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the praises of God. Again, if we care to further analyze this twofold element — the vocal part and the mental part — we will find in the former a series of prayers the most perfect the Church possesses, and in the latter a series of the most salutary reflections of which the mind of man is capable. A lively faith is the groundwork of all prayer, for how can men praise a God whom they know not, or ask benefits of Him in whom they do not believe? Hence, the Rosary begins with that grand profession of faith, the sign of the cross, wherein is expressed a belief in the threefold mystery of the unity of God's nature, of the Trinity of the divine persons, and of the Incarnation. Then, as though ill-content with so brief an exposition of his belief, the pious follower of the Rosary is next led on to give a fuller declaration of his faith in the inspired words of the Apostles' Creed. Thus he declares himself not only a believer but a stanch defender of all the truths from the Alpha to the Omega of Christian doctrine. Then begins the Rosary proper. First comes the " Our Father," of the excellence of which prayer it is enough to say that it is the sublimest of all prayers, having Christ Himself for its Author, and containing as it does a petition for every blessing pertaining to man's temporal and spiritual welfare. The " Hail Mary " follows, in which with loving persistency we repeat the words God addressed to Mary through the Angel Gabriel, while with St. Elizabeth we congratulate her on the great things the Omnipotent hath done to her. And as often as we recall Mary's transcendent dignity as