Today we bring you just one vignette but it is so powerful and thought provoking that it should stay with you for some time. It was submitted by the Catholic Dispatch and truly gives one pause to ponder and pray, especially in light of our editorial yesterday on the Rosary and the World Wide Rosary Crusade. The following vignette is called, The Lifeline to Heaven.

O Child of God!
For whom Christ died.
Listen to the voice
Of your truest guide.

Unseen I am,
But just as REAL
As the WORDS you here read
And to you I reveal.

God's MOTHER am I,
Doubt it not, dear child!
Virgin Mother of Jesus,
Your OWN Mother mild.

To me did He give you
When dying on the Cross,
Oh! seek my protection
That you may not be lost.

From Heaven above
To pit you are in,
A LIFELINE I lower
To save you from sin.

The ROSARY it is,
To save you from HELL-
The DEEPEST dungeon
Where the devils fell!

Say it each day,
Come, what may!
From death to LIFE
It's your surest way.

Stronger than VICE
Is the power of prayer,
And my Rosary BEST
Will drive out despair.

Satan will laugh,
For well does he know
That if he does NOT,
From his grasp you go!


Yes, time it will take,
There is work to be done,
Yet the battle begun
Is the battle half won!

Fear not your weakness
But rely on my power,
All I ask NOW
Is a daily half-hour.

Even THIS you may take
In periods 5 -
10 "Hail Marys" at each
Will make it glide by.

For each such "decade"
There's a "Mystery" assigned;
A marvel of Christ's life
(Mine too) for your mind.

If the beads you lack
for counting the prayers,
The FINGERS will do -
Those tools of prayer.

Though 15 in all
These Mysteries be,
Each 5 in groups 3
Make 1 Rosary.

BEFORE each decade
Of the 10 "Hail Marys"
Say one "Our Father",
This rule doesn't vary.

At the END of the 10
Add one "Glory be",
3 prayers-these enough-
For my Rosary.

Read them at first,
Soon you'll know them by heart,
Easier then will it be
To prayer forth to dart.

But when your mind WANDERS
And you're tempted to quit,
Resolve more than EVER
That Rosary to grip!

It's the EFFORT, my child,
That counts with the Lord,
When the going is harder,
Richer is the REWARD.

For HEAVEN God made you
After life here below,
By the Rosary I'll LEAD you,
Just NEVER let go.

If "An apple a day
Keeps the doctor away,"
A ROSARY each day
Keeps the devil at bay!