HEROIC CATHOLIC FAMILIES AND THE HOLY ROSARY

“The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families…that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.”

Sister Lucia dos Santos, Fatima seer

We close the month of May dedicated to Our Lady with the feast of her Queenship today (May 31) or in the new calendar the feast of the Visitation.  I should like to close this month in saying that the future of our Church lies in the hands of devout Catholic families. I wish today to honour those "hidden houses of Nazareth" in which fathers, mothers and children seek to live, work and pray as Catholics have always done.

They do this in a heroic way, seeking to overcome the inundation of neo-paganism, materialism and the contagion of worldliness and sensuality which have become the norm in daily life. These hidden houses of "Nazareth" often struggle finanically, are the objects of derision not only from "the world" but unfortunately also from their own families. They heroically seek to pass on to their children the traditional Catholic faith and practice. Many of them home school their children. Many must drive considerable distance to assist at the traditional Mass. They gather daily in their family circle to pray Our Lady's Rosary.  I believe with all my heart that these "houses of Nazareth" are the future our Catholic faith. These are the seedbeds of preparation for a time when we shall return to the catacombs.....It is from these places of refuge that the true Catholic faith shall live on through the coming times of persecution. Our saintly Father John Hardon said:

"Family life can only be restored in countries like ours only by Catholic families living up to the teachings of Christ and His Church.

This means two things. First: Ordinary Catholic families cannot survive. They must be extra-ordinary families. They must be what I do not hesitate to call heroic Catholic families.

Ordinary Catholic families are no match for the devil as he uses the media of communication to secularize and desacralize modern society.

No less than ordinary individual Catholics can survive, so ordinary Catholic families cannot survive. They have no choice. They must either be holy -- which means sanctified -- or they will disappear.

The only Catholic families that will remain alive and thriving by the year 2000 are the families of martyrs. Father, mother and children must he willing to die for their God-given convictions."

I end this month with a plea to one and all:   If you have not done so begin today to pray the rosary daily. Teach your children how at an early age and pray it with them. Be faithful to the daily recitation of the most holy rosary.  Consecrate yourselves and your family to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Get enrolled in and wear the brown scapular as a sign of this consecration. Pray daily for the consecration of Russia and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.