We live in a frightening time. A culture of death targets people based on what they contribute rather than their inherent human dignity, resulting in abortion and euthanasia. The amount of people addicted to porn is wild. Drugs and alcohol are presented as answers to deep emotional and/or spiritual pain. The government is thwarting its responsibility to protect the family unit, a critical foundation of our society. Society has separated sex from anything meaningful. Women are told that healthy processes in their body are defective and are encouraged to take risky medications to cover it. People are rejecting the truth Christ has revealed to us which is protected by the Catholic Church. A faithful Christian may wonder what he or she can do.
The Rosary: Your Weapon for Spiritual Warfare by Johnette S. Benkovic and Thomas K. Sullivan presents an option: praying the rosary.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The Rosary: Your Weapon for Spiritual Warfare explores a number of topics. It begins with some powerful stories about the rosary and has a “call to arms” for prayer warriors. It then goes back to the beginning, sharing the start of spiritual warfare with Satan. There are chapters talking about the holy men and women that are in our prayer army as we, the Church Militant, have at our side. The book concludes with several chapters talking about how to pray the rosary well. Throughout the book, there are personal reflections from different people who have experienced the power of the rosary.
I thought this was an excellent book. The stories of the influence of the rosary and the strength of holy men and women were both inspiring and motivating. It was difficult to read the book and not feel compelled to join in this spiritual fight against Satan. I thought the personal reflections at the end of each chapter were a fantastic addition. It provided a nice balance to action-inspiring content. It was also nice to read stories that felt a little more relatable – people who struggled to pray the rosary, people who were indifferent to it, people facing big challenges in their lives – it addressed very real, earthly struggles with a spiritual strategy. All in all, the mission laid out in the book was clear: there were compelling reasons why we can’t stay complacent in the face of spiritual attacks, the support team was established, and the “weapon” had clear directions for its use and explanations why it was a good choice.
That being said, I do have two criticisms. The bigger one is that I think that chapters 10-12 should’ve been in the reverse order. It would’ve made sense to start with how to pray the rosary, then share specific reflections on the mysteries, and end on how to move forward and get others to pray the rosary. The other problem I had was the instructions to purchase this book. I’m already reading it; I don’t need to be told to buy it. That being said, these are very minor criticisms, and in my mind, it would not be fair to downgrade my rating of this excellent book over a few minor flaws.
Overall, I think this is an excellent book for any Christian who wants to pray better against the attacks of Satan.
