By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ •  St. Josaphat Formation Center • Phoenix, AZ

The Feast of the Holy Rosary on October 7th is a good reminder of the great power of this simple prayer. In 1571, Pope St. Pius V asked all of Rome and Christendom to pray the Rosary for an important victory to safeguard Christian Europe from Ottomans violently seeking to conquer all. With the battle won, Our Lady gained the new titles of “the Holy Rosary” and of “Victory.”

After World War II, Austria fell under the domination of the Soviet Communist forces along with several other eastern European countries including East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia and several others. In 1948, the Church in Austria began the ‘Rosary Crusade of Reparation’ following the messages of Our Lady of Fatima by holding missions for conversion and blessings of the sick, making processions in honor of the Blessed Mother and praying the Rosary for the liberation of their country. To the surprise of the whole world, in April 1955, the Soviets announced they would be ending their occupation of Austrian territory. On October 26th, 1955, the last Soviet soldiers left Austria without any show of force to make them. It took the Austrians six years of working on their conversion while praying the Rosary and asking our Lady to free them – six years!

These examples of the Virgin Mary’s powerful and miraculous intercession (and there are many more) show us “that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection or sought thine intercession was left unaided.” And yet, how well are we convinced of the Blessed Mother’s intercession to obtain special graces for us, for our country and for the world? Can she obtain peace and true freedom for us and our fellow countrymen? Can she help us to be truly “one nation under God” again? The measure of our conviction is the constancy with which we, in fact, invoke her intercession by praying the Rosary. If we are praying for our final perseverance and eternal salvation, then we have to pray for it until our last breath. The Austrians prayed for six years until they obtained their petition. As may be construed from what our Lord said regarding the efficacy of prayer: Ask until you receive. Knock until it is opened to you. Seek until you find. This is the essence of perseverance in prayer.

We should also remember that along with praying the Rosary constantly, we must as the Austrians did, work to deepen our conversion, help others by prayer, good example and invitation to seek the Lord and make reparation for all sins—our own and those of the whole world—to obtain God’s blessing of peace!

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