Mary, The Rosary and Church Leaders

The Rosary can be said to be the second most important prayer of our Catholic faith.   Of course, the mass is our primary prayer.   Most of the popes and Church leaders promote the Rosary as part of the veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church as it is a meditation on the life of Jesus.

In fact, many church leaders recommend the consecration of oneself to the Blessed Mother.   Saint John Paul II used “Totus tuus ego sum” as his personal motto and on his coat of arms to express his personal consecration to the Blessed Mother based on the works of the great Marian writer, St. Louis de Montfort.  The words are found in St. Louis de Montfort’s book True Devotion to Mary.   The complete text of the prayer is “Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio te in mea omnia.  Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria.”   It means “I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart”.   Saint John Paul II stated when he read the book as a young seminarian, he understood that he could not exclude the Lord’s Mother from his life without neglecting the will of God.

Pope Francis is a strong advocate of the Rosary who constantly teaches about the Rosary and our relationship with our Blessed Mother.   At almost all of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary called on all to pray the Rosary.  The saints and church leaders have had strong devotions to the Blessed Mother and the Rosary as she is the Mother of the Church.