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Fr. Donald Calloway make the following statement:

The rosary was forged in an age of chivalry. It is a spiritual weapon, a heavenly sword, fashioned by the hands of a Divine Craftsman. All swords take time and skill to make, but this heavenly sword required the greatest of efforts — centuries — to produce. It is a weapon unlike any other. It has the power to slay dragons (demons), converts sinners, and conquer hearts. The blade of this sword was forged in the living Word of God, shaped by the hammer of divine inspiration, and entrusted to the Queen of Heaven and her chosen servants. How the Word of God Enables Us to Defeat the Devil

What I found fascinating is the phrase "It has the power to slay dragons (demons),"

Looking at all the powerful statements of the popes & saints below it somehow speaks of defeating the devil like:

Father Amorth adds:

During an exorcism, Satan told me, through the possessed person, ‘Every Hail Mary of the Rosary is a blow to the head for me; if Christians knew the power of the Rosary, it would be the end of me!’”

"He also said at this time,

"Anyone who goes to Mary and prays the Rosary cannot be touched by Satan."(Fr. Amorth)

Words of popes and saints on the holy rosary;

“The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin"–(Pope Pius XI)

The rosary is the scourge of the devil~(Pope Adrian VI)

“There is another related in the Chronicles of St. Dominic. Near Carcassonne, where St. Dominic was preaching the Rosary, there was an unfortunate heretic who was possessed by a multitude of devils. These evil spirits to their confusion were compelled at the command of our Lady to confess many great and consoling truths concerning devotion to her. They did this so clearly and forcibly that, however weak our devotion to our Lady may be, we cannot read this authentic story containing such an unwilling tribute paid by the devils to devotion to our Lady without shedding tears of joy.”(Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, The Secret of the Rosary)

As we can see the rosary is a weapon against the devil as attested by numerous popes & well-known saints.

As St. Padre Pio famously said,

"The Rosary is the 'weapon' for these times."

What I'm looking for?

A solid Catholic biblical perspective, similar or related commentaries and teaching to prove the claim of Fr. Donald Calloway that praying the holy rosary is a weapon to slay the dragons(satan and his devils) making it a powerful spiritual sword.

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    It seems like you answered your own question in your question. In any event, I think this question would be better if shortened.
    – Marc
    Mar 26, 2018 at 11:51
  • Are you asking why that turn of phrase was used? Do you require that any utterance be literal? Mar 26, 2018 at 12:30

1 Answer 1

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To appreciate and grasp the wisdom behind the words of Fr. Calloway about the Holy Rosary as a “spiritual sword” we must bear in mind that were talking about spiritual warfare,as St.Paul said in Ephesians 6:12;

For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

And we can see further St. Paul was talking about a combatant warrior equipped for battle in the following verse:

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:13-17)

But the most important thing about the passages is, every believer was given a sword. What is the “spiritual sword”, the WORD is the sword of the SPIRIT.(Ephesians 6:12-17).

Biblical verses describing the Word of God as a double-edge sword;

"For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews4:12)

Now let us read the Bishop of Nigeria who had the vision of the Sword turning into the Rosary beads;

Then Bishop Doeme recounted what happened one evening toward the end of October 2014. "I was in my chapel having private prayer, saying the Rosary before the Blessed Sacrament exposed. Then the Lord appeared to me, standing to the right of the altar. It was a vision, not physical. He appeared as Jesus the Good Shepherd, and he was holding a sword with both hands. At this, I became jittery. I said, ‘Lord, what is it?’ He didn’t say anything; he just began to approach me, then reached down and gave me the sword, which turned into a Rosary.” National Catholic Register

Now taking the statement of Fr. Calloway “The Rosary according to Fr. Calloway is the Spiritual Sword of Mary.”

The spiritual sword belongs to Mary. To understand this fully let’s examine Ephesians 6:17:

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

St. Paul said the sword belong to the Holy Spirit and the sword is the Word of God.

Now, Fr. Calloway said the sword belongs to Mary, but St.Paul said the sword belongs to the Holy Spirit.

To reconcile this, the Word of God/Incarnate Word is Jesus himself, as we can see from the vision of Bishop Doeme Jesus is the one handing over the sword that turns into rosary beads.

To grasp this mystery of the Word of God as the Sword of the Holy Spirit, the bible gives us the answer “At the Annunciation”

...Let be it done unto me according to thy WORD. (Luke 1:38)

Blessed Virgin Mary bore the Incarnate WORD in her womb, gave birth to the Logos/WORD, nourished and formed the humanity of the Incarnate WORD for 30 years and accompanied the Incarnate WORD for 3 years of His ministry. From "womb to tomb". "Mary kept all these WORDs, pondering them in Her Heart" (Luke 2:19).

How about the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. (Luke 1:35)

The Will of God the Father decreed for man's salvation is, the Woman must bear the Incarnate Word and the Holy Spirit will overshadow her.The Most Holy Trinity was embraced by Mary’s FIAT (The WILL, the WORD & the Holy Spirit). The Most Holy Trinity is inseparable (St. Vincent Ferrer). As Book of Kings exclaims, "the highest heavens cannot contained God whom you carried in your womb"

But what is the purpose, why would the Blessed Virgin Mary need a spiritual sword? It’s because after the fall of man God made a holy decree, Mary’s role does not stop in just bearing the Incarnate Word but her role is to be the Leader of an Army that will battle the old serpent and She/Woman and her offspring will crush the proud head of the serpent.

I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.(Genesis 3:15)

The important question is how can a believer turn the holy rosary into a “spiritual sword”?

Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Will of the FaTher must first be embraced, and the Word of Jesus Christ must be pondered in our heart and lastly the Holy Spirit must dwelt in our soul as we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. One must lived a Trinitarian Faith like the Blessed Virgin Mary embraced.

...and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:14)

The WORD must be incarnated in every believer own flesh, as St.Paul said,

"it's no longer I who lives, but Jesus". (Galatians 2:20)

While Jesus showed us the power of the Word of God to combat the lies of Satan in the temptation at the desert, it doesn’t defeat the devil. Satan just fled unharmed. It’s a defensive stance only;

"resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7)

In attacking and defeating the works of the enemy (Devil/Satan), we must use the Word of God as Jesus said “

"...for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil". (1 John 3:8)

Jesus must manifest in our lives, in our thoughts,words and actions just Mary the Perfect Disciple of Jesus who imitate Him thru a life of humility & obedience.

In conclusion, the whole life of Jesus Christ is the Sword that defeated the enemy the devil/Satan. Praying the Holy Rosary contemplating the face of Christ in the eyes of Mary her Mother (words of St.John Paul II) using the Rosary beads with the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the soul in the state of grace will not only makes the devil flee but will experience a humiliating defeat and unspeakable torments as testified by numerous Saints, Popes & exorcist in the above quoted passages.

Also, since the Word of God is the "spiritual sword" the Christian too had a sword in their hand the Bible. But in spiritual battle we cannot defeat the enemy by mere reading the text, mediation is the key to penetrates the spiritual realms as Fr. McDanielle said for the Rosary to be effective we must reach the heights of Contemplation. Catholics, by holding the holy Rosary, had the OT & NT in their hands. While Christians hold the Bible as their sword.

Let’s us remember after the Fall of Man, all the redeemed had only two choices given by God in Genesis 3:15. Either you belong to the Woman as her offspring in which Jesus became the firstborn and the rest of the elect must be spiritually born in her, or we belong to the old serpent as his offspring/cohorts according to St. Montfort's book (True Devotion to Mary).

Truly the Holy Rosary is the “spiritual sword” of every spiritual child of Mary ready & equipped to defeat and slay the dragon. As the agonizing Jesus at the foot of the cross said to all the redeemed;

"Woman behold your son,..Son, behold your Mother". (John19:26-27)

NOTE : Satan and his demons have a superior intellect & memory, while most of us who prayed the holy rosary have difficulties in entering the state of meditation to ponder its mysteries, it is not the same with the demons. Satan and his demons At the Foot of the Cross had known the power of the Life of Jesus Christ, they now know that Jesus is truly God and truly Man.That's why satan and his demons hated the holy rosary. This link will open your eyes to the realities according to an Exorcist testimony: The Virgin Mary and the Devil in exorcisms, very important. Revelation chap.12 implications (YouTube).

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