Power of God

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY URGES ST. DOMINIC TO PREACH THE ROSARY TO OBTAIN CONVERSIONS

One day St. Dominic had to preach at Notre Dame in Paris, and it happened to be the feast of St. John the Evangelist. He was in a little chapel behind the high altar prayerfully preparing his sermon by saying the Rosary, as he always did, when Our Lady appeared to him and said:

"Dominic, even though what you have planned to say may be very good, I am bringing you a much better sermon."

Saint Dominic took in his hands the book Our Lady proffered, read the sermon carefully and when he had understood it and meditated on it, he gave thanks to the Blessed Mother.

When the time came, he went up into the pulpit and, in spite of the feast day, made no mention of Saint John other than to say that he had been found worthy to be the guardian of the Queen of Heaven. 

The congregation was made up of theologians and other eminent people who were used to hearing unusual and polished discourses; but Saint Dominic told them that it was not his wish to give them a learned discourse, wise in the eyes of the world, but that he would speak in the simplicity of the Holy Spirit and with His forcefulness.

So he began preaching the Holy Rosary and explained the Hail Mary word by word as he would to a group of children and used the very simple illustrations which were in the book Our Lady had given him.

Carthagena, the great scholar, quoting Blessed Alan de la Roche in De Dignitate Psalterii, describes how this took place:

"Blessed Alan writes that one day Father Dominic said to him in a vision: 

'My son, it is good to preach; but there is always a danger of looking for praise rather than the salvation of souls. Listen carefully to what happened to me in Paris so that you may be on guard against this kind of mistake: I was to preach in the great church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and I was particularly anxious to give a brilliant sermon, not out of pride, but because of the high intellectual stature of the congregation.

'An hour before the time I had to preach, I was recollectedly saying my Rosary----as I always did before giving a sermon----when I fell into ecstasy. I saw my beloved friend the Mother of God coming towards me with a book in her hand. 

'Dominic,' she said, 'your sermon for today may be very good indeed, but no matter how good it is I have brought you one that is very much better.'

'Of course I was overjoyed, took the book and read every word of it. Just as Our Lady had said, I found exactly the right things to say in my sermon, so I thanked her with all my heart.

'When it was time to begin, I saw that the University of Paris had turned out in full force as well as a large number of noblemen. They had all seen and heard of the great things that the good Lord had been doing through me. So I went up into the pulpit.

'It was the feast of Saint John the Apostle but all I said about him was that he had been found worthy to be the guardian of the Queen of Heaven. Then I addressed the congregation:

" 'My Lords and illustrious Doctors of the University, you are accustomed to hearing learned sermons suited to your aesthetic tastes. Now I do not want to speak to you in the scholarly language of human wisdom but, on the contrary, to show you the Spirit of God and His Greatness.' "

Here ends the quotation from Blessed Alan, after which Carthagena goes on to say in his own words:

"Then Saint Dominic explained the Angelic Salutation to them, using simple comparisons and examples from everyday life."

Blessed Alan, according to Carthagena, mentioned several other times when Our Lord and Our Lady appeared to Saint Dominic to urge and inspire him to preach the Rosary more and more in order to wipe out sin and to convert sinners and heretics.

In another passage Carthagena says:

"Blessed Alan said Our Lady revealed to him that after she had appeared to Saint Dominic, her Blessed Son appeared to him and said:

'𝘋𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤, 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴.

'𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘵, 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘵.

"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺, 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦, 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘗𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘪𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺.' "

In another place Blessed Alan says: 

"All priests say a Hail Mary with the faithful before preaching, to ask for God's grace. They do this because of a revelation that Saint Dominic had from Our Lady. '

"𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘈𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯---𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥."

'So when you give a sermon, urge people to say my Rosary, and in this way your words will bear much fruit for souls.'

"Saint Dominic lost no time in obeying, and from then on he exerted great influence by his sermons."