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The Secret of the Rosary

well as other prelates. The court turned out in full force as well as a large proportion of the
general populace. The Archbishop used to read the meditations on the mysteries aloud and then begin
the Our Fathers and Hail Marys of each decade while the congregation made up of religious and lay
folk answered him. At the end of the Rosary a statue of the Blessed Mother was solemnly carried in
procession while the Litany of Our Lady was sung.
This devotion was kept up with admirable fervor every Saturday and resulted in a manifest
blessing from Heaven: for on All Saints' Day of the same year the king defeated the English at the
island of Re and made his triumphant entry into La Rochelle. This goes to show the great power of
public prayer.
Finally, when people say the Rosary together it is far more
formidable to the devil than one said privately, because in this public prayer it is an army that
is attacking him. He can often overcome the prayer of an individual, but if this prayer is joined
to that of other Christians, the devil has much more trouble in getting the best of it. It is very
easy to break a single stick, but if you join it to others to make a bundle it cannot be broken. "In
union there is strength.'' Soldiers join together in an army to overcome their enemies; wicked
people often get together for parties of debauchery and dancing, and evil spirits join forces in
order to make us lose our souls. So why, then, should not Christians join forces to have Jesus
Christ present with them when they pray, to appease Almighty God's anger, to draw down His grace
and mercy upon us, and to frustrate and overcome the devil and his angels more forcefully?
Dear Rosary Confraternity members, whether you live in town or in the country, near your parish
Church or near a chapel, go there at least every evening (with the parish priest's approval, of
course), together with all those who want to recite the Rosary in two choirs. If a Church or a
chapel is not available say the Rosary together in your own or a neighbor's house. This is a holy
practice which Almighty God, in His mercy, has set up in places where I have preached missions to
safeguard and increase the good brought about by these missions and to prevent further sin.
Before the Holy Rosary took root in these small towns and villages, dances and parties of
debauchery went on all the time; dissoluteness, wantonness, blasphemy, quarrels and feuds
flourished. One heard nothing but evil songs and double meaning talk. But now nothing is heard
but hymns and the

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