The Providential Marvels of the Number 153

David and Corinna Martin | The Daily Knight

The number 153 has a distinct significance in Bible history. To begin with, 153 is the number of Hail Marys contained in the prayers of the Holy Rosary.

In his book The Secret of the Rosary, St Louis de Montfort tells us 1 that the early Christians recited the 150 consecutive Hail Marys known as Mary’s Psalter or the 150 Psalms to Jesus and Mary. The 150 Psalms to Jesus and Mary were prefigured by the 150 Psalms of the Old Testament.

In 1208 at the Church of Pouille in France, the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Dominic and added the three Hail Marys at the beginning of the set, which brought the Angelic Psalter to 153 Hail Marys. It was at that time that she handed him the Rosary beads to keep count of the prayers, at which time she commissioned him to preach the Rosary far and wide. In his book, St. Louis de Montfort quotes the Virgin Mary speaking to St. Dominic.

"I want you to know that, in this kind of warfare, the battering ram has always been the Angelic Psalter which is the foundation stone of the New Testament. Therefore if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them over to God, preach my Psalter."

The centuries-old recitation of the Angelic Psalter (153 Hail Marys) fulfills the Blessed Virgin’s prophecy in St. Luke’s Gospel where she said: “From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” (Luke 1:48)

The Miraculous Draught of 153 Fishes

Now in the last chapter of St. John’s Gospel, we read that 7 of Christ’s disciples were fishing in a ship some 200 cubits from the shore, at which time Christ told them to cast their net on the right side of the ship. When they did this the disciples pulled up 153 great fishes! (John 21:2)

What is interesting is that in Christ’s time there were 153 species of fish living in the Sea of Tiberias where the apostles were fishing. The large number of 153 species providentially symbolized the large number of people throughout the world that Christ’s followers would later save or “catch” through the 153 beads of the Rosary. Christ told Peter and the Apostles that he would make them “fishers of men” (Mt. 4:19) but this extended to include all the representatives of Christ down through history. The Rosary would be their line to pull souls onto Peter’s Barque, which is the Church Under Peter.

153 Nations at the Time of Christ

It has been calculated that there were 153 distinct nations in the world at the time of Christ, which were represented at Pentecost by seventeen ethnic groups (Acts 2:8-11) when the disciples embarked on their mission to preach to the world.

St. Augustine saw the number 153 as symbolizing those who receive God’s grace by following the Ten Commandments and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Christ taught his disciples to keep and teach the Ten Commandments, which is needed to preserve the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we add the number of Commandments (10) along with the number of divine gifts (7), it comes out to 17. Then when we add all the numbers from 1 to 17 (that is: 1+2+3… +17) it comes out to 153.

Same applies with the 7 disciples that were fishing in the Sea of Tiberias. When we add the Ten Commandments and the number of disciples (7), it also comes out to 17. Then add the numbers from 1 to 17 for a sum of 153.

Furthermore, the digits in 153, i.e. 1+ 5+ 3, add to 9, which when multiplied by 17 come out to 153. Also, if each of these numbers is multiplied by itself three times (in honor of the Trinity) it comes out to 153. That is: (1x1x1) + (5x5x5) + (3x3x3) = 153.

Note too that the Virgin at Fatima appeared on the 13^th of each month from May to October in 1917. When we add all the days between May 13 and October 13 it gives us a sum of 153.

You can’t just make this stuff up. God is calling on all people to say the Rosary.

1. This is generally held by all orthodox thinkers in the Faith though St. Louis de Montfort received this knowledge through supernatural visits to him.