Why Pray the Rosary?

Today is the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary. Why should we pray the Rosary? I could give a number of personal reasons why Catholics (and non-Catholics) should arm themselves with this powerful weapon but instead I defer to the great "Cloud of Witnesses" that have gone before us. Here are a few of their thoughts on the Rosary:

"Love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today."- St. Padre Pio
"The power of the Rosary is beyond description." - Archbishop Fulton Sheen
"Recite your Rosary with faith, with humility, with confidence, and with perseverance."- St. Louis de Montfort
"The Rosary is the scourge of the devil." - Pope Adrian VI
"The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary." - St. Francis de Sales
"The Holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you'll be amazed at the results."- St. Josemaria Escriva

There are 15 promises given by Our Lady to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roch which are attached to the recitation of the Rosary. In the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae ,  Pope John Paul II goes into great detail on the importance of praying the Rosary and calls it his favorite prayer. "The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A marvelous prayer! Marvelous in it's simplicity and it's depth."

Here is one of my favorite quotes on the Rosary:
"No one can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary. Either he will give up sin or he will give up the Rosary."     Bishop Patrick Boyle

Wise words, indeed.

St. Therese - Little Rose Queen

O Little Flower!
Even now I hear the ringing of bells and angelic applause which greeted your arrival at the narrow gate.
In your little way you slipped right through the eye of the needle with a childlike grace.
Plucked from the world in the tenderness of your youth, a flower in full bloom, petals raised to the Son, the odor of your sanctity reaches us still. A shower of roses...a heavenly bouquet. We ask for your intercession and help. May we learn from you, St. Therese, that little acts done with great love are more pleasing to the Father than great acts done with little love. Pray for us, that when we pass into eternity, we, too, may slip easily through the narrow gate.