The Holy Rosary: the prayer that crushes the head of the snake
Among Don Bosco's famous "dreams" there is one which expressly concerns the Holy Rosary. Don Bosco himself told it to his young people one evening after prayers.
He had dreamed of being with his playing boys, while a stranger arrived and invited him to go with him. Arriving at a nearby prairie, the stranger indicates to Don Bosco, in the grass, a very long and thick snake. Terrified at that sight, Don Bosco wanted to escape, but the stranger reassured him that the snake would not do him any harm; soon after, the stranger had gone to get a rope to give it to Don Bosco.
"Grab this rope by one end," said the stranger, "I will take the other end of it, then I will go to the opposite side and suspend the rope on the snake, making it fall on his back."
Don Bosco did not want to face that danger, but the stranger reassured him. Then, after passing on the other side, the stranger had raised the rope to lash with it the back of the reptile who, irritated, jumped back turning his head to bite the rope, but instead remained tied by it as by means of a slip noose.
"Hold the rope tight!" Cried the stranger. Then he tied the end of the rope in his hand to a pear tree; then he took Don Bosco the other end to tie it to the railing of a window. Meanwhile, the snake wriggled furiously, but his flesh was torn until he died, reduced to a plucked skeleton.
When the snake died, the stranger had untied the rope from the tree and the railing, to put the rope inside a box, which he closed and then reopened. Meanwhile, the young people had gathered around Don Bosco also to see what was in that box. They and Don Bosco were amazed to see the rope arranged so as to form the words "Ave Maria".
"As you see," said the stranger then, "the snake figures the devil and the rope symbolizes the Rosary, which is from Ave Maria, and with which all the infernal snakes can be overcome".
Crush the snake's head
It is comforting to know this. With the prayer of the Holy Rosary it is possible to face and mortally strike "all the infernal serpents", that is, all the temptations and assaults of the devil who works in the world for our ruin, as Saint John the Evangelist lucidly teaches when he writes: "All that it is in the world: concupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes and pride of life ... And the world passes with its concupiscence, but whoever does the will of God remains forever "(1 Jn 2,16:XNUMX).
In temptations, therefore, and in the pitfalls of the evil one, recourse to the prayer of the Rosary is a guarantee of victory. But we must resort with confidence and perseverance. The harder the temptation or the onslaught of the enemy of souls, the more you need to bind yourself to the holy crown of the Rosary and persevere in the prayer that can free us and save us for the grace of victory that the divine Mother always wants to give us when we turn to her with insistence and trust.
Blessed Alano, the great apostle of the Rosary, among the many beautiful things written on the Rosary, made bright statements about the power of the Rosary and the Hail Mary: «When I say Ave Maria - writes Blessed Alano - rejoice the sky, amaze the whole earth, Satan flees, hell trembles ..., the flesh is tamed ... ».
The Servant of God, Father Anselmo Trèves, a wonderful priest and apostle, was once assaulted by a terrible and painful temptation against faith. He attached himself with all his might to the crown of the Rosary, praying with confidence and perseverance, and when he found himself freed, he was finally able to confide: "But I have consumed some crowns!".
With his "dream" Don Bosco teaches us by assuring us that the crown of the Holy Rosary, used well, is the defeat of the devil, it is the foot of the Immaculate Conception that crushes the head of the tempting serpent (cf. Gn 3,15:XNUMX). St. Francis de Sales also always carried the Rosary crown with him, and when he was near death, after receiving the Holy Oil with the anointing of the sick, he had the Rosary crown tied to his arm, as a weapon to repel any assault of the enemy of the soul.
The Saints, with their examples, guarantee us and confirm that it is really so: the blessed crown of the Holy Rosary, used with confidence and perseverance, is always the winner over the enemy of our souls. Let us also be tied to it, therefore, always carrying it with us to use it in every occasion of danger for our soul.