How Mamma Rosa of San Damiano learned all the mysteries of the Rosary

Mamma Rosa (1) was preparing a meal, cutting tomatoes to make a salad, when a young priest, looking about 30 years old, knocked at her door and came in. He greeted the good lady and asked her to pray with her, in front of the beautiful statue of the Madonna that stood in the place of honor, on a small and simple altar.

They both knelt down, then the priest began to pray in the most spontaneous and simple way possible. Rosa followed him, becoming increasingly fascinated by him, until she suddenly said: "You are lucky to know so many things, to know how to pray so well. I only know how to say the Rosary, and I don't know the mysteries. Teach me to pray well, as it pleases the Lord."

The priest replied: "Continue to pray as you know how; say it well, say your Rosary well. It is a very beautiful and powerful prayer. As for the mysteries, don't worry: I will send you someone to teach you. Besides, the simpler your prayer, the more it will please God. Repeat very often: 'My God, I love you! Jesus, I thank you! Jesus, forgive me!' Pray like this, whenever possible, with the words that come to your mind".

Rosa asked again: "I feel that you do me so much good. Where are you from?" "I am a Nazarene," the priest answered. Rosa continued, with her limited ecclesiastical knowledge: "Are you perhaps from Loreto?" The priest: "Yes, I live in the house of Loreto". "Oh, come back to see me!", and while she turned to chase the cat that was about to jump on the table, the priest disappeared.

Some time later, as she was about to begin the Rosary by herself, she felt two invisible hands grasp her head. A voice made her repeat the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary seven times. As soon as she began to recite it, she was surprised to realize that she now knew all the mysteries, in order and with precision, and from then on, she never forgot them. A few days later, she had the good sense to ask Our Lady herself who this famous priest was.

Smiling, Our Lady pointed out to her that the "priest" of Nazareth par excellence, the one she had seen and who still had his tabernacle in the Casa Santa of Loreto, was none other than her Son Jesus; and that it was the Holy Spirit who had taught her the fifteen Mysteries.

Excerpt from the book Fioretti de Rosa di Gesu-Maria

The Virgin Mary appeared many times to Mamma Rosa in San Damiano, Italy, under the name of Our Lady of the Roses