Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena (ULRA)

Dear Apostle of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Thank you for your generous donation to help with the labors of the Living Rosary in the world today. Through your kindness, many souls are reached with Our Blessed Mother’s Sacramentals, prayer cards and leaflets. She has crushed the head of the serpent and we need Her greatly in the battle at hand. We are keeping you and your family each day in our prayers. God bless you!

Because there are real demons at work in this world, every human being is at risk! The devil is the Father of Lies. He entices us to sin and tempts us through deception. The evil spirits suggest to us thoughts of pride, hate, anger, revenge, jealousy, lust and rebellion. The enemy is evil beyond anything we can imagine! Jesus Christ has conquered hell and death, and He calls us to do battle alongside Him against this enemy, so that we may have a share in His Triumph and Eternal Glory!

We must use the weapons that are most effective in this spiritual warfare. Prayer and supplication, at all times, have great power before the throne of God. St. Jean Marie Vianney said:

“If we are not praying, we are losing the battle.”

The devil fears those who pray!!! He does everything possible to keep us from praying. We must use the weapon of prayer on behalf of others. Prayer is not just a private matter between God and us. We must pray with and for others. Our power of association in the Living Rosary is truly a bulwark of protection in this time of war.

The devil has laid his traps upon the earth. How can we pass through them without being wounded? Like soldiers crawling under barbed wire fence, we can crawl right under the enemies’ snares by lowering ourselves through humility. St. Paul admonishes us: “Put on a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another. Above all things have charity, which is the bond of perfection.”

One with you in the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

PATTI MELVIN, Director ULRA

Let us pray for one another.

It is indeed great to inform you that we had a lovely visit to Pipie Catholic Church in the Obuasi Diocese on Sunday, December 21, to get in touch with the people about the Living Rosary Association. I was accompanied by four of our Preaching Team Members and we were warmly welcomed by the good people over there. The town is on the bank of Lake Bosomtwe which is surrounded by great mountains. Some of the towns and villages along the banks of the lake have no church buildings but we had the privilege to get in touch with people of four good Towns over there as we divided ourselves for that purpose. Therefore, we could only capture pictures of what happened at Pipie Catholic Church. Despite the hardship here, we do try to make trips on the weekends for the spreading of the devotion. In fact, your support and prayers are always in great demand. Kindly keep up! May Jesus, Mary and St. Philomena continue to bless you in your wonderful Apostolate which is so greatly needed in this our poor world!

Rest assured of our poor prayers. Yours in Jesus and Mary,
< Anthony – GHANA >

OUR SAVIOR’S LAST APPEAL

The tragic hour the aged Simeon had foreseen in his terrible prophecy came to pass. The Cross stands out against a cloud-filled sky. A dreadful silence resounds through that city liable for the murder of its God. Jesus is expiring. At the foot of the gibbet whereon the great Victim is nailed stands Mary, motionless, silent, engulfed in untold grief, gazing upon her dying God. What created mind could fully understand her suffering? We are familiar with trials: loss of material goods is not fatal and bodily ills make our flesh tremble, yet our minds can remain at peace. Doubts, discouragement and despondency cast shadows on our lives and may make it unbearable, but the greatest suffering springs from the heart when love is wounded.

Mary suffered through the love she bore her Son. Hers was a martyrdom which surpasses that of the martyrdom of blood. To comprehend the intensity of her pain, we would have to comprehend the depth of her love. She gave herself unreservedly to her Son, for original sin had not tarnished her Immaculate Heart. Now, her beloved Son, endures before her very eyes the most cruel, the most unjust, the most ignominious of tortures. Step by step, She follows the somber procession wending its way up Calvary. She witnesses the horrible scene of crucifixion, hears the heavy hammer drive the sharp nails into the adorable hands and feet of her Child, tearing His Flesh as His Precious Blood spills onto the ground. The soldiers jeer and the high priests mock His goodness, His holiness and His very divinity. Not for a moment does She abandon Him, nor does She miss a single moment of His suffering. When Jesus dies, She is at His Feet. There is a phenomenon the medieval philosophers called ecstasy. Love takes the heart, so to speak, of the one who loves and exchanges it with the heart of the beloved. All of Jesus’ sufferings resonated in Mary’s Heart. When the soldier’s lance pierced His Heart, it simultaneously pierced the Virgin Mother’s Soul.

When a heavy cross is laid upon our shoulders, we accuse God of unfairness and uncaring cruelty, and we abandon our faith. “How could a good God do this to us!” Did the Father not love His only Son? Did God not love the purest Virgin whom He had made the Mother of His Son? Yet, God found no more precious gift for His Son and His Mother than suffering! Through suffering, the great work of Redemption is accomplished. God sends suffering to purify us and to save us. When suffering comes, we must trust God, lovingly receive the cross and know that the victory of Easter awaits us. With Mary, let us take courage. We will climb the steep hill of Calvary so that, one day, we may savor the joys of eternal Beatitude.

“The highest veneration, after God, is due to Mary because there is no other being in Heaven or on earth arrayed in so sublime a dignity and so near to God as is Mary, the Mother of the Most High, the Spouse of the Holy Ghost. When Mary was on earth, She was exalted to the pre-eminent dignity of having the Son of God subject to her and, now in her full glorification, shall She behold her dignity lowered and the love of her Divine Spouse and Son, lessened? NO! On the contrary, She shall receive, as a reward for the love She bore her Divine Son on earth, the greatest participation in His Eternal Glory. She shall sit as His beloved Mother on the right Hand side of her Son, upon the throne of glory and majesty so that the whole heavenly court may offer to their Queen the eternal homage due her as the promised Victress over Hell by reason of the Fruit of her virginal body.”

Taken from the SERVITE MANUAL
Nihil Obstat: Rt. Rev. A. Hillebrand, V.G. Prot. Apost., a.i.p.
Censor Librorum, Portland, Oregan – February 2, 1925

——————–

Make haste to enroll your family and friends in the forty days of Holy Masses which prepare our hearts for Good Friday only to open them to the Joys of Easter Sunday!

THE HOLY MASS IS YOUR LIFE!

The rational man needs the Mass to pay Almighty God the debt of homage and adoration he owes Him. The grateful man needs the Mass to pay his debt of thanksgiving. The sinful man, and who among us is without sin, needs the Mass to propitiate God’s Justice and to pay his debt of satisfaction. The needy man needs the Mass, that praying with Jesus Christ and through Him, he may offer a prayer that is worthy of being heard and, thus, discharge his duty and debt of petition.

At the hour of death, the Masses you have heard will be your greatest consolation. Every Mass will go with you to judgment and plead for pardon. At every Mass, you can diminish the temporal punishment due to your sins. Assisting devoutly at Mass, you render the Sacred Humanity of Jesus, the greatest homage. He supplies for many of your negligences and omissions. He forgives you all the venial sins you are determined to avoid. He forgives you all the unknown sins you have never confessed. The power of Satan over you is diminished.

By hearing Mass, you afford the Souls in Purgatory the greatest possible relief. One Mass heard by you, during life, will be of more benefit to you than many offered for you after death. Holy Mass preserves you from many dangers and misfortunes that would otherwise befall you. You shorten your Purgatory by every Mass and win for yourself a higher degree of glory in Heaven. At Mass, you kneel amidst the multitude of Angels who are present at the adorable Sacrifice with reverential awe. You receive the priest’s blessing which Our Lord Himself ratifies in Heaven. You are blessed in your temporal goods and affairs.

Nihil Obstat: P. L. Biermann, Censor Librorum.
Imprimatur: + George Cardinal Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago

The names you send for individual enrollment for the Sacred Masses during the Lenten Season and Easter Octave will be placed upon the Altar. Fr. Ivan Kolodiy and all the priests you have helped in Ukraine will offer these Masses. Suggested donation for each enrollment is $5. Mass cards will be provided for the persons enrolled. Please PRINT the names CLEARLY:

1.                                                       7.

2.                                                        8.

3.                                                        9.

4.                                                        10.

5.                                                        11.

6.                                                        12.

Make your payment online through PAYPAL / CREDIT CARD at: WWW.PHILOMENA.ORG

If payment by Check / Money Order / Cash, please mail it directly to the address below:

THE LIVING ROSARY, P.O. BOX 1303, DICKINSON, TX 77539, USA

Click here to download and print this information.

DEVOTION DWINDLES, BUT WONDERS MULTIPLY

The kingdom of Naples, at that period, was held by the French from 1806 till 1815. With them came irreligion, disbelief, quarrels, sedition and bloodshed. To avoid the despotic rule of the invader, many fled to the security of the mountains and infested the country as brigands. They spread desolation everywhere. The peaceable peasants trembled in their homes and dared not go abroad. For these reasons, the daily concourse to the shrine of Saint Philomena dwindled considerably, though it never entirely ceased. The upper classes continued to frequent it although the poor could not on account of the times; the inhabitants of Mugnano were unable to build the grand chapel to St. Philomena which they intended to do.

Devotion was still spreading by means of little prints, prayer books and pictures. Miracles had been worked through them. A mother prayed to St. Philomena for her delicate baby. In spite of her prayers, it died. She would not take ‘NO’ for an answer, but took the Saint’s picture from the wall and, with tears, put it on the child’s body. Instantly, the child not only moved but jumped up! When one of these prints was taken to the Franciscan Convent at Nola, while the nuns were admiring it, one who was blind said to Philomena, “Shall I alone lose the grace and joy of seeing you, O holy Martyr!” At once, she saw. After that, nothing would satisfy the nuns but that they must all be taken in a carriage to visit Mugnano. A Canon was cured of consumption that he might continue to use his gift for eloquent preaching. A young woman found herself quite alone when her baby was about to be born. Suddenly, she found a beautiful girl beside her, who asked what she could do to help her. At the sound of her voice, the baby was born.

“Who are you!”

“I AM PHILOMENA OF MUGNANO!”

With that, she disappeared. On making inquiries, the happy mother found that a saint of that name had recently come to Mugnano. With some of her relations, she made a pilgrimage there. On seeing the shrine, the mother ran towards it, saying: “Yes, it was she!” Another woman, a cripple, was given a print by her relation who knew nothing about the Saint except that a well-known preacher at Naples, Don Placido, had preached about her. The next time, the pain was severe, the cripple took the print in her hands saying, “Saint of Don Placido, I do not know your name, but do help me!” Instantly, she was cured. She got up, dressed and went round to Don Placido to find out the name of the Saint.

At Monteleone, it was desired to put a picture of her in the church. The priest consulted a young man who was so impressed when he heard about Philomena; he begged to paint her picture. Having no talent, he secretly got some paints and tried his hand. The brush seemed to do the work by itself. The result was so beautiful that everyone was delighted. The young man declared St. Philomena had painted her own portrait. It seems that she had, for as soon as the picture was put in the church for public devotion, miracles abounded. Prints of the Saint are a chief instrument for miracles. They have come to be put up in every house and are carried about in the pockets of the rich and poor. To the sick, they are like medicine.

Let me finish with the story I like best. While being attended, a little boy of seven perished in the arms of his doctor. The child’s mother laid a print of Saint Philomena on his body. Just then, he seemed to wake up from his sleep and cried with hunger! He ate two bowls of soup, had a glass of wine and fell into a gentle sleep which lasted all night He awoke in the morning perfectly well.

In spite of such miracles, Philomena had still only a temporary chapel in 1814. So, she provided one for herself. Don Alessandro Serio, a rich barrister of Naples, came to Mugnano where he had property. His wife, Donna Giovanna, came with him. They arrived on the Feast of St. Philomena. Donna Giovanna prayed most earnestly to Philomena for her husband’s cure. For years, Alessandro suffered from a serious internal ailment. Public prayers were even offered for him, but the last Vespers of the octave came without any sign of a miracle. Worse still, at the moment of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament after Vespers, Don Alessandro was struck down with a violent colic which endangered his life. By two o’clock next morning, he appeared to be in his last agony. He could hardly breathe. It was impossible for him to make his confession. Poor Donna Giovanna cried out at last, “Is this, then, the grace which we have received – that he should die without being able to make his Confession?”

Taking a picture of the Saint, she put it on her husband’s body, making the vow that, if he had the grace to receive the Sacraments before he died, she would put up a marble altar in the chapel of St. Philomena. At the very touch of the little ha’penny picture, his pain left him and he was completely cured. But, that is not all. He was able to get up, make a good Confession and receive Holy Communion the next morning in the Saint’s chapel! They answered generosity with generosity. That very day, they gave the order for an altar to be made of the richest marble. The best workmen in Naples were employed.

While hewing out the altar cavity which would contain the relic stone, the single beautiful block broke into two pieces. The man was beside himself at the catastrophe. Villagers watching him at work could not believe their eyes when they saw what a disaster Philomena had permitted. Moreover, it was a bad fracture, not a clean one. The man prepared to cement the marble in position. Miraculously, the marble joined itself together, leaving only a slight line to show where the break had been. The marble was once more a solid piece. Philomena had extended her benediction to the new altar.

So impressed were all those who heard and saw this miracle, that contributions were made by many people. By the end of the year, the chapel was complete with marble columns and fine decorations.

Nevertheless, in spite of these signal miracles, the faith and devotion of the people grew cold. Irreligion was protected by the usurping government. Many derided the faith, the priesthood and miracles with boldness and impunity. The holy Martyr herself deigned to appear several times to good and simple souls. She manifested the anger of God at this loss of faith and religion.

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