VISION
At Fatima the Blessed Virgin Mary asked for the daily recitation of the Rosary. Pope Saint John Paul II proclaimed a Year of the Rosary for 2002-2003 because he wanted to accentuate the power of the Rosary to counteract the evils of our time. The moral and spiritual crisis in our nation call for an earnestness in Marian devotion. War, greed, terrorism, the breakup of families and the horrific crime of abortion are examples of pervasive evil that can be overcome if many Rosaries are recited. The impetus for a shrine to honor Our Lady of the Rosary is a response to Our Lady's earnest requests at Fatima and also to continue the spirit of the Year of the Rosary. For centuries, up to the present day, the Church has consistently promoted the Rosary as a means to turn people back to God. "It is vital to proclaim Christ to a Society that is drifting away from Christian values and even for getting about them." Pope Saint John Paul II - October 7, 2003 (feast of the Holy Rosary).
In his biography, Pope Francis recounts how in 1985 he was inspired by Pope Saint John Paul II's piety in praying the Rosary. After becoming lost in prayer in the presence of the saintly Pontiff, Pope Francis, then Archbishop Bergoglio, vowed that from that day forward daily he prayed 15 decades of the Rosary.
The late Father Gabriel Amorth, chief exorcist for the Vatican, heard the devil say during an exorcism: "Every Hail Mary is like a blow on my head. If Christians knew how powerful the Rosary was, it would be my end." The shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary aims to proclaim the power of the Rosary to defeat the devil.
Development
Since 2003, the Year of the Rosary, there has been a movement to establish a Shrine to Our lady of the Rosary in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, Missouri. The effort received the approval of Cardinal Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of Saint Louis and Archbishop Robert Carlson. The Shrine project was initiated by the Saint Louis Division of the World Apostolate of Fatima, but is now a separate entity registered with the Missouri Secretary of State's Office. After considering numerous sites over an 11 year period, the Shrine to Our Lady of the Rosary was inaugurated on October 13, 2014 by Bishop Emeritus Robert J. Hermann in the Bonne Terre area of Saint Francois County in southeastern Missouri.
The Shrine is housed in a temporary structure until a permanent chapel can be built. Inside the building are beautiful stained glass windows, life-size statues and a magnificent painting of Our Lady of the Rosary. Parishes can borrow the painting as a means to inspire greater devotion to the praying of the Rosary. the Shrine will be a place to pray for peace in families and for peace in the world. At this shrine, pilgrims may follow the inspiration of Saint Pope John Paul II who said: "The rosary prayer embraces the problems of the Church, the See of Peter, the problems of the whole world. In it we remember sinners and the Souls in Purgatory." You can become one of the valorous spiritual warriors who will take their positions on their knees, with Rosary in hand, to pray for the needs of he whole world at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary.