This page includes a selection of short stories taken from 101 Inspirational Stories of the Rosary by Sister Patricia Proctor, OSC. This book is now available for purchase from our Rosary Store! Click here to purchase.
Healed Through a Rosary Novena
For 17 years I suffered from a type of migraine headache. It seemed that every year the paid would last longer and intensify. I saw many doctors who tried many techniques but to no avail. Medicine did not help.
A friend told me to ask our Blessed Mother for relief during times of pain. One night I woke up with a severe headache. Since I could not sleep, I went downstairs into the living room, sat on the couch, took out my rosary and asked our Blessed Mother to please help me.
When the rosary was done, the headache was gone. I went back to bed and while I was lying there, I smelled the scent of roses. This was when I knew Mary came through for me that night.
However, I still continued to have headaches at least once a month. The headaches traveled from one side of my head then the other and lasted from two to three days.
On Christmas 1986 I had a terrific headache. The next day I decided to do a rosary novena. I asked Mother Mary if she would ask Jesus to heal me of my migraines. I promised that if she did and that if they went away, I would tell everyone I could about how she helped me.
I have not had a migraine headache since Christmas 1986. I said a rosary of petition for seven days, without realizing that a novena was for nine days. Before I knew that the headaches were gone, I immediately followed the first novena with a rosary of thanksgiving for seven days. I still thank Mary, and at every opportunity I have, I tell everyone how she helped me.
Maryann B. Toledo, Ohio
Her Presence Is With Us
In 1987, my husband, son and I went to visit my sister and her family in Germany. While on our trip, we visited many places, one of which was the apparition site, Medjugorje. This was not my idea, but rather my husband's. Once there, we went on the tour with many thousands of other people. I did not see or feel anything and left it at that.
Several years later, while praying on my way to church, I began thinking of the Blessed Mother. I did not have a great devotion to her - it had always been only Jesus for me. So I asked her to help me get to know her better, and to give me a devotion to her. A few days later, while eating my lunch in a small park by the river, I felt inspired to pray the rosary.
For 25 years I have belonged to a small prayer and share group with three other ladies. It came to me that perhaps we should pray the rosary at our weekly prayer meeting. I suggested it to the girls and they immediately agreed. Since that day, we have prayed the rosary, bringing all our needs to her. Many, many prayers have been answered and many times, we feel her presence with us. We have grown closer to the Lord, and it is due to our Blessed Mother who always directs us to her beloved Son. Praise the Lord!
Loraine W. Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
A Hail Mary Sky
My mother had a special grace about her.
I remember learning how to pray the rosary through her devotion to it and our Blessed Mother. Every time we were outside, and the sky was that beautiful sky blue color, my mother would say, "Look! A Hail Mary Sky!"
And I know she said an extra Hail Mary that day.
Now, when I see that blue sky above me, I think of my mother and say and extra Hail Mary, too.
Mother died peacefully at home with a sky blue rosary in her hand.
I told my older sister that I remember the "Hail Mary Sky" and that it means so much to me that I followed my mother's lead and started a tradition of my own. Now, when the sky is that sky blue shade, with some clouds here and there, I call it a "Hail Mary Sky with Lace."
May you see many "Hail Mary Skies" and, of course, some with "Lace."
Janet R. M. Metamora, Michigan
Red Station Wagon on a Hill
When I was 17 years old, I became a Catholic. My parents were alcoholics and didn't attend a church of any kind, but I was drawn to the Church in spite of my circumstances. I took instructions from a dear old Irish priest, Father Finley. He was very kind and wonderful to me. God sent me just the person I needed.
I was on fire for the faith. I ended up leaving my parent's home during my senior year in high school to live with my sister. I had been through the mill on more than one level and had put my full trust in God. I prayed that He would provide me with my life's mate.
This sounds much simpler than it seemed at the time. I prayed a rosary novena and never once doubted that my prayer would be answered. I knew God would provide me with His choice. One day after I finished the novena, I met the man who was to be my future husband. We were married within nine months of our meeting. He was not a Catholic when I met him, and took instructions from the same wonderful priest. That all took place nearly twenty-nine years and five living children ago (two died before they were born and are waiting for us in heaven).
While I was receiving my miracle, my husband was receiving a tandem miracle. During the time I was praying my novena, he was having dreams. He dreamed of meeting "the girl". She had long blonde hair and lived on a hill with a red station wagon in the driveway.
Well, when he met me - I lived with my sister. No hill or red car. But when I finally took him to meet my parents, there they were. He almost fainted. He had not told me about the dream since I did not exactly fit the mold. He then told me, and we knew there was a heavenly plan for our life together. I am nine months older than he is. I always tell him that that proves that God made him just for me.
Pamela Sue T. Exeter, California
A Safe Return
I have always had a great love for the Blessed Mother. I remember as a child (one of nine children) in my family, we would gather around a statue of the Blessed Mother to say the rosary every night. I grew up having a great love for the Blessed Mother and the rosary. When my husband was diagnosed with Lymphoma, I naturally turned to Our Lady. I am most thankful to report that he has been cancer free for 11 years. I owe it all to the Blessed Mother.
Another story told to me by my mother: It was during World War II. I had two brothers in the army, and one day while in church my mother was praying to Mary, and asked her if her boys would be coming home from the fighting. She said that Mary moved her head yes. Both of my brothers came home without a scratch. Thanks again to Our Lady.
Georgianna M. T. Mt. Vernon, Ohio
The Family That Prays Together
I have a precious memory that goes back to 1950, when Father Patrick Peyton came to the Saskatchewan prairies, preaching on the rosary. His motto, "The Family that prays together, stays together," made a great impression on many of us who lived in the region.
I know the influence it had on our family as we pledged, along with many other families, to say the rosary as a family. Kneeling on the hard kitchen floor, we gathered together (my parents and the ten of us children) for this evening prayer. Saying the rosary together is still one of my treasured family memories.
When we still gather for family events, especially in times of illness or death, the rosary is still prayed together and continues to give us renewed strength. I know it does that for me and I am sure I can include my other family members, too. All of us carry a rosary around in our pockets or purses ready for this wonderful prayer to our Blessed Mother.
For years, my brother Jacob Elder has made hundreds of rosaries, which he freely gives to others. The only request he has is that the recipient will say at least one rosary for him. His faith in this prayer, I am quite certain dates back to our family rosary. We've had many blessings as a family, and I still have great faith in Father Peyton's motto: "The family that prays together, stays together."
Sr. Theresia E. Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Heaven was Flooded with Rosaries
A few years ago, my dear mother was diagnosed with a tumor in her abdomen. It showed up in the x-ray that was read by two technicians, and our doctor could actually feel the tumor by pressing his fingers into mom's abdomen.
From the time she was diagnosed until the day of her surgery, mom sat on the couch with her rosary and continuously said decade after decade to our Blessed Mother.
In surgery, the doctor operated to remove the tumor - but the tumor was nowhere to be found!
The doctor had to agree that this was indeed a miracle, and we know that it was a result of heaven being flooded with rosaries.
Mom has since passed on from this world, but we continue her love for the rosary.
Anne C. Ajax, Ontario, Canada
A Rosary Laugh
When my youngest daughter, Jan, was seven years old, she fell and broke her left arm just at the elbow. In the resulting X-ray, the break looked like a right angle.
As my mother and I sat in the waiting room while Jane was being treated in the emergency room, I started to pull out my rosary, which was in a plastic case. It was my refuge in times of stress.
My mother heard the sound, and looked over at me.
"How many of those have you had today?" she asked.
When she saw what had made the sound - not pills, but my rosary - she began to laugh, and so did I.
This laughter provided us both with a release from the tension we were under. Thank you, Mary!
Patricia M. A. Ft. Walton Beach, Florida
Shrine of Safe Return
In the early spring of 1944, with WWII fully engaged, work on an open-air shrine to be dedicated to our Lady Queen of Peace was begun in St. John's Parish in the little German/Dutch community of Leopold, Missouri. To make this an all-parish effort, even the children were recruited to bring in sparking, quartz-encrusted stones for the walls. Thousands of stones were brought in from the local hills and creekbeds. Parish craftsmen and builders raised the crenelated walls, laid the flagstone floor, and completed the necessary concrete work. In May of that same year, the shrine of our Lady Queen of Peace was dedicated to the safe return of members of St. John's Parish serving in the armed forces. The practice of saying a parish rosary for the intention of world peace and the safe return of the servicemen of the parish was begun at that time. Every evening, as long as weather permitted, dedicated locals would gather about dusk to say a group rosary at the shrine.
Initially 44 names were inscribed in the marble tablets of the altar front, representing the young men serving in WWII. Since the ending of WWII, a multitude of parish members have served in the armed conflict around the world, through the Korean Conflict and the Viet Nam War. To this day, the rosary is still recited at the shrine, and to this day not one parish member has lost his or her life while serving our country. There were many harrowing tales of near misses, and some men were wounded, but none of the wounds were life threatening.
Nick J. E. Leopold, Missouri
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