These two extracts from the book "Maria sanctissima" by Dom Joseph Keller show how we should never be ashamed of the rosary, and how power a spiritual protection is it.

A very anti-christian spirit had developed in the higher schools of France during this last century; a spirit which, even in our own day, does not seem to be one the wane. When Louis Philippe occupied the throne, an edifying incident took place at the Paris "polytechnique."

One day a student rushed into the recreation room, and jumping on to a desk, demanded silence, with an air of importance, his eyes the while twinkling with merriment. The scholars eager to hear what he had to say, gathered excitedly round him and listened with breathless attention. "Gentlemen," he began, satirically, "I have discovered a most valuable and rare article; so rare and so unexpected is my discovery that I challenge any one of you to guess what it is, unless, perhaps, its owner is among us. But I would be rather inclined to think that the article belongs to an inhabitant of the moon, and not to a rational student of the Polytechnique. Now I call upon you to guess what I found in the passage of this very house." Then followed a string of impossible suggestions, one more ludicrous than the other, while peals of laughter rang through the hall.

At last the speaker again demanded silence, and continued: "I see, gentlemen, that you are fast losing patience, allow me, then, to satisfy your curiosity, without further delay, by producing the object." With these words, he pulled a rosary from his pocket, and held it high in the air. It was greeted with shouts and riotous mirth. "What!" they cried, "who on earth has brought such a thing as that here. The washerwoman must have dropped it." "Well," said the former speaker, "at any rate, it is a splendid joke, and if the owner does not come at once to claim it, I will set up the rare and precious article up for auction. So, for the first and last time, does anyone desire it back as his property?" At these words, a scholar, who was sitting before a table covered with books and drawings, looked up, he was surveying the unusual scene with a quiet composure. He was respected and beloved among his comrades. The youth now arose, forced his way to the place of the speaker, stretched out his hand, and with an unmoved countenance and firm tone, said: "The rosary is mine, please give it back to me."

Immense astonishment ensued. "Do you not see," cried one, "that he is just keeping up the fun, he is joking like the rest." "I am not joking," answered the youth, "least of all, do I joke about such holy things. Yes, gentlemen, the rosary belongs to me, and I ask for it back, it was given to me by my mother when dying, and I promised her to keep it always, and to be faithful to the practice of saying it. I have just now heard the holiest things spoken of here with a levity which is alone to be explained by the only too common ignorance which exists about our objects of devotion .....

Yes, I am religious, after the example of Vauban, our celebrated master, after the example of Turenne, Condé and Villars, men of whom every Frenchman is justly proud. I glory to be in such company, and I have no reason whatever to be ashamed on account of my religious opinions."

This courageous answer made a great impression on the listeners. Some wavered, uncertain whether to continue their ridicule or to apologise for their rudeness, and a few turned on their heels and left the room. But the majority admired the manly courage and candour of the undaunted champion of his Faith, and began to cheer loudly. The former speaker, who had found the rosary, was the first to come forward, and shaking him warmly by the hand, said: "I beg your pardon, Henry, I hope you are not too angry with me." "Oh, not in the least," replied the boy, good?naturedly, "only I must say, I think you are rather….." "Speak out," the other exclaimed, "I know I have behaved disgracefully, and I quite acknowledge myself in the wrong. Your words have made me realize that I have been talking absolute nonsense, and only made a fool of myself." Thus Henry gained the day, and his pluck was a lesson to many of the students, who though good at heart, had not possessed sufficient strength of mind to acknowledge their real sentiments in the face of ridicule.

Henry was a true child of the rosary, and his obedience to the last wishes of his pious mother, in always carrying it with him and saying it, had not merely preserved him from temptation in the unchristian atmosphere of a French military school, but had also given him the courage to make an avowal of his Faith, and brought many of his comrades to a better way of living.

A priest was called to a sick person, who lived at number 28 in X——street, but by mistake he went to number 18. He only found closed doors on the first storey, so he climbed to the second, where a child showed him a room in which lay a sick person. There he found a poor woman, by whose bed a man of perhaps some fifty years of age was sitting. The priest kindly asked him how his wife was.

"That does not concern you," he answered gruffly. "What are you doing here, and who sent for you?"

"Someone called me to a sick person, but perhaps I have made a mistake in the number of the house. In any case, I believe I can be of use here also, for it is undoubtedly God's will that I should come to your wife."

"Yes, indeed," whispered the woman in a dying voice, "Almighty God has led you here, and I will willingly make my confession."

"That you shall not!" called out her husband. "For ten years no priest has put his foot in the house, so leave us in peace, reverend sir, and do not trouble yourself about our affairs."

"My friend," answered the priest, "your wife's soul does not belong to you. So I will hear her confession and do my duty; please leave us alone for a time:"

The man continued to grumble, but at length he went out. Then the woman showed the priest a rosary, hanging near her, and said:?

"Look, Father, this rosary must have saved me. For ten years I have turned my back on God and religion, for fear of my husband, but every day I have faithfully said a decade of the rosary." Thereupon the dying woman prepared herself by a contrite confession for her departure out of this world, and died soon after."