From letter to Maria Teresa, Coimbra, Dec. 4, 1970.

‹…› The Rosary is, for the majority of souls who live in the world, their daily spiritual bread; and to deprive them or draw them away from this prayer is to decrease in their minds the appreciation and good faith with which they pray, and in the spiritual realm the same or even more, so much more, considering the spiritual realm is superior to the material realm. If I can put it another way, it is as if in the material realm people were to be deprived of the bread necessary to sustain physical life.

Unfortunately, the majority of people are ignorant in religious matters and let themselves be tossed wherever the wave carries them. Therefore the great responsibility lies with those who have the office to lead them; and all of us are each other’s leaders, because we all have the obligation to mutually help one another, and walk the good path.

Beyond what I have said, it would be well if the prayer of the Rosary were given a more real meaning than that which it has been given, until now, of a simple “Marian” prayer. All the prayers that we say in the Rosary are prayers that form part of the Sacred Liturgy; and more than a prayer directed to Mary it is a prayer directed to God: — the Our Father was taught to us by Jesus Christ, Who said: “Pray thus, Our Father Who art in Heaven ...” — “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost ...” is the hymn that the Angels sang, who were sent by God to announce the birth of His Word, God made man. — The Hail Mary, well understood, is nothing less than a prayer directed to God: “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee”. I hail Thee, Mary, because the Lord is with Thee! These words were most certainly dictated by the Father to the Angel, when He sent him to earth, in order that with these words he should greet Mary.

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Perhaps it would also be well to present the campaign, not only as the fulfilment of the Message, but also as a campaign of prayer and penance for peace in the world, in the Church and in the Portuguese overseas provinces. And may it be that Portugal, so devoted to the Eucharist and to Mary, becomes the first nation to recognize that the prayer of the Rosary is not only a Marian prayer, but also a Eucharistic prayer. And therefore, nothing should prevent one from praying before the Blessed Sacrament. As proof of this, the Holy Father Pope Pius XI had granted a plenary indulgence to those who pray the Rosary before the Blessed Sacrament; and recently, His Holiness Pope Paul VI again granted the same indulgence.

Therefore, it is necessary to pray the Rosary in cities, in towns and in villages, in the streets, on the road, while traveling or at home, in churches and in chapels! It is a prayer that is accessible to all, and everyone can and should pray. There are many who do not attend the liturgical prayer of the Holy Mass on a daily basis. If they do not pray the Rosary, what praying do they do?! And without prayer who can be saved?! — “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation.”

It is necessary then to pray and pray always. This means that all our activities and labors should be accompanied by a great spirit of prayer, because it is in prayer that the soul meets with God, and in this meeting grace and strength are received, even when one’s prayers are accompanied by distractions. Prayer always brings an increase of Faith to souls, even if it be no more than a momentary remembrance of the mysteries of our Redemption, recalling the Birth, Death and Resurrection of our Savior; and God will dismiss and pardon those distractions attributed to human weakness, ignorance and littleness.

From letter to Mother Martins, Coimbra, Sept. 16, 1970.

‹…› the prayer of the Rosary or five decades of it, after the Liturgy of the Most Holy Eucharist, is what most unites us to God by the richness of the prayers with which it is composed, all of them coming from Heaven, dictated by the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

The Glory Be that we pray in all the mysteries was dictated by the Father to the Angels when He sent them to sing it to His Word as a newborn babe, and it is a hymn to the Trinity.

The Our Father was dictated to us by the Son, and it is a prayer addressed to the Father.

The Hail Mary is, all of it, impregnated with meaning both with regard to the Trinity and to the Eucharist. The first words were dictated by the Father to the Angel when He sent him to announce the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word.

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee": Thou art full of grace, because in Thee resides the source of the same Grace. And it is by Thy union with the Most Holy Trinity that Thou art full of grace.

Moved by the Holy Ghost, St. Elizabeth said: "Blessed art Thou amongst all women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus": If Thou art blessed, it is because Jesus, the fruit of Thy womb, is blessed.

The Church also moved by the Holy Ghost, added the words: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death": This is also a prayer addressed to God through Mary: Because Thou art the Mother of God, pray for us.

It is indeed a Trinitarian prayer because Mary was the first living Temple of the Most Holy Trinity: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon Thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow Thee; — and the Son which shall be born of Thee shall be called the Son of the Most High."

Mary is the first living Tabernacle where the Father enclosed His Word. Her Immaculate Heart is the first Monstrance that sheltered Him. Her lap and Her arms were the first altar and the first throne upon which the Son of God made man was adored. There the Angels, the Shepherds and the wise men of the earth adored Him.  Mary is the first Who took the Son of God in Her pure and Immaculate hands and brought Him to the Temple to offer Him to the Father as a victim for the salvation of the world.

So the prayer of the Rosary, after the Liturgy of the Most Holy Eucharist, is what most introduces us to the intimate mystery of the Most Holy Trinity and the Eucharist; what most brings us to the spirit of the mysteries of Faith, Hope and Charity.

The prayer of the Rosary is the spiritual bread of souls: Whoever does not pray, wastes away and dies. It is by prayer that we find ourselves with God, and in this meeting with Him, He communicates to us Faith, Hope and Charity: virtues without which we cannot be saved.

The Rosary is the prayer of the rich and the poor, of the educated and the simple. Take this devotion away from souls, and you take away their spiritual daily bread.

The Rosary is what sustains the little flame of Faith that still has not been extinguished in many consciences. Even for those souls who pray without meditating, the very act of taking up the Rosary to pray is already a remembrance of God, of the Supernatural. A simple recollection of the mysteries of each decade is one more ray of light to sustain in souls the still smoldering wick.

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I have great hope that the day will not be long in coming in which the prayer of the Holy Rosary will be declared liturgical prayer. Yes, because all of it forms part of the Liturgy of the Most Holy Eucharist. We pray, work, sacrifice ourselves and trust that — "In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph!"