Protect and Pardon...a rosary giveaway

This month of October is the month of the rosary. If you do not have a regular devotion to praying the rosary -- now is the perfect time to start. The prayers of the rosary and the mysteries are filled with scripture and as such, are a perfect bible study for busy mothers with little time to sit and study Sacred Scripture. There are many forms of scriptural rosary (I have posted before about them here, here, and here), but even without the scripture passages, the rosary teaches us about Christ Jesus, and the prayers, through God and Our Blessed Mother, lead us to Our Lord.

It often seems impossible for busy mothers to have enough quiet time to pray five decades of the rosary each day. Though it is a wonderful gift to make the time for all five decades at once, and scripture if you have extra time, it is often more doable to pray one decade at a time. By keeping a tenner rosary -- a string of beads -- ten Aves and one Pater -- in ones pocket or handbag, the time for a rosary a day can usually be found -- sitting in the car waiting for children, rocking a baby to sleep, or even waiting for a load of laundry to finish spinning in the dryer.

Today I am hosting a giveaway of one tenner rosary. I made this rosary with 20 gauge non-tarnishing silver wire -- it's very durable. The Aves are 6mm brown Czech glass beads and the Pater is a beautiful, iridescent brown, opaque, glass bead. The medal is a silver St. Michael the Archangel medal -- St. Michael, protect us -- and the crucifix is a Pardon crucifix. See the information below about St. Michael and the Pardon crucifix.

For a chance to win the rosary, leave your name and a way to contact you (please be sure to do this so I can find you later -- the internet is a huge place!) in the comment box by Tuesday at midnight and I'll announce a winner on Wednesday. Alternately, you can email me -- my address is in the sidebar.

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St. Michael:

On Sunday April 24th 1994, Pope John Paul II recommended this prayer be used by all Catholics as a prayer for the Church when he said:

'"May prayer strengthen us for the spiritual battle we are told about in the Letter to the Ephesians: 'Draw strength from the Lord and from His mighty power' (Ephesians 6:10). The Book of Revelation refers to this same battle, recalling before our eyes the image of St. Michael the Archangel (Revelation 12:7). Pope Leo XIII certainly had a very vivid recollection of this scene when, at the end of the last century, he introduced a special prayer to St. Michael throughout the Church. Although this prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask everyone not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world."'

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

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Pardon Crucifix:

The Front of the Crucifix: Above the cruciform figure, the familiar I.N.R.I. has been inscribed with the words "Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum. "" Latin uses I instead of the English J, and V instead of U (Iesvs Nazarenvs Rex Ivdaeorvm). The English translation is "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." . The Reverse of the Crucifix: On the transverse arms are the words, "Father, forgive them.". On the vertical beam of the Cross are the words, "Behold this heart which has so loved men.". An image of The Sacred Heart of Jesus is shown in the center.

These indulgences have been declared upon the Pardon Crucifix by Pope St. Pius X in 1905, and have been approved in the pardon of the living and the souls in Purgatory in 1907. The lengths of the indulgences were repealed in the new Enchiridion, and the indulgences were granted to remit the guilt of the sin committed:

1. Whoever carries on his person the Pardon Crucifix, may thereby gain an indulgence.

2. For devoutly kissing the Crucifix, an indulgence is gained.

3. Whoever says one of the following invocations before this crucifix may gain each time an indulgence: "Our Father who art in heaven, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." "I beg the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray to the Lord our God for me."

4. Whoever, habitually devout to this Crucifix, will fulfill the necessary conditions of Confession and Holy Communion, may gain a Plenary Indulgence on the following feasts: On the feasts of the Five Wounds of our Lord, the Invention of the Holy Cross, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Immaculate Conception, and the Seven Sorrows (Dolors) of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

5. Whoever, at the moment of death, fortified with the Sacraments of the Church, or contrite of heart, in the supposition of being unable to receive them, will kiss this Crucifix and ask pardon of God for his sins, and pardon his neighbor, will gain a Plenary Indulgence.