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Third Rose

"'My Lords and illustrious Doctors of the University, you are accustomed to bearing learned sermons
suited to your aesthetic 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 God 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 every­
day life.''
Blessed Alan, according to Carthagena, mentioned several other times when Our Lord and Our Lady
appeared to Saint Dominic to urge and inspire him to preach the Rosary more and more in order to
wipe out sin and to 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 upon
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 in the right frame of mind to really benefit by it.
"This 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 want you to preach my Rosary.' "
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 Almighty 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 made over the world.

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