The "Weight" of the Rosary at the Judgement Seat of God.

“Whatever you do, do not be like a certain pious but stubborn lady in Rome, so often mentioned when speaking about the Rosary.

She was so devout and so fervent that she put to shame by her holy life even the strictest religious in the Church.

“Having decided to ask Saint Dominic’s advice about her spiritual life, she asked him to hear her confession.

For penance he gave her one whole Rosary to say and advised her to say it every day. She said that she had no time to say it, excusing herself on the grounds that she made the Stations of Rome every day, that she wore sackcloth and a hair shirt, that she carried out so many other penances and fasted so much.

Saint Dominic urged her repeatedly to take his advice and say the Rosary, but she would not hear of it. She left the confessional, horrified at the tactics of this new spiritual director who had tried so hard to persuade her to take on a devotion that was not at all to her liking.

“Later on, when she was in prayer, she fell into ecstasy and had a vision of her soul appearing before Our Lord’s Judgment Seat. Saint Michael put all her penances and other prayers onto one tray of the scales and all her sins and imperfections onto the other tray. The tray of her good works was greatly outweighed by the tray with her sins and imperfections.

“Filled with terror she cried for mercy, imploring the Blessed Virgin Mary’s help. Her gracious Advocate took the one and only Rosary that she had said for her penance and dropped it onto the tray of her good works. This one Rosary was so heavy that it weighed more than all her sins as well as all her good works. Our Lady then reproved her for refusing to follow the counsel of her servant Dominic and for not saying the Rosary every day.

“As soon as she came to she rushed and threw herself at Saint Dominic’s feet, and told him all that had happened. She begged his forgiveness for her unbelief and promised to say the Rosary faithfully every day. By this means she arose to Christian perfection and finally to the glory of everlasting life.

“You who are people of prayer— learn from this how tremendous is the power, the value and the importance of this devotion of the Most Holy Rosary when it is said together with meditation on the mysteries.”

*An excerpt from Saint Louis de Montfort’s The Secret of the Rosary (Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., 1999), 63–64.

The Graces of the Rosary

The rosary is a magnificent gift of God to humanity, because through this prayer we attain extraordinary graces. For some, it is an old monotonous prayer, but we can testify to you that it has real efficacy of healing, liberation, peace, and reconciliation. The rosary must articulate the dawn, the afternoon, and the sunset of life; our entire existence. The sunrise of each day is the beginning of our lives: for this we fix our gaze on the birth of Jesus and we meet him through the "yes" of Mary, so that our lives, too, can be born again, can begin every day with him and can say "yes" to his project of love for us today. Then there is the first afternoon, adolescence,which is often the most problematic age, where we search for the deeper reason for things. When you are twelve, thirteen, or fourteen years old, you begin to see the defects of your parents, school begins to be restrictive for you, the differences between rich and poor make you suffer, you do not know whom to take sides with, and you have an incredible struggle with your emotions. Sometimes you have a strong conflict with yourself and with all that surrounds you. It is a moment that we educators are never really prepared for, in order to give true and convincing answers to the deepest questions which the young people place upon us on their objections. For this, in the first "afternoon" which is adolescence, when you are not given many answers, we pray the sorrowful mysteries, because the passion of Jesus heals our wounds, negative memories, and the violent and angry judgements which at that age provoked false rebellion inside of us on the path of evil. Then the moment of the evening comes. To recite the third rosary is already to foresee the years of tiredness , of old age, of sickness; the sunset of life. With the rosary in your hand, you will not be discouraged and you will have clarity of mind and a full and extraordinary freedom in your heart. Contemplating the resurrection of Christ, you will prepare your heart for the definitive encounter with him and you will discover that your suffering "gives birth" to a new life, which is the concrete reality that waits for you in heaven. 


Mother Elvira Petrozzi
Foundress of Comunito Cenacolo, welcoming the lost and desperate in 56 houses in 15 countries

Sisterhood of the Traveling Rosary

Growing up my parents especially my mom, brought us up very close to God. We go to church on Sundays in our Sunday dresses. On Wednesdays, we go to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Shrine and pray the Novena and at home everyday we pray the rosary as a family, kneeling before the altar. Now we are all grown up living on our own with our families far away from each other. I miss those days when we almost do anything together as a family. Here in the US I have two sisters with me but still we are far from each other. To keep the family unity in faith. My sisters and I agreed to start the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Rosary." To bring back tradition of the family in prayer. There are standards to follow.  I would like to share them to all of you. Hoping you will also pray the rosary with your family. 

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Rosary

The purpose of this rosary is to spread the gospel of the Lord through the prayer and meditation of the rosary in fulfillment of the mission of Mother Mary and Mahal na Ingkong also known as the Holy Spirit and to strengthen our family’s faith and unity. As  you join this sisterhood, you pledge to perform at your best the following conditions:

The rosary packet contains the picture of Our Lady of All Nations, prayer and a white rosary. The visitation will be for seven days. In seven days you need to.....

1. As soon as you receive it, place the picture of Our Lady of All Nation at your altar. 
2. As you pray the rosary for seven days, use the white traveling rosary with it, recite the Our Lady of Nations prayer every after mystery and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary after the mysteries.
3. Wear a dress and a veil during the prayer, at best a white one.
4. Light 3 white candles during the prayer. 
5. If possible let the whole family join in prayer.
6. Practice the virtues, confess your sins, do penance, attend the Holy Mass and receive the Holy Communion. 
7. At the end of the seven day visitation, please send the Rosary packet to the next sister. 

• You can share inspiring stories and experiences of the visitation, comments, suggestions and petitions. Enclose it with the packet.