Champions of the Rosary: The History and Heroes of a Spiritual Weapon by Calloway Donald H

Author:Calloway, Donald H. [Calloway, Donald H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Marian Press
Published: 2017-02-22T16:00:00+00:00

The 21st Century:

Luminous Mysteries in Dark Days

T here are many forces opposing Christianity in the third Christian millennium. Some of these threats are old, but many of them are new. To face these attacks, the Divine Craftsman has re-sharpened the sword of the rosary and given it a whole new set of mysteries. With the establishment of Divine Mercy Sunday and the universal promotion of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the rosary is clearly not only a weapon of truth, but also an instrument of mercy. The Secretary of Divine Mercy, St. Faustina, once wrote in her Diary : “I shall fight all evil with the weapon of mercy.” 1 In the third Christian millennium, the rosary will be used by men, women, and children to combat the enemies of the Cross and also to bring souls to the mercy of Christ. Popes will be relentless in promoting it, bishops will have visions about it, and new heroes and champions will emerge who will instruct others to wield it in the darkness of a world that has abandoned both reason and Divine Revelation.

Weapon of Truth and Instrument of Mercy

The first canonized saint of the third Christian millennium was St. Faustina Kowalska. She was canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 30, 2000. It was on that same day that St. John Paul II declared that the second Sunday of Easter would be officially known and celebrated throughout the entire Church as Divine Mercy Sunday. The Divine Mercy message and devotion was already the fastest growing grassroots movement in the history of the Church, but Faustina’s canonization would help further popularize one of the most important aspects of her visions, namely, the Divine Mercy Chaplet. As a result of St. Faustina’s canonization, the rosary became even more commonly used since the Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed on ordinary Dominican rosary beads. The rosary is now officially understood as both a weapon of truth and an instrument of mercy. The importance of this two-fold dimension to the rosary would be made even more plain one year later when Muslim terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, killing almost 3,000 people. The response of St. John Paul II was to ask the world to pray the rosary during the month of October for protection against future attacks and as a way of obtaining peace.

After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, St. John Paul II began to emphasize the rosary even more than he had before. He foresaw terrible things on the horizon for humanity and was greatly worried. During the same month that he requested the rosary be prayed for protection against terrorism (October 2001), he beatified Blesseds Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi, the first married couple in the history of the Church to be beatified together. During the beatification homily, he intentionally emphasized the important role that the daily rosary played in their marriage. He stated: “At the center of their

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