| “The Final Battle between Our Lord and Satan will be about Marriage and the Family.” (Sister Lucia of Fatima) Dear Apostles of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, We are living in perilous times. Our prayer, apostleship and holy lives are vital for victory in this decisive battle for souls. Your generous donation, faithfulness to your Daily Decade and zeal for souls are the bulwark of the Church Suffering here upon earth. Never lose heart! Remember the Cross is the most precious gift God has to share with us and ask Him to help you carry yours with patience, love and courage. Every day, you and your loved ones are remembered at the Holy Altar. God is Infinite Majesty and, at the same time, He is Infinite Goodness and Love. No friend or brother, mother or father, spouse or lover, loves us more than God. By the infinite gift of Divine Grace, the most miserable creature can become intimate friends with God, Who emptied Himself, annihilated Himself, as it were, to increase our confidence in His Love for us. He died on the Cross for us and hides Himself under the appearance of Bread that He might be our constant companion. Think of the pains He took to draw us to Himself; the Mercy He has shown us is our surest pledge of the Love He bears us. God is ever near, He is within us. In Him we live and move, and have our being. We must treat Him with confidence. Trustingly and with an open heart, we must talk to Him, telling Him of our works, plans, griefs, fears and concerns. If we love Him, we will not be at a loss for words. He longs to press us close to His Heart. If we are unfaithful to Him one hundred times in a day, we must run to Him, each time, and ask forgiveness. Glance often at Jesus Christ on the Cross. It was to bring us to pardon that God spared not His only Son. If we sanctify our day through the Morning Offering, recommend ourselves to the Mother of God, make our spiritual reading, living the day as if it were the last of our lives and at the end of the day examine our conscience followed by sincere Acts of Faith, Hope and Charity and, if our focus is God, we will be well prepared for Eternity! One with you in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, PATTI MELVIN, Director – ULRA Let us pray for one another. Click here to download a full color .pdf version of this article |
|
|
| Please Father Ivan,
Pray for the Conversion of my Loved One! 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 one 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. SUGGESTED STIPEND DONATION: $ 5.00 each for Enrollment in the thirty one days of Sacred Liturgies for your Loved Ones: PRINT VERY CLEARLY EACH NAME! 1. 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 a full color .pdf version of this article |
|
|
| St. Philomena makes the devils tremble with rage and she pours inexhaustible treasures upon every type of misery.
Gold and silver will not give sight to the blind, speech to the mute or life to the dead, nor will it dry the tears of a spouse insulted by her husband, con-sole a mother at the sight of her dead child or comfort a child mistreated by a parent, restore a missing limb, or convert a wayward child. Let us imitate her generosity. What is greater than the prize destined for generosity? St. Paul said: I know Him in whom I confide, and I have the certitude that He can return to me, one day, the deposits of the sacrifices and good works which I put in His Hands. With this confidence, the great apostle threw himself with giant steps into his labors. He braved persecutions, tempests, the sword and a thousand deaths. Does not the Faith enlighten us also? We know what he knew. His certainty is also ours. Let us stop at St. Philomena: On the day and the moment of her sacrifice she saw, only by faith, the reality of the Divine promises. Separated from that which she held most dear here below, ignominy attached to her torments, the bitter and long sufferings to which her body was prey, the horrible death which she saw: All sought to destroy her faith, to take away her God and to have flesh, blood and vice triumph. But, our heroine is victorious. Her heart is fixed on invisible things. In vain do the lead-tipped whips make grooves in her flesh, break her bones and make of her body one vast wound. In vain do the pointed darts penetrate to the sources of life; in vain do they want to frighten her by showing beneath her feet, a sea destined to engulf her. The sight of eternal happiness, the crown of glory, eternal union with her Spouse, animates her to brave all, suffer all and devour (so to speak) with an insatiable eagerness all the bitterness and the sufferings. Almighty God’s indignation will descend on all nations. His sword of justice will be dripping with the blood of His enemies. Oh, what a cup of sorrows He is preparing from on high to fall upon corrupt flesh and impious hearts! St. John tells us that in the end times (and it will be one of the principal trials of Heaven’s fury toward the earth), even the good themselves will have to carry heavy crosses, wage terrible struggles and sustain great and difficult warfare. Only the victorious, those who have on them the sign and the patience of Jesus, will come to sit with Him on the throne. He tells us that, at the time of the great tribulation, the blood of the faithful will run, the Church, the Spouse of Jesus Christ, Who died and Who lives, will be pursued, as well as Its children, by the infernal dragon: that he will seek to break in their hands the Table of the Law, to extinguish in their hearts the light of evangelical precepts and erase from their brow the glorious testimony of the Savior. He tells us that a beast will come out of the sea (the anti-Christ) and he will be powerfully helped by another beast who will rise up from the earth (these are false prophets), and together they will seduce the inhabitants of the earth proposing to them to adore his image or perish in misery, shame and destitution. He speaks to us at the same time of the frightful apostasy which the Lord’s anger prepared in order to avenge the horror. Click here to download a full color .pdf version of this article |
|
|
| ACT OF CONSECRATION TO OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL
Mary, Queen and Mother of Carmel, I come today to consecrate myself entirely to Thee. To Thee as the Mother of Grace, I owe all that I am and all that I have, and my whole life is a small return for the many graces and blessings that have come from God to me through thy hands. Since thou regardest with an eye of special kindness those who wear thy Scapular, I implore thee to strengthen my weakness with thy power, to enlighten my mind with thy wisdom, to increase in me Faith, Hope and Charity that I may render, day by day, my debt of humble homage to thee. May thy Scapular keep thine eyes of mercy turned towards me and bring me thy special protection in the daily struggle to be faithful to thy Divine Son and to thee. May it separate me from all that is sinful in life and remind me constantly of my duty to behold thee and to clothe me with thy virtues. From henceforth, I shall strive to live in the sweet companionship of thy spirit, to offer all to Jesus through thee and to make my life the mirror of thy humility, charity, patience, meekness and prayerfulness. O dearest Mother, support me by thy never failing love that I, an unworthy sinner, may come one day to exchange thy Scapular for the wedding garment of Heaven and dwell with thee and the Saints of Carmel in the Kingdom of thy Son. Amen. O, Beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel, Pray for Us! Click here to download a full color .pdf version of this article |
|
|
| THE GREATEST PRIVILEGE IS REAL AND IT IS OURS!
Heaven and Hell are locked in mortal combat and earth shakes from the shock of the encounter; but no one feels it, no one sees it, no one hears it, no one cares! The salvation of my soul is the most imperative and urgent objective of my life on earth. It is the greatest and grandest occupation in which I can engage. In fact, I am here for no other purpose. The Brown Scapular is a Sacramental of the Church; it is a Gift from Heaven and a symbol of salvation. A True Child of Mary is NEVER LOST! Those who are clothed in the Scapular are under the protection and sanctifying mantle of the Mother of God. It is a safeguard in danger, whether physical or moral; it invites its wearer to penance and purity, and shields him from Satan and sin!!! The Brown Scapular marks the militia of the Immaculate One. Mary’s livery is the Brown Scapular. To serve Mary is the highest privilege and pledge of eternal salvation. The Brown Scapular, the Garment of Mary Immaculate, is a constant call to modesty in dress and conduct, a silent protest against present-day permissiveness and a hidden appeal to reparation for the insolent nakedness of proud Neo-Paganism! The Brown Scapular is like a hair-shirt, a mild reminder of the need of constant mortification. We are all but infants in virtue and helpless as babes in the woods of this bleak world. We stand in dire need of Our Mother’s unconditional love and care. Our utter helplessness and misery is our claim to her undying protection. The Brown Scapular is a mirror of humility and chastity: the epitome of modesty and simplicity, an eloquent symbol of unceasing prayer, a Total Consecration to the Mother of God. We cannot unite with others in this battle for the Triumph of Christ the King at the cost of TRUTH! What is needed is a unity of prayer! To a faithless world, Our Blessed Mother comes offering us a choice: Death in Life or Life after Death! “The ultimate Goal of the Requests of Our Lady of Fatima is the Triumph of her Immaculate Heart! It is thought by experts who were convoked by the Bishop of Fatima that the Conversion of Russia would not only be a Sign of that Triumph, but that much of the leadership and drive of the spiritual renewal which will characterize this Triumph will come from Russia!” There is a great deal of urgency as well as finality to the Fatima Message: Men must cease offending God, Who is already too much offended! Thus, the formula for the Triumph is centered around the offering up of the sacrifices demanded by our state in life and deepening our devotion to Mary by Consecration, the Rosary and the Scapular. Each of these parts is closely related; like the four legs of a chair, all four are needed. It is useless to ask which one is more important than the other. All four make up the solid basis for the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the individual and for all the world. The sign of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Scapular, is silent! And, yet, the Scapular has been the vehicle of more numerous miracles and favors than any other sign the world has ever known. We must strive for the virtues which this Holy Habit signifies: simplicity, humility, faith, trust, love of God and union with Him. We should kiss the Scapular often. Pope Benedict XV granted 500 days indulgence each time we kiss our Scapular. The Sabbatine Privilege was first promulgated by Pope John XXII and was subsequently promulgated by nine other Popes. What is the remedy needed today? How beautiful that we do know this with absolute clarity, for this remedy has been given to us by God Himself: BEHOLD THY MOTHER! It is His last will and testament to us. IT IS FOR TODAY! We must have an immense increase of devotion to God’s Holy Mother. Mary Immaculate is the Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix of the human race and God’s Peace resides within her Immaculate Heart! We seek in vain for it elsewhere. “Devotion to Mary must be the prominent characteristic of our religion. Jesus is obscured because Mary is kept in the background. Thousands of souls perish because Mary is withheld from them. It is the miserable, unworthy shadow which we call our devotion to the Blessed Virgin that is the cause of all our wants and blights. It is at the root of our decline! If Mary were but known how much happier, how much holier, how much less worldly we would be and how much more we would be living images of Our Lord and Savior, her dearest and most Blessed Son!” (Father F.W. Faber – November 21, 1862) Each of us must be aglow within, shining without, ardent for love of God and our fellow man; ardent in prayer, brilliant in action; ardent for the Glory of God and luminous with charity for our neighbor. But, where are we to light our torch and obtain the fire which must enkindle the hearts of men? It must be in the furnace of the Holy Heart of the Mother of Fair Love! Her Heart will inflame the hearts of the just and, at the same time, set fire to the hearts of sinners! Don’t hold back! The Church is the Family of God. It is a Universal Church. There is no such thing as a spiritual step- With all our hearts, we praise thee, O Mother of God! HAIL HOLY QUEEN, MOTHER OF MERCY, OUR LIFE, OUR SWEETNESS AND OUR HOPE! Write to us TODAY and include a donation to help cover the cost of the Scapular materials, your Membership and the monthly Masses. We offer this Sacred Bouquet of Holy Masses during the month of July, in honor of and in thanksgiving for the great privilege of the Protection of the Mother of God, given to us by God, through her most Holy Scapular: In reparation for our sins and the sins of the whole world, in petition for all the graces necessary for salvation for ourselves and our families, and in thanksgiving for God’s Holy Mother and all the abundant blessings and gifts we have received through her Pure and Immaculate Heart and Hands! In honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, let us recommend our loved ones, living and departed, to the maternal Heart of Mary, through the Holy Scapular and enroll them in the special thirty one days of Holy Masses being offered in July through Father Ivan Kolodiy in Ukraine, for our families. May they be surrounded by the protection of the Mother of God through the Holy Scapular! SUGGESTED STIPEND DONATION: $5.00 each for Enrollment in the July Bouquet of thirty one days of Masses: PRINT VERY CLEARLY EACH NAME! 1. 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: Name: ________________________________________ Street: _________________________________________ City/State/Zip/Country: _________________________ ________________________________________ Click here to download a full color .pdf version of this article |
|
|
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. |
|
|
