Q: What is Block Rosary?

A: Source: Block Rosary International, Inc. June 2003 Volume 4, Number 1

Block Rosary's quiet voice within a neighborhood is powerfully apostolic. It is a neighborhood astir for God. It is the shadow passing in the winter's darkness of one who loves a Lady and her Child. It is the stirring in the summer heat when no one wants to stir--done for the thirsting Christ of Calvary.  It is the gentler catacomb as if turned inside out; the house above the ground, with the love of Mary and her Jesus, worn like a badge for all men to see.

This is a description of the devotion, Block Rosary. But it is even more than this, for it seeks to bring into a neighborhood the basic building blocks of society; a love of our fellow men, based on the life of Christ, as found in the mysteries of the Rosary.

Block Rosary seeks to achieve a unity of mind and soul in the oneness of Christ, which will eventually bring to fulfillment the promise of Our Lady of Fatima, that in the end, her Immaculate Heart will triumph, Russia will be converted, and an era of peace will be given to the world.

Into the hands of all Catholics, God, through His Holy Mother Mary, has given the means by which we can actively take part in the spreading of the word of God, through the Block Rosary. This comes through the accounts of numerous souls who either returned to a practice of their Faith, or who entered the Church because their fellow neighbor took the time to live and to practice his Faith.

"Where two or three are gathered for My sake, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20). If we bring our neighbors together in the common interest of saying the Rosary, we can be assured that Christ will be in our midst, and that He will make His presence felt by all in the community, by "drawing all things to Himself."

Block Rosary members pray that "all will be one," and for the return of straying sheep to one fold.  Not only do they pray for these intentions, but through their lives, they seek to guide the wandering back to the harbor of light and truth, that is the Catholic Church.

Block Rosary has proved to be a living apostolate for the return of the wanderer. Further, it has enriched the lives of all those who take a sincere part in it, by bringing them ever closer to Jesus through Mary. The evidence of this is repeated over and over in parishes which undertake to link neighborhood to neighborhood through the bond of the Holy Rosary, through the Block Rosary devotion.

In parishes where there has been a sincere effort to establish Block Rosary, there has been an increase at church devotions, at daily Mass, and a most fruitful increase of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, through the reception of Holy Communion. This increase of devotion is not to be wondered at, but is to be expected. Many of the great saints of the Church have taught that one of the sure methods to increase in grace and to come closer to Jesus Christ, is to have a true devotion to the Mother of God. If this is true for an individual soul, how much more benefit will a parish receive which totally turns to Jesus through Mary?

In addition to being an effective means of stimulating parish devotion, group recitation has many benefits for individual souls, and is highly recommended by Saint Louis Marie de Montfort. In his book, The Secret of the Rosary he lists these benefits:

1. Normally, our minds are far more alert during public prayer, than when we pray alone.

2. When we pray in common, the prayer of each one belongs to all. We make one great prayer together, so that if one person is not praying well, someone else in the same gathering who prays better may make up for his deficiency. In this way, those who are strong uphold the weak. Those who are fervent inspire the lukewarm.

3. One who says his Rosary alone only gains the merit of that one Rosary. But if he says it together with others, he gains the merit of each Rosary. This is the law of public prayer.

4. Pope Urban VIII who was very pleased to see how devotion to the Holy Rosary had spread in the city of Rome, and how it was being said in two groups or choirs, attached 100 days extra indulgence whenever the Rosary was said in two groups. This was set out in his brief Ad Perpetuam Rei Memoriam written in the year 1626.

5. Public prayer is far more powerful than private prayer, to appease the anger of God, and to call down His mercy. Holy Mother Church, guided by the Holy Ghost, has always advocated public prayer in times of public tragedy and suffering.

6. If the faithful recite five decades of the Rosary in company with others, whether in public or private, they may gain an indulgence of ten years, once a day. A plenary indulgence on the last Sunday of the month, with the addition of confession and Communion and a visit to the church, if they perform such recitation at least three times in any of the preceding weeks.

Finally, Saint Louis Marie de Montfort states, "When people say the Rosary together, it is far more formidable to the devil, than one said privately, because in this public prayer, it is an army that is attacking. It is very easy to break a single stick, but if you join it to others to make a bundle, it cannot be broken. In union, there is strength."