A Lesson from Madrid

Centuries ago, when the Moors were driven out of Spain, the Christians in Madrid set to work restoring the church of Santa Maria. But the ancient statue of Mary and Jesus that once decorated the church could not be found. The citizens organized a procession around the city to ask God to help them find the statue. And help them He did. 

At one point as the crowd passed a wall, it began to crumble. Lo and behold, behind it was hidden the statue that they sought. Not only was it intact, but two lamps, installed in the cavity by those who walled in the statue, were still burning. 

Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira writes of this miracle:

Notice how they put lighted lamps near the statue before walling her up. This gesture is very beautiful since it shows they did not want to wall up the statue without a tribute. Those lamps represented their hopes that the statue would be venerated once again. Thus, the walled-up place was like a little chapel.

A miracle confirmed their hopes. This most beautiful miracle of confidence consisted of the lamps that burned for 300 years. They continued to burn when the statue was found in the wall. It is a miracle as great as the multiplication of loaves in the Gospel. Its marvelous message is that one can expect such things from Our Lady. Although things may appear defeated and crushed, something irreversibly victorious remains in them.

These are encouraging words for the difficult days we find ourselves in. Trust Mary. She will not be defeated.

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From "The Miracle of Our Lady of Almudena Teaches Us Confidence," at the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property.

Is My Prayer Good Enough?

Have you sometimes felt that your personal prayers might not be lofty enough, pious enough, to send up to Jesus and Mary? In the compact prayer book Blessed Be God (1925), the authors address this hesitation in their opening chapter on "How to Pray":

People often find it difficult to pray because they have an exaggerated notion of prayer, not really understanding what it means and erroneously believing that it consists in very lofty thoughts, which must be expressed in correspondingly elevated words and sentences; whereas the very opposite is the truth. How simple are the Our Father and the Hail Mary! How unaffected the thoughts and words of the centurion, the leper, the blind man, and others mentioned in the Gospel, who sought help from our Lord and were heard!

 Neither is it necessary for a prayer to be long to be perfect; it need not be said in any particular place or at any special time; nor need it be said kneeling or standing. We may turn our hearts to God at all times, in all places, and in any posture of body, whether we be in the street or in the church, at home or abroad; and this is not only prayer, but devout prayer. 

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From Blessed Be God: A Complete Catholic Prayer Book by Very Rev. Charles J. Callan, O.P., S.T.M., and Very Rev. John A. McHugh, O.P., S.T.M., published by P. J. Kennedy & Sons, 1925.

Pictured: Innocence by William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

Times that Try Men's Souls

Battle of Lepanto, in which the rosary prevailed.

In the confused and anxiety-producing aftermath of this election, we can easily sink into doubt and even despair. Instead, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano exhorts us to turn to an earnest use of our rosaries to defeat the lies and evil that are (always) at work.

Read his inspiring message here and spread the word.

Hard to Find the Time

The late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, declared Venerable in 2012, loved to promote the rosary. He was a practical man and understood that for many of us it is hard to find time in the day to pray a full rosary. He had this to say:

To develop that spiritual comradeship with Jesus and Mary, the rosary is most effective. The word rosary means a "garland of roses" culled from the Garden of Prayer. . . . 

If you do not say it all at once and on your knees, then say one decade when you arise in the morning, another decade on your way to work, another decade as you sweep the house or wait for your check at the noon lunch hour, another decade just before you go to bed; the last decade you can say in bed just before falling off to sleep.

So do not let a scarcity of time rob you of the chance to greet Mary and reflect on her Son, even if only for a few moments at a time. These can be the crucial moments that bring us a course correction as we sail through our day.

Rosary Bracelets Are Here

Anno Domini has created a line of rosary bracelets, a convenient and decorative way to have your rosary beads always on hand. Each bracelet is made up of ten Hail Mary beads and one Our Father, and  is accented with a crucifix and Miraculous Medal, on which you can recite the Creed and the Hail, Holy Queen.

Now Offering Rosary Repairs

Do you have a favorite rosary that has come apart or is missing a piece? Maybe it got caught in the car door or your little nephew innocently used it to pull his firetruck up the driveway. Or maybe the centerpiece has become discolored or the crucifix is not quite to your liking.

Anno Domini Rosaries now offers repair services on traditional chain rosaries and rosary bracelets. It is a wonderful thing to put a precious rosary back into prayerful service!

Feel free to contact us to discuss your needs and get an approximate quote. Our rates are very affordable, designed to be within reach of anyone needing our service. Contact Ann at doyleann@comcast.net.

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Distractions--A Fact of Life

When saying our prayers, our minds very often wander. Don't be distressed if--despite frequent promises that you will focus on your prayer and fence out thoughts on what your neighbor said to you yesterday or which color to paint the hallway--you find your mind once again straying. Just get back on track and keep going. 

Saint Louis de Montfort understands, and writes in The Secret of the Rosary:

. . . Because of the constant repetition of the same Our Father and Hail Mary in the same unvarying form, it is difficult, while saying the Rosary, not to become wearied and inclined to sleep or to turn to other prayers that are more refreshing and less tedious. This goes to show that one needs much greater devotion to persevere in saying the Holy Rosary than in saying any other prayer . . . .

Be of good heart even if your imagination has been bothering you through your Rosary, filing 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. 

. . . Even if you have to fight distraction 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.

So keep going, reflecting on the mysteries at each decade, and know that Our Lady appreciates our effort and our time spent with her and her Son.

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The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis Marie de Montfort, "Forty-Third Rose: Fighting Distractions."