| Dear Apostle of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,Your very generous and thoughtful donation has reached us safely and our hearts are filled with the deepest gratitude. War abounds; sickness, persecution and suffering of every kind plague humanity from the poor hamlet to the palaces of the world. We cannot continue our lives and hope for health and prosperity until we give God first place! Your sacrifice is the hope of the world. May God reward you abundantly and give you the courage to fight on!
Christ did not attribute the suffering and ignominy of His Passion to the Jews who accused Him, nor to Judas who betrayed Him, nor to Pilate who condemned Him, nor to the soldiers who ill-treated and crucified Him, nor to the devil who incited them all, though they were the immediate causes of His sufferings and demise, but to God His loving and beloved Father Whose Wisdom is always shown in the right proportion between the means He employs and the end He has in view. The Will of God is our sanctification! PATTI MELVIN, Director ULRA |
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UNITE ALL PEOPLES INTO A COLOSSAL ARMY OF PRAYER!
The Propagation of the Faith is the mission of Christ upon earth, born of His merciful Heart which is crushed by the sins of mankind. Christ’s Most Precious Blood poured into the Heart of Pauline that it might be spilled out upon us all. The Propagation of the Faith had its origin in God. Pauline was given the first impulse to work it, develop it, shelter it as an immolation and return it to the Church, fertile and abundantly fruitful. This being done, she went into retirement for three years to pray and deepen the mystical life of her soul. In 1826, she founded her second great work, the work of her heart – the prestigious LIVING ROSARY. The Propagation of the Faith and the Living Rosary were the two greatest works of the Church in the 19th Century, and the very first organizations of the Church in France, Switzerland, Belgium and America, after the devastation of the French Revolution. They are the very fruit of the blood of Martyrs! In 1827, the Living Rosary was officially blessed by the Nuncio in France, Cardinal Lambruschini, who became its protector. Pope Gregory XVI in two formal briefs gave the Living Rosary his approval – Jan.27 and Feb. 2, 1832. The Living Rosary experienced immense success in every class of society. Henceforth, until her death, Pauline’s life was dominated by the Living Rosary. For a period of thirty years, this simple yet hugely fertile Association was her uncontested domain and personal success. She managed its work alone. Lorette, her home, was the Center. She was helped by two chaplains and a few companions, the Daughters of Mary. In Pauline’s day, souls had grown cold and the Faith itself was threatened. It was vital to awaken in society supernatural values. How could this be done? Pauline turned to Our Lady of the Rosary. Many times, the Church had recommended the Holy Rosary to revive devotion, appease the wrath of God and produce the fruit of virtue in souls. Sadly, this devotion had fallen by the wayside and was left to the old and unlettered. It was looked upon as the prattle of superstition. But, Pauline knew it was the Gospel, the history of the Life of Christ and His Mother, a book open to all, the fruit of which is the Love of Christ and consolations in abundance. She wished to make it agreeable to the masses. Under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, she adopted the means which had proved so enormously successful with the Propagation of the Faith: PRAYER, PENNY and PROPAGATION. Groups of fifteen were launched. Every person committed to praying a Decade of the Rosary for an intention common to all. She linked the spiritual inspiration to a practical organization. Fifteen hearts united, forming 150 Roses as a Crown for Jesus through Mary. A union of hearts – a UNIVERSAL spiritual Family! Each member was linked invisibly but, united, they prayed the whole Rosary, and all of them gained the merits of each Rose! Pauline likened them to 15 coals: some were cold, some poorly lit and a few were on fire. Brought together and fanned with prayer, these smoldering embers would become an INFERNO! She asked each member to bring in 5 other members. The groups of 15 increased with an unbelievable speed. Pauline wished to animate all peoples into a huge colossal army of prayer. She desired to set fire to the faith of all Christians. Bad books abounded, injecting souls with their poison and plunging the faithful into lukewarmness. This Daily Decade, five minutes of prayer each day with meditation on the Life of Christ, could not help but warm and vivify the hearts of men and thus produce the fruit of salvation. She challenged her associates by proposing the great universal and missionary intentions of the conversion of sinners, preservation of the Faith and its propagation in all the world, and the exaltation of Holy Mother the Church. THOUGH WE ARE MANY, WE BECOME ONE! Pauline was the Mother of the Living Rosary and its queen. She exercised influence without measure. Through her letters, her circulars and personal interviews, she communicated the super-abundance of her spiritual life. Pauline transmitted the fire which consumed her, to others. The magnificent work of the Living Rosary triggered a true spiritual renewal of society in the 19th Century. Pauline knew she was nothing of herself, but an instrument in the Hands of God to accomplish His merciful designs. She rejoiced in her nothingness. Absolute self-sacrifice and devotion to others, founded on total oblivion of self and deepest humility was her goal, and the goal she held for her Daughters of Mary. In loving, serving, sacrificing and making Jesus loved and served, she found the only genuine happiness that man can taste upon this earth. The MISSION of Pauline-Marie Jaricot is ONE with the Church!
Pauline never identified herself with anyone of her works. Her vocation is not limited. She never intended to simply “get something done” but she placed herself on a totally different plane. Putting her hand in the Hand of God, she reached out beyond self and sacrificed her whole being that all might be animated and illumined by the Divine Light of Christ. Pauline joined the magnificent vision of St. Paul for the Church: “You will represent my Church; therefore, I will unite with you by the same union I have united with the Virgin Mary, your unique Mother and Mother of the Church. While devoted to the salvation of all, you will endure everything that the Church will suffer from the impious, and they will exhaust upon you their hate against Her.” (AAL 3, 9, 38) PAULINE-MARIE JARICOT is the glory of Lyon! PAULINE is the glory of France! (Cardinal Tomko) This great contemplative is the Mother of the Missions. She was God’s instrument to give the Church the admirable works which, today, procure the extension of His reign to the ends of the earth. By her life, we are reminded that intimacy with Christ is the source of all apostolic fertilization. Her profound interior allowed her to carry her heavy cross with love. Pauline confirmed with joy that the ardors of fire which consumed her, the torments which assaulted her and the serious sickness that overwhelmed her for many years, were to prepare her for the sorrows that would befall her one after the other, almost without interruption, from her 40th year to her death. All were nothing compared to the pleasures and glory given to her as God’s servant. Death by Love for all men ~ Holiness, the Triumph of Love! Pauline gave everything to Christ: her health, her life, her good name, her affections and her fortune, that you and I might have this precious gift of the Living Rosary. Finding her offering acceptable and worthy, Christ gathered up her gifts and so she would perfectly resemble Him, HE PUT HER ON THE CROSS. As a disciple of Christ, Pauline united the two most powerful weapons to conquer the Heart of God and that of man ~ self-sacrifice and charity, without measure, without end! Let not the fire die out. We, who are her children, must go forward with the mighty work of our Mother’s Heart, the very Heart of Christ, and pour out upon all the earth His Most Precious Blood through our Daily Decade. VIVA! Ven. Pauline-Marie Jaricot, Victim Soul and Apostle, Martyr of Charity! |
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Share Your Gift of FaithFor centuries, our cherished Catholic faith has been passed from person to person, parent to child, etc. Each of us carries in our heart a special memory of how God first graced us with the knowledge of the faith and how Our Blessed Mother, Saint Philomena, Venerable Pauline Jaricot and other saints changed our lives and brought us closer to Christ. In our work in the Universal Living Rosary Association, we see first hand how millions of souls are currently living without that knowledge of God and are living outside of His grace. We have been given a beautiful opportunity to carry out Christ’s work and pass on our faith and blessings to others who would otherwise never be introduced to Our Lord, the Savior of all mankind. Just as we pray for the souls in Purgatory who have no one to pray for them, we should also make it a part of our life’s mission to pass on our faith to as many souls as possible who have no one else to pass it on to them, who don’t know Our Lord and His promise of salvation.
This is the box we send out to the foreign Missions @ $77.95. It contains Rosaries, Scapulars, Miraculous Medals, Cord & Oil, Newsletters, Calendars, Catechism books, 2 TAN books, large color prints, lists and encouragement for our Promoters. |
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Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, First Week of Second Sunday After Easter 2013
April 18th, 2013
We must realize that to work for the salvation of souls without, directly or indirectly, partaking in the Sacrifice of the Savior of the world, is imagination pure and simple. Sacrifice wins by force of example. From the beginning, Christ demanded this of His disciples. There is no single corner of the earth where the Kingdom of God was founded without meeting resistance. Christ taught us what was necessary to ensure the salvation of the world by His words and by His example. He prayed for us and so we must apostolize our brethren by praying for them. But, the chief instrument He used to save souls was the CROSS. If we understand our mission as saviors of souls with Christ Our Savior, we must accept the cross and even seek it. It is the whole Christ that must save the world; since we are one with Christ and are living members of the whole Christ, we have a mission to fulfill. We must conquer self and, then, conquer the world for Christ!
The Church by its nature is missionary. The mission of Pauline is Universal. She addresses the entire world. She longs to bring the multitude to Christ through prayer and sacrifice. Her ambition is as immense as the one of Christ Himself.
Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, Week of Low Sunday 2013
April 18th, 2013|
THE ANGEL OF PORTUGAL
‘Neath St. Michael’s Shield Lucifer has placed his stamp upon the present Age. Open and secret revolt against God and His Church, the spirit of criticism, unbelief and immorality are spreading like a cancer. The arrogant boast of Lucifer rings out: “I will be like unto God!” Men loudly proclaim their self-sufficiency and deny the existence of a Supreme Being. Government and secret societies plotting against God, strive to blot out from homes, schools, offices and society, all traces of Christianity. All these frightful events convince us that we must turn to St. Michael, the Archangel, that glorious prince of Heaven who rendered all honor to God, conquering Lucifer and casting him into the abyss. It is time for Christians to rise from their sleep and to offer vigorous resistance to the enemies of salvation. The weapons in this conflict are not the arms of civil warfare, but the spiritual weapons of prayer, penance, increased fidelity to God’s Commandments and frequent reception of the Sacraments. The Church invokes St. Michael the Archangel as an Angel of superior rank, the Prince of Angels, who has supreme command over all the heavenly hierarchies. This position of honor was merited by St. Michael in the battle he waged against Lucifer and the rebellious angels before the creation of the world. St. Michael and his faithful followers won a glorious victory. With the swiftness of lightening, Lucifer and his companions were transformed into hideous demons and cast into the abyss of eternal torment and darkness. In reward for his zeal and fidelity, he was made prince and commander-in-chief of all the Heavenly Legions. He is the “first lieutenant” of Jesus Christ, for he was the first to lead the faithful servants of God to victory against the enemy. St. Michael is the Guardian Angel and protector of the Catholic Church. The Fathers of the Church agree on this unanimously. St. Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, who in the 15th century saved France, ascribed her vocation and victories to St. Michael. Pope Leo XIII, realizing by divine enlightenment the present and future struggles of the Church against the powers of Hell, composed a prayer in honor of the warrior Archangel. From his time to the present, the prayer was offered after every Low Mass. In 1960, in the wake of Vatican II, this prayer was discontinued. Saint Michael is the protector of every individual Christian and all Christian Nations. It is our duty to be faithful Catholics, to profess our Faith openly and energetically, and to preserve a glowing, invincible love for Jesus Christ. St. Michael is the conqueror of Satan. In a thousand different ways, Satan plots and wars against God and tries to usurp His throne. The early Christians invoked Saint Michael for the cure of the sick. During the pontificate of St. Gregory the Great, a terrible pestilence depopulated the city of Rome. The Pope ordered a penitential procession under the patronage of Our Lady and St. Michael. St. Michael appeared above Castel Sant’Angelo holding a sword in his right hand which he thrust into the scabbard. At the same moment, the pestilence ceased. Many miracles have taken place at the Sanctuary of Mont-St.-Michel in Normandy, France. Not only during life does the glorious Archangel Michael defend and protect souls, but he is their special advocate and counselor at the hour of death. When the final hour of our earthy career draws near, and we are confronted by that awful moment in which our soul must leave the body which it has loved so much, satanic hosts, like ravaging lions, will make their last attack on us. If we have had devotion to St. Michael during life, he will assist us at the critical hour of our death. St. Michael is the advocate and incontestable helper of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. St. Michael is the Guardian of the Most Blessed Sacrament. As such, he sees that thousands are given the grace to embrace Christ sacramentally. When the end of the world draws near, he will wage a final battle against the Antichrist, who by false miracles will endeavor to seduce even the Elect. Let us pray often with great confidence to St. Michael, champion of the Cause of Christ. |
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| Fr Paul O’Sullivan, EDM
At the time of his arrival in the country, religion was at a very low ebb indeed! Masonic persecution which began after the Civil War of 1834, left the Church nearly abandoned. Few went to Church or received the Sacraments. There was little or no Catechism or religious instruction. Few Catholic books were published though vile literature was broadcast all over the country. Things dragged on like this until 1910 when the anti-God Republic rang out their cry: NO GOD! NO RELIGION! Alfonso Costa declared: “In two generations, the Catholic Church will be extinct in Portugal.” It was a dreadful time. Revolution followed revolution. Corruption was rife. Paper money took the place of gold and silver currency. In 16 years, there had been over 40 administrations and twenty revolutions. Father Paul grieved over these tragic happenings. He befriended the rich and the poor. Soon, he learned that many Catholics longed for the old days when the Faith was practiced and widespread over the land. When he spoke to the faithful, he referred with deep feeling to their outstanding devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Portugal was the Land of Holy Mary as nearly all the cathedrals were dedicated to the Assumption. Fr. O’Sullivan peered through the darkness that surrounded the Nation and beholding the glories of its religious past, he was fired up by apostolic zeal to devote his life and all his energies to the work of restoring the Faith in Portugal. All through his publishing career, he used the initials EDM or Enfant de Marie, Child of Mary! What more glorious title can there be! Catechism classes were organized on a larger scale than usual, conferences and retreats were multiplied. In 1907, Fr. Paul began to publish a monthly magazine which he called, O Rosario. He succeeded in having it published all over the country. Embolden by this first venture, he founded another monthly magazine in 1916 entitled, Cruzada do Rosario. These two monthly magazines are still flourishing today and have done a great service in keeping the Rosary devotion alive throughout the country. In 1922, he established a Catholic Press and began to publish Catholic magazines, books, pamphlets and instruction. The output was enormous. Through the years, he wrote on nearly every subject, The Wonders of the Holy Name, How to be Happy – How to be Holy, The Life of St. Philomena, AII About the Angels, The Secret of Confession, Visits to the Blessed Sacrament, Read Me or Rue It, and many more. At an early period in his life, Father developed a devotion to St. Philomena through reading the Life of the Curé of Ars. He wrote her life story, made frequent pilgrimages to Mugnano and had her statue erected not only in Corpo Santo but in many churches throughout the world as well. On the 11th of every month, he gathered the devotees of the Saint to Corpo Santo for Mass and a sermon. During the sermon, he would read the list of favors granted through her intercession since the last meeting. As director of souls, he was much in demand. Nuncios, bishops and many in high estate as well as the poor sought his advice and administration. He was inflexible and unyielding once he had his mind made up, and he could attract and dominate people. His devotion to the Mass was most edifying. It seemed as if he made a resolution to hear every Mass celebrated in our church. He would leave any occupation to hear the Mass of a visiting priest who came at an odd hour. Surely, our dear Fr. Paul O’Sullivan was an instrument used by Our Blessed Mother to prepare the hearts of the faithful for her visitation at Fatima. This was done by his powerful effort to restore the prayer of the Holy Rosary throughout the country. What great similarities there are between Father O’Sullivan’s days and our own! The governments are godless, their goal to destroy religion is nearly accomplished and family life is all but non-existent. |
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SECULAR HUMANISM The American Humanist Association (AHA) produces a bi-monthly journal and was given legal status by the U.S. Supreme Court. Their goal is to free one’s philosophy from the traditional constraints of theistic belief. Organized in 1867 under the leadership of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the AHA appealed not only to those theological reformers within the Unitarian Church but also to non-Christian liberals. It is sometimes referred to as a “New Religion” which incorporates naturalism, materialism, rationalization and socialism: A New Faith for a New Age! It was designed to be ever evolving and compatible with the social schema of our present day humanity. It was the AHA who argued that Bible study in public schools violated the separation of Church and State. The Supreme Court upheld this policy of religious neutrality. They defend the right to abortion and it is they who did much to popularize cremation and humanistic memorial services. In 2003, they secured a religious tax exempt status, as a non-profit, publically supported educational organization. Their goal is to promote the spread of Humanism and refine its philosophy. In their self-definition, God does not exist and it is a destructive illusion to believe in Him. Man marks the highest point to which nature has evolved and he must rely entirely on his own resources. They decry creation and have worked very hard to promote the theory of evolution. They believe that everything changes, so there can be no enduring or permanent values. John Dewey, probably the most influential American philosopher in the field of education, is the author of the first Humanist Manifesto in 1933! Forty years later, a second Humanist Manifesto was issued. Among its major tenants are these: “… traditional dogmatic or authoritarian religions that place Revelation, God, ritual or creed above human need or experience do a disservice to the human species. Humans are responsible for what we are and what we will become. No deity can save us; we must save ourselves. The right to birth control, abortion and divorce should be recognized.” The members of the AHA are placed strategically in highly sensitive areas, and are internationally funded. They have key positions to influence public opinion. While they say, “Let us do away with all forms of intolerance,” they are adamantly intolerant of all religion. Up until the 1960’s, Christianity, with a unanimous voice, had taught an ethic of self-control, self-denial, encouraged reparation, sacrifice and prayer. The great religious upheaval of the 16th Century contributed to the long term decline of religion and the rise of secularism in the West. In the midst of continually multiplying numbers of groups claiming to have the truth, it becomes difficult for people to believe that any faith can be true. Another cause of the fragmentation of Christianity was the growth of science. Religion was perhaps not openly attacked, but it was disbelieved. It ceased to be important. The dramatic success of the new scientific discoveries gave man an exhilarating sense of self-confidence and self-importance. If it could not be proven by science, then it did not exist. In the 18th Century, the intellectuals began to advocate religious tolerance. In part, they said it was out of respect for the individual’s conscience. In part, however, it was out of the conviction that all religious beliefs were equally false and, thus, all should be equally tolerated. Voltaire rejoiced that, in a society where there were many religious groups, all of them would be weak. The French Revolution of 1789 accomplished many of its goals of enlightenment, sweeping away by violence all the social institutions to which the intellectuals objected, including the Church! Their goal to remake the world in the name of humanity gave birth to a murderous and destructive fanaticism. It was the “Committee of Public Safety” which implemented the Reign of Terror in the name of humanity. The 19th Century gave birth to three new revolutionary systems of thought, those identified with Karl Marx, Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud. Although different in many aspects they all were based on materialism. Human existence was described, by economic necessities, biological evolution, and sexual urges. These three gave great impetus to Secular Humanism and all three dispensed with God. Atheism came into its own during that Century. “If God did exist, he must be destroyed!” The new Humanism embodied a demonic urge to negate and destroy. Once God had been denied, man could achieve true freedom by denying all moral constraints on himself and invent his own morality. Mass communications came into full swing. Books filled with this propaganda flooded the cities, schools and homes. Compulsory education was established and all the youth would be impregnated with Secular Humanism. All these forces, plus the prosperity of the masses, transformed personal values and beliefs of countless Americans. They proved less and less able to say ‘NO’ to themselves and did not want others to say ‘NO’ to them. Spouses divorced, pregnancies were aborted, people of all ages made free use of drugs merely to experience something new and thrilling. The world was experienced as man’s own creation. Belief in God would continue in some general way, but His existence made little or no difference in their lives. They became Secular Humanists in practice, whatever they might have called themselves. Automobiles gave people a great sense of self-reliance. There was little room for God, prayer or obedience to God’s divine Law. Young people rebelled against established authority and all rules and demands for obedience. Students gained the right to cohabit in dormitories, use drugs and all rules pertaining to personal behavior and dress, were abolished. Sadly, most parents were living a compromising life of self-indulgence feeling that, after years of hard work, they deserved it. The obvious result was the breakdown of families. By the late 1970’s, this reached epidemic proportions. The number of divorces equaled that of marriages, and single parent families were countless. In over three-fourth of all households, both parents worked outside the home. The upbringing of the children was given over to schools, the very breeding grounds of secular humanism. Values clarification is a teaching technique in the schools to undermine the values children have learned at home from their parents who are the chief means by which religious belief is handed down. Self Reigns As God! Catering to the whims of self has become an obsession. Self is entitled to do whatever it wants and restraints on those desires are almost always unjust and unhealthy. The revolution goes deeper still. It amounts to a repeal of the entire Christian ethic of unselfish love and self-denial. The family is seen as the bastion of Christian values and, as such, it is under ferocious attack. Woman’s liberation is a deadly blow to family and religion. Life is reduced to an endless quest for personal fulfillment. Some clergy have even taken up the new religion of Enlightenment. Liberalism in religion has never been a way into the Faith; it has always been a way out of the Faith! Pope Saint Pius X in 1907 condemned liberalism in the name of Modernism. It is the way by which secularism enters the Church. They are apostles of unbelief, endlessly telling believers that they should no longer accept this or that teaching of Christianity. In the end, all of them are negated! Christians trust in God. Humanists trust in themselves. Secular Humanism promises earthly happiness. Totalitarianism is a system which seeks to shape and control every aspect of people’s lives in the interest of creating a perfect worldly society. Religion in the modern world has been the strongest and most tenacious bulwark against both. In the end the humanist system betrays man. The Humanist’s acts of defiance and heedless disregard end by enslaving the individual to his passions. Since man was created by an all-wise and all-loving God, he cannot be free or truly happy except in loving obedience to His Creator’s Will. “You shall know the Truth, and the Truth will set you Free!” |
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| From the ULRA Mission news:
Recently, we had a letter from Doctor Alberto of Guatemala sharing his situation: “You must wonder what I tell you of our special needs regarding our humble struggle for the Catholic Faith in Guatemala. You know perfectly well that we do not fight against human forces, but supernatural enemies of our souls. We are confident that the Immaculate Conception will crush the serpent’s head. We are committed to spreading the Living Rosary in this land. We are aware that Our Lady gave to St. Dominic, through the Rosary, the power to convert heretics and preserve the True Faith. We trust in her powerful intercession. We trust in our dear St. Philomena. Nevertheless, the holy Rosary is today completely forgotten! Right now, we are totally committed. We would like to share materials for the spreading of this devotion to villages and distant areas. Can you help us? We can reach many! You can count on us! We have been praying with our sick brothers spreading the Living Rosary and St. Philomena’s devotion in our city’s hospital and surrounding areas. Deo Gratias! St. Philomena has been a wonderful help and she has never let us down anytime we ask her intercession! Now, we renew our commitment to help the suffering get closer to God and we offer our prayers for all our benefactors. Urgent actions must be taken. The Protestant sects are taking over our Catholic families. Drugs, violence and impurity are taking over God’s place. Many priests have modernist and Communist ideas. We need the Rosary so much! We will continue our struggle as the Rosary is the perfect remedy to bring back to God His social reign in Guatemala. To Jesus, through Mary! God bless you all!” Dear Friends, Cordial greetings from the new Catholic Diocese of Bo in Southern Sierra Leone! I have been in touch with Ms. Juliana Tommy. I acknowledge and appreciate the spiritual work she is engaged in, that is, of promoting the praying of the Rosary in our country which is largely Moslem. I would like to express my gratitude to you and your organization for the gifts of Rosaries, Chalice, Holy Oils, etc. that I received from Juliana after my Episcopal Ordination on 7th May this year. Our diocese is the newest and youngest in Sierra Leone. We hope to build it up on a very solid spiritual foundation. We, therefore, kindly ask you to keep us in your prayers and help us form the people of God in this new diocese in deep spirituality. May Mary, Our Mother, “MAY WE ALL BE ONE!” Thank you so much for the package you sent me. St. Philomena’s cord is unbelievable! l wear it all the time. It is like my own umbilical cord that connected me to my mother! I am overjoyed with it. It is part of me now and will be forever! < Teyo – UK > Thank you so much for your parcel. May God reward you 100-fold! Great numbers have benefited. I encourage all my students to enroll in the Living Rosary. We pray for all of you and we thank you! I treasure everything you send for it gives strength to our people. Thank you for your gift of Rosaries. Today, we have many faithful who come to pray the Rosary. They live under the firm confidence in Mary and the power of the mysteries. Countless numbers convert. The simplicity of this devotion makes it perfect for children and persons of every walk in life. Forgive my delay to send my thanks along to you. I work alone as Prior of our Dominican Mother House, Director of a school and representative of the Dominican Order in Quito. When I distribute the Rosaries you send to our people, before we begin the Holy Rosary, we pray for you first. I mailed you 720 members and here is another photo of new members from the Madeleine Academy and our feast day celebrations for St. Philomena. Your FOREX boxes are such a support for the spread of this devotion among the suffering and poor. God bless us all! We gather all our youths for 2 weeks out of the year and we invite speakers, resource people from the Church and government, to give guidelines to the youth. During this time, we have sports activities, Bible studies, the Rosary and Eucharistic Adoration, fund raising and a social night. We are happy to learn about your Youth for Purity Crusade and are eager to be a part of this work. I greet you on the Eve of St. Patrick, our patron. May St. Patrick along with St. Philomena bring you and all your staff many graces and blessings! I am hoping you can send me some medals of St. Philomena. I work as a hospital chaplain and I give out the medals. I place the children under her care. Prayers are answered in abundance! I know she is a powerful Saint. Also, I place couples who have suffered miscarriages under her protection to help them conceive. May God reward you! Thank you for accepting our sincere request to join full membership in the ULRA. Many will be willing to join the group. I enclose a photo of our new members. We appreciate your concern for us and pray that this communion may shine forth toward accomplishing the desired mission before us, which is the salvation of the whole world. I have presented the framed photo of St. Philomena to his lordship Most Rev. Dr. Camilus Elukudo (SP) while the members look on. I intend to build a shrine for St. Philomena in the Port Harcourt diocese. We will need your help and prayers. Yours faithfully, I have enrolled these young seminarians in the ULRA. I could not include everyone as many were writing their exams. Please we need more materials for the large number of new members. I am officially continuing to assist the youth in our parish to take part in the Living Rosary. It is my hope that you have received the enrollment forms I sent and more materials will be coming to us. I am sharing photos of the youth just enrolled. < Fr. Joachim-MALAWI > Please find 26 completed forms for membership. We are patiently waiting for more Rosaries. We thank God for the good works you do in His name. Many are interested in taking part in the Living Rosary. The young generation and our whole community wish to be involved. Distant villages are asking to take part. Please send us more materials to help spread the devotion. God bless all of you! I wish to thank you and all your members for your tireless support of my missionary work by providing me with Sacramentals. We are very grateful as it is an important part of what we do here at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Heart of Mary. Thank you for the DVD on the Eucharist. I am one with you in prayer that through the example of St. Philomena, every family may cultivate a great love and devotion to the Eucharist and the Blessed Mother! I am so grateful to receive materials from your Association. Thank you for the Rosaries, Medals and all the materials you send. I am very happy because our congregation is growing in great numbers not only in this parish but also in other parishes the priests invite me to share with them the life of St. Philomena. Then the bishop has invited me to teach the people about the Living Rosary and St. Philomena. We continue to pray for all of you. Please do not forget us. “In my suffering from kidney failure and dialysis three times each week, your parcel and kind words are a great consolation. The road of pain leads to Heaven. I have to suffer. Please pray for me and know that you are remembered in my prayers.” Please pray for the repose of soul of Father James. His Archbishop continues his Decade in the Living Rosary. |
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 Please Father,
Pray for the Conversion of my Loved One! Pray that my Children will return to the Sacraments! Pray that our Grandbabies will be Baptized! Progress is the watchword of our modern Day. Progress should be likewise the watchword of our spiritual advancement: progress in making use of the means of Salvation God has given us for these perilous times. Our families are plagued with opportunities for sin, which are innumerable and divisive. Dangers, which are so incredibly menacing, attractive and enticing, surround us on every side. We cannot overcome them by our own power. Without God’s help, we will drown in the mire. Witchcraft and Satanism abound, drugs and alcohol, pornography and nudity have found their way into our schools and homes. We have been deceived by the devil. Setting our hopes on material comforts, possessions and future security, we have forfeited family, faith and eternal beatitude. How can we best appeal to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary? How can we attain the salvation of our families? How can we help those who have lost the faith and abandoned themselves to this vacuum of greed, pride and hate? Our Lady of Fatima came to bring peace to the world. The foundation of Peace is the possession of Grace. Man must cease offending God. Sanctifying Grace is the Life of God Himself imparted to the soul, whereby man is raised to a supernatural level and becomes a friend and child of God, and an heir to Heaven. The presence or absence of Sanctifying Grace in our souls, at the moment of death, will decide our eternal salvation or damnation. Through the Sacrament of Confession, all is gained and saved, and the repentant sinner is restored to the friendship of God. Washed in the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God, he receives the source of life, the medicine of salvation, the fount of healing and the beginning of all that is good. There is no more effectual means of preservation from the dangers and temptations which beset our families, than frequent union with Our Lord in Holy Communion. Misled by false teachers, many have given up the Faith, Love and Hope of Christ. We must turn back to God by whom we are loved so very much. When man restores God to the temple of his soul, Mary will reward the world with a lasting peace. Thirty days of Sacred Liturgies will be offered by Father Ivan Kolodiy in the Ukraine during the month of August for our loved ones who have fallen away from the Sacraments, for grandchildren who need to receive Baptism, and for the conversion of those you entrust to God. The names of those enrolled will be placed on the Altar during the entire month of August. To request online, click here to visit our mass request page and scroll down to find this offer. To download a document, print it and mail it to us, click here. |
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Share Your Gift of FaithFor centuries, our cherished Catholic faith has been passed from person to person, parent to child, etc. Each of us carries in our heart a special memory of how God first graced us with the knowledge of the faith and how Our Blessed Mother, Saint Philomena, Venerable Pauline Jaricot and other saints changed our lives and brought us closer to Christ. In our work in the Universal Living Rosary Association, we see first hand how millions of souls are currently living without that knowledge of God and are living outside of His grace. We have been given a beautiful opportunity to carry out Christ’s work and pass on our faith and blessings to others who would otherwise never be introduced to Our Lord, the Savior of all mankind. Just as we pray for the souls in Purgatory who have no one to pray for them, we should also make it a part of our life’s mission to pass on our faith to as many souls as possible who have no one else to pass it on to them, who don’t know Our Lord and His promise of salvation.
This is the box we send out to the foreign Missions @ $77.95. It contains Rosaries, Scapulars, Miraculous Medals, Cord & Oil, Newsletters, Calendars, Catechism books, 2 TAN books, large color prints, lists and encouragement for our Promoters. |
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Fr. Paul O’Sullivan was born in Tralee, Ireland in 1871 and died in Lisbon, Portugal in 1958. At the age of 16, he entered the Dominican Novitiate and, then, he went on to Rome to complete his priestly studies and be ordained. His health failed him and he was a broken man. He was sent to Lisbon for a period of convalescence. The moment he set foot on the soil of Portugal, his health improved and he undertook an apostolate, the likes of which is rarely the part of a single priest’s accomplishment.Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, First Week of Easter 2013
April 18th, 2013|
The Power of the In the town of Siroki-Brijeg in Herzegovina, Europe not one single divorce has been recorded among its 13,000 inhabitants. For Centuries, because of pressure of the Turks and the Communists, the people suffered cruelly as their Christian Faith was always threatened. They knew, through experience, that salvation comes through the Cross of Christ! It does not come from humanitarian aid, peace treaties or disarmament plans. The Source of Salvation is the Cross of Christ!
When the bride and groom set off for the church, they bring with them a Crucifix. The priest blesses the Crucifix, which then takes a central role during their exchange of vows. The bride places her right hand on the Crucifix and the groom places his hand over hers. Thus, the two hands are bound together on the Cross. The priest covers their hands with his stole as they proclaim their vows to be faithful until death. The bride and groom do not then kiss each other, they rather kiss the Crucifix. They know they are kissing the source of their love. If the husband abandons his wife or the wife her husband, they let go of the Cross. If they abandon the Cross, they are left with nothing! They have lost everything for they have abandoned JESUS. After the wedding, the newlyweds bring the Crucifix to their home and give it a place of honor. It becomes the focal point of family prayer. When trouble arises or conflict breaks out, it is before the Cross they seek help. They do not go to a lawyer or consult a fortune teller or astrologer. No, they go straight to Jesus on the Cross, get on their knees and pour out tears and prayers, and exchange their forgiveness of one another. They will teach their children to kiss the Cross every night and not to go off to sleep like pagans. When at night they kiss the Cross, they know that Jesus is holding them in His arms and there is nothing to be afraid of. Their fears and differences melt away, in their kiss of Jesus on the Cross. Marriage brings forth Human Life; |
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THE GREAT CHALLENGE: To be a Christian in a Pagan World After the Church, the family is the most sacred place on earth. Your participation in the ULRA and love for the Mother of God is evidence of your desire to offer yourselves as lay apostles in advancing the Kingdom of Our Eucharistic Christ among men. You are pioneers. The task to which you have committed yourselves calls for enthusiasm, and the zeal and dedication of missionaries. You are to be congratulated! Parents have a divinely appointed mission in their natural field of influence in the home and family. Here, they reign over the heart of the Nation and decree the ideals that shape the destiny of a generation! When those ideals are Christian, the home is a replica of Nazareth. The work of re-establishing Christ and Christian ideals must begin in the home. Today, the soul of Christianity has been replaced by a new spirit. Every parent can serve as a leader in this battle. Every wife can be an influence to her husband, and husband to his wife, both can be an example to their children. Every Catholic parent must accept the teachings of Holy Mother the Church on marriage. The dignity of womanhood and the nobility of manhood rest upon that teaching. Marriage is a contract that implies a right to life-long companionship, mutual support in common interests, common sorrows, common joys; a contract that implies parent-hood, a contract, therefore, which excludes all thought of divorce, trial marriage, and contraceptive birth control. To a Christian, marriage is more than a natural contract. In the great charity of Christ, marriage has been elevated to the dignity of a Sacrament. This means that marriage has been taken out of the civil courts and placed in the Sanctuary. It means that Our Divine Savior has shed His Precious Blood that married love may be sanctified, your children will know the fear and love of God, and your union shall not fail. When husband and wife realize that Christ died that their union shall not fail, surely they cannot refuse to bear the trials of life, yes, to carry a cross and suffer a crucifixion in all patience rather than succumb to the tragedy of a broken home. What a mockery of the Cross is Divorce! Matrimony is a Sacrament of the living. To receive this promised grace of the Sacrament at any particular moment or in any particular crisis one must be free from mortal sin. Accept this point in simple faith and understand that God will help you meet your responsibility as spouse and parent if you put no obstacle in His way, if you preserve His life in your soul and are in the state of Sanctifying Grace. You may get discouraged and feel overwhelmed with the burdens of your marriage, but try to see these temptations as opportunities to prove your love for God and your family. They are precious coins of gold when born with patience and love that will help you to gain merit and win Heaven. Marriage is the most challenging vocation there is and yet we find no continuing education courses on it. Here, we give lines to live by, the Liturgy of married couples. Each will foster the successful flowering of the sacred covenant of Marriage. The family must be the one who shows the world that God is truly Our Father! Using these guidelines, often and well, will strengthen your family and bring you peace. Say daily, morning and night, if not more often, “I love you.” Say it, mean it and show it. Say often, Thank you. Be specific when you say this, thank you for a great meal, thank you for taking time to listen, for fixing something, repairing the door, thank you for caring, thank you for putting up with me. Finding things to be thankful for and voicing that thanks will cultivate in your married union gratitude to God and gratitude for each other. Being ungrateful is irrational. You may express your love and gratitude by a phone call, in a note, by a hug. You know, there are a thousand different ways. Find the good in everything you can, seek it out, talk about it, think about it. Say with sincerity, “I am sorry.” Say it, mean it and state it in a way that is honest. I am sorry for taking you for granted, for not tell you about that errand, for forgetting to call when I was going to be late, for failing to ask your advice, whatever it might have been that caused pain and frustration to your spouse. And then say, ‘Please forgive me.’ By saying this, you are taking responsibility for the injury done. The mercy of God is medicine. To God we owe everything, He owes us nothing. What do we give to God, next to nothing! What does He give to us, everything! No matter how we offend Him, He is willing to forgive us. He was nailed to a cross and died that we might have forgiveness. Who are we to withhold mercy to another? Who are we to withhold forgiveness? We have to be willing to apologize sincerely and ask forgiveness and be willing to forgive. Ask your spouse about her (his) day. It is important to you and your marriage. Catch up on the activities, challenges, joys and sorrows of the day before dinner if possible, or after. You must take time to be interested. Once you ask the question, give your undivided attention to what is shared. Ask often, ‘How can I help you?’ This will usually get an immediate response. Then you must say, “Ok, I’d be glad to!” Say it, learn to mean it and find joy in doing it. We entered marriage to be like Christ. We are called to love in a way that is life giving – through sacrifice. Ask once a month or when possible, “Will you go out with me on a date?” Make the plans before you ask the question as to the place, the flowers, the restaurant, the time. This is all about renewing the well-springs of love. Make memories now as you did when you were first married. You may not feel like it, but love is much more than a feeling. When feelings die, don’t conclude that love is dead. Feelings are like the weather, they come and go. While we cannot deny our emotions, for they are real and powerful, we must not let them rule our lives. Our covenant to God and each other is stronger than any feeling. That spouse of yours in the Hands of the Divine Sculptor is going to make you a saint. Let Him chip away at all your rough edges. We are pilgrims on this planet for as long as we are here. We are in exile on our way from earth to Heaven. God uses suffering to make us saints, and make sure we reach Home safely. Family life must include prayer. Family prayer is the greatest source of peace in the home. Mary must be the Queen of your home. When we pray the Rosary we are simply speaking to God’s own Mother. There is no sinner so hardened with crime, no heart so broken with sorrow, nor anyone so weak that Mary will not save and comfort them if only they asked her. Mary gave us the Rosary to make us good, to make us strong, to make us happy and to make us holy. Let all the members of the family make their consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and wear the Scapular as a sign of that consecration. The Miraculous Medal is a very powerful protection and source of Grace, let it be worn by all. Place holy water fonts by the entry and exit of the house and in every room. This powerful sacramental drives out the devil, remits venial sins and helps the Souls in Purgatory. Enthrone your home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Have a Crucifix in the Living Room, and a nice picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Prepare a place for prayer where you gather each night to pray as a family. Go regularly to Confession. This is so vital. The priest is there to dispense with the utmost generosity the mercies of God to man. The poor sinner kneels at the feet of God’s representative, laden with failings and weaknesses, pain and sorrow. He lays down his heavy burden and his sins are swallowed up in the abyss of God’s mercy, fears, doubts and remorse are lifted from his soul. Much needed counsel may be sought. Make the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass the highlight of your life, your week and your family. Go to Mass as often as you possibly can. In every Mass, Heaven comes to earth; we are surrounded by angels and saints. Who wouldn’t want to go to Mass! We all want to go to Heaven – we just don’t want to die first. As Catholics, we don’t have to die in order to go to Heaven. All we have to do is go to Mass, this is heaven on earth! Modesty in your family is important: Modesty in dress, speech and action. Show respect for one another and for God. At least 15 minutes of spiritual reading should be done each day. In order to live our Faith, to defend our Faith and to teach our Faith, we must know it. We cannot love God if we do not know Him. To be a Catholic family takes discipline, courage, sacrifice and love. If you cannot do all of the things mentioned above, do one of them. Simply begin, have a desire to do them all, and your prayer will be answered. Our beloved country must return to Christ, and the surest and sweetest way to make our homes a veritable fortress of grace is through living a vibrant Catholic life. “YOUTH IS MADE, |
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THE ARROW OF LOVE
Voluntas Tua. The fulfillment of God’s Will is the ideal that is to be realized by all creation; in justice, if it needs be, but in love assuredly. Jesus Christ, the King of Heaven and Earth has gone so far in His Love for us poor sinners as to take up His abode in our churches for the convenience of each one of us. Do we avail ourselves of this happiness by frequently visiting Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament? Or, do we say, we have too much to do and fail to make the time for a visit? Perhaps, love and affection for the goods of this world and too little love for Jesus Christ prevent our making the effort. Yet, we find time to eat, sleep, talk, laugh, amuse ourselves and even time to sin. If we appear seldom before Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, it is a sign that we love Him but little. If we loved Him a little more, we would find the time to visit Him. Let us take our troubles, our burdens and our affairs to Him, and He will bless them and give us prosperity. If we would visit Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament for only a quarter of an hour each day, how many trials and hardships we would be delivered from, from how many accidents, misfortunes, temptations and attacks of the devil would we be preserved; how few sins we would commit, and how much more consolation and peace of heart we would enjoy! “Come to Me, all ye that labor and are heavily burdened, and I will refresh you!” |
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Marriage Crucifix!
Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, Holy Week 2013
April 18th, 2013 Christ Has Risen! Alleluia!
Beloved Family of the Living Rosary, What joy it gives me to congratulate you on keeping faithfully your holy vigil during the penitential season of Lent, so that your Easter Sunday may be all the more glorious! What incredible gratitude we would have for any man who would give his blood for us, and what if he carried his love to the extreme limit and gave his life for us that we might be saved from the danger of death? Our gratitude would be infinite. Just imagine that Jesus Christ has shed the last drop of His Precious Blood that we might have Eternal Life! The Blood of Christ extinguishes the fire of Divine Justice. It is the price of our Redemption. Each drop of His divine Blood cries out in our behalf for mercy. Although a single drop of It would have sufficed to wash away the sins of a thousand worlds, Jesus Christ gave the whole of It not only once, but many times: at His Circumcision, in the Garden of Olives, at the flagellation, the crowning of thorns and the opening of His Sacred Side, and He offers it every day at a million Altars, in all the Tabernacles of the world, unto the end of time. Our confidence in the Precious Blood of Jesus should be infinite and our gratitude for this Divine Gift, constant. God gave us not only the Holy Eucharist on the eve of His Crucifixion, but He also established the Priesthood with all the Sacraments, the Holy Church and infallible authority with the power to teach, govern and rule. The echo from the Cross rings out to the whole world: Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Father, by these wounds of Mine, forgive them! By this unspeakable torture of My Hands and Feet and My whole Body: Forgive them! By all the shame, ignominy and anguish of My Heart and Soul, Father forgive them! By this, My Blood, covering My Body and trickling down to the earth: “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do!” The Church will triumph over heresy and scandal. Oh, what a marvel for Our Holy Mother: the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, the gates of Hell shall not prevail against Her! We deliver ourselves up for the salvation of souls. These sacred months of Lent have been dedicated to all our members and our Easter Masses will be offered for you in petition and in thanksgiving. We must increase and multiply. I impart to all of you, my priestly blessing: + In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
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| Oh my Soul, why art though afraid to take up thy cross, which leadeth to the heavenly Kingdom? In thy Cross is Salvation; in thy Cross is Life; in thy Cross is Protection from thine enemies; in thy Cross is Infusion of heavenly sweetness, strength of mind, joy of spirit; in thy Cross is the Way to the Height of Religious Virtue, and the Perfection of Sanctity to which thou hast been called!
EASTER 2013 Dear Apostle of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
What a lesson for us! Mary teaches us the spirit of sacrifice. Knowing that the design of God is that Jesus should die to save the world, She enters with Her whole Soul into the divine decree. Jesus gives Mary to us as our Mother. What confidence, what hope, what consolation, what happiness is ours! Mary, thou art my Mother! I no longer fear, I am happy and I hope! Christ’s adorable Face was wounded with blows and His flesh lacerated with scourges, His Head crowned with thorns, His Hands and Feet pierced with nails. He is Our King, Our Lord and Savior, Who leads the way for us to our Eternal Home. Yet, we love pleasure so much; we are afraid of suffering and discomfort. How dare we call ourselves Christians! Oh, Sacred Cross, whatever you may be: sufferings of the body or sufferings of the soul, come, come to me; I accept you cheerfully; I will bear you henceforth with courage and resolution!
The Resurrection of Our Savior is the assurance of our own resurrection. We are destined to rise with Christ. He, who listens to the Church, listens to Christ and cannot be deceived. What a great consolation for us all! United with Mary at the Foot of the Cross is our most pivotal position. We are surrounded with Her love, inflamed by Her charity, guided by Her wisdom, and infused with Her courage and fortitude. We extend to each and every member of the Living Rosary Association a warm blessing and great encouragement to extend this devotion to the far ends of the earth! Christ is Risen! Alleluia! |
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“LET’S WALK TOWARD HEAVEN! The Battle won’t last long, St. Teresa of Avila The enemy is within our gates. We must identify him and recognize him for what he really is, and strive with all our might to crush and expel him from our hearts and our homes. Some feel the enemy is only political or merely an economic system. Be not mistaken that the enemy of your family, Holy Mother the Church and our country, is atheistic materialism, secular humanism, Communism! It stalks our cities, community housing, residential neighborhoods and country villages. Its tools are terror, murder, lies, deceit, oppression, cruel suppression of governments, enslavement of millions, separation of families, crisis, unrest, conflict and destruction. It is a revolution against the established order which has at its heart to silence moral authority and enslave the world. Archbishop Fulton Sheen spoke courageously and tirelessly exposing the fundamental nature of Communism and our duty to use all our resources and energy to oppose it. Every member of the Communist Party has pledged to commit treason against the USA and help to overthrow our Constitution by duplicity and deceit. The Communist Party is the largest atheistic organization in the world. It is determined, dedicated, well organized and deadly! We must use all our resources to stop this lethal foe. If we do not win, the rest of the world will be swallowed up by this satanic force and we will lose all our freedoms. Their goal is to subjugate, dominate and remake the entire world, by subversion if possible and by force if necessary! Rome is the big prize for Communism. Our Lady of La Salette forewarned us in 1846, Our Lady of Fatima in 1917. Our Lady of Fatima mentioned 1960 as being critical in the battle for souls. Sister Lucia later lamented that neither the good nor the bad have taken to heart or heeded Mary’s pleas. We could not realize the implications of Our Lady’s Message at that time but, as we look back, it is painfully clear. We view woefully the Vatican-Moscow Agreement of 1962 in which Vatican officials formally pledged to Soviet counterparts that the Church, henceforth, would refrain from any condemnation of Communism! This pledge has been honored without exception to the present day. As such, it constitutes TREASON! Failure to oppose the satanic force of Atheistic Communism can hardly be short of sin! Archbishop Sheen was called to Rome in 1963 and ordered to be silent against Communism by the Holy Father. The great foe of Communism was silenced and Pope Paul VI publicly proclaimed the United Nations to be the hope of the world! THIS IS HISTORY. Please God, we can learn from it. We are on the battlefield and need some deadly serious guidelines to help us win this war. Satan is a deceiver for he is the father of lies and there is no truth in him. If he can get us to believe his lie, then he can begin his work in our life. He questions God’s word and His goodness. He is a rebel against God, “You will be like unto God,” he tells Eve. God accomplishes His work through Truth, Satan through lies, but he always masquerades his lies as God’s Truth. His target is our mind and his goal is to divert us from doing God’s Will. God’s Will is not our duty, but our delight; it is our nourishment! Beware, we cannot reason or dialogue with Satan. Man’s wisdom is no match for Satan is cunning. We must study our Faith, understand our duty to God, and make time for prayer, without which we will be easy prey for the devil. Be Sober! Be Alert! Be Prayerful! The Devil, our adversary, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. If Satan cannot attack our mind, he is happy to attack and destroy our body which is God’s Temple, the tabernacle of the Most Holy Trinity. Christians can be seen and it is our conduct in the body that glorifies and exalts Our Blessed Lord. The members of our body are tools in the Holy Spirit’s Hands to help build the Church. The various trials we encounter are simply a test of our faith and they produce in us endurance. Impatience is a mark of unbelief. Patient endurance is enriching. The only way to learn patience is to go through the suffering that God has assigned to us. Satan is proud, critical, unbending, stubborn, a gossip, jealous and a braggart. Pride glorifies man and robs God of the Glory He deserves. The essence of sin, is to be independent of God. Beware if you feel important! Remember in this battle against Satan the only way to conquer is to surrender, SURRENDER TO GOD! Humility is not thinking meanly of ourselves; humility is not thinking of ourselves at all! We must know our enemy and put on the Armor of God: truth, humility, faith and absolute confidence in God. Satan is a destroyer, he is well organized and his first attack is against the home. Let us give him some resistance! Our vast physical resources and our masterly technical skills will avail us nothing unless we are a people strong in Faith which gives purpose to our action, and fosters discipline and courage. The true strength of a Christian Nation is the power of God which outweighs all force of arms! The fortress of our Catholic Families has been gravely undermined. Lustful self-indulgence, divorce and birth prevention and have broken the lives of our youths rendering them delinquents! Victory will come, only with obedience to God’s Love! |
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The Cross admits us into the intimacy of God, of Jesus Christ His Son, of all the angels and all the saints. Is it not incomparably glorious? Let it be welcomed every time it presents itself! All honor to crucified souls! They are the favorites of God. The most cruel torments which the Martyrs endured are as nothing in comparison with the anguish which Mary suffered. Her very Soul was transpierced with the sword of grief, without the alleviation of any consolation. She beheld Jesus dragged through the streets of Jerusalem, everywhere insulted, scoffed and despised; She beheld Him scourged, crowned with thorns, beaten and spit upon. Mary practiced unalterable patience. She stood up in the midst of the most horrible tempest like a rock surrounded by waves which beat against it, without causing it to fall. Neither the abyss into which She was plunged by Her grief nor the spectacle of death, nor the fury of man, nor the rage of demons was able to cast Her down. Her demeanor was full of resolution and courage. Without allowing any complaint to escape from Her, She adored the designs of God in silence and submission. She was a Mother who was not afraid to stand by Her Son amidst insults, contempt and injustice. With Jesus, She drank to the dregs the chalice of humiliation.
The Resurrection of Our Savior is a guarantee to us of His divinity and, thereby, the complete guarantee of all our beliefs for, if Jesus Christ be God, His Religion is divine; the Gospel, which is His Word, is divine; the Sacraments which He has established are divine; the Church which He has founded is divine and, in believing it, I am certain not to be deceived. In following our Faith, we are following an Infallible Guide. In vain do the infidels attack our beliefs, in vain do nations rage: Jesus Christ Risen replies to all. There is not one single objection which does not fall to pieces against the stone of the sepulchre. What a consolation! What a triumph for the Faith!
Sister Mary Emerentia, June 1, 1914 – March 15, 2013
March 22nd, 2013| Dear Apostles of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
This past week, our dear Sister Mary Emerentia passed away. Sister was born on June 1, 1914. She lived in a rural community in Minnesota, and had three brothers and one sister. Rosela Albrecht entered the Dominican Convent at the age of 18. She was determined to save her soul and help others. Her favorite Saint was St. Thérèse who was at her side in every step she took during her thirty years of Convent life.
For the next 25 years, Sister worked in whatever capacity God provided: teacher, librarian and servant; whatever was asked of her. Sister’s family was scandalized that she had left the Convent and they condemned her. Sister then had the opportunity to care for an elderly lady who was dying. This she did with dedication and love. Then, another lady requested her services and Sister looked after this dear lady until her death. I had begun to communicate with Sister during this time and she enrolled in the Living Rosary, and developed a special devotion to St. Philomena. I knew her family was distant from her and the lady for whom she cared would soon be called by God. I asked Sister what she would then do. Her only wish was to serve Our Lady. After Mabel died, I invited Sister to come help me with the Living Rosary. She prayed about it and was determined to come. On October 3, 1989 – Feast of St. Thérèse, she flew into Houston and lived in our home for the next year. Those were the early years of the Living Rosary; it was just Sister and I. We walked around a table to collate books, and everything was done in a simple and humble way. After living with us for one year, a little “cottage” house across the street came up for rent. Sister was in heaven in this little cottage, her cell, in which to live, pray and offer herself up a victim for souls. In later years, we obtained a lovely large home in which to do the work of the Living Rosary and we moved Sister into the master suite where she had a large bedroom, a nice sitting room and a private bath. She so enjoyed the lovely yard with birds and squirrels, where she spent many hours raking leaves. She grew up on a farm and so loved being outdoors working. Every day, she would perform her job as “chief of Our Lady’s armory.” Day after day, Sister prepared everything we needed to mail out to the missions, all done while sitting at the dining room table. It was an endless, lonely and thankless job, but she realized its value for souls. The heroic dedication Sister had for missionary souls was incredible. It was a grueling 20 years Sister reported for duty, preparing the Power Packets, Scapular packets, Cord and Oil packets, relic cards and Chaplet packets, for our missionary members. She sat for 8 hours a day doing the same thing, week after week, month after month, year after year, alone and without companionship or real encouragement. Sister’s knees became arthritic and she was forced to use a cane. Oh, how this decline of health weighed upon her! Only in the end, she accepted it and carried on with her mission. Then came the day she had to trade the cane in for a walker. What a suffering for her to admit her decline! And, when the day came that the wheelchair had to be implemented, it was harrowing for Sister. With her loss of ability to be independent, she had to open her life to outside help and to remain completely hidden was no longer possible. It was at this time, an angel from India came to help us. Patricia Francis lived with Sister for five years. How blessed they were to have one another and Sister was able to continue on for the next five years at our home on Sweeny! All our lives were abruptly changed on September 14, 2008 when Hurricane Ike hit Galveston, Texas. We brought Sister to our home where we weathered out this storm together. Sister needed more care now, unable to walk or even transfer herself; I kept her in my home and cared for her myself for a year. Up every day by 8 a.m., breakfast and her work were set out for the day. She sat at our dining room table with full view of a lovely lake, preparing the Miraculous Medal leaflets for the missions. Every evening at 5 p.m., I would come home and wheel her outside in the back yard. We prayed the Rosary and I served her dinner. She very much enjoyed the lake, the birds and the snacks we had during this time. Then came the day when Sister was not able to be left alone and she required more care than I could give her. Sister was placed in a Nursing Home not far from our house and we were able to visit her often. We established a special time for Catholics to assemble and pray and, through the tireless effort of Patricia Francis, who had lived with Sister for 5 years, the Catholic residents had their spiritual needs met. Sister’s condition turned for the worse, and she was transported to the local hospital. Her doctor was wonderful and supportive. Father Dignan came to give her the Last Sacraments on March 13; Sister was warm, comfortable and at peace. She passed to her eternal reward on March 14. In the Cross is our salvation; PATTI MELVIN, Director ULRA Please pray for me. |
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 O Jesus, Who in Thy bitter Passion, didst become “the most abject of men, a man of sorrows,” I venerate Thy Sacred Face whereon there once did shine the beauty and sweetness of the Godhead; but now it has become for me as if it were the face of a leper! Nevertheless, under those disfigured features, I recognize Thy Infinite Love and I am consumed with the desire to love Thee and make Thee loved by all men. The tears which well up abundantly in Thy Sacred Eyes appear to me as so many precious pearls that I love to gather up, in order to purchase the souls of poor sinners by means of their infinite value. O Jesus, whose adorable Face ravishes my heart, I implore Thee to fix deep within me Thy Divine Image and to set me on fire with Thy Love, that I may be found worthy to come to the contemplation of Thy glorious Face in Heaven. Amen.
(This was Sister’s favorite prayer of Saint Thérèse, which she prayed fervently every day!) |
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Sister preferred solitude, silence and prayer, and early in her religious life, she made an offering of herself as a victim soul. She preferred to be hidden and would find ways to be chosen for roles in the kitchen and laundry room where she would not be exposed to the intrigues of the religious in her Order, who sought public recognition and were exposed to the view of the outside world. When Vatican II opened wide the doors of religious convents and seminaries, many abandoned the hidden and sacrificial life of their consecrated vocation. Sister realized her vocation was in danger. She would not take off the habit, secularize her spiritual life and abandon the hours of the Holy Office. Her heart and soul were torn with the decision she was forced to make after 30 years in religious life. In order to preserve her vows, she must leave the convent. In the dark of night, she and several of the other Sisters took flight. Sister retreated to a small traditional group of faithful who were determined to preserve the Faith of Our Fathers.Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, Week of Passion Sunday, 2013
March 22nd, 2013| Father Chad Partain’s Talk at the Launching of THE YOUTH FOR PURITY Crusade
I am Fr. Chad Partain, the pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Parish, Mansura, Louisiana and the chancellor for the diocese of Alexandria. And, so I had a long trip to be with you today. But, it is a trip that I looked forward to making because I have seen pictures of your beautiful church for years and always wanted an excuse to come visit. This was the perfect opportunity. In September 2011, we gathered at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows outside of St. Louis, Illinois for an international conference on St. Philomena and, while we were there, devotees from all over the world gathered to share their stories of St. Philomena and to reflect on the devotion and the work of the devotion in the world. It was during the gathering at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows that we came to a greater understanding of what St. Philomena was accomplishing in the modern world. She is a Saint who went from great obscurity to great popularity. She rose from the silence of the catacombs to being the great Wonder-Worker of the 19th Century. After this time, she again slept, but now her devotion is in a period of great resurgence. Many of us who work with the devotion and who try to spread it, believe there is a reason for that resurgence. Philomena is a gift to the Church that God gives to the generations that are in most need of her intercession. And certainly, I think, this is true of our own time and our own need. Our day and Age is not radically different from the days of Diocletian, the waning days of the old Roman Empire. If we were to look back in history and read accounts of life in those days, it would almost be as if we were reading newspaper headlines of our own day. The reign of Diocletian was a culture of death! It was a time when life was cheap, men and women lived for their own sexual excess and pleasure. The Family Unit had completely broken down under a system of no-fault divorce which had been introduced in the Roman Law. Abortion and Euthanasia were common, suicide was rampant, the birth rate almost non-existent. Homosexuality was accepted as a norm and no longer looked upon as perversion. In so many ways, the days of St. Philomena are an exact mirror of our own. And it was into the darkness of that culture of death that God brought forth this amazing little Saint to challenge the wisdom of the world. God sent a teenage girl to challenge the strong and the powerful. He sent this humble little child whose name means simply “Child of the Light,” Philomena, daughter of Light. God has given us this little Saint, the patron Saint of miracles, this innocent child in our own time because we have the same needs as the people of her time. We have to be reminded as they were reminded that the light does shine in the darkness, for this is Philomena’s message. The Light of Christ still continues to shine even in the darkest moments as we pass through this valley of the shadow of death. And so, Philomena speaks to us, as she speaks for us before the throne of God. The message St. Philomena gives to the modern world is the message which it greatly needs. First, she is a witness to the transforming power of God’s Grace. She reminds us that with the Grace of God all things are possible. And this is a message of hope, a message of confidence and trust which we need to remember more than ever, because we run the risk of growing discouraged by the evil that surrounds us. It is very easy to be a pessimist in the Church today. It is very easy for us to be cynical or critical, to believe that we are living in the worst of times and to believe there is no hope. To give into that temptation is to go against the virtue of Hope. And, this is something we cannot afford to do. Philomena is a reminder to us that the Grace of God accomplishes wonders. But, where does the Grace of God work? The Grace of God does not work through politics, international treaties or trade agreements. The world is touched and changed and transformed not by Washington, or the United Nations; the world is touched and changed for the better through the Grace of God at work in the human heart. This is what St. Philomena reminds us: the Grace of God and the Power of God are at work! Even in the midst of this corrupt and depraved generation, we can see God’s Grace reflected in the faces of the children and the families here present. The Grace of God is not absent from our world. But, we have to know where to look for it. Philomena reminds us that we have to look for the Grace of God at work among the young. Our children are not incapable of virtue. All too often, there is a temptation to write off the children of this generation: they are too callous, they are too cynical, they are too locked into their own little worlds, they are too selfish, too self-centered, they have completely given into the lies of the media and they are blind to any spiritual reality. But, that simply is not the case. Many of our children are lost, many are not! And that is why we have to continue to seek the Grace of God which is at work in them. We cannot afford to give up or to write off an entire generation for the Grace of God is at work. The transforming power of God’s Grace is active in them. St. Philomena is the Patroness of Youth. Every Saint has a task to perform in this world and in the next. Just because we get to Heaven does not mean that our work is done. St. Philomena’s task, assigned to her by the Church, is to intercede for the young. She is to be a witness, model and intercessor for our youth. And we have to help her in that task. The children of today are lost in many ways because they no longer have reflected for them any witness or example of holiness or innocence. As you know, so many of them come from broken homes, wounded relationships and abusive situations. Many of them have never experienced a Catholic education. They have not experienced the support of an extended family. They have never known the love of dedicated religious or the care of priests. They have had no one to witness to them the marvelous love of our Heavenly Father. This is why the Archconfraternity of St. Philomena and the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena have developed the Youth for Purity Crusade to introduce St. Philomena to as wide an audience as possible. The Youth Crusade consists of two phases: The first phase is a program of mini-shrines that are being put together and will be sent free of charge to whatever school or parish or CCD program would like to receive one. The mini-shrine is simply a large plastic container but, in that plastic container, there is a statue of Saint Philomena, her chaplet, a set of CD’s describing her life and her miracles, devotional materials as well as educational materials on the basic tenets of the Faith. Included, also, are Scapulars, Rosaries and Miraculous Medals, enough for every child to carry back into his own home. That is the first phase of what we want to accomplish in St. Philomena’s Youth for Purity Crusade. We want to introduce her and take her on tour. We want to expose as many children as possible to the power of this young girl because the Church in Her Infallible Wisdom holds up this child as a witness and a sign of what the Grace of God is able to do with our human weakness. Included with every mini-shrine, there is a curriculum which guides the teacher to present the story of St. Philomena and to help focus the children’s attention on the message that needs to be conveyed, the message that we all need to hear. And that message is very simple and, yet, very profound. What do we need to hear in the modern world? What do we need to remember? St. Philomena teaches us, first of all, about the need for courage. Courage is a supernatural gift which comes to us from the Holy Ghost. The virtue of courage is needed in our world today. Philomena is a wonderful example because she is the unexpected witness of courage. Our children today are inundated with images of superheroes and novel forms of courage that are not possible. But, Philomena presents a courage which is supernatural and, yet, at the same time accessible. Here is a child, and we have to remember she was very much a child; here is a child in a foreign land, torn from her parents, isolated from all that was familiar, abused and tempted in ways that none of us have ever been tempted. None of us have ever been offered the kingdom of the world on a platter. She was offered fame, fortune, power and physical pleasure. Everything the world could offer, was offered to her! And, yet, she found the courage to resist this temptation, to overcome her fear and to maintain her peace of soul. Her courage is a tremendous witness and it is a witness, not only to the supernatural virtue of courage but it is also a witness to the power of innocence. Our world today does not value innocence. You can see it in the fashions, you can see it in the advertisements and you can see it everywhere from the billboards to the check-out line at the grocery store. Ours is not a culture that values innocence. We view innocence as a handicap because we have the mistaken idea that innocence is the same as being naïve. And we see this as a weakness not a strength. But, there is more to innocence than just virginity of the body. The greatest innocence, the strength and power of innocence, comes through purity of the mind and heart which is reflected in the purity of the body. You must have the first one before you can have the second. Our children are not innocent and, believe me, they are not innocent because they have not been taught that purity of the body can only happen when we understand and embrace purity of the mind and the heart. For only the pure of heart, shall see God. And this is what innocence is all about. Innocence is the ability not just to refrain from sexual activity, but it is the ability to see and to understand as God does, to possess a spiritual point of view and to be able to value and judge things of this world in the light of eternity. Philomena had that ability and was able to see through the shadows and the illusions of temptation. She was able to distinguish what was important from what was unimportant, what was necessary from what was not necessary. She saw through the lies and the deceptions and she clearly understood that the only thing necessary was the salvation of her soul. Philomena had the courage to embrace the Truth! This is innocence! This is power! Innocence is power because it brings with it integrity of heart. The third powerful lesson that St. Philomena brings is integrity of heart. She was single-minded, stubborn and committed. This is what gave her strength. She was focused completely on the one thing necessary, the only thing that is necessary: the salvation of her soul. This is what gave her courage and strength in the face of martyrdom and death. These are the three lessons we want to highlight as we send the mini-shrines out to the schools, to the youth groups and to the CCD programs. We want to emphasize integrity of heart and the power of innocence and the great need for courage. This is the focus we want to give our children and Philomena does that in a radical and powerful way. The second phase of the Youth Crusade is accomplished simultaneously with the first. Philomena is not only the patron Saint of miracles and the patron Saint of youth, but she is also the patron Saint of the Children of Mary. The Children of Mary is an organization that was begun in the 19th Century. It was requested by the Blessed Mother when she appeared to St. Catherine Labouré at Rue de Bac in 1830. At the time She gave Catherine the Miraculous Medal, Mary asked for the establishment of the Congregation of the Children of Mary. St. Philomena was named patroness of that Congregation by Pope Pius IX. The second phase of our Youth Crusade now is to resurrect the Congregation of the Children of Mary. Msgr. Braschi, as rector of the Shrine of St. Philomena in Italy and universal director of the Archconfraternity, has asked us to do just that. We are to resurrect the Congregation of the Children of Mary as a Youth Crusade for all, as a means of teaching and spreading devotion not only to Saint Philomena, but the importance and the necessity of the Marian Consecration, the spirituality of St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, by which we go to Jesus through Mary. To this end, we have re-established the Congregation of the Children of Mary as the youth arm of the International Family of St. Philomena. The International Family of Saint Philomena is composed of three branches: The Archconfraternity of Saint Philomena headquartered in the Sanctuary of Mugnano del Cardinale, the Universal Living Rosary Association of St. Philomena founded by Ven. Pauline Jaricot and the Congregation of the Children of Mary: The papa, the mama and the children. Here, then, is the Family: La Familia de Santa Filomena (The Family of St. Philomena) Now, there is a place for all of us to grow in our understanding and our awareness of St. Philomena and also to practice this devotion and pass it on to others. That is the purpose of the Family, to spread the devotion, to tell the story, to give witness to the miracles, to remind the modern world that God does reach into our lives and perform miracles. Miracles are not just a thing of the past. They happen in the here and now. And it is because of such a miracle that I am here today with you. When I was in Junior High, I was introduced to Saint Philomena through the Universal Living Rosary Association. I signed up for my Daily DECADE and received a pamphlet on St. Philomena and wanted to know more about her. So I read everything I could about her and I was inspired by her story. I knew that I wanted to be a priest; I wanted to go to the seminary but I was diagnosed with a tumor-like growth in my inner ear. The doctor informed my parents that it had to come out right away. This cholesteatoma was of enormous size and would have to be removed immediately by radical surgery. The surgery was scheduled but, before the surgery, I began a Novena to St. Philomena reminding her gently that, if I was going to be a priest, I must have the ability to hear. My family was able to obtain a First Class Relic from the Vatican. My parents and I prayed the Novena and then I went in for surgery. I had a radical mastoidectomy, where they basically cut off my ear, and drilled through the mastoid bone to get into the inner ear. The doctor got in there and, after eight hours of surgery, he came out and told my parents, “The tumor was much larger than I imagined. The growth was actually the size of a grapefruit; it was pressing on the brain, and there is no way now that he will be able to hear because there is nothing left in the inner ear. Everything has been eaten away. We patched together an ear drum but he will definitely be deaf and most likely paralyzed on his left side.” My mother said, “Are you sure?” They said, “No, we cannot be certain until he comes out of the anesthesia.” I came out of the anesthesia, and felt the doctors pricking my toes to see if I could feel anything. Not only was I not paralyzed, but when they finally unwrapped the mummy and took off my bandages, I could hear out of that ear. The doctors were amazed because there was nothing there but one large vast cavity. There was no inner ear left. There was nothing to hear with. Yet it is that ear which, every week, I press up against the Confessional grill to hear Confessions. St. Philomena is a wonderful sister to us. And that’s what she longs to be. She longs to be a sister to us in order to remind us that we are not alone, the power and the Grace of God are present, and we must not lose hope, or give in to cynicism or despair. Rather, we must continue to practice the devotions by which we recognize that we are part of something greater than ourselves, for you and I are part of the Communion of Saints. Sanctity is not limited to the Saints in Heaven, but you and I are part of that Family – the Family of the Communion of Saints. We are bound to one another and to the Souls in Heaven, and to the Souls in Purgatory as a support system, for this is the Mystical Body of Christ. We have the right to call upon the Saints. We have the right to demand that they intercede in our behalf. Most of all, we are called to take our place with them by trusting Almighty God, and by asking for their continued intercession in all of our needs. Through the intercession of St. Philomena, we pray for our children as we pray for our world. We must also continue to pray for the gift of Hope, that great forgotten virtue, for hope is a gift from God which enables us to believe that God will provide everything that is necessary for our salvation. Nothing will be lacking to us. Nothing is lacking. Everything has been given. When God reaches into our lives with a miracle, He reminds us of this fact: There is nothing lacking. All we have to do is to believe and hope and trust like a little child. This is why, I believe, God has once again raised up this powerful Saint who will not die, whose devotion will not fade or go away. I believe her devotion will continue to grow, it will continue to spread because her miracles happen every day. The testimonies that pour into the Sanctuary from all over the world and the testimonies that are reported to the Universal Living Rosary Association are tremendous! God is at work among us. He wants us to turn to the Saints; He wants us to ask for their powerful help, so we might remember in doing this, we are a part of the tremendous Communion of Saints. We have the support we need. We are not alone! I would urge you, if you have not done so already, to sign up for the Archconfraternity of St. Philomena. This is a wonderful way for us to express our devotion to St. Philomena and to help spread this devotion to others. The requirements are very simple: just fill out the membership card and practice the devotion on your own and do what you can to help spread the devotion to others. Fr. Jason and Fr. Kevin made mention of the cord of St. Philomena which is indulgenced. The cord is the sign of membership in the Archconfraternity and, certainly, is a tremendous treasure that has been given to us. If you haven’t already, I would urge you to sign up for your Daily DECADE with the Universal Living Rosary Association. Venerable Pauline Jaricot was a tremendous soul and she devised a system by which we could promise to pray one DECADE of the Rosary, joining with others throughout the world. By praying our Daily DECADE, we share not only in the graces of all 15 decades of the Rosary every day, but through the power of association, we gain the graces and merits of all 12-Million members united with us praying their Daily Decade. It is the best bargain value in the Church. This devotion is sanctioned by the Holy Father and is highly indulgenced. It is a tremendous thing. There are 12-MILLION members of the Living Rosary Association worldwide. Take up your Decade, play your part, and help spread devotion to the Blessed Mother throughout the world. The Living Rosary Association is also a missionary activity. I urge you to take home the information we have for the Children of Mary. The Congregation of the Children of Mary, the youth arm of the Family of St. Philomena, is a wonderful way for us to fulfill what was requested by Our Blessed Lady, that our children gather together on the First Saturday of each month, receive Holy Communion in reparation, pray the Rosary and consecrate their lives to Jesus through Mary. This is the purpose of the Congregation of the Children of Mary. Through this Congregation, they learn and are formed so that they can make Mary’s “YES” their own. It is a tremendous Crusade. Take the information back to your parish, to your CCD class or include it in your home-school curriculum. Let everyone know about the Youth Crusade. Share with them the possibilities of spreading devotion to this tremendous Saint. If you do that, you will be doing your part. We are all called to offer our FIAT to God’s plan for us by promulgating devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and hastening her final Triumph. We are called to live and to act, to work and to pray like St. Philomena as Children of the Light, as Children of Mary! I invite you all to be a part of the Youth for Purity Crusade. By your participation in the Archconfraternity, the Universal Living Rosary and the Children of Mary, you will grow in virtue and purity, and help Saint Philomena bring souls to Jesus through Mary. Thank you and may God bless you! Fr. Chad Partain, Director |
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We are so happy to inform you that the Crown of Twelve Stars Youth Program has been launched! Dear Members of the International Family of Saint Philomena,
As we prepare to celebrate the first anniversary of the youth congregation on November 21 (the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary), I am writing to you, as promoters of the devotion, to introduce this work of youth evangelization. The purpose of the Children of Mary is threefold: 1. to encourage and foster an extraordinary devotion to the Blessed Mother in the hearts of its members, 2. to introduce the devotion of St. Philomena to the youth of today, and 3. to encourage the imitation of St. Philomena’s heroic purity. The youth who enroll as members of the Children of Mary, are also automatically enrolled in the Archconfraternity of St. Philomena and as members of the Universal Living Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena. The members make an individual Act of Consecration to the Blessed Mother and assume responsibility for praying an assigned daily Decade of the Rosary. They are encouraged to form Circles of five or more members for monthly meetings on the First Saturday of each month At this meeting they can participate in Holy Mass and offer their Communions of love and reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Monthly meeting guides and points for reflection are given on the Facebook page. Prayers and guidelines for the meetings are included in the Manual which is sent to the registered members along with their membership card and Medal of Consecration. It is our hope that this organization can be a great force for good in forming a new generation of committed disciples who will truly make Mary’s ‘YES’ their own. Please include the Children of Mary and our Youth for Purity Program in your prayers and encourage the formation of ‘Circles’ in your local area. While this is primarily a youth movement of education and sanctification, membership is open to all the baptized who wish to be enrolled as Children of Mary. Registration applications can be found online at: TheChildrenOfMary.net For more information or to register by mail, write to: St. Philomena, Patroness of the Children of Mary, pray for us! |
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My name is Fr. Chad Partain and I am a priest of the Diocese of Alexandria in Louisiana in the United States, where I serve as pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church and as chancellor of the diocese. On November 13, 2011, Msgr. Giovanni Braschi, rector of the Shrine of St. Philomena, officially established the Congregation of the Children of Mary, as the youth program for the International Family of St. Philomena. The program’s website and Facebook page were launched in October of 2011 and, since then, we have registered members, both young and the young at heart, from across the world.
Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, Week of the Laetare Sunday, 2013
March 22nd, 2013|
SAINT PHILOMENA’S YOUTH FOR PURITY St. Philomena carries a message to the world which is absolutely critical to our Age. Today, every possible influence is being exerted to destroy the purity of the young and the old. For us to remain silent in this matter is criminal! According to modern psychology, sin is not sin and virtue is weakness rather than strength. God supplies to every century a saintly model that suits its particular needs. He saw clearly that the most prevalent sin in our Age is sensuality. To recall the modern world to its sense of duty to Him, He sent to it the soul of a saint who was the embodiment of the virtue opposite of this vice, PURITY! God exalted her quickly and gifted her with miracles. The fame of St. Philomena spread throughout the whole world like a bushfire. Everyone who calls on St. Philomena is helped. We are on the battle field facing the enemies of purity and we are bound by the iron-clad law: Either FIGHT or DIE! St. Philomena resolved that nothing in this world would divert her from her true destiny which was Heaven. Let us, too, make the resolve that nothing in the world will divert us from our duty to God, Who is our sole reason for existence and Who will be our Judge and reward. Death is coming! It is really coming near with appalling suddenness. Are we prepared and ready for death should it come today? In that hour, we will be separated from life, from the world, from property, riches and family. All is left behind save two things: the sins we have committed and the good works Man has forgotten God! He goes from one care in life to another, occupied night and day between the fevered quest of the twin prizes: Money and Pleasure. If we leave God out of our lives and suppose that death is the only result of life, why live at all! For Christians, life is not a hopeless riddle. Thank God for our precious Catholic Faith which teaches us the fundamental purpose of our life here on earth: God made me to know, love and serve Him in this life, These two truths contain the whole sum of wisdom for they are more important to us than anything else in the world. Our happiness here on earth and our Eternity of happiness depend largely on how firmly we grasp these truths. We are free to fulfill God’s purpose in our creation or refuse to serve Him. The chief test for our fitness for Heaven is the test of purity. We can measure the terrible nature of sin by the losses it entails. Deliberate sins against purity are mortal for, through them, a soul is slain, the Grace of God is forfeited, Heaven is closed and Hell is opened. The first consequence of sin is that the unhappy creature, who thus falls, no longer cares to pray and gives up daily devotions. He begins to doubt whether there really is a God or Eternity. In false shame, sins are concealed in the confessional, thus rendering his Confessions and Communions sacrilegious. Hardness of heart sets in and the understanding is darkened. We must have confidence in God, call upon Him and rely upon His help, avoid all idleness and fly from all persons, places and things which are a temptation to sin. We must avoid those substances which weaken our will to say NO to sin, dress modestly, shield our eyes from nakedness and seek goodness, truth and beauty. The world seeks to destroy not only our purity but also our very belief in purity. Familiarity between the sexes, nudity, free love, taking partners, divorce, movies, bad companions and constant media exposure open our soul, day and night, to the filth of impurity. Our adversary is paganism. Not the old paganism which worshipped idols, but the new paganism that worships SELF! It makes man a law unto himself, which denies that man has a soul and a free will. The modern world does not believe in God or life after death. By the Sixth Commandment, we are commanded to be pure men and women, to live good lives, wholesome, clean, noble, virtuous and consistent with our dignity as men endowed with immortal souls and stamped with God’s image and likeness. We are to live the noble life of a Christian, be followers of Christ, children of God and future inhabitants of Heaven. Our life is to be consistent with our dignity as a tabernacle of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in Holy Communion. That Christian man should live the life of an animal is a contradiction and a catastrophe. Purity, then, in thought, word and deed is commanded of us by the Sixth Commandment. What does the Sixth Commandment forbid? Adultery means the sexual union of two people, at least one of whom is married to a third person. Fornication is the sexual union of two persons who are single. Neither fornicators nor adulterers shall possess the Kingdom of God. All sins of impurity and immodesty, all external actions contrary to holy purity are forbidden: all impure words, desires and thoughts. God forbids anything that can sully the purity of our bodies, minds or souls. He forbids absolutely, unconditionally, at all times, in all places and under all circumstances, any impure act whether committed with another or alone. God’s standard for men and women is identical. Is this command difficult? It is the most difficult of all the Commandments. It is the chief test to which God puts man to determine his fitness for Heaven. Unless we make use of the means God gives us to observe this Commandment, we will not succeed. Very many sins against the Sixth Commandment are committed neither in cold blood nor in overwhelming passion, but as a result of certain moods we fall into. If you find yourself sulking, fidgety, cranky or childish, learn to pull up quickly. Resist these moods by doing the opposite of what they suggest. This will be for you a very healthy form of conquest and self-denial. IMMACULATE VIRGIN, reawaken in us an awareness of the malice of sin and of the pain it caused thy Son so that, by prayer and penance, we may weep for our own sins and frequently wash our soul in the most Precious Blood of Jesus through the Sacrament of Penance. OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME! We call God ‘Father’ because He created us. But, God has actually given to man the astonishing power to be a father too; God shares His creative power with a man and a woman to call into existence His children. As the tiny body of the child is formed by the parents, God breathes into it an immortal soul. Try to realize the dignity and nobility of fatherhood and motherhood. It is a power given by God that must not be tampered with. Sex is used for the purpose of begetting children and must be surrounded with the most profound respect and reverence. It is noble. When sex is misused, this beautiful God-given instinct is turned into an instrument of pleasure and it is the pleasure that is worshiped, the pleasure that is set up as god. For many, it is a means of recreation not the procreation of the children of God. To God, they say, “I WILL NOT SERVE!” When we profane our bodies, we profane what is sacred in God’s sight. When we profane our bodies, we actually commit as great a sacrilege as one who profanes a church or altar. The body which the Holy Spirit animates must partake of His Holiness. Today, unbridled passion is called love. IT IS NOT LOVE! It is stark naked lust. It is wrong to tamper with truth, it is wrong to squander money, it is wrong to ruin the name of another; but can you tell me, it is not wrong to tamper with the means to create life, not wrong to cheapen love and to squander God’s creative power? Can it be right to say that sins against life and love do not matter? The sin against sex is a sin against life, a sin against God. It is a sin that God punishes even in this life. Lust is no substitute for love! Good God, what damnable liars these men and women are when they defend this sin! To be modest, one must build for himself a strong Christian character, a life dominated by principles: Frequent Prayer, Frequent Confession and Frequent Communion. Daily spiritual reading will bring to mind the great religious truths of our Faith. Daily self-denial, habitual reflection and fervent prayer make us strong to resist temptation. Prayer is not to be delayed to the moment of temptation, when it is too late, but daily we must ask God to give us strength when the moment of temptation comes. MODESTY – The Guardian of Chastity! “The sins that lead most souls to Hell are sins of the flesh! The words of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Blessed Jacinta Marto – in 1917, Fatima Frequent Confession will help us to develop a conscience which is sensitive to sin. Frequent Communion will make the soul strong just as food taken will help make the body strong. Daily spiritual reading will increase our knowledge and love of God. The Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity comes to take up His abode within us at the time of Baptism, and dwells habitually within us until we drive Him out by mortal sin. “If a man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me!” Our generation is given over to excesses. They have never been taught discipline nor have they learned obedience. Harried parents have given into self-indulgence and, for a peace which is false, they have allowed the defiant child to have his way at every turn. The child will not obey, he will not study and his every wish for food, snacks, movies, money and video games is gratified; if not at first, then after a series of nagging cries, he gets his way. He has never been taught to sacrifice, deny himself and develop self-control. At the root of all sin and, most especially, the sin of impurity, is the absence of self-control. To obey the Will of God and to avoid all forms of excess, self-denial is necessary and training in self-denial should begin at the earliest possible age. We make the sacrifice of self-denial not only for the salvation of our own soul but also for those in danger, today, of dying in mortal sin. My dear friends, there is a pestilence about us to which hundreds of thousands are succumbing each day. When a pestilence is raging, it is the duty of the parent and the pastor to warn the people against it. The pestilence is the sin of impurity! It is as necessary to practice prayer and self-denial with regularity as it is to have two wings to fly. Self-denial means moderation in all things, resignation without grumbling, control of temper, tongue and all impulses, refusal to read what is impure or watch any video or movie which contains impurity of speech, action or dress, sitcoms which ridicule family life or religion and glorify unbridled license. It means that we should, every day, do something that is hard and disagreeable. Self-denial is the business of training the will to choose God over creatures, Heaven over Hell, Goodness over Evil! FLY TO THE HEART OF MARY! The Heart of Mary is the mirror of God and the masterpiece of His creation, the Living Tabernacle of the Blessed Trinity. The daily rhythm of the Rosary, that calm solitude of prayer, opens to us the mercy of God. The Mother of Jesus leads us along the high road of suffering and pain to union with her Divine Son, quietly refining and shaping our soul. Prayer obtains all. The Heart of Mary is there, let us knock! The grace of purity will be given to us if we persevere in asking for it. In the Heart of Mary, we will find courage and strength. In her Heart, we will be nourished and protected. Mary is in anguish for Her children in sin. A mother weeps to see her child suffer; she is deeply distressed when the child is in grave danger. God’s own Mother will keep Her vigil through the dark night at the bedside of all Her mortally wounded children who have been separated from God’s Grace due to sin. Mary came to Lourdes and Fatima, to plead with us to pray the Rosary and do penance for sinners. We must fly from temptation and seek refuge in this Grotto Divine! With Mary, let us advance on this Pilgrimage of faith that we may arrive at our destination pure in body and soul and be greeted with these words: “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the Kingdom that has been prepared for thee.” PARENT’S CONSECRATION OF THEIR CHILDREN TO ST. PHILOMENA O Saint Philomena, we place our children in thy keeping. Illustrious Virgin, who so thoroughly understood the excellence of purity, keep their souls pure and holy in the sight of God. Wise young maiden, who so fully comprehended the infinite value of eternal treasures and the shallowness of temporal riches and power, instruct our children in the value of things spiritual. Assist them in building up rich treasures in the store-house of Heaven, where their wealth can neither be destroyed nor taken from them. Courageous Martyr, who died in torment rather than offend the All-Good God, teach our children a true horror of sin and a love of true virtue. We implore thee, St. Philomena to obtain for them the courage to suffer persecution and tortures bravely rather than to deny Almighty God. We ask these favors with complete confidence, St. Philomena, because we know that thou, who gave all to God, can obtain all from Him and we are sure that thou wouldst never refuse to hear the prayer of parents who implore thy help for the eternal salvation of their children. Amen. |
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| THE ROBE OF CONSOLATION
Behold Jesus before us, hanging on the Cross. See His gentle, sorrowful Face. His Heart aches because so many for whom He is dying have rejected His goodness and love. Will we reject Him too? Before we answer, let us listen to His words from the Cross, “I thirst.” He is speaking to us. He thirsts for us, do we thirst for Him? Beg from Him this grace. Jesus thirsts for our love and He wants our help. Will we help Him? Let us take a moment now to consider what He has given us. He created us in love, washed away our sins with His Blood, clothed us with His divine Life, and prepares a place for us in His Father’s House that we might dwell with Him for all Eternity. And, there is more. Jesus wants to share with us His mission. He wants our help to bring everyone back Home to His Father. This, too, is His gift to us. Will we accept it? He is counting on our help. He needs us. Many refuse the Love of Jesus and they refuse the gift of His mission. Will we refuse it? Let us believe in His Love and say ‘YES’ to His Will for our lives. Turn to Mary. She knows how to say ‘YES’ to God and She will help us. Mary, my Mother, please be with me now. Help me to have the courage and love not to be a disappointment to Jesus. Jesus, I thirst for Thee! Form me into a saint. |
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Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, Week of the Third Sunday of Lent, 2013
March 22nd, 2013|
GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST! Dear Children of Mary, What joy this title brings to all our hearts! It is a wonderful program that Father Chad Partain is championing throughout the world for our Youth! Through Him, Our Blessed Mother is calling Her children to a greater love and participation in the Holy Eucharist.
Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, What things God has prepared for those who love Him! In Heaven, we shall see God, face to face. Let us ask the Queen of Heaven to grant us every grace necessary to obtain our final perseverance and a holy death! Dear members, we place your daily needs, spiritual, physical and material, before the Altar of God. In doing this, may our mission in the bosom of Holy Mother the Church be strengthened and completed. I impart to all of you, my priestly blessing: + In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
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| Dear Apostle of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
We have received your generous gift which is truly a great help for our work of reaching all souls with devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and uniting them through the Holy Rosary. We realize that each one of you carry heavy crosses and struggle each day to do God’s Holy Will at home, at work and in your community. It would be very easy to get discouraged but, with great vigor, drive that thought out! Keep your eyes on your eternal goal, Heaven! Rest assured of our prayers for you each and every day.
There are two factors at work in the operation of Grace: God’s action and man’s action. Unlike other graces, Sanctifying Grace is conferred on us for the benefit of others. Grace is multiplied as man uses it. When works increase, so does Grace. Generally, there are two principal ways to obtain grace: through the Sacraments and through prayer. The one thing that impedes Grace is SIN. The source of all supernatural energy is God, but the flow of that energy to us awaits the action of prayer. Prayer is the key that unlocks the treasures of our all-benevolent God! Be faithful to your Daily Decade, and the flood-gates of Grace will be opened to you!
Thou art my Mother, O Virgin Mary: keep me safe lest I ever offend thy dear Son and obtain for me the Grace to please Him always and in all things. (300 days Ind.) |
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THE INESTIMABLE GIFT OF DIVINE MERCY!
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned! The Sacrament of Penance is an abundant source of consolation and peace to every Christian soul. Confession means always an act of self-denial, as it is essentially an act of penance. Our Heavenly Father forgives the heaviest possible crimes, immediately and unrestrictedly, when asked for mercy in the spirit of humility and contrition. God’s infinite sanctity bars even the slightest compromise with sin. God hates sin infinitely. Hence, reconciliation with God and man is unthinkable so long as man stubbornly adheres to sin. A good preparation is necessary for Confession. Daily spiritual reading and a careful daily examination of conscience are very important to forming a clear conscience. Pray to the Holy Ghost for light to know your sins, the strength to confess them and the Grace to be truly sorry for them. Strive to go to Confession weekly or at least once a month. If you go every two weeks, you are eligible to gain all the indulgences and graces that are offered through Holy Communion on special Feasts and the offering of particular prayers and Novenas throughout the year, which require Confession within the octave of the completed devotion. Under pain of mortal sin, you must make your Confession at least once in the year and receive Holy Communion during the Easter Season. You should confess your sin, the number of times it was committed and the circumstances under which it was committed, whether alone or with others. For a good Confession, you must have sorrow for your sins. Contrition is a hearty sorrow for your sins and a firm determination never to commit them again. Sorrow must be interior; it must come from the heart and be felt in the soul. Tears, sighs and exterior signs are not necessary. See your sins to be the greatest of evils, detest them as you would a poisonous snake. You need not weep, sorrow is in the will. Your contrition must be universal: You must be sorry for every mortal sin; if you confess only venial sins, you must be sorry for at least one of them. Contrition must be supernatural, not out of shame, but because you have offended Almighty God and lost Grace and Heaven, and deserve Hell. If you are sorry because you have offended God, the best of Fathers, our loving Redeemer Who is all good, glorious and amiable, your contrition is perfect. Imperfect contrition suffices to make a good confession. Look upon Christ dying in agony on the Cross; We must have a purpose of amendment to make a good Confession. This is a firm determination to change your life, avoid sin and have a definite resolve to suffer anything rather than commit a mortal sin. If you are resolved to avoid sin, you will be resolved to avoid the proximate occasion of sin – for instance, persons, places or times in which you are faced with temptation to sin. Resolve, always resolve to avoid every deliberate venial sin, for venial sins are the rungs on the ladder that lead to mortal sin! Always perform your Penance in a timely way. Be resolved to make good the wrong you have done. Perhaps, this will be restitution in goods, or in good name, or in soul, or by praying for those you have scandalized. Confess your sins. Confession must be entire; you must tell all your mortal sins and, if no mortal sin is present, at least one venial sin for which you are truly sorry. Your Confession must be clear, not vague. Give the sin, the circumstances and the number of times it was committed. Consider the Ten Commandments and confess your sins in that order. Be sure not to conceal, diminish or disguise your sins through false shame. Remember the silence of the Confessional is as the silence of the grave. No priest may ever reveal what he has heard in Confession. He may have to undergo torture or death, but he may not utter a single word he has heard in the Sacrament of Penance. Accept the penance the priest gives you. In Confession, the eternal punishment due to sin is remitted, but the temporal punishment remains in whole or in part. The penance given is for the expiation, in part at least, for the temporal punishment due for your sins, and for the amendment of your life. Never sit, kneel or stand too close to the Confessional as you may inadvertently hear the confession of another. The priest really does forgive sins in the Confessional. The dominant purpose of Christ is to seek and save sinners. Yes, only God can forgive a man who has sinned against God. But Jesus Christ is God; and the power of forgiving sins which is His, He gave to Peter and to the other Apostles to be used in His Name. “Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed in Heaven.” (Matt 16:19) “Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.” (John 20:22-23) Christ gave this power to His Apostles and it was a power given to them in their official capacity as ambassadors of Christ, to be passed down through the Ages by apostolic succession, until the end of time. Can a priest forgive his own sin? No, he cannot! He, too, must go to Confession to another priest. The Pope and the bishops go to Confession regularly that their sins may be forgiven. From the beginning of time, there has been absolutely no sin, the remission of which has been refused to penitents by a universal law in the Catholic Church. The Church cannot by any means grant the right of refusing absolution to those who are guilty of sin no matter how great their crimes, provided they are rightly disposed. But, anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Ghost will not be forgiven, for it is morally impossible that he should meet the conditions for absolution. The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is final impenitence and it frustrates, and is absolutely opposed to the remission of sins. Even God cannot pardon where there is no sorrow for sin. Man has a free will and God will never interfere with or force man’s free will. Through the Sacrament of Confession, the Holy Ghost will increase our self-knowledge, Christian humility will grow, bad habits will be corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity will be corrected, the conscience will be purified, the will strengthened, a salutary self-control attained and grace will be increased. Mortal sin strips our soul of the merits and graces of a life time. Everything is lost by mortal sin. But, how consoling this truth of our holy religion! Meritorious words revive when, through the forgiveness of mortal sin, grace is restored to the soul! All the merits of the pious works performed before the sinner fell while he was in the state of grace, are restored to the soul. God is so Good!!! But, while the soul is dead through mortal sin, it cannot gain one single favor from Heaven. How miserable and unhappy is the state of the sinner in mortal sin! The amendment of our lives is the surest sign that our Confessions are good. If, since your last Confession you have been guilty of only venial sins, then include a grievous sin of your former life for which you are heartily sorry. In this way, even if your sorrow concerning the faults committed since your last confession should be somewhat wanting, you need not be disquieted about your confession or have doubts about whether you had sufficient sorrow for them. Form the firm resolution of never willingly offending God again. The Sacrament of Confession was principally instituted for the forgiveness of mortal sin: and every mortal sin committed after Baptism must be confessed. Still, confession of venial sins is highly recommended by the Church as a great means of Christian perfection. By making frequent your confessions, you are exercising watchfulness over yourself and striving after perfection day by day. Through it, you will grow in His Love and His Grace. He that does not go forward in perfection will slip backwards. Here is a sort of model for devotional confession: “Father, my last confession was a week ago. Since then, I have been slightly angry and have given expression to my feelings in unkind words. I have told three lies in unimportant matters, just to elevate myself in the estimation of others. And I wish to include in this Confession all the sins of my past life, especially the mortal sins I deliberately committed against the Sixth Commandment. I am sorry for these sins I have mentioned and I firmly resolve to avoid them in the future.” By the Grace of God through frequent and sincere Confessions, may you continually advance in holiness before God and man! O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because I have offended Thee, my God Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy Grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen. |
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Jesus Christ founded His Church to teach the truth and to sanctify the world. It continues Christ’s work to make disciples of all Nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded, even unto the consummation of the world. Christ founded that Church and placed Peter as Its head, to whom He gave the promise of unshakable Faith. The Church would be built solidly upon Peter as upon a rock; no storms would ever tear it down. It was to teach all men, and Christ Himself would be with It, always, so that It could make no error in teaching His Divine Truth. It had the power to rule. It was a Kingdom; It had a head, Peter, and various classes of Apostles and disciples, bearers of the Word, all under Peter, all subject to his authority. Christ founded that Church as an infallible teaching authority. Salvation comes from Christ through His Church! The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. In this great Body of Christ, there is a constant and mutual sharing of help among all the members. If one member suffers anything, all the members suffer with It or, if one member glories, all the members rejoice with It. The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ; Its Head is Christ Himself Who gives life and direction to all Its members. The members are all united to the Head and to one another.
Man is the most perfect, the most capable and the most beautiful of all God’s visible creatures. He is formed of matter and spirit, body and soul. Man stands upright and proclaims dominion over all other creatures. The spirit of man, his soul, has powers that do not belong to matter. The soul is immortal, intelligent and master of itself. Adam and Eve were partakers of the divine nature and adopted sons of God. Their souls were alive with Sanctifying Grace, a supernatural gift infused in the soul, which makes it pleasing to God. No one can merit grace; it is a supernatural gift from God. Grace is a real physical-spiritual thing which exists in the soul. There is a difference between the way we love and the way God loves. We love someone because we see and appreciate something good in that person. God cannot love in this way because it would imply that something distinct from Himself motivates His Love. No! God loves in a totally different way. He places in our souls the supernatural Gift of Sanctifying Grace, which makes us worthy of His Love and Eternal Life. Grace is not God Himself, but it is a gift which implies the presence of the Giver. Grace makes us holy, it deifies and sanctifies us.
Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, Week of the Second Sunday of Lent, 2013
March 6th, 2013|
Our Three Pillars of Victory: The Church, the Eucharist and Mary!
All of these are beautiful testimonials to the most basic and exalted truth of the Catholic Church regarding the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The Church has suffered enormously over the past 50 years. The most serious problem facing the Church today, the most important issue which must be addressed more than the scandals that abound, is the loss of belief in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. What is amazing is the number of people who do not believe what the Church has always taught about the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This is a very serious problem which has to be corrected. The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of the Christian life! In the Blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church – Christ Himself: All the Sacraments, liturgy and devotions, the very life of the Church flow from the Eucharist. Statistics in the USA and Europe in 1994 showed that 2 out of 3 Catholics under the age of 45 believe the Eucharist is only a symbolic reminder of Christ. One half of those who attend Mass on Sunday describe the Eucharist as symbolic. This represents 15 million Catholics. A poll taken one year ago indicates that 77% believe one can be a good Catholic without attending Mass on Sunday and 70% of those between the ages of 18-45 believe the Eucharist to be symbolic. This should be no surprise to us. We have had 50 years of catechesis without content, a theology without the Cross and a spirituality without Our Lady! It is diabolical! What is Satan’s plan? Attack the Truth by discrediting the Church as a teaching authority; attack the Eucharist – our source of life and unity, and degrade Mary who leads us to Christ and ultimately crushes the head of the Serpent. WHAT, THEN, IS OUR PLAN? Proclaim and defend the Truth by uncompromising obedience to the Church, increase devotion to the Eucharist and make and live our Total Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These are the three Pillars of our apostolic program: THE CHURCH! THE EUCHARIST! Total Consecration to the IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY! If these three are implemented, we will have holy vocations. We need adoration of the Blessed Eucharist and we must be prepared to defend It against the errors which abound. Jesus is not just in the host or with the host; He is the Host Itself! Each and every particle of the host and every drop of precious Blood contain the whole Christ. Holy Communion preserves us from mortal sin and remits venial sin. It is a remedy through which we are delivered from our daily faults. It is the most powerful remedy against temptation. The Eucharist is the Bond of Charity that unites all Christians as members of One Spiritual Body. If we heard a newsflash that Jesus Christ was coming to earth and would be in our city next week, no sacrifice or effort would deter us from making the journey and suffering the discomfort of the crowds to see Him. The Truth is, He is truly here: HE IS PRESENT BODY, BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY! Too often today, the Mass is stripped of its sacrificial meaning and celebrated as if it were merely a fraternal banquet. As we move from the Old Testament to the New Testament, we find the Old is completed in the New: Promise is turned into Fulfillment, Symbol into Reality! To understand the Eucharist and the Mass, we must understand the Jewish customs and practices. We must look at the Passover. The Jews were in slavery. God sent down a series of plagues to convince the Pharaoh to let His people go. A plague of frogs covered the land, a plague of rats, a plague of locust and, then, came the tenth plaque. The Angel of Death was to kill all the first born sons of the land of both the Jews and the Egyptians. The only way to escape that death was to offer up a sacrificial meal – a male lamb without blemish, having no broken bone, was to be strung up and sacrificed by a knife piercing its heart. The people were then to wash themselves with the blood of the lamb. The blood was sprinkled with a hyssop branch on the doors of their homes. When the Angel of Death came over the land, all those with the blood of the lamb on the door were spared the death of their first born. The Passover bonded the people of God through the blood of a lamb. The feast was celebrated each year, renewing their covenant with God and reminding them how faithful He had been to them. They could trust God Who would always save them. Passover established a Covenant with God; It was a sacred family Bond that had to be renewed. Every time, they ate the meal, they renewed the Covenant. To the Jew, blood had deep meaning. It had a protective value, a unitive function, and also a purification quality. Passover was a memorial of the saving act of God which pointed to the future messianic celebration of the Coming of Christ. Let us leap forward 2,000 years to the Last Supper at which Jesus did a unique thing. At the Passover meal, He took bread into His Hands and said, “This is My Body that is given up for you.” (The Lamb is now Myself.) Jesus was to be the Sacrifice. All the things that happened in the Old Testament were brought to perfection and completion in Jesus Christ. Every time, the priest says, “This is My Body, this is My Blood,” God is renewing His Covenant. The lamb is not just sacrificed but eaten in a holy meal. The ultimate goal in the sacrifice is not so much the killing as the communion of souls restored to God by the eating of the lamb in the shared meal – the sacred family bond. “Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you will have no life in you.” (John 6-53) Jesus wanted us to be present at the Last Supper and on Calvary, but this was not possible. So, He made the Sacrifice perpetual. The Sacrifice of Jesus is repeated for all eternity, century after century, year after year, day after day, at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It telescopes itself across time. Christ’s once and for all Sacrifice is represented at the Altar in the Mass. The word PRIEST implies SACRIFICE. The Mass is PERPETUAL and ETERNAL. The Mass is the Sacrifice of the New Covenant: Promise to Fulfillment, Symbol to Reality! As often as the Sacrifice of the Cross is celebrated on the Altar, the work of Redemption is carried out. It did not end on the Cross. The work of Redemption continues here and now. It transcends time! The Mass is not a new Sacrifice but a representation. It is the unbloody renewal of the One and Supreme Sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. The Mass is the bloodless Sacrifice, Calvary made present. It spans the Ages. During the Mass, we should place ourselves in the chalice and ciborium. In this way, everything we have: our needs, our sufferings and sacrifices, joys and cares, our entire life will be offered by Jesus to His Father in Heaven for us. This is our priestly sacrifice as a priestly people. In this way, the Mass becomes intimately connected to our everyday life where it reaches its full meaning. Christ is present to us in many ways: present in the community when two or more are gathered in His Name in prayer, He is present in the poor and afflicted, He is present in the heart of a baptized Christian through Faith. But, Christ’s presence in the Eucharist is unique for His Sacred Humanity is present. John’s Gospel was written years after Mathew, Mark and Luke; and when he wrote about the Last Supper, he gave us the theology of it in greater depth. “Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you will have no life in you.” History testifies to what the Church has always taught. The doctrine of the true presence is backed by Scriptures and tradition. At the transubstantiation, Christ’s Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity are made present. This remains forever the teaching of the Church. The words the Church uses are most important. Our Faith has a language! For the sacrifice to be real, the Victim must be real. Jesus Christ gave us His sacred humanity so we could become one with God in the fullest sense. We become partakers of His divine nature. We become true sons and daughters of the Living God. EUCHARISTIC ADORATION The Sacred Species reserved in the Tabernacle is to be adored because Christ is substantially present. The Mystery of the Eucharist in all its fullness is reserved in the Tabernacle to extend to us the Grace of the Sacrifice. The Church and the world have great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus waits for us in His Sacrament of Love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration, and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease! Such visits are a proof of our gratitude and an expression of our love and a concrete acknowledgement of Our Lord’s presence. Every time, we genuflect when we come into the Church or walk past the Tabernacle, or spend time before the Blessed Sacrament, we are making a public profession of Faith. We are saying that we truly believe Jesus Christ is present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist. We must go by Faith not by sight. If only we could grasp the brilliance and luminescence of Christ’s Divinity present in the Blessed Sacrament, we would fall on our knees before our Creator! When will Christ’s light shine through our mediocrity and spiritual blindness? Do we really believe God is present? We spend hours going to a football game or running to the Mall for a sale, but how few people will spend ten minutes before the Blessed Sacrament. Our chapels for adoration should be packed. It is not enough to believe, we must act like we believe. Our chapels are empty and our gestures are meaningless or non-existent. All of this is an external manifestation of our loss of belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We have got to get it back in our parishes and we must do it today! We need to restore reverence for the Holy Eucharist. It starts with you and I. We need to set the example. By our genuflections, by our silence in Church, by our visits to Our Eucharistic Lord and, by making frequent holy hours, soon others will be encouraged and follow suit. Our goal has to be holiness and the Mass and the Eucharist are the ultimate foundation of Christian holiness. No matter what other devotions we have, if our presence at Holy Mass is lacking, our spirituality is wanting. Jesus use to retreat to the desert to escape the crowds: now, He is alone again, but for different reasons. He is patiently waiting for us. The Kingdom of “The Eucharist is the Shortest and Surest way to Heaven.” St. Pius X |
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A Family Praying The Rosary Is Filled With The Life Of Christ!
Every wife can be an influence in the life of her husband, every mother an inspiration to her children, every brother and sister a companion and help to their siblings. In the great Charity of Christ, marriage has been elevated to the dignity of a Sacrament! This means that marriage has been taken out of the civil courts and placed in the sanctuary. It means that Our Divine Savior has shed His Precious Blood that your love shall be sanctified, that your children shall know the fear and love of God, and that your union will not fail! Television is deadly poison to the souls of our Youth! Often, just one television program is enough to push a youth into mortal sin. Right in your own home, they are exposed to violence, nudity, vulgarity and perversion taken in through their senses, the windows of their soul. None of you would risk your child’s life by sitting him on the freeway in the middle of the night. Setting him in front of the TV is worse. You endanger the supernatural life of your child which is infinitely more precious than his bodily life. What a responsibility before God! Television is a deadly poison to the minds of our Youth! No intellectual effort, whatsoever, is needed for watching TV. By viewing TV, people are passive. They receive what is presented without making any effort to think. They are comfortable and lazily seated on the sofa, enjoying a snack. Everything is at hand. They swallow the snack and all that the television pours out. The pictures strike an image on the imagination and leave their trace on the mind. Television creates millions of people who do not think. It replaces culture. God’s judgment is replaced by public opinion, and the listless brain of the viewer is placed under anesthesia. We cannot be saved without making all our decisions in favor of good. The obstacles and traps which come from the world, the devil and our own lusts, we must conquer through our liberty of judgment for the glory of God. Television is deadly poison for our children’s studies! Ask an intellectual effort of children who watch television and you will obtain no response. These children have the inability to concentrate and pay attention. They are insecure, superficial and fail to have a solid grasp of intellectual reasoning. Television watchers are filled with the illusion that they have great and vast know-ledge. The young lose their innocence and simplicity. They live in an artificial world of sin, ugliness and stupidity. Irreparable harm is done to their intelligence and hearts. Your efforts and those of their teachers are rendered sterile. Television is deadly poison to Family Life! Your homes must be sanctuaries where GOD is honored, loved and served, and where parents watch vigilantly over the education of the children. Television is breaking up family life. It prevents conversation of parents and children. Television is the stranger in your home who has been given the place of honor that belongs to God and to you parents. There is no more family life, no more conversation, no more prayer, no more unity! The family is ruptured by the presence of television, which dictates its programs, its opinions and its garbage. GET RID OF IT, TODAY, tonight while the children are sleeping! You will be surprised to see how much time you have to enjoy your family, how fast the level of conversation will rise and how docile your children will be to your authority. Family prayer, morning and evening, and the family Rosary will once again take their rightful place of honor. The artificiality of life which goes on in front of the television kills the personality of everyone in the family and, thus, results in mediocrity, laziness, slavery to fashion and impurity. Catholic parents must not be party to such dehumanization and de-Christianization of their families. Television is deadly poison to the education of your children! Educate your children to the full exercise of their spiritual lives. A child’s interior life is the only thing that will arm him against the false maxims of the world. Help put him in touch with truth. Attract him to what is simple, good and beautiful. The home is a church in which dwells the Most Blessed Trinity. Not just anyone should be allowed to come inside. Not just anything may be said, no unfitting or vulgar music may be sung. The home is like a tabernacle, one enters and senses the need for respect; he is taken by a certain feeling of depth, and is sheltered from intellectual and moral degradation. To educate a child is to dare to choose for him the Life of Christ. Sin cannot withstand the presence of a good mother; irresponsibility is rebuked by the industry of a devoted father. Piety, purity, temperance and justice, prudence and courage and all other virtues blossom in the rich soil of a family faithful to God. From such homes, there goes forth a power like the Spirit of God to renew the face of the earth. In the ordinary realm of life, we do not hesitate to choose for our children what is necessary to safeguard their health. In the all-important realm of the child’s soul, we must not hesitate to instruct and demand that which is best for his soul. If our love for our children is true, we will be courageous to take the heroic steps necessary to secure their eternal salvation. Require your children to eat supper together with the family. Let them eat what is served to them. Set a time for studies and supervise their work. Demand of them Christian generosity toward you and their brothers and sisters! Insist upon physical efforts: walking, hiking, biking, tennis, swimming, etc. If they are lax, weak and wanting in energy, it is because they need lots of exercise. Throw out the make-up and nail polish; what is needed is prayer, work and sacrifice. Youth are made for heroism. The more you ask of your children, the happier they will be. Above all, never give up. Strive valiantly to provide for them a good example. Saintly parents beget saintly children. A sanctified family will grow into a sanctified community and a sanctified community will grow into a holy Nation. The Sacred Mass is the most important of all. The Mass teaches us the necessity of sacrifice, self-denial and service. Here at Holy Mass, we acknowledge God’s supreme dominion over us. The restoration of the Mass to its rightful place in society will turn the key that will open to the whole world a reconstructed social order. Frequent Mass and Holy Communion will be the foundation of every holy family. From such homes will spring champions in the cause of Christ and saints for His Church. Great is your opportunity, and great will be your reward! By the Eucharist, you will perform miracles, cure souls, and bring back to the family and to God those who have strayed farthest from home! Restore the Family to Christ, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary! Pray your Daily Decade! |
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The history of the Church is replete with Eucharistic Miracles. In the year 595, during the life of Pope Gregory, it was the custom of the faithful to prepare the bread used for the Eucharist. One Sunday, while Pope St. Gregory was celebrating Holy Mass in the ancient church of St. Peter, a woman in line to receive the Eucharist was laughing out loud. The Pope was greatly disturbed and asked her, “Why?” The woman defended herself that she could not come to believe that it was possible for bread made by her own hands to become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, thanks to the words of consecration. At that point, he prohibited her from receiving Holy Communion and he implored God to enlighten her. When she saw the very portion of bread prepared by her turn into Flesh and Blood, the woman fell to her knees and repented. Today, part of the Relic is preserved at Andechs in Germany. In the city of Rimini, Italy, it is still possible to visit the church built in honor of a Eucharistic Miracle worked by Saint Anthony of Padua. In 1227, Anthony was conversing with a heretic who was against the Sacrament of the Eucharist. He challenged the Saint to prove to him that the Body and Blood of Christ were truly present in Holy Communion. Anthony suggested that he change the challenge. He offered to withhold food from an animal for three days so that it would feel the torment of hunger. He publicly led the animal out and offered it a hearty bowl of food while placing the monstrance containing the Body and Blood of Christ before it. He asked the heretic, “If the animal passes up the food and adores His God, will you then embrace the Church? The animal passed up the food and fell to its knees bowing to the Eucharist. In Lanciano, Italy, some 700 years ago during Holy Mass at the moment of Consecration, the bread turned into visible human flesh and the wine into human blood. The miracle is validated and continues to this day.
Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field. Christ is really that Treasure! He is the Treasure of all treasures hidden under the appearance of bread and wine but truly present Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity: to console, teach, comfort and heal, and refresh us. He is the Living Bread that has come down from Heaven: Whoever eats His Flesh and drinks His Blood will live forever and have life everlasting. The Holy Eucharist contains the whole spiritual Treasure of the Church that is Christ Himself! It is the Sacrament of Love: It signifies Love and It produces Love!
There is no greater hope for earth than the sight of father, mother, brothers and sisters on their knees together in the quiet of their home praying the Rosary. On their lips is the Word of God, in their hearts is the Love of Mary, and within their home, all the special graces and blessings God pours down upon those who make their home a Home of the Daily Family Rosary! Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, Week of the First Sunday of Lent, 2013
March 6th, 2013|
Our Greatest Treasure! When the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar is not revered and loved, scandals will abound, faith will languish and the Church will mourn. What an abundance of Graces are lost in consequence of the ignorance and indifference of mankind! Our Lord, Jesus Christ, is present in the consecrated bread and wine: whole and entire, Body and Soul, flesh and blood, His whole humanity and Divinity, and in each particle thereof. Objection to the Real Presence is but a proof of the blindness into which man fell when led astray by pride. The devil has, from the beginning, had a special hatred of this doctrine. He knows that, according to the promise of Christ, they who receive Holy Communion worthily will not fall into his power, but will obtain eternal life. Why does Our Lord hide Himself under the outward appearances of bread and wine? Chiefly, for two reasons: the first being that we may not lose the merit of faith. Were we to see Him, we would no longer be able to make an act of Faith in His Real Presence. ‘Blessed are they who do not see and yet believe.’ The second reason is to inspire us with confidence. If He were to show Himself in all His glory, as He appears to the angels and saints in Heaven, who would dare to approach Him? Surely, no one! Sadly, the words of the Evangelist are, alas, all too true: “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” Our Blessed Lord silently remains enclosed in our Tabernacles, by day and by night with no display of His heavenly glory. He remains, as it were, in a poor, miserable dress, under the appearance of bread and wine, unattended and abandoned. Let us not be astonished if we hear of infidels or heretics treating Our Lord with irreverence in the Holy Eucharist. How often do we render to Him the same insults, we who are His chosen ones! They do not believe, but we have been given the gift of faith. Do we really believe or is our faith cold and dead? If we believed in His presence with a lively faith, our churches would be filled with worshipers, whose deportment would give evidence of this belief; modest attire, guarded eyes, bended knee, meekly folded hands: reverence, adoration and prayer would permeate the House of God. Our Heavenly Guest would seldom be left alone. At all hours, His children would present themselves to Him. What could have induced our dear Lord to remain with us on earth in the Blessed Sacrament? Was it to gain honor? Alas, He receives the same treatment in the Blessed Sacrament as He received during the 33 years He lived on earth. Was it to increase His own happiness? By no means! His happiness is so great, it cannot be increased. He sits at the right Hand of God and has all power in Heaven and on earth. Ah! Christian soul, there is no other motive for His presence on earth than love, the great and excessive Love of Jesus Christ toward man! Love alone, and nothing but love, has induced Him to remain among us in the Blessed Sacrament. He bestowed this gift upon us at the last moment of His Life. It was well calculated to leave a deep impression on mankind. From His death bed of the Cross, He gave to us the last memorial of His Love. Instead of withdrawing His Love from mankind on account of its great ingratitude to Him and hatred for Him, He manifested His Love for us all the more. What a wonderful manner is there in the goodness of God! What return can I make Him? Receive Jesus often in Holy Communion! Thank Him, praise Him, trust Him, love Him and place Him first in your life! The Magi journeyed from afar to visit the Infant King. He could be found in one place only. And we, who have Him so close by, perhaps, never make the effort to visit Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament outside of Holy Mass on Sunday. Where can we find a better, more faithful and more liberal friend than Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament? But, you say, “I am too busy, I cannot find the time.” Dear Christian, do not say this, be honest and say, “I have too much love and affection for the goods of this world, and too little love for Jesus Christ.” You find time to drink and eat, to rest and to sleep; you find time to talk and to laugh, time to amuse yourself, time for temporal affairs and time even to sin. And, how is it that you find time for all these things? It is because you like them. If you appear but seldom before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, it is evident that you love Him little. Love Him more and you will make time to visit Him. He invites us to come to Him: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.” Visit the Blessed Sacrament often. Share with God your troubles and affairs, and you will be blessed. Upon God’s blessing depends everything! Were you to visit Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament for a quarter hour each day, from how many trials and hardships you would be delivered, from how many accidents, misfortunes, temptations and attacks of the devil you would be preserved; how few sins you would commit and how much more consolation and peace of heart you would enjoy! Jesus dispenses favors liberally to those who visit Him. “Taste and see!” Most assuredly, there is one hour in your life that remembrance of these visits will give you indescribable pleasure – at the hour of your death! If you have neglected this great duty during your life, on your death bed, you will be filled with shame and confusion. God created us, He redeemed us and now He comes in the Most Blessed Sacrament to pour out upon us all the riches of His Love; He comes to give us light to know and strength to do His Will; He comes to repair what is decayed, to restore what has been lost and to forgive our rebellion: in a word, to receive us as children, to clothe us with the first robe, to put a ring on our finger and shoes on our feet. He has prepared for us a wonderful banquet and asks us to sup at His table. As did the prodigal son, say: “I will arise and go to my Father.” I must return Him love for love. I have no treasure to offer Him; I have no station to renounce for Him; I have no occasion to die for Him; I cannot do for Him what He has done for me, but I can give Him that which He values more than anything else: MY HEART! I will give Him this pleasure; I will offer myself to Him, to be disposed of as He pleases, to receive at His Hand bitter and sweet indifferently, to serve Him with all the fervor I can muster, to avoid sin and to lead a Christian life. If I do this, the devil will lose his power over my soul and I will be sanctified: My heaven will have begun upon earth. SWEET HEART OF JESUS, BE MY LOVE! PRAYER: Through Mary’s heart, dear Lord, I come to seek a rest divine; and through the wound in Thy blest Side, I place my heart in Thine! O take it Lord and, in return, I ask one gift of Thee, that Thou wilt fill it with Thy Love for all Eternity! Sweet Heart of Jesus, be my love! Oh! Be my love I pray; erect Thy throne within my heart and reign there night and day! O Virgin Mary! Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, glory of Christian people, joy of the Universal Church, salvation of the world, pray for us, and awaken in all the faithful devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist, that we may be made worthy to receive Communion every day. |
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The Courage Of Trust It is lack of trust that wounds Our Blessed Lord’s Heart the very most. When those who are closest to Him do not trust Him, a sword is again thrust into His Heart. When good things come our way, we must trust Him. When sickness and tragedy overtake us, we must trust Him. We stand at the bottom of the Hill of Calvary, looking up the Hill where Jesus hangs upon the Cross. Jesus is surrounded by a very large unruly crowd of people who mock and insult Him, laugh at Him and spit upon Him. He loves them but His Heart is broken because of their rejection of Him, which means their own death, for He is Life! Many dark shadows skirmish among the crowd. They are demons who stir up the crowd to mock and torture Christ more. A crow lands on my shoulder and says “”You don’t belong here, you have other things to do, besides aren’t you the reason for this Man’s torture? Take off! What difference do you make anyway?” Yes, we are sinners. We hesitate. Jesus suffers alone. Then, suddenly, there is a beautiful sound amidst the blasphemy. “Listen, my child, do not let this disturb you! Are you not in the hollow of my arms, under the mantle of my protection?” Mary is with us! She takes us by the hand and we speed to the foot of the Cross. The ugly mob parts like the Red Sea. We arrive on Calvary and look up. Behold that Heart which loves us so much and yet is so little loved! I speak to Jesus, “I am sorry I was afraid to come to You, but here I am. I am going to try to do better.” Rest assured, your little acts of love and trust delight the Heart of God. I will trust Him! If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him! |
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 Father de Ravignan on Prayer:
“Believe me, my dear friends; believe an experience ripened by thirty years in the Sacred Ministry. I do affirm all deceptions, all spiritual deficiencies, all miseries, all falls, all faults and even the most serious wanderings out of the right path – all proceed from this single source – a want of constancy in prayer. Live the life of prayer; learn to bring everything, to change everything into prayer: pains and trials, and temptations of all kinds. PRAY in the calm; PRAY in the storm; “TEACH US, O LORD, HOW TO PRAY!” St. Luke 11:1 “But I Cannot Pray!” That is a heresy. Yes, you can always pray. If you feel a disgust for, nay a horror of prayer, pray on, pray in spite of yourself, against yourself. Beg for the courage in prayer that our agonizing Savior merited for you by His pangs in Gethsemane and upon Calvary. Pray, for Prayer is the strength that saves, the courage that perseveres, the spiritual bridge cast over the abyss that joins the soul to God.” “and being in agony, he prayed the longer.” St. Luke 22:43 AN ACT OF FAITH O my God, I firmly believe all the truths that the Holy Catholic Church believes and teaches; I believe these truths, O Lord, because Thou, the Infallible Truth, hast revealed them to Her; in this Faith, I am resolved to live and die. Amen. |
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