Saint Louis Mary of Monte Forti - The Admirable Secret of the Rosary - 11

However, the Holy Rosary, in its present form and manner of recitation, was only inspired in the Church, given by the Blessed Virgin to Saint Dominic for the conversion of the Albigensian heretics and sinners, in the year 1214, in the manner which I will describe shortly, as Blessed Alan de la Rupe relates in his famous book entitled On the Dignity of the Psalter. Saint Dominic, seeing that the crimes of men were hindering the conversion of the Albigensians, entered a forest near Toulouse and spent three days and three nights there in continuous prayer and penance. He never ceased to groan, to weep, and to mortify his body with blows of discipline, in order to appease the wrath of God, so that he fell half dead. The Blessed Virgin appeared to him, accompanied by the three princesses of heaven, and said to him: Do you know, my Lord, with what weapons the Holy Trinity has used to reform the world? O Lady, he replied, you know better than I, for after your Son Jesus Christ you have been the principal instrument of our salvation. He added: Know that the principal weapons were the Angelic Psalter, which is the foundation of the New Testament; therefore, if you wish to reconcile these hard hearts to God, preach my Psalter. The saint rose, completely comforted, and, burning with zeal for the salvation of these men, he entered the cathedral church. Immediately, the bells, through the intercession of the angels, rang to gather the inhabitants, and at the beginning of his sermon, a terrible storm arose. The earth trembled, the sun was darkened, and repeated thunder and lightning made all the listeners pale and tremble. Their terror increased when they saw the image of the Blessed Virgin, placed in a prominent place, raise its arms to heaven three times, imploring God to take vengeance on them unless they converted and sought the protection of the Blessed Mother of God. Heaven wished, through these miracles, to increase the new devotion to the Holy Rosary and to make it clearer. The storm finally subsided through the prayers of Saint Dominic. He continued his prayer and explained the excellence of the Holy Rosary with such fervor and force that almost all the people of Toulouse embraced it and renounced their errors, and in a short time a great change in morals and life was seen in the city. 3 Rosary