Rejoice In The Fifteen Promises Of the Blessed Mother For Praying the Rosary

Below are the Fifteen Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the rosary, as given to to Saint Dominic:

  1. Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.
  2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
  3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
  4. It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for Eternal Things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
  5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.
  6. Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
  7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
  8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
  9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
  10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven.
  11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.
  12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
  13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
  14. All who recite the Rosary are my sons, and brothers of my only Son Jesus Christ.
  15. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Your spiritual journey may be as convoluted as mine. You are on your own unique path created by God to help you fulfill the mission He has specifically designed for you.

All the ups and down, pain and pleasures and failures and triumphs are an integral part of the sanctification process. Often, you learn more from your mistakes and sins that when everything is going great.

In the most recent Why Catholic program, our group decided to say the rosary at the end. Our hosts bought just about every pamphlet available about the rosary so we could all be on the same page. A few days before , God had put it on my heart the desire to start praying the four mysteries of the rosary daily. When I read the 15 promises of the Blessed Virgin, I was thrilled, ecstatic and overjoyed.

God is so good. If I had started saying four rosaries after reading the promises, it would have seemed self-serving.

One of my greatest joys after reading the promises was the realization both my mom and dad made it to Heaven. They were diligent Prayer Warriors who said the rosary daily.

“Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.”  Mom and dad both received Extreme Unction at least 3 times each during their final days. Also, they were gave their confessions and consumed the Holy Eucharist before they died.

I still cherish both their rosaries and pray with them daily. I feel their spiritual presence every time I pray those precious beads. I remember with gratitude the blessed hands, souls and spirits that prayed for 30 years for God to bring me home, back to the Catholic Church.

Even after going to Catholic elementary and high school I was tempted by the cares of the world to escape my faith. With hormones raging, my total focus was on sex, getting laid as soon as possible. Most of my other friends were no longer virgins. I was anxious to prove my sexual prowess also.

I made the mistake of going to the University of California at La Jolla where you were required to take multiple courses lumped into the category called “Humanities.” These courses were thinly veiled attempts to brainwash vulnerable students into becoming young socialists and communists that rebelled against parents, religion and capitalism.

We were told often, “The pig must die. Capitalism must be destroyed. The new world order must be created. Kill your parents because they are capitalistic pigs.”

Rock and Roll and mind-expanding drugs were the catalysts to my transition into the supposedly brave new world of total individual autonomy. Like Adam and Eve I chose to become a  god in my own universe. There were no laws or right or wrong. Total hedonism was encouraged, no matter how deviant or bizarre.

God says, “Sin is enjoyable for a season.”

The teachers said the reason I was unhappy, depressed and insecure was because I was not indulging in the total fulfillment of my senses, especially sex with multiple partners.Wow! That sounded really appealing. I wanted some of that.

The big problem was finding willing female partners who had bought into the same line of BS.

Unfortunately, being your typical black, horn-rimmed glasses wearing, nerd with a big nose, gigantic ears and zero social skills, immediate sexual gratification with the opposite sex was a long distant fantasy. Gorgeous girls with pretty faces, awesome bodies were scarfed up by the handsome upper-class guys with money, style and hot cars. Nerds with horn-rimmed glasses, pen pocket protectors and prominent slide rules were radioactive, not to be approached under any circumstances.

For many of us, the Flower Power Generation was a farce. There was very little free love, mostly sexual self-gratification heighten by pot and LSD.

With the advent of Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler Magazines, there was no dearth of graphic  pornography needed to fuel wild, self-gratifying masturbatory fantasies. The marijuana and psychedelics transformed a life that sucked into a reality where lies and fantasies flourished.

In this corrupted world view, total self-love was  revered as the ultimate statement of personal freedom. Religious laws and principles were considered out-dated and repressive…preventing you from experiencing life to the fullest. It was the creation of the “ME GENERATION.”

After ten years of sex, drugs and rock and roll, God had mercy on my soul. I experienced the true meaning of the scripture, “There is a way that seems right unto man but the ends there are the ways of death.”

I realized there was no true happiness or fulfillment through drugs, sex and rock and roll. The temporary satisfaction in the pleasures of the flesh morphed into a deep dark, deadly hole were suicidal depression was my only friend. No amount of drugs could plug the hole in my heart  only a true relationship with God could fill.

Before I committing suicide, something I had been contemplating for months in my drugged-out state, as I fell asleep one night, I spontaneously started saying the Our Father and Hail Mary. I believe this was a result of my mom and dad, grandparents and aunts and uncles praying rosaries for me for many years.

By God’s grace I was able to accept the free gift of eternal life and became a “born again Christian.” Unfortunately, I did not remember the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Too many drugs had erased the spiritual truths taught in elementary and high school. Lost was the beauty and wisdom of the oral tradition, the Magisterium, (“teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church”) and the wisdom of spiritual Doctors of the  Western Church, Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine, Saint Jerome, and Pope Gregory and Eastern Church, John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Athanasius of Alexandria.

A personal relationship with Jesus,  “the Bible alone” and the indwelling of Holy Spirit did transform my life. But there was something missing.

Even though the Holy Scriptures came alive through diligent bible study and prayers, I missed the spiritual quickening created by the consumption of the real Body and Blood Of Jesus Christ through transubstantiation. Ordinary bread and wine did not have same powerful spiritual impact.

Still, I loved God’s word and began to revile my Catholic upbringing. I even told my mom and dad they were going to hell because they were followers of the “Whore of Babylon.”

Thankfully, the Blessed Trinity had mercy on me.

God allowed me to grow in grace and faith. My unique spiritual path progressed from  being a “born again Christian” to a reformed “Calvinist”. When my small, independent church imploded over the leadership’s disagreement about the importance of love and the law, I tried a conservative Protestant church.

After many hours of prayer and beseeching God, revealed the goal of my spiritual exodus…the Catholic Church.

After 30 years I finally returned home to the Catholic Church, just like the prodigal son. It required 2 years of intense scriptural analysis of the  Church’s teachings. I hungrily studied the oral traditions, the Matisterium  and the writings of the Doctors of the Church to discover the truth of God’s entire word contained in the scriptural proofs and historical teachings of the Church.

What a relief that for over 2000 years, the descendants of Peter and the apostles through apostolic tradition had studied and answered conclusively all the misconceptions I had come to believe while outside the Catholic Church. Returning back to the safe, secure womb of the Catholic Church was the greatest joy of my life.

It allowed me the privilege and  joy of worshiping in unity with my mom and dad during the most difficult time of my life. I took care of them 24-7 for many years after they suffered catastrophic illnesses within three months of each other. The power of the Holy Eucharist allowed my to provide loving care for the final years of their lives.

Now, I understand the rosary is the most powerful personal weapon we can employ to win the spiritual battles swirling around us in the War for Souls . Once we are clothed in the Full Armor of God, praying all four mysteries daily gives us the strength and courage to be true  Catholic Prayer Warriors who petition God endlessly for the salvation of those souls who would be lost with out the fervent prayers of the faithful .

As you begin your pathway to becoming a strong Prayer Warrior, start off with saying one Our Father and Hail Mary morning and night.  Then as your faith grows and you receive more grace pray a different mystery every day. Gradually you will get to the point where you are praying the full gospel of Jesus’s life, remembered through the decades of the  four mysteries.

It is an awesome experience to pray daily. You will quickly begin to experience the transformational power of the Holy Spirit in your life and those you come in contact with.

When you add daily communion with the rosaries, you become a Temple of the Holy Spirit and the Trinity. The presence of God within you transforms the lives of your loved ones in your life in miraculous ways.