Page 100
The Secret of the Rosary
damned. You can
understand them in any way you like, as long as you do not interpret them as the
world does and only observe them in a worldly way.
Our Lord gave us the true explanation of His words by
means of the example He left us. "I have given you an example that as I have
done to you, so you do
also."2 And "He passed the whole night in the prayer of God."3 As though His
days were not long
enough, He used to spend the night in prayer. Over and over again He said to His
Apostles: "Watch
ye and pray'';4 the flesh is weak, temptation is everywhere and always around
you. If you do not
keep up your prayers, you shall fall
And because some of them evidently thought that these words of Our Lord
constituted a counsel
only they completely missed their point. This is why they fell into temptation
and sin, even though
they were in the company of Jesus Christ.
Dear Rosary Confraternity members, if you want to lead a fashionable life and
belong to the
world by this I mean if you do not mind falling into mortal sin from time to
time and then going to
Confession, and if you wish to avoid conspicuous sins which the world considers
vile and yet at the
same time
commit "respectable sins" then, of course, there is no need for you to say so
many prayers and
Rosaries. You only need to do very little to be "respectable": a tiny prayer at
night and morning,
an occasional Rosary which may be given to you for your penance, a few decades
of Hail Marys said
on your Rosary (but haphazardly and without concentration) when it suits your
fancy to say
them this is quite enough. If you did less, you might be branded as a
freethinker or a profligate;
if you did more, you would be eccentric and a fanatic. But if you want to lead a
true Christian
life and genuinely want to save your soul and walk in the saints' footsteps and
never. never, fall
into mortal sin if you wish to break Satan's traps and divert his flaming darts,
you must always
pray as Our Lord taught and commanded you to do.
If you really have this wish at heart, then you must at least say your Rosary or
the equivalent,
every day. I have said "at least" because probably all that you will accomplish
through your Rosary
will be to avoid mortal sin and to overcome temptation. This is because you are
exposed to the
strong current of the world's wickedness by which many a strong soul
is swept away; you are in the midst of the thick, clinging dark
2 John 13:15.
3 Luke 6:12.
4 Matt 26:41.