Pope Francis Confirms that Paul VI will be a Saint This Year. The Official Date Will Soon Be Made Known

Feb 24-25 2018 :   2nd Sunday of Lent

“Paul VI will be a Saint this year,” announced Pope Francis. In his address during the meeting with the parish priests of Rome, which was held on Thursday, February 15, 2018, in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Pope Francis announced that Blessed Paul VI

It’s a great event for the universal Church, although the  official date has yet to be established.
“There are two Bishops of Rome (recent ones) already Saints (John XXIII and John Paul II). Paul VI will be a Saint this year,” said the Holy Father.
The Pontiff also pointed out that John Paul I might be  beatified, as his Cause is open in the Pontifical Congregation. Joking, the Argentine Pope added: “And Benedict and I are on the waiting list: pray for us.”
Miracle
 Last February 8 the Cardinals expressed their favourable  opinion for the recognition of a miracle due to Paul VI’s  intercession.
On December 13, 2017, the theologians of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints approved the recognition of the “miracle,” whereas the Medical Commission issued previously a favourable opinion.
The cure, which happened in 2014, was a little girl of the  Verona region of Italy. Before her birth, little Amanda  survived a proven risk of abortion. She will be three-years-old at Christmas.
Beatification
Pope Francis beatified Paul VI (1897-1978) on October 19, 2014, at the end of the first Synod of Bishops on the Family. On December 20, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI approved the Decree recognizing that Paul VI lived the Christian and  human virtues in a “heroic” way.
The miracle for the Beatification was the inexplicable cure of a boy, in the mother’s womb, in California 18 years  before. The child was threatened with death or severe  malformations, which led the doctors to advise an abortion.
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This prayer is a gold mine!

February 17-18 2018   -  1st Sunday of Lent

Millions of Catholics recite the Hail Mary every day, some-times in a hurry, without thinking about the words. And yet, this prayer is a gold mine! 

Saint Bernard and many other saints insisted that Mary never refuses to hear the prayers of her children. Why do we ever refuse the love and consolation that the sweet Mother of God offers us? 
Hugh Lammer was a Christian strong in his faith who used to preach violently against the Catholic Church. One day, he came across an explanation of the Hail Mary that he really liked, and he started reciting it every day. Then all his anti-Catholic animosity disappeared as if by magic. He converted, became a priest and a professor of Catholic theology in Breslau (Wroclaw, in German Breslau, is a city in Silesia, Poland).  Thousands of similar stories exist: a priest visits a man dying in despair because of his sins and lack of faith. The man      refuses to confess. The priest manages to have him pray at least one Ave Maria. Shortly after, the unhappy man makes a sincere confession and dies in the grace of God…

Aleteia.



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“Another way to help the souls in Purgatory is through  mortification and penance. ... 
Perhaps a reminder to come to the aid of the souls in       Purgatory through mortification and penance could move many to this practice of love which unites them to their dear deceased.

Our days on earth are rich in opportunities to practise these virtues, and if we want to expiate our numberless sins and give satisfaction to the souls in Purgatory, we need to take advantage of them. Taking care to be earnest in getting up in the morning without growing lazy in bed, for instance; the pain of cold in winter and heat in summer; the aversion we feel toward eating something we do not like; pain for the sickness we have to bear; patience in adversities; the moral sufferings that cause us agony and other, similar things are precious opportunities to do penance and to give suffrage to the souls in Purgatory. It is foolish to bear our sufferings with impatience and to lament them as if fatal, let alone to have feelings of rebellion against God, the Blessed Mother and the saints. By the same token, it is foolish to look always for ways to enjoy ourselves and have fun, and to stray into the vanities of the world, because these things might bring the soul to its eternal damnation.  Let us pick up our cross with great resignation, for the love of God and without    lamenting or cursing. Our cross will make us capable of helping the souls in Purgatory and it will move us on toward eternal joy. We must not satisfy all the demands of our   selfishness, but keep under tight control our corrupt and rebellious nature through penance. We will have the joy of ruling over ourselves and enjoying the freedom of the spirit, while reducing at the same time the very suffering of our life, because union with the Diving Will, and patience itself, are balm to all our sorrows. 

Anxiety, lamentation, rebellion and despair are only amplifiers of the pain and the suffering in our lives.”

 

on Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970),  Who Dies Shall  See: Purgatory and Heaven, p 44. 

 

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The Day Ireland Was Encircled by the Rosary

February 10-11  2018 :  6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Rosary on the Borders, an event in Poland that gathered a large number of Catholics on Saturday, October 7, 2017, has been replicated. First by a the National Rosary in Italy on Friday, October 13th, "to follow the teachings of Mary and to follow the very good example given by our Polish brothers," then more recently in Ireland on Sun-day, November 26, 2017, feast of Christ the King, with a "Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith." Why on this day? Quite simply because, according to those who organized it, Ireland was the first country dedicated to Christ the King, in the 1940s. 
All along the Irish coast, people prayed the Rosary at 2:30 pm, followed by the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 3 pm. More than 250 prayer locations were designated for this event, including places in Northern Ireland, far exceeding the original goal of 53 locations! 

At least four bishops and many priests had announced their intention to participate. The goal of this great national prayer was the restoration of the Catholic faith in Ireland and the protection of children from the moment of conception. The organizers evoked the words of Pius IX: "Give me an army that recites the Rosary and I will conquer the world.” They asked the faithful to bring miraculous medals with them to have them blessed by the priests and bury them on the seashore, while asking the Virgin Mary to intercede to protect Ireland against evil.

Olivier Bault    Source: Coastal Rosary Ireland

 

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Our Lady of Guadalupe:

 

 

On December 12 1531the image was imprinted on a cactus-fibre work cloth (tilma) worn by (now Saint) Juan Diego. Science continues to be unable to explain the image. There is  no paint. Chemical analysis is unable  to identify the elements constituting the colour.  Cactus fibre has a maximum life of forty years before   disintegration.  

 

The tilma is almost five hundred years old, has been  handled by hundreds of thousands of people, has had thousands of candles burn before it, and shows no sign of deterioration or discolouration.
Magnification of the eyes in the image reveal reflected images of thirteen people present at the December 12 encounter of Juan Diego with Bishop Zumarraga in  Mexico City.
Come and hear Christina King tell the story in detail next Sunday afternoon in the hall. Reach out and invite your friends. This story has the capacity to open people to the wonders of God who enters our history, especially through the Mother of Christ, to alleviate our sufferings.

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What does the word ‘Amen’mean?

February 3-4  2018 :     
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A small word with a deep spiritual meaning. 

Christians (as well as Jews and Muslims) around the world say the world “Amen” countless times a day, both in  personal prayer and the liturgy. For a large number of  people it has become second nature, uttering the word without ever giving it a second thought. Unfortunately, for many people the word doesn’t have a particular meaning and is said simply because it is at the end of a prayer.
However, the prayer has a deep spiritual meaning, one that is easily overlooked.

The word “Amen” is a Hebrew word that is used frequently in the Old and New Testaments. According to Bible Study Tools, “The verb form occurs more than one hundred times in the Old Testament … [and] nearly seventy occasions in [all] the Gospels.”

Jesus uses the word often in his preaching, frequently  saying “Amen, amen I say to you …” This word is usually translated as “truly” or “verily” in biblical translations and at its root signifies truth or the confirmation of a truth. In the Old Testament it typically signifies a full acceptance of what was previously spoken.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “When Amen is thus used by Our Lord to introduce a statement He seems especially to make a demand upon the faith of His hearers in His word or in His power.” In other words, Jesus seeks to elicit a full assent to his teachings by  his followers while at the same time affirming his divine authority.

To further deepen its spiritual power, in some Latin  translations of Nehemiah 8:6 the original “amen, amen” is rendered as fiat, fiat. This is an interesting translation as the Blessed Mother’s “yes” at the Annunciation is known in Latin as her fiat. This Latin word is translated into English as “let it be done” and summarizes Mary’s humble obedience to the Word of God. In this context the word “Amen” not only affirms what was spoken, but is pledge of allegiance to God in humble submission.
The early Christians adopted this word in a liturgical con-text, assigning it to the congregation where they would say “Amen” during the divine service, affirming what was spoken or prayed. Since then it has continued to be a central part of Christian prayer and is a single word with a great depth of spiritual meaning.

 

Philip Kosloski | Jan 30, 2018, Aleteia.