04/03/2026
Praying the Rosary Can Save You from Going to Hell
Here are the excerpts from the book “The Secret of the Rosary” by Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort on how praying the Rosary everyday saved persons from being damned in Hell. I heard about this long ago as a child, and have stayed in my mind ever since. But this only gets a meaning to me now as an adult in the right age and wisdom:
“There was a certain pious but self-willed lady who lived in Rome during the time of Saint Dominic. She was so devout and so fervent that she put to shame by her holy life even the strictest religious in the Church.
Having decided to ask Saint Dominic’s advice about her spiritual life, she asked him to hear her confession. For her penance, he gave her one whole Rosary to say, and advised her to say it every day. She said that she had no time to say it, excusing herself on the grounds that she made the Stations of Rome every day, that she wore sack-cloth and also a hair shirt, that she gave herself the discipline several times a week, that she carried out so many other penances and fasted so much. Saint Dominic urged her over and over again to take his advice and say the Rosary, but she would not hear of it. She left the confessional horrified at the tactics of this new spiritual director who had tried so hard to persuade her to take on a devotion that was not at all to her liking.
Later on when she was in prayer, she fell into ecstasy and had a vision of her soul appearing before Our Lord’s Judgment Seat. Saint Michael put all her penances and other prayers onto one balance of the scales, and all her sins and imperfections onto the other. The tray of her good works was greatly outweighed by that of her sins and imperfections.
Filled with terror, she cried for mercy, imploring the help of the Blessed Virgin, her glorious Advocate, who took the one and only Rosary that she had said for her penance and dropped it onto the tray of her good works. The one Rosary was so heavy that it weighed more than all her sins as well as all her good works. Our Lady then reproved her for having refused to follow the counsel of Her servant Dominic, and for not saying the Rosary every day.
As soon as she came to herself, she rushed and threw herself at the feet of Saint Dominic and told him all that had happened, begged his forgiveness for her unbelief, and promised to say the Rosary faithfully every day. By this means, she rose to Christian perfection, and finally to the glory of everlasting life.”
***
In another story, there was an Albigensian possessed by the Devil that was brought to Saint Dominic as he was preaching about the Rosary near Carcassone. Around 12,000 people went to Saint Dominic to listen to him. Saint Dominic exorcised the man in the presence of the huge crowd. The Devil was forced to talk about the devotion to Our Lady, during the exorcism by Saint Dominic:
“Listen well, you Christians: the Mother of Jesus Christ is all-powerful, and She can save Her servants from falling into hell. She is the Sun which destroys the darkness of our wiles. It is She who uncovers our hidden plots, breaks our snares, and makes our temptations useless and ineffectual.”
“We have to say, however reluctantly, that not a single soul who has really persevered in Her service has ever been damned with us; one single sigh that She offers to the Blessed Trinity is worth far more than all the prayers, desires, and aspirations of all the saints.
“We fear Her more than all the other saints in Heaven together, and we have no success with Her faithful servants. Many Christians who call upon Her when they are in the hour of death, and who really ought to be damned according to our ordinary standards, are saved by Her intercession.
“Oh, if only that Mary (it is thus in their fury that they called Her) had not pitted Her strength against ours and had not upset our plans, we should have conquered the Church and should have destroyed it long before this, and we would have seen to it that all of the Orders in the Church fell into error and disorder.
“Now that we are forced to speak, we must also tell you this: nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because She obtains for Her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins, and by means of this they obtain God’s forgiveness and mercy.”
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Saint Louis de Montfort said:
“If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory. Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if — and mark well what I say — if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins.”
Even to a person who’s about to be sent to Hell, was saved by the Blessed Mother because of the Rosary he wore, and the Rosaries said by other people because of his encouragement:
“Alphonsus, King of Leon and Galicia, very much wanted all his servants to honor the Blessed Virgin by saying the Rosary. So he used to hang a large Rosary on his belt and always wore it, but unfortunately never said it himself. Nevertheless his wearing it encouraged his courtiers to say the Rosary very devoutly.
One day, the King fell seriously ill, and when he was given up for dead, he found himself, in a vision, before the judgment seat of Our Lord. Many devils were there accusing him of all the sins he had committed, and Our Lord, as Sovereign Judge, was just about to condemn him to hell when Our Lady appeared to intercede for him. She called for a pair of scales, and had his sins placed in one of the balances whereas She put the Rosary that he had always worn on the other scale, together with all the Rosaries that had been said because of his example. It was found that the Rosaries weighed more than his sins.
Looking at him with great kindness, Our Lady said: “As a reward for this little honor that you paid Me in wearing My Rosary, I have obtained a great grace for you from My Son. Your life will be spared for a few more years. See that you spend these years wisely, and do penance.”
When the King regained consciousness, he cried out: “Blessed by the Rosary of the Most Holy Virgin Mary by which I have been delivered from eternal damnation!”
After he had recovered his health, he spent the rest of his life in spreading devotion to the Holy Rosary, and said it faithfully every day.”
***
Evidently, the Most Holy Rosary is one of the essential help in attaining salvation. Like the stories above, a devout Catholic can also be in danger of not being saved. What more imminent danger of going to Hell is there awaiting for those in sects-cults out there who have never prayed the Rosary… and all disrespect and literally hate Our Lady? Those people who laugh at the devotions of the Roman Catholic Church such as the Rosary are going to be the demons’ laughing stock in Hell someday. Be wiser than them. As Catholics, we are blessed to see and understand the truth. What we have to do is to just take a few minutes of your time a day to pray the Rosary. Remember, to also pray it from the heart. Meditate on the Mysteries, and you’d be closer to Jesus Christ and His Virgin Mother as you get to know them more. Amen.
