Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Saint Mary Magdalene, Pray for us.
Sister of Martha and Lazarus, Pray for us.
Who didst enter the Pharisee's house to anoint the feet of Jesus, Pray for us.
Who didst wash His feet with thy tears, Pray for us.
Who didst dry them with thy hair, Pray for us.
Who didst cover them with kisses, Pray for us.
Who wast vindicated by Jesus before the proud Pharisee, Pray for us.
Who from Jesus received the pardon of thy sins, Pray for us.
Who before darkness was restored to light, Pray for us.
Mirror of penance, Disciple of Our Lord, Pray for us.
Wounded with the love of Christ, Pray for us.
Most dear to the Heart of Jesus, Pray for us.
Constant woman, Pray for us.
Last at the Cross of Jesus, first at His tomb, Pray for us.
Thou who wast the first to see Jesus risen, Pray for us.
Whose forehead was sanctified by the touch of thy risen Master, Pray for us. Apostle of apostles, Pray for us.
Who didst choose the "better part," Pray for us.
Who lived for many years in solitude being miraculously fed, Pray for us.
Who wast visited by angels seven times a day, Pray for us.
Sweet advocate of sinners, Pray for us.
Spouse of the King of Glory, Pray for us.
V. Saint Mary Magdalene, earnestly intercede for us with thy Divine Master
R. That we may share thy happiness in heaven.
Let us pray.
May the glorious merits of blessed Mary Magdalene, we beseech Thee, O Lord, make our offerings acceptable to Thee: for Thine only-begotten Son vouchsafed graciously to accept the humble service she rendered. Who livest and reignest with Thee and the Holy Ghost, God for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
May the prayers of blessed Mary Magdalene help us, O Lord : for it was in answer to them that Thou didst call her brother Lazarus, four days after death, back from the grave to life. Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, Unity in Trinity, world without end.
R. Amen.
Prayer Source: Kyrie Eleison — Two Hundred Litanies by Benjamin Francis Musser O.F.M., The Magnificat Press, 1944
"Perhaps this is one of the secrets of life-- to know 'Glory' when we see it..." --Charlotte M. Mason
Monday, May 31, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Confirmation
On July 21, 2006, Benedict XVI appealed to a convent of cloistered nuns to pray for the conversion of terrorists. According to Sister Maria, one of the 10 Carmelites of the community, the Holy Father said, "Pray also for the terrorists, as they do not know that not only do they harm their neighbor, but above all they harm themselves". Concerned about what was happening in the Holy Land, Benedict XVI added: "Now we experience a worsening of the conflict in Lebanon, but also in many other parts of the world there are people suffering because of hunger and violence. Contemplative life, rich in charity opens heaven to humanity, which so needs it, as today in the world it is as if God did not exist. And where God is not, there is violence and terrorism".[2]
On September 20, 2007, Pope Benedict voiced the hope on Thursday that Christians and Muslims can avoid violence and intolerance by exploring their common religious values and respecting their differences. "To avoid any form of intolerance from developing and to prevent violence, we must encourage sincere dialogue based on ever truer mutual knowledge," the Pope told visiting bishops from Benin, West Africa, on Thursday. "Such dialogue requires us to train competent people to help know and understand the religious values we have in common and to faithfully respect our differences," he said.[3]
- From WIkipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI_and_Islam
On September 20, 2007, Pope Benedict voiced the hope on Thursday that Christians and Muslims can avoid violence and intolerance by exploring their common religious values and respecting their differences. "To avoid any form of intolerance from developing and to prevent violence, we must encourage sincere dialogue based on ever truer mutual knowledge," the Pope told visiting bishops from Benin, West Africa, on Thursday. "Such dialogue requires us to train competent people to help know and understand the religious values we have in common and to faithfully respect our differences," he said.[3]
- From WIkipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI_and_Islam
Thought for Thursday
Strive to preserve your heart in peace and let no event of this world disturb it. Reflect that all must come to an end. Keep spiritually tranquil in a loving attentiveness to God and when it is necessary to speak, let it be with the same calm and peace. Let Christ crucified be enough for you, and with Him suffer and rest.
St. John of the Cross
St. John of the Cross
Monday, May 24, 2010
Taking these things, and hiding them in our hearts.
My husband has been doing a lot of thinking about the Great Schism. (for protestants unfamiliar with the term, it means the Big Moment when the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church split)
This schism is a deep wound in Christianity, and as such a serious topic, but it seems no one really has the answers. At the end of the day, it is easy to see both sides of the issue and to wonder what to do and how to help. It's easy to understand why my husband laments over it. But I told him today, the only thing I know to say about it is: "Yes, you are right. It's a terrible tragedy. All I know is that 'Mary took all these things and kept them in her heart.'"
As a member of Our Lady's Order of Carmel, I am experiencing firsthand what it is like to be under the protection of her mantle. He is uncovering disturbing effects of moments in Church History that are potentially cataclysmic in their resulting discord. But all I can do is what I am doing... to contemplate the Truth present in the Face of God, and love Him and love my neighbor. To pray.
Meanwhile, my devotion to Fatima has revived in me so many emotions and spiritual "lessons" I've learned over my years as a Christian- even my years as a Mary-loathing protestant.
They seem to circle me as I meditate on the message of Fatima, but among other things, it's as if Our Lady, through Fatima, has set fire to those areas which God has always built that were particular to the ministry He wanted me to delve into... spiritual particularities that no one around me have ever really shared (except, of course, my husband.)
Among other things, she has revived my commitment to spiritual warfare, and through her I have come to understand that Satan's plan is far more simple-- and disturbing-- than we had could have imagined. She has taught me to recognize the Enemy in my physical world. She has taught me to hold fast to the sacraments, to her Son, and in particular to His presence in the Eucharist. She has taught me to love and to trust God. She has reminded me that I have a special calling as a woman, and revived in me my strong desire to pray, to live a hidden life, to sacrifice and to headcover in accordance with scripture and dress modestly, not of this world.
She has reminded me that through that I have a particular ministry to women that are otherwise unreachable by any Christian standard- in particular women who are rooted in the culture of the Land for which Wayne and I yearn: the Holy Land. She has revived in me a love of the mediterranean and middle eastern culture I grew up around and the ability to-- through memories, cooking, language and cultural knowledge-- be able to reach out and connect with women who have absolutely no reason to connect with Christ in me otherwise. She has revived my journalistic intregue with the "heart" of the world-- Jerusalem.
Through Fatima, I have come to appreciate my own call to Carmel, to understand the redemptive power of suffering, to love contemplative prayer, to see why my husband and I share both a zeal for missions, a zeal for a strong, monastic, spiritual family, and a total distaste for "the things of this world." She has helped me to see the glory of our seemingly perpetual poverty and to uncover blessings where I thought curses might have lain. Above all, she has taught me WHY she is referred to as the "Terror of Demons." Through Fatima, she has demonstrated a complete dismantling of each distinct earthly demonic system set up in order to destroy the Church. Each "enemy" is named and we are told how to destroy it-- through penance, suffering, offering, prayer.
Fatima makes me pray more and more, in particular it gives me such a deep understanding of the need for my scapular and my rosary.
And still, I hesitate to write this all because I know that my protestant readers may be scandalized.
My intention is not to scandalize you, dear readers. It is to honor my Mother in Heaven, the blessed virgin who leads me to a deeper, more profound, more intimate relationship with her Son, Jesus Christ. Through Her and with her I contemplate His Glory daily in the Holy Rosary, and because of it my soul sees so much more than it has ever seen before. Fatima is truly the key, but it is only the beginning. Would that the world would understand how little time we have left to worry about Lost, or American Idol, or tax breaks, or Senators, or pedicures, or mortgages, or education. The time we have is so short.
As I, at the leading of my husband, began to cover my head full time again this week, I recognized that it was no accident that at last months' Carmel I had been given the gift of listening to one of Fatima's experts, Fr Andrew Apostoli, discussing at great lengths the very issues which have been totally occupying my prayer these days.... freemasonry, communism, and Islam, and "Heaven's peace plan" through Our Lady, and how devotion to the Eucharist could teach us to participate. This set in motion my great love of Islamic people and my great hatred of the Islamic religion, an irony that- believe me- does not escape me. God gave me plenty of spiritual food to meditate on with regards to my desire to love the Muslim people, to live as they do in total abandonment to God, to leave behind those things of this world which are such devastating products of our western ignorance of the Soul. While Freemasonry and Communism give me the total heeby jeebies and always have, they are not areas in which I "know" much. These are the realms of my husband, who has been both and who, as such would understand the mentality and know how to pray, which walls to break down and which walls to build up in his evangelism. Me? I know Islam. I love everything about muslim culture. And because of that great love I am able to connect in ways that he (my husband) can not.
After a third and final "push" from God to begin to pray for God's peace on the Muslim people (and believe me, here in the south, and in a military town, you need a SERIOUS shove to even TOUCH "the muslim issue" because there is a LOT of anger and distrust from both sides around here) via "coincidental" encounters, I told God, today... Yes, God. I will pray. And I will be open to whatever it is that you want me to do.
The first thing that connected for me was that my husband asked me to dress, essentially, like a muslim: to cover my head and dress TRULY modestly, not wasting time on such vanities as big makeup sessions and hair curling episodes. This totally caught me off guard, but it was something that spoke to my heart. Before I met him, that was something God had already begun in me. This was later confirmed by two "coincidental" encounters with covered muslim women who warmed up to me immediately BECAUSE I was "different."
It occurred to me that unlike Christians (most Christians, anyways) Muslims were willing to be truly distinct from society-- to dress COMPLETELY differently, to stop whatever they were doing and pray regularly, to abstain from "fun" and "harmless" activities the rest of us weren't willing to abstain from all for a false God! Shame on us that we would not do the same for the One True God, for the love of the Holy Trinity!!
The second thing that was impressed upon me was to pull out my Azan Clock and to begin to pray in reparation for the sins committed against Christ's Church by Islam. Muslims pray at virtually identical times during the day as monks and nuns who pray liturgy of the hours, so I felt compelled to, when the muslim "call to prayer" began ringing through my phone, get up and pray, no matter how inconvenient and unpleasant getting up in the night to pray might be. I sometimes do that anyways, so it made sense. No sooner had I decided to do that than I came across this article. I share it with you so that you, like me, might come to see that I am not totally crazy-- but rather that I am, indeed, hearing from God with regards to the choices my family makes. But I also share it because if you are like me, and you care about people, it will make you weep. Just weep!!! God's love for the world-- even those who hate him--- is AMAZING.
I thank God for Our Lady, through whom His grace is distributed so well. I don't know how I ever lived without her!
OUR LADY AND ISLAM: HEAVEN’S PEACE PLAN
Fr Ladis J. Cizik, Blue Army National Executive Director
Islam
Islam is an Arabic word that can be defined as "to make peace." Islam is the religion founded by Mohammed, which considers the Koran as its holy book. In addition, Islam accepts the New Testament of the Christians and the Old Testament of the Jews as Divinely inspired works. Followers of Islam are known as Muslims (also: Moors, Turks, and Moslems) and, just as Jews and Christians, believe in only one God. Yet, over the centuries, Muslims have engaged in tremendous wars with Christians and Jews. It would seem that there is little hope for peace. However, Heaven's Peace Plan, involving Our Lady, is evidenced at Fatima, Portugal as well as other places around the world.
Fatima
The Moors once occupied Portugal. The village of Fatima was given the Islamic name of the well-loved Princess of the nearby Castle of Ourem. She died at an early age after marrying the Count of Ourem and converting to Catholicism. Baptized with the Christian name of Oureana, she was named at birth "Fatima," like many other Moslem girls, in honor of the daughter of Mohammed. Of his daughter, Fatima, the founder of Islam, Mohammed, said: "She has the highest place in heaven after the Virgin Mary."
It is a fact that Moslems from various nations, especially from the Middle East, make so many pilgrimages to Our Lady of Fatima's Shrine in Portugal that Portuguese officials have expressed concern. The combination of an Islamic name and Islamic devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is a great attraction to Moslems. God is writing straight with crooked lines, as we will see. Fatima is a part of Heaven's Peace Plan. It is hope for the world.
The Koran
In the Koran, the holy name of the Blessed Virgin Mary is mentioned no less than thirty times. No other woman's name is even mentioned, not even that of Mohammed's daughter, Fatima. Among men, only Abraham, Moses, and Noah are mentioned more times than Our Lady. In the Koran, Our Blessed Mother is described as "Virgin, ever Virgin." The Islamic belief in the virginity of Mary puts to shame the heretical beliefs of those who call themselves Christian, while denying the perpetual virginity of Mary. Make no mistake about it, there is a very special relationship between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Moslems!
The Holy Land
The Holy Land has been a real battleground between the Islamic peoples and Christianity over the centuries. Evidence of this are the numerous churches and basilicas that have been built by the Church, destroyed by, the Moslems, rebuilt by Catholic Crusaders, leveled again by the followers of Islam, and so on over the course of history. However, there is one remarkable exception: the Basilica of Saint Anne in Jerusalem.
The Crusaders built this church and named it in honor of the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Crypt of St. Anne's Basilica, a statue of the Infant Mary is venerated on what is believed to be the exact spot where Our Lady was born. Their great reverence for Our Lady precluded the Moslems from destroying her birthplace. The foundation for Heaven's Peace Plan at Fatima, Portugal, can be found in the Land of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Spain
As the Moslems swept through Spain in the 8th century, a great religious treasure was buried for safe-keeping in the earth, high in the Estremadura Mountains. It was a much venerated statue of Our Lady holding the Divine Child Jesus that was a gift of Pope Gregory the Great to Bishop Leander of Seville. After the overthrow of Moorish occupation, the image was uncovered in the year 1326, subsequent to a vision of Our Lady to a humble shepherd by the name of Gil. Our Lady's very special statue was enshrined in a nearby Franciscan Monastery next to the "Wolf River."
The Moslems, during their Spanish occupation, had actually named the river. The Islamic term for Wolf River is "Guadalupe" (Guada = River; Lupe = Wolf). Hence, the famous Catholic image in Spain has been known, since the 14th century, by the Islamic name of "Our Lady of Guadalupe."
Mexico
In the fullness of time, we can be sure that Almighty God knew that the Islamic religion would pose a serious threat to Christianity. God also knew that the Spanish missionaries would face grave resistance in the "new world" from the mighty Aztec Indians. The Aztecs worshipped an evil stone "serpent god" that demanded human sacrifice. It was extremely difficult to win souls for Christ from these bloodthirsty savages. However, with God all things are possible. Our Lady appeared to a humble Aztec Indian convert by the name of Juan Diego in 1531. When asked her name by Juan Diego, at the request of the local bishop, Our Lady's response, in the Aztec language, included the words "te coatlaxopeuh" (pronounced: "te quatlasupe") and meant "one who crushes the head of the stone serpent."
To Juan Diego and his fellow Aztecs, this revelation had great meaning, coupled with the miraculous image of Our Lady standing on top of a "crescent," the symbol of this evil serpent god. A tidal wave of conversions to Catholicism ensued. However, Bishop Zumarraga, who was from Spain, made what was no doubt a "heavenly mistake" that one day may lead to the mass conversion of Moslems. To the Bishop's Spanish ears, Our Lady's Aztec name of "Te Quatlasupe" sounded just like the name of the revered Madonna from Spain with the Islamic name, "Guadalupe." Hence, the bishop named the Mexican Madonna "Our Lady of Guadalupe." It is interesting that the "crescent" is also the symbol for Islam and that America's Shrine to Our Lady has an Islamic name.
Battle of Lepanto
On October 7, 1571, a great victory over the mighty Turkish fleet was won by Catholic naval forces primarily from Spain, Venice, and Genoa under the command of Don Juan of Austria. It was the last battle at sea between "oared" ships, which featured the most powerful navy in the world, a Moslem force with between 12,000 to 15,000 Christian slaves as rowers. The patchwork team of Catholic ships was powered by the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Knowing that the Christian forces were at a distinct material disadvantage, the holy pontiff, St. Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory. We know today that the victory was decisive, prevented the Islamic invasion of Europe, and evidenced the Hand of God working through Our Lady. At the hour of victory, St. Pope Pius V, who was hundreds of miles away at the Vatican, is said to have gotten up from a meeting, went over to a window, and exclaimed with supernatural radiance: "The Christian fleet is victorious!" and shed tears of thanksgiving to God.
What you may not know is that one of three admirals commanding the Catholic forces at Lepanto was Andrea Doria. He carried a small copy of Mexico's Our Lady of Guadalupe into battle. This image is now enshrined in the Church of San Stefano in Aveto, Italy. Not many know that at the Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain, one can view a huge warship lantern that was captured from the Moslems in the Battle of Lepanto. In Rome, look up to the ceiling of S. Maria in Aracoeli and behold decorations in gold taken from the Turkish galleys. In the Doges' Palace in Venice, Italy, one can witness a giant Islamic flag that is now a trophy from a vanquished Turkish ship from the Victory. At Saint Mary Major Basilica in Rome, close to the tomb of the great St. Pope Pius V, one was once able to view yet another Islamic flag from the Battle, until 1965, when it was returned to Istanbul in an intended friendly token of concord.
The Rosary
At Lepanto, the Victory over the Moslems was won by the faithful praying the Rosary. Even though they had superior numbers, the Turks really were overmatched. Blessed Padre Pio, the Spiritual Father of the Blue Army, said: "The Rosary is the weapon," and how right he was!
The Battle of Lepanto was at first celebrated liturgically as "Our Lady of Victory." Later, the feast of October 7th was renamed "Our Lady of the Rosary" and extended throughout the Universal Church by Pope Clement XI in 1716 (who canonized Pope Pius V in 1712).
And with that we are back to Fatima, Portugal where Our Lady, when asked her name, said: "I am the Lady of the Rosary." At Fatima, Our Lady taught us to pray the Rosary every day. Heaven presented its peace plan at Fatima and truly gave us hope for the world. Conversions were promised at Fatima: the conversion of sinners; the conversion of Russia; and what also appears to be the conversion of Islam. Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!
Taken from:
Soul Magazine
© 2001 The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, U.S.A., Inc.
September - October 2001, page 6
For subscription information:
The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, U.S.A., Inc.
PO Box 976
Washington, NJ 07882-0976
Website: http://www.bluearmy.com
E-mail: service@bluearmy.com
or Phone Toll Free: 866-513-1917
Provided Courtesy of:
Eternal Word Television Network
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www.ewtn.com
This schism is a deep wound in Christianity, and as such a serious topic, but it seems no one really has the answers. At the end of the day, it is easy to see both sides of the issue and to wonder what to do and how to help. It's easy to understand why my husband laments over it. But I told him today, the only thing I know to say about it is: "Yes, you are right. It's a terrible tragedy. All I know is that 'Mary took all these things and kept them in her heart.'"
As a member of Our Lady's Order of Carmel, I am experiencing firsthand what it is like to be under the protection of her mantle. He is uncovering disturbing effects of moments in Church History that are potentially cataclysmic in their resulting discord. But all I can do is what I am doing... to contemplate the Truth present in the Face of God, and love Him and love my neighbor. To pray.
Meanwhile, my devotion to Fatima has revived in me so many emotions and spiritual "lessons" I've learned over my years as a Christian- even my years as a Mary-loathing protestant.
They seem to circle me as I meditate on the message of Fatima, but among other things, it's as if Our Lady, through Fatima, has set fire to those areas which God has always built that were particular to the ministry He wanted me to delve into... spiritual particularities that no one around me have ever really shared (except, of course, my husband.)
Among other things, she has revived my commitment to spiritual warfare, and through her I have come to understand that Satan's plan is far more simple-- and disturbing-- than we had could have imagined. She has taught me to recognize the Enemy in my physical world. She has taught me to hold fast to the sacraments, to her Son, and in particular to His presence in the Eucharist. She has taught me to love and to trust God. She has reminded me that I have a special calling as a woman, and revived in me my strong desire to pray, to live a hidden life, to sacrifice and to headcover in accordance with scripture and dress modestly, not of this world.
She has reminded me that through that I have a particular ministry to women that are otherwise unreachable by any Christian standard- in particular women who are rooted in the culture of the Land for which Wayne and I yearn: the Holy Land. She has revived in me a love of the mediterranean and middle eastern culture I grew up around and the ability to-- through memories, cooking, language and cultural knowledge-- be able to reach out and connect with women who have absolutely no reason to connect with Christ in me otherwise. She has revived my journalistic intregue with the "heart" of the world-- Jerusalem.
Through Fatima, I have come to appreciate my own call to Carmel, to understand the redemptive power of suffering, to love contemplative prayer, to see why my husband and I share both a zeal for missions, a zeal for a strong, monastic, spiritual family, and a total distaste for "the things of this world." She has helped me to see the glory of our seemingly perpetual poverty and to uncover blessings where I thought curses might have lain. Above all, she has taught me WHY she is referred to as the "Terror of Demons." Through Fatima, she has demonstrated a complete dismantling of each distinct earthly demonic system set up in order to destroy the Church. Each "enemy" is named and we are told how to destroy it-- through penance, suffering, offering, prayer.
Fatima makes me pray more and more, in particular it gives me such a deep understanding of the need for my scapular and my rosary.
And still, I hesitate to write this all because I know that my protestant readers may be scandalized.
My intention is not to scandalize you, dear readers. It is to honor my Mother in Heaven, the blessed virgin who leads me to a deeper, more profound, more intimate relationship with her Son, Jesus Christ. Through Her and with her I contemplate His Glory daily in the Holy Rosary, and because of it my soul sees so much more than it has ever seen before. Fatima is truly the key, but it is only the beginning. Would that the world would understand how little time we have left to worry about Lost, or American Idol, or tax breaks, or Senators, or pedicures, or mortgages, or education. The time we have is so short.
As I, at the leading of my husband, began to cover my head full time again this week, I recognized that it was no accident that at last months' Carmel I had been given the gift of listening to one of Fatima's experts, Fr Andrew Apostoli, discussing at great lengths the very issues which have been totally occupying my prayer these days.... freemasonry, communism, and Islam, and "Heaven's peace plan" through Our Lady, and how devotion to the Eucharist could teach us to participate. This set in motion my great love of Islamic people and my great hatred of the Islamic religion, an irony that- believe me- does not escape me. God gave me plenty of spiritual food to meditate on with regards to my desire to love the Muslim people, to live as they do in total abandonment to God, to leave behind those things of this world which are such devastating products of our western ignorance of the Soul. While Freemasonry and Communism give me the total heeby jeebies and always have, they are not areas in which I "know" much. These are the realms of my husband, who has been both and who, as such would understand the mentality and know how to pray, which walls to break down and which walls to build up in his evangelism. Me? I know Islam. I love everything about muslim culture. And because of that great love I am able to connect in ways that he (my husband) can not.
After a third and final "push" from God to begin to pray for God's peace on the Muslim people (and believe me, here in the south, and in a military town, you need a SERIOUS shove to even TOUCH "the muslim issue" because there is a LOT of anger and distrust from both sides around here) via "coincidental" encounters, I told God, today... Yes, God. I will pray. And I will be open to whatever it is that you want me to do.
The first thing that connected for me was that my husband asked me to dress, essentially, like a muslim: to cover my head and dress TRULY modestly, not wasting time on such vanities as big makeup sessions and hair curling episodes. This totally caught me off guard, but it was something that spoke to my heart. Before I met him, that was something God had already begun in me. This was later confirmed by two "coincidental" encounters with covered muslim women who warmed up to me immediately BECAUSE I was "different."
It occurred to me that unlike Christians (most Christians, anyways) Muslims were willing to be truly distinct from society-- to dress COMPLETELY differently, to stop whatever they were doing and pray regularly, to abstain from "fun" and "harmless" activities the rest of us weren't willing to abstain from all for a false God! Shame on us that we would not do the same for the One True God, for the love of the Holy Trinity!!
The second thing that was impressed upon me was to pull out my Azan Clock and to begin to pray in reparation for the sins committed against Christ's Church by Islam. Muslims pray at virtually identical times during the day as monks and nuns who pray liturgy of the hours, so I felt compelled to, when the muslim "call to prayer" began ringing through my phone, get up and pray, no matter how inconvenient and unpleasant getting up in the night to pray might be. I sometimes do that anyways, so it made sense. No sooner had I decided to do that than I came across this article. I share it with you so that you, like me, might come to see that I am not totally crazy-- but rather that I am, indeed, hearing from God with regards to the choices my family makes. But I also share it because if you are like me, and you care about people, it will make you weep. Just weep!!! God's love for the world-- even those who hate him--- is AMAZING.
I thank God for Our Lady, through whom His grace is distributed so well. I don't know how I ever lived without her!
OUR LADY AND ISLAM: HEAVEN’S PEACE PLAN
Fr Ladis J. Cizik, Blue Army National Executive Director
Islam
Islam is an Arabic word that can be defined as "to make peace." Islam is the religion founded by Mohammed, which considers the Koran as its holy book. In addition, Islam accepts the New Testament of the Christians and the Old Testament of the Jews as Divinely inspired works. Followers of Islam are known as Muslims (also: Moors, Turks, and Moslems) and, just as Jews and Christians, believe in only one God. Yet, over the centuries, Muslims have engaged in tremendous wars with Christians and Jews. It would seem that there is little hope for peace. However, Heaven's Peace Plan, involving Our Lady, is evidenced at Fatima, Portugal as well as other places around the world.
Fatima
The Moors once occupied Portugal. The village of Fatima was given the Islamic name of the well-loved Princess of the nearby Castle of Ourem. She died at an early age after marrying the Count of Ourem and converting to Catholicism. Baptized with the Christian name of Oureana, she was named at birth "Fatima," like many other Moslem girls, in honor of the daughter of Mohammed. Of his daughter, Fatima, the founder of Islam, Mohammed, said: "She has the highest place in heaven after the Virgin Mary."
It is a fact that Moslems from various nations, especially from the Middle East, make so many pilgrimages to Our Lady of Fatima's Shrine in Portugal that Portuguese officials have expressed concern. The combination of an Islamic name and Islamic devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is a great attraction to Moslems. God is writing straight with crooked lines, as we will see. Fatima is a part of Heaven's Peace Plan. It is hope for the world.
The Koran
In the Koran, the holy name of the Blessed Virgin Mary is mentioned no less than thirty times. No other woman's name is even mentioned, not even that of Mohammed's daughter, Fatima. Among men, only Abraham, Moses, and Noah are mentioned more times than Our Lady. In the Koran, Our Blessed Mother is described as "Virgin, ever Virgin." The Islamic belief in the virginity of Mary puts to shame the heretical beliefs of those who call themselves Christian, while denying the perpetual virginity of Mary. Make no mistake about it, there is a very special relationship between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Moslems!
The Holy Land
The Holy Land has been a real battleground between the Islamic peoples and Christianity over the centuries. Evidence of this are the numerous churches and basilicas that have been built by the Church, destroyed by, the Moslems, rebuilt by Catholic Crusaders, leveled again by the followers of Islam, and so on over the course of history. However, there is one remarkable exception: the Basilica of Saint Anne in Jerusalem.
The Crusaders built this church and named it in honor of the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Crypt of St. Anne's Basilica, a statue of the Infant Mary is venerated on what is believed to be the exact spot where Our Lady was born. Their great reverence for Our Lady precluded the Moslems from destroying her birthplace. The foundation for Heaven's Peace Plan at Fatima, Portugal, can be found in the Land of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Spain
As the Moslems swept through Spain in the 8th century, a great religious treasure was buried for safe-keeping in the earth, high in the Estremadura Mountains. It was a much venerated statue of Our Lady holding the Divine Child Jesus that was a gift of Pope Gregory the Great to Bishop Leander of Seville. After the overthrow of Moorish occupation, the image was uncovered in the year 1326, subsequent to a vision of Our Lady to a humble shepherd by the name of Gil. Our Lady's very special statue was enshrined in a nearby Franciscan Monastery next to the "Wolf River."
The Moslems, during their Spanish occupation, had actually named the river. The Islamic term for Wolf River is "Guadalupe" (Guada = River; Lupe = Wolf). Hence, the famous Catholic image in Spain has been known, since the 14th century, by the Islamic name of "Our Lady of Guadalupe."
Mexico
In the fullness of time, we can be sure that Almighty God knew that the Islamic religion would pose a serious threat to Christianity. God also knew that the Spanish missionaries would face grave resistance in the "new world" from the mighty Aztec Indians. The Aztecs worshipped an evil stone "serpent god" that demanded human sacrifice. It was extremely difficult to win souls for Christ from these bloodthirsty savages. However, with God all things are possible. Our Lady appeared to a humble Aztec Indian convert by the name of Juan Diego in 1531. When asked her name by Juan Diego, at the request of the local bishop, Our Lady's response, in the Aztec language, included the words "te coatlaxopeuh" (pronounced: "te quatlasupe") and meant "one who crushes the head of the stone serpent."
To Juan Diego and his fellow Aztecs, this revelation had great meaning, coupled with the miraculous image of Our Lady standing on top of a "crescent," the symbol of this evil serpent god. A tidal wave of conversions to Catholicism ensued. However, Bishop Zumarraga, who was from Spain, made what was no doubt a "heavenly mistake" that one day may lead to the mass conversion of Moslems. To the Bishop's Spanish ears, Our Lady's Aztec name of "Te Quatlasupe" sounded just like the name of the revered Madonna from Spain with the Islamic name, "Guadalupe." Hence, the bishop named the Mexican Madonna "Our Lady of Guadalupe." It is interesting that the "crescent" is also the symbol for Islam and that America's Shrine to Our Lady has an Islamic name.
Battle of Lepanto
On October 7, 1571, a great victory over the mighty Turkish fleet was won by Catholic naval forces primarily from Spain, Venice, and Genoa under the command of Don Juan of Austria. It was the last battle at sea between "oared" ships, which featured the most powerful navy in the world, a Moslem force with between 12,000 to 15,000 Christian slaves as rowers. The patchwork team of Catholic ships was powered by the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Knowing that the Christian forces were at a distinct material disadvantage, the holy pontiff, St. Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory. We know today that the victory was decisive, prevented the Islamic invasion of Europe, and evidenced the Hand of God working through Our Lady. At the hour of victory, St. Pope Pius V, who was hundreds of miles away at the Vatican, is said to have gotten up from a meeting, went over to a window, and exclaimed with supernatural radiance: "The Christian fleet is victorious!" and shed tears of thanksgiving to God.
What you may not know is that one of three admirals commanding the Catholic forces at Lepanto was Andrea Doria. He carried a small copy of Mexico's Our Lady of Guadalupe into battle. This image is now enshrined in the Church of San Stefano in Aveto, Italy. Not many know that at the Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain, one can view a huge warship lantern that was captured from the Moslems in the Battle of Lepanto. In Rome, look up to the ceiling of S. Maria in Aracoeli and behold decorations in gold taken from the Turkish galleys. In the Doges' Palace in Venice, Italy, one can witness a giant Islamic flag that is now a trophy from a vanquished Turkish ship from the Victory. At Saint Mary Major Basilica in Rome, close to the tomb of the great St. Pope Pius V, one was once able to view yet another Islamic flag from the Battle, until 1965, when it was returned to Istanbul in an intended friendly token of concord.
The Rosary
At Lepanto, the Victory over the Moslems was won by the faithful praying the Rosary. Even though they had superior numbers, the Turks really were overmatched. Blessed Padre Pio, the Spiritual Father of the Blue Army, said: "The Rosary is the weapon," and how right he was!
The Battle of Lepanto was at first celebrated liturgically as "Our Lady of Victory." Later, the feast of October 7th was renamed "Our Lady of the Rosary" and extended throughout the Universal Church by Pope Clement XI in 1716 (who canonized Pope Pius V in 1712).
And with that we are back to Fatima, Portugal where Our Lady, when asked her name, said: "I am the Lady of the Rosary." At Fatima, Our Lady taught us to pray the Rosary every day. Heaven presented its peace plan at Fatima and truly gave us hope for the world. Conversions were promised at Fatima: the conversion of sinners; the conversion of Russia; and what also appears to be the conversion of Islam. Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!
Taken from:
Soul Magazine
© 2001 The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, U.S.A., Inc.
September - October 2001, page 6
For subscription information:
The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, U.S.A., Inc.
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Monday, May 17, 2010
The Catechism of my 4 yr old
And I quote:
"Jesus wants to live in our hearts, but the bad guy from Indiana Jones wants our hearts so we have to say 'no, sit behind me' and Jesus will overcome the Devil. On Easter Jesus dies on the cross for our sins and then they put him in the tomb for three days and his body disappeared to heaven where we will live but then he appears to His disciples and then it's a feast day. I love feast days and our father told me about them, my father who is a priest named Father Michael because he is the angel of the
ark who is Mary. But I also have a Father who is in heaven who is God and one who is my daddy. But my daddy's body doesn't disappear. So after the feast day he goes up to heaven so he can send us the Holy Spirit, and that's a feast day when we call it pentacost when we make pennies and pants."
Even better--
Later that night, as we prayed:
"Mommy, God says 'No Buts.'"
You can't make this stuff up.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iTouch, forgive any mistakes :p
"Jesus wants to live in our hearts, but the bad guy from Indiana Jones wants our hearts so we have to say 'no, sit behind me' and Jesus will overcome the Devil. On Easter Jesus dies on the cross for our sins and then they put him in the tomb for three days and his body disappeared to heaven where we will live but then he appears to His disciples and then it's a feast day. I love feast days and our father told me about them, my father who is a priest named Father Michael because he is the angel of the
ark who is Mary. But I also have a Father who is in heaven who is God and one who is my daddy. But my daddy's body doesn't disappear. So after the feast day he goes up to heaven so he can send us the Holy Spirit, and that's a feast day when we call it pentacost when we make pennies and pants."
Even better--
Later that night, as we prayed:
"Mommy, God says 'No Buts.'"
You can't make this stuff up.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iTouch, forgive any mistakes :p
Saturday, May 8, 2010
A holy funeral renews our life and hope
I attended the funeral of a saint today, Deacon Vincente Colon, and grace permeated the rest of my day. I know it flowed from the blessed event of his coming home.
O My God, how blind the world is in its fear of death! Death is a happy event.
- Blessed Miriam of Jesus Crucified
As a truly holy man, Deacon Colon left only holiness in his wake...those who knew him, met him even for a moment understood that he had found peace in the Lord. That peace was what glazed every event of my day--- and although the day was "ordinary" in every sense, it became extraordinary illuminated by the light of God's love and peace.
It was quite humbling to note that I do not often affect others with that same sense of peace. Lord, teach me to know thy ways!
And it was quite humbling to note that at the same moment another funeral was going on-- one for a man who was by every possible worldly standard a "good" and kind man. One who was interesting, funny, quick-witted and intelligent-- who wanted to make the world better and not worse, who wanted to ---and did--- leave his mark. This man was a secular, humanist atheist. And to really stop and compare the lives of these two men who were being buried in the earth this day, I had to acknowledge that the difference a life in the Holy Spirit can give two otherwise very similar men is like literal night and literal day. While I have wept with tears of sadness at the death of the latter, who died too young, too soon, and with too much "before him," so many more possibilities and things he could have done with his life, I instead wept with tears of joy at the funeral of Deacon Colon, who died too LATE, who was given us as a gift for just a little bit longer, to show us that he was ready and we could be too.
In the death of the latter, there was a sadness that cannot be described. In the death of the first, a hope, and a joy-- and a glory. May my death one day bring joy to those around me, a certainty of God's goodness.
Today, I opened my day with the prayer of St Patrick and a meditation on the life of the Blessed Mother, of whom Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, a Carmelite nun, had said:
"In the heaven of her soul, the praise of glory has already begun her works of eternity."
Would that we would all be like Mary.
O My God, how blind the world is in its fear of death! Death is a happy event.
- Blessed Miriam of Jesus Crucified
As a truly holy man, Deacon Colon left only holiness in his wake...those who knew him, met him even for a moment understood that he had found peace in the Lord. That peace was what glazed every event of my day--- and although the day was "ordinary" in every sense, it became extraordinary illuminated by the light of God's love and peace.
It was quite humbling to note that I do not often affect others with that same sense of peace. Lord, teach me to know thy ways!
And it was quite humbling to note that at the same moment another funeral was going on-- one for a man who was by every possible worldly standard a "good" and kind man. One who was interesting, funny, quick-witted and intelligent-- who wanted to make the world better and not worse, who wanted to ---and did--- leave his mark. This man was a secular, humanist atheist. And to really stop and compare the lives of these two men who were being buried in the earth this day, I had to acknowledge that the difference a life in the Holy Spirit can give two otherwise very similar men is like literal night and literal day. While I have wept with tears of sadness at the death of the latter, who died too young, too soon, and with too much "before him," so many more possibilities and things he could have done with his life, I instead wept with tears of joy at the funeral of Deacon Colon, who died too LATE, who was given us as a gift for just a little bit longer, to show us that he was ready and we could be too.
In the death of the latter, there was a sadness that cannot be described. In the death of the first, a hope, and a joy-- and a glory. May my death one day bring joy to those around me, a certainty of God's goodness.
Today, I opened my day with the prayer of St Patrick and a meditation on the life of the Blessed Mother, of whom Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, a Carmelite nun, had said:
"In the heaven of her soul, the praise of glory has already begun her works of eternity."
Would that we would all be like Mary.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Have no fear, mamma's here.
"Listen, and let it penetrate your heart, my dear little child; do not be troubled or weighted down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?" - The Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego, 1500 A.D.
*note for my protestant readers: this does not mean that she does anything of these things of her own accord-- Mary, we believe, was "Full of Grace,"- as the Angel of God greeted her upon the annunciation of the Birth of Christ, and thus by God's grace is empowered to be His Mother and Our Mother.(as He gave her to us from the Cross.)
Her "Shadow and protection" is the protection Christ offers us because He loves her.
*note for my protestant readers: this does not mean that she does anything of these things of her own accord-- Mary, we believe, was "Full of Grace,"- as the Angel of God greeted her upon the annunciation of the Birth of Christ, and thus by God's grace is empowered to be His Mother and Our Mother.(as He gave her to us from the Cross.)
Her "Shadow and protection" is the protection Christ offers us because He loves her.
Monday, May 3, 2010
A Heavenly moment
As I was leaving the kids' nursery tonight Jardi asked me to tuck her in for the zillionth time and I told her, "Nope. We've already said goodnight and now I am leaving. I'm not in charge anymore so you'll have to figure out how to put yourself to sleep like a big girl."
Her eyes got as round as saucers and then she laughed. "Noooo, mommy, she said. You ARE in charge of me still because you are a grownup and Im just a kid. You DO know how to help me calm down. You know how to do everything!"
Then she kissed me goodnight and snuggled under her covers. I left the room in wonder and awe with tears in my eyes.
Would that I might have such total confidence in my own Heavenly Parent.
Jardi has always been my Mary bean. How appropriate, then, that I might find in her an example of the amount of trust I can put in the Mother Jesus gave me to train me up in following Him!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iTouch, forgive any mistakes :p
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Carmelite meditations on Mary
For the Month of May, traditionally dedicated to Mary, I will be blogging some of the Marian themes I use for mental prayer from the great Carmelite teachers.
What follows, then, is the first:
"This is exactly how we should imitate Mary: eliminate from our life everything that is the fruit of our egoism, self love, or pride, and do only the things that are inspired by grace , under the impulse of the Holy Spirit."
- Fr Gabriel of Mary Magdalen
What follows, then, is the first:
"This is exactly how we should imitate Mary: eliminate from our life everything that is the fruit of our egoism, self love, or pride, and do only the things that are inspired by grace , under the impulse of the Holy Spirit."
- Fr Gabriel of Mary Magdalen
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