Champions of the Rosary

Champions of the Rosary, the History and Heroes of a Spiritual Weapon by Donald H. Calloway, MIC, is a thorough examination of what makes the Rosary the most beloved prayer of Catholics.  Father Calloway gives new information that most Dominicans probably aren’t familiar with.  The pictures Father adds are beautiful -- 26!    He even had some new ones commissioned just for the publication of this book.  I’m tempted to cut them out to be framed.

My favorite is St. Dominic slaying the dragon:

Let victory be thine, O Mother.  Thou wilt conquer.

Yes, thou hast the power to overcome all heresies,         

errors, and vice.  And, I, confident in your powerful

protection, will engage in the battle, not only 

against flesh and blood, but against the prince     

of darkness, as the Apostle [Paul] says, grasping

the shield of the holy rosary and armed with

the double-edged sword of the divine word.

Champions of the Rosary is the comprehensive book I have ever read on the connection between the Dominicans and the Rosary.  I kept flipping back to the cover of the book to check to see if the author was a Dominican. Father Donald Calloway belongs to the Congregation of Marians Immaculate Conception.  Still, I wonder if he were commissioned by the Order of Preachers to write on the Rosary.  It’s awfully coincidental that this book came out for the Dominican’s 800 Jubilee.  Plus, the publication date was August 8, 2016, (Feast of St. Dominic).  My Dominican senses twitch. 

Praise and thanks be to God for whatever reason Father Calloway was inspired to write Champions of the Rosary.  Every postulant should be given this book to read.  It belongs in every Lay Dominican’s Library.  It is an important, powerful story of our beloved rosary.