Saint Louis de Montfort was a great French missionary preacher especially renowned for fostering devotion to Jesus Christ through the Blessed Virgin Mary. For faithful Catholics the prayers of the Rosary are familiar. But they should be for all faithful Christians! As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, echoing Pope Paul VI in his Marialis Cultus - the title of a Mariological apostolic letter issued February 1974 - the rosary is an "epitome of the whole Gospel." Unfortunately, and mostly because it's unfamiliar to our non-Catholic Christian brothers and sisters, the rosary is misunderstood. Yet it's been a prayer for the ages because one cannot help but recite this great Marian prayer and not grow in one's love for Jesus Christ. Entering into the Rosary is taking Mary by the hand and allowing her to lead you to her Son. In future posts we will explore more about the rosary and the familiar Christian prayers. For insight from St. Louis de Montfort on contemplating the great mysteries of the life of Jesus through the eyes of his Mother please click on the image. Peace be with you!

Born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, St. Francis of Assisi, informally named as Francesco, was an Italian Catholic friar, deacon and preacher. He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women's Order of Saint Clare, and the Third Order of Saint Francis. Busy in his lifetime tending to the work of God as an instrument of God's peace, he is a saint for a troubled world. For more from this great saint, and for a prayer for peace, please click on the image. Peace be with you!

Saint Philip Neri was an Italian priest and founder of the Oratory, a community of charity modeled after it's founder the "Joyful Saint." He reminds us of our need to pray for the grace to love Jesus not out of fear but out of love.