Whether you’ve been praying a daily Rosary for several weeks or several months, you may be wondering, “Is any good coming from this effort — other than the fact that my five-year-old can now recite a perfect ‘Hail Mary’ on command?”
The answer is a resounding YES — and not only because when we recite the Rosary we are asking Mary, the Mother of God, to pray to her Son on our behalf.
We can find proof of the Rosary’s effectiveness in several miraculous events that have been directly connected with the Rosary — events that actually changed the course of history.
Let’s take a quick look at a couple such events.
The Battle of Lepanto
The deciding battle of the Crusades took place on October 7, 1571 in the Gulf of Patras in western Greece. If the Ottomans won, Islam would be the primary religion of both East and West. If the combined Christian forces, also known as the “Holy League,” won the battle, then Christianity would be preserved. The Christians were far outnumbered, so Pope Pius V implored every Christian across Europe to pray the Rosary. On the day of the battle, the wind favored the Ottomans and gave them a distinct advantage. But, thanks to the Christians all over Europe praying the Rosary, the winds suddenly shifted and started blowing full-force in favor of the Christians! Miraculously, the Christians annihilated the Ottoman navy and won the war. We remember this miraculous victory, attributed to the power of the Rosary, on October 7th, the Feast of the Holy Rosary.
Jesuits in Hiroshima Protected from Atomic Blast
Hiroshima was ground zero for an atomic bomb blast in 1945, during World War II. Despite the fact that everything was obliterated for miles around, a group of houses occupied by Franciscans just a few blocks from the center of the detonation remained virtually untouched. 200 scientists studied the houses and asked the priests how they were still alive. The priests responded that Mother Mary had asked them to pray the Rosary every day for protection, and they’d honored her request. The priests suffered only minor scratches, and their houses were still standing—yet the scientists couldn’t believe that praying the Rosary could have been the reason behind their nearly untouched condition. Even decades later, the priests did not get sick or die from radiation, as so many others had. Scientists still cannot find an alternative explanation for their unaffected state.
So, does praying the Rosary actually “work?”
Indeed, it does. Be patient. If you’re not seeing the specific results you desire, keep in mind that God’s plans for us are often far better than those we can imagine for ourselves — we simply cannot see the bigger picture until He reveals it to us.
Remember, Saint Monica prayed for years for the conversion of her son, Augustine. By the end of her life, her son had not only converted to Catholicism, but had become a bishop and one of the most profound theological thinkers of the Catholic Church. Today he is honored as both a saint and a Doctor of the Church.
