Page 93     

                                                                                                                                                                    `                                                                                   

Forty-Fourth Rose

It is really pathetic to see how most people say the Holy Rosary they say it astonishingly
fast and mumble so that the words are not properly pronounced at all. We could not possibly
expect anyone, even the most unimportant person, to think that a slipshod address of this kind was
a compliment and yet we expect Jesus and Mary to be pleased with it! Small wonder then that the
most sacred prayers of our holy religion seem to bear no fruit, and that, after saying thousands of
Rosaries, we are still no better than we were before! Dear Confraternity members, I beg of you to
temper the speed which comes all too easily to you and pause briefly several times as you say the
Our Father and Hail Mary. I have placed a cross at each pause, as you will see:
Our Father Who art in Heaven,t hallowed be Thy name,t
Thy kingdom come,t Thy will be donet on earth as it is in
Heaven.t Give us this dayt our daily breadt and forsive us our trespassest as we forgive
those who trespass against
us,t and lead us not into temptationt but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace,t the Lord is with Thee,t blessed
art thou among woment and blessed is the Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus.t
Holy Mary, Mother of God,t pray for us sinners, nowt and
at the hour of our death. Amen.
At first, you may find it difficult to make these pauses because of your bad habit of saying
prayers in a hurry; but a decade that you say recollectedly in this way will be worth
more than thousands of Rosaries said all in a rush without any pauses or reflexion.
Blessed Alan de la Roche and other writers (including Saint Robert Bellarmine) tell the story of
how a good confessor advised three of his penitents, who happened to be sisters, to
say the Rosary every day without fail for a whole year. This
was so that they might make beautiful robes of glory for Our
Lady out of their Rosaries. This was a secret that the priest had received from Heaven.
So the three sisters said the Rosary faithfully for a year and
on the Feast of the. Purification the Blessed Virgin appeared to them at night when they had
retired. Saint Catherine and Saint Agnes were with her and she was wearing beautiful robes that
shone and all over them "Hail Mary, full of grace" was blazoned in letters of gold. The Blessed
Mother came to the eldest sister and said ''I salute you, my daughter, because you have saluted me
so often and beautifully. I want to thank you

                                                                                                                                                                    `