Sweet Chain Which Unites Us to God

This is my 100th posting on Vultus Christi! At the beginning of October I promised to post something on the Holy Rosary each day until the end of the month. On this liturgical memorial of Blessed Bartolo Longo I can think of nothing more suitable than the conclusion of his own magnificent Supplication to Our Lady. Pope John Paul II used this very text at the end of Rosarium Virginis Mariae.
The image of Our Lady of the Rosary is the painting that Blessed Bartolo Longo obtained in Naples for the people of Pompei on November 13, 1875.
“O Blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain which unites us to God, bond of love which unites us to the angels, tower of salvation against the assaults of Hell, safe port in our universal shipwreck, we will never abandon you. You will be our comfort in the hour of death: yours our final kiss as life ebbs away. And the last word from our lips will be your sweet name, O Queen of the Rosary of Pompei, O dearest Mother, O Refuge of Sinners, O Sovereign Consoler of the Afflicted. May you be everywhere blessed, today and always, on earth and in heaven”.