Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena (ULRA)

Today, I would like to inform you about the situation in Ukraine and our Living Rosary Association Center. I want to assure you and all the members of Living Rosary that the Center which is in Western Ukraine is far from the war zone and it is functioning very well. We do not feel the conflict in this part of the country. Our priests are offering all the Sacred Masses you have requested, and we do pray every day for all the members of Living Rosary and for all the intentions which our members mention. The enrollment in the Living Rosary grows each day because many people realize that the Virgin Mary is the Protection of God to save Ukraine from Russian takeover. This month, the Living Rosary Center published the church calendar for the New Year. We share with all the people the information about Saint Philomena and the Living Rosary Association. Therefore, we send to all the new members Rosaries and the prayer book which has information about our Saint Philomena and the Living Rosary.

This month, we were able to send many prayer books to the troops in the Eastern Ukraine along with the Rosaries, Scapulars and Miraculous Medals which you sent me. Our Ukrainian troops protect our independence and the freedom of the Catholic religion in Ukraine. Please keep them in your prayers.

Dear Mrs. Patti, I am involved in the construction of our church which is in very bad condition. I have to accomplish this task because the bishop asked me to renew the parish and rebuild the church. The Living Rosary at the parish is helping me so much! The ULRA is making parish prayer strong and dynamic. I do feel the financial difficulties with the rebuilding of the parish but I pray to God and the Virgin Mary to help me in this situation. The Center of the Living Rosary is focusing on devotion to Saint Philomena, Confession and Holy Communion. This makes people spiritually strong and changes their lives.

At the present moment, we are welcoming more children to the devotion of Saint Philomena. We designed the prayer card and prayer book for the children with information about Saint Philomena and her story of how to become a saint.

Many people are writing letters telling us about the power of the intersession of Saint Philomena. Therefore, I wish to thank you, dear Mrs. Patti, and all the members of the Living Rosary for your generous support and loving care for all our members in Ukraine.

We hereby ask you to continue supporting our most important mission among the youth and children of Ukraine.

I impart to all of you, my priestly blessing:

+ In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Fr. IVAN KOLODIY
Byzantine Rite, Greek-Catholic Church, UKRAINE

The gravity of the events of the past years, the endless wars which have ravaged the earth and all the disorders
of body and soul, help us to realize that we need God. These events by their exceptional gravity and atrocity show what becomes of men when God is driven out. No longer do they have faith, hope or love. The spirit of evil stirs up their selfishness and feeds the fire of discord. The devil reigns through hate and division; Our Father in Heaven reigns through unity and love. To find peace again and tranquility of order, it is required to love, above all else, truth, justice, equity and goodness: We must love the Living God, Who is Truth Itself and Sovereign Goodness. Holy lives, united families and the Laws of Christ are the victims of today’s battle against God and man. His Holiness Leo XIII, on the first day of the 20th Century, consecrated the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. His Holiness Pius XII, during the Second World War, consecrated the entire human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Consecration of Christian families to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of May will obtain for them a more enlightened and strong faith, a greater confidence in God, and a deeper love of God. It will make the mutual affection of husband and wife more generous and devoted, and will strengthen the love of the children for one another. This Consecration is also a reparation which recognizes the rights of Christ the King, so often ignored in our day. At La Salette, Mary bore the instruments of Her Child’s torture and She wept:

I remain, one with you in the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

PATTI MELVIN, Director ULRA

Let us pray for one another.

I am only worried that you did not receive it.

We are so blessed with the Sacramentals. I remember Earl so well, who made the lovely chaplets in crystal glass beads for our beloved Princess.

Patti, the world is in a desperate situation. We are so near Turkey and the Middle East. We are rightly worried about the threat of Islam. God help us all!

Meanwhile, we turn to the Immaculate Heart in whom we trust to deliver us unto her Divine Son, our only Lord, Redeemer and Savior. May that be a comfort unto us in these perverse times! Thank you, Patti, please pray for us.

I continue to offer the Holy Mass on the First Saturday of each month for the Living Rosary members of the Scapular Confraternity.

With respect and filial affection,

Your poor Father Luke of the Holy Ghost, OFM

Vicar General and Parish Priest

Church of Our Lady of Victory “’Santa Maria” – Rhodes, Greece

On August 22, the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered in our chapel (Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart). It was a very special day, since the Archdiocese of Cebu is also celebrating the Feast of Mary, Queen and Patroness of the Visayas.

Attached here are group photos of the people in our chapel, together with our Parish Priest, Monsignor Alfredo Romanillos, Jr. Everyone who attended the Mass was imposed with the Brown Scapular. Almost all who attended the Mass are members of the Living Rosary.

The members were very happy and grateful when we told them that the ULRA helped in the rebuilding of the chapel and we are able to continue the monthly Mass here. We also pray the Rosary in our chapel. With your help, we were able to place a roof and ceiling in our chapel, the Stations of the Cross and the three crosses were rebuilt and electricity was installed there. Once again, thank you very much for your support!

However, there are still many things lacking in our chapel. Right now, our chapel has no side walls yet and we are using plastic chairs and the Altar floor has no tiles. We are praying that there will be generous donors who will sponsor the altar pews, walls and the tiles in the chapel altar. Please include us in your prayers that we would be able to fulfill this dream.

May Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph and St. Philomena bless and protect you, your family and our benefactors, always!

< TERESITA – PHILIPPINES >

TRUE DEVOTION TO Mary (continued)

TRANSFORMATION INTO JESUS CHRIST

In this deification and transformation to which our souls are destined by the Will of God, Mary is the mold and the form, so to speak, in which our souls are to be cast. He, who is in this mold, is soon transformed and molded into Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is molded in him. In a short time, he will become conformable to God and will resemble God.

This transformation into Christ may be effected in two ways:

The first is after the manner common to all true Christians, by keeping the Commandments, by prayer, by worthy reception of the Sacraments, by striving for true virtue without, however, practicing any more excellent or special devotion to the Mother of God.

The second way is the particular manner in and with Mary, making use of all the means just mentioned but, while applying them, submerging oneself as it were, entirely into the interior of Mary by the true devotion which is about to be explained and by abandoning oneself wholly to the operation of the Holy Spirit.

To explain this truth, St. Louis Grignion de Montfort uses a comparison. He says, one can make a lifelike statue in two ways: By carving the figure out of some hard material, using skill, strength and good instruments or by using a mold.

He then continues: It seems to me that I can aptly compare directors and devout persons who wish to form Jesus Christ in themselves or in others, to sculptors who trust in their own professional skill. How hard they must work to bring out the image of Our Savior from a piece of hard wood or rock, and how often it happens that their work is spoiled because they do not know Jesus Christ sufficiently or make an awkward blow! Those who embrace this True Devotion to Mary which I am revealing, may be compared to founders and casters who have discovered the beautiful and perfect mold of Mary, where Jesus was naturally and divinely formed. Without trusting in their own skill, but only in the perfection of the mold, they cast themselves in Mary, in order to become more truly and perfectly changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

O beautiful and true comparison! But remember, unless a person is earnestly intent on overcoming his evil inclinations and truly imitating Christ and His Blessed Mother, he cannot be transformed into Jesus or Mary.

Whoever is cast in the mold of Mary by this true and perfect devotion to Her, whoever gives himself to Mary without hindering Her by his evil inclinations, receives therein all the features of Jesus Christ, Who is true God; and this is done gently and in a manner well fitted to our human frailty.

After St. Louis de Montfort has shown in these eight points that Mary is the means decreed by God through which we receive from Him all good and every Grace, and by which we are actually transformed into Her Divine Son, he breaks forth in praise of Mary. He pronounces those blessed who find Her through this holy and sublime devotion.

Share Your Gift of Faith

For 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.

Please Click here to Share Your Gift of Faith