A story for every day...

St. Pius V, one of the greatest popes to have governed the Church, recited the Rosary every day, without being prevented from doing so by the numerous duties of his pontificate. St. Charles Borromeo was very faithful to the same practice, and he had such a high regard for the Confraternity of the Rosary that he ordered that all those who entered his seminaries should be enrolled in it. He could think of no better way to prepare them for their priestly ministry than the daily recitation of the Rosary. St. Thomas de Villeneuve, Archbishop of Valencia, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Francis Xavier, St. Francis of Borgia, St. Teresa of Avila and many other great servants of God, as distinguished for their enlightenment as for their holiness, held the Holy Rosary at the head of their practices of piety.

St. Philip de Neri often attended the Rosary which is said publicly three times a week in the chapel of the Rosary in the convent of the Minerva in Rome. It was through this devotion that St. Catherine of Siena and St. Rose, of the Third Order of St. Dominic, disposed themselves to the extraordinary favors of heaven. It was in the chapel of the Rosary that St. Rose of Lima was most often visited after her communions, and favored by Jesus Christ. It was in this shrine that the Blessed Virgin gave her the glorious name of Rose of Saint Mary, and that the divine Savior addressed to her these tender words: Rose of My heart, I take you for My bride.

From his earliest years, St. Francis de Sales made the most tender devotion to Mary the delight of his heart; he had entered the confraternities or congregations in Her honor, and had vowed to recite the rosary every day of his life; He observed this practice with such piety that he spent a whole hour reciting it, accompanying this recitation with meditation on the mysteries of the rosary, and with such exactitude that, if his business took away his leisure during the day, he wore his rosary on his arm to remember to say it before going to bed. In the evening, no matter how late the night, no matter how tired he was, he would not cut out any of the prayer dedicated to Mary; and when he was so ill that he could not speak, he would have it recited by one of his own and would mentally accompany its recitation. Finally, he always wore his rosary hanging from his belt so as never to lose sight of the fact that he was entirely devoted to Mary. Every month, he regularly attended the procession of the Confraternity of the Rosary, of which he was a member, holding the rosary in his hand, with a deeply recollected demeanor.

(R. P. Huguet)