Today's Rosary | Apostles of the Rosary

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, November 21, we celebrate the Memorial of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple. It’s the mystery of the Blessed Mother’s dwelling as a preparation for Advent.

Our Lady's birthday is September 8, the Holy Name of Mary is September 12, and her Presentation is today. These feasts parallel the first three of our Lord in the liturgical cycle: the birth of Christ or Christmas (December 25), the Holy Name of Jesus (January 3), and His Presentation in the Temple (February 2).

After an angel revealed her pregnancy, Mary’s mother, Anna, vowed her future child, Mary, to the Lord. At the age of three, she was transferred to the temple.

In today’s Gospel (Luke 19: 41-44), Jesus laments over Jerusalem because it failed to acknowledge him.

He says, "They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."

Jesus’ message is clear: nothing in this world lasts. Therefore, we must free ourselves from worldly attachments.

Nothing in this world should be the object of deeper commitments. We live for God alone.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠November 21, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET⁠

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, in the Gospel (Lk 19:11-28), Jesus instructs us about our spiritual life with scenes drawn from business, investment, risk, and return.

God exists in gift form.

And if we want the Lord’s life in us, we must learn to give it away.

Everything we own comes from the Divinity: life, being, powers, talents. If we cling to them, they wither away, not growing.

The reading shows how the first two servants doubled their wealth as they risked it. The third one didn’t multiply the received gift.

Jesus told him,

“With your own words, I shall condemn you,
you wicked servant.
You knew I was a demanding man,
taking up what I did not lay down
and harvesting what I did not plant;
why did you not put my money in a bank?
Then, I would have collected it with interest on my return.’
And to those standing by, he said,
‘Take the gold coin from him
and give it to the servant who has ten.’
But they said to him,
‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’
He replied, ‘I tell you,
to everyone who has, more will be given,
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.”

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Friends of the Rosary,
Today, in the first reading of the Gospel (RV 3:1-6, 14-22), the Lord reproves lukewarmness. He told John:

"I know your works;
I know that you are neither cold nor hot.
I wish you were either cold or hot.
So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold,
I will spit you out of my mouth.
For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’
and yet do not realize that you are wretched,
pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich,
and white garments to put on
so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed,
and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see.
Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise.
Be earnest, therefore, and repent."

These words seem to be written for today. Lukewarmness might be the most extended rejection of the Lord.

We live like practical atheists, insulting the Divinity, following a God-like complex personality.

It’s the disease of sin extended everywhere.

"I will spit you out of my mouth."

"Whoever has ears ought to hear
what the Spirit says to the churches."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠November 19, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, November 18, the Catholic Church celebrates the dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome.

Today’s feast is a spiritual journey to two holy tombs, the place of each apostle’s martyrdom.

The Basilica of St. Peter at the Vatican was built over the tomb of St. Peter, where he was executed, and where Nero’s Circus stood.

St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls, situated at the other end of the city on the Ostian Way, is built near where St. Paul was martyred. It was almost destroyed by fire in 1823, rebuilt sumptuously by Gregory XVI and Pius IX, and consecrated in 1854.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠November 18, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Our Gospel’s reading for today features the scene (Mark 13:24-32) of the Second Coming and the arrival of God’s definitive kingdom.

Jesus said, "The powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then we will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory."

Only then the eternal peace will come.

The Second Coming of Christ signals the end of the world as we know it. However, the Son of Man is coming on the clouds of heaven even now, in the life of the Church.

And, as Bishop Barron writes today, “We should not trust in any of the world's powers to give us security and peace.”

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠November 17, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples:

“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you. This I command you: love one another.”

These three sentences that we read today summarize the extraordinary teaching of Jesus.

“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”

This command is everywhere in the Bible.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” 

We are encouraged to pray with persistence, never giving up.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• November 16, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

As we read today (Luke 17: 26-37), Jesus said to his disciples:

“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.”

Now, imagine a gigantic comet crashing into the sea and the earth flooded. That’d be the modern version of Noah.

If we knew the comet was coming, we would adjust to it. However, the Second Coming is not scheduled on time.

‘As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man.’”

Like at that time, today's people are eating and drinking, distracted, right up to the time of the flood. Essentially, most people are living godless lives, clueless of an upcoming new world.
Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• November 15, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

This month is dedicated to praying for the holy souls in purgatory, all in the purifying suffering, awaiting to join the heavenly glory.

These souls include our family members and friends who died in grace and are assured of their eternal salvation. But these elected people still need to achieve full glory.

They fell asleep, imploring the Lord to grant them a place of happiness, light, and peace.

It's critical, therefore, to remember that purgatory is temporary. Its duration varies according to the sentence at each judgment.

We also know that at the end of the world, at the end of time, the place of temporary expiation will end.

A way to say a prayer for the Poor Souls is reciting the Little Litany of the Holy Souls.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• November 14, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, November 13, we honor St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, an Italian missionary who spent much of her life working with Italian immigrants in the U.S. She is the patron of immigrants.

Mother Cabrini established orphanages, hospitals, convents, and schools to help immigrants and to care for the sick and abandoned.

Orphaned herself in Italy before she was 18, she joined the Sisters of the Sacred Heart and took on the name “Xavier” in honor of St. Francis Xavier, the great universal missionary.

From a young age, longed to be a missionary in China, but God had other plans for her.

At the advice of Pope Leo XIII, who told her “Not to the East, but to the West,” she focused her missionary efforts on the United States.

She died in 1917 and was canonized in 1946, just before a new wave of immigrants began to arrive in the U.S.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Saint Frances Cabrini, pray for us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, on the feast day of Saint Josaphat, bishop and martyr, we see in the Gospel (Lk 17:7-10) what it means to be obedient and a faithful servant.

Christ is Lord, and the proper response to a King is obedience. 

Our lives are about serving the King of Kings by listening and surrendering to Him. We are built for obedience. Our lives are not about us.

The servants must listen. As we read today,

‘We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.’”

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠November 12, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, November 11, Veterans Day, we remember those who have served our country in the armed forces in our prayers. We pray for those in service and for their families, so God bless them, giving them courage, hope, and strength.

In the Gospel today (Lk 17:1-6), Jesus speaks about faith. Our faith is the confidence that we are being guided and cared for. It connects us to the reality of God to the point of noticing that when some people ask in a spirit of trust, believing that what they are asking for will happen, it happens.

We read how the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.

The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• November 11, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

The poor widow of today’s reading (Mk 12:38-44 or 12:41-44), who, in the words of Jesus, “contributed all she had, her whole livelihood,” remained confident that God would be pleased with her sacrifice.

“Christ Jesus sat down opposite the treasury
and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums.
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.

Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other contributors to the treasury. 
For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood.”

In her wisdom, she knew that the Author of Life provides for those who make a total gift of self to them.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, November 9, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome.

It is the oldest church in the West and one of the four major basilicas in Rome. It was built in Emperor Constantine's time and consecrated by Pope Sylvester in 324.

We are reminded that the temple of stones is a symbol of the living Church, built by God with "living stones," namely, Christians themselves, upon the one foundation of Jesus Christ, who is called the "cornerstone" (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17; 1 Peter 2:4-8; Ephesians 2:20-22).

"Brothers, you are God’s building," St. Paul wrote and added: "Holy is God’s temple, which you are" (1 Corinthians 3:9c, 17).

The beauty and harmony of the churches are destined to praise God.

Today's observance also reminds us of the importance of the material buildings in which the community gathers to celebrate God's praises.

The Creator of the Universe desires to build a spiritual temple in the world.

Benedict XVI said during the Angelus Address on November 9, 2008,

"Every community, therefore, must take special care of its own sacred buildings, which are a precious religious and historical patrimony. For this, we call upon the intercession of Mary Most Holy, who helped us to become, like her, the “house of God,” living temple of his love."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Friends of the Rosary,

Our Christian community — our family in Christ — extends across time and space. It embraces the departed alongside the living.

It’s important to highlight that no one is saved alone. We are saved in and through others.

For the faithful, physical death is not a barrier or wall of separation, and that’s why we look for companionship to the living and those who have completed their earthly course.

This month is dedicated to the holy souls in purgatory, our loved ones, and millions of unknown souls preparing to ascend to the glory of heaven to join the Communion of Saints.

This week, we add prayers to our elected officials so they will rise to meet their responsibilities.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• November 8, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

We continue with our prayer of thankfulness and petitioning after the 2024 U.S. election outcome.

We ask for the intercession of our Blessed Mother, the patroness of the U.S., to promote the dignity of the human person, especially the most vulnerable among us, including the unborn, the poor, the stranger, the elderly and infirm, and migrants.

Americans are urged to pray for all elected officials so that they might rise to meet the responsibilities entrusted to them.

In the reading today, Christ Jesus explained the parable of the lost sheep (LK 15:1-10):

"There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance."

"There will be rejoicing among the angels of God
over one sinner who repents."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠November 7, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

With relief after the result of the U.S. presidential election, we pray for this country's future and the adoption of Catholic values.

At the core of Christianity is the commandment to love God and then love everything else for the sake of God.

But, as St. Augustine said, almost everyone falls into the trap of forgetting the Author of Life and loving the creature. We even make our family members little gods.
This is why Jesus tells his followers they must choose by detachment.

Today, we read in the Gospel (LK 14:25-33) what Jesus said to the crowds traveling with him:

"If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, 
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple."

"In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• November 6, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

November is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory, whose feast was celebrated on November 2.

Also, this month, on November 24, the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, is the Solemnity of Christ the King. This feast highlights Jesus’ royalty as God the Creator, the Word Incarnate, and the Redeemer.

As we read in the Gospel today (Luke 14:15-24), the King of Kings invites us to a wedding feast in Heaven. And we must respond.

It’s a critical invitation to enter into intimacy with God and make him the center of our lives, avoiding excuses not to respond.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Friends of the Rosary,

While we continue praying for the Faithful Departed, especially from November 1 through the 8th, today we celebrate the Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo (1538-1584), the bishop of Milan.

He was from a wealthy, aristocratic Italian family. During a plague, he walked barefooted in the public streets, carrying a cross with a rope around his neck, offering himself as a victim to God for the transgressions of his people.

He died in 1584 at forty-six, dressed in sackcloth and ashes, holding a picture of Jesus Crucified. His last words were, "See, Lord, I am coming, I am coming soon."

Also, today is the birthday of Maria Blanca, co-founder of the Rosary Network, who is now in the glory of Heaven.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠November 4, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

The foundation of our Christian holy religion is the love of God and neighbor. And we understand that loving our neighbor means offering him or her help, advice, encouragement, and consolation.

All the other commandments are expansions of these two.

In today's Sunday reading (Mark 12:28-34), Jesus said to the scribes:
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, 
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second [commandment] is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these."

An essential means of keeping God's commandments, recognizing our total dependence on him, and showing our love to our neighbors is the daily prayer of thanksgiving, praise, and petition, along with weekly attendance at Mass.

We believe that God will clothe the soul in a new and higher body, which Paul calls a “spiritual body.”

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠November 3, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, November 2, after celebrating the feast of All Saints, the Catholic Church prays for all who are in the purifying suffering of Purgatory, awaiting the day to join the heavenly glory.

It’s the Commemoration of the All the Faithful Departed, All Souls’ Day.

The Catechism states (CCC 1030-1031),

“All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death, they undergo purification to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.” 

Therefore, we remember all those who have fallen asleep in the Lord, imploring God to grant them a place of happiness, light, and peace.

We pray for the Faithful Departed, especially during the “octave” of All Souls, from November 1st to the 8th.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• November 2, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, November 1, is the Solemnity of All Saints, a feast that inspires tremendous hope. From November 1 to the 8th, we pray for the Faithful Departed. 

The Catholic Church celebrates all the saints, canonized or beatified, and the multitude of those in heaven enjoying the beatific vision.

We all have a universal call to holiness to join the company of the saints in heaven.

To achieve this, we must devote ourselves with all our being to God’s glory and our neighbor’s service. “In this way, the holiness of the People of God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the life of so many saints in Church history,” states Lumen Gentium.

The Catechism (CCC 1024) says, “This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity—this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels, and all the blessed—is called “heaven.” Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.”

On All Saints Day, the Church recalls the magnificent vision of “all nations and tribes standing before the throne and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, proclaiming Him who redeemed them in His Blood.”

All saints lived lives like our own on earth. They were baptized, marked with the sign of faith, faithful to Christ’s teaching, and they have gone before us to the heavenly home whence they call on us to follow them.

It is worth remembering that visiting a cemetery and praying for the faithful from November 1 through November 8 will earn you a plenary indulgence that can be applied only to souls in Purgatory.

Today, we pray and chant the Litany of the Saints. This litany is considered the model of all other litanies.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, October 31, is the Eve of All Saints, also known as All Hallows’ Eve or Hallowe’ en, and commonly known as Halloween. In England, saints or holy people are called “hallowed,” meaning “All Hallows’ Day.”
Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve is not a liturgical feast on the Catholic calendar. However, the celebration has deep Catholic meaning. The three consecutive days — Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day — illustrate the Communion of Saints. In other words, Halloween is the preparation and combination of the two upcoming feasts.

We, the Church Militant (those on earth striving to get to heaven), pray for the Church Suffering (those souls in Purgatory), especially on All Souls Day and November. We rejoice and honor the Church Triumphant (the saints, canonized and uncanonized) in heaven. We also ask the Saints’ intercession for us.

The demonic, witchcraft, and macabre practices have no place in a Catholic celebration.

Do you need to dress in any costume? Tied to the theme of the saints, as shown below. Let’s imitate them and what they did to reach heaven by preparing our souls for death.

[To learn more, please check these interesting links at our website].

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 31, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

From time immemorial, the human race has wondered who will be saved and who will go directly to heaven, purgatory, or hell. This is the critical question of our existence.

At that time, Jesus was asked (Lk 13:22-30):

"Lord, will only a few people be saved?

He answered them,
"Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.

We have free will, and it’s up to us to accept his merciful love or reject it and get burned into damnation.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠October 30, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?
To what can I compare it?
It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.
When it was fully grown, it became a large bush
and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.” (LK 13:18-21)

Out of littleness, the greatness of God, and our cooperation, an extended kingdom is built.

The Christendom —and our own faith— is built upon what is small and insignificant initially.

As members of the universal Church, we exclusively rely on divine mercy and grace.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Sts. Jude Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠October 29, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, October 28, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Apostles Saints Jude Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot. The two disciples of Christ have shared this feast since ancient times. They both expired as martyrs.

St. Jude is the author of a short Epistle, which forms part of the New Testament. He is the patron saint of desperate situations, forgotten causes, hospital workers, hospitals, impossible causes, lost causes, and the diocese of Saint Petersburg, Florida.

Through his intercession, St. Jude helped several saints in significant or hopeless matters, so his reputation as the patron of impossible causes began.

In art, Jude typically bears a medallion imprinted with the face of Christ, while St. Simon is represented with a saw, the instrument of his martyrdom.

Simon was a vigorous defender of the Law, a fighter. He is mentioned on all four lists of the apostles. On two of them, he is called “the Zealot.”

The Zealots were a Jewish sect that represented an extreme of Jewish nationalism. They raided and killed, attacking both foreigners and “collaborating” Jews. However, Jesus needed no Zealots to bring about the kingdom by force.

Like this former Zealot, Jesus chose some unlikely people: a former tax collector, an impetuous fisherman, two “sons of thunder,” and a man named Judas Iscariot.

Today is also the third anniversary of the departure of Maria Blanca, co-founder of the Rosary Network. A Requiem Mass will be celebrated at 7:00 pm in the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist in Stamford, Connecticut.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Sts. Jude Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 28, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

In today Sunday's Gospel (Mk 10:46-52), we read the marvelous story of the blind man Bartimaeus.

Like him, we all are blind, beggars, and in need of God's mercy, as we say in Mass: "Lord have mercy on us."

This passage shows Jesus’ mercy toward Bartimaeus as a hallmark of his ministry. He is the embodiment of hope.

Every word of this reading is worth deep reflection on:

"As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. 
But he kept calling out all the more,
"Son of David, have pity on me."
Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
"Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you."
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 
Jesus said to him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?" 
The blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see." 
Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." 
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

•⁠October 27, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today’s Gospel reading (Luke 13: 1-9) tells the parable of the fig tree that bears no fruit. This tree represents a moral person who bears no spiritual fruit.

Everyone has the mission of bringing divine grace into the world. We are meant to bring forth the fruits of love, peace, compassion, justice, and hope.

Christ Jesus is the vine, and every one of us is a branch.

However, due to the mystery of sin, we reject God and prefer to go our own way. Then, we get lost, depressed, and lifeless. Life goes nowhere. As Dante wrote, “We are lost in a dark wood.”

Moreover, if we become resistant to God’s grace, no life will come, the leaves will dry up, and the tree will be cut down. Bishop Barron says, "This is not divine vengeance but spiritual physics."

It’s simple: the closer God gets, the more we become alive.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 26, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

The faithful are invited to read the signs of the times, be attentive, and detect what’s genuinely happening. We should see everything with the eyes of the faith. Once we know, we are meant to speak.

This call is grounded in Jesus’ exhortation in the Gospel for today LK 12:54-59.

Jesus said to the crowds,

“When you see a cloud rising in the west
you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does;
and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south
you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.
You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”

Christ Jesus encourages us to focus our attention on the things of God.

“Many of us today are still enthralled to a deist view of God, whereby God is a distant and aloof first cause of the universe, uninvolved with the world he has made,” writes Bishop Barron.

“But Thomas Aquinas taught that God is in all things “by essence, presence, and power,” and that God providentially cares for every aspect of his creation. Therefore, we should expect to see signs of his presence and activity in nature, in history, and in human affairs.”

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Anthony Mary Claret, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 25, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

The light of Christ was rejected when He came the first time and is rejected today. Darkness tries to impose its lies. As a result of this confrontation, tensions emerge.

As we read today (LK 12:49-53), at that time, Jesus said to his disciples:

"I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!"

"From now on, a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father, 
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

Today, October 24, is Memorial Day for St. Anthony Mary Claret, the nineteenth-century Spanish priest and apostolic missionary who founded the Order of the Claretians.

In his meditations, St. Anthony Mary Claret [in the picture above] wrote: "Father, give me humility, meekness, chastity, patience, and charity. Father, teach me goodness, discipline, and knowledge. Father, give me your love and grace; I will be rich enough. My God, my Jesus, and my all!"

Today, we pray our daily Rosary from San Antonio, Texas.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Anthony Mary Claret, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠October 24, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Our sinful nature brings us to abandon the Lord Jesus.

As we read today, the Son of God said (Luke 9:57-62).

“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”

We tend to say, “I will follow you wherever you go,” as our Spirit is willing. But our nature is weak, and we find reasons not to follow.

Our nature was comprised of original sin, and since then, we have examined what we are leaving behind before committing to the eternal truth.

Only the fire of the Holy Spirit can correct these inconsistencies and betrayals to the Lord.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. John Paul II, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York.

• October 23, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, October 22, is the feast day of Saint John Paul II (1920-2005), the charismatic and beloved Polish who was an extraordinary testimony of holiness.

He contributed to the fall of communism in Europe, established World Youth Days and the World Meeting of Families, promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and instituted the Luminous Mysteries.

Born in Wadowice, a small city 50 kilometers from Krakow, on May 18, 1920, Karol Józef Wojtyla became Pope in 1978. His exceptional apostolic zeal, particularly for families, young people, and the sick, led him to numerous pastoral visits worldwide during his 27 years of papacy.

On May 13, 1981, an attempt on his life was made in Saint Peter’s Square. Saved by the maternal hand of the Mother of God, following a lengthy stay in the hospital, he forgave the attempted assassin and intensified his pastoral commitments.

John Paul II was beatified in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI and canonized in 2014 by Pope Francis.

“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness,” he told young people in 2000. “He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted. It is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices.”

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. John Paul II, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 22, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Deep faith makes us rich on Earth. Our trust in Christ Jesus allows us to store up treasures in Heaven. Be rich in what matters to God.

The Lord tells us in today’s reading of the Gospel (LK 12:13-21).

He said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

In the first reading, Paul says today to Ephesians (2:1-10): “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠October 21, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

The way to heavenly glory is the way of the cross, with Christ helping us to bear our daily trials and struggles.

We must accept the mystery of suffering offered for our redemption. That’s Christ's teaching, as we learn today in the Gospel (Mark, 10:35-45).

Weak and sin-inclined individuals inhabit our world. The Good Lord allows hardships to come our way so we can prepare for our future, real life. He wants us all in heaven, in communion with Him. For that, he has mapped out the road that will lead us there.

The Apostles had the Jewish idea of a messianic and political kingdom in Palestine, which they extended to all nations. But the kingdom of God would be spiritual, not political.

Jesus, knowing that his Apostles still had this wrong idea, told them that he would establish a glorious kingdom but that his sufferings and death would be a necessary prelude to it.

With James and John, let us tell our Lord that we are ready to follow him on the path to Calvary, that we are prepared to drink the cup of suffering and be immersed in the sorrows he endured.

Jesus carried the real cross—ours is light.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Luke, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 20, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

The Holy Spirit is our helper when dealing with persecution.

Christ Jesus tells us today (Luke 12:8-12):

“When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities,
do not worry about how or what your defense will be
or about what you are to say. 
For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”

The enemies of the Universal Church are the world, the flesh, and the Evil One.

Persecution will end when the Lord returns, at the end of time, but not before. Then, when the old and sinful world passes away, a new life of love and peace will emerge.

The enemy of the faith knows this, and that’s why he is infuriated. He doesn’t have much time.

In the meantime, as Bishop Barron writes, “We maintain a detachment from the world that is passing away, our eyes fixed on the world that will never end. And we speak—confidently, boldly,”

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Luke, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 19, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, October 18, is the Feast of St. Luke Evangelist. He is the author of the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, which record the life of the early Christian communities. His name means "bringer of light" (= Luke).

He was a native of Antioch in Syria and a practicing physician when St. Paul converted him. He accompanied him on most of his missionary journeys. He was still with St. Paul in Rome when he was in prison awaiting death. He was one of the early converts from paganism.

Luke's Gospel is the Gospel of the Merciful Heart of Jesus. St. Jerome called it also "Paul's Gospel." It emphasizes that Christ is the salvation of all men, especially of the repentant sinner and the lowly.

This Gospel includes precious details about our Lady and Christ's childhood. It also preserved some of the most moving of our Lord's parables, such as the lost sheep and the prodigal son.

Legend says that Luke painted the Blessed Virgin's portrait.

St. Luke did not personally know our Lord, and like St. Mark, the author of the second Gospel, he is not included among the apostles. For this reason, the Gospel chosen for their feast is the account of the sending forth of the seventy-two disciples.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Luke, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠October 18, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

The divine light and his faithful bearers expose the sin around us — and the unfaithful become aggressive. Because in the light of Christ Jesus, there is nowhere to hide.

As Bishop Barron writes, explaining today’s main reading in the Gospel (Luke 11:47-54), “When the light of God’s forgiving love appears, the shadows of sin become all the deeper and more obvious.”

Jesus, the Word and the icon of the Invisible God, of the Father, says:

"I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!
Woe to you, scholars of the law!
You have taken away the key of knowledge."

At that time, and like it’s happening today, there are many powers opposed to the creative and loving intentions of the Father.

The world grows cozy with sin, and the structures of darkness dominate our society.

The response of the divinity as the judge of our sinful world is always his forgiving love — his sacred heart!

And Jesus is the hand that the Father stretches to those who are lost.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠October 17, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today is the Memorial Day of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690).

Our Lord chose this French Visitation nun and mystic to spread devotion to his Sacred Heart.

This privilege took place at a time when Protestantism and the heresy of Jansenism were trying to separate Catholics from their faith and their God.

Margaret had always intensely loved the Blessed Sacrament and preferred silence.

In one of her visions, she was instructed to spend an hour every Thursday night meditating on Jesus’ Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, a practice known as “The Holy Hour” that later became widespread.

In December 1673, Jesus appeared to Margaret Mary again and allowed her to rest her head on His heart. His human heart was to symbolize His divine-human love. He revealed to her the wonders of His love and explained to her that he wished to make these wonders known to all the world.

A group of theologians declared her visions delusions and suggested she eat better. Even parents of children she instructed began calling her an imposter.

Margaret eventually gained the support from the community’s confessor, St. Claude de la Colombiere, who declared her visions were genuine.

St. Margaret Mary later led the monastery in observing the Feast of the Sacred Heart and inspired the construction of a chapel to honor it.

Margaret Mary died a couple of years later, at 43, on October 17, 1690, while being anointed. She said, “I need nothing but God and to lose myself in the heart of Jesus.”

After her death, the Jesuits adopted devotion to the Sacred Heart, but it remained controversial within the Church. The practice did not become officially recognized until 75 years later.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was officially canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV. In 1928, Pope Pius XI upheld the Church’s position. He stated that Jesus “manifested Himself” to Margaret and confirmed the chief features of devotion to the Sacred Heart were the “reception of Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month, Eucharistic adoration during a ‘Holy hour’ on Thursdays, and the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart.”

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 16, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today is the Memorial of St. Teresa of Jesus (1515-1582), Virgin and Doctor of the Church.

Teresa was born in Avila, Spain, in 1515 and died in Alba, Spain, in 1582. Her holy body rests upon the high altar of this Carmelite church in Alba.

At eighteen, she joined the Carmelite Order and chose Christ as her heavenly Spouse. She suffered physical pain and spiritual dryness for eighteen years.

Under divine inspiration, with the help of St. John of the Cross and Pope Pius IV's approval, she began reforming the Carmelite Order. Despite heavy opposition and constant difficulties, she founded thirty-two reformed convents.

She reached the highest degree of prayer. Through prayer, she obtained such knowledge of divine things that Pope St. Paul VI named her the first woman Doctor of the Church in 1970.

Truly remarkable were the exterior and interior manifestations of her mystical union with God, especially during her last decade. These graces reached a climax when her heart was transfixed, an event commemorated in the Carmelite Order by a special feast on August 27.

When dying, she often said, "Lord, I am a daughter of the Church!"

St. Teresa's writings are still the classic works of mysticism. She composed the following well-known lines:

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,

All things are passing away,
God ever remains. God never changes,
Patience obtains all things,
Whoever has God lacks nothing,
God alone suffices.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 15, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, we celebrate Columbus Day.

Christopher Columbus was not a saint, but he was motivated by ambition and the Catholic faith when he discovered America in 1492 after a trip sponsored by Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain.

Not only did Isabella the Catholic always show herself the protector of Columbus, but she was also the protector of the American aborigines against the colonists’ and adventurers’ ill-use of them.

A vast continent previously unknown to Europeans was brought into the history of the world.

Pope Leo XIII wrote:

“For Columbus is ours. … It is indubitable that the Catholic faith was the strongest motive for the inception and prosecution of [his] design; for this reason also the whole human race owes not a little to the Church.” 

The Irish celebrated the first Columbus Day in New York in 1792. In response to a mass lynching of Italians in New Orleans in 1892, a one-time national celebration of Columbus Day was held.

Thanks to lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, Franklin Roosevelt made it a permanent holiday in the 20th century.

We should not lose that connection. Without 1492, there never would have been 1776.

Happy Columbus Day!

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠October 14, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

On October 13, 1917, Our Lady of the Rosary appeared in Fatima, Portugal, and performed the Miracle of the Sun, witnessed by over 70,000 people. Even the atheists of that time believed.

The Blessed Mother asked the three visionary children to continue saying the Rosary daily.

She also said: "People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend our Lord anymore, for He is already too much offended!"

Sor Lucia, one of the three shepherds at that time, wrote in her memories:

"After our Lady had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld St. Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. St. Joseph and the Child Jesus seemed to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands.

When, a little later, this apparition disappeared, I saw Our Lord and Our lady; it seemed to me to that it was Our Lady of Sorrows (Dolors). Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as St. Joseph had done.

This apparition also vanished, and I saw Our Lady once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Carmel."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 13, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

We honor today Blessed Carlo Acutis (1991-2006), a Catholic Italian teenager who passed away on October 12, 2006, in Assisi, at the age of 15, due to an untreatable leukemia.

Pope Francis called him a model of holiness in a digital age. The Holy Father has approved this year's plans to canonize Carlo.

Carlo Acutis was a gamer and computer programmer who loved soccer and the Eucharist. Carlo’s life teaches today's young people how to properly use and enjoy technology, the internet, and social media.

Carlo’s motto was "To always be close to Jesus; that’s my life plan."

From a young age, Carlo had a special love for God, even though Carlo’s parents weren’t very devout. However, Carlo's unique and unexplained devotion led to her mother’s profound conversion. He also convinced others to receive Communion daily.

A kid with a gift for empathy, he was very devotional to Mary and loved to pray the rosary. He loved the Eucharist and was fascinated by Eucharistic miracles.

Carlo was concerned by people growing distant from the Church and the sacraments and desperately wanted to bring them back.

He told people, "The more often we receive the Eucharist, the more we will become like Jesus so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven."

He offered up his suffering for others coping with illness and said, “I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church.”

He was buried in Assisi at his request because of his love for St. Francis.

His tomb has been opened, and his intact body lies in repose in a glass tomb. He is displayed in jeans and Nikes, the casual clothes he preferred in life.

Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi said, "Carlo is a boy of our time. He is a boy of the internet age and a model of holiness of the digital age, as Pope Francis presented him in his letter to young people around the world."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Blessed Carlo Acutis, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 12, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, October 11, is the Memorial Day of St. John XXIII, pope, for five years until his earthly death in 1963. He was called “the good Pope” and was known for convening the Second Vatican Council.

Sustained by a profound spirit of prayer, John XXIII was seen as a reflection of God's goodness.

Today is also the day of the Divine Maternity of Mary, or the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast instituted by Pius XI in 1931.

The faithful emphasize Mary’s divine maternity and her motherhood of all Christ’s Mystical Body members.

The Pope himself singled out Mary as the foremost model for the dignity and sanctity of chaste married life and the religious education of youth.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. John XXIII, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠October 11, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Prayer is our strength. Our conversation and communion with God keep us alive. And we must ask persistently.

Christ Jesus is encouraging us to pray, as we read today in a passage of the Gospel of Luke (Lk 11:5-13):

"I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father  among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?."

Our Father in Heaven gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠October 10, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Recently, we read in the Gospel of Mark (9:38-43, 45, 47-48) about our obligation not to cause scandal by one’s sinful deeds, which others may imitate.

Scandal can be caused by action and word—that is, by teaching or propagating wrong doctrine or by giving sinful advice.

An example today is in parents — whose duty is to bring up their children in the faith — when they fail to live truly Christian lives.

They might be held accountable not only for their sins but for the sins of their children and perhaps their children’s children for generations to come.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 9, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

In our society, anxiety is dominant. The antidote is our holy religion. And the Rosary is the spiritual remedy for those suffering from anxiety.

At that time, as we read today in the Gospel (LK 10:38-42), Jesus said to Martha, who, along with Mary and Lazarus, were beloved friends:

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. 
There is need of only one thing. 
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”

Human concerns are similar across history. We are encouraged to trust in Christ Jesus and surrender to His will.

“Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 8, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, October 7, is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary.

The feast was instituted to honor Immaculate Mary for the Christian victory over the Turks at Lepanto on October 7, 1571. This victory, due to the recitation of the Rosary, saved Europe from being overrun by the forces of Islam.

Pope St. Pius V and all Christians had prayed the Rosary for victory. He was a very holy Dominican who walked around Rome barefoot. He ate just to sustain himself and fasted frequently.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 7, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,
God’s plan for marriage points to a lifelong unity of a man and a woman. Marriage is a mystery, sacrament, and vocation for mutual love and fulfillment of the husband and wife, the procreation of children, and their education.

Jesus explained this way, as we read today in the Gospel (St. Mark, 10:2-16)

”From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. 
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two but one flesh. 
Therefore what God has joined together,
no human being must separate." 

Divorce tries to break this life-long bond commitment and the law of the Creator, who determined what’s best for the human race.

Sadly, the deep religious meaning of marriage has been, in recent years, dramatically compromised.
Marriage is about serving God’s purposes; it's a sacred calling, as much as priesthood.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Faustina Kowalska, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 6, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, October 5, is the Memorial Day of the contemporary saint St. Faustina Kowalska, Virgin, the apostle of the Divine Mercy.

Jesus appeared to Faustina as the King of Divine Mercy, choosing her to deliver the message of his merciful heart of love for all people, especially sinners.

Our Lord asked her to have a picture painted of him as she saw him — clothed in white, with red and white rays of light streaming from his heart. The rays represent the blood and water that flowed from Jesus's side on the cross. Under the image are the words, "Jesus, I trust in you."

Many people did not believe Faustina at first. The sisters in her convent thought that Jesus could not possibly have selected her for this great favor. After all, she was an uneducated peasant girl. Her superiors often refused to give her permission to carry out Jesus' requests. Church theologians, too, doubted her word. Jesus told Faustina that he loved her obedience and that his will would be done in the end.

In 1934, an artist completed the painting of the Divine Mercy according to her instructions, and it soon became a focus for devotion. Faustina continued to record the appearances of Jesus in her diary under the title Divine Mercy in My Soul.

St. Faustina came from Poland. Pope Saint John Paul II was also Polish and had a great devotion to the Divine Mercy. He made it a feast day on the second Sunday after Easter.

[This is the Holy Father's April 30, 2000, Homily at the solemn Mass celebrated for the canonization of Sr. Mary Faustina Kowalska.]

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Faustina Kowalska, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 5, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,
Today is the Memorial Day of St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226). He was the first person (recorded) to receive the stigmata (the five wounds of Christ) in 1224.

St. Francis of Assisi was the son of a wealthy merchant in Assisi, Umbria, Italy. He was taken prisoner in the battle between the Assisians and Perugians, and after his release, he decided to abandon everything for Christ.

He left all his possessions and embraced complete poverty, taking the Gospel as his rule of life.

His father became highly displeased at his action and disinherited him.

In 1220, Francis of Assisi founded a new order, the Friars Minor (Franciscans), which, in ten years, numbered five thousand brothers.

In 1212, with St. Clare of Assisi, he founded the Order of Poor Ladies, now known as the Poor Clares. He also founded the Third Order of Penance (the Third Order), which included lay people.

Out of humility, Francis never accepted the priesthood but remained a deacon.

He loved God's creatures, including animals, and called them his brothers and sisters.
Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Francis of Assisi, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠October 4, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated on October 7.

This month, we observe many important liturgical feasts. We already celebrated St. Thérèse of Lixieix and the Guardian Angels. And we have ahead, among others:

St. Francis of Assisi (October 4),
St. Faustina (October 5),
St. John Henry Newman (October 9),
St. Teresa of Jesus (October 15),
Margaret Mary Alocoque (October 16),
St. Luke (October 18),
St. John Paul II (October 22), and
Sts. Simon and Jude (October 28).

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 3, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, October 2, the Catholic Church celebrates the Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels. Angels are messengers of God. These spirits, non-corporeal beings, are sent by the Father to be our protectors and our guides.

Each person on earth has a guardian angel who watches over him and helps him attain salvation. This is a truth of our faith.

Angelic guardianship begins at the moment of birth when the soul is infused at conception. His protection continues throughout our earthly pilgrimage by assisting us in work and study, helping us in temptation, and protecting us from physical danger. Beyond our life, our guardian angel accompanies our soul to purgatory or heaven and becomes our coheir in the heavenly kingdom.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “From our birth until our death, man is surrounded by the protection and intercession of angels, particularly our guardian angel: Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life (336).”

Today’s feast appeared in Spain during the sixteenth century.

Saints like Pope John XXIII, Josemaria Escriva, and Padre Pio had a great devotion to their guardian angel.
As these saints, we love God’s angels and develop a greater devotion to our guardian angel.

And by the way, the practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, whose names are contained in the Holy Scripture.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• October 2, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today is the Memorial of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (1873-1897), popularly known as "the Little Flower" and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

She was a cloistered Carmelite Discalced nun who entered the Carmel of Lisieux at fifteen. She attained a high degree of holiness by carrying out her daily duties with perfect fidelity, having a childlike confidence in God's providence and merciful love.

The Little Flower had a great love of the Church and a zeal for the conversion of souls. She prayed especially for priests and was always ready to be at the service of others.

She died of consumption on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24, and was canonized in 1925.

She has never ceased to fulfill her promise: "I will pass my heaven in doing good on earth."

Her interior life is revealed in her autobiography, Story of a Soul. In 1997, Pope Saint John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church.

In his Apostolic Exhortation On Christian Joy (Gaudete in Domino), Paul VI spoke of St. Thérèse in 1975.

"In more recent times, St. Thérèse of Lisieux shows us the courageous way of abandonment into the hands of God to whom she entrusts her littleness. And yet it is not that she has no experience of the feeling of God's absence, a feeling which our century is harshly experiencing. This is the moment of perfect joy for the poor, weak little thing. What happiness for it to remain there nevertheless, and to gaze at the invisible light that hides from its faith."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Pray for Us!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

•October 1, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Yesterday, we read these words from Lord Jesus (Mark 9:38–43, 45, 47–48):

“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."

Let’s read them from a spiritual perspective.

Humans are created to seek after and look for God. We are meant to walk on the path of Christ.

Sadly, we spend much time looking in all the wrong places. We pursue godless things with our hands, walk into lifeless places with our feet, and look for secular solutions with our eyes.

Therefore, we must resist our evil inclinations and not lead others to lead us astray.
The eternal life is worth any sacrifice. However, the road we have to travel in life is very demanding.
As our Lord said: "Enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. But the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."(Mt. 7: 13).

Our soul is meant for union with God!

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, September 29, is the feast of the Archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael. This feast, superseded by the Sunday Liturgy, is called "Michaelmas" in many countries.

The three Archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, are the only angels named in Sacred Scripture, and all three have important roles in the history of salvation.

Michael (Who is like God?) was the archangel who fought against Satan and all his evil angels, defending all the friends of God. He is the protector of all humanity from the snares of the devil. Gabriel (Strength of God) announced to Zachariah the forthcoming birth of John the Baptist, and to Mary, the birth of Jesus. His greeting to the Virgin, "Hail, full of grace," is one of the most frequent prayers. Raphael (Medicine of God) was the archangel who cared for Tobias on his journey.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, "The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls "angels" is a truth of faith. 

The faithful join with the angels to adore the Trinitarian God.

Angels are pure, created spirits, heavenly beings of a higher order than humans. The name angel means servant or messenger of God.  Angels have intellect and will and are immortal.  They have no bodies. They are distinct from saints, which men can become. They are a vast multitude, but each is a person.

Archangels are one of the nine choirs of angels listed in the Bible. In ascending order, the choirs or classes are 1) Angels, 2) Archangels, 3) Principalities, 4) Powers, 5) Virtues, 6) Dominations, 7) Thrones, 8) Cherubim, and 9) Seraphim.
Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• September 29, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

God never tires of forgiving us, no matter what we've done. As a loving father, He always responds to us.

We must see a loving hand in everything around us and consider love more than an emotive feeling.

Today, many people don't feel loved; worse, they fear they're unloveable. They are missing the point of God's nature, pure and unconditional love.

The Divinity only wants the very best for us. He especially loves the most sinners since they are in the most pain, as they've distanced themselves more from the source of life. 

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 28, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, September 27, the Catholic Church celebrates the Memorial of the French priest St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660), who founded the Congregation of the Priests of the Mission or Lazarists (now known as Vincentians) to preach especially to ignorant peasants of that time and to establish seminaries.
St. Vincent de Paul was a great apostle of charity, and brought a great revival of the priesthood in the 17th century. As a young priest, he was captured by Moorish pirates who carried him to Africa. He was sold into slavery, but freed in 1607 when he converted his owner.

To help poor girls, invalids, the insane, sick, and unemployed, he and St. Louise de Marillac founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity, now better known as the Sisters of St. Vincent.

St. Vincent worked tirelessly to help those in need: the impoverished, the sick, the enslaved, the abandoned, the ignored.

His motto was "God sees you."

"Let us love God; but at the price of our hands and sweat of our face."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
St. Vincent de Paul, Pray for Us!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 27, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, we read the famous statement at the beginning of the Book of Ecclesiastes (ECCL 1:2-11) in the Old Testament: “All things at vanity.”

“Vanity of vanities!  All things are vanity!

What profit has man from all the labor
which he toils at under the sun?
One generation passes and another comes,
but the world forever stays.
The sun rises and the sun goes down;
then it presses on to the place where it rises.”

On Earth, the things we do will be forgotten, and the things we build will eventually be turned to dust. No matter what we do, accumulate, or build, it will disappear when we go.

Seeing life through distinctively human eyes is pointless. But recognizing God’s rule and reign in the world is worth it. In Christianity, we learn that the key is to cultivate treasures in Heaven.

After all, vanity is an example of pride, one of the seven deadly sins.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• September 26, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

In today's letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (13:13), the thirteenth Apostle speaks about the Way of Love as the greatest spiritual gift.
"Faith, hope, and love remain these three, but the greatest of these is love."

St. Paul explains:

"If I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated.

It is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,

it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, September 24, is the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, a national holiday in Peru. The Catholic Church also celebrates Our Lady of Walsingham (Memorial, England) and Our Lady of Ransom (Hist).

Devotion to the Virgin of Mercy dates back to the founding of Lima. The Mercederian friars, who came to Peru with the conquerors, brought the devotion to the Virgin of Mercy, a Marian title of the thirteenth century, and they built their primitive convent chapel in 1535.

The Mercederians evangelized the region and participated in the city's development, building beautiful churches that have been preserved as a valuable cultural and religious patrimony.

In 1218, St. Peter Nolasco and James I, King of Aragon and Catalonia, experienced separately a vision of the Most Holy Virgin, who asked them to form a religious order dedicated to rescuing the many Christian captives held by the Muslims.

This Order of Our Lady of Mercy was approved as a military order in 1235 by Pope Gregory IX. It liberated thousands of Christian prisoners. Later, it became dedicated to teaching and social work.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
St. Padre Pio, Pray for Us!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Friends of the Rosary,

Today is the Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina (1887-1968), or Padre Pio, a contemporary saint with the gift of the stigmata who bore the wounds of our Lord.

Padre Pio, known for his suffering, humility, and miracles, received the stigmata while praying before a cross on September 20, 1918. He is the first priest to be so blessed.

For fifty years at the monastery of San Giovanni Rotundo, the Italian Capuchin friar was a much sought-after spiritual advisor, confessor, and intercessor whose life was devoted to the Eucharist and prayer.

Yet despite such notoriety, he often said, “I only want to be a poor friar who prays.”

Padre Pio could read the souls and consciences of those who confessed with him. He could also bi-locate, levitate, and heal by touch.

In 1956, he founded the House for the Relief of Suffering, a hospital that serves 60,000 a year.

Today, there are over 400,000 members worldwide in prayer groups that Padre Pio began in the 1920s.

He was a man of prayer and suffering.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
St. Padre Pio, Pray for Us!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• September 23, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

In today Sunday's reading (Mk 9:30-37), we see Christ in Galilee telling to the Twelve apostles about the mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection:

"The Son of Man is to be handed over to men
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise."

They did not understand and were afraid to question him. Moreover, they expected that Christ, who was to them the promised Messiah, would establish a worldwide messianic kingdom for the people of God and overcome all enemies.

Still worldly-minded, the Apostles could not understand the spiritual kingdom that Christ would establish.

They needed Christ's death and resurrection to make them His faithful followers and loyal disciples.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
St. Matthew, Pray for Us!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• September 22, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today is the Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist.

When Jesus summoned him, Matthew was a publican, a tax collector for the Romans, a hateful profession, and considered the typical sinner by the Pharisees.

One day, while seated at his table of books and money, Jesus looked at Matthew and said two words: "Follow me." Matthew rose and left his pieces of silver to follow Christ.
His original name, "Levi," in Hebrew, signifies "Adhesion," while his new name in Christ, Matthew, means "Gift of God.
His Gospel was written to convince the Jews that their anticipated Messiah had come in the person of Jesus.

Today is also Ember Saturday of the Autumn or September Embertide.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
St. Matthew, Pray for Us!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• September 21, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Accompanying Jesus and the Twelve Disciples were women like Mary Magdalene, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others.

In this journey, these women provided for Jesus and the disciples out of their resources and were helping to proclaim the Kingdom of God, as we read today in the Gospel (Luke 8:1–3).

Jesus, breaking the social conventions of that time, invited women to participate fully in the life of discipleship.

Great women have followed Jesus over the centuries.

Across history, we find role models like St. Monica, Clare of Assisi, Terese of Avila, Thérèse of Lisieux, Edith Stein, Mother Teresa of Kolkata, Faustina Kowalska, and many others.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, in the Gospel (Lk 7:36-50), we hear the story of the Pharisee Simon, who invited Jesus to dine with him but didn’t give water for his feet.

At the same house, a sinful woman showed great love by anointing Jesus with ointment. She was filled with love for Christ, self-offering, and full gratitude, in contrast to the poor hospitality shown by the Pharisee man.

Jesus said, “So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love.”

In this passage, Jesus showed that love is a prerequisite for divine forgiveness.

It is not that one’s moral life must be upright to win divine favor. It’s a life of love!

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

• ⁠September 19, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

The Pharisees criticized Jesus' eating habits and dining with sinners. In the Jewish society of that time, a righteous person would never associate with the unrighteous for fear of becoming unclean.

As we read today in the Gospel (Luke 7:31-35), Christ Jesus said:

"For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,
and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

Jesus scandalized everyone by breaking down these man-made barriers because God loves sinners and associates with them.

He is the Incarnation of God who aggressively seeks out the lost. He comes running after us and never gives up.

"The more we run, the more he runs after; the more we hide, the more he looks; the more we resist, the more he persists," Bishop Barron wrote.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 18, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

As Christ Jesus was entering a city called Nain, near Nazareth, a large crowd was accompanied in a burial procession by a man who had died. His mother was a widow who had only this son.

This death was a disaster for a widow since it eliminated any income for making a living.

Jesus was moved with pity — as Luke tells us (Lk 7:11-1) in today's reading — and said to her: "Do not weep."

Then, he touched the coffin and said, "Young man, I tell you, arise!"

The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. The crowd recognized that Jesus was a prophet of God.

This passage anticipates Christ’s Resurrection. Jesus is the God of the living who hates the ways of death, and his sacred heart is moved with pity.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• September 17, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, in the Gospel (Lk 7:1-10), Luke tells us about the faith of the Roman centurion, whose slave was cured of his illness.

Jesus was amazed at him and said to the crowd following him: "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."

The centurion said the words we recite in Mass before communion:

"I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof."

("Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you;
but say the word and let my servant be healed.")

As Bishop Barron explains the meaning of faith:

"Your life is not about you. You’re not in control. This is not your project. Rather, you are part of God’s great design."

"When we operate out of this transformed vision, amazing things can happen, for we have surrendered to “him who can accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine."
 
"Faith is an attitude of trust in the presence of God. Faith is openness to what God will reveal, do, and invite. It should be obvious that, in dealing with the infinite, all-powerful person who is God, we are never in control."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 16, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, September 15, is the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.

This feast, which dates back to the 12th century, focuses on Mary's intense suffering during the passion and death of Christ.

The Memorial Day is dedicated to the spiritual martyrdom of Mary, Mother of God, and her compassion with the sufferings of her Divine Son.

In her suffering as co-redeemer, Mary reminds us of the evil of sin and shows us the way of true repentance.

The feast was introduced by the Servites to intensify devotion to Our Lady's Sorrows.

It has its roots in Sacred Scripture and Christian piety, which always associates the Blessed Mother with her suffering Son.

In the 17th century, the feast was celebrated as the “Seven Sorrows of Mary,” which referred to the seven swords that pierced Mary's heart.

These are the seven sorrows of Mary:

The prophecy of Simeon, (Luke 2:25-35) The flight into Egypt, (Matthew 2:13-15) Loss of the Child Jesus for three days, (Luke 2:41-50)  Mary meets Jesus on his way to Calvary, (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17) Crucifixion and Death of Jesus, (John 19:25-30) The body of Jesus being taken from the Cross (deposition from the Cross), (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37) The burial of Jesus, (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47)

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 15, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, September 14, is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross feast day, also called the Triumph of the Cross or Holy Cross Day.

The Catholic Church celebrates the discovery of the True Cross on Mount Calvary by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, in 320.

The Cross is the instrument of our redemption and the glorious sign of victory. We take up the Cross and follow Christ, identifying with Him and becoming co-redeemers.

Before and after prayer, we make the Sign of the Cross to give ourselves—mind, soul, heart, body, will, and thoughts—to God and signify that we belong to Christ. Our strength and protection are the Sign of the Cross during trials and temptations.

On this day, we reflect upon the salvific death on the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ Jesus when death was defeated and the doors to Heaven opened.

The entrance antiphon for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is: "We should glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he is our salvation, our life, and our resurrection: through him, we are saved and made free."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 14, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

On September 13, 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared in Fatima for the fifth time. Over 30,000 people gathered in Cova da Iria, Portugal.

“The crowd prays all the time… Suddenly, cries of surprise and joy are heard. Thousands of arms are raised towards a point in the sky… I raise my eyes, and to my surprise, I see clearly and distinctly a globe of light advancing from east to west, gliding slowly and majestically through the air. I was convinced it was the Blessed Virgin,” wrote Sor Lucia, one of the three shepherds.

She asked to the Blessed Mother:

– “What do you want of me?”

You must pray! Continue the Rosary, my children. Say it every day that the war may end. In October, Our Lord will come, as will Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Saint Joseph will appear with the Child Jesus to bless the world.

God is pleased with your sacrifices, but He does not want you to wear the cords to bed. Keep them on during the day.

– “I have the petitions of many for your help. Will you assist a little girl who is deaf and dumb?”

She will improve within the year.

– “And what conversions have some asked to bring about? The cures of the sick ones?”

Some I will cure, and some I will not. In October I will perform a miracle so that all may believe.

With these last words to the three visionaries, Our Lady rose and disappeared into the heavens.

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Ave Maria!Jesus, I Trust In You!

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, September 12, four days after the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother, we honor The Most Holy Name of Mary.

The feast day encourages us to pray for her intercession to deepen our love of Christ.

When we call Mary Our Lady and pronounce her name, we affirm her power, implore her aid, and place ourselves under her protection.
The holy name of Mary bears such power because of the unique bond between Mother and Son.

Benedict XVI wrote, “If you follow her, you will not stray; if you pray to her, you will not despair; if you turn your thoughts to her, you will not err. If she holds you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you need not fear; if she is your guide, you will not tire; if she is gracious to you, you will surely reach your destination.”

The feast originated in Spain and was approved by the Holy See in 1513. Innocent XI extended its observance to the Church in thanksgiving to our Lady for the September 12, 1683 victory over the Turks besieging Vienna and threatening the West.

St. Louis de Montfort wrote, “The salvation of each individual is bound up with the Hail Mary.”

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• September 12, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, we pray and remember those lost on September 11, 2001, and support the families affected, focusing on hope and healing in the aftermath of tragedy.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. Like the seed buried in the ground, you have produced the harvest of eternal life for us; make us always dead to sin and alive to God.

We invoke the Holy Spirit to strengthen us and comfort those who mourn.

May the Lord our God bless us and memorialize those who expired to preserve liberty and freedom in our nation and the world.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

•⁠September 11, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today's main reading in The New Testament (Lk 6:12-19) presents how Christ Jesus spent the night in prayer before choosing his Twelve apostles.

"Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor."

That's God's approach before taking a huge decision. The first Sorrowful Mystery is the mystery of prayer. We raise our minds and hearts to the Father, adoring Him, giving thanks, confessing our sins, and, yes, petitioning.

The Almighty is delighted with our petitions. "The Lord takes delight in his people,"states the Palm today.

He calls us by our names and certainly knows about our needs. But we have to ask. Because what we ask, and it's good for our soul, will be granted... at the right time.

He is the King of Kings and the One who powers our life. As we read today,

"Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 10, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Yesterday, we celebrated Mary's birthday. The Blessed Virgin assists us from heaven with her prayers and motherly care to bring us to God. It's Mary's maternal mediation.

Christ Jesus is the mediator who, after the Fall, stands between God and fallen humanity to bring us back into communion with God.

But the Son of God doesn't keep his role as mediator to himself. He wants Mary to share in his mediation. According to Vatican II in Lumen Gentium, Mary's uniquely important role is captured by "maternal mediation."

"The Blessed Virgin was on this earth the virgin Mother of the Redeemer, and above all others and in a singular way the generous associate and humble handmaid of the Lord. She conceived, brought forth, and nourished Christ."

"In this singular way, she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the work of our Savior in giving back supernatural life to souls."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 9, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, nine months after the Immaculate Conception, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We rejoice in her birthday. In Mary, all human nature is exalted.

This is one of the three birthdays in the Church Calendar—the Birth of Jesus (December 25), the Birth of John the Baptist (June 24), and the Birthday of Mary.

Mary was born to be the mother of the Savior of the World, the spiritual mother of all men, and the holiest of God's creatures.

The Holy Virgin was conceived and born immaculate and full of grace. Through her, Queen of heaven and earth, all grace is given to men.

Saint Augustine described the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary as an event of cosmic and historic significance and an appropriate prelude to the birth of Jesus Christ. "She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley," he said.

The fourth-century bishop affirmed that "through her birth, the nature inherited from our first parents is changed."

The Blessed Virgin occupies a unique place in the history of salvation, and she has the highest mission ever commended to any creature.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 8, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Yesterday, we read another passage in the New Testament (Luke 5:33–39) showing the hypocrisy of scribes and Pharisees.

They asked Jesus why he didn’t encourage fasting among his followers.

The Lord answered them, "Can you make the wedding guests fast
while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days."

Christ Jesus is the bridegroom and the Church is the bride. He is the marriage of divinity and humanity, the wedding of heaven and earth,

In him, we discover the most intimate union is achieved between God and the world.

As Bishop Barron wrote, "Could you imagine people fasting at a wedding banquet? Could you imagine going into an elegant room with your fellow guests and being served bread and water? It would be ridiculous! The mark of the Christian dispensation is joy. Exuberance. Delight. God and the world have come together. What could be better news?"

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

Friends of the Rosary,

Mother Teresa’s spiritual rapid-fire weapon was her “Flying Novena,” according to Monsignor Leo Maasburg, her friend and adviser, who wrote “Mother Teresa of Calcutta: A Personal Portrait.” She said this novena all the time.

It consisted of 10 Memorares — not nine, as you might expect from the word ‘novena.’

St. Teresa of Calcutta’s founded Missionaries of Charity continue reciting this prayer.

Here are the words of the centuries-old Memorare, that we pray at the Rosary Network every day:

“Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To you do we come; before you we stand, sinful and sorrowful? O Mother of the Word incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.”

The Memorare is a confident pleading for heavenly assistance, as the apostles did for nine days in the upper room “with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the women” (Acts 1:14) while waiting for the promised help from the Holy Spirit.”

Mother Teresa taught: “Get into that habit of calling on her [Mary]. She interceded — at the wedding feast, there was no wine. … She was so sure that he will do what she asks him. … She is mediatrix of all graces. … She is always there with us.”

The Memorare prayer effectively expresses Mother Teresa’s trust in the power of Mary’s intercession as the mediatrix of all graces.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Teresa of Calcutta, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• September 6, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, September 5th, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta (Kolkata), affectionally known as Mother Teresa, a universal symbol of God's merciful, preferential love for the poor and forgotten and a living witness to the thirsting love of God.

Nun, missionary, and teacher in Calcutta, India, St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), left a testament to unshakable faith, invincible hope, and extraordinary charity. She was a soul filled with the light of Christ, on fire with love for Him.

“By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.”

She received the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971, the Indian Padmashri Award in 1962, and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She received those prizes “for the glory of God and in the name of the poor.”

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a saint of heroic virtues and miracles, was entrusted with proclaiming God’s thirsting love for humanity, especially for the poorest poor. “God still loves the world, and He sends you and me to be His love and compassion for the poor.”

Jesus revealed to her His heart's desire for “victims of love” who would “radiate His love on souls.” “Come be My light,” He begged her. I cannot go alone.”

He asked Mother Teresa to establish a religious community, the Missionaries of Charity, dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor. Today, the Congregation works in 30 countries.

She started each day in communion with Jesus in the Eucharist and then went out, rosary in her hand, to find and serve Him in “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for.”

After her death, another heroic side of Mother Teresa was revealed: her inner experience of darkness. Hidden from all eyes was her interior life marked by an experience of a deep, painful feeling of being separated from God, even rejected by Him.

She called it the "painful night" of her soul, which began when she started working for the poor and continued until the end of her life. Through the darkness, she mystically participated in Jesus's thirst, His painful and burning longing for love, and shared in the poor's interior desolation.

Mother Teresa expired on September 5, 1997, and was beatified only six years later, on October 19, 2003.

She was a fierce defender of the unborn, saying: "If you hear of some woman who does not want to keep her child and wants to have an abortion, try to persuade her to bring him to me. I will love that child, seeing the sign of God's love in him."

Also, Mother Teresa once said, "A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, must empty ourselves. The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace."

She also said, "Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things if you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness." 

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Teresa of Calcutta, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 5, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Jesus came to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God, as we read today in The New Testament (Lk 4:38 – 4). “Because for this purpose, I have been sent.”

The crowds looked for the Son of God, who had withdrawn to a deserted place. They recognized the miraculous growth that had taken place in their midst through healing, cures, and exorcism.

Today, like at that time in Galilee, God causes the growth. Every human has been created by God and for God. God never ceases to draw man to himself, as the Catechism states.

“Only in God we find the truth and happiness we never stop searching for.”

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• September 4, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

In today's Gospel reading (Lk 4:31-37), we see Jesus' authority and power to cast out unclean spirits to the crowd's amazement.

The Lord finds in the synagogue of Capernaum, in Galilee, "a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, who cried in a loud voice.":

"What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!"

Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be quiet! Come out of him!"

Then the demon threw the man down in front of them
and came out of him without doing him any harm."

Jesus Christ is sovereign over demons.

Across his public ministry, the Lord met with people possessed by demons, spiritual beings at enmity with God and having a certain power over man. They are unclean spirits, fallen angels, and angels of the devil.  And they are the principalities and powers against who we must wrestle.

However, on a number of occasions, we distinguish maladies like epilepsy, mental illnesses, and even lunacy from demon possession.

In the case of demons, they know a lot and even acknowledge him to be the very Son of God. But they don’t follow Christ.

They are a solemn reminder that it is possible to acknowledge Christ with your lips and not to recognize him with your heart.  It is possible to profess Christ without possessing Him in your heart.  It is possible to claim to be a follower of Christ and yet not be a follower of Christ.

It is not knowledge but love that distinguishes saints and faithful from devils.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 3, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today's passage of the New Testament (LK 4:16-30) features Christ Jesus in Nazareth, where he had grown up, in the synagogue on the sabbath day, unrolling the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and revealing this Divine origin:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."

And He said to the attendants,

"Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

They were amazed at Christ's gracious words, but they rebuked Him. Moreover, they were all filled with fury and tried to throw Him off the hill.

"Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his native place."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 2, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

The Scribes and Pharisees—the religious leaders of the Jews—prided themselves on their strict observance of the Mosaic Law and human traditions. They performed many acts of virtue, developing a proud superiority complex and keeping themselves apart from ordinary people.

Christ's mercy, kindness, and understanding for sinners made them oppose the Son of God. During his public life, he forgave the adultress, ate with sinners, and made a tax collector one of the apostles. He promised forgiveness to all who would repent of their past misdeeds. He objected to the Pharisees their lack of merciful love.

To the Pharisees, all the lowly and uneducated in the law were sinners, while they had the worst sin of all — the original sin of mankind, the sin of pride.

In today's encounter with the Pharisees, as we read in the Gospel of Mark (Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23), Jesus calls them hypocrites:

"These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines and human precepts.
You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition."

Then, Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them,
"Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile.

"From within people, from their hearts,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile."

Christ told the crowds that what matters is the heart before God. Eating with unwashed hands or using unwashed vessels for drinking does not defile a man. It is from our innermost self that defilement appears. Every severe sin against God and neighbor has its beginning within a man.

Finally, full of pride, the Scribes and Pharisees nailed Christ to the cross.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠September 1, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

We hear the "Parable of the Talents" in Matthew 25:14–30 today.
It tells of a master who was leaving his house to travel and, before leaving, entrusted his property to his servants.
According to each man's abilities, one servant received five talents, the second two, and the third only one. The first man trades with the five talents. The second does the same, and both receive a rich return on their investment. The third man cautiously buries his talent. When the owner returns, he praises the first two servants and gives them more significant responsibilities, but to the third man, the talent is taken away from him and given to the one with ten.
Talents are everything that we’ve received from God—life, breath, being, powers. Because they come from God, they are meant to become gifts.
They wither away if you cling to them like the third servant. 
As Jesus said, 
"For to everyone who has,
more will be given and he will grow rich;
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 31, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today's Gospel (Mt 25:1-13) features the parable of the Kingdom of Heaven and the ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five were foolish, and five were wise.

Through the parable, Christ Jesus invites us to "stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

At that time, following the Jewish customs, the bridesmaids would wait for the groom and, upon his appearance, accompany him.

This is the Christian community of believers waiting for Christ the groom to arrive.

During this long waiting period, we must be wise and pray, live a sacramental life, be people of love, and educate ourselves in the faith. If we neglect these requirements, we won't be admitted to the glory of Heaven.

"The divine life, so cultivated, cannot simply be shared with another at the last minute. A saint can’t simply infuse his life into another; it just doesn’t work that way," explains Bishop Barron.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 30, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, August 29, is the Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.

On June 24, we celebrated the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and today, we honor the anniversary of his martyrdom.

Besides Our Lord and Our Lady, St. John the Baptist is the only one whose birth and death are thus celebrated.

Since the fourth century, the Church has commemorated Christ's precursor's martyrdom. The saint's venerable head is venerated at various places.

Today's Gospel relates the circumstances of his execution. When John rebuked King Herod for his unlawful union with Herodias, his brother’s wife, Herod imprisoned John. Herodias took advantage of an unexpected opportunity to obtain the saint's beheading through her daughter Salome.

St. John the Baptist was a cousin of Jesus. His mission was to preach repentance to Israel in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. He also preached the freedom of heavenly peace.

By his suffering, John the Baptist showed that Christ also would suffer.

The apostle Paul rightly explained: "You have been granted the privilege not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for his sake." He told us why it is Christ's gift that his chosen ones should suffer for him: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. John the Baptist, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 29, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, August 28, we honor St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (354-430).

Born in 354 in Thagaste (now Souk-Ahras in modern-day Algeria), St. Augustine became one of the most significant and influential thinkers in the history of the Catholic Church.

As a result of his mother's incessant prayer and tears, he converted from a former life of loose living, which included parties, entertainment, and worldly ambitions, to one of the leading saints and theologians of the Catholic Church.

He received baptism, and soon after, his mother, Saint Monica, died with the knowledge that all she had hoped for in this world had been fulfilled.

Returning to Tagaste, he distributed his goods to the poor and was ordained a priest. At the age of 41, against his will, he was made bishop of Hippo, becoming a great luminary of the African Church, one of the four great founders of religious orders, and a Doctor of the universal Church. There, he spent a lot of time refuting the writings of heretics.

His autobiographical Confessionsis a fascinating philosophical, theological, mystical, poetic, and literary work. He also wrote The City of God against the pagans.

Augustine died at 76 on August 28, 430, as Hippo was under siege by the Vandals.

His legacy continues to shape the face of the Church to this day deeply.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Augustine, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 28, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Monica (333-387), the mother of St. Augustine — whose feast is tomorrow.

Through prayer and tears, St. Monica quietly gave the great Augustine to the Church.

Born in Tagaste, northern Africa, Monica was given in marriage to a pagan named Patricius, a man of loose morals with a very irascible nature.

It was in this school of suffering that Monica learned patience.

Evil-minded servants prejudiced her mother-in-law against her, but Monica mastered the situation with kindness and sympathy.

Monica persevered and prayed to convert her husband, who was baptized a year before his death. The Confessions of St. Augustine provide specific biographical details.

When Augustine joined the Manichean sect and went astray in faith and morals, Monica's tears and prayers for her son were incessant. She followed him to Milan, where Augustine went to teach, and there continued to storm heaven with her prayers for her son.

Finally, the moment came, and her tears of sorrow changed to tears of joy. She had the joy of witnessing St. Ambrose baptize Augustine in 387.

Her lifework was completed. She died in Ostia, near Rome, in her fifty-sixth year.

The description of her death is one of the most beautiful passages in her son's famous Confessions.

Also, today is the feast of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary or the Franciscan Crown.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Monica, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 27, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Częstochowa, also known as the Black Madonna.

The icon in Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa, Poland, is traditionally believed to have been painted by St. Luke the Evangelist on a cypress wood panel from a table used by the Holy Family in Nazareth. St. Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine and collector of Christian relics in the Holy Land, discovered the icon.

The icon was then enshrined in the imperial city of Constantinople, where it remained for the next 500 years. In the 14th century, it was brought to Poland and is still enshrined in Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa, Poland.

The image of Our Lady of Częstochowa is associated with several historical miraculous events, as well as spontaneous healings occurring to those who made a pilgrimage to the portrait.

After the liberation of Poland from Nazi occupation, 1.5 million people gathered at Jasna Góra in 1945 to rededicate the nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pope John Paul II visited the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa four times during his pontificate. Our Lady’s intercession is credited with the liberation of Poland from Communist rule.

It is known as the “Black Madonna” because of the soot residue that discolors the painting. The soot results from centuries of votive lights and candles burning before the painting.

Today, the Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa attracts millions who love and honor Our Lady’s intercession.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
Our Lady of Częstochowa, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 26, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

At that time in Galilee, many of the disciples returned to their former way of life, and no longstanding accompanied him when they heard about the divinity of Christ reflected in the invitation to eat his body and drink his blood — the doctrine of the Blessed Eucharist, well-known today.

The passage—included in the Gospel of John that we read today (John 6:60-69)—continues:

"Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

Today, many people reject the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and even many lukewarm Catholics wrongly believe the Holy Communion is symbolic and not fit for our earthly journey.

Two thousand years ago, the "disciples" who murmured saw nothing but a man in Christ. They refused to open their minds, and their minds were earth-bound.

Faith is a gift of the Father, and He offers graciously despite many refusing to accept it.

Christ left us himself in the Eucharist as a sacrifice and a sacrament for our spiritual nourishment.

It was an act of divine power and, as such, beyond full human comprehension.

He gave the Communion to his Apostles and their successors the power to repeat this act of divine love when he said: "Do this in memory of me" during Mass.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 25, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, August 24, we celebrate the feast of St. Bartholomew, one of the twelve Apostles of Christ.

St. Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel, was a doctor in Jewish law and a dear friend of St. Philip the Apostle.

Because Bartholomew was a man "in whom there was no guile," his mind was open to the truth. He went willingly with Philip to see Christ and recognized the Savior immediately as the Son of God.

Following the Ascension and after receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost, Bartholomew evangelized Asia Minor, northwestern India, and Greater Armenia. He was martyred there. While still alive, his skin was torn from his body.

Today is also the day of Our Lady Health of the Sick, celebrated on the Saturday before the last Sunday of August. This is one of the titles in the Litany to Our Lady of Loretto.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Bartholomew, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 24, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, August 23, we celebrate the memorial of St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617), Virgin, the first canonized saint of the New World.

She consecrated her life to God very young, vowing her innocence to the Divinity. She practiced intense prayer and penance daily, living a heroic life of virtue and penance.

Inspired by St. Catherine of Siena’s example, Rose became a Dominican lay tertiary and devoted herself to works of active charity while living a life of extreme austerity.

St. Rose of Lima suffered repeated attacks from the devil, painful bodily ailments, and from her family, scoldings and calumnies.

She died at 31, praying, “Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase your love in my heart.”

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!
St. Rose of Lima, Pray for Us!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• August 23, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, the faithful celebrate the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary.

On her Assumption to Heaven, our Blessed Mother was solemnly reunited with her Son, and Our Lord Jesus has crowned Our Lady as Queen of Heaven and Earth.

The Church celebrates Mary’s, Mother of God’s, queenship as a share in Jesus’s kingship.

This title of Queen is applied to the Mother of God since she was so closely associated with the redemptive work of her Son and is the Mediatrix of all graces.

This Feast was established by Pope Pius XII in 1954. However, Mary’s Queenship is not only based on Sacred Tradition but anciently rooted in the Scripture. The Archangel Gabriel, at the Annunciation, proclaimed that Mary would “bear a son, Jesus,” who would be given “the throne of David, his father” and “of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31-33). Saint Elizabeth, at the Visitation, ardently addressed Mary as “the mother of my Lord” (Luke 1:43). Both narratives point to how the mother of the King is herself a Queen.

This Feast reminds us to venerate Mary with devotion and love and to enthrone the Queen of Heaven and Earth in our hearts and homes.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 22, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, we celebrate the Memorial of St. Pius X, Pope (1835-1914). He was a defender of the purity of Christian doctrine and worked for the restoration of the Church's worship.

Today is also the anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Knock in Ireland.

On August 21, 1879, Our Lady appeared with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist in Knock in County Mayo. 15 people witnessed her.

To the left of St. John, dressed as a mitered bishop, stood a simple altar with a young lamb before a cross. Angels encircled this area.

The figures, all robed in white, were raised a couple of feet above.

In the vision, which lasted about two hours, Mary stood in the middle, clothed in white garments. She wore a brilliant crown and a golden rose over her forehead, and her hands were raised as if in prayer.

The silent apparition spoke louder than words with an eloquent message uniting earth and heaven.

All knew it was Mary, the Mother of Jesus, Queen of Angels.

People not at the apparition site reported seeing a bright light illuminate the area around the church.

Many of the sick were healed upon visiting the church at Knock.

A golden rose is often the symbol of this Marian apparition. Pope St. John Paul II presented a golden rose to the Shrine on his visit on September 30, 1979.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 21, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Jesus reveals to us that anyone following him will receive a hundred times more in this life and eternal life.

As we read today, he said to his disciples (Mt 19:23-30):

"Amen, I say to you
that you who have followed me, in the new age,
when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory,
will yourselves sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."

Today, we celebrate the Memorial of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), the French abbot who perfected the Cistercian monastic rule. It would become the model for 163 monasteries of the Cistercian reform.

He was a theologian, poet, orator, writer, and one of the last Church Fathers.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux was an apostle of the Crusades, miracle worker, reconciler of kings, the leader of peoples, and the counselor of popes.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 20, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Christ Jesus revealed to us (John 6:51–58), as we read yesterday in the New Testament,

"My flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him."

When we eat this flesh and drink his blood in the Eucharist, we unite with Him and become his image on Earth. Or, at least, that is or should be our goal.

We are what we eat. The Eucharist touches our souls, and by receiving Him, we declare that we want to grow in holiness and become saints.

The Holy Host immortalizes those faithful who consume it.

Christifies us, and not in a metaphorical way.

The Doctrine of the Real Presence is a universal truth critical for our survival.

The recipient of the Communion sees — or should see — how his life should be transformed in body, mind, emotions, and spirit. He becomes ordered to the realm of God.

Bishop Barron wrote yesterday,

"The Christified person knows that his life is not finally about him but about God; the Eucharistized person understands that her treasure is to be found above and not below."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 19, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Jesus said to the crowds (Jn 6:51-58):

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world."

"Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day."

"For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me, and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 18, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Christ Jesus invites us today (Mt 19:13-15) to adopt a childlike behavior.

"Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them;
for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like children.

Bishop Barron writes:

"Children are like stars or flowers or animals, things that are what they are, unambiguously, uncomplicatedly. They are in accord with God’s deepest intentions for them."

"Childlikeness has to do with that rootedness in what God wants us to be."

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 17, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, in the reading of the New Testament (Mt 19:3-12), Christ Jesus explains the mystery of marriage.

"From the beginning, the Creator made them male and female and said,
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?
So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate."

"I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful)
and marries another commits adultery."

"Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;
some, because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced marriage
for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."

Marriage is God's invention, and his idea was the union between a man and a woman.

Marriage has so many enemies who seek to pervert and destroy it. Divorce is rampant, adultery is common, and "same-sex marriage" is now socially accepted.

However, marriage is not an artificial construct of a particular culture. It pre-dates cultures, civilizations, political parties, and ideologies.

Pope John Paul II, in his "Theology of the Body," saw an integral connection between the mystery of creation and the sacrament of marriage.

Readings:
• Gen 2:18-24
• Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
• Heb 2:9-11
• Mk 10:2-16

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 16, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Friends of the Rosary,

Today, August 15, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation for Catholics.

In 1950, Pius XII proclaimed the Assumption of Mary a dogma of the Catholic Church in these words: "The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven."

Pius Parsch, in The Church's Year of Grace, wrote: 

“Now, toward the end of summer, when fruits are ripe in the gardens and fields, the Church celebrates the most glorious "harvest festival" in the Communion of Saints. Mary, the supremely blessed one among women, Mary, the most precious fruit that has ripened in the fields of God's kingdom, is today taken into the granary of heaven."

The celebration of the Assumption is the oldest feast day of Our Lady. It was the "Memory of Mary." Its origin is traced to when Jerusalem was restored as a sacred city during the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine (c. 285-337).

On a hill near Mount Zion in Palestine was the "Place of Dormition," the spot of Mary's "falling asleep."

The belief in the Assumption dates back to the apostles themselves. Mary expired in the presence of the disciples of Christ, and her tomb, when opened later, was found empty. The apostles concluded that the body was taken into heaven and transferred to the glory of eternity.

The location of that empty tomb is today the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition of Mary, a place of pilgrimage on the edge of Jerusalem.

In the seventh century, the feast was celebrated in Rome as the "Falling Asleep" ("Dormitio") of the Mother of God.

Today, this solemnity day looks to eternity. It is not just the commemoration of a historical event. It also gives us hope to follow Our Lady when our lives are over.

Ave Maria!
Jesus, I Trust In You!

Come, Holy Spirit, come!

To Jesus through Mary!

+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York

• ⁠August 15, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET