Whether the rosary is a spiritual weapon? I consent to investigation this question, because the rosary worked at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and might work again today.
The three final causes of the rosary are to increase “a love for Jesus” (p. 35), to give “protection to Mary” (192), and to “conquer heresy” (33). Fr. Calloway writes, the rosary “was intended as a spiritual weapon and an evangelical tool to conquer heresy” (33). Thus, because the rosary has the ability to give "protection to Mary" (192) and has the power to "conquer heresy" (192), the rosary is a spiritual power.
The material cause of a rosary is “a combination of vocal and mental prayer” (335). The formal causes of the rosary are the different ways to pray the rosary, such as “Dominican, Brigittine, Servite, Carthusian and Franciscan” (62). For example, the Dominicans have a rosary with five decades of beads and the Brigittines have a rosary with six decades. Similarly, while the Dominicans thinks five mysteries during a rosary, the Carthusians think about fifty mysteries during each rosary. Thus, because the rosary is a “combination of vocal and mental prayer” (335), the rosary is a spiritual and mental weapon.
The principal agent of the rosary is the the Lord. “God had anticipated” the rosary and “planned for it” (103). The rosary is “a preparatory prayer” (29) and make a person ready to greet Mary with a “lovely salutation” and prepares a person for her “polite” responses and graces (29). Thus, because the rosary was invented by God and prepares a person to receive “polite” responses from Mary, the rosary is a spiritual weapon.
The assisting agents are the Dominicans who are, according to Pope Paul VI, “the guardians and promoters of this very salutary practice” (168). According to Pope Leo XIII, “The Mother of God taught the rosary to the patriarch St. Dominic in order that me might propagate it” (196). Thus, if a person wishes to receive help with the rosary, then he has the option of contacting the Dominicans at the Rosary Center in Portland, Oregon. Thus, because the rosary was given to St. Dominic in 2018 from Mary, and because St. Dominic is a good role model of power, the rosary is a spiritual weapon.
The rosary is the instrumental agent from heaven to improve a community. Fr. Calloway writes, “The Dominican rosary has been given from heaven as an evangelical tool for a mendicant order” (64). Plus, the Belgian Jesuit priest Jean Leunis “initiated the first sodality at the Jesuit Roman College in 1563” in order “to transform society through Marian devotion and the practice of the works of mercy” (77). Thus, because the rosary has the power to “transform” (77) and rebuild society, the rosary is a spiritual weapon.
Counseling agents are trustworthy and competent experts who offer helpful advice. Fr. Calloway is a counseling agent who give us the advice of twenty six experts in Part II of Champions of the Rosary. To illustrate, Pope Pius V (1504-1572) said, “St. Dominic invented this method of prayer which is easy and suitable to everyone and which is called the Rosary” (205). Further, Fr. Louis de Montfort (1673-1716) writes, “Almighty God has given the rosary to you because he wants you to use it as a means to convert the most hardened sinners and the most obstinate heretics” (209). Further, Fr. de Montfort said, “The Hail Mary prayer has the strength to pierce, move and convert the most hardened hearts” (29). Further, Fr. Alphonsus Ligouri (1696-1787) said, “It is well to say the rosary kneeling before an image of Mary and, before each decade, to make an act of love to Jesus and Mary, and ask them for some particular grace” (215). A nice thing about the Clloway's book is that he commissioned twenty six paintings from wonderful artists that are found on pages 353 to 383 in Champions of the Rosary. Thus, because the rosary is “suitable to everyone” (205) and has the power to “convert the most hardened sinners” (209), the rosary is a spiritual weapon.
By using induction a person is able to see how communities are stronger when citizens say the rosary in common. Calloway writes, “In some seminaries, the rosary was banned from public and common recitation in the chapel! This proved extremely detrimental to the formation of future priests” (165). All seminaries should say the rosary as a community in order to bring about a healthier community. Thus, because the rosary is ”banned from public recitation” in some seminaries, the rosary is a spiritual weapon to defeat the vices on seminary campuses.
The history of the rosary started with St. Dominic (1170-1221). Calloway writes, “The Queen of Heaven informed him, ‘Preach my Psalter.’ This was the founding moment of the holy rosary” (36). Historical research supports the conclusion that St. Dominic received the rosary from the Mary. According to Calloway, “Dr. Andreas Heinz… at the University of Trier discovered a manuscript describing the rosary as containing meditations on the life of Christ” (177). The manuscript is dated “around 1300” and eighty years after the death of St. Dominic. Thus, because St. Dominic received the rosary from the “Queen of Heaven,” and because ruler in heaven has power, the rosary is a spiritual weapon.
The history of the power of the rosary includes a victory at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. “Western Civilization had been saved from the Muslims and St Pope Pius V attributed the victory to the rosary” (89) The Battle of Lepanto shows how rosary is one of the seven tools in the Catholic toolbox. “The very things that the Protestants rebelled against during the 16th century – the papacy, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Confession, priests, the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the rosary, and confraternities – were the very things that saved Christianity and Western Civilization from being overtaken by the spiritual plague of Islam” (77). Catholics have used seven tools when defeating heretics and apostates and have always treasured them and learned about them. Thus, because the rosary saved “Western Civilization from the Muslims” in 1571, the rosary is a spiritual power.
A sign that the rosary has the power to bring about victory was given at the Battle of Lepanto. “On the evening of the day that the Christians defeated the Muslims, St. Pope Pius V was in Rome and received a vision of the victory” (89). The Pope was fully confident that the numerous Europeans praying the rosary would lead to victory, because he received an insight from Mary that the rosary has power. Thus, because the rosary’s power was shown in a vision to St. Pius V, the rosary is a spiritual power.
The rosary is analogous to a weapon used by a knight. “The rosary is a weapon that Mary gives to her soldiers and to knights on the battlefield” (241). The rosary is also analogous to a sword. Calloway writes, “Saint Paul once instructed the Ephesians, ‘Take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit’ (Ep 6: 17). The rosary is the sword of the Spirit, forged in the New Testament and waiting to be used by the soldier of Christ today” (188). As a result, “the rosary will make you an armed soldier and a sword-wielding knight on the battlefield of life” (332). Thus, because the rosary is analogous to the sword of a knight, the rosary is a spiritual weapon.
The motive for becoming a champion of the rosary is simple. “Our Lady’s desire is for prayer and penance” (153). This was the message given by Mary to Alexandrina Maria da Costa (1904-1955) in 1949. Praying the rosary daily fulfills the command of Mary for prayer and penance. Thus, because praying the rosary daily obeys Mary's wish for “prayer and penance” (153), the rosary is a spiritual power.
The passion felt by champions of the rosary is a “feeling for sacred things” (165). Pope John XXIII observed that if a person is “caught up in the whirl of external affairs,” then he will “gradually lose his feeling of sacred things” (165). Hence, reciting the rosary daily helps a person keep an appreciation for sacred things and an appreciation for the seven tools in the Catholic toolbox, such as “the papacy, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Confession, priests, the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the rosary, and confraternities” (77). Thus, because the rosary gives a person the “feeling for sacred things” (165), the rosary is a spiritual power.
Statistically, 100% of the readers of Calloway’s text are “capable of wielding this sword and becoming a champion of the rosary” (24). In fact, the rosary of St. Dominic “became an apostolic and evangelical weapon used by all the spiritual knights of the late medieval Church” (39). If a person wants to become a Catholic Knight like the monks of war in the Middle Ages, then he will want to pray the rosary daily to love the Lord, to honor Mary and to defeat heresy. Thus, because the rosary is an “evangelical weapon used by spiritual knights" (39), the rosary is a spiritual weapon.
I shall now use my freedom to do perform three tasks: review the reasons in the above investigation, choose my two favorite reasons and then express my choice with a command. I choose the counseling agent and the history. The rosary is a spiritual weapon, because the rosary has the power “to convert the most hardened sinners and the most obstinate heretics” (209), and because St. Dominic received the rosary from the “Queen of Heaven” (36).
A person may object and agree with Martin Luther that saying the rosary is “a stupid work” and will not allow a person to “merit justification” (76). The response is to say that hasty generalizations such as Luther’s are not logical nor helpful. Plus, Callow writes, to state that “a meditation rooted in Scripture was offensive to God is beyond logical comprehension” (76).
Final remarks. I enjoy the study of Fr. Calloway’s book and I hope to pray the rosary daily.
© By Theodore Faulders, December 18, 2016.