Marian apparitions confirm the importance of the Rosary

Marian apparitions have continually emphasized the importance of the Rosary: at the Rue du Bac in Paris (1830), the Virgin asked the faithful to recite the Rosary; at La Salette (1846), as well as at Pellevoisin, she appeared wearing three crowns of roses, representing the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries of the Rosary; in Pontmain (1871), during the prayer of the rosary Mary increased in size and the stars multiplied; in Beauraing and Banneux (1933), Mary appeared with a rosary; in Lourdes (1858), she appeared in a grotto where a wild rosebush (dog rose) grew, she wore a rosary and a rose bloomed on each of her feet; At Ile Bouchard (1947), the Virgin Mary presented the rosary to the young seers and taught them how to pray it; at Fatima (1917), she reiterated her request and explained that the recitation of the Rosary was absolutely necessary for the salvation of the world…

This "gift from heaven", as St. Louis de Montfort called it, is immensely powerful: "While preachers were preaching the devotion of the Holy Rosary, following the example of St. Dominic, piety and fervor flourished in the religious orders that practiced this devotion, and throughout the Christian world; but after this gift from heaven was neglected, nothing but sin and disorder was seen everywhere."  Saint John Paul II reminded us that the practice of the Rosary teaches us how to pray, how to work for peace, to pray for our families, and to answer the repeated pleas of the Virgin Mary, during the different apparitions with which she has blessed us.

Isabelle Rolland, excerpt from Le Rosaire, présent du Ciel et chemin de sainteté (The Rosary, Gift from Heaven and Path to Holiness)