Page 9
A White Rose
For Priests
DEAR MINISTERS of the Most High, you my fellow priests who preach the truth of
God and who
teach the gospel to all nations, let me give you this little book as a white
rose that I would
like you to keep. The truths contained in it are set forth in a very simple and
straightforward manner as you will see. Please keep them in your heart so that
you
yourselves may make a practice of the Holy Rosary and taste
its fruit; and please have them always on your lips too so
that you will always preach the Rosary . and thus convert
others by teaching them the excellence of this holy devotion.
I beg of you to beware of thinking of the Rosary as some
thing of little important as do ignorant people and even
several great but proud scholars. Far from being insignificant, the Rosary is a
priceless
treasure which is inspired by God.
Almighty God has given it to you because He wants you to use it as a means to
convert the most
hardened . sinners and the most obstinate heretics. He has attached to it grace
in this life and glory in the next. The saints have said it faithfully and the
Popes
have endorsed it.
When the Holy Spirit has revealed this secret to a priest and .director of
souls, how blessed is
that priest! For the vast majority of people fail to know this secret or else
only know it
superficially. If such a priest really understands this secret he will say the
Rosary every day and
will encourage others to say it. God and His Blessed Mother will pour abundant
grace into his
soul, so that he may become God's instrument for His glory; and his word, though
simple, will do
more good in one month than that of other preachers in several years.
Therefore, my dear brethren and fellow priests, it will not be enough for us to
preach this
devotion to others; we must practice it ourselves. Even if we firmly believed in
the importance
of the Holy Rosary but never said it ourselves, people could hardly be expected
to act upon our
advice, for