Padre Pio: Rosary Promoter

~Since I never tire of reading this post which is loaded with the thoughts of Padre Pio regarding the Holy Rosary, I am re-posting it today (with edits). Padre Pio was tested and found saintly. We may rely on his advice. ~SCF

“…If we do what we have always done, what our fathers did before us, we cannot go wrong. Satan wants to destroy this prayer, but in this he will never succeed. The Rosary is the prayer of those who triumph over everything and everyone. It was Our Lady who taught us this prayer, just as it was Jesus who taught us the Our Father.” ~St. Padre Pio 

“The Rosary was Padre Pio’s favored prayer. He prayed it many times a day, decade after decade. He had always a rosary wrapped around his hand or arm, as it was a jewel or a shield. He had other rosaries under the pillow and on the nightstand. He called the rosary his ‘weapon.’ He had made a resolution years earlier to say ‘daily no less than five complete rosaries.'” ~Padre Fernando da Riese

I have written on Saint Padre Pio (b. 1887- d. 1968) several times in the past, noting that this Capuchin priest, saint, and mystic had an inexhaustible love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, and for the Holy Rosary. A story that he liked to tell, that I like to recall, is this:

“One day Our Lord making rounds of Paradise saw some strange faces.

He asked Peter: ‘Who let these people in?’

Peter: ‘There is nothing I can do.’  

The Lord: ‘But you have the key.’

Peter: ‘There is nothing I can do, and you can’t do either.’

The Lord: ‘What do you mean?’

‘It’s your mother. She has another key. She let’s them in.’ “

I love that story.

Padre Pio’s love for the Rosary was well known. He always held a Rosary in his hand, which can be seen in pictures of him; and was reported to pray it continually (caveat: the normal lay person cannot pray a perpetual Rosary; Our Lady at Fatima asked us to pray at least one five-decade Rosary a day). I found an extensive compilation of statements Padre Pio made regarding the Rosary in the following excerpt; the source is noted at the end:

Concerning the Rosary, Our Lady herself said to Padre Pio: “With this weapon you will win.” Convinced of the power of the Rosary, Padre Pio always held the Rosary in his hands. When his death was approaching, he recommended the Rosary to his spiritual children by saying: “Love Our Lady and make her loved. Always recite the Rosary.”

Padre Pio always wore the Rosary around his arm at night. A few days before his death, as Padre Pio was getting into bed, he said to the friars who were in his room, “Give me my weapon!” And the friars, surprised and curious, asked him: “Where is the weapon? We cannot see anything!” Padre Pio replied, “It is in my habit, which you have just hung up!” After having gone through the pockets of his religious habit, the friars said to him: “Padre, there is no weapon in your habit! . . . we can only find your rosary beads there!” Padre Pio immediately said, “And is this not a weapon? . . . the true weapon?!”

Padre Pio instructed: “Recite the Rosary and recite it always and as much as you can.”

To Padre Onorato Marcucci, grabbing the Rosary that he had put few seconds on the nightstand: “With this, one wins the battles.”

One person said: “We always saw him with his rosary in his hand – in the friary, in the halls, on the stairs, in the sacristy, in the Church, even in the brief interval when going to and coming from the confessional.” Another person added, “When at the end he did not talk to us anymore, we told him our thoughts. We asked for help. And all he did was to show us the rosary, always, always.”

Padre Pio instructed his spiritual children: “In all the free time you have, once you have finished your duties of state, you should kneel down and pray the Rosary. Pray the Rosary before the Blessed Sacrament or before a crucifix.”

Padre Pio used to carry permanently a Rosary in his hands and would pray it many times a day.

Father Marcellino testified that he had to help Padre Pio wash his hands one at a time “because he didn’t want to leave the rosary beads, and passed the Rosary from one hand to the other.”

To Lucia Merlinda: “After the Glory, say: Jesus, I love you, and I repent for offending You.”

About the repetitiveness of the Rosary: “Pay attention to the mysteries. They change at every decade.”

To Enedina Mori: “When you get tired reciting the Rosary, rest a bit, and then restart again.”

On February 6, 1954 at 9:00 PM, to father Carmelo: “I still have 2 rosaries to pray today. I said only 34 so far. Then I will go to bed.”

Answering to Padre Michelangelo: “Today I said 32 or 33 rosaries. Maybe 1 or 2 more.”

Answering to Padre Mariano: “About 30. Maybe some more, but not less.” ‘How do you do it? “What is the night for?”

Answering a question: “Some days I say 40 Rosaries, some other days 50.” “How do I do it?” “How do you manage not so say any?”

To Lucia Pennelli one morning around 7:00 AM after Mass: “How many rosaries did you say so far today?” “Two”. “I already said seven.”

To Lucietta Pennelli, one day at about noon: “Today I have already said 16 complete Rosaries.”

 

“Pray the rosary frequently. It costs so little, and it’s worth so much!” 

 

“We can’t live without the Rosary.” 

 

“Say the rosary, and pray it every day.” 

 

“The Rosary is the weapon of defense and salvation.” 

 

“The Rosary is the weapon given us by Mary to use against the tricks of the infernal enemy.” 

 

“Mary has recommended the Rosary at Lourdes and Fatima because of it’s exceptional value for us and our times.” 

 

“The rosary is the prayer of the Madonna, the one that triumphs on everything and everybody.” 

 

“Always recite the rosary and recite it as often as possible.” 

 

“Mary is present in every mystery of the rosary.” 

 

“Satan always tries to destroy the rosary, but he will never succeed.” 

 

“Mary has taught us the rosary just as Jesus taught us the Our Father”. 

 

“I always pray for the sick. Every day I say a holy Rosary for them.” (source)