29th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 - The Rosary and Persevering Prayer

 

During the 12th and 13th century, a dastardly heresy swept throughout Europe known as Albigensianism. The Albigensians struggled with the reality of evil in the world, like many of us. They believed in a good Creator God who wants our souls to flourish, but couldn’t understand how that a good God could allow evil and disease and war and suffering in the world. 

Instead of seeking the answer to this problem in the sound teachings of our Faith, the Albigensians adopted the heretical belief that because good and evil seem to coexist, there must exist two separate Gods—a God of Spirit and Light and then an equally powerful God of darkness and evil which governed the physical realm. 

The Albigensians then extended their error to explain that Jesus therefore couldn’t really be God, because the God of Spirit and Light couldn’t really take on flesh and suffer, because flesh and suffering were evil. And because according to the Albigensians flesh is evil, they forbade the eating of animals and milk, and they condemned marriage and procreation since they believed begetting children meant imprisoning a beautiful pure soul in a prison of flesh. They denied the sacraments of the Church, refusing to believe that the God of goodness could work through physical things like, oil, water, bread, and wine.

And you might wonder: who would join these people? But they actually became really popular. And many Catholics adopted the errors of the Albigensians and fell away from right religion.

To deliver souls from this error, God raised up a holy saint. In the early 13th century a young priest named Dominic Guzman was tasked by the Pope to preach against the Albigensians. He preached all through Europe. St. Dominic took up the mandate St. Paul gave to St. Timothy in our second reading today, "to be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching." And though he was persistant and faithful, St. Dominic, initially, wasn’t very successful in winning souls back to the Catholic faith.

So Dominic prayed and fasted and did penance. And one day in 1214, Dominic received a heavenly visit: Our Lady appeared to Him with some instructions from heaven. She said, “Dear Dominic, do you know what weapon the Most Holy Trinity wants to use to reform the world?...I want you to know that in this kind of warfare the ‘battering ram’ will be the Rosary. So, if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them to God, preach my Rosary!” 

And this campaign must have worked. For in my hands I hold a rosary…and have you met any Albigensians lately? Dominic taught the people to pray the Rosary and Europe was converted.

I tell this story because it is October, the month of the Rosary; we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7. But, also because the praying of the rosary relates to our scripture readings today, on prayer and perseverance.

In the first reading from Exodus we heard how Moses had to persevere in keeping his hands raised during a battle with the Amalekites. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel was victorious in battle; but when he let his hands down, the Amalekites, Israel’s enemies got the upper hand. 

This is a great metaphor for the Christian life and the mission of the Church—when we keep our hands raised before God, persevering in prayer, engaging in the works of mercy, victory is won—our souls grow as they are meant to, the mission succeeds. When we grow lax, lukewarm, and disobedient, our souls diminish, the mission struggles. 

Similarly, in the Gospel, our Lord praises the widow who perseveres in petitioning the judge for justice. His hard is moved to acquiesce to her request when he recognizes her perseverance.

Perseverance is a required virtue for the Christian life. Daily, we must strive to keep the faith and do what is right, amidst temptations and errors and challenges. 

Often in the scriptures speak about perseverance. Jesus teaches about the need to carry our crosses daily; and gives us the example of his only perseverance in following his Father’s will unto death on a cross. St. Paul enjoins Timothy to persevere in right doctrine. Jesus teaches that amidst the evils of the world, “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

How will we persevere amidst so many distractions and challenges? Daily prayer is so vital. St. Alphonsus Ligouri says, “if, then, we wish to persevere and to be saved—for no one cannot be saved without perseverance—we must pray continually. Our perseverance depends, not on one grace, but on a thousand helps which we hope to obtain from God during our whole lives, that we may be preserved in his grace.” 

While there are many helpful devotional prayers that can help sustain us in the Christian life. The Rosary is so powerful. Hardened souls are converted through the rosary, including our own. If you are struggling with a particular vice, a particular addition, a particular sin, take up the rosary daily for strength and the grace of conversion. If your family is going through a particularly turbulent time, pray the rosary together. If a loved one has fallen away from the Church and is engaging in a sinful lifestyle, pray the rosary for them. 

The rosary is not simply a relic from the past. As Our Lady told St. Dominic, it is a powerful spiritual weapon that the Holy Trinity wishes us to utilize to reform the world. And though the Albigensian heresy has been defeated, there is much reform needed in our present day--many errors and sins which separate souls from God.

So if you’ve never prayed the rosary, or don’t know how to pray the rosary, this is the month to take up this powerful devotion. A guide to the Rosary is available on our parish website.

Prayer is powerful. In can win miracles. It can convert hardened hearts. It can bring relief to the sorrowful and light to the confused. But perseverance is needed. Our Lady called the Rosary “a Battering Ram” because a battering ram is a large beam, sometimes a whole tree, handled by many people, used to open a large gate, or to make an opening in a wall.  It only works with the repetition of blows on the gate or the wall—with perseverance. 

And the Rosary is a battering ram, taking up by the many hands and hearts of the members of the Church, to knock down the walls which separate our minds and hearts from God. 

And if it’s not the rosary, it needs to be something. Each of us needs to discern well how God is calling each of us to persevere in the sort of prayer that will support the church and enable us to persevere in the Christian life, strengthened and supported in our weaknesses, and equipped, as St. Paul says, for every good work for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

August 8 2023 - St. Dominic & The Pro-Life Rosary

 St. Dominic is the Founder of the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominican Friars, and lived around the same time period as Francis and Clare. Dominic was born in Spain around 1170 to an old noble Castilian family. Supported by a priest uncle, he was well educated, and had a great love of Sacred Scripture and for the poor.  

As a young priest, he accompanied his bishop on a diplomatic mission to Northern Europe, and while staying with innkeepers in southern France, he came face-to-face with a heresy that was sweeping through Europe, the Albigensian heresy. 

The Albigensians claimed to be Christians, but also held the erroneous belief that the created material world is evil. They denied that God truly became man in Christ, and also our doctrine of the resurrection, believing material bodies to be evil. They denied the good of marriage, and procreation. 

St. Dominic stayed up all night to convert the Albigensian innkeepers. And he came to recognize within himself this deep desire to help souls in error come to the true faith. Following his mission, Dominic made pilgrimage to the Pope, and brought to the Pope’s attention this heresy that was sweeping throughout Europe. Consequently, the pope personally asked Dominic to devote himself to preaching to and seeking the conversion of the Albigensians. By spreading the devotion of the rosary and demonstrating the Truth of our Faith from Scripture, Dominic won many converts. 

Now, one might say, St. Dominic was successful, because, there aren’t a lot of Albigensians walking around. But, in a sense there are, a lot of them. There are a lot of people these days who hold a lot of the same errors as the Albigensians. There are people who deny that the child in the womb is good, and so they justify it’s destruction. There are people who deny the good of their bodies created by God, and so they justify mutilating their bodies in sex-change operations. There are people who deny the good of marriage and procreation. And of course there are many who deny the incarnation of Christ and the resurrection. 

Tell you what though, I’ve never met anyone who prayed the rosary devoutly who held these errors. The rosary is a means to convert the modern day Albigensians. We need to get rosaries in their hands, and teach them to love this great prayer. The rosary given by Our Lady herself to St. Dominic is the battering ram that can topple these horrible errors which lead souls away from God. This voting day, is a perfect day for praying the rosary for the defense of life and for the conversion of those who do not value bodily life as a gift from the Creator. 

May St. Dominic assist us in our modern day campaign to bring souls to the Truth of Christ, Truth which is a share in God’s beauty and goodness, the Truth which leads to human flourishing and eternal life, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

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That the pope, bishops, and clergy may be filled with constancy in teaching and living out the Gospel, and that our parish may bear witness with great confidence to our life-giving faith in word and deed.

That our nation, and the State of Ohio, especially on this voting day, may be guided by God’s wisdom as we seek the defense of children and families from laws harmful to life.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, especially for the Dominican Orders. 

For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for those recovering from surgery, for victims of natural disaster, war, violence, and terrorism, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the imprisoned, for the comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families.

For all the souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Hear Our Prayers, O Lord, and through the intercession of St. Dominic, help us preach the truth of Christ always and everywhere. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

29th Sunday in OT 2019 - Persistent Prayer

During the 12th and 13th century, a dastardly heresy swept throughout Europe known as Albigensianism. The Albigensians struggled with the reality of evil in the world. They believed in a good Creator God who wants our souls to flourish, but couldn’t understand how that a good God could allow evil and disease and war and suffering in the world.  Many of us perhaps struggle with that same issue, the problem of evil in the world. But the Albigensians fell into heresy when they adopted the belief that in addition to the One God of Spirit and Light and Goodness, there was a second equally powerful God of matter and darkness and evil. The Albigensians claimed that Jesus really wasn’t God, because God couldn’t suffer, he couldn’t really take on flesh, because flesh is evil. They forbade the eating of animals and milk, and condemned marriage and procreation since they believed begetting children meant imprisoning a beautiful pure soul in a prison of flesh. And they denied the sacraments, refusing to believe that the divine would come so close to us. And it’s really remarkable how popular, how rampant this heresy became.

Well, in the early 13th century a brilliant young priest named Dominic Guzman was accompanying his bishop on a diplomatic mission from Spain to Northern Europe. In his travels, Dominic became aware of two enormous challenges for the Church of his time: entire regions of Northern Europe were largely unevangelized, and the Albigensian heresy had spread like wildfire, particularly in France.
When Dominic brought these challenges to the pope’s attention, the pope personally asked Dominic to devote himself to preaching to the Albigensians. Dominic’s initial efforts of preaching were unsuccessful. The Albigensians were unconvinced that God became flesh and died on the cross for our salvation. They were unconvinced that sins could be forgiven through the waters of baptism, that God would became present under the appearance of bread and wine, that the One True God had created this world good.

So Dominic prayed and fasted and did penance, and one day in 1214, Dominic received a heavenly vision, a heavenly visitor, Our Lady appeared to Him and said, “Dear Dominic, do you know what weapon the Most Holy Trinity wants to use to reform the world?...I want you to know that in this kind of warfare the ‘battering ram’ will be the Rosary. So, if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them to God, preach my Rosary!”

And this campaign must have worked. For in my hands I hold a rosary…and have you met any Albigensians lately? Dominic taught the people to pray the Rosary and Europe was converted.
So, why did Our Lady called the Rosary “a Battering Ram”? Because a battering ram is a large beam, sometimes a whole tree, handled by many people, used to open a large gate, or to make an opening in a wall.  It only works with the repetition of blows on the gate or the wall.  Our Lady compares the Rosary to a battering ram: all those rosaries in the hands of so many Christians, all those Hail Marys prayed in order to knock down the gates of hell and defeat demonic heresies.

I tell this story because it is October, the month of the Rosary; we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7. But, also because the praying of the rosary relates to our scripture readings today, on prayer and perseverance.

In the first reading from Exodus we hear how Moses had to persevere in keeping his hands raised during a battle with the Amalekites. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel was victorious in battle; but when he let his hands down, the Amalekites, Israel’s enemies got the upper hand.
This is a great metaphor for the spiritual life—when we keep our hands raised before God, persevering in prayer, engaging in the works of mercy, victory is won—our souls grow as they are meant to. When we grow lax, lukewarm, and disobedient, our souls diminish.

Similarly, in the Gospel, our Lord praises the widow who perseveres in petitioning the judge for justice. Jesus praises this widow who overcomes—what—being poor, being without husband, having little social status—in persuading the hardened heart of the judge.

The parable certainly reminds us that the Christian life requires perseverance in general. Daily, we must overcome temptations, we must be faithful in the midst of suffering and pressures from the world, we must repent of our sins, we must not giving up working for the conversion of non-believers.

Often in the Gospels the Lord takes up the theme of perseverance, he speaks of the need to carry our crosses daily; He enjoins us to not stop seeking until we find God, to not stop knocking until that door is open, he says though he sends us out as sheep amidst wolves, and will be persecuted even by members of our family, he says, “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

What will give us the strength to persevere in the Christians life, certainly a prayer life that perseveres. St. Alphonsus Ligouri says, “if, then, we wish to persevere and to be saved—for no one cannot be saved without perseverance—we must pray continually. Our perseverance depends, not on one grace, but on a thousand helps which we hope to obtain from God during our whole lives, that we may be preserved in his grace.” Jesus told his disciples this parable of the persistent widow after all to teach them the necessity of prayer for the spiritual life.

A Particularly powerful prayer in preserving us in perseverance is of course the Holy Rosary. Pope Francis this year called upon “all the faithful of all the world, to pray the Holy Rosary every day” during the Marian month of October, especially during this time of “spiritual turbulence” as he called it. The rosary is not a relic from the past century to be discarded. No, it is a powerful spiritual weapon, that the Holy Trinity wishes us to utilize in the great spiritual battle in which we find ourselves. For though the Albigensian heresy has been defeated, we know plenty of other errors and lukewarmness which separate souls from God.

I’ve taken the liberty of printing up some guides on how to pray the rosary, just in case it’s been a while or you were never taught. They are available at the parking lot Church entrance.
Prayer is powerful. In can win miracles. It can convert hardened hearts. It can bring relief to the sorrowful and light to the confused.

Oremus pro invicem, let us pray for one another, that we may persevere in the Christian life, be strengthened and supported in our weaknesses, and equipped, as St. Paul says, for every good work for the glory of God and salvation of souls.