by St. Alphonsus Liguori,
Doctor of the Church


TAKEN FROM THE GLORIES OF MARY
Eccles. Approval, 1852



SECOND DEVOTION
Of Novenas

Devout clients of Mary are all attention and fervor in celebrating the novenas, or nine days preceding her festivals; and the Blessed Virgin is all love, in dispensing innumerable and most special graces to them. Saint Gertrude one day saw, under Mary's mantle, a band of souls, whom the great Lady was considering with the most tender affection; and she was given to understand that they were persons who, during the preceding days, had prepared themselves with various devotions for the Feast of the Assumption. The following devotions are some of those which can be used during the novenas.---I. We may make mental prayer in the morning and evening, and a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, adding nine 'Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory be to the Fathers.'---II. We may pay Mary three visits (visiting her statue or picture), and thank our Lord for the grace He granted her; and each time ask the Blessed Virgin for some special grace ...---III. We may make many acts of love towards Mary (at least fifty or a hundred), and also towards Jesus; for we can do nothing which pleases her more than to love her Son, as she said to Saint Bridget: "If thou wishest to bind thyself to me, love my Son."---IV. We may read every day of the novena, for a quarter of an hour, some book which treats of her glories.---V. We may perform some external mortification, such as wearing a hair-cloth, taking a discipline, or the like; we can also fast, or at table abstain from fruit, or some favorite dish, at least in part, or chew some bitter herbs. On the vigil of the feast we may fast on bread and water: but none of these things should be done without the permission of our confessor. Interior mortifications, however, are the best of all to practice during these novenas, such as to avoid looking at or listening to things out of curiosity; to remain in retirement; observe silence; be obedient; not give impatient answers; bear contradictions, and such things; which can all be practiced with less danger of vanity, with greater merit, and do not need the confessor's permission. The most useful exercise is to propose, from the beginning of the novena, to correct some fault into which we fall the most frequently. For this purpose it will be well, in the visits spoken of above, to ask pardon for past faults, to renew our resolution not to commit them any more, and to implore Mary's help. The devotion most dear and pleasing to Mary is, to endeavor to imitate her virtues; therefore it would be well always to propose to ourselves the imitation of some virtue which corresponds with the festival; as, for example, on the feast of her Immaculate Conception, purity of intention; on her Nativity, renovation of spirit, to throw off tepidity; on her Presentation, detachment from something to which we are most attached; on her Annunciation, humility in supporting contempt; on her Visitation, charity towards our neighbor, in giving alms, or at least in praying for sinners; on her Purification, obedience to superiors; and in fine, on the Feast of her Assumption, let us endeavor to detach ourselves from the world, do all to prepare ourselves for death, and order each day of our lives as if it was to be our last.---VI. Besides going to Communion on the day of the feast, it would be well to ask leave from our confessor to go more frequently during the novena. [No longer a requisite for anyone not under a specific rule of obedience.---The web Master.] Father Segneri used to say, that we cannot honor Mary better than with Jesus. She herself revealed to a holy soul (as Father Crasset relates), that we could offer her no thing which was more pleasing to her than the Holy Communion; for in that Holy Sacrament it is that Jesus gathers the fruit of His Passion in our souls. Hence it appears that the Blessed Virgin desires nothing so much of her clients as Communion; saying, "Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you." [Prov. 9:5 ]---VII. Finally, on the day of the feast, after Communion, we must offer ourselves to the service of this Divine Mother, and ask her the grace to practice the virtue, or whatever other grace we had proposed to ourselves, during the novena. It is well every year to choose, amongst the feasts of the Blessed Virgin, one for which we have the greatest and most tender devotion; and for this one to make a very special preparation, by dedicating ourselves anew, and in a more particular manner, to her service, choosing her for our Sovereign Lady, Advocate, and Mother. Then we must ask her pardon for all our negligence in her service during the past year, and promise greater fidelity for the next; and conclude by begging her to accept us for her servants, and to obtain us a holy death.

[On the last page of this little directory are two formulas for this dedication; the one for a single person, the other for a family.]



THIRD DEVOTION
Of the Rosary and Office of our Blessed Lady

It is well known that the devotion of the most holy Rosary was revealed to Saint Dominic by the Divine Mother herself, at a time when the Saint was in affliction, and bewailing, with his Sovereign Lady, over the Albigensian heretics, who were at that time doing great mischief to the Church. The Blessed Virgin said to him: "This land will always be sterile until rain falls on it." Saint Dominic was then given to understand that this rain was the devotion of the rosary, which he ,vas to propagate. This the Saint indeed did, and it was embraced by all Catholics; so much so that, even to the present day, there is no devotion so generally practiced by the faithful of all classes as that of the rosary. What is there that modern heretics, Calvin, Bucer, and others, have not said to throw discredit on the use of beads 1 But the immense good which this noble devotion has done to the world is well known. How many, by its means, have been delivered from sin ! how many led to a holy life! how many to a good death, and are now saved! To be convinced of this, we need only read the many books which treat on the subject. Suffice it to know that this devotion has been approved of by the Church, and that the Sovereign Pontiffs have enriched it with indulgences. Note: since the Saint's time Rosary Indulgences have changed, so we omit his list and add the current along with benefits of saying the Holy Rosary:

A reminder about indulgences in general:

The granting of a plenary indulgence presupposes that one's soul is entirely free from affection for sin.  Only one each day can be gained, the sole exception being the day one dies, when another plenary indulgence can be gained at the moment of death, if we turn with love to God. As to partial indulgences, in the most recent edition of the Church's Enchiridion of Indulgences great emphasis is given to the Holy Father's decree that a partial indulgence is a "matching grant", which means, in the granting of a partial indulgence, the Church uses her "power of the keys" and opens "the treasury of the Blood"---the inexhaustible resource of the merits of Our Redeemer, as well as those of Our Lady and all the Communion of Saints, to match whatever remission of the temporal punishment due to sin results from an individual's careful, loving performance of an indulgenced work. Although in the past a certain number of days was assigned to each possible indulgence, this is no longer the case.

We need to remember that in order to gain an indulgence one must have the intention to do so. One may not assign indulgences gained to another person still living; however, indulgences gained can be offered up for the Holy Souls in Purgatory freely.

A plenary indulgences is granted, if the Rosary is recited in a church or public oratory or in a family group, a religious Community or pious Association: a partial indulgence is granted in other circumstances.

A plenary indulgence can be gained, once a day, by praying the Rosary, privately or in common, before the Blessed Sacrament, exposed or in the tabernacle. (This is true owing to the plenary indulgence attached to a practice of Eucharistic adoration that is at least one half hour in length, according to the Enchiridion).

The gaining of the plenary indulgence is regulated by the following norms:

1. The recitation of a third part only of the Rosary suffices; but the five decades must be recited continuously.
2. The vocal recitation must be accompanied by pious meditation on the mysteries.
3. In public recitation the mysteries must be announced in the manner customary in the place; for private recitation, however, it suffices if the recitation is accompanied by meditation on the mysteries.

All the requirements for a Plenary Indulgence in general also apply, see HERE.

Indulgences for Members of the Rosary Confraternity

For members of the Rosary Confraternity, a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, is granted: on the day of enrollment. (When application is made, a certificate of membership is sent, indicating the day of the enrollment.) The plenary indulgence is available on the following feast days as well: Christmas, Easter, Annunciation [March 25], Purification [February 2], Assumption, Our Lady of the Rosary [October 7], and Immaculate Conception.

Partial indulgences

Any reverent use of a sacramental item by a member of the faithful qualifies us to receive a partial indulgence. Thus, carrying your Rosary with you mindfully and piously is an indulgenced practice, for example.

Blessings obtained from reciting the Rosary:

• Sinners are forgiven.
• Souls that thirst are refreshed.
• Those who are fettered have their bonds broken.
• Those who weep find happiness.
• Those who are tempted find peace.
• The poor find help.
• Religious are reformed.
• Those who are ignorant are instructed.
• The living learn to overcome pride.
• The dead (the Holy Souls) have their pains eased by suffrages.

Benefits of the Rosary in our life:

• It gradually gives us a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ.
• It purifies our souls, washing away sin.
• It gives us victory over all our enemies.
• It makes it easy for us to practice virtue.
• It sets us on fire with love of Our Lord.
• It enriches us with graces and merits.
• It supplies us with what is needed to pay all our debts to God and to our fellow men;
• and finally, it obtains all kinds of graces for us from Almighty God.

We continue with Saint Alphonsus' treatise:

The Rosary should also be said with devotion; and here we may call to mind what the Blessed Virgin said to Saint Eulalia [a Martyr of Barcelona], "that she was better pleased with five decades said slowly and devoutly than with fifteen said in a hurry and with little devotion. It is, therefore, well to say the Rosary kneeling, before an image of Mary; and, before each decade, to make an act of love to Jesus and Mary, and ask them for some particular grace. It is also preferable to say it with others rather than alone.

As to the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, which is said to have been composed by Saint Peter Damian, Pius V, granted indulgences to those who recite it, and the Blessed Virgin has many times shown now acceptable this devotion is to her; [That indulgence [partial] is no longer attached; there is one for the Little Office of the Immaculate Conception, however.] She is also much pleased with the Litany of Loreto, for reciting which there it an indulgence of three hundred days each time [now a partial]; The hymn, 'Hail, Star of the Sea,' is also very pleasing to Mary; she desired Saint Bridget to say it every day; but still more is she pleased with the 'Magnificat,' for we then praise her in the very words in which she herself praised God.


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