When Father Rich Simon was asked if he has a favorite rosary story, he recalled the day his mother died. Father Simon, host of the “Father Simon Says” show on Relevant Radio, said the rosary sustained his mother all her life and it “sustained us in the hour of her death.”
The mother of seven “was fun to be with until about an hour before her death,” he said, when she had a hemorrhage. “I’m standing there like a zombie and the nurse nudged me, saying, ‘You’re the priest. Start praying.’ So, we said the rosary.”
That rosary was “very powerful and very consoling,” Father Simon said. As family members finished it, his mother’s last whisper was “I love you.”
Father Simon recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley, during the month of the rosary, to discuss the devotion and its spiritual power.
The rosary’s power is in its spiritual warfare, Father Simon said. Every time someone prays the rosary, “you’re quoting Scripture, saying to the devil, ‘the human body is sacred. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.’ The flesh is sacred, particularly the flesh of a woman, which is the tabernacle of life. ‘Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.’ You say that 53 times, reminding the devil, using Scripture, that the human body is loved by God and doesn’t belong to him.”
The more one says the rosary, the more the rosary “kind of enters into you,” Father Simon said. “I wouldn’t want to spend a day without that weapon against the devil.”
During the interview, Conley asked Father Simon for advice on what to say when a Protestant friend asks about the rosary. To hear his response and the complete interview, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. Oct. 6 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. Oct. 7 and 2 p.m. Oct. 8.
“Father Simon Says” airs weekdays at 1 p.m. on Relevant Radio, and any time at relevantradio.com or the Relevant Radio app.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Father Tom Margevicius, director of worship for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who describes the season of Ordinary Time and how to live it well; and Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, and keynote speaker at an “Immigration: Crisis in America” event in St. Paul Oct. 19. Sister Pimentel offers her perspective on immigration and the shared responsibility as people of God to care for others.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.
