LIVING AND GROWING: The Fifteen Promises

Published 1:30 am Saturday, July 4, 2026

“If you only knew how much I love you, you’d cry of joy” — the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Medjugorje.

Every good mother wants the best for their children and will do everything to make sure they are protected, safe, loved, and on the right track in life. As a mother of three, I have and continue to pray for my children. In every stage of their growing-up years and now that they are adults, I continue to pray for God’s will to be done in their lives. I am always on standby – ready to help, to come to their rescue – to lend a hand, to share words of wisdom, as needed. When my oldest was in high school, there were many moments when I felt like I lost him, as all we did was argue. My friend said to me, “Don’t worry, you will get your son back; hang in there and keep praying.”

During those trying moments, I remind myself of Saint Monica, who, for many years, prayed consistently for her son Augustine’s conversion. God granted not only conversion, but her son also later became known as Saint Augustine, one of the greatest theologians. “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you,” said Saint Augustine. He taught us that human hearts are restless and incomplete until they find their ultimate rest in God. There is a hole in our heart that only God can fill.

John 19:25-27 — Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

At the foot of the Cross, the Blessed Virgin Mary became our spiritual Mother. Wow! God has given us the best spiritual mother anyone can ask for! At times when I pray, I close my eyes and imagine myself as a child, with the Blessed Virgin Mary holding my hand, standing at the foot of the Cross of our Crucified Lord – at the fountain of love and divine mercy. I pray, “If I fall, please lead me back to your Son, Jesus. Wash me in the blood and water that flowed from His pierced side and help me never to lose my trust in this fountain of love and mercy.”

The Blessed Virgin Mary continues to hold our hands, to love us, to guide us, to bring us to her Son, our Lord Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. She brings us back on the right track of life, with the goal of making sure that all of us – her spiritual children- are safe at home in Heaven. She prays for us, she prays with us, she stays with us, she guides us until our heart rests in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And while on this earthly pilgrimage, she continues to equip us to withstand all Satan’s temptations.

The Holy Rosary is the best spiritual weapon that our Blessed Mother gave us. It is the best spiritual sword in our hands for this daily battle between good and evil. Here are her promises to those who pray the Rosary:

1. To all those who shall recite my Rosary devoutly, I promise my special protection and very great graces.

2. Those who shall persevere in the recitation of my Rosary shall receive signal graces.

3. The Rosary shall be a very powerful armor against hell; it will destroy vice, deliver from sin, and dispel heresy.

4. The Rosary will make virtue and good works flourish and will obtain for souls the most abundant divine mercies; it will draw the hearts of men from the love of the world to the love of God and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. How many souls shall sanctify themselves by this means!

5. Those who trust themselves to me through the Rosary shall not perish.

6. Those who shall recite my Rosary devoutly, meditating on its mysteries, shall not be overwhelmed by misfortune. The sinner shall be converted; the just shall grow in grace and become worthy of eternal life.

7. Those truly devoted to my Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.

8. Those who faithfully recite my Rosary shall find during their life and at the hour of their death the light of God, the fullness of his graces, and shall share in the merits of the blessed.

9. I shall deliver very promptly from purgatory the souls devoted to my Rosary.

10. The true children of my Rosary shall enjoy great glory in heaven.

11. What you ask through my Rosary, you shall obtain.

12. Those who propagate my Rosary will be aided by me in all their necessities.

13. I have obtained from my Son that all the members of the Rosary Confraternity shall have as their intercessors, in life and in death, the entire celestial court.

14. Those who recite my Rosary faithfully are all my beloved children, the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.

15. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Will you answer our Blessed Mother’s call to pray the Rosary daily?

Gina Del Rosario is a Roman Catholic who was born and raised in the Philippines, and is a parishioner at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church in Juneau. “Living and Growing” is a weekly column submitted by local clergy and spiritual leaders. It appears every Saturday on the Juneau Empire’s Faith page.