He was baptized. Soon after, his mother, Saint Monica, died with the knowledge that all she had hoped for in this world had been fulfilled. The prayers of Saint Monica and the teachings of Saint Ambrose had an effect on Saint Augustine, but he said it was the work of God that opened his heart.

On a visit to Hippo, he was proclaimed priest and then bishop against his will. He later accepted it as the will of God and spent the rest of his life as the pastor of the North African town, from where he spent much time refuting the writings of heretics. Saint Augustine grew to become one the most significant and influential thinkers in the history of the Catholic Church. He was a great seeker of truth and his teachings were the foundation of Christian doctrine.

As we pray for the people in our lives who have gone astray and turned away from the Lord, let us call upon the intercession of Saint Augustine and Saint Monica, but always remember that it is God who changes hearts.

Saint Augustine and Saint Monica, pray for us, for all who have lost their way and for all the names we receive through this prayer ministry.

August 27, 2015

Reflection: Saint Monica, the woman who never gave up praying...

After the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Monica is a powerful example of Christian motherhood. Today we celebrate her Feast Day. For years, she prayed for the conversion of her son. Her persistence was answered with abundant grace. Her son, Augustine, became a saint and a Doctor of the Church.

Monica was a woman who never gave up on her son.  Monica did not plead for a miracle. She prayed and sacrificed for the conversion of her son. Her prayers, disappointments, and many tears were all a means of drawing her closer to God. In her heroic efforts for her son's conversion, she herself became a saint. Monica's whole life, as well as her sanctification, was bound up with Augustine's. Her faith, hope, and love were heroically tested and proved pure in her suffering.

Her marriage to Patricius, a pagan Roman official, was not a happy one, but it was peaceful and stable due mainly to her patience and prudence. Her advice and her powerful example as a wife was an inspiration and a model for domestic peace and stability. Monica's years of caring and crying and continual prayer came from her perseverance and trust in God's Providence. Before he died, Monica saw her husband's conversion.

From the Diary of Saint Faustina
"My sister Wanda came to see me today. When she told me of her plans, I was horror stricken, How is such a thing possible? Such a beautiful little soul before the Lord, and yet, great darkness had come over her. and she did not know how to help herself. She had a dark view of everything. The good God entrusted her to my care, and for two weeks I was able to work with her. But how many sacrifices this soul cost me is only known to God. For no other soul did I bring so many sacrifices and suffering and prayers before the throne of God as I did for her soul. I felt that I had forced God to grant her grace, When I reflect on all this, I see it was truly a miracle. Now I can see how much power intercessory prayer has before God."

As we learn from Saint Monica and Saint Faustina, prayer changes things, but first and foremost, it changes us.  When we pray for someone, God hears every one of our prayers, but He also opens our hearts to love more deeply.  When we feel compelled to pray for another person, God has entrusted that person to us.  God will always hear our prayers and He will often use our prayers for our own sanctification.

Saint Monica prayed, suffered and sacrificed for her son's conversion for over thirty years.  Through her actions, her wayward son converted and became a saint. Saint Faustina prayed for two weeks and saw a miracle in her sister Wanda's conversion. God knows the perfect time when a heart is open to receive His grace. The prayers of both of these saints for others led to their own sanctification.

Saint Monica faced a culture in which Christianity had not yet fully taken hold. We live in a culture in which Christianity is increasingly marginalized and children wander away or are pulled away from the Faith. This prayer for her intercession is particularly appropriate today.

Prayer to Saint Monica for Mothers
Exemplary Mother of the great Augustine, you perseveringly pursued your wayward son not with wild threats, but with prayerful cries to heaven. Intercede for all mothers in our day so that they may learn to draw their children to God. Teach them how to remain close to their children, even the prodigal sons and daughters who have sadly gone astray.

Saint Monica, pray for us and for all our intentions. Help us to never give up praying for a soul who has been entrusted to us. Blessed Mother Mary, through the intercession of the Saints, pray for us, for our children and loved ones. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, we place our trust in You.

August 24, 2015

Reflection: Mary Queen of the Apostles...

Today we celebrate the Feast Day of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle and Martyr. How blessed we are that these brave men carried on the teachings of Jesus and that Mary our Blessed Mother accompanied them. She walks with us too and she is our loving Mother and powerful intercessor.

"When they entered the city, they went to the Upper Room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas, son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and His brothers." Acts 1:13-14

Meditation: Place yourself in the Upper Room. Listen as the Apostles cry out in prayer. They had just seen Jesus ascend into heaven. There was so much they did not understand. Peter stood up in their midst as they prayed for wisdom to choose the successor of Judas of Iscariot and they chose Matthias. Listen to their fervent prayer and join them with your own prayers. Listen to Mary as she prays with the Apostles and for them. Listen as Mary prays with you and for you. Tell her all the things you do not understand. Then place all your needs into her loving hands.

"When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly, there came from the sky, a noise like a strong driving wind and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues of fire which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues as the Spirit enables them to proclaim." Acts 2:1-4

With the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles were infused with strength and gifts of the Holy Spirit which enabled them to do things they could never do before.  They were no longer timid and afraid, but were filled with courage and strength to proclaim Jesus to the ends of the earth.  Through your Baptism and Confirmation, you have received these gifts of the Holy Spirit, Ask the Holy Spirit to stir up these gifts in you so that you may go forth and do the Will of God. He has a special mission for you. As you pray and come into the presence of Mary in the Upper Room, ask her to help you discover your mission.

"As the Father has sent me, so I send you." John 20:21

O Mary, Queen of the Apostles, pray for us and send the Holy Spirit to guide and enlighten us.

August 22, 2015

The Queenship of Mary

Hail Holy Queen enthroned above, O Maria!
Today is the Feast Day of the Queenship of Mary. Pope Pius XII established this feast in 1954, but Mary’s Queenship has roots in Scripture. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “Mother of my Lord.” As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, Mary is closely associated with Jesus: Her Queenship is a share in Jesus’ Kingship. In the Old Testament the mother of the king has great influence in court. In the fourth century, Saint Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and “Queen” and Church Fathers and Doctors continued to use the title. Hymns of the eleventh to thirteenth centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.”

The feast is celebrated on the octave day of the Feast of the Assumption. In his encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, Pope Pius XII pointed out that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve with the redemptive work of Jesus, because of her perfection and her intercessory power.

Mary was assumed into Heaven by Jesus and the angels. That means she was carried. Jesus ascended into Heaven, which is a different word. He went up to Heaven by His own power. Mary doesn't have that kind of power, so Jesus carried her. After she was assumed into Heaven, Jesus took His Mother to a throne next to His own. Since He is King and Lord of all, then as His Mother, she was to become Queen. Jesus, God our Father and the Holy Spirit placed a beautiful crown of twelve stars on her head. All the angels and saints sang wonderful songs praising her as their Queen. The Blessed Virgin Mary now shares in the glory of her Risen Son, because shares in His work of saving souls. As His Mother, she carried Him in her womb, gave Him birth, raised Him through childhood and into adulthood and stayed with Him when He was on the Cross.

Mary is Queen to all of us. She obtains all graces for us through her prayers. As our mother and as Jesus's Mother, she will always intercede for us to her Son, and lead us closer to Him. Let us bring all our needs and prayers to her.  O Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, pray for us and for all those we pray for.



August 20, 2015

The Memorare by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux wrote of the great spiritual advantage of true devotion to our Blessed Mother, inviting us to become her trusting children. He wrote this beautiful prayer:

"Look to the star of the sea, call upon Mary … in danger, in distress, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary. May her name never be far from your lips, or far from your heart … If you follow her, you will not stray; if you pray to her, you will not despair; if you turn your thoughts to her, you will not err. If she holds you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you need not fear; if she is your guide, you will not tire; if she is gracious to you, you will surely reach your destination."

Mary, Our Mother, understands our sufferings and hurts. Let us ask for her intercession to Jesus. Her heart was pierced when she heard Simeon's words, as she held her precious baby. She did not understand, but she kept all these things in her heart. Let us unite our sufferings and those of our children and those for whom we pray with Mary.

Mary was petitioned as "Mother of God" at least by the 3rd Century, as is evidenced by the discovery of the Sub Tuum prayer:

This prayer, known in Latin as "Sub tuum Praesidium" and first found in a Greek papyrus, c. 300, is the oldest known prayer to the Virgin.

We turn to you for protection, Holy Mother of God. Listen to our prayers and help us in all our needs. Save us from every danger, glorious and blessed Virgin.

The "Memorare" is a sixteenth-century version of a fifteenth-century prayer that began "Ad sanctitatis tuae pedes, dulcissima Virgo Maria." Claude Bernard (1588-1641) popularized the idea and wrote the "Memorare".

Remember, most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother, to you do I come before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.  O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.

On earth, the Blessed Virgin offered her life in that obedient service which is true worship of God. In heaven, she leads the song of eternal praise which rises like incense before the throne of God.  Let us imitate Mary, ponder everything in our heart and turn to her in all our needs.

August 18, 2015

Reflection: The Gospel of Life..Saint John Paul II...

Now the Word of the Lord came to me saying: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I consecrated you; a prophet to the nations I appointed you. Jeremiah 1:5

"It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from which they develop." Saint Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life  

Recent undercover videos have revealed that Planned Parenthood has been harvesting and selling the body parts of aborted babies for research and profit. This is illegal and immoral.  If you have seen the videos, you know the horror of what is happening. What can you do? Pray, fast and bear witness to the truth that all life is sacred.  

Whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.  And whoever receives on child such as this in My Name, receives Me.  See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the Face on My Heavenly Father.  Matthew 18:4-5,10

"The use of human embryos or fetuses as an object of experimentation constitutes a crime against their dignity as human beings who have a right to the same respect owed to a child once born, just as to every person. " Saint Pope John Paul II

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a "Gospel of life." It invites all persons and societies to a new life lived abundantly in respect for human dignity. God entrusted His Son to Mary for the redemption of the world. We ask Saint Pope John Paul II to intercede for us to build a culture of life through the evidence of evil that has been seen in these videos that the eyes of all hearts may be opened.

"We are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the "culture of death" and the "culture of life." We find ourselves not only "faced with" but necessarily "in the midst of" this conflict: we are all involved and we all share in it, with the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life." Saint Pope John Paul II

Mother Mary, Patroness of America, renew in us a love for the beauty and sanctity of the human person from conception to natural death; and as Your Son gave His life for us, help us to live our lives serving others. Mother of the Church, Mother of our Savior, open our hearts to the Gospel of Life, protect our nation and show our leaders the way to turn away from evil, and make us witnesses to the truth that all life is sacred.

August 15, 2015

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  Revelation 12:1

Today is the Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother Mary. This day has always been loved by the children of Mary who try to live each day in the School of Mary. It is a sign to us that someday, through God's grace and our efforts, we too may join the Blessed Mother in giving glory to God. The Assumption is a source of great hope for us because it points the way for all followers of Christ who imitate her fidelity and obedience to God's Holy Will. Where she now is, we are meant eventually to be, and may hope to be through Divine grace. Mary was taken to heaven, body and soul, after her life on earth was ended because of her Immaculate nature, uniquely protected by God's grace from personal sin. May we seek to imitate her self-sacrificing love, her indestructible faith and her perfect obedience. Mary chose, with the God’s grace, to preserve her God-given purity throughout her whole life. It is fitting that she who knew no sin should know no decay and should be taken body and soul to be with the Father and her Son. It is fitting that she who stood by Christ under the Cross should stand by Him bodily at the right hand of the Father.

The Queen stands at your right hand, in gold of Ophir. Psalm 45:10

Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord's words to her would be fulfilled. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory. Blessed Mother Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, pray for us and all those for whom we pray.

August 11, 2015

Reflection: Saint Clare of Assisi

The Contemplative Life

Today is the Feast Day of Saint Clare. When Clare heard Saint Francis of Assisi preach his Lenten homilies at the Church of San Giorgo, she felt a fire stir within her soul and she was determined to live the Gospel in a radical way. On the evening of Palm Sunday, at the age of 18, she secretly left her home with her cousin Pacifica, never to return home again. In the middle of the night, Clare met Francis and his friars at the Portiuncola, the little chapel of ‘Mary of the Angels’. Francis cut her long blond hair and Clare laid aside her fine clothes, clothing herself in a simple dress of sackcloth and a thick veil. She vowed from that moment on to give herself totally to God, her Eternal Spouse.

Clare was placed by Francis temporarily with the Benedictine nuns until Francis built with his own hands a cloister for her and her community, the Order of Poor Ladies, later known as the Poor Clares. The Poor Ladies lived apart from the world and supported Francis and his followers through their hidden life of prayer and sacrifice.

Lover of the Eucharist

Clare loved to come before the Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament. She looked to the Lord in the Eucharist as her dearest Love. She received Jesus in Holy Communion as often as she was permitted. One day after she had received Holy Communion, the Child Jesus came to visit her. He lay in her arms and covered her with kisses.

Our Lord was close to Clare and her Sisters all the time. Once, He saved them from a great danger in answer to Saint Clare's prayer. An army of rough soldiers came to attack Assisi and they planned to raid the convent first. Although very sick, she had herself carried to the wall and right there, where the enemies could see it, she had the Blessed Sacrament placed. Then on her knees, she begged God to save the Sisters.  "O Lord, protect these Sisters whom I cannot protect now," she prayed. A voice seemed to answer: "I will keep them always in My care." At the same time a sudden fright struck the attackers and they fled as fast as they could.  This became known as the miracle of the Blessed Sacrament.

In speaking of Eucharistic Adoration, Saint Clare said,

"Gaze upon Him, consider Him, contemplate Him, as you desire to imitate Him."

And, imitate Him she did. Due to her great zeal and deep devotion for the Holy Eucharist, Clare came to resemble that which she consumed and gazed upon so frequently during her life. Saint John Paul II said of Saint Clare: "her whole life was a Eucharist because from her cloister she raised up a continual thanksgiving to God in her prayer, praise, supplication, intercession, weeping, offering and sacrifice. She accepted everything from the Father in union with His only begotten Son."

I have a very special love for Saint Clare, her profound devotion of the Eucharist and her life of contemplative prayer. I especially love the story of how she held up the Blessed Sacrament when Assisi was about to be attacked and the attackers fled in fright. Last year, I had the blessing of visiting Assisi and I remember being so moved by the statue of Saint Clare holding up the Blessed Sacrament. That is the power of the Eucharist. Jesus heals, protects and performs miracles through the Eucharist and Eucharistic Adoration. Whenever you have an opportunity to go to Eucharistic Adoration, go and sit in the Presence of the Lord. He is waiting for you. Like Saint Clare, the more you come to Him, the more He will make you like Him. When you gaze at Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration, He is gazing back at you with great love.

“Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! And transform your entire being into the image of the Godhead Itself through contemplation." Saint Clare

Saint Clare, pray for us and all those we pray for through this ministry.

August 08, 2015

Saint Dominic and Our Lady of the Rosary

Today is the Feast Day of Saint Dominic.  During his life, he tried to convert non-believers to Catholicism, founded the Order of Dominicans, experienced apparitions of Blessed Mother Mary and was linked to the Middle Ages Inquisition by the Catholic Church.  Through his apparitions with Our Lady, the Saint Dominic rosary provided the structure of the Most Holy Rosary we pray today.

Dominic was born of Spanish parents in Spain and spent his early years there. In neighboring southern France in those same years was a religious sect called Cathars. This sect had some elements of the Catholic faith, but held a fundamental belief which Catholicism considered heresy. Cathars believed there was an evil god that created the material world and a good god that created the spiritual world.  Cathars main heresy was their belief in dualism: the evil God created the materialistic world and the good God created the spiritual world. The Pope dispatched missionaries to southern France, including Saint Dominic, to convert the Cathars, to accept Catholic teaching and cease belief in separate gods.

Saint Dominic was especially devoted to what is now considered the predecessor of the modern rosary. This was simply a tallying mechanism to count the number of prayers recited which in early times was called paternoster, which translates roughly from Latin as father (pater) and ours (noster). Often the person reciting a penance would recite 150 Our Fathers and use the paternoster to keep an accurate count. In the year 1214, Saint Dominic was in anguish because his attempt to convert the Cathars was basically a failure because he converted so very few. Saint Dominic attributed this to the deepness and gravity of sinfulness of the people. He went alone in to the forest and wept and prayed continuously for three days to appease the anger of Almighty God. After three days, he passed in to a coma.

Dominic experienced an apparition of Blessed Mother Mary while in the coma, which forever links Saint Dominic and the rosary. Mary appeared and asked him: "Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?" Dominic's response was Blessed Mary knew better than he because she is a part of our salvation.

Mary continued: "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" which is the rosary.

Shortly after this apparition he preached the Holy Rosary to the unconverted Carthars. To modify the paternoster (150 Our Fathers) and in compliance with the instruction in the apparition, the design of the Saint Dominic rosary came in to being. He set apart 15 mysteries of the rosary, grouped them in to 3 sets of 5 decades each.

Mother of Grace, Mother of Mercy, help us turn to you by praying the Rosary daily.

Our Lady of the Rosary, Saint Dominic, pray for us.