What more can be said of the Rosary?

The Power of the Rosary by Gabriel Castillo provides the answer.

This new book will revitalize people already devoted to the Rosary, plus inspire and invigorate a new generation to begin praying the Rosary in earnest, to secure themselves, their families and loved ones in today’s stormy societal seas.

Castillo is a Catholic lay evangelist popularly known for his YouTube channel “Gabi After Hours.” His talks and videos total more than 30 million views, and his favorite topics are the Eucharist, the Virgin Mary, the Rosary, and the lives of the saints.

He is at his best in The Power of the Rosary, leaving no one out from his challenge to see the Rosary as a divine weapon forged by the Queen of Heaven and designed to sanctify and transform individuals, families and society.

Castillo spoke with the Register about his powerful new book, including how “the Rosary really factors into every facet of the spiritual life.” He said he hopes the book will “put a flag in the ground in Rosary history.”

He added, “This is the development up until this point, so that the major influencers in the Church, catechists, priests, seminarians, religious sisters will have a resource that they can use when they’re teaching the masses of people that they have in their pews or in their catechetical classes, as well as families. I recognize the importance of having something in writing that can stand the test of time long after YouTube videos have been wiped off the internet.”

With other books already written on the Rosary, what makes yours different?

In my opinion, the greatest book ever written on the Rosary is by St. Louis de Montfort. He wrote it in the early 1700s. For me, there has not been a book since that had the authoritative tone, the fervent conviction of this saint. Being 300 years old, what Louis de Montfort’s book lacks for modern audiences, at least, is the organic development in the Church that has happened since the 1700s. It also lacks the understanding of the sins that modern man is dealing with. If we could go back in time and share with Louis de Montfort even just one aspect of our culture, just the plague of pornography — 92% of men are struggling with pornography on a regular basis [according to one study] — I think that he would be mortified and in disbelief.

There needed to be a new book that took into account all of the trauma that we are now experiencing as a Church, as well as all the good things that we have learned. So I tried to make the book systematic and convicting, because a lot of times we view the Rosary as just a pious devotion. But if we are convicted that this is actually genius on every level of the spiritual life, then people might be more convicted to pray it even when it doesn’t feel good.

Please share one thing, among others, that you stress.

I don’t water down the truth. So often in the Church, people will make suggestions like, “Hey, if you pray Rosary, that’s great. But if you can’t, no problem.” What I’m doing differently is presenting the fullness of what the Rosary can possibly be; then, after understanding that fullness of the Rosary, working backwards to see where the devotion fits in in my own personal private life. I haven’t seen that done by anybody since [de Montfort].

What I really intended to do was for it to be the Louis de Montfort version, but for today.

Why do you explain the Rosary as not only a pious devotion, “but a theological gold, a sword forged by God to conquer every battle and overcome every obstacle”?

Throughout the history of the Church, great saints and even popes have said phrases along the lines of, “After the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and after the sacred liturgy, the Holy Rosary is the greatest prayer.” “What does it mean that a certain prayer is the greatest prayer?”

It’s the greatest prayer for disposing your soul in the sacraments. It’s the greatest prayer for engaging in the life of Christ on a consistent and systematic basis, which is needed, according to the great doctors of the Church. It’s the greatest prayer for helping to discern the will of God and to block out desolation and to receive the grace to do God’s holy will. It’s the greatest prayer at fighting off vice and making a rule of life.

With what appears to be a very humble devotion, Our Lady takes so many facets of the spiritual life and puts them all into one place so that the average Catholic who isn’t well-versed in mystical theology is touching on every aspect that is needed to grow spiritually. It truly is genius. The Rosary really factors into every facet of the spiritual life.

In your chapter on spiritual warfare, you make clear that the Rosary is a necessity, especially in today’s world. Please explain.

Usually, we hear the [phrase] “spiritual warfare.” We go to the extreme. We think of exorcisms. We think of deliverance ministry. But the real spiritual warfare that happens 95% of the time, we don’t even realize because many people aren’t familiar with what the devil’s voice sounds like and what God’s voice sounds like. The voice of the enemy usually uses the same voice as our interior monologue. When he strikes, he usually does it very subtly so that we’re not aware that we’re under attack. He’ll say things like, “You know it’s late. You don’t need to say your prayers today”; or “That’s not really a sin.” These little suggestions sound reasonable.

What the Rosary does on a consistent basis is provide a safe space by praying for help to Mary, and it puts you into contact with the living God. ... So you pray the Rosary, and whatever errors were in your mind, you’re now convicted, “No, I’m going to sacrifice.”

On that level of most essential spiritual warfare that happens daily, the Rosary is truly a weapon.

In your chapter on the Rosary’s success, you have the whole section on families that is a treasure in itself. How will your book help today’s families?

Because the Rosary is so powerful and so effective at keeping the family in grace and in a good relationship with God, the devotion of the family Rosary is one of the most hated by the evil spirit, and he will try to destroy it and make it as miserable as possible. So many people of goodwill have sought to implement and persevere in the family Rosary, and it just falls to the wayside because it’s often dry, distracted. ... The fruit of that chapter is the fruit of my own 17 years of raising children and implementing the family Rosary.

What I love most about it is that we start from the earliest age in relationships, the dating phase. If you want to be successful in your family, if you want to have a family that stays together and prays together, we talk about tips and advice for how you begin to introduce this into a dating relationship — absolutely essential to build that firm foundation.

But we also have advice for the case where one person in the family has a strong conversion and sometimes the spouse is or isn’t on board. How do you begin to implement the family Rosary in a circumstance that is divided? We have practical tips based on spiritual principles that I have seen work and implemented in families that I work with.

You don’t just list the “Promises of the Rosary,” but you explain the promises. Why is that so important?

Since the implementation of the Rosary, the devil has sought to undermine it, dismiss it, and get rid of it by calling it “pious,” et cetera. I have even heard of Catholic apologists calling into question the promises of the Rosary, calling into question its origins. So I give everybody a firm foundation in history.

When I list the 15 promises, I also back up that promise with a quote from a saint. Yes, this promise is of divine origin, but in addition to that, here’s this pope who says the exact same thing: If you wish there to be peace in the family, implement and pray the Holy Rosary. So if the devil whispers to you, “Well, maybe this promise was made 600 years ago,” now here’s a pope that lived 60 years ago who backs up exactly what this promise has to say.

There’s a saying in practical good living that you’ll do any what if you have a good why.

Our Lady, in her wisdom, gives us all of these promises to motivate us to pray when we don’t exactly want to pray, simply to get closer to God. We often will do something like pray when we don’t want to if we have a strong intention, such as a conversion of a loved one or healing of a relative.

Why include a chapter with testimonies on how the Rosary changes lives?

It’s my conviction that anybody who engages with the Rosary and it becomes the foundation of their spiritual life, Our Lady plays an active and real role in their life. They develop this real interior relationship with Mary.

I went with 40 people who I know personally, who pray the Rosary on a daily basis, if not more, to share their story. I made sure that they were short, concise. And never was it known that I’ve come across somebody who didn’t pray the Rosary daily, who didn’t have a story. The first testimony is my daughter’s testimony. Everybody’s story is so different, but Our Lady is active and working, even in the most innocent child who prays the Rosary, as well as the hardened sinner.

In addition to the print version, I had my own children, my oldest son, who’s 17, and my oldest daughter, who is 13, read for the audiobook the various testimonials of men and women. For me, that was special because I was able to integrate my children in that.

Why do you emphasize how essential it is for priests to pray the Rosary?

The parish priest is the most powerful person on earth, in my opinion. Because he has so much responsibility, his responsibility to be holy is even greater than that of a father — how much more the man that every person calls “Father,” who’s the head of all the households, not just the head of a household.

If he’s going to be made in the image and likeness of Christ, he has to have Mary for his mother as well. And she provides all this spiritual backup. If the priest isn’t praying the Rosary, he will not confidently hand on the Rosary to his parishioners as an answer to their problems. And I know that, morally speaking, with all the problems in the world, the answer and the solution for so many of them is to pray the Rosary.

READ

The Power of the Rosary

By Gabriel Castillo

Sophia Institute Press, 2025

233 pages

$16.95

To order:  EWTNRC.com  (Item: 3942); or call (800) 854-6316