One day, in the mid-eighties onboard a cab from Adabraka to Kokomlemle, I saw a rosary hanging on the rear-view mirror. I asked the cabbie whether he was a Catholic and he said “No.” So, I asked why he was hanging a rosary in his car. He said these words, which I have not forgotten to this day. “It is better, to pray through the Mother, who knows Him better.” I was speechless.
The Holy Rosary prayer is the second most powerful prayer after the Celebration of Holy Mass.
In the Hail Mary, there is no word that Mary, herself, said. The Archangel Gabriel spoke God’s direct words when saluting Mary. “Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was highly favoured by God and He let her know. (Luke 1: 28b and 30b). Then through Elizabeth, her cousin, the Holy Spirit also sent these powerful words. “Blessed are you among women and Blessed is the Fruit of your womb, Jesus…. Mother of God….” (Luke 1:41-43).
Mary’s role as an intercessor came manifest when she interceded at the wedding at Cana when wine run dry. This event concludes the Hail Mary, ‘Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death!” In John 2: 3, it reads, “when the wine run short, the mother of Jesus said to Him. “They have no wine.”’
How Mary got to know that wine had run out could be anyone’s guess. But it shows here that we have in this Woman, someone so caring and looking after us every minute of the time and interceding for us when the need arises, even if we are not aware of what is going on.
And the love Jesus Christ has for her, showed when even though Jesus’ time had not come for Him to show who He is and what He is capable of doing, Mary’s intercession made Him to grant her request. She continues to intercede for us right to our last breath on earth. And even during our hour of death, when our soul walks through to the Judgment Seat of God, her prayers of intercession would wade off the demons who would come to distract and confuse us and make us fall.
The prayer goes like this: Hail Mary, full of Grace; the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women; and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God; Pray for us sinners, now at the hour of my death, Amen.
There is another thing about the first words of this prayer: Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you! God saluted Mary with these words as He put across the request that she is to become the mother of His Son, Jesus, who would come to save the world from Satan’s grip.
Hell was not going to be pleased if its plans to win over humankind are disrupted. When Archangel Gabriel proclaimed Mary as someone full of grace and someone who the Lord is always with, hell went still, hoping that Mary would say “No!” Unfortunately, Mary’s fiat, in Luke 2: 38, “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done according to your word,” shattered Satan’s kingdom and all hell broke loose in hell. And to this day, whenever the Hail Mary is prayed, Satan gets greatly disturbed, confused and his plans gets disorganised.
The Holy Rosary prayer has worked lots of miracles in the world, among nations and in the lives of individuals. October is said to be the month of the Holy Rosary and it was on October 7, 1571 at the Battle of Lepanto, that through the praying of the Holy Rosary, directed by Pope Pius V, the smaller and weaker naval fleet of the Christian states of Europe defeated the fierce and powerful naval force of the Islamic Ottoman Empire. With that Christianity survived, because the gates of hell cannot stand against the Church, Christ founded (Matthew 16:18).
October became the month of the Rosary and the proclamation that Mary is the Help of Christians in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, came to be.
On Thursday October 16, through to Saturday October 18, 2025, Catholics in the Archdiocese of Accra held a Rosary Congress.
The last time Catholics in Accra came together and picked their rosaries to pray, was last year on October 14, 2024, when they prayed for the intercession of Mary against the environmental degradation, particularly through the action of irresponsible mining or galamsey.
This Rosary Congress is a way to help individual Catholics to deepen their relationship with God, encourage faith, pray unceasingly for the needs of the Church and the world and rediscover the power of the rosary in evangelization.
It is to rekindle in the Catholic that spirit of true discipleship of Christ as Mary is, and bring to light the powers of the Holy Rosary prayer.
On Friday, healings came when the Blessed Sacrament was exposed and Mary made herself present with a blue aura around the sun.
Catholics demonstrated that they have the best from God. So, when you need help, just pray the Hail Mary, even if you are not Catholic. Remember, that it is better to pray through Jesus’ mother, who knows Him, better.
Hon Daniel Dugan
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.
