“The prayers of His mother are a pleasure to the Son, because He desires to grant all that is granted on her account, and thus repay her for the favor she gave Him in giving His body.” St. Theophilus of Alexandria (Ammon) ( 3rd and 4th centuries)

“What prayer to the Father can be more truthful than the one that was delivered to us by the Son Who is Truth, from His own mouth…Let us therefore, beloved brothers, pray as God our Teacher has taught us. It is a loving and friendly prayer to beseech God with His own word, so approach His ears in the prayer of Christ. Let the Father acknowledge the words of His Son when we make our prayer, and let the One Who dwells within our breast Himself also dwell in our voice.” St. Cyril of Jerusalem (4th century, Doctor of the Church)

“With her for guide, you shall never go astray; while invoking her, you shall never lose heart; so long as she is in your mind, you are safe from deception…” St. Bernard of Clairvaux (11th-12th centuries, Doctor of the Church)

“After the Divine Office and the Holy Mass, no homage is as agreeable to Jesus and His Divine Mother as the fervent prayer of the Holy Rosary, since the work of salvation began with the Angelic Salutation [Hail Mary] the salvation of each one of us in particular is attached to this prayer.” St. Dominic Guzman (12th-13th centuries)

“It was not fitting that an angel should pay respect to a man until one should be found in human nature who would surpass the angels in these three ways [in dignity, close association with God, and fullness of divine grace] – and such was the Blessed Virgin. Thus, in order to show that she excelled him, the angel desired to show her reverence by saying, Hail.” St. Thomas Aquinas (13th century, Doctor of the Church)

“The Angelic Salutation is a rainbow in the heavens, a sign of the mercy and grace which God has given to the world.” Bl. Alan de la Roche (15th century)

“Before beginning a decade, pause for a moment or two and contemplate the mystery that you are about to honor in that decade.” St. Louis de Montfort (17th-18th centuries)

“Always remember that the best Rosary is the one with the most merit, and there is more merit when it is hard than when it is easy. Prayer is all the harder when it is (naturally speaking) distasteful to the soul and is filled with those annoying little ants and flies running around in your imagination, against your will, and scarcely allowing you the time to enjoy a little peace and appreciate the beauty of what you are saying. Even if you have to fight distractions all through your whole Rosary be sure to fight well, arms in hand: that is to say, do not stop saying your Rosary even if it is hard to say and you have absolutely no sensible devotion. It is a terrible battle, I know, but one that is profitable to the faithful soul.” St. Louis de Montfort (17th-18th centuries)

“So I put my hand in my pocket and took out my Rosary. I tried in vain to make the sign of the cross; I was not able to raise my hand to my forehead. When I realized this, I froze completely in fear. The Lady took the rosary she was holding between her hands and she made the sign of the cross. Then I tried a second time and this time I was able to do it. Immediately after I had made the sign of the cross, the great fear that had seized me disappeared. I knelt and prayed the Rosary, in the presence of this beautiful Lady. She passed the beads of her Rosary between her fingers, but she did not move her lips. When I finished praying the Rosary, she made the sign to me to draw near to her, but I did not dare. Then she suddenly disappeared.” St. Bernadette Soubirous (19th century)

“In such moments when fever, agony, and pain make it hard to pray, the suggestion of prayer that comes from merely holding the Rosary – or better still, from caressing the Crucifix at the end of it – is tremendous.” Ven. Fulton Sheen (19th-20th centuries)

“It is objected that there is much repetition in the Rosary inasmuch as the Lord’s prayer and the Hail Mary are said so often; therefore it is monotonous. That reminds me of a woman who came to see me one evening after instructions. She said, ‘I would never become a Catholic. You say the same words in the Rosary over and over again, and anyone who repeats the same is never sincere. I would never believe anyone who repeated his words, and neither would God.’ I asked her who the man was with her. She said he was her fiance. I asked: ‘Does he love you?’ ‘Certainly, he does.’ ‘But how do you know?’ ‘He told me.’ ‘What did he say?’ ‘H said, ‘I love you.’ ‘When did he tell you last?’ ‘About an hour ago.’ ‘Did he tell you before?’ ‘Yes, last night.’ ‘What did he say?’ “I love you.’ ‘But never before?’ ‘He tells me every night.’ I said: ‘Do not believe him. He is repeating; he is not sincere.’ The beautiful truth is that there is no repetition in ‘I love you’.” Ven. Fulton Sheen

“The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer…With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is lead to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of His love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.” Pope St. John Paul II (20th-21st centuries)

“The memories of Jesus, impressed upon her heart, were always with her, leading her to reflect on the various moments of her life at her Son’s side. In a way those memories were to be the ‘rosary’ which she recited uninterruptedly throughout her earthly life.” Pope St. John Paul II