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The Secret of the Rosary

and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As .it was in the beginning. is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

Twenty-First Rose

The Fifteen Mysteries

A MYSTERY is a sacred thing which is difficult to understand. The works of Our Lord Jesus Christ
are all sacred and divine because He is God and man at one and the same time. The works of the
Most Blessed Virgin are very holy because she is the most perfect and the most pure of God's
Creatures. The works of Our Lord and of His Blessed Mother can be rightly called mysteries because
they are so full of wonders and all kinds of perfections and deep and sublime truths which the Holy
Spirit reveals to the humble and simple souls who honor these mysteries.
The works of Jesus and Mary can also be called wonderful flowers; but their perfume and beauty can
only be appreciated by those who study them carefully and who open them and drink in their scent by
diligent and sincere meditation.
Saint Dominic has divided up the lives of Our Lord and Our Lady into fifteen mysteries which stand
for their virtues
and their most important actions. These are the fifteen tableaux
or pictures whose every detail  must rule and inspire our lives.
They are fifteen flaming torches to guide our steps throughout this earthly life.
They are fifteen shining mirrors which help us to know
Jesus and Mary and to know ourselves as well. They will also help light the fire of their love in
our hearts.
They are fifteen fiery furnaces which can consume us completely in their heavenly flames.
Our Lady taught Saint Dominic this excellent method of praying and ordered him to preach it far
and wide so as to reawaken the fervor of Christians and to revive in their hearts a love for Our
Blessed Lord.
She also taught it to Blessed Alan de la Roche and said to
him in a vision: ''When people say one hundred and fifty
Angelic Salutations this prayer is very helpful to them and is a very pleasing tribute to me. But
they will do better still and will please me even more if they say salutations while

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