Hail Mary! Full of Grace... Why should we pray the Rosary?

Why Pray the Rosary? Why should we pray the Rosary?

The answer in the case of many people would be ‘love towards the Mother’. Another would be resolving the problems of daily life.

From Routine to Revelation

Since 1988, the Rosary prayer has been to me like an intoxicant. Till 28 February 1988, the day on which the Lord came into my life, I used to pray the Rosary as part of the routine ‘family prayer’, but without knowing neither its importance nor meaning.

But since March 1988 when God the Holy Spirit took over the reins of my life, I was changed and my life too accordingly. I became ebriated with prayer such that I could not survive without it.

My soul craved for the divine life just as the body spasmodically thirsts for the life-breath.

Holy Spirit the Helper aided me to set apart a greater part of the time from dawn to dusk for prayer.

Holy Spirit Himself taught me, It was God the Holy Spirit who taught me to pray. I was not satisfied with even long hours of prayer. My soul felt thirsty even just prior to bed-time. I used to ask God why neither my soul experienced satisfaction nor my mind enjoyed peace. Occasionally I used to get an answer.

The Holy Spirit used to communicate with me through ‘divine visions’.

Just Three ‘Hail Mary’…!

Often I used to have a divine vision of Holy Mary. It was then immediately followed by a strong prompting from within : ‘Pray to Mother’.

While pondering over how to pray to Mother, a strong prompting tells me to pray ‘three Hail Mary’.

Just when three ‘Hail Mary’ have been prayed I used to be filled with the ‘living water’ of the Holy Spirit just as the gushingof water from a dam-break.

I used to feel an in-filling of the Holy Spirit instantaneously. This has happend several times.

The Hidden Power in ‘Hail Mary’

It was the Holy Spirit who taught me to love Holy Mary and to pray the Rosary — what it is, how it is to be prayed and its power. O Holy Spirit, I thank you for giving Holy Mary as my mother, my real mother and leading me to an ardent and deep relation with Her.

O Holy Spirit, I thank you for teaching me to pray the Rosary. I wish to share with you what the Holy Spirit taught me.

Prophesy fulfilled!

The Rosary prayer is said in praise of Holy Mary. They are reverent invocations in Her praise.

That man shall praise Mary is according to God’s plan. Holy Mary when filled with the Holy Spirit said: “From now on all generations will call me blessed’’ (Lk 1:48).

Holy Mary is the most blessed of all the women in this world. The Holy Spirit declared through Holy Mary that this would be proclaimed by all generations. This prophesy of the Holy Spirit is being fulfilled through the devotees of Holy Mary.

Crown of Glory

Holy Mary should be praised, for she is the Queen of Heaven. She should be praised & exalted for she is the queen of Angels.

The 153 beads Rosary that you offer is the golden crown that you adorn the head of Queen Mary. With every prayer of the Rosary offered with devotion, the glory of the Queen of Heaven is enhanced, Her power increases and she becomes more active. Hallelujah!

God’s unique greeting!

“Hail Mary, full of Grace ! The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus’’ is the foundation prayer in the Rosary.

Four words of God constitute this prayer. And these are not ordinary words of God. These are praises showered on Mary by Almighty God the Creator of the heavens and the earth, through His Angel Gabriel and the Holy Spirit.

It was the Father in heaven who sent Angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary. And God had specifically told the Angel what is to be said to Her. It was God’s own words that Angel Gabriel announced to Virgin Mary.

Appointed by the Most High

God said to Mary something which He has not said to anyone on the earth: “Hail Mary, Full of grace! The Lord is with you’’ (Luke 1:28). One who is adorned and filled by all the graces, holiness and virtues of God!! God has never addressed anyone on this earth like that.

Many a virtuous woman can be found in the Holy Bible who have glorified God. Men and women to whom angels have spoken are also numerous.

Yet God has never spoken to anyone like this except to Virgin Mary, for she was unique !

Heaven’s Elect.

It is due to their ignorance about Virgin Mary that many people have not been able to recognise and accept Her. The misconception on Virgin Mary that she is an ordinary woman like any other on earth has inhibited them from accepting her.

Not an ordinary woman?

At the very outset I tell you : Mary is not an ordinary woman. For the Son of God to take his birth from a woman born in the lineage of Eve is impossible. To comprehend this, listen to two sections of the Word of God. The Psalmist says :

“Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me’’ (Psalm 51:5).

This is the lot of every man; becoming a sinner the moment one is conceived in the womb of mother. It is the sin of Adam and Eve which make every one a sinner. Mary too would have been born with this sin if she were an ordinary woman in the lineage of Eve.

If she were born with the orginal sin, Jesus Christ, the savior of the world who was born of her too would have that sin.

Man does not just perceive the power of sin. It was the devil who deceived Eve to sin. He is the ancient serpent. Words 1–17 in Chapter 3 of Genesis make them clear.

Eve became a slave of the devil through her sin; so too was Adam. The devil which is the ancient serpent had dominion over Adam and Eve and all the generations subsequent to them, until Jesus Christ after dying on the cross descended into hell, opened the door of salvation to all the souls imprisond there and resurrected.

He destroyed the dominion of the devil with his death on the cross. “…. so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death’’ (Heb 2:14–15).

Who is She?

This would not have been possible if Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary were tainted by the sin of Adam.

Listen to what Jesus himself said: “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me” (John 14:30). The

Ruler of this world is the devil. Jesus says clearly that he, the devil, has no power, no claim over Jesus. Because, the devil has claim and power over every one who has sin. This is the position of every man.

The devil did not have claim over Jesus since Jesus did not have sin in him. Similarly, the devil did not have claim over Virgin Mary since she did not have sin in her.

Wisdom made flesh?

Virgin Mary did not have sin in her. Why?

Virgin Mary did not have sin in her because she was / is not an ordinary woman.

If she is not an ordinary woman, then who is she?

Holy Mary was the deputed one, sent from Heaven. There was not a single woman eligible enough to become the mother of the Son of God, the Holiest of Holy.

Jesus is the Word of God become flesh. God made his Wisdom become flesh first, in order for his Word to become flesh. Wisdom became flesh on earth as woman. That is Holy Mary.

The Books of Sirach, Proverbs, Psalms, Wisdom and Baruch make this clear. It is possible to prove through the word of God that Mary is Wisdom incarnated.

That itself would consume several pages. Therefore, it is not attempted here. In sum, Mary the Wisdom of God, incarnated on earth as Immaculate, as Woman. In her womb was conceived the Son of God. Hallelujah!

Jesus has promised: “For where two or three l are gathered in my name, I am there among them’’ (Mt. 18:20).

The presence of Jesus would be there when two or three persons pray in the name of Jesus. (1) The Rosary prayer is the channel through which the presence of Holy Mary comes to us.

When ‘Hail Mary’ is prayed three times, at that moment the presence of Holy Mary ushers in. If so, every Rosary prayed with devotion occasions the intervention of the Mother in our life.

The power of Her presence

The ‘Hail Mary…’ prayer not only dispels the diabolic forces but also destroys and neutralises their influences.

I have experienced several times during my services of the word of God the crumbling down of stumbling blocks, the forces of darkness being destroyed and fire from heaven striking down diabolic forces at the utterance of the prayer, ‘Hail Mary…’; at times I have also seen lightning striking them down like a sword.

Power revealed

Several years ago my Lord gave me the grace to conduct a week-long retreat in my parish. On the final day of the retreat, during the service for the ‘anointment of the Holy Spirit’ I prayed laying my hands on the heads of all the participants.

I now remember the happening of a miracle after that prayer. A commotion at the rear of the church. A few women were crying aloud. There were many on-lookers hanging around. I went to that scene as and when I was informed. I saw a girl-participant in bondage. Both her hands had become coiled; mouth closed as if dumb and her legs folded as if mutilated, her eyes overflowing with tears. She tried to speak to me the moment she saw me, but was in vain.

She couldn’t move. Closing my eyes I prayed for a moment. I saw the diabolic force in her.

It was about to jump at me, I felt. That moment I prayed ‘Hail Mary…’ aloud.

Like bullets fired from a gun, that diabolic force fled from her in an instant. She started praising God. Her legs got straightened and she stood up. Every one around began praising God in great ecstasy.

In fact this incident amazed me a lot.

Without saying a binding prayer or commanding in the name of Jesus, that diabolic force fled out at the saying of a ‘Hail Mary….’ I have expereinced the power of ‘Hail Mary…’

on occasions innumerable. In fact, the Rosary is the greatest of all my prayers.

The Fire that sanctifies..

The ‘Hail Mary….’ prayer is the living water from heaven that sanctifies us.

With every ‘Hail Mary…’ one gradually gets cleansed of impurities. As the stain of sin is cleansed of, we become sparkling like a white attire. Our eyes become tearful in the heavenly light, both body and soul transform to divine.

I esteem my Rosary prayers very much these days. The moment I start praying the Rosary, the room in which I sit begins to get filled with a divine power. With great joy I experience the presence of the Lord. It is inexplicable.

‘Hail Mary….’ prayer is capable of bringing to us a great divine presence, it will sanctify and transform us.

Those who pray the Rosary daily shall pray 153 beads in silence. If it is prayed alone (cloistered), the rest can be prayed as and when and where we are. Every Rosary prayer shall be offered as golden crowns to Her. May God bless all of you. Amen.

Tom Zacharia, Chief Editor.