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The Secret of the Rosary

says even the very smallest prayer he will also be faithful in great things. We can be absolutely
certain of this because the Holy Spirit has told us so.
So all of you, servants and handmaids of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, who
have made up your
minds to say the Rosary every day, be of good heart. Do not let the flies (it is thus that I call
the distractions that make war on you during prayer) make you cowardly abandon the company of
Jesus and Mary, in whose holy presence you always are when saying the Rosary. In what follows I
shall give you suggestions for getting rid of distractions.

Forty-Fourth Rose

A Good Method

WHEN YOU have asked the Holy "Spirit to help you pray well, put yourself for a moment in the
presence of God and offer up the decades in the way that I am going to show you later 1 Before
beginning a decade, pause for a moment or two depending upon how much time you have and
contemplate the mystery that you are about to honor in that decade. Always be sure to ask of
Almighty God, by this mystery and through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, one of the
virtues that shines forth most in this mystery or one of which you stand
in particular need.
Take great care to avoid the two pitfalls that most people
fall into during the Rosary. The first is the danger of not ask­
ing for any graces at all, so that if some people were asked their Rosary intention they would not
know what to say. So,
whenever you say your Rosary, be sure to ask for some special grace. Ask God's help in cultivating
one of the great Christian virtues or in overcoming one of your sins.
The second big fault a lot of people make when saying the Holy Rosary is to have no intention other
than that of getting it over as quickly as possible! This is because so many of us look upon the
Rosary as a burden which is always heavier when we have not said it especially if it is weighing on
our conscience because we have promised to say it regularly or have been told to say it as a
penance more or less against our will.

1 see page 170 ss.

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