Page 123     

                                                                                                                                                                    `                                                                                   

The Salutation of the Rosary

6. The devil (who is the enemy of the human race and of the preaching of the Gospel) is driven off
by the Hail Mary. This is most necessary because, to quote Our Lord's words, there is danger of
his coming to take the word of God out of people's hearts, "lest believing they might be saved."

In his first sermon on the Holy Rosary Clement Losoun says:
"After Saint Dominic had gone to heaven devotion to the Rosary waned until it was very nearly dead,
when a terrible pestilence broke out in several parts of the country. The wretched people sought
the advice of a saintly hermit who lived in the desert in great austerity They besought him to
intercede to Almighty God for them. So the hermit called
upon the Mother of God, imploring her, as Advocate of Sinners, to come to their aid.
"Our Lady then appeared and said: 'These people have stopped singing my praises. This is why they
have been visited with such a scourge. If they will only go back to the
ancient devotion of the Most Holy Rosary, they will enjoy my protection. I shall see to their
salvation if only they will sing the Rosary, for I love this type of chanting.'
"So the people did what Mary asked and made themselves
rosaries, which they started saying with all their heart and soul"