Radical Rosaries

The left now claims the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a symbol of alt-right radical. Beware the beads!

The Rosary is the weapon for these times.

—St. Padre Pio

This story caught my attention for two reasons.

First, I say the Rosary (almost) every day, and I have for years. I say the Rosary in celebration of good things and when lamenting bad things. So Rosary stories in the media always catch my attention.

Second, someone stopped me at today’s Rally to Defund the FBI and asked me if I’d heard about “Christian Nationalism.” I said “no,” because I hadn’t. Then, I had to leave because my ride was leaving—I couldn’t learn more.

Then, I got home, looked at the news, and WHAM! I learned that, not only is Christian Nationalism a thing, but I am apparently in the vanguard of its symbolism.

"On this extremist fringe, rosary beads have been woven into a conspiratorial politics and absolutist gun culture. These armed radical traditionalists have taken up a spiritual notion that the rosary can be a weapon in the fight against evil and turned it into something dangerously literal."

The author, Daniel Panneton, I assure you, is an idiot. (He writes for The Atlantic.) He had never met a Traditional Catholic. He has no idea what is meant by the terms “spiritual warfare” or “spiritual combat.” And Panneton wouldn’t know Padre Pio if the author stuck his finger into the saint’s stigmata. Besides, Panneton calls the Rosary a “sacrament,” telling me he’s neither Catholic nor a serious writer. A serious writer would have researched the difference between a sacrament and a sacramental, as would a serious editor at The Atlantic. Neither did, and they exposed their ignorance in the story’s subhead. Pathetic.

I can also assure you that demonologists know the power of the Rosary in spiritual combat. For example, let’s look at the Battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571.

This Day Comes Only Once a Year

Pope Pius V rallied all of Europe to pray the Rosary as Don Juan set sail to stop the advancing Mohammedan fleet that threatened to do to Italy and France what it had already done to Turkey, North Africa, and the Middle East. The heavily out-manned and out-gunned Christian forces prevailed by a miracle, and Pius V received spiritual confirmation of the victory days before the first messenger arrived with news from the fleet.

The Rosary is the Gospels on a string, a 20-minute meditation on Joyful Mysteries (Annunciation through finding Jesus in the Temple), Sorrowful Mysteries (the passion and death of Jesus), or Glorious Mysteries (Resurrection through The Woman of Revelation). In my life, the Rosary is the most effective path to faith. Not because the function of the prayer is effective, but because the spiritual movement it creates is so effective. If you struggle with any sin, simply say the Rosary for 9 days with intention of overcoming that sin. See what happens.

Now, this Panneton says the Rosary is about guns? Son, the Rosary is more powerful than the world’s arsenal of nuclear weapons.

As I’ve written many times, all conflict is the conflict between good and evil, God and Satan, on different planes. The more we elevate our conflicts to the celestial plane, the less need there is for guns and ammo. (Don’t tell the NRA.)

The problem is, few of us operate on that celestial plane, even though all of us who have been baptized with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost are capable of operating on that plane. Spiritual combat happens on that celestial plane, but it is often played out in our temporal world. Because man is fallen, we use rocks, knives, and guns. But with the grace of God and our acceptance of His graces, we can fight exclusively on His plane. With him.

Panneton either doesn’t understand spiritual combat, or he does and seeks to confuse his readers. Satan doesn’t want you to understand spiritual combat, because Satan has already lost that battle. He takes solace in deceiving humans into thinking the battle is undecided. Satan wants us to believe the forces of darkness could still prevail, and the forces of darkness will give humanity even whiter teeth, more comfortable shoes, better snacks, and unlimited Netflix and Disney+.

Panneton doesn’t want you to say the Rosary because the Rosary will make those creature comforts less important. And the manufacturers of those creature comforts buy the ads in the Atlantic that support Panneton’s lifestyle.

Therefore, Panneton is preaching Satanic verses. Don’t listen. Say the Rosary, instead.

And there is no such thing as “Christian nationalism.” The kingdom of God supersedes and conquers all nations and factions. The Rosary is a key to the gates of the kingdom. And the gate is narrow.