The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A marvelous prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and in its depth... Against the background of the words "Hail Mary" there pass before the eyes of the soul the main episodes in the life of Jesus Christ. They are composed altogether of the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries, and they put us in living communion with Jesus through -- we could say -- His Mother's heart.

At the same time ourheart can enclose in these decades of the Rosary all the facts that make up the life of the individual, the family, the nation, the Church, and all humankind. They include personal matters and those of our neighbor, and particularly those who are closest to us. Thus in the simple prayer of the Rosary beats the rhythm of human life. -POPE JOHN PAUL II

A few interesting facts about the rosary:

• St.Francis de Sales said the greatest method of praying is Reciting the Rosary.
• St.Thomas Aquinas preached 40 straight days in Rome, Italy on just the Hail Mary.
• St.John Vianney, patron of priests, was seldom seen without a rosary in hand.
• St.Padre Pio, the stigmatic priest said "The Rosary is THE WEAPON."
• "The rosary is a treasure of graces" - Pope Paul V.
• "The rosary is the scourge of the devil" - Pope Adrian VI.
• Pope Leo XIII wrote 9 encyclicals on the rosary.
• Pope John XXIII spoke 38 times about Our Lady and the Rosary. He prayed 15 decades daily.