October 2020
The Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena
The Living Rosary Association has recently received some good news: its founder, Venerable Pauline Jaricot, is soon to be beatified.
The History
The Living Rosary Association was founded by her in 1826, when she was aged 27, at Lyon, France. The Venerable Pauline had already founded the Society for the Propagation of the Faith at the age of 20, and was a close friend of the Curé of Ars. The Living Rosary devotion spread like wildfire throughout the world, was formally approved and richly indulgenced by Pope Gregory XVI, and accorded official canonical status on January 27, 1832.
The Devotion
The Living Rosary is a perpetual devotion. That is, once joined, you agree to pray a daily decade of the Rosary faithfully for the remainder of your life. This obligation doesn’t bind under pain of sin, but your effort and desire to remain faithful are crucial.
Your decade may be offered at any time of the day or night. ULRA builds a list of 15 names of those who contact them, wishing to join the Living Rosary. Each of the 15 people are then allotted their specific mystery to pray every day and are notified by post which mystery they are to be allotted and when to begin. The intention of the decade is always the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and in honour of Saint Philomena.
The Work
Patti Melvin, a Texan, began the revival of The Living Rosary Association on December 8, 1986, with 30 members. The apostolate has been richly blessed by Our Lady and under the powerful patronage of St. Philomena, the membership now stands at 8,000,000. It has been planted in every continent of the world. Each member is asked to voluntarily give a monthly donation if possible, as the organisation has no other means of financial support. The donations received are then ploughed back into spreading the Living Rosary devotion, maintaining the ULRA centre, and mailing to the missions and elsewhere throughout the world devotional literature and sacramentals, such as the Rosary, the Brown Scapular, the Miraculous Medal, St Philomena’s Cord and St Philomena’s Oil. If it isn’t possible to donate financially, ULRA asks that its members pray fervently that its material needs are met.
The Magazine
A regular newsletter ― Dedicated Decades ―is posted to members. It is a beautiful magazine, full of traditional and inspiring Catholic devotional articles, pictures and prayers. As one article explained:
In these days of evil, chaos, confusion, division and Modernism, the Living Rosary will be a mighty force in every family, parish, diocese and country. The Holy Rosary is a gift to us from the Queen of Heaven. If the Rosary is prayed faithfully and is strengthened by the unity of association, it will render the attacks of Satan impotent. The Living Rosary is endowed with great power before the throne of God through the union of charity that flows through its members. Immense are the graces and merits obtained daily, by every member, when united and animated by the fire of Divine Love in the Immaculate Heart of Mary. One who prays the Rosary alone receives the grace and merits of a single Rosary, but if he or she is united with EIGHT million members, then all of the graces and merits of the whole are gained.
Dedicated Decades is a wonderful antidote to the spiritually poisonous literature so prevalent today. It also contains reports of ULRA’s work and many testimonials from all over the world: testifying, that is, to the spiritual and temporal graces received through the practice of the Living Rosary and the intercession of Our Blessed Lady and St Philomena. Consider the following letter published in the 19 October 2007 issue: a powerful witness that has even greater resonance today in view of well-funded Marxist networks emerging across the West ― already burning and looting, bashing and killing in American neighbourhoods, while also wrecking Catholic churches and monuments with impunity:
Cher Madame Patti, Bonjour from Goma in D.R. Congo. We have not written to you for a long time because the situation here in Eastern Congo is the very worst in the world according to U.N. reports. We are so sorry we missed Emma’s visit to us [Emmanuel, the ULRA African Liaison]. We hear now he is in Sudan. God bless him! Oh, the renegade rebel, General Nkunda of Rwandan descent is massacring our people in large numbers! Many teachers and pupils cried to me to give them the Miraculous Medal, so at least when they are shot, they will be dressed in Our Lady’s medal. I told them I had none... I am so sorry to say that many of those who cried for medals have since been killed. We had over 320,000 refugees who lived here and now they have been scattered. ... We are in the middle of the biggest war. Rebels invade at night and kill, claiming to be protecting the Tutsi of Rwandan origin. Please save the situation. If only Emma could come, we might at least die wearing Our Lady’s Miraculous Medal. We beg you, let us at least die with Mother Mary. Hear our voice! We cannot pray now, because we are all running and hiding, but at least the precious Medal would be around our neck. Please reply. We have no other hope! . . .
This heart-breaking testimony is a living rebuke to those Catholics who display general indifference and even contempt towards the beautiful sacramentals that Our Lady has given to aid us in our journey towards eternal salvation. It should also prompt to us to help make sacramentals available to as many others as possible.
Sign Up!
I joined ULRA and was given my decade, the Nativity of Our Lord, to start on Christmas Day 2003. (The CO Editor tells me he signed up ten years ago.) Through good times and bad, it is comforting to know that one is part of a great spiritual family, supporting each other and praying for the most important of intentions ― the hastening of Our Blessed Lady’s promise given at Fatima: “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.” I urge you to join ― you won’t regret it!
Contact details:
England: Anne Curran, ULRA, P.O. Box 9964, Colchester, CO1 9FN.
Email: ulrauk@gmail.com
America: Patti Melvin, ULRA, P.O. Box 1303, Dickinson, Texas 77539.
Fax: (281) 337-3722 / (281) 309-9821
Email: Filomena@Philomena.org
Web: Philomena.org