Michael Davitt Forrest

“ The Hail Mary is the sanctification of the soul, the joy of the Angels, the song of the predestined, the canticle of the New Testament, the pleasure of Mary, the glory of the most Holy Trinity. The Hail Mary is a loving kiss we give to Mary ”

“ When in our prayers we fly to Mary, we fly to the Mother of Mercy, who is so disposed towards us that in whatever necessity we are struggling, especially in our striving after the attainment of life eternal, she is at once by our side, and indeed, quite spontaneously—without awaiting our appeal—and lavishes upon us gifts from the treasury of that grace of which she received from the beginning a full supply from God, Whose Mother she was worthy to be. ”

“ The Sorrowful Mysteries set before our minds the Incarnate Word agonizing in the Garden of Olives for love of us, undergoing an inhuman scourging in Pilate’s hall, wearing a thorny crown of ignominy, laden with a heavy cross, and finally sacrificing His life, in supreme anguish, on Calvary for our redemption. In the Glorious Mysteries we consider Christ’s triumphant resurrection and ascension, the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, and the assumption and coronation of the Virgin Mother. ”

“ O pure Mother of God, through thy virginal and most joyful delivery, whereby thou gavest to the world thine only Son, our Saviour, obtain for us, we beseech thee, through thine intercession, the grace to lead such pure and holy lives in this world that we may become worthy to sing, without ceasing, the mercies of thy Son, and His benefits to us by thee. ”

“ O Sacred Virgin, Tabernacle of the Holy Ghost, we beseech thee to obtain, by thine intercession, that this Comforter, whom thy beloved Son sent down upon His Apostles, filling them thereby with spiritual joy, may teach us in this world the true way of salvation, and make us walk in the way of virtue and good works. ”

“ Let us contemplate, in this Mystery, how our Lord Jesus Christ, triumphing gloriously over death, rose again the third day, immortal and impassible.
Our Father. Hail Mary, ten times. Glory be to the Father, etc.
LET US PRAY
O Glorious Virgin Mary, by that unspeakable joy thou didst receive in the Resurrection of thy Divine Son, we beseech thee obtain for us of Him that our hearts may never go astray after the false joys of this world, but may be wholly employed in seeking the true and solid joys of heaven. Amen. ”

“ Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord. ”

“ O Holy Virgin, more than martyr, by that ardent prayer which our beloved Saviour poured forth to His Heavenly Father, vouchsafe to intercede for us, that, our passions being subjected to the obedience of reason, we may always, and in all things, conform and subject ourselves to the holy will of God. ”

“ The Sovereign Pontiff derives from it supernatural strength to bear his tremendous burden, and light and grace to discharge the duties of his exalted office with Christ-like fidelity; the priest finds in his Rosary solace and courage in the trials which beset him, and the grace to remain faithful to the superhuman obligations which he has voluntarily taken upon him; the nun draws from this wondrous devotion grace to persevere in the life of angelic purity which she has embraced in imitation of the Immaculate Virgin ”

“ O Holy Virgin, model of patience, by the most painful carrying of the Cross, in which Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, bore the heavy weight of our sins, obtain for us of Him, through thine intercession, courage and strength to follow His steps, and bear our cross after Him to the end of our lives. ”

“ But there is one circumstance especially, in which we shall derive most abundant fruit from the recitation of the Rosary—in the seclusion of the Church, before our Eucharistic God. There our minds are easily raised above the fleeting joys of this changing life; there we easily close our eyes to the false glamour of this world, which allures us away from God; there our hearts are quickly inspired with holy and lofty aspirations and ideals. ”

“ The Rosary is especially popular as a form of family prayer, and no Catholic father or mother should allow a night to pass without assembling the children, and offering together to the Mother of God this tribute of praise and of supplication. Surely every family can consecrate a quarter of an hour each day to this practice, which will bring down on the family as a whole, and on each member in particular, the richest graces that Mary’s sinless hands can bestow, and will be at the same time a pledge of her gracious and powerful protection in life and in death. ”

“ When, using the words of the Angel, we salute her as full of grace, and weave that repeated salutation into a wreath, it is almost impossible to tell what pleasure and delight we give her, for thus often we revive the remembrance both of her exalted dignity and of the beginning of mankind's redemption through her. ”

“ The great means of salvation and sanctification, the means which God has established for procuring efficacious grace to resist every temptation and acquire every virtue, the means that fertilizes, so to say, the sacerdotal ministry, is prayer. ”

“ If we owe it to Christ that He has communicated in a certain manner to us the right that belongs to Himself of calling and having God as Father, we likewise owe to Him the right He has most lovingly communicated of calling and having Mary as Mother. ”

“ The heavenly fragrance and supernatural sweetness that linger around the Tabernacle calm our troubled souls, which no longer resemble a stormy sea, but rather a clear, placid lake, wherein God’s perfections are distinctly reflected. ”

“ And much more does she know and clearly see all our needs—what helps we need in life; what dangers, public and private, threaten us; in what straits and evils we are oppressed, how keen especially is the conflict with the bitterest enemies of our salvation ”

“ The Sorrowful Mysteries are prescribed for Tuesdays and Fridays, and for the Sundays in Lent. The Glorious Mysteries are designated for Wednesdays and Saturdays, and for the Sundays from Easter to Advent. ”

“ At the beginning of each decade a brief outline of the mystery is often read in order to help us to fix our mind upon that particular mystery while reciting the decade. At the end of each decade, before announcing and reading the reflection on the following mystery, a suitable prayer regarding the fruit to be derived from the previous decade is frequently recited. ”

“ For I have told you every grief
In all the days of twenty years.
And I have moistened you with tears.
And in your decades found relief.
“Ah! time has fled, and friends have failed,
And joys have died ”

“ In the Rosary we survey, or rather ponder on, the entire series of mysteries enacted in the lives of Jesus and Mary from the moment of the Incarnation until the Coronation of the Queen of Heaven. In the Joyful Mysteries we contemplate Mary becoming the Mother of the Word made flesh, visiting her cousin St. ”