COVID-19...It's Time to Fight!

Given the state we are in with respect to the Coronavirus, it is time to increase our praying of the Rosary and fight.  The Rosary is one of the most powerful spiritual weapons that we have available to us.  Associatively, Satan does everything in his power—through history—to stop us from praying the Rosary because it is such a powerful weapon against evil.  To demonstrate the power of the Rosary, I’d like to share a couple of examples from Fr. Donald Calloway’s book entitled “Champions of the Rosary” and provide a little history.

St. Dominic was sent to combat the Albigensian heresy in France and was having little success even though he was known for his tremendous preaching abilities.  In 1208 he retreated to Prouille forest near the town of Fanjeaux, France to pray.  After 3 days of intense prayer, fasting and penitential acts, Mary came to his assistance.  The Virgin Mary appeared to St. Dominic and said “Wonder not why that until now you [St. Dominic] have attained little fruit by your labors; you have spent them on barren soil…When God willed to renew the face of the earth, he began by sending down on it the fertilizing rain of the Angelic Salutation.  Therefore, preach my psalter.”  Mary gave St. Dominic the Rosary and the 15 mysteries to meditate upon while praying.  The Luminous mysteries were added later.  St. Dominic, following Mary’s direction was very successful in combating the Albigensian heresy to the extent that it was virtually eliminated and only known about today by historians.

The earliest version of the Hail Mary prayer (a.k.a., Ave Maria), which is part of the psalter, was the salutation of the Angel Gabriel when he approached Mary and said, “Hail Mary full of Grace the Lord is with thee.”  Then the greeting of Mary’s kinswoman Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, upon seeing Mary in her pregnant state was added, “Blessed are thou and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”  Later, during the 14^th century’s Black plague, the words “Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death” were added.  The Our Father prayer was given to us directly from Jesus, and the Apostles Creed was—by tradition—the combined work of the 12 Apostles who, starting with St. Peter, stated the 12 articles of faith in succession.  These are among the most power prayers and meditations that we have available to us!

In 1213, the Rosary played the critical part at the Battle of Muret.  The Albigensians sought to take over France.  Pope Innocent III was concerned and organized a Crusader army of 1,500 men.  The Albigensian force had more than 30,000 men.  Prior to meeting in battle, the Catholic army prayed the Rosary.  When the battle ensued, the Albigensian army was virtually destroyed!

On August 9, 1945 the Atomic Bomb was dropped in Nagasaki.  There was a group of Franciscans who took refuge in a religious house that was established there by St. Maximillian Kolbe.  As the bomb was exploded, the Franciscans in the house were praying the Rosary.  The house remained virtually unharmed and no one in the house was killed or even had any type of radiation poisoning.  The same situation happened in Hiroshima where a group of Jesuits took refuge in their house and was praying the Rosary as the bomb exploded.  The Jesuit house remained standing and, with devastation all around them, all were saved and no one incurred any radiation sickness.

The stories about the power of the Rosary are many.  However, the point is that we, as Catholics, can fight this Coronavirus and destroy it by praying our Rosaries to seek the help of God and the intercession of the Virgin Mary.  I suggest we commit to saying the Rosary, with the intention of destroying the Coronavirus, at least 3 times a week.  We must ask for God’s wisdom—as the divine physician—to guide our medical researchers, protect our health care works and 1^st responders, etc.

As Jesus said in Mark 3: 36, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”  Let us pray the Rosary with confidence and trust in our God!