The Rosary:" A sustaining prayer in the battle against the evil one and his accomplices"

	The Rosary: "A sustaining prayer in the battle against the evil one and his accomplices"   The passage from Revelation presents the vision of the struggle between the woman and the dragon. The figure of the woman, representing the Church, is, on the one hand, glorious and triumphant and yet, on the other, still in travail. And the Church is like that: if in heaven she is already associated in some way with the glory of her Lord, in history she continually lives through the trials and challenges that the conflict between God and the evil one, the perennial enemy, brings. And in the struggle that the disciples must confront—all of us, all the disciples of Jesus, we must face this struggle—Mary does not leave them alone. The Mother of Christ and of the Church (…) struggles with us, sustains Christians in their fight against the forces of evil. Prayer with Mary, especially the Rosary—but listen carefully: the Rosary. Do you pray the Rosary every day? But I am not sure you do (the people shout “Yes!”)… Really? Well, prayer with Mary, especially the Rosary, has this “suffering” dimension, that is of struggle, a sustaining prayer in the battle against the evil one and his accomplices.
	Pope Francis Excerpt of his homily on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Castel Gandolfo, August 15, 2013

Mary Teach Us Compassion

	Mary Teach Us Compassion   Mary leads us constantly. She knows all forms of suffering. She wants to strengthen us, console us and help us. (…) Mary is compassion itself, because she was next to her Son when he suffered and she suffered with him. (…) It is important for us to ask Mary, who suffered and commiserated with Jesus at the foot of the cross, to teach us compassion. We must ask this of Mary because it is a mystery of motherhood. She actually gives birth to us through suffering. We can see that this cross is painful, but also joyful. It transforms us in God's love. Lord Jesus, help us to understand this mystery. It is simply incomprehensible for us to grasp with our human reason; but with love and grace, you help us understand, you save and transform us.
	Pierre Goursat (1914-1991), Founder of the Community of the Emmanuel (France, 1972). Taken from his meditations, at the Inter-Assembly Day, March 13, 1976, and the Community Weekend on September 20, 1981

Mary, Mother of Jesus

	Mary, Mother of Jesus, Mother of God's Word   The Virgin is devoid of what the world calls happiness. When we meditate the "Magnificat," the Virgin seems to be an abyss of smallness, just a "servant." She is one of the "humble" and the "hungry." But the Lord looked at that abyss with a merciful heart—he filled her with happiness—she is "full of grace." Mary is poor. She has no resources, and sometimes she even lacks a house and furniture. She is unable to preach, but she has the most precious possession that she gives willingly to the shepherds, the Wisemen, Simeon and Anna in the Temple, and all of humanity on Golgotha. Without words, she gives them Jesus, who she alone possesses. And that gift speaks for her, since he is the "Word of God" in person.
	Cardinal François-Xavier NGUYEN VAN THUAN, Sur le chemin de l'espérance (The Road to Hope), Le Sarment, Fayard 1991

Reciting the Rosary Protects Families

	Reciting the Rosary Protects Families It will not, then, seem too much to say that in places, families, and nations in which the Rosary of Mary retains its ancient honor, the loss of faith through ignorance and vicious error need not be feared. (…) To ward off these exceedingly great dangers of ignorance from her children, the Church, which never relaxes her vigilant and diligent care, has been in the habit of looking for the staunchest support of faith in the Rosary of Mary. And indeed in the Rosary, along with the most beautiful and efficacious prayer arranged in an orderly pattern, the chief mysteries of our religion follow one another, as they are brought before our mind for contemplation.
	Pope Leo XIII Encyclical Letter on the excellence of the Rosary: Magnae Dei Matris, September 7, 1892. Leo XIII devoted to that prayer no less than twelve encyclical or letters, which earned him the name of “the Pope of the Rosary”