The Rosary is meant for everyone – not just for Catholics and, for that matter, not just for Christians. Mary came and gave the Rosary to Jesus’ Church to share with everyone, everywhere. While you don’t need to Pray the Rosary in order to go to Heaven, many find it very helpful both in this world (and in preparing for the Next World) to ask for Holy Folks in Heaven to advocate from them with Jesus Christ. It’s the Spiritual equivalent of getting a recommendation for a job with a Company via one of the most senior executives in the firm (under the CEO). God is going to see our earthly resume (what we did here) one day, but rather than be a “sheet of paper” to the Big Boss, why not have an Insider speaking on our behalves?
Mary is so important to human His-story that you can find Her mentioned in the Muslim Quran, the Jewish Scriptures, and many other Religious writings and His-storic manuscripts. Mary was “Hailed” as Holy Royalty by St. Gabriel the Archangel at Her Immaculate Conception (an Angel who was with God at the beginning of our world’s time as per, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation … and all the angels shouted for joy?” Job 38:4,7). St. Gabriel didn’t “hail” Sarah or Elizabeth when He told them of their Miraculous Conceptions of Isaac and John the Baptist – and, they were married to Father Abraham and Zechariah, a Priest of the Sons of Aaron (Moses’ Brother)!? No, Mary was different from the start.
But, the biggest misconception about the Rosary (with its relation to the Virgin Mary) is one of the biggest misunderstandings of the modern Christian world. There is a debate that many people think that folks who Pray the Rosary are Worshipping the Virgin Mary. And, this couldn’t be further from the Truth. The Truth is that when one Prays the Rosary, they are focused 100% on Jesus while Praying to Mary to ask for Her intercession on our behalves with Her Son.
The Virgin Mary is pretty Formidable and She has been coming back to visit with us since She was lifted in Her earthly body to Heaven. While all major Christian Denominations endorse at least some of the Marian Apparitions (including Catholics, Protestants (Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians etc.), Anglicans, Orthodox, Non-Denominational, etc.), there is often still a debate over the Rosary. Mary’s message is always centered on the Salvation of Souls through Prayer, Fasting, and Penance. If you were to take a 20-foot tape measure and chart Her “documented” and “confirmed” Apparitions from the major Christian Faith Cousins over the past 2,000 years (with each inch on the tape measure representing 100 years’ worth of His-story), it would look sort of like this:
0 A.D.
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 3 |
2000+ A.D.
So, if we had 27 folks (including us) in a room to represent the Blessed Virgin Mary’s Apparitions to date and then had you hold one end of a 20-foot (plus) tape measure while I walked-off twenty feet (with each foot now representing a century – 100 years), you and I would still be holding each end and we would basically have one person stand exactly half-way through the 20-feet and the other 24 folks (89%) standing closer to me (with 20 of us (74%) within the last 3 feet (or centuries) of the tape). Let’s consider the “frequency” factor here through a bar chart:
In the first millennia (A.D.), the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on earth (after Her Sacred Assumption to Heaven) 1 time (or, an incidence rate of 0.01% over our first 1,000 years of His-story). In the second millennia (A.D.), the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on earth 23 times (or, an incidence rate of 0.23% over our second 1,000 years of His-story; and, a 230% increase over the 1st millennia). In the most recent millennia (A.D.), the Blessed Virgin Mary has already appeared on earth 3 times in roughly 19 years (as of the original writing of this book). Her incidence rate of Apparitions since 2000 has taken-off faster than a rocket leaving the grounds of Cape Canaveral on its way to the lunar world above (basically, more than 20 times the speed of sound). Her 3 Apparitions over the first 19 years of the third millennia (A.D.) is an incidence rate of 15.9% and a 69,000% increase over the last millennia. That’s not a standard alarm clock chirping to get us out of bed; that’s the equivalent of a nuclear explosion going off right next to us to get us out of bed!
These include, but are not limited to, Our Lady of the Pillar (40), Our Lady of Walsingham (1061), Our Lady of the Rosary (1208), Our Lady of Mount Carmel (1250’s), Our Lady of Guadalupe (1531), Our Lady of the Good Event (1594), Our Lady of Šiluva (1608), Our Lady of Laus (1664–1718), Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (1830), Our Lady of La Salette (1846), Our Lady of Lourdes (1858), Our Lady of Good Help (1859), Our Lady of Pontmain (1871), Our Lady of Gietrzwałd (1877), Our Lady of Knock (1879), Our Lady of Fátima (1917), Pontevedra Apparitions (1925), Our Lady of Beauraing (1932–1933), Our Lady of Banneux (1933), Our Lady of Prayer (1947), Our Lady of Zeitoun (1968-1970), Our Lady of Akita (1973), Our Lady of Cupa (1980), Our Lady of Kibeho (1981), Blessed Mother with Maria Esperanza (1984), Our Lady of Yankalilla (1994), Our Lady of Assiut (2000 – 2001), Our Lady of Warraq (2009), and Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolás (2016). Now, I’ve never used Google Maps or Waze to find Pontmain, Gietrzwałd, Beauraing, Banneux, Zeitoun, Akita, Cupa, or Kibeho.
Mary’s Apparitions would make one heck of a Tour T-Shirt!? But, there is one last Apparition that I did not list previously that was still “active” and on-going in 2020. Since 1981, in a small village in Bosnia-Hercegovina named Medjugorje, the Blessed Virgin Mary has been appearing and giving Messages to the world. She tells the people there that God has sent Her to our world during a time of Grace granted by God. In Her own words, She tells them, “I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is the fullness of life and, to enjoy this fullness and peace, you must return to God”.
As such, Bosnia-Hercegovina has become a Spiritual Haven. The apparitions are elevated in drama and urgency as the Virgin Mary reveals that these will be Her last apparitions on earth, because, She states, “It will no longer be necessary.” Like I shared previously, the Blessed Virgin Mary has appeared in apparition many times, but never in recorded Marian His-story has She appeared daily for so long a period of time, to so many chosen Visionaries (six in total), and with such profound global results. Since the apparitions began in 1981, approximately 50 million people of all Faiths from all over the world, have visited Medjugorje and have left Spiritually-strengthened and renewed. Many bring back stories of Miracles in the form of healings (of mind, body, and Spirit), Supernatural visual Signs, and deep conversions back to God. Today, the apparitions continue. The Blessed Virgin Mary tells us the blunt truth about the state of the world.
We encourage everyone to learn more about the Rosary and these Apparitions (in Australia, Egypt, Wisconsin, Rwanda, Nicaragua, Japan, France, Ecuador, Belgium, Portugal, Ireland, Mexico, and beyond). Mary has been on a “world-tour” since after Her Son, Jesus, left us and the frequency and intensity have increased significantly.
I also encourage folks not to get caught-up in the “Mary debate”. This “debate” is a misunderstanding that I’ve witnessed between the different Christian Cousins for generations – in fact, it has even led to wars, genocide, and atrocities that are too awful to list here. We’re on the Same Team!? That’s like me turning to the guy next to me on the basketball court from my own Team and “cold-cocking” him between his eyes. Or, put another way, that’s like me stealing the basketball from my own team and then turning around and putting it “a-la-lay-up” into our own basket (thus, giving the other team points). When we fight among ourselves as Christians over Mary, satan (who fears Mary intensely; see more in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 12) is laughing all the way to “national bank of hades” with new Souls to deposit into his account.
Maccabeus LLC 