THE ROSARY OF MARY: OUR WEAPON OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE
By Fr. James Kosek

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[From Volume 12, No. 3, of The Catholic Voice.  Made available on the 
TRADITIO Internet Site with permission of The Catholic Voice, a 
publication of The Society of Traditional Roman Catholics.]

   Reading books has always been a passion of mine, ever since I was a 
child.  My favorite books were adventure stories, science fiction 
stories, and, oddly enough, stories about the lives of the saints.  To 
enjoy reading the lives of the heroes of our Faith of itself isn't odd, 
for these stories are much more real and adventuresome than any 
adventure could be. To this day, it never ceases to amaze me how these 
heroic individuals fought so gallantly for their Faith, in the face of 
overwhelming op position.  Their commitment to Almighty God, and their 
cooperation with God's grace, gave them the ability to overcome the 
enemy and defeat him.

   These soldiers of Christ fought in the army of God against the 
enemies of God.  They were trained for battle in the basic training camp 
better known as our Holy Mother Church. Their training manuals and 
exercises for spiritual combat against the enemy were the Gospels and 
teachings of Jesus Christ, the catechism of Holy Mother Church;  
attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the  reception of the 
Sacraments and daily prayer.

   In order to give these soldiers every possible chance at victory, 
they were also given training in the use of spiritual combat weapons 
known as sacramentals. One of the most important of these sacramentals 
is the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  This treasure of 
spiritual gifts and blessings was given to St. Dominic by the Blessed 
Virgin Mary.  It is a tremendous weapon against the enemies of God.

   The wealth and beauty of this devotion is unveiled as we journey 
through the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries.  From the 
Annunciation by St. Gabriel, to the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin 
Mary as Queen of Heaven and earth, each mystery gives us  inspiration 
and strengthens our faith and love for Almighty God.

   Praying the Rosary with love and meditation is like drinking cool 
water in the midst of our spiritual desert. Because of this, the very 
presence of those who are devoted to reciting the Rosary instills fear 
into the hearts of the enemies of Christ .  In fact, the Holy Rosary is 
feared to such a degree, that the forces of evil have gone out of their
way to try to erase this holy devotion from the minds of Roman Catholics 
all over the world.

   The chief agents carrying out this task have been the humanist-
modernists of our time. Not being content with tampering with and 
destroying the Mass, they have even taken it upon themselves
to alter the words of the Our Father and the Hail Mary. Since the novus 
ordo reformation of the Second Vatican Council, modernists all over the 
world have attacked the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary the only way 
that they could do it and get away with it.  They have ignored this 
beautiful devotion in stead of propagating it.

   One would think that the modernist clergy would do everything in 
their power to please the Mother of God instead of ignoring Her Holy 
Rosary.  How can this be?  An answer might be found in a quotation from 
one of our great popes, Leo XIII. This holy Pope wrote so much on the 
devotion of the Holy Rosary to the point that history remembers him as
"The Pope Of The Rosary".

   Regarding the importance of the Rosary,  Pope Leo said, "We have 
elsewhere brought it to the attention of the devout Christian that, not 
least among the advantages of the Rosary, is the ready means it puts 
into his hands to nurture his faith and to keep him from ignorance of 
his religion and the danger of error."

   Now it becomes clear why the modernists do not want to propagate the 
devotion of  the Holy Rosary.  If, as Pope Leo XIII said, "it will keep 
him from ignorance of his religion and from the danger of error," how 
can the modernists succeed with a flock of well-informed sheep that 
refuse to follow them into error?  As long as the Holy Rosary is being 
said, people saying it will receive the grace they need to avoid
error and seek out God's Truth.

   We, as Roman Catholics, have an obligation entrusted to us by the 
Holy Mother of God.  She placed this most powerful weapon into our 
hands.  She wants us to use it in spiritual combat to defeat the enemy.  
We need to keep up the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary and spread this 
devotion as far as we can.

   We should never forget that we are at war!  Our whole life is combat, 
and we can't rest from it for a minute. We need all the spiritual 
weapons we can use to defeat the enemies, and the Most Holy Rosary of 
the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the gre atest weapons we can use  in 
the fight for salvation and eternal life.  Let's make sure to take up 
this weapon of the Mother of God and shake it in the face of the devil 
and his minions. Acting thus, in a fearless manner, we can be sure we 
will gain the victory. Nothing is more powerful than prayer, and the 
Rosary is our sure prayer of victory after Holy Mass.