The Catechism explains how and why the intercession of Mary is so powerful with God her Father, Jesus her Son, and the Holy Spirit her spouse: 963 "The Virgin Mary . . . is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer. . . . She is clearly the mother of the members of Christ' . . . since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head." "Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church." 964 Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. "This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death"; it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion: Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross.

There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her: to be given, by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross, as a mother to his disciple, with these words: "Woman, behold your son." 969 "This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation . . . . Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix." 970 "Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men . . . flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it." "No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source." 2674

Mary gave her consent in faith at the Annunciation and maintained it without hesitation at the foot of the Cross. Ever since, her motherhood has extended to the brothers and sisters of her Son "who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties." Jesus, the only mediator, is the way of our prayer; Mary, his mother and ours, is wholly transparent to him: she "shows the way" , and is herself "the Sign" of the way. 2675 Beginning with Mary's unique cooperation with the working of the Holy Spirit, the Churches developed their prayer to the holy Mother of God, centering it on the person of Christ manifested in his mysteries. In countless hymns and antiphons expressing this prayer, two movements usually alternate with one another: the first "magnifies" the Lord for the "great things" he did for his lowly servant and through her for all human beings the second entrusts the supplications and praises of the children of God to the Mother of Jesus, because she now knows the humanity which, in her, the Son of God espoused.

2. The Scourging at the Pillar - Jesus is stripped of His clothing and tortured just as these children are stripped of their lives and tortured by the abortionists deadly tools. When pro-lifers stand in the cold, rain, heat, and snow for love of Jesus and his children facing a tortured death at Rockford's abortion mill, we unite our lives to the lives of Christ and all His children.

All these meditations bring a LOT of meaning to the Rosary for life in Rockford!!!!!! But this one says it all.

O Mary, Mother of Jesus and Mother of us all, we turn to you today as the one who said "Yes" to Life. You are the one who knows the anguish of a mothers heart for each child killed at Rockfords abortion mill. Mary, we pray today for all mothers who are afraid to be mothers. We pray for those who feel threatened and overwhelmed by their pregnancy. We pray for those mothers lied to by the abortion mill staff and all prople of this city that remain silent as babies are killed at NIWC. Intercede for them, that God may give them the grace to say yes and the courage to go on. May they have the grace to reject the false solution of abortion. May God give us all the grace to stand against the demonic evil of child murder that takes place at 1400 Broadway. May they say with you, "Be it done unto me according to your word." May they experience the help of Christian people, and know the peace that comes from doing God's will. Amen.

I will have some of these Blessed Rosaries soon. If anyone at the mill would like one just let me know. Many thanks and blessings to Harry and Josie for their ministry of love. And thank you to all of you wonderful people who pray the rosary for an end to abortion. God has answered your prayers in so many ways already, may He be praised forever!

Revelation 8:3-4 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand.

The prayers of the Rosary are the sublime and exquisite incense offered to God through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thank you for this story. The breakdown on the 20 Mysteries and the spiritual realities taking place when they are prayed are a sign of encouragement and hope beyond compare.

Please visit safe and secure rosary sites such as www.rosaryoftheunborn.com, www.battlebeads.com and others. Just type in rosary, rosaries or rosary making tools or parts in any reliable search engine(Google, Bing, Teoca, Yahoo, Excite, etc.) I believe that Scapular Guild and Fatima.org and Lewis & Co. have very affordable rosary making kits; ideal for both non-for-profit organizations, schools and those on fixed incomes to purchase.

Because of my work schedule and genuine concern for my safety, I don't make it a habit to frequent or stay for long @ the abortion mill. Again, attempts to be nice or at least civil to Wayne Webster or his long time companion, Sharon, or certain other mill personel is a no-win situation and let's not even throw our erstwhile "alderman" Karen Elyea or James Herndon or Keith Sterkeson into to mix. We as individuals and as s society will NOT come even REMOTELY CLOSE to winning hearts and minds over to a culture of life WITHOUT neither God's merciful help OR the tools with which He and His Blessed Mother gave us. And I strongly urge one and ALL to avail themselves of the resources which I posted above. We MUST ALWAYS keep first and foremost in our hearts and minds and actions that we're doing God's work, when we pray and do what we can to save the least amongst us and soon again we'll live and thrive in a society that doesn't see us a the enemy but as righteous valiant warriors doing God's work!

This is the mindset of the culture of death. http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jun/10061507.html

 Please pray the rosary for these poor people. Espically those at the Rockford mill. Life and love are found in Jesus Christ who is "the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE."

"You must know that when you "hail" Mary, she immediately greets you! Don't think that she is one of those rude women of whom there are so many,on the contrary, she is utterly courteous and pleasant. If you greet her, she will answer you right away and converse with you!" Saint Bernardine of Siena

"The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God*and if you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary." Pope Saint Pius X

Never will anyone who says his Rosary every day become a formal heretic or be led astray by the devil." Saint Louis de Montfort

Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if, and mark well what I say, if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins." Saint Louis de Montfort

Thanks to the power of the Rosary Babies are alive. Here is a little poem about those who hate the Rosary and the Babies saved from death in the womb.

There once was a man named Wayne; When children in the womb came near him most ended up in a world of pain; Then their tiny lives were flushed down the drain; To them and others this seems quite insane.

But the Rosary brings life and hope; So mothers have the grace to cope; And to abortion and Wayne they gladly say "nope" The Rosary brings life and hope.

The pic of Wayne Webster with one of his beautiful black Scottish terriers literally fills me with sadness, anger and angst whenever I look at it because I'm reminded of a conversation I had last year with a genuinely beautiful, intelligent and compassionate professional woman who happens to be involved with 40 Days For Life. She made the comment somewhere in our conversation that it's creepy and chilling how Wayne and his girlfriend and friends can dote on these two dogs as if they were their own children, yet hate human children enough to want to profit from their bloody deaths, and that she as a wife, mother and another human being found this incredibly disturbing.

 With all due respect, Gerald and others, I have zero sense of humor when it comes to Rockford's House Of 50,000 Plus Corpses and what, for untold private profits, the folks that work inside of 1400 Broadway, not only do to countless little pre-born babies, but what they intentionally do to the mothers, fathers, their families and by turns, the rest of society. Many years later and I still emotionally struggle with how I was physically assaulted by my live-in boyfriend, then when 2 1/2 weeks or so later I shared with him how I learned I was pregnant, I was almost instantly verbally and emotionally bullied and threatened into an abortion that I never, repeat, NEVER WANTED. I was verbally and emotionally bullied and ultimately physically abandoned to face abortion alone...as my boyfriend at the time after the assult, made it painfully clear in so many subtle and NOT so subtle ways that he did NOT WANT-in ANY WAY-to be the father to another man's child and especially the child, as he so sarcastically and coldly put it [verbatim]"a rape baby."

Gerald, I understand where you're coming from, but please know that as a woman who has somehow managed to *somewhat* emotionally survive what a man that I loved and at one time trusted chose to do to me, I don't find "humor"-any-in what this or ANY abortion mill does to girls, women and their/our babies. I can still vivildly recall as of typing and sharing these words how the day I was unceremoniously and coldy dropped off for the abortion that there was NOT a single-not one-pro-life person, a single protester or ANYONE else other than meek silent women entering into the side entrance of the small clinic just outside a major hospital's main grounds. Again, I want and desire to emphasize that I'm NOT criticizing you or saying that you DON'T have the right to say or share what you did or that you DON'T have the right or need to have a moment of levity in the face of what we're dealing with @ 1400 Broadway or around the Nation, no. I'm simply sharing that as a date rape/abortion survivor that still struggles with the hypocrisy I see and deal with around me concerning abortion and so-called abortion "rights" that I see zero humor in morally schizophrenic individuals such as Wayne Webster, the abortionists, many of their staff and their bizarre assortment of abortion at any and all costs supporters. Lovingly, Sad In Rockford

ED:  Dear Sad in Rockford, we are saddened that a comment in jest had such a painful effect on you.  Certainly that was not the intention of the author.  Speaking for myself, having been involved in the pro-life movement for thirty years, because of the grisly, barbaric, disgusting and violent nature of what abortion is all about I sometimes have to let a little levity in for theraputic reasons.  It is my way of releasing some of the frustration and tension regarding the work we are involved in.  I can only assume that the author of the comment was doing something in the same vein.  Sorry for any pain this has caused you; this website is dedicated to the women who have had abortions, who lost a baby to SIDS, or to miscarriage.  We ask that God gives you and all of our readers His joy, peace and love.

“What you receive as gift, you must give as gift.” Matthew 10:8 The Rosary is a gift of love and peace. Let us return this love and peace to these babies and all people in need at this place of sorrow.

I just had to post the below information on how the Rosary comes to us from the New Testatment that the abortion mill hates so much. All this time people have been praying the Rosary, which is really praying the Gospels, at the abortion mill and it has resulted in many, many, many lives being saved. No wonder the baby killers in the mill pitch a hissy fit at the mere mention of the New Testatment, the praying of the Rosary, or the sight of a Priest of Jesus Christ.(do you think they may be driven by a demonic hatred for all that is holy) The Rosary and Sacred Scripture Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Luke 1:28 "And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you." The Greek kecharitomene means favored by grace, graced. Its tense suggests a permanent state of being "highly favored," thus full of grace. Charity, the divine love within us, comes from the same root. God is infinite Goodness, infinite Love. Mary is perfect created goodness, filled to the limit of her finite being with grace or charity.

Blessed art thou among women Luke 1:41-42a "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women..." Luke 1:48 "For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed." Among all women is a way to say the highest/greatest etc. of a group in Semitic languages (these words would likely have been spoken in Aramaic). Mary is being called the greatest of all women, greater than Ruth, greater than Sarah, greater than EVE! Since Eve was created immaculate (without original sin), Mary must have been conceived immaculate. And, although Eve fell into sin by her own free will, Mary must have corresponded to God's grace and remained sinless. She could not otherwise be greater than Eve. Thus, as the Fathers of the Church unanimously assert, Mary is the New Eve who restores womanhood to God's original intention and cooperates with the New Adam, her Son, for the Redemption of the world.

Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus Luke 1:42b "and blessed is the fruit of your womb." Jesus is Mary's fruit. Good fruit does not come from anything but a good tree (Mt. 7:17-18)! The all-holy Son of God could not be the fruit of any other tree than the Immaculate Virgin. Holy Mary, Mother of God Luke 1:43 "And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Kyrios is the Greek word used by the Jews in the Septuagint Bible (Greek translation) for Yhwh, the Divine Name of God. In her greeting of Mary, Elizabeth is saying: "How is it that the mother of my God should come to me." Against the heresies of the 4th and 5th centuries which tried to split the Person of Jesus into two, divine and human, denying one or the other, the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD proclaimed Mary Theotokos (God-bearer, i.e. mother of God). Jesus is a single Person, a Divine Person, the 2nd Person of the Most Holy Trinity. To be mother of the Person Jesus is to be mother of a Person who is God. Mary's title protects this truth against errors which emphasize or deny, either the divinity or humanity of the Lord.

Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Luke 2:35 "...and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." John 2:5 "His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you." Mary sees a need and appeals to Her Son to satisfy it. He does. We turn to Mary to ask her to intercede with her Son in our daily spiritual and material needs, but especially at the hour of our death. At that moment our salvation hangs in the balance as the devil makes his final foray to deter us from the path to God (Rev. 2:10). It is not surprising, therefore, that both the Hail Mary and the Our Father conclude with an appeal to be delivered from the evil one. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Power of Intercessory Prayer: Intercessory prayer proceeds from faith in God that holy men and women who have died are as alive today as they were on earth (Luke 20:38). If the prayer of the just man avails much, how much more the prayer of the one made perfect (Rev. 21:27) and living with God in heaven (the patriarchs, apostles and other holy men and women). James 5:16b "the fervent prayer of a righteous man is very powerful." Rev. 5:8 "When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.

The angels, too, mediate our prayers. This is taught explicitly in the Jewish book of Tobit (Tob. 12:12), accepted by Christians as inspired until Luther on his own authority rejected it. It remains part of the Catholic Bible. Tobit 12:12 I can now tell you that when you, Tobit, and Sarah prayed, it was I who presented and read the record of your prayer before the Glory of the Lord; and I did the same thing when you used to bury the dead. Rev. 8:3 "Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is the rosary mindless babbling? The purpose of the different beads on the rosary is to count the various prayers as they are said. Unlike the Moslem prayer beads and the mantras of Buddhism, the prayers of the rosary are meant to occupy our whole being, body and soul, while meditating on the truths of the Faith. Any prayer is vain, however, if said mechanically without devotion. Simply to repeat prayers is not the vain repetition condemned by Christ (Mt 6:7), since He Himself repeats His prayer in the Garden three times (Mt 26:39, 42, 44) and the Psalms (inspired by the Holy Spirit) are often very repetitive (Ps 119 has 176 verses and Ps. 136 repeats the same phrase 26 times). Matthew 6:7 In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Psalm 136:1-26 Praise the LORD, who is so good; God's love endures forever; Praise the God of gods; God's love endures forever; . . . Praise the God of heaven, God's love endures forever. Matthew 26:39 He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:42 Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, "My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!" Matthew 26:44 He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing again.

The Church believes that it is necessary for a Christian to meditate (prayerfully think about) the will of God, the life and teachings of Jesus, the price He paid for our salvation, and so on. Unless we do this we will begin to take these great gifts for granted and ultimately fall away from the Lord. Every Christian must meditate in some way in order to preserve the gift of salvation (James 1:22-25). Many Catholic and non-Catholic Christians prayerfully read and apply Scripture to their lives, that is, meditate on them. With the rosary this can be done virtually anywhere and anytime.

ED:  Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful thoughts.

Peace and Grace of our Lord Jesus be with you all.Right from my childhood I was taught the importance of Prayer and more the power of the Rosary.In the Northern Uganda where People have experienced Civil War for many years have testified the power of the Rosary and Mary's intercession to her son for the afflicted is and shall remain fresh in the minds of people forever.The Rosary helps us in our Faith because we know words of prayer are words of commitment and commitments brings transformation that is set towards a new vision based on the will of God contrary to ones personal vision and mission.The Blessed Catechists of Northern Uganda testify to the power of the Rosary because they were not deeply Educated but lived the Mysteries of Christ expressed in the Rosary.God Bless you all.

EDITOR:  Thank you, Father, for your thoughts and your blessings.  You are in our prayers and may we all learn that especially in times of persecution, the Rosary is a source of great strength for all of us.