Our Lady's Victory Garden

 

Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. For many years this feast day honored Our Lady under the title of Our Lady of Victory. For indeed Our Lady through the Rosary and her powerful intercession leads us to Victory. For many years we have had a vegetable garden in our yard. Our family and especially our kids worked very hard tending the garden. Yet we saw almost no yield from the garden. But then last year we enclosed the garden with wire. It is entirely enclosed with a door in the front. No critters can gain entry. This year we have been overwhelmed with the harvest that in prior years had gone to the squirrels that patrolled our garden. 

Many are finishing a 33 Day Consecration journey to Jesus through Mary today. In the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut Archbishop Blair and the Shepherds of the Diocese have been leading a Consecration using the book Child Consecration: To Jesus through Mary—Following in the Spirit of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower. In many ways Our Lady's Victory Garden is a great image for gardening after Consecration. Through Our Lady's protection we now have a bounty of vegetables. She has protected them. Indeed there is still work to be done in the garden but it far less and the work that is done yields fruits that remain and are not taken. 

We thought we would share some of the different veggies that have been grown in the garden!

Celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary 2018

Today is a beautiful Feast, one that is very special to the Children's Rosary. We wish to celebrate and share pictures of the children. We often share pictures of boxes of Rosaries being sent out. Prayers are said and we pray that these efforts are fruitful. Today we share pictures of the result of these boxes. We see the reaction of children receiving a rosary of their own. 

Many have prayed, sacrificed and fasted. We thank you. I hope you take joy in seeing the children. The picture above is of one of our new Children's Rosary groups. It is at St. Benedict Parish llungu which is in Southern Tanzania. We had sent a large box of 500 rosaries and Children's Rosary materials including Children's Rosary books this past summer. 

Br. Peter a seminarian from the Mbeya Diocese, carried these materials to the parish which is located approximately 43 miles east of Mbeye. The region is rural and most of the economic activities are centered around potato farming. The weather is not very hot in this mountainous area which is why potatoes grow well. 

This new group has been meeting weekly on Sundays after the 8:30 AM Mass. Now during the month of October they are meeting on both Tuesday and Fridays at 4PM local time. Some of the children attending are from the Safwa Tribe. 

We also want to share pictures from one of our Children's Rosary groups celebrating their one year Anniversary today. This is our Children's Rosary in Malay Aklan, Philippines. The children had written out the words to our theme song "Rosary Children" and posted them on the wall for the children to learn and then sing.

They held a celebration today of their Anniversary, October 7th, with prayers and food. 

We thank the Children's Rosary in Malay and all the groups that continue faithfully in their meetings. This is a great gift to give to Our Lady both the new groups and the groups that continue faithfully. We imagine Our Lady smiling to see the children with Rosary in hand praying. 

May God bless you all on this Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary!

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"Whoever Sows Bountifully will Reap Bountifully"

Nuestra Fe en Vivo interview

How to Start a Children's Rosary

Don't forget to unify prayers with the children during their meetings. A schedule of meetings is present on our website. By clicking "Join in Prayer" you can add your gold flashing light to our View from Heaven map.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH OUR NEW VIDEO:

A VIEW FROM HEAVEN 

UNA PERSPECTIVA DESDE EL CIELO

For more information about the Children's Rosary visit our website: www.childrensrosary.org
Visite nuestro sitio web en español para obtener más información: www.rosariodeninos.org

Pour plus d'informations sur le Rosaire des Enfants, visitez notre site Web:www.rosairedesenfants.org

New Children's Rosary Meets on October 7th in Malay, Aklan Philippines

We are very excited to share a picture from the first meeting of the Children's Rosary at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Malay, Aklan Philippines. In the spring a 14 year old boy contacted us with hopes of starting a Children's Rosary. We will call him Courageous. He asked for our help in sending materials to begin a group.  A package was sent. On October 7th the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary his hopes were realized. A new group began at his parish. He relates that the children met at 6AM local time. The priest Consecrated the new Children's Rosary to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary. The children then led the Rosary. Five children were chosen to lead each mystery. After the Children's Rosary they had Mass. Courageous shared, "everyone present are feel that the Lord touch their hearts".

As we shared in an earlier posting Courageous hopes to spread the Children's Rosary to parishes throughout his city.  To this end he has asked for many materials including 10,000 Rosaries and many Children's Rosary books. We wish to thank those that have already offered their help. Our Children's Rosary group in Malaybalay, Phlippines had a banner made for the new group which can be seen in the photo above.  A member of the Children's Rosary in Arkansas USA provided a donation that helped us send a second larger box with more materials and rosaries. The Children's Rosary in Imus, Philippines recently sent another box of Rosaries and materials.  We also sent a box with over 300 Children's Rosary books from the USA.  And the Children's Rosary in Naples, Florida USA is making Rosaries for the group. They report 60 have been made but they hope to send 400!!

So we embrace this new group with love and thank all the children for their prayers and gifts of flowers to Our Lady on the Feast of the Holy Rosary.  

If you would like to help in reaching the goal of sending 10,000 Rosaries and many prayer books please contact us. Donations can also be made on our website to help cover shipping costs. Thank you!!

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Special Release of Our New Video
A Child Makes a Request that Seems Impossible, but is It?

Don't forget to unify prayers with the children during their meetings. A schedule of meetings is present on our website. By clicking "Join in Prayer" you can add your gold flashing light to our View from Heaven map.

For more information about the Children's Rosary visit our website: www.childrensrosary.org
Visite nuestro sitio web en español para obtener más información: www.rosariodeninos.org

A Present for Our Lady of the Rosary

Today is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.  For such a special day, we wanted to give Our Lady a special gift.  What does one give to the Queen of Heaven and Earth?  Could a gift be found that could have meaning for all time.  It would seem, just as a little child wants to give a gift to his parents, so often it is the parents that give the gift that the little one simply packages up and then gives back to the parent.  Such it seems is the case with the small gifts we give to Our Heavenly Mother and Father.  Without Their grace we would have nothing to give.  

Today the Children's Rosary comes before Our Lady with a perpetual enrollment for her intentions. This perpetual enrollment means that Our Blessed Mother's intentions will be remembered for all time in the treasure of Holy Masses and Prayers and in particular 2,500 Masses offered each year through the Central Association of the Miraculous Medal. As long as there are Vincentian Fathers the enrollment will continue.

As the familiar sentiment is true, "it is better to give then receive," I wanted to share the giving of this gift with all the members of the Children's Rosary.  For this gift is being given on behalf of the Children's Rosary to Our Blessed Mother.  Just as little children love to look up with eager eyes to see if their Mother is happy with their gift, so too we can come to meet Our Lady in prayer with a happy heart full of excitement with our small but precious gift since it involves the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which has infinite value.

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Mass of Thanksgiving

Children's Rosary held at Sacred Heart Church on October 7th 2015

A Mass of thanksgiving was offered on October 7th through the Capuchin Missions.  In a special way on the beautiful Feast of the Holy Rosary, we wanted to thank God and Our Blessed Mother for the tremendous graces that have been given to the Children's Rosary and our members.  

Each year on the Feast of the Holy Rosary it seems that there are always beautiful gifts given to the Children's Rosary.  Often these gifts are a surprise. This year was no exception.

Several months ago I received word from a member of our Children's Rosary that a chance visit to a church in Connecticut USA had yielded some unexpected blessings.  The member who was visiting CT from Florida was looking for a Mass on a Sunday evening and found Sacred Heart in East Berlin, CT had such a Mass.  After Mass, she picked up a bulletin and noticed an announcement about a Children's Rosary group meeting.  This got her attention.  Then in talking to the pastor a wonderful opportunity seemed to unfold which included arranging for the traveling United Nations Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima to come to the parish.  The pastor suggested the visit be held on October 7th and also recommended that the Children's Rosary hold a Rosary before Our Blessed Mother when she was visiting.  Indeed all were astonished how all the pieces seemed to fall into place for the event.  Not only was the United Nations Pilgrim Statue of Our  Lady of Fatima coming but also first class relics of Bl Francisco and Bl Jacinta, two of the children from Fatima.  

The Event unfolded beautifully.  Members of four Children's Rosary groups were able to attend.  The children gathered kneeling before Our Blessed mother and placed roses at her feet at the conclusion of each decade.  In total 13 children were present for the evening. At the conclusion of the Children's Rosary the children sang our theme song Rosary Children.  We had an extra special gift as Jeff Batter was present who helped in recording this song.  He both played the piano and accompanied the children as they sang.  

The evening was concluded with Benediction and then veneration of the relics.  It was a very special evening.  Upon returning home there was an email waiting.  More good news.  The Children's Rosary DVDs were finally completed and being shipped out to EWTN Religious Catalogue.  Several unexpected delays had resulted in a most glorious completion date of October 7th: the Feast of the Holy Rosary.  While the DVDs are still in transit to EWTN we hope to notify you all very soon as to the release date of these DVDs.

Indeed there is so much to be grateful for and the Mass in thanksgiving was a small gift back to God and Our Blessed Mother on behalf of the Children's Rosary.

Other Posts You May Enjoy
How to Start a Children's Rosary
What is the Rosary
Children's Rosary Book

Novena of the Most Holy Rosary

Novena (September 29th-October 7th) 

The prayer below is to be said daily for 9 days.

Dear Blessed Mother Queen of the Holy Rosary,

We entreat you today to place your hand in ours and gently guide us and our families to your Son.  Through the mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary may we come to imitate the ways of your Son and grow daily in the virtues.  May through this time together in prayer may we come to a deeper friendship and love with the Holy Trinity and you Our Mother.  Through this Novena of prayers we humbly place an intention before you *_______ and ask you to bring it before your Son.  Blessed Mother Mary we love you and ask that you place the Rosary spiritually around us that we and our families might be protected from evil and led on the straight path to the Kingdom which awaits us.

(Pray one Hail Mary, one Our Father and one Glory Be daily)

*Intention

(As the Children's Rosary just finished a week of 9 days of prayer and fasting which yielded many blessings and gifts we would like to humbly suggest that we join together for the intention of THANKSGIVING TO OUR LORD).

A Lesson From Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

On the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary we had a special afternoon planned to honor Our Lady.  The afternoon was to begin with a procession led by the Knights of Columbus and children all carrying rosaries and white roses to place before Our Lady.  One of the smallest children was then to crown Our Lady with a real rose crown. The children's rosary was then to lead those gathered in the rosary followed by the Litany, consecration prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary.  This was then going to be followed by a talk by Linda Santo, the mother of little Audrey Santo currently being considered for beatification by the Catholic Church.  Many wonderful people had offered to help with greeting and baking for the reception that was to follow downstairs.

The morning of the Feast two of my children and I were at the Church well early cutting roses and beginning to set up.  Time seemed to fly by and without realizing it we were just 10 minutes before our start time of 1PM.  People were arriving and children were gathering in the back.  All of a sudden there seemed like there were so many different pieces to bring together.  Our previous pastor was arriving and wondering where he should be located.  The musician was arriving and I felt I should check in with him.  The families were wondering how the procession would be arranged.  I then had this momentary feeling that I was not qualified to be organizing this event at all.  I had left too much to the end and there wasn't enough time to answer all the questions.  There was one more concern looming our Speaker Linda Santo had not arrived.  Her absence was a wonderful reprieve for a few minutes as I had a reason to delay the procession and help everyone that had questions.  At 1:15 Linda was still not there and we jointly decided to begin the procession.  As the children were almost to the end of the aisle I realized that I still had the rose crown in the plastic at the back of the church.  I picked up the crown and asked Arlene who was helping with greeting to open the plastic as I have many problems with my hands.  With my heart almost jumping out of my chest I quickly made my way down the aisle trying to catch up to the children.  I had not intended to be part of the procession and definitely did not want to be the one to carry the crown.  Thankfully the children were still all gathered around Mary when I found little Angie and asked her to crown Our Lady.  The children then began the rosary.  As I sat off to the side on the altar helping the children many thoughts went through my mind.  Linda was still not there and it occurred to me that maybe she had gone to St. Thomas Seminary in West Hartford instead of St. Thomas Church.  Her absence brought a focus to my prayers.  A thought entered my head that if Linda were not to come at all no one would ever believe me if I tried to plan something in the future.  It was at that moment that I prayed with all my heart to Our Lady.  I told her this is your Children's Rosary I give everything to you.  I trust in you Mary and I trust in you Jesus.  Whatever the outcome I trust in You.  There was a realization that I could do no more.  I was not in control of this event.  I never was in control of the event but the reality of it was crystal clear.  Scott approached me and asked if I had Linda's cell phone number as he would call her.  I did not have her number but looked at Scott with peace in my heart.  It was not in my hands and all I could do was pray the rosary with all my heart.

We were just getting ready to begin the last decade and it was around 1:35 when I looked up and the back doors of the Church swung open.  A women entered with the sun streaming in behind her.  As she walked forward I could see her face.. it was Linda.  At seeing her I jumped up and raised one arm in the air to gesture to her.  Linda was here.  Our Lady, had safely brought her in time.  The rest of the afternoon would fall together piece by piece.  Speaking with those in attendance at the reception no one had noticed all these bumps along the way.  Instead they had bright eyes full of hope and joy.  The quote spoken at Mass that week echoed in my mind.  "Fear is useless what is needed is faith" (Mark 5:26).  Our Lady of the Rosary had shown me that we have nothing to fear when we consecrate ourselves to her Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart of her Son.  If we take refuge under her protection through a devotion to her Holy Rosary she will provide.  She will bring all the pieces together.  There was a feeling that Our Lady desired there to be nothing standing between us.  She wanted all false securities in ourselves washed away and a strengthening of Trust in her and her Son.

This lesson seemed so well timed as we were just days away from the beginning of the Year of Faith.  Our Lady and her Son have repeatedly told us to come to them as children.  To trust as a small child does in their parent.  On Our Lady's Feast of the Holy Rosary we were not only led by the prayers of children but Our Lady showed us we must always have the Faith of a small child.

Special Prayer Service for the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Tomorrow we will be having a special prayer service in honor of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.

At 1PM EST The Knights of Columbus will lead a procession of children to crown Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary.  This will be followed by a Rosary led by the children's rosary of West Hartford CT.  Simultaneously on the other side of the country a new children's rosary group will meet at 10 AM PST for the first time to pray before Our Lady.  When one takes into account the three hour time difference between CT USA and WA USA we realized that both groups of children will be praying at the very same time.  This was not intentional but a beautiful gift from Our Lady.

Following the litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary and consecration prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Linda Santo will give a talk.  Her daughter, Little Audrey Santo is being considered for beatification.  Little Audrey had an accident at the age of 3 and was left unable to care for herself or get out of a bed.  Her mother cared for her for 20 years until her death in 2007.  The Vatican approached the family shortly after little Audrey's death and asked the family to put forth her cause for beatification and canonization.  

We are so grateful to Our Lady for bringing Linda Santo to our Parish on such a wonderful Feast.  Her daughter many believe may be the next pro-life saint of our time.  

Today at Mass the Gospels continued to emphasize the importance of being childlike.

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.(Luke 10:21)

With the repeated call from the Gospels this week to be like a child I am not surprised that on Our Lady's Feast she chose to have children lead a rosary knelt before her and to hear a witness talk of how the weakest of children was able to turn hearts and bring many to the arms of Our Lord.

May we all embrace our simplicity and child-like Spirit and follow Our Dear Blessed Mother safely to Eternal Life with her Son. Amen

Those of you unable to join us tomorrow for this special event in Honor of Our Lady.  Please consider joining us in prayer from your homes.  We will begin the rosary shortly after 1PM EST.  We will pray for all members of the children's rosary and their intentions and those joining us in prayer from a distance.
Reflections from the Feast of the Holy Rosary
Message of Linda Santo
Crowning of Our Lady Queen of the Holy Rosary

A Gift from Our Lady Queen of the Holy Rosary

Last Friday an impulse brought me to the website of Little Audrey Santo.  She is a girl from Worcester MA USA whose cause for canonization is being considered in Rome.  The thought came while reading the beautiful story of her life that maybe someone from the organization for her canonization could speak at our Parish.  The first date that came to mind was the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary on October 7th.  I found as I read that they have in the past spoken at conferences or Parishes.  I called the number listed and left my information.  A short while later the phone rang.  A women asked for me and said she was returning my call.  I wondered could this be her mom, and so I asked her.  She said yes it is just me, her mom.  I could hear the clinking of dishes in the background and water running and could imagine her on the other end of the phone washing dishes. I loved this image because it is the way I like to think of Our Blessed Mother and other Saints such as St. Martha and Bl. Teresa of Calcutta.  Doing everyday things with love.  I told her that I was inspired by her daughter but I was likewise inspired by years of care that she gave her daughter while she was sick and confined to a bed.  She responded that this was not hard when you love someone.

Her mother, Linda, said she would be happy to come to our Parish on the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.  After checking with our Pastor yesterday the date was set.  This morning after Mass I shared the exciting news that Linda Santo would be coming to Our Parish.  I mentioned that little Audrey is being considered for beatification and canonization and could be a new Pro-life Saint for Our time.  A member of our rosary group, who also is very active in the Pro-life group at our parish, said as her eyes filled up with tears "our group has been praying that a Pro-life speaker would come to the Parish one that our young people could relate to".  Her face became red and her eyes full of tears.  She smiled as she realized their prayers were answered.  The group meets weekly to pray the rosary and ask for the intercession of Our Lady.

Our Blessed Mother had answered their prayers and so many other prayers with Linda Santo's visit.  Who could doubt it was Our Lady's hand at work.  She had used the story of a small girl who suffered most of her life but was lavished by the love of her mother to unify a Parish.  Through this event many have already been drawn together and I feel this is only the beginning.

As I walked home from Church I kept thinking of Our Blessed Mother.  How much she loves us, how she cares for us like Audrey's mom did all those years.  I felt like a small child, safe with a mother who sees all and is taking care of everything.  I thought how silly I have been when I have worried.  I thought of the Beautiful Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary and how Our Lady had found a way to bring so many to her.  How a simple mother who loved her daughter to the core of her being would be her words that day.  How a church would come together to pray the rosary on a day designated to Honor Our Lady. It will be a day I hope and pray when many will find a mother not only in Linda Santo but the one who has been with us from the moment we existed a mother whose hand is guiding us each day. Amen