asion Leo XIII says: "It has
been a favorite and prevalent custom of Catholics, in times of need and
danger, to take refuge in Mary, and to seek consolation from her
motherly concern."

Thus the firm reliance and confidence rightly placed by the Catholic
Church in the mother of God is stanchly avowed.

As a matter of fact, Mary, the immaculate Virgin, free from original
sin, the chosen mother of God, is endowed with such power by her Son,
as no other creature, man or angel, has ever received or can receive.

The efficacy of this great devotion to the great Queen of Heaven had
been demonstrated especially when false teachings, depravity, or other
great enemies threatened disaster to Christians.

History, early and recent, relates how public and private devotion to
the mother of God was held in times of calamity and distress, and how
these prayers were heard, and help was granted. Thus originated the
exalted titles which Catholics give to the Blessed Virgin, such as Help
of Christians, Refuge of Sinners, etc.

To these titles was added another, when under date of December 10,
1883, Leo XIII directed that the title "Queen of the Rosary" be added
to the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. In his brief the Holy Father
expresses the desire that all the faithful practise daily the devotion
of the rosary. If, therefore, the rosary is considered of such great
power and efficacy by the head of the Church, the representative of
Christ, it is befitting that we heed his words and pray often and
devoutly by means of the rosary.

If this prayer were better understood it would be prayed with more
devotion, and greater benefit would come from it. In order, then, to
spread a better knowledge, and to urge the devout recital of the
rosary, let us contemplate this devotion in a course of instructive
addresses. The name rosary may be the subject of to-day's discourse.

The devotion of the rosary consists in the recital of a fixed number of
Our Fathers and Hail Marys, combined with the meditation on certain
mysteries from the lives of Jesus and Mary. The name rosary is
significant. It is a symbol of Mary, also of the devotion to her. We
will endeavor to make this clear.

The realm of nature is the symbol of the realm of grace, as the realm
of grace is a symbol of the realm of glory. It was God's intention to
let His earthly creation be a reflection of the divine perfections, of
the supernatural, of divinity, so that man might perceive the