St. Monica - August 27th (Miracles of the Rosary)

 

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Monica, the mother of the great St. Augustine. She was born about the year 332 in North Africa, of a Christian family. As soon as Monica had reached marriageable age, she married Patricius, who had a violent temper. The daily example of her gentleness and kindness finally had its rewards. A year before his death, he became a Christian. Her son, Augustine, spent time in youthful carousing, which caused his mother great anguish. She disapproved so strongly both of his loose living and of his acceptance of the popular heresy of Manichaeism. Augustine tried to convince her to give up her Christian faith. But Monica did not lose faith. She continually fasted, prayed, and wept on his behalf. She implored the local bishop for help to win him over. The bishop uttered the words, "Go now, I beg you; it is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish." The day of Augustine's conversion came when St. Ambrose baptized him on Easter.

Many of you like St. Monica pray, fast and weep over your family members who have fallen away from the Church.

The Rosary is known for many miracles and the greatest miracle of the Rosary are not the winning of wars, the saving of a life, the healing of a sick person, but the greatest miracle is conversion.

I stand here before you as a witness to the power of the Rosary. I never went to Confession from 2^nd or 3^rd grade until I was 27. For 20 years I didn’t go to Confession. While at the bedside of my dying grandmother, I promised to pray a Rosary for her and she died shortly thereafter. But, I didn’t know how to pray the Rosary. When I was a child about the age of 4 or 5 my mother had my siblings and I kneel before a statue of Mary and she taught us the Rosary. Yes, at that age we learned the prayers of the Rosary.

I knew the prayers of the Rosary but didn’t know how to pray it. At the age of 27, in 1991, I learned how to pray the Rosary by watching the International Rosary on EWTN as it was prayed by the little girl in the field. I learned the mysteries of the Rosary and how to meditate by watching the Rosary on TV. It was the Rosary that brought me to Confession. Whenever I meditated on the Sorrowful mysteries, I felt sorry for hurting Jesus for my sins. And when I heard about the alleged apparitions of Mary at Medjugorje, I decided I would do what Mary requested. To daily pray the Rosary, to fast on Wed and Fri, pray with the heart, attend daily Mass and confess monthly. It was Jan 1^st of 1991, the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, that I went to Confession. The Virgin Mary through the daily praying of Her Rosary, brought me to Confession and my life totally changed.

When we pray the Rosary, our soul is touched by graces to help bring about conversion. If you want a family member or friend to return to the Church, give them a Rosary, teach them how the pray the Rosary and pray it with them, then watch what the Blessed Mother will do.

I wrote a book on the Rosary called, “Miracles of the Rosary and the Rosary of Miracles”. In the book are many miracles associated with the Rosary.

Recall that when the Virgin Mary appeared St. Dominic in 1208 giving him the mysteries of the Rosary. He begged Our Lady for help because he had no success in converting the Albigensian heretics. But, Mary told Dominic to preach the Rosary and the mysteries of the Rosary and he would he successful. Thousands of fallen away Catholics came back to the Church due to the preaching of the Rosary.

Just five years later the Battle of Muret in 1213 occurred. Catholics were battling heretics. The night before the battle, the 20,000 heretics got drunk and partied, but a mere 800 Catholics prepared for the battle spiritually. Every soldier went to Confession, they all went to Mass and they all prayed the Rosary together. During the battle, St. Dominic prayed before a statue of the Virgin Mary in a nearby church and the battle was over quickly.

Other battles won by the Rosary include the battle of Lepanto on Oct 7^th in 1571 and the battle of Vienna in 1683. Our Lady of Fatima told the children on June 13^th, 1917, “Say the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and the end of the war.” As World War II began, at St. Marks Parish in Kansas, Msgr. Hackenbroich started the devotion of saying the Rosary before Sunday Mass and ending Mass with the hymn, "Mary, Help Our Valiant Soldiers." By the time the war ended in 1945, 47 men from St. Mark’s had served and all came home. In thanksgiving for the safe return of the men, the grotto was built. No men from that parish have ever died during World War II, the Vietnam War or the Korean War because that parish prays the Rosary every day for their soldiers to come home safely.

I am sure, you know, Jan 28^th, 1998, Mother Angelica was healed after she & a mystic prayed the Rosary together.

This last December in my parish of Holy Trinity, a newborn infant, just 5 days old contracted the flu and a severe infection. The child was taken by ambulance to a Catholic hospital in Wichita. The child would not wake up for days and therefore was not eating. The worrisome parents Dave and Emily went to the chapel and prayed a Rosary together before Jesus in the tabernacle. And when they returned to the ICU room, their child Molly was awake and ready to eat.

Did you know Venerable Sister Maria Agreda, a poor Clare of the Immaculate Conception in Spain, appeared hundreds of times to American Indians in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. When she bi-located she brought with her rosaries and taught them how to pray the Rosary. Because of her 10,000 Indians became Catholic when priests came to those areas.

In 2005, a Rosary Novena praying the Seven Sorrows of Mary was prayed from May 16^th to May 24^th (Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians) to close an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas. On the 9^th day of the Rosary Novena, the abortion clinic was closed.

A number of years ago, I went to the March For Life in Washington, DC. After vesting before Mass, I was bored, so I decided to pray the Rosary with the intention of hearing the Confessions of priests who were also in the sacristy area preparing for Mass. By the time I finished praying the Rosary, three priests asked me to hear their confessions.

On October 8 of 1871, was the great Peshtigo fire in Wisconsin and Michigan. It was the greatest fire tragedy in the history of the United States killing between 1,200-2,400. The fire roared towards the convent, chapel, and school near Champion. Local people fled to the Chapel where Sister Adele Brise and her companions were praying for Mary’s protection. Lifting the statue of Mary, they processed around the sanctuary, praying the Rosary and singing hymns to Jesus and the Blessed Mother. A steady rain extinguished the flames. Everything around the property was charred. But the fire came only to the fence of the land consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, containing the chapel, school and convent, where they were praying, and halted.

Several years ago, a non-Catholic family, Alex and Erin Flood and their children watched a movie on Fatima and began to daily pray the Rosary together. Due to the Rosary, the family converted two years ago, and became Catholic at St. Mary’s Parish in Newton, Kansas.

Kansas City Chiefs Harrison Butker, his wife and children daily pray the Rosary together. He said even though the children are less than 7 years old, the know the prayers in English and in Latin.

My dear friends pray the Rosary every day with your family and specifically for your family members who have fallen away and you will see Our Lady work miracles, especially the miracle of conversion. Draw close to Mary, pray the Rosary with love and reverence, and trust Our Lady and She will give peace in your hearts and in your family.

Pope Pius XI said, “If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors."