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Forty-Third Rose

tires of trying to distract us and keep us from praying. To what ends does not the evil one go
against us while we are engaged in saying our Rosary against him.
Being human, we easily become tired and slipshod but the devil makes these difficulties worse when
we are saying the Rosary. Before we even begin he makes us feel bored, distracted or
exhausted and when we have started praying he oppresses us from all sides. And when, after much
difficulty and many distractions, we have finished, he whispers to us: "What you have just said is
worthless. It's useless for you to say the Rosary. You had better get on with other things. It's
only a waste of time to pray without paying attention to what you're saying; half an hour's
meditation or some spiritual reading would be much better. Tomorrow when you're not feeling so
sluggish you'll pray better; don't finish your Rosary until tomorrow." By tricks of this kind the
devil gets us to give up the Rosary altogether or else hardly say it at all, and we keep putting
it off or else change to some other devotion.
Dear Rosary Confraternity members, do not listen to the devil, but be of good heart even if your
imagination has been bothering you throughout your Rosary, filling your mind with all kinds of
distracting thoughts as long as you really tried hard to get rid of them as soon as they came.
Always remember that the best Rosary is the one with the most merit, and there is more merit in
praying when it is hard than when it is easy. Prayer is all the harder when it is (naturally speak­
ing) distasteful to the soul and is filled with those annoying
little ants and flies running about in your imagination, against
your will, and scarcely allowing you the time to enjoy a little
peace and appreciate the beauty of what you are saying.
Even if you have to fight distractions all through your whole Rosary be sure to fight well, arms in
hand: that is to say, do not stop saying your Rosary even if it is hard to say and you
have absolutely no sensible devotion. It is a terrible battle, I know, but one that is profitable
to the faithful soul. If you put down your arms, that is, if you give up the Rosary, you will be
admitting defeat and then, having won, the devil will leave. you alone.
But at the Day of Judgment he will taunt you because of
your faithlessness and lack of courage. "He that is faithful in
that which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater.1
He who fights even the smallest distractions faithfully when he
1Luke 16:10.

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