The Universal Living Rosary: Healing Balm of the Rosary One By One!
The most important message in the world today is neither sensational, confusing, or ambiguous; it does not concern itself with trifles; it is not impossible for us to attain; we can, in our own lives, help to accomplish it. The message of Fatima is the only hope left to obtain real peace in our world. If we really want peace, if we really want to avoid war, why do we not follow the requests of Our Lady of Fatima, Mediatrix, and Co-Redemptrix?
Perfect happiness consists in suffering much for Our Blessed Lord, who willed to suffer so much for us! We must give faith back to souls. There alone lies salvation for society and individuals. One with Mary, we will form Jesus Christ in many souls, for without Our Blessed Mother, this cannot be done. We must dedicate our lives, our strengths, and health to this great mission. We must evangelize, for this was the very mission of Our Lord. We must go to the poor, to the workers, to the humble, to the little ones, to the abandoned, and to all of those who suffer. We must speak to them, show them and teach them of the Kingdom of God. If we wish to triumph with Him, we must fight with Him. Everything speaks to us of the Cross. Contemplate the Crucified for suffering is the consecration of all Christian life. Let us, therefore, take our stand at the Foot of The Cross with Our Mother and His. May we wield her Most Holy Rosary Well and reach out to all souls while it is still possible.
As the foundress of the Propagation of the Faith and The Living Rosary, Venerable Pauline Marie Jaricot was endowed with a unique vision and a profound common sense.
The Living Rosary Association was founded by Pauline in 1826 to save the Church in France. It was born of Humility, Obedience, and Immolation. Pauline Jaricot was a victim soul who, at the height of her beauty, radiant charity, and overflowing love and desire to serve the suffering, was advised by her spiritual director to separate herself from the world and live a contemplative life. She enclosed herself for three years inside the walls of her home, where she prayed, read, and suffered in loving obedience and patient resignation. The fruit of those three years of isolation and martyrdom was The Living Rosary Association. It was formally approved and richly indulgenced by Pope Gregory XVI and accorded canonical status on January 27, 1832.
The Living Rosary Association was her inspired plan to restore the reign of Christ the King to France and the entire world. Her plan, quite simple and certainly possible for all, was that of Prayer-Penny-Propagation. Pauline’s triune plan was perfect and embraced all that was Catholic. Regardless of any person’s station in life or their financial means, all could participate.
People throughout history have failed to understand the power of Association. Satan, however, understands well the almost limitless power of Association. The assemblies of the wicked derive their power and their strength by the secret ties and oaths that unite all their members. By Association, these satanic forces spread division and disorder. That is their goal. For 20 centuries, the Earth has been the battleground situated as it is between Heaven and Hell. For twenty centuries, good and evil have struggled for dominion over this middle Earth.
Pauline understood intuitively the strength and the power of Association. So it was that “The Living Rosary Association” was conceived.
“We will be united in prayer with all of the peoples of the universe.”
“Let us form a group of 15 souls which will consist of the good, the mediocre, and those individuals who have only good will;15 coals: one being well lighted, 3 or 4 partially lit, and the others with no warmth at all. Bring them together, and you have a furnace!”
Pauline Marie Jaricot
Pauline took her mission to the factories where she would assemble the workers, pray a decade of the Rosary and collect a penny for the Apostolic works of the Association. Good Catholic Literature was distributed in order to combat the voluminous writings of error in her day. By 1831 Pauline’s membership (in The Living Rosary) in France alone grew to 200,000 and by 1837 to 1,000,000 and finally 2,000,000 members before her death.
The Rosary (often ridiculed then as now, many complaining that the Rosary is repetitious and childish) is the greatest weapon – the rampart against which the forces of evil have no defense. It is the most highly indulgenced and recommended prayer. It is a weapon “without equal” that will crush the enemies of Holy Mother the Church and finally bring peace to our very sick world! The Rosary is the Bulwark of the Church:
As in the time of Pauline, the Church in the 20th Century was betrayed by her own servants and continues to be betrayed in the 21st Century! She (Holy Mother Church) is attacked by her servants as well as by her enemies. Our Blessed Mother appeals to all men to “Pray the Rosary” and to unite in prayer against the powers of darkness which are bent upon the destruction of the Catholic religion. The Living Rosary is not a new devotion, but a continuation of the Rosary preached by St. Dominic and announced by our Blessed Mother for centuries. In these days of confusion, evil, chaos, and modernism, the Living Rosary can be a mighty force in every family because the Holy Rosary is a gift to us from The Queen of Heaven.
Amongst these treasures was the original Petit Manual of the Living Rosary Association, along with all of the directives, guidelines, and indulgences. Thanks to all of this information, the Universal Living Rosary Association was formatted exactly as the directives outlined, as continues, to this day without deviation from the original text.
Who is Patricia Joann Melvin? Patti, as she prefers to be called, is 56 years old, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (both she and her husband Richard were raised Catholic and were keenly aware of the evils of our days) graduated as a registered nurse from St. Vincent’s College in Los Angeles. Upon graduation, Patti was preparing to go to Tanzania, East Africa, when she met with a near-fatal accident that was to change her entire life. It took months for Patti to recover from her serious head injuries.
Eventually, after recovery, Patti worked at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane for several years, and it was here that she met and married Richard. Though they longed for a large family, none was forthcoming, and they eventually adopted two wonderful sons and moved to Dickinson, Texas.
While homeschooling their sons, they acquired a very large book on the life of St. Jean Marie Vianney and, through it, were introduced to St. Philomena. It was through the powerful intercession of St. Philomena that Patti’s prayers and hopes were realized. As all things do, their work began small; Patti and Richard wrote all the letters, kept all the records, registrations, packing, and much, much more. The guidelines established by Ven. Pauline, in her “Petit Manuel of the Living Rosary,” were followed, nothing was changed. It was decided that for the unity and perpetuity of this important devotion that, each person was accepted and pray the same decade of the Rosary each day. All of this was discussed with the personal secretary of the Cause of Ven. Pauline Jaricot and her bibliographer Fr. Naidenoff who gave his full confirmation from Lyon France at his office within the ‘Propagation of the Faith”.
The work began in earnest. One person at a time, Patti and Richard, through the Universal Living Rosary Crusade and with the continued intercession of St. Philomena (the daughter they had always hoped for), are reaching out to the whole world with the healing balm of the Living Rosary. One by one, they come in, Bishops, Archbishops, priests, religious, lay apostles, and the faithful. The years passed, and the revival of the Living Rosary and the revival of the devotion to St. Philomena were clearly connected. When the Melvin’s began their work, the memory and devotion to St. Philomena were once again buried in the catacombs, but this time in the 20th-century version. Over the years, the faithful are again learning of and turning to this great Saint, who is the patroness and protectress of the Living Rosary. The faithful were not disappointed, and St. Philomena dazzled them with her favors and miracles. The fame of St. Philomena again began to spread from one end of the Earth to the other. After working the devotion for 13 years, Patti knew that her prayers had been answered more fully than she had ever dared to imagine. St.Philomena had been given to the world again through the Universal Living Rosary.
What began on December 8, 1986, with less than 30 people now number 5,000,000 (five million) people around the world, all praying their dedicated decades every day of every year. Five million decades are prayed every day because a single Catholic couple had faith. When Patti and Richard began the animation of the Living Rosary and the revival of the devotion to St. Philomena, their work began in their home. It did not take long to fill their home with machines, translations, devotional articles, and boxes. One by one, the interested companies in making St. Philomena devotionals and books were translated, formatted, and published, and holy cards, medals, and statues were created. Famous old prints were reproduced, and new images were created. Through the efforts of the Universal Living Rosary, the principle Shrine of St. Philomena in Mugnano is being restored, and the pilgrims pour in from all over the world for her great feast.
Further, the entire estate of Ven. Pauline Jaricot is being restored and turned into a pilgrim center for all of France. A special book of her spiritual mysticism will be released in 2005. It is, in fact, the victim heart of the beloved foundress (of the Living Rosary) that has provided the fire that is setting the world aglow with prayer, which in fact will draw all souls to The Queen of The Most Holy Rosary” and thus restore to the world the Church, through fervor, zeal and the total sacrifice of the blood of the martyrs of the 21st Century. Through the Universal Living Rosary, we can all help bring about the Triumph of The Immaculate Heart of Mary, and when this comes to pass, God’s victory will both be accomplished and complete.
Over the years, “The Universal Living Rosary Association” had keen connections in Rome, including Vicar of The Bishop of Rome for many years…Bishop Van Lierde, as well as Fr. Redemptus Valabek (canon lawyer and Carmelite), both of these dear souls, have since passed away.
It is the mission of The Universal Living Rosary to hasten the Triumph of The Immaculate Heart of Mary; through the daily Decade of The Most Holy Rosary, That One with Mary, we may, in fact, bring about the Reign of Jesus Christ the King.
