I want you to know that, in this kind of warfare, the battering ram has always been the Angelic Psalter which is the foundation stone of the New Testament. Therefore if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them over to God, preach my Psalter.
Our Lady’s words to St Dominic
Such powerful words from Our Lady when she gave St Dominic, and all of us, the Rosary as a weapon against evil. But what do her words really mean, and why did she use a battering ram to describe it? Today I will explore that question.
What is a battering ram?
In medieval warfare, a battering ram was regarded as a very powerful weapon. With an ability to smash through gates and heavy doors, it was an important part of an army sieging a castle or fortification. Castles and fortifications were important for invading armies because they allowed them to get a foothold in that area. An invader would build a fortification, and then the native country’s forces would have to drive them out, which was very difficult. This would be a bloody affair because those invaders inside a fort would be well protected, and the attackers would be slaughtered as they try to make their way inside. The battering ram was a siege weapon, allowing people attacking the fort to smash open heavy gates.
Why would we need a battering ram?
Sin is nasty business. Sometimes its difficult to root out sin and expel it from ourselves. It really is like an invading army, fortifying itself in our souls and minds. This enemy changes who we are, what we think, and our habits. Every sin committed fortifies this enemy, every sin is a stone in the walls of these spiritual fortifications.
St Dominic saw the sin of the Albigensian Heresy fortified within the hearts of the people he was trying to convert back to Catholicism. He tried to convince these people with no success. This was demoralizing to a saint who had such a zeal to save souls. No matter what he did, they either did not change or changed back shortly after their conversion. Our Lady gave him the answer to this in the form of the Rosary.
The Rosary acts like a battering ram against sin that is fortified. St Dominic was fighting against a heavily fortified sin. He preached the Rosary often and prayed it often, and the Albigensian Herey crumbled soon after. We also have our own sins to fight against. There are so many deeply entrenched and fortified sins in our world. We need an army of battering rams to take down these spiritual enemies. The Rosary is incredible because of it’s ability to root out and push back sins in our own lives, but also sins in the world around us.
How does it work?
Humility. Humility is a very important thing when it comes to the spiritual life. An ever dependant attitude towards Our Lord is what makes us holier and avoid sin. The first prayer in the Rosary is the Apostles Creed, and in it we declare a belief in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We declare we believe in the Catholic Church. All the things in this prayer that we declare a belief and confidence in destroys our pride and helps us be more subservient to Our Lord.
The Our Father, taught to us by Jesus Himself. In this prayer we say the words, “Thy will be done.” And we petition to Our Lord for our daily bread. And in the ultimate act of humility, we forgive those who trespass against us.
And then there’s the Hail Mary, which brings to mind the most humble person in human history. The angel Gabriel greeted this person as “Hail Mary, full of grace.” This abundance of grace, so much that she was completely filled with it, was due to her beautiful humility. With every Hail Mary, we beat against the gates of prideful sin, bringing us closer and closer to storming the enemy’s castle and routing them from our hearts.
The Rosary is not just powerful because of humility. When we pray the Rosary we are reflecting on scripture, on the 20 mysteries contained within the Bible. This has a profound impact on our spiritual lives because as we meditate on these parts of the Bible, we bring ourselves more in line with Christ’s teachings. To pray the Rosary is to pray with scripture.
Take the fight to the enemy
Mary, our spiritual mother, is ever ready to come to our aid in our spiritual warfare. Like any mother, she would fight tooth and nail for her children. This is so important in our battles because the devil hates and fears Mary so much. Our Father in Heaven also would fight for us, even more than Our Mother. He loves us even more than Mary does, and is all love.
The battering ram is not a defensive weapon. When we pray the Rosary, we are taking the fight directly to the enemy at their castle. We are attacking their fortification that they have no right to be in. This would be impossible to do on our own. If we attacked a castle by ourselves we would be destroyed before we even reached the gates. But with Our Lord and Our Lady on our side, we can knock down those gates with resounding force. A dedication to the Rosary means you will destroy any footholds of sin within yourself.
So pick up your Rosary today, and pray. Fight back against those forces of evil, that are invading on your humanity. They are not welcome, and Our Lord and Lady want to make them leave!