One morning St. Joseph Cafasso, while passing the streets of Turing, met a poor, old, hunchbacked woman, who recited the Rosary softly as she walked.

"Why in such a hurry, good lady?" asked the saint.

"Oh, Reverend, I pass to clean the streets!"

"To clean the streets ...? What do you mean?"

"Look, last night there was the carnival and the people committed many sins. Now, I am saying the Hail Marys to cleanse this place of sin."

The Rosary cleanses the soul of sin and adorns it with grace. The Rosary saves souls. St. Maximilian Kolbe wrote in his agenda, "Many Rosaries, many souls saved." Do we think of this? We will save many souls by reciting the Rosary. What charity of inestimable value would this be!

What can we say of the conversion of sinners through the Rosary? We ought to speak of St. Dominic, St. Louis de Montfort, the Holy Curé of Ars, St. Joseph Cafasso, Padre Pio, etc.

The Rosary does good to all — sinners, just men and saints.

When St. Philip Neri was asked what prayer to choose he responded immediately without hesitation, "Recite the Rosary and recite it often."

Even when Padre Pio was asked what prayer he preferred most, he answered almost abruptly, "the Rosary".

The saints above all have shown the efficacious grace of the Rosary. How many saints were true apostles of the Rosary — St. Peter Canisius, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Camillis de Lellis, St. Anthony M. Gianelli, St. John Bosco, etc., perhaps among the greatest and most remarkable examples was Padre Pio. He is the most prestigious of all humanity. For many years he recited daily more than one hundred Rosaries. A gigantic model who guaranteed the fecundity of the Rosary for his sanctification and for the salvation of souls.

---