Victories of the Rosary 
“All we can do now, is pray!” When all else fails, when there is nothing left to do, we pray. A last ditch effort; we’ve tried everything else; it’s out of our control; now all that is left is to pray. Instead, we should begin by praying, recognizing that the most powerful tool we have is Prayer. Saint Paul said: “Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the Principalities and the Powers, against the world rulers of the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness on high.” Now, we are in the best of times; we are in the worst of times. Our battle is not with humans, as St. Paul tells us. It is truly a battle, possibly the final battle for our souls and those precious souls of our families. What is the armor of God? What better armor can you wear than that of the Virgin Mary? Who did you run to when you were a child? Wasn’t it to Mama? We need our Mama. I remember when I was a child, and I would have a nightmare. Who did I run to? My mother! And what did she say? “Did you pray before you fell asleep?” Each time, I had forgotten to pray. Then, when she sent me back to my bed with, “Now say your prayers and you won’t have any more bad dreams.” I really didn’t have too much confidence that it would work. Although her reassuring words turned out to be prophecy, I never believed. But, it always worked! The Philippines - 1980’s The citizens of the Philippines had suffered at the hands of President Marcos and his wife Imelda, who made a sport out of selfish, excessive spending while their people starved. How the people had loved President Marcos! How they had embraced him and his bride. How they in turn had betrayed them. It seemed as if there was no hope for the people. When someone attempted to better conditions and try by election to bring about reform, he was killed. Cory Aquino’s husband was such a man. He was returning to Manila to run for office against President Marcos. He was assassinated as he deplaned the aircraft, in front of his wife and family. Cory Aquino fearlessly rose up to continue her husband’s mission. And, the people responded. They went out into the streets and processed, walls of humanity marching forward, flowers in one hand and rosaries in the other, fingering the beads of their rosaries as tanks with their young men came toward them. When it seemed as if neither side would give in, suddenly the soldiers climbed down from their tanks and joined the faithful, taking beads into their hand, their guns replaced by the armor of God, the Rosary. There are those who say, Our Lady appeared in the sky, to the soldiers in Marcos’ army, and pleaded with them not to hurt her children. There is a statue there in the square, to commemorate this time when despair disappeared and hope appeared, when for a moment the world could see the day when the “lion would lay down with the lamb”! Is there power in the Rosary? The Rosary has lived on, in the hands of the faithful, in freedom and in captivity. But in a few years, a man and a woman, who had the power to do good but chose evil, will be forgotten. As we have been writing about the Victories of the Rosary, we started to understand what we believe the Lord is saying through this book: There is hope! Be not afraid! See how I have responded when you have turned to My Mother through the Rosary. I have given you a means, a gift. All you have to do is reach out and pray. I am listening!