This year's March for Life was one of the biggest ever. Here is a very short video clip of our participation in it. Hope you enjoy it! The opening picture shows Prince Bertrand.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
An Appeal for Insistence - TFP Statement for the 2010 March for Life
On the occasion of the 37th annual March for Life, the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) joins once again the legions of Americans nationwide who oppose abortion.
For those who have long fought this important battle, the word “again” painfully stands out. Every year we protest, hoping there will not be another “again.” And yet, every year, the continued slaughter of innocents makes that “again” ever more necessary.
Why do we insist? Because our love of God and our consciences will not allow us to do otherwise. However, we also insist because the other side insists so vehemently.
The Abortion Agenda
Why do politicians risk their careers to support this deadly practice when they would have so much to gain by simply ignoring it? Why does the other side alienate so many women and mothers who they claim to be defending?
The liberal cause would gain so much by temporarily abandoning this thorny issue that so divides the nation. And yet they insist on defending its most horrific manifestations like partial birth or born-alive abortions.
Moreover, these defenders of “rights” have no problem taking away the civil rights of pre-lifers by imposing gag rules and protective bubbles around their abortion clinics. Some take their devotion to abortion to the point of looking the other way, deliberately failing to report cases where minors are abused and victimized by adults.
It is clear that something much greater is involved than just a matter of “women’s rights.”
Abortion: A Necessary Pillar of the Sexual Revolution
We must understand that abortion is a necessary pillar of the Sexual Revolution that rocked the country in the sixties and has so devastated the family ever since.
By the distorted logic of this revolution, human sexuality should never be suppressed or disciplined. Our strong sexual desires must be gratified and defined as an inalienable part of the pursuit of happiness. Any and all consensual relationships must be allowed and encouraged—even at an early age and with great frequency.
Tragically, to implement this ideology, there is one obstacle that stands in the way—the tiny and helpless baby whose only “crime” is its desire to be born.
When contraception fails, as it inevitably does, abortion becomes a necessary means to eliminate the inconveniences that bar the way to “happiness.”
What is at Stake
Moreover, it becomes patently clear that when dissolute relationships between men and women are called into question, the harmful effects of other destructive sexual relationships must also be denounced.
That is why the promoters of abortion are so radically insistent. They realize that every limitation of abortion—even in its most horrific expressions—is an affirmation that some kind of morality exists to limit their unfettered quest for “happiness.”
There can be no doubt. The real target of the pro-abortion lobby is morality—and the Christianity that upholds the natural law that is its basis.
The Pursuit of Happiness
They do not want to see that on the battlefield of the Sexual Revolution lie the ruined lives of millions of Americans who sought this “happiness” in vain.
And yet we ask how can one not see? How many more innocent American lives must be lost in the womb? How many more women must suffer from the psychological damage caused by premarital relations and abortions? How many more children must experience broken homes, abuse, and lives without family? How many more souls must be lost to sin before sanity returns to society?
Indeed, the ranks of the pro-life movement are full of those maimed and wounded on this terrible battlefield. They have been mugged by the reality that immorality does not lead to happiness.
They and their children are now on the front lines, using every peaceful and legal means to make their voices heard in front of abortion clinics, public squares and capitol buildings all over the county. Their protests and insistent prayers have seen scores of abortion clinics shut down and thousands of babies saved. Young voices join with old in giving joyful public witness and continuity to our repudiation of this shame of our age.
And in this struggle for God and His morality, they have found happiness.
The Fight for Christian Civilization
This fight for life is more than just a side issue in the political debate. It takes center stage in a greater fight for our Christian civilization.
We must insist because our adversaries will always insist. We must take courage in the fact that our insistence has turned abortion into the vulnerable and shaky pillar that sustains that Culture of Death.
It is our constant appearance in events like the March for Life that keeps the horror of abortion in the public eye.
That is why we must be out there again and again. In this sense, the American TFP was proud to help coordinate 4,337 Public Square Rosary Rallies last October 10 where tens of thousands of Catholics gathered in public places nationwide to insist upon heeding
Our Lady’s warnings at Fatima as a solution to put an end to abortion and so many other moral evils.
Indeed, this struggle in defense of morality was foreseen by Our Lady at Fatima in 1917. In her message to the three seers, she spoke of immodesty, impurity, and bad fashions. She called men to repentance, reparation and amendment of life.
In face of the struggles we have ahear, we must carry on this cultural battle with an unshakable confidence and determined insistence. It is a fight which is far from over. However, Our Lady will help us as she has so often in the past. In the end, we have the certainty confirmed by Our Lady herself at Fatima that the final result of our many "agains" will be the triumph of her Immaculate Heart.
For those who have long fought this important battle, the word “again” painfully stands out. Every year we protest, hoping there will not be another “again.” And yet, every year, the continued slaughter of innocents makes that “again” ever more necessary.
Why do we insist? Because our love of God and our consciences will not allow us to do otherwise. However, we also insist because the other side insists so vehemently.
The Abortion Agenda
The battle over abortion has proven to be one of the most polarizing issues in our nation’s history. The pro-abortion minority has staked so much on this issue that we are led to ask why they show so much insistence.
Why do politicians risk their careers to support this deadly practice when they would have so much to gain by simply ignoring it? Why does the other side alienate so many women and mothers who they claim to be defending?
The liberal cause would gain so much by temporarily abandoning this thorny issue that so divides the nation. And yet they insist on defending its most horrific manifestations like partial birth or born-alive abortions.
Moreover, these defenders of “rights” have no problem taking away the civil rights of pre-lifers by imposing gag rules and protective bubbles around their abortion clinics. Some take their devotion to abortion to the point of looking the other way, deliberately failing to report cases where minors are abused and victimized by adults.
It is clear that something much greater is involved than just a matter of “women’s rights.”
Abortion: A Necessary Pillar of the Sexual Revolution
There definitely is something much greater. This is not just a case of those women’s “reproductive rights.” There is an ideology behind this insistence.
We must understand that abortion is a necessary pillar of the Sexual Revolution that rocked the country in the sixties and has so devastated the family ever since.
By the distorted logic of this revolution, human sexuality should never be suppressed or disciplined. Our strong sexual desires must be gratified and defined as an inalienable part of the pursuit of happiness. Any and all consensual relationships must be allowed and encouraged—even at an early age and with great frequency.
Tragically, to implement this ideology, there is one obstacle that stands in the way—the tiny and helpless baby whose only “crime” is its desire to be born.
When contraception fails, as it inevitably does, abortion becomes a necessary means to eliminate the inconveniences that bar the way to “happiness.”
What is at Stake
Thus, pro-abortion radicals understand all too well what is at stake. Take abortion away and the whole edifice of the Sexual Revolution comes crashing to the ground. Loose permissive relationships will no longer be possible. People will be forced to deal with their sexuality in the manner which nature prescribes—namely traditional marriage.
Moreover, it becomes patently clear that when dissolute relationships between men and women are called into question, the harmful effects of other destructive sexual relationships must also be denounced.
That is why the promoters of abortion are so radically insistent. They realize that every limitation of abortion—even in its most horrific expressions—is an affirmation that some kind of morality exists to limit their unfettered quest for “happiness.”
There can be no doubt. The real target of the pro-abortion lobby is morality—and the Christianity that upholds the natural law that is its basis.
The Pursuit of Happiness
Tragically, the aging pro-abortion activists do not want to admit the fact that unfettered gratification of sexual desires does not bring happiness.
They do not want to see that on the battlefield of the Sexual Revolution lie the ruined lives of millions of Americans who sought this “happiness” in vain.
 |
| It is our constant appearance in events like the March for Life that keeps the horror of abortion in the public eye.
|
Indeed, the ranks of the pro-life movement are full of those maimed and wounded on this terrible battlefield. They have been mugged by the reality that immorality does not lead to happiness.
They and their children are now on the front lines, using every peaceful and legal means to make their voices heard in front of abortion clinics, public squares and capitol buildings all over the county. Their protests and insistent prayers have seen scores of abortion clinics shut down and thousands of babies saved. Young voices join with old in giving joyful public witness and continuity to our repudiation of this shame of our age.
And in this struggle for God and His morality, they have found happiness.
The Fight for Christian Civilization
That is why we are here…again.
This fight for life is more than just a side issue in the political debate. It takes center stage in a greater fight for our Christian civilization.
We must insist because our adversaries will always insist. We must take courage in the fact that our insistence has turned abortion into the vulnerable and shaky pillar that sustains that Culture of Death.
It is our constant appearance in events like the March for Life that keeps the horror of abortion in the public eye.
That is why we must be out there again and again. In this sense, the American TFP was proud to help coordinate 4,337 Public Square Rosary Rallies last October 10 where tens of thousands of Catholics gathered in public places nationwide to insist upon heeding
 |
| Honor guard for Our Lady of Fatima in the TFP's ceremonial habit. |
Indeed, this struggle in defense of morality was foreseen by Our Lady at Fatima in 1917. In her message to the three seers, she spoke of immodesty, impurity, and bad fashions. She called men to repentance, reparation and amendment of life.
In face of the struggles we have ahear, we must carry on this cultural battle with an unshakable confidence and determined insistence. It is a fight which is far from over. However, Our Lady will help us as she has so often in the past. In the end, we have the certainty confirmed by Our Lady herself at Fatima that the final result of our many "agains" will be the triumph of her Immaculate Heart.
Abortion Mills Closing Right and Left
YOUNGSTOWN, OH (LifeSiteNews.com) - After 34 years in the abortion business, the Mahoning Women's Center in Youngstown, Ohio, permanently closed its doors on January 12, 2010. The owner has retired and the building will be sold. The closure leaves the community of Youngstown abortion-free.
"This is such great news for the people of Ohio and all Americans. It means that lives will be saved," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "We know from experience that when abortion clinics close, many women who would otherwise have opted for abortion will instead happily keep their babies or release them for adoption."
The closure follows a well-documented national trend. In 1991, there were nearly 2,200 abortion clinics, but today there are 712. Since 1991 over two-thirds of all abortion clinics have permanently closed. That trend appears to reflect the shifting attitude of Americans toward the pro-life position.
Operation Rescue documented this trend in Project Daniel 5:25, which lists the remaining abortion clinics and encourages pro-life supporters to maintain a presence outside each one.
"This week, we mark the 37th memorial of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that decriminalized abortion and we mourn for the 50 million babies that were the cruel victims of that decision,” said Newman. “Yet, at the same time, we rejoice that abortion clinics are closing at an unprecedented rate and that an increasing number of Americans are rejecting abortion in favor of embracing and cherishing life. The foundations of Roe have crumbled, and the abortion industry is not far behind."
The article above comes from www.LifeSiteNews.com.
Missouri Works to Dodge Abortion Funding
A Missouri lawmaker is taking action to block possible federal abortion mandates that accompany the much-debated healthcare bill.
(Story from onenewsnow.com)
Republican State Senator Scott Rupp has introduced a bill that would protect his state from abortion mandates proposed in healthcare reform. He explains that the method of doing so is in accord with the U.S. Constitution.
(Story from onenewsnow.com)
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Protest Legion: A Film that Mocks the Faith and Leads to Despair
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| The TFP takes issues to the man on the streets. |
Sony offended millions of Americans with its blasphemous film, The Da Vinci Code. Now it is set to do the same with the movie, Legion and that’s why The American TFP is asking its members to protest this latest blasphemy.
Directed by Scott Stewart, the new film turns the natural order of things upside down by presenting good as evil and vice-versa, and by replacing the faith that man must have in God, with the faith that God must have in man.
The movie’s central and bizarre theme is that God has lost faith in man and thus decides to exterminate humanity. To do this work of destruction, He sends angels armed with machine guns commanded by the Archangel Saint Gabriel.
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| "Lucifer Cast Out" by Gustave Doré. With the battle-cry "Quis Ut Deus!" St. Michael led the first counter-revolutionary offensive in History. |
The film presents a complete inversion of roles: instead of defeating Satan and the rebel angels in the great heavenly battle (Apoc. 12:6-10), the movie presents Saint Michael as the fallen angel who revolts against God. Saint Michael’s downfall was caused by his wish to save humanity when God, finding the human race no longer worthy of Him, decides to end humanity’s existence.
Legion also mocks the mystery of the Incarnation and the Mother of the Redeemer, Mary Most Holy, by presenting her as a dissolute and vulgar young woman pregnant with a “Messias.” Saint Michael the Archangel comes to protect the son born from that woman who he calls “the only hope humanity has of surviving.”[1]
Legion also mocks the mystery of the Incarnation and the Mother of the Redeemer, Mary Most Holy, by presenting her as a dissolute and vulgar young woman pregnant with a “Messias.” Saint Michael the Archangel comes to protect the son born from that woman who he calls “the only hope humanity has of surviving.”[1]
God Loses Faith in Men!
The movie’s very title – Legion – appears to have been taken from the Gospel of Saint Mark when he refers to the demons that possessed a man: “My name is Legion: for we are many" (Mark, 5:9.) Thus, the legions of angels commanded by Saint Gabriel are supposedly demons like those of the possessed man. Some quotations from the movie serve to show the great confusion among the film’s “angels”:
“The last time God lost faith in man, He sent the flood. This time, He sent angels,” says the pseudo Saint Michael.[2]
A dialogue between the pseudo-archangels is likewise offensive:
“Michael: I knew He'd send you, Gabriel. You were always so eager to please Him.
Gabriel: Unlike you... the rebellious son.”[3]
Gabriel: Unlike you... the rebellious son.”[3]
Legion “a morality tale”?
Movie director, Scott Stewart, comments on the film’s central idea:
“So, what if God decides that he’s lost faith in man? We always talk about having to have faith in God, but what happens if it happens in reverse? God loses faith in man and says ‘do it over?’ This is our approach to that.[4]
“I wanted it to be a morality tale. I was raised Jewish so I was an Old Testament guy with no experience reading Revelations so I read a fundamentalist view, a teaching guide of Revelations. It was nuts. Crazy stuff. Let's make a movie about that stuff. The big line in the movie, that Paul [Bettany] says, is ‘The last time God lost faith in man, he sent a flood. This time he sent what you see outside.’”[5]
Irreligious absurdities do not stop there. In fact, the Saint Michael/Rebel Angel/Satan comes to save a waitress pregnant with the... “Messias!” The plot unfolds in a cheap roadside eatery on Christmas eve.
“A Not-so-Virginal Woman”
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| "The Annunciation" by Fra Angelico. St. Gabriel, with great reverance and piety, announces to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she is to give birth to the Son of the Most High. |
Actress Adrianne Palicki, who plays the feminine role in Legion, comments: “I’m ultimately playing the Virgin Mary, who is not at all a virgin.”[6]
According to the reporter that interviewed her: “Palicki plays a not-so-virginal woman who is eight months pregnant with a Jesus-like messiah child.”
When asked who the child’s father might be, she jokes back:
“God?” “The character, she is kind of loose, so you don’t really know who the father is.”
The interviewer adds:
“Palicki’s Charlie brings the forces of good and evil against each other as the archangel Michael (Paul Bettany) comes to Earth to protect her, and evil forces are coming to stop the birth of her child.”[7]
Religion: “Crazy Stuff”
This irrational and violent terror movie ridicules and subverts the most fundamental truths of the Faith. Here one can see the deceitful and sordid portrayal of God’s justice, His mercy, His infinite perfection, the Incarnation of the Word, and the virginal purity of Mary Most Holy. The film completely destroys the distinction between good and evil, the good angels and the devils.
At the same time, the movie presents as “crazy stuff,” the possibility that God could punish humanity for its sins, as He did with the Great Flood. It takes the book of Genesis and distorts the anthropomorphic language which states that God “repenteth” to have “made them [men],” a statement which is meant to make clear the gravity of the sins committed (Genesis, 6:6.)[8]
The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom
Such a mockery of the possibility of Divine punishment for grievous sins at the time of the Flood, can likewise be used to discredit the idea of the chastisements that Our Lady announced at Fatima if humanity did not convert.
Sacred Scripture says that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 110/11:10.) When men lose their fear of God, be it the reverential fear due to His Divine Majesty, or the fear of His justice in this life and the next, they become stupid and come to believe, like the inhabitants of Jerusalem at the time of Prophet Sophonias, that “The Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil” (Sophonias, 1:12.)
Inducing to Despair
Finally, the message of the movie, Legion, is one of despair. The film presents no hope for humanity or salvation in face of such a cruel and arbitrary God in Whom one cannot confide.
Finally, the message of the movie, Legion, is one of despair. The film presents no hope for humanity or salvation in face of such a cruel and arbitrary God in Whom one cannot confide.
When man loses hope, he loses the very reason to practice virtue, which is the hope of attaining Heaven, with God’s help. Likewise, when he loses faith in God, he loses the reason to have hope. In fact, hope is based on “our apprehension of God as our supreme supernatural good Whose communication in the beatific vision is to make us happy for all eternity, and also on those Divine attributes such as omnipotence, mercy and fidelity, which unite to exhibit God as our unfailing helper.”[9]
Ridiculing Sacred Things
Someone could object that this is only a movie and therefore should not be taken seriously. However, it is precisely through films, novels, and the theater that blasphemy makes great strides and anti-Catholic ideas are increasingly disseminated. When people do not pay due attention to them, they allow themselves to be influenced by them.
Furthermore, such films go against the Second Commandment which condemns the taking of God’s name in vain – and the ridiculing of holy things: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain” ( Exodus, 20:7.)
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It is deplorable that the Sony Corporation has taken to spreading Legion which, like The Da Vinci Code, ridicules most sacred things.[10]
It is for this reason that The American TFP is protesting to Sony, manifesting our indignation against this new attack upon the Faith.
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Footnotes:
[3] "Memorable quotes for Legion (2010) More at IMDbPro," http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1038686/quotes.
[4] Cf. "Legion Red Band Trailer, Exclusive Photos and Director Quotes," Film. http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/08/12/legion-red-band-trailer-exclusive-photos-and-director-quotes/#ixzz0bkgtkzbw.
[6] Terri Schwartz, July 28, 2009, "Comic-Con 2009: Adrianne Palicki on Legion," Blast. http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/entertainment/2009/07/comic-con-2009-adrianne-palicki-on-legion/.
[7] Ibid.
[8] The Douay-Rheims Bible comments: "'It repented him'... God, who is unchangeable, is not capable of repentance, grief, or any other passion. But these expressions are used to declare the enormity of the sins of men, which was so provoking as to determine their Creator to destroy these his creatures, whom before he had so much favored.” http://www.drbo.org/chapter/01006.htm.
[9] Delany, J. (1910), “Hope,” The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved January 5, 2010 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07465b.htm.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Please Protest Against V-Monologues in DePaul Univeristy Now!
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| Join the peaceful protest to stop the vulgar V-Monologues |
This update contains disturbing news of a lewd theater play, scheduled for February 13-14 at DePaul University, America’s largest Catholic university with over 25,000 students. For several years, DePaul has hosted the V***** Monologues (asterisks added for modesty).
The play promotes:
- A Culture of Death
- Explicit discussions of sexuality
- Lesbian activity
- Radical feminism
This is how one student described the play after seeing it:
"...it was a horrible exhibit of vice, lust, and infidelity. Everything about the play -- the content, the performers, the atmosphere -- was decidedly opposed to just about everything the Church teaches, whether it be about sexuality, abortion, contraception, holy matrimony, modesty, chastity, vulgarity, humility, reverence, you name it."Join the Protest
I invite you to peacefully protest this offensive production by signing a ready-to-go message to Fr. Dennis Holtschneider, president of DePaul.
Politely ask him to cancel the play
Protests are very effective. In fact, several performances of the V-Monologues were canceled at Catholic colleges in previous years due to the large number of complaints from students, alumni, and concerned Catholics parents. For example, Fr. Brian J. Shanley, president of Providence College, stopped the play on campus in 2006.
He stated:
"Doubtless some will reply that this is a violation of artistic freedom. But artistic freedom on a Catholic campus cannot mean the complete license to perform or display any work of art regardless of its intellectual or moral content."As Pope Benedict said in his 2008 visit to the U.S.:
"It is timely, then, to reflect on what is particular to our Catholic institutions. How do they contribute to the good of society through the Church's primary mission of evangelization?"
Contact information:
DePaul University
Fr. Dennis Holtschneider, C.M., President
1 E. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
312-362-8000
DePaulPresidentsOffice@depaul.edu
Monday, January 11, 2010
Why Does the Cardinal not Protest Same-sex "Marriage" in the Land of Fatima?
Our Lady at Fatima spoke about these things and the great crisis inside the Church.
LISBON (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Portuguese Parliament has given an initial approval to a bill that will institutionalize "homosexual marriage" after encountering little resistance from the nation's Catholic bishops and the country's "right-wing" Social Democratic Party (PSD).
The text of the legislation denies that homosexual couples will be permitted to adopt children.
The Parliament also voted to deny a petition by over 90,000 Portuguese for a national referendum on the topic. The referendum has been advocated by pro-family groups and would likely yield a negative result for "homosexual marriage," given that a plurality 49% of Portuguese oppose the idea.
The populist opposition to the socialists, the Social Democrats, offered only weak opposition to the bill, proposing alternative civil union legislation for homosexuals that did not use the term "marriage".
The overwhelming pro-gay vote followed reports in the Portuguese media that the Cardinal Archbishop of Lisbon, Jose Policarpo, had made a "pact of silence" with the government.
The cardinal, who openly supports legal privileges for same-sex couples in conflict with Vatican teaching, is also a close confidant of Portugal's socialist prime minister, Jose Socrates.
Although Policarpo has clearly stated his opposition to "homosexual marriage," he has spoken little about in the weeks leading up to the vote, even refusing to respond to reporters' attempts to elicit his opinion about the legislation.
Days before the vote, Policarpo stated publicly that he had instructed parishes not to participate in the petition drive for a national referendum on the issue, further weakening the opposition to the bill.
The article above comes from www.LifeSiteNews.com.
LISBON (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Portuguese Parliament has given an initial approval to a bill that will institutionalize "homosexual marriage" after encountering little resistance from the nation's Catholic bishops and the country's "right-wing" Social Democratic Party (PSD).
The text of the legislation denies that homosexual couples will be permitted to adopt children.
The Parliament also voted to deny a petition by over 90,000 Portuguese for a national referendum on the topic. The referendum has been advocated by pro-family groups and would likely yield a negative result for "homosexual marriage," given that a plurality 49% of Portuguese oppose the idea.
The populist opposition to the socialists, the Social Democrats, offered only weak opposition to the bill, proposing alternative civil union legislation for homosexuals that did not use the term "marriage".
The overwhelming pro-gay vote followed reports in the Portuguese media that the Cardinal Archbishop of Lisbon, Jose Policarpo, had made a "pact of silence" with the government.
The cardinal, who openly supports legal privileges for same-sex couples in conflict with Vatican teaching, is also a close confidant of Portugal's socialist prime minister, Jose Socrates.
Although Policarpo has clearly stated his opposition to "homosexual marriage," he has spoken little about in the weeks leading up to the vote, even refusing to respond to reporters' attempts to elicit his opinion about the legislation.
Days before the vote, Policarpo stated publicly that he had instructed parishes not to participate in the petition drive for a national referendum on the issue, further weakening the opposition to the bill.
The article above comes from www.LifeSiteNews.com.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Little Belgian Boy Saluting Canadian Troops
The video speaks for itself. The young boy sees what all the other people passing by refuse to see.
What attracts him is the higher ideal symbolized in these men in uniform. He sees expressed the moral beauty inherent in military life: the elevation of sentiments, and the willingness to shed one’s blood for a higher cause. He sees the strength for undertaking, for suffering, risking, and winning.
The Canadian troops return the salute with the "Eyes Right" command, the biggest compliment troops on parade can pay and is reserved for dignitaries in reviewing stands.
What attracts him is the higher ideal symbolized in these men in uniform. He sees expressed the moral beauty inherent in military life: the elevation of sentiments, and the willingness to shed one’s blood for a higher cause. He sees the strength for undertaking, for suffering, risking, and winning.
The Canadian troops return the salute with the "Eyes Right" command, the biggest compliment troops on parade can pay and is reserved for dignitaries in reviewing stands.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Rosary: A Proven Record of Victories!
With such a proven record, why not make the daily Rosary part of your plans in 2010?
The Rosary—as spiritual weapon against evil—has a very long and precious history. In twelfth and thirteenth century France, a group of heretics known as the Albigensians was destroying the minds of the Catholic laity with its erroneous ideas. The Albigensians’ teachings encouraged suicide, many times by self-induced starvation, because they believed that the body was an intrinsic evil and that the soul must be liberated from matter at all costs. However, as history often shows, Providence raises up great Saints in times of dire crises. This time it was no different. Saint Dominic, born of noble lineage, received the Rosary from Our Lady in the year 1214. Our Lady gave Saint Dominic the Rosary as a weapon to combat the awful Albigensian heresy.
The Rosary as we know it today took some time to develop. After Saint Dominic died in the year 1221, the Rosary was almost immediately forgotten. However, in 1464 Our Lord, Our Lady, and Saint Dominic appeared to Blessed Alan de la Roche, a Dominican friar, after which he preached the Rosary until his death in 1475. This tremendous apostolate by Blessed Alan de la Roche, through the direct intercession of Our Lady, made the Rosary a widespread devotion. The fifteen mysteries as we know them came about through the many confraternities founded after Blessed Alan de la Roche’s preaching, and were formalized with Pope Saint Pius V’s encyclical, Consueverunt.
The Rosary and the Battle of Lepanto
The Battle of Lepanto was a crucial conflict between the Christians and the Ottoman Turks, one of the greatest naval battles of all time. The Christian lands around Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean were constantly getting sacked by Muslim pirates, and Imperial warships were ravaging the land. At this point in time, Pope Saint Pius V saw it appropriate to raise a Crusade against these heathen Muslims. After raising a Crusade, he asked every non-combatant across the whole Christian world to pray the Rosary.
Even after this call to arms, the Christian fleet at Lepanto was greatly outnumbered by the Ottoman Turks. The Crusaders got on their knees and began to pray the Rosary. Soon after, the Christians and the Muslims were immersed in a bloody battle. Thus it was that on October 7, 1571, the Christian fleet was blessed with a miraculous victory. Pope Saint Pius V immediately dedicated the victory to Our Lady, establishing October 7 as “The Feast of the Most Holy Rosary.”
Holy Rosary Crusade of Reparation
After World War II, Austria was divided between four countries: America, France, the United Kingdom, and Russia. At the time, Russia was still communist. The section of Austria controlled by the communists was the richest, and included the city of Vienna. The Viennese were subject to the all the atrocities and tyrannies of communism. However, in 1946, Fr. Petrus Pavlicek, after making a pilgrimage to Mariazell, the principle Marian shrine in Austria, was told by an interior voice: “Do as I say and there will be peace.”
To obey this inspiration of Our Lady, Fr. Pevlicek founded the Holy Rosary Crusade of Reparation in 1947. This Crusade consisted of the Viennese faithful coming out of their homes in order to participate in a public Rosary procession in the streets of the city. The intentions of the Rosary were for the end of communism in their country and in the world. At first, the processions were minuscule, but in time they grew to staggering proportions. In 1955, after eight years spreading the word about the Crusade throughout Austria, the Rosary processions would reach sizes of half a million people, about 1/10 of the Austrian population. Finally, through the help of Our Lady, the Soviet forces pulled out of Austria in October of 1955, leaving the country for good.
The Rosary and the Fatima Message
Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared to three shepherd children, Jacinta, Lucia, and Francisco, at the Cova de Iria, near Fatima, Portugal. During six visits, Our Lady communicated to them a secret which had three parts. The first part was a vision of Hell. During this vision, Sister Lucia said numerous souls fell into Hell like “snowflakes.”
In the second part, Our Lady states that WWI would end, but “if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI. To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church.”
As Our Lady predicted, World War II erupted and the errors of atheist Communism spread. Our Lady added that many will be martyred and nations will be annihilated, if people do not convert. Have people converted? The answer is no. Can Divine punishment be avoided? It depends on the world’s fidelity to Our Lady’s requests.
Lucia asked Our Lady during the apparitions, “Who are you and what do you want?” Our Lady responded, “I am the Lady of the Rosary, and I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. People must not continue to offend the Lord, Who is already so deeply offended. They must say the Rosary.”
Therefore, Our Lady gave us a solution: the recitation of the daily Rosary for the conversion of sinners. The Fatima message is a remedy for our culture immersed in sin. If it were not for Our Lady’s promise that “Finally, My Immaculate Heart will Triumph,” we would be much dismayed and disheartened. So let us heed her requests. Let us practice the First Saturday devotions. Let us pray the daily Rosary. By fulfilling these requests, we will be consoling the sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary and hasten the triumph of good over evil.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Our Lady of Deliverance, Empress of China
by a Devotee of Our Lady
Their miraculous survival was attributed to the appearance of a woman in white, Our Lady of Deliverance. Bishop Favier had a chapel erected in thanksgiving, in the church of Beitang in her honor. She is represented as the Empress of China holding in her arms the Child Jesus, Who is depicted as an imperial prince.
Bishop Favier expressed his absolute confidence in Providence which thus manifested Its protection:
"The good God wishes to save the missions of China. The persecution had been so cleverly organized, that it seemed that the Catholic religion in China was going to be extinguished. However nothing of the kind happened. Thanks be to God. Death gives birth to life. Blessed are those who succumb to death, they prepare the way for the final triumph, they are martyrs crowned by God."4
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| Our Lady of Deliverance, Empress of China |
In 1900, the Catholic Church was healthy and growing in China. There were forty bishops, about 800 European missionaries, 600 native Chinese priests, and the number of native Catholics throughout the whole of China proper was estimated at 700,000.
It was during this time that the Boxer Uprising (1898-1900) started which ushered in a period of animosity against all things European.
It was from this hatred that the Boxer Rebellion was born. In June, 1900 the Boxers besieged the Beitang Cathedral. Directing the defense during the siege was the French Lazarist Bishop Pierre-Marie-Alphonse Favier, C.M. of Peking. Bishop Favier, who designed the cathedral, kept a journal during the siege and gave vivid accounts of what was endured not only before, but during the siege. He provides the following account of the Boxer revolt:
"The Boxers are a truly diabolical sect; invocations, incantations, obsessions, and even possessions, are common among them. Savants may attribute their extraordinary doings to magnetism or hypnotism or may look upon them as victims of hysteria and fanaticism, but to us they seem to be even more directly instruments of the devil. The hatred of the name Catholic drives them to the greatest excesses. Established as they are in every village they unite on a day specified to attack any one Catholic settlement, destroying and murdering everything and everyone in it. Small children were quartered, women were burned in church or run through with a sword, men were stabbed or shot and some were even crucified. The conduct of the Catholics is admirable; apostasy is proposed to them, but they prefer flight, ruin, even death."1
The cathedral, which was the Lazarists' usual place of residency, was besieged by 10,000 Boxers and soldiers from the regular army. Behind the walls of the church, were over 3,000 Chinese Catholics, 30 French seamen led by a 23-year-old Lt. Paul Henry (who died in the siege,) 11 Italian soldiers led by a 22-year-old Lt. Olivieri, and numerous French and Chinese priests and sisters. This siege resulted in the deaths of more than 400 people. Over the two month siege, the Catholics endured continuous bombardment, mine attacks, flaming rockets, and starvation. Many of the children died from smallpox.
Among the admirable figures in the siege was Sister Helen de Jaurias, the Superior of the Sisters of Charity in Beitang, of whom it is said that she possessed the virtue and character of their foundress, Saint Louise de Marillac. Her siege diary provides proof of this: despite having to lodge and feed 1,800 women and children, she overcame the burden of old age and fatigue, she recorded the daily events of the siege until her death on August 17. She went, as she expressed it, "to observe from Heaven the triumph of Holy Church and the conversion of China."2 On the day before she died, a company of French marines arrived to rescue the heroic defenders of Beitang.
Every night during those two months, the Boxers directed heavy gunfire at the roof of the cathedral and the balustrade surrounding it. Lt. Paul Henry and the missionaries wondered why they did so since no one was there to defend it. After the liberation, the Boxers provided the answer: "How is it," they said, "that you did not see anything? Every night, a white Lady walked along the roof, and the balustrade was lined with white soldiers with wings."3 The Boxers, as they themselves affirm, were firing at the apparitions.
Their miraculous survival was attributed to the appearance of a woman in white, Our Lady of Deliverance. Bishop Favier had a chapel erected in thanksgiving, in the church of Beitang in her honor. She is represented as the Empress of China holding in her arms the Child Jesus, Who is depicted as an imperial prince.
Bishop Favier expressed his absolute confidence in Providence which thus manifested Its protection:
"The good God wishes to save the missions of China. The persecution had been so cleverly organized, that it seemed that the Catholic religion in China was going to be extinguished. However nothing of the kind happened. Thanks be to God. Death gives birth to life. Blessed are those who succumb to death, they prepare the way for the final triumph, they are martyrs crowned by God."4
| [1] Favier, Alphonse, Edited by Joseph Freri. The Heart of Pekin: Bishop A. Favier's Diary of the Siege, May-August 1900. Boston: Marlier, 1901. Page 9 & 10 [2] Mazeau, Henry The Heroine Of Pe-Tang; Helen De Jaurias, Sister Of Charity 1824-1900. Sr. Hélène de Jaurias died on August 20, 1900. [4] J-M Planchet C. M., Documents sur les martyrs de Pékin pendant la persécution des Boxeurs, Peking, Imprimerie des Lazaristes, 1920, p. 101 |
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