Motivation is the key to carrying out any worthy enterprise. Great men and great women have clear goals and strong motivations. They know what they want and they have a clear plan before their eyes.
CEO’s in successful companies know what they want, have goals, deadlines, and concrete steps to attain those goals. Professional athletes have a determined determination to win. They study their opponents weak points, capitalize on their own strengths and play for victory. Therefore, to attain to any goal there must be a clear plan and strong motivations.
Spiritual Goals And Objectives
Even more important for the human person created in the image and likeness of God should be the goal and the motivation to attain that goal. Our goal is very clear—to get to heaven. One of the most efficacious means to attain eternal salvation with God in heaven is through prayer. Prayer is the key to salvation. What oxygen is to our lungs so is prayer to the life of our soul. For that reason Saint Augustine asserted: “He who prays well lives well; he who lives well dies well; and he who dies well, all is well.”
Still there is a powerful means and intercessor before the throne of God who can help us to get to heaven and to help us in our prayer life and motivate us to focus our energies on God and God alone—the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mary’s Favorite Prayer
Our Lady has a prayer that fills her heart with joy—the Hail Mary and the most Holy Rosary. Every time the Hail Mary is prayed with attention and sincere heart, Our Lady’s heart is filled with joy. Therefore, let us offer ten points to motivate us to pray the most Holy Rosary.
1. Our Lady of Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima appeared in Fatima, Portugal six times to three little shepherd children: Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia. In every one of these six apparitions Our Lady said: “Pray the Rosary.”
2. Her Title
Finally at the end of her apparitions Our Lady gave herself the title: “Our Lady of the Rosary.” Therefore, if Our Lady insisted six times to pray the Rosary and actually called herself “Our Lady of the Rosary,” common sense tells us that she really wants us to pray the Rosary!
3. Pope St. John Paul II
This great modern saint and spiritual giant strongly encouraged the world to pray the most Holy Rosary. In his writing The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary the Vicar of Christ insisted that we pray the Rosary. He himself said, at the start of his pontificate, that the Rosary was his favorite prayer.
4. For the Sake of the Family
In this same document Saint Pope John Paul II insisted that we pray the Rosary for the sake of the family which is under attack and in crisis. With the growing numbers of separations and divorces, with so many children without the warmth of the family, now more than ever we must pray the most Holy Rosary. The Holy Father quotes the Rosary-priest, Father Patrick Peyton: “The family that prays together stays together.”
5. For World Peace
The document of Saint Pope John Paul II came in the wake of the terrorist attack in New York City with the Twin Towers. Therefore, another reason to pray the Rosary now, more than ever, is for the sake of world peace. With the threat of ISIS, nuclear arsenals, and general tensions growing among nations, the Rosary can be our shield and safeguard.
At the end of the First World War, Our Lady of Fatima stated clearly that wars come as a result of sin; and if people did not stop sinning then a worse World War would erupt. Within twenty years, the Second World War broke out.
Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen states that world wars are the net result of many individual wars waging in the hearts of sinners, that spreads out to towns, cities, countries and continents, and then boom—the huge war explodes. Sin produces war; prayer produces peace of heart, mind and soul and harmony among peoples!
6. To Save our our Children
Never have we lived in a society with so many dangers, especially with respect to our children and teens. Of great importance is the virtue of purity. The mass media, the modern school and teaching agenda, billboards and posters, modern movies and TV programs militate fiercely against the virtue of purity. And, to be honest, we live in a pornographic society!
Devotion to Our Lady and the family Rosary can serve as a shield against this onslaught and deluge of filth that is descending upon the world, especially our children and young people. In a word, we must shield our children in the most pure and Immaculate Heart of Mary; she is an oasis, a refuge, and ark of safety and protection.
We must find refuge in the ark of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart—most certainly a safe refuge!
7. To Order our Disorders
As a result of the Original Sin that we all inherit in the moment of our conception, our life is marked with disorder. Our thought process, our will, our emotional state of being, our soul, our intentions, our family and social life—all have a certain disorder.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola suggests that we do the Spiritual Exercises so as to order the disordered in our lives. Sin causes disorder; prayer brings order. Prayer to Our Lady communicates to our soul and lives the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is a God of order. Our Lady of Guadalupe with her own hands ordered the roses in the tilma of Saint Juan Diego. By praying the most holy Rosary Our Lady can help to order the disordered in our lives.
8. For Interior Peace Of Mind And Soul
Another wonderful effect of praying the most Holy Rosary is peace of mind, heart and soul. We all desire peace and Our Lady of the Rosary also known with the title “Queen of peace” can definitely attain for us this peace that our hearts so ardently yearn. Saint Augustine defines peace as the tranquility of order. As the hymn reminds us: “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”
9. It’s a Biblical Prayer
Pope St. John XXIII stated that the Rosary is a summary of the whole of the Gospel. They are truly based on the Bible, even the prayers of the Our Father and the Hail Mary have their foundation in the Gospels.
Therefore, by praying the Rosary fervently, we get to know Jesus and Mary better and better as presented from the Word of God, we fall in love with them and then we become their fiery and ardent Apostles in a world marked with so much coldness and indifference. As Pope Francis reminded us in his Lenten message: There is a widespread globalization of indifference because there is a lack of love of God in the world. This love can be planted and ignited through love of Our Lady and the Holy Rosary—a summary of the Gospels and a true Biblically centered prayer.
10. To Conquer our Adversities
David had to fight against the ferocious and malicious giant Goliath. Strategically, there was no way that the smaller, inexperienced, unprepared shepherd boy could conquer the giant Goliath. It was like an ant against an elephant. However, the Bible teaches us a very certain truth: Nothing is impossible with God.
David went with a total trust in His God, the Lord of heaven and earth. We all know the ending! David shot a stone from his slingshot; the stone riveted itself in the brow of Goliath, who cascaded to the ground unconscious. David quickly drew the sword of Goliath and cut off his head. Victory, due to the intervention of God!
Today we are surrounded by so many “Goliaths”, almost too many to count! However, our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. Let us turn to the Queen of Heaven and earth and pull out our spiritual slingshot which is the most Holy Rosary and win the battle. Jesus is the King of Heaven and earth and Our Lady is the Queen. Let us find sure refuge under her heavenly mantle.
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Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash
