Satan hates it when we pray. He hates anything that strengthens our faith or that assists us in growing closer to God. So naturally he hates when we pray the rosary. This beautiful spiritual weapon is often overlooked, dismissed, or barely thought about by Catholic faithful. But as October is the month of the rosary, we wanted to share how truly important the rosary is in our fight against evil in today’s world—especially when it comes to threats to human beings, such as abortion.
A good mother is always ready and willing to help her children. If this is so with fallible people, it is even more so with our Blessed Mother. And in nearly every apparition, she has told people to faithfully pray the rosary. In fact, legend tells us that Our Blessed Mother gave 15 promises to St. Dominic about devotion and recitation of the rosary. Included among them are these: “You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the rosary” and “All those who propagate the holy rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.”
There are many instances throughout history when the faithful prayed the rosary asking for Mary’s intercession and aid. One of the most famous was the Battle of Lepanto.
The year was 1571, and the Turks had been threatening invasion of the island of Cyprus, which would have then given them control of the Mediterranean Sea and put them in a greater position to attack and conquer countries such as France, Italy, and Spain. For many years, Pope Pius V had attempted to form an alliance of some of these countries, but it wasn’t until May of 1571 that he was able to gather enough support and create the Holy League, which was made up of forces from Spain and Italy. They set sail, and on October 7, 1571, they met the Muslim fleet—which far outnumbered the Holy League—in the Gulf of Lepanto, off the coast of Greece. Pope Pius V asked all Catholics to pray the rosary for the success of the Holy League. And after a five-hour battle, this vastly outnumbered fleet defeated the Muslims.
Pope Pius gave all the credit to Mary’s intercession and declared October 7 the Feast of Our Lady of Victory. Just two years later it was renamed the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and today we not only celebrate this victory, but we dedicate the entire month of October to this powerful spiritual weapon.
Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the children Mary appeared to at Fatima, once said: “There is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families . . . that cannot be solved by the rosary.”
Understanding that, American Life League founded the Marian Blue Wave—a rosary initiative calling Catholics to “pray a weekly rosary with the specific intentions of ending all surgical, pill, contraceptive, and IVF abortion and shutting down every Planned Parenthood facility in the United States.”
Abortion is the greatest evil of our time. We know that the slaughter of millions of innocent children breaks not only our hearts but the hearts of Jesus and His mother. This is why we fight so hard to change hearts and minds about abortion and to teach the sanctity of all human beings, especially the preborn.
Over the last four years, the MBW has found great success, and as it prepares to celebrate its 4th birthday, it sees proof of Mary’s goodness in all its efforts. Our Lady has truly blessed this program. Today, MBW prayer partners number over 10,000 and come from all 50 states and 31 countries. When you do the math, that comes to more than 520,000 rosaries a year!
We know the immense power of prayer, and we know that all of these rosaries said to protect innocent life are doing good. They are saving lives, for Mary does not make empty promises. We can take to heart her promise that she will come to our aid.
The MBW has not only been a blessing to the babies but to the participants and to the leaders of the program, as they can see the life-changing effects that a weekly rosary has had. Katie Brown, director of the Marian Blue Wave, stated recently, “Leading this program has certainly given me a front row seat to the good works of others and has helped me grow in virtue myself. But perhaps the best part is knowing this program has helped others grow in their faith and help grow a devotion to Our Lady.” She continued, “Praying a rosary regularly has helped people deepen their faith and deepen their advocacy for life.”
Why is this so? Because the rosary not only transforms individuals, it has the power to transform the world. Through the recitation of the prayers and the reflection on Christ’s life, we deepen our faith, we deepen our understanding of Christ’s love, and we attain the ability to then go out and evangelize.
The rosary truly changes us. It changes us because God’s love and Mary’s promises are the two most important things in this world that we can count on. When we invoke Mary’s help in fighting the evils of this world—including abortion—we know that she will come to our aid.
So this month of the rosary, let us renew our devotion to this spiritual weapon. Let us take the time for this beautiful prayer. And let us never forget the promises Mary has made to us, for we can be sure that she will come to our aid.
This article first appeared in Catholic World Report at catholicworldreport.com/2023/10/05/praying-the-rosary-for-an-end-to-the-evil-of-abortion.
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