The Most Holy Rosary Versus TradRecovery INC

Nothing But Snarls and Growl From This Corner

Those who know this Wolf know how dedicated he is to Our Lady of Fatima and the Most Holy Rosary.  So when a clueless Bogus Ordo Wannabe- whether shill or useful idiot, this Wolf knows not- appears with "suggestions" concerning this Most Precious Gem bequeathed by Our Lady to St Dominic circa 1220, that will get this Wolf's attention.  And when this clueless Bogus Ordo "Dominican" actually attacks the Venerable Beads under cover of praising them... well... Bombs Away...

This Wolf will quote this Lout in full, so nobody can claim anything is being taken out of context:

"With the feast of my holy father Dominic quickly approaching (August 8th), I think it would be most fitting to write a few words on the great devotion given to him by Our Lady: the Most Holy Rosary.  That’s a grand title our Holy Mother Church has given to this method of prayer..."  [Actually, that is the name that the Domincans, and later the commonality of Christendom, gave it, as early Spiritual Fathers spoke of weaving a garland of Roses for the Mystical Rose, which is one of Our Lady's Titles.]   "It shows how much she esteems and loves it, recommending it to her children ceaselessly.  I will not spend much time extolling its history or virtues here, however, since there is another matter I wish to address. If you are interested in learning more, I would recommend two amazing books on this subject: 1) The Secret of the Rosary, written by my brother Dominican, St. Louis Marie de Montfort, and 2) Champions of the Rosary, by Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC.  [First off, this Wolf does agree that St Louis Marie de Montfort is the foremost Marian Father, even ahead of St Alphonsus Ligouri. But "The Secret of the Rosary" is one of his minor works.  The core books that should be read are "True Devotion to Mary" and "God Alone".  Also, St Louis was not exactly a Dominican.  He did join their third order, but his core spirituality was Sulpician.  But the second Marian Father would be either St Alphonsus Ligouri or perhaps St Philip Neri.  Fr Doanld Calloway?  Who is he?]

[At any rate, here is where the slow-motion train wreck begins...]  "As beautiful and wonderful as this special prayer is, the struggle of prayer is still quite real, isn’t it?   Especially when you have been told constantly for years how amazing and necessary it is, but feel more guilted into its recitation than encouraged.  I mean, don’t you know about the pleas of Our Lady of Fatima?!  If you don’t say your daily Rosary, you’re disappointing the Mother of God!  Or worse, you could fall into Hell like all those other millions of snowflakes!"

[You have got to be kidding me.  First off, this man knows nothing of the spiritual order.  Nada.  Zippo.  Null.  For beginners, the Bad Guy is going to do his darndest to convince a person that prayer is boring, tedious, monotonous, and a pious struggle. Now, of course, it does not help that Catholicism has forgotten its eschatology for the last four centuries or so, preferring since the Council of Trent to focus on the personal moral struggle of each soul, especially against temptations to impurity.  This Wolf will congratulate a whole train of Piuses and Gregories for reducing the Holy Catholic Faith to insufferable canons and anthemas while the clerics can debate how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.  But flipping the script and reducing Our Lady of Fatima to being a cause of neurosis is a tad extreme, to say the least.  While the quote by St Sr Lucia concerning souls falling into hell like snowflakes is quite hard to nail down, she did tell William Walsh that "I saw the souls going down... not those going up."  This Wolf does think St Sr Lucia is being conflated with the rather depressing opinions of St Alphonsus Ligouri and certain of the church fathers, who thought the vast proportion of humanity would be lost.  Quite frankly, this Wolf does not believe that Our Wonderful God would give Himself in such a frightful way on Calvary, along with Our Lady's Infinite Sorrows, to yield such scant fruit, although, humanly speaking, that does appear to be the case.  St John talks about a portion of the body of the Elect being "Greater than any man can count" and this Wolf has heard of drug dealers who can count frightfully high.  However, Hell is far from empty, and this Wolf would not opt for the "default position" which does not seem to be very encouraging.  When one contemplates what is at stake, most assuredly one would do all in his power to "hedge his bets".  Meanwhile, taking pot shots at Our Lady of Fatima like this is very discouraging, to say the least.  St Sr Lucia did tell Fr Augustine Fuentes that "Our Lady is very sad that nobody has paid attention to her message".  Actually belittling her message and making it the butt of subtle comedy is even worse, and just might call down the wrath of God.]

"I have heard about the negative emotions and difficulties many people have with the Rosary.  I have experienced many of them myself. These often arise from bad associations we have with it, such as broken parental relationships, overly strict and unforgiving domestic prayer environments, lack of instruction in proper practice and understanding, or ridiculous motivational speeches about a demonically possessed monkey lurking under your bed, biding its time to murder you if you don’t say your beads."

[Of course, the Powers of Hell would not be involved.  (This Wolf is being sarcastic.)  Meanwhile, here we have, as is rampant in the Conciliar Church, much innuendo and little that is specific.  Yes, we all have had bad experiences and parents who are far from perfect.  But we are going to use this as an excuse to assail The Most Holy Rosary?]

"When you recite the Hail Marys, don’t you wish you could actually appreciate the sweet scent of all those roses you are offering to ourQueen?  Are you tired of feeling like you’re lying in a bed of thorns?  Do you want to love praying the Rosary?  Here are five ideas to help you retrieve your Rosary relationship:"

[First off, this Wolf, having prayed probably somewhere close to a hundred thousand rosaries (complete 15, NOT 20, decade rosaries) during his lifetime, might share some of his experiences here, especially as he has experienced considerable spiritual development- not that he is anywhere close to the summit.  This Wolf can tell you one thing about the Ascent of Mt Carmel- when you first begin, you are in a deep fog, even though everything seems bathed in sunshine.  After you make some progress, you begin, by stages, to discern the road ahead.  And the more the fog clears, the longer that road becomes.  One might sooner build a ladder to the stars of heaven than attain the summit of Carmel.  Many many times saying the Rosary can be a struggle, even for the advanced.  But one does not say the Rosary to feel good or as a recreational activity.  One says the Rosary to unite one's life with the Mother of Sorrows, for the Salvation of souls, one's own and hopefully many others.]

"Take a Beads Break.  Let’s be clear from the start: you will not go to Hell if you don’t practice this devotion.  It is not a Precept of the
Church.  There are countless canonized saints who never said a Rosary.  Devotion to Mary is an important part of our holy and wise religion, yes; but there are many ways to invoke Mary’s intercession and honor her role in salvation history.  The storehouse of the Church is overflowing and abundant!  As a Dominican, obviously I want you to love the Rosary as much as I do.  But if you need to take a break while you are healing from past wounds, that’s okay.  Our sweet little Mother loves you so much, she understands!"

[At both Lourdes and Fatima, Our Lady stressed the importance of the daily recitation of the Rosary.  So much so that maybe IT SHOULD be a precept of Holy Mother Church.  Meanwhile, although this Wolf has posted it countless times, here is St Sr Lucia's opinion on the Most Holy Rosary: "As for the Holy Rosary, in these last times in which we are living, the Blessed Virgin has given a new efficacy to the praying of the Holy Rosary.  This in such a way that there is no problem that cannot be resolved by praying the Rosary, no matter how difficult it is - be it temporal or above all spiritual - in the spiritual life of each of us or the lives of our families, be they our families in the world or Religious Communities, or even in the lives of peoples and nations.  I repeat, there is no problem, as difficult as it may be, that we cannot resolve at this time by praying the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary we will save ourselves, sanctify ourselves, console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls."  But no, we can be like Pius XI or Pius XII and not pay attention to Our Lady of Fatima.  We can rather do Our Way and not Our Lady's Way.  And we will just see how that works out in a world run by Satanic Pederasts.  So yes, by all means, stop saying the Rosary.  And while you are at it, stop working, stop cleaning, and stop taking care of yourself, because it is your neurosis that matters.]

"Get Back to Beads Basics. The Rosary has accumulated a number of additional prayers over the centuries.  Add to that personal, parental, or parish favorites, and that little string of wooden beads can start to resemble a lumberjack’s log jam.  Do you know what the original structure of the Rosary was?  One Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and meditation on the Gospel mysteries.  That’s it. Try the simplified original for a while, you can always add prayers back in that you want later.  Meditate Mysteriously and Multifariously. You don’t have to limit yourself to meditation on the characters, events, and timeline of the twenty mysteries, nor should you!  You can think about what led up to the mystery, or what happened afterwards as a result. You can consider the virtue or virtues being exemplified by the characters of the mystery. You can ponder the deep meaning of the words and ideas expressed in the Our Father or the Hail Mary, and/or how they relate to the mystery. You can imagine Mary, Jesus, or one of the disciples telling you about their experiences of the mysteries. If something along the way excites you, strikes you, or inspires you, STOP: you can dedicate the rest of the decade to it.  The Heavens are the limit!"

[Like much in the Conciliar Church, very good advice is mingled with the pathetic.  For the uninitiated, the Most Holy Rosary was codified by Pope Pius V in 1570 in the form it has been known since.  That is to say, Pius V had a commision determine of what the Rosary in the time of St Dominic consisted, and promulgated said form.  Our Lady of Fatima insisted that the prayer that begins "O My Jesus, forgive us our sins..." be added after the Gloria Patri at the end of each decade.  Meanwhile, the Rosary, Our Lady's Psalter, consists of 150 Hail Mary's arranged in 15 decades, with the attendant mysteries.  The "Luminous Mysteries" of JP2 are not part of the Most Holy Rosary, and do not improve the Rosary any more than an extra tail would improve a cat, or an extra two legs a wolf.  The Rosary is the property of Our Lady, not the Popes or the Vatican.  JP2 might have consulted Our Lady and asked for her advice or her permission.  Meanwhile, at least since the Pontificate of Pius X, the popes have apparently considered all the treasures of Holy Mother Church under their whim and fiat, from the most venerable liturgies to the Communion of Saints.]

"Let the Decades Drop By.  You don’t have to complete five decades in one sitting (or kneeling, or standing, or walking, or driving, or
sleeping…heh heh).  Say a decade here, and a decade there.  When a musician practices a piece of music, it is most effective to break it down into short sections and play carefully through each.  Why not do the same with the Rosary?  After all, it’s hard lugging dozens or hundreds of roses all at the same time up to the Queen’s throne!  You need to pace yourself and strengthen those prayer muscles, and with time you will be able to carry more and more roses with ease.  Smell and Enjoy Your Roses."

[On the one hand, our Dominican does give some good advice concerning mediation.  While for beginners, it is necessarily structured because of ignorance, as one progresses one should be attentive to where the spirit leads.  Men, in particular, need to make the prayers of the rosary applicable to their state and life, and the problems of the day.  Prayer is ultimately from the heart, not the mind, and prayer should progress to the point where one is actually conversing with Our Lady and the saints, sighing after the sins of poor humanity, both in general and regarding those we know.  And this Wolf would suggest that what helps immensely is a devotion to Our Lady's Seven Sorrows.  Understanding the ongoing drama of Salvation History- the only history that matters- is key to transforming prayer from the odious to the vibrant.  Meanwhile, breaking up the five decades is not advisable.  The obvious temptation is going to be to leave off praying when the slightest ill spiritual wind blows.  Surrender here is only going to invite worse, until one finally stops praying altogether.]

"Find a beautiful rosary that brings you joy.  Personalize it. Take it to holy places and touch relics with it (I have a wooden rosary that I touched to the third largest relic of the True Cross in France).  It is your tool, your toy, your treasure.  It is an exquisitely and masterfully made pair of leather boots or sandals that fit you just right, ready to tromp with you all over the Holy Land.  It is a warm and comforting embrace from your Mother whenever you are afraid, discouraged, or upset.  It is your sword when you need to defend yourself from the Dragon and smite his head.  It is your shining trumpet to open the Gates of Heaven."

[This is not bad advice for beginners.  Personally, this Wolf has never been big on devotions, which mainly seem geared to women.  This Wolf does, however, consider the Most Holy Rosary to be most potent weapon.  And in these trying times the Most Holy Rosary is My Mass, My Office, My Rule, and My Enclosure.]

"Even though there have been times in my life when I have misunderstood and struggled with the Rosary, I have always come back to it; and every time I do, my relationship with it and its gentle Maternal Maker grows stronger.  This is why my holy father Dominic labored unceasingly to promote her favorite devotion throughout his life.  She is always there, waiting to help us pray and lead us more deeply into the knowledge and love of her son, Jesus."

[If this Dominican has ever read St Louis Marie De Montfort, he has not provided any evidence here.  Meanwhile, Our Lady seems constantly belittled.  Referring to the Gate of Heaven and the Tower of Ivory as "Our sweet little Mother" and "gentle Maternal Maker" is truly untraditional.  Our Lady is not some type of Optional Wallflower, a Decoration on the Tree of Jesse.  Rather She is its Root and Trunk.  Without Our Lady... nothing, only a Desolation.  An Abomination of Desolation.  Which is exactly what the Conciliar Church is- and this becomes clearer with each passing day.]

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.  You are our only hope!