| GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST!
Dear Apostles and Benefactors of the Living Rosary, We reach out in love and prayer to all of you who are kind enough to support our labors in Ukraine and throughout the East for the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our journey to sanctity is something close to us, simple and possible for us all. Our Daily Bread is the Divine Grace which God gives. God does not demand perfection from us all at once. Grace is dispensed to us gradually, according to the needs and disposition of our soul. God merely asks our faithful correspondence to the Grace of every moment as it is imparted to us. We must be attentive to the voice of God and not deny Him anything, but give generously to Him all that He asks. We must place our confidence in Him making every day and every moment of the day our gift to Him. Self-love makes us incapable of any good; it separates us from God and closes to us the door to happiness. If we wish to be happy, we must die to ourselves. Only the Love of God can make us happy. If we wish to be happy, let us seek not happiness, but Love! There is nothing sadder to a thoughtful man than the riotous feasting and merry making of worldly pleasures. Joy itself is divine, sadness is satanic. Joy in man is the daughter of sanctity, sadness the daughter of sin. True Christian joy is holy joy, perfect joy, true joy and its source is God Himself. Suffering is a stumbling block and seems to many as irreconcilable with an all-good and loving God. The mystery of suffering is contained in the Heart of God Who permits such evils in order to bring about greater good and for the manifestation of His Glory. To them that love God, all things work together unto good. Christ died on the Cross and sanctified suffering. He infused divinity into it and made of it a kind of sacrament by which the Graces of Heaven descend upon earth. This is the economy of suffering; through it, all things are restored. Suffering is the great agent of our purification. Suffering is the father of love, provided we suffer as Christians and in union with the Spirit of Christ. Christian Suffering sanctifies all things and Divine Love sanctifies all suffering. Humility is the greatest shield against all the evils of the world. We are not asked to embrace suffering, but the Will of God which is manifested in suffering. The best way to suffer is in silence and alone with God. Suffering is a divine instrument for our sanctification. Do tranquilly whatever is within your power and leave the rest confidently in the Hands of God. Only victims are redeemers. Do not ask God to relieve you of your cross, but to give you the strength to bear it. We keep you and your loved ones, every day, in our Sacred Masses, Holy Hours and Novenas of Prayer. Prayer is the Foundation of Peace. Let us establish in our lives a rich spiritual habit of daily prayer. I impart to all of you, my priestly blessing: + In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen. Fr. IVAN KOLODIY 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 |
|
|
| E-Mail: July 4, 2015
Dear Patti Melvin Greetings from the Catholic Diocese of Bo, Sierra Leone! We are a new diocese just over four years in existence. Before and after the creation of the Bo Diocese, we have been benefitting from your gifts of Rosaries, Scapulars, Medals of various sorts, oils and good literature on St. Philomena. I am especially grateful again to receive these gifts from Miss Juliana Tommy on behalf of Bo Diocese. We shall endeavor to organize the formation of Children’s Rosary groups throughout the diocese and I have decided to put a Religious Sister in charge of this apostolate. Please find attached photos of our meeting with Juliana presenting the gifts to us on Saturday morning of 4th July 2015. E-Mail: July 6, 2015 Dear Patti Melvin, Greetings from the newly formed Universal Living Rosary Association Family in Bo! We are so grateful for this opportunity given by Our Lord Himself and St Philomena. For sure, it is not by mistake but by Grace and the Spirit of Our Lady, the great Mother of Our Lord, through whom this mandate has been given to our Patroness St Philomena. We join together to accomplish this great task with permission and support of our Bishop Charles Campbell, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Bo. We were able to enroll 43 members after a brief talk by Miss Juliana Tommy who brought the Living Rosary into our Diocese. I am Sr. Theresa Josiah of the Congregation of Our Lady of the Visitation, a Diocesan Congregation, founded by Archbishop Joseph H. Ganda now (Emeritus) in collaboration with his brother Bishops in Sierra Leone, West Africa, of which Bishop of Bo is the co-founder. I want to testify the great miracle our patroness St Philomena works in reaching with this devotion to our Country Sierra Leone. For three years, I have been trying to instill in our people the spirit of praying by teaching them the Rosary which was very difficult to achieve through another group called Mary League. To start with, my Bishop gave me permission but my brother Priest including my own parish Priest found it so difficult to support and did not even give me permission to talk about the Rosary. My dear brothers and sisters of this great and wonderful Family, I marveled at the great work of our patroness St. Philomena how she just captivated the minds and hearts of all in just accepting her devotion so easily. May the Lord be praised and His beloved Mother, who St. Philomena is striving to present, be venerated! Honor and praise be to our patroness St. Philomena. Long live the ULRA Family worldwide! We started our group on the 5th of July, in the mid of a novena we were making to the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. We are confident that Our Lord is surely with us in this mission. We are grateful for such a great blessing to the church in Sierra Leone. We hope and pray that Our Lord, Our Lady and St. Philomena who began this great work in us and through us will give us the graces we need to reach the farthest end of the earth with His message and task. We have sent the photographs with Sister Juliana Tommy as we do not have camera of our own yet, and we may need some support in books, articles, posters of St. Philomena, Calendars, banners of our Patroness and Mother Mary as we are planning to formally launch and celebrate the ULRA Family in our Diocese on August 11 in a grand style. Please keep us in your prayers for this Ebola Hemorrhage to finally vanish from our country and that, through the intercession of our patroness St. Philomena, our collective dreams of spreading this devotion and planting them in the hearts and souls of men and women will be achieved. St. Philomena, pray for us. May the Good Lord support you and our benefactors spiritually, materially and financially in this great salvific Mission! Remain blessed in Our God and Lord, < Sister Theresa Josiah – Our Lady of the Visitation Convent Click here to download a full color .pdf version of this article |
|
|
| ST. PHILOMENA, GOD’S GIFT TO THE MODERN WORLD (continued)
The Saints will not have anything to fear, but the irreligious will seek to avenge themselves on those who cause their sufferings. Should this preview intimidate us or weaken in our hearts sentiments of Christian generosity? A gaze upon St. Philomena: her sacrifice, martyrdom and triumph; the power in which God clothes her before our eyes, the glory which comes to those who are generous with God: these are so many voices which cry out to the faint-hearted: COURAGE! FEAR NOT! If they even kill your body, what harm can they do to your soul? If they exile you from the earth, can they close Heaven’s door to you? Laugh at their efforts. Sacrifice all, rather than let yourself be sullied by their maxims and example. Abandon to them your goods, your dignity, your reputation, even your family and your life. God and your soul are preferred to all that. The more you will have suffered, the greater will be your measure of eternal happiness. The more you are emptied of self, the more your heart will swim deliciously in the ocean of Divine Love. Oh, ravishing Generosity, what wealth you promise me! If God takes from you all that you own, open up your will, and give it fully to Him. Come, O my God, strip me of all, in order to rejoice in Thy promises! I obey Thee with the fullness of my heart. To the instruction of St. Philomena, there must be added encouragement. We will cast a passing glance on the action of Divine Providence. The impiety of our day, sterile by itself, has the unique fruit of rejuvenating the blasphemies of ancient times. The servile echo of modern philosophy has been repeated with a thousand mouths, has been retold in millions of pamphlets to the ends of the earth. It comes to say with proud emphasis: There is only one God in the sky, one master on earth and THAT IS ME! To recognize the existence of God and deny His effective providence is, of all follies, the most evident. It is sufficient to see the miracles which are worked among us to attest to the care, not only ordinary but also extraordinary, of Divine Providence in regard to His creatures. These miracles are worked by invoking the Saints and, in particular, the Blessed Virgin Mary. They take place in all parts of the world. They are numerous, evident and palpable. Those who do not believe them close their eyes and ears so as not to see them. And, this is what is occurring in our day. This is what makes us cry out: Turn your eyes from the flesh, where sits godlessness. Look to your Mother, most vigilant and tender. In Mary, you will find the Providence of this Good God whom you serve! She has done and is still doing great things through the intervention of Saint Philomena. Click here to download a full color .pdf version of this article |
|
|
| 15th July Afzaal |
|
|
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. |
|
|
