Tears, a Miraculous Warning

Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

On July 21, 1972, the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo published a photograph from New Orleans showing a statue of Our Lady of Fatima shedding tears. The report sparked keen interest in the Brazilian public and I think many readers will welcome more information on the topic.

Statue of the International Pilgrim Virgin of Fatima photographed in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1972 miraculously weeping real human tears.

The best source of information on the matter is found in an article with a typical American title: “The Tears of Our Lady Wet my Finger” by Fr. Elmo Romagosa. It was published on July 20 in the Clarion Herald, a New Orleans weekly, distributed in eleven Louisiana parishes or counties.
 

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The background to this event is universally known. In 1917, Lucy, Jacinta and Francisco had visions of Our Lady at Fatima. The authenticity of these visions was confirmed by the miracle of the sun, witnessed by a whole multitude even as the Virgin spoke to the three children.

In general terms, Our Lady charged the little shepherds to tell the world that she was deeply upset by the wickedness and corruption of men. She warned that if men did not amend, a terrible chastisement would come that would annihilate many nations. Russia would spread its errors throughout the world. The Holy Father would have much to suffer.

The punishment could only be avoided if men converted, Russia and the world were consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and men did the communion of reparation on the first Saturday of each month.

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In view of the above, a question naturally comes to mind: Were Our Lady’s requests heeded?

In 1942, Pius XI consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sister Lucy said the consecration lacked some characteristics Our Lady had requested. I do not intend to analyze this complex subject here. I simply mention, in passing, that whether Our Lady’s request for the consecration of Russia was heeded is open to debate.

As for Our Lady’s second request for an amendment of life, it has so obviously been neglected that no further comment is necessary.

Our Lady stated that obedience to her requests was a condition to avoid the apocalyptic punishments that she predicted. Therefore, it is logical that God’s vengeful and purifying wrath should fall upon mankind before it converts and the Reign of Mary is established.

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Of the three Fatima children, only Lucy survived beyond her childhood. She was a Carmelite nun in Coimbra. Under her supervision, a sculptor carved two statues that reproduced as closely as possible the facial expression of the Most Holy Virgin as she appeared at Fatima. Both of them were called “pilgrim statues” and have been taken around the world by priests and laity. One was in New Orleans, where it shed tears.

Father Romagosa, author of the abovementioned report, was told of the statue’s tears by Fr. Joseph Breault, M. P., the statue’s custodian. However, he was reluctant to admit the miracle and thus asked Father Breault to call him if any further weeping occurred.

Father Breault noticed moisture in the eyes of the Pilgrim Virgin statue on July 17 and immediately called Father Romagosa, who reached the statue at 9:30 p.m., bringing along photographers and reporters. In fact, they all noticed the moisture in the eyes of the statue, which was soon photographed. Father Romagosa then touched his finger on the moist surface and collected a drop, which was also photographed. According to Father Breault, this was the thirteenth weeping he had witnessed.

At 6:15 a.m. the next morning, Father Breault called Father Romagosa saying that the statue had been crying since 4 a.m. Father Romagosa arrived shortly afterwards. In his words: “I saw much liquid in the statue’s eyes, and a large drop hanging from the tip of her nose.” This drop, so graciously hanging, was captured in the famous photograph that came out in the press.

Father Romagosa adds that he saw “a tear move as it slowly formed on the lower eyelid.”

However, he wanted to eliminate all doubt. He noticed that the statue had a crown fixed on its head by a small metal connecting rod and thought:

Can it be that water was poured into the hole where the crown is fixed on the statue, and this water drains into the eyes?

Once the weeping ceased, Father Romagosa removed the crown from the statue: the metallic connecting rod was entirely dry. He then inserted into the hole a wire wrapped in a special paper which would absorb any liquid that might be there. The paper remained absolutely dry.

Still not satisfied with his efforts, he poured some water into the hole. Yet the eyes remained absolutely dry. Father Romagosa then turned the statue upside down. The water he had poured into the hole drained normally. He was finally convinced that no water could come through the hole in the statue’s head into her eyes, and there simply was no other hole.

Father Romagosa knelt. At last, he believed.

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These mysterious tears show Our Lady of Fatima crying over the modern world, as Our Lord once cried over Jerusalem. Tears of most tender affection, tears of deep pain for the punishment that will come.

It will come to the men of the twentieth century, if they do not reject immorality and corruption. It will come if they do not fight especially against the self-destruction of the Church, the cursed smoke of Satan that according to Paul VI has penetrated even into the sacred places.

Reader, there is still time, therefore, to stop the punishment!

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But, some will say, these thoughts are not those for a pleasant Sunday afternoon. I answer: Is it not better to read this article now under the tender manifestation of our Mother’s prophetic sadness than to live through the days of tragic bitterness that will come if we do not amend?

If they come, I am convinced a special mercy will be shown to those who, in their personal lives, have taken the miraculous warning of Mary seriously.

I offer my readers this article so they may benefit from that mercy.
 

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Alone in the Coliseum

Written by John Horvat II

Throughout Her long and glorious history, the Catholic Church has endured persecution as well as moments of triumph. The Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations mandating Catholics and Catholic organizations to offer contraceptive, abortifacient and sterilization coverage in their insurance plans is just the latest chapter in this persecution. It is not the first time, the Church has faced persecution nor will it be the last time. She has often found Herself alone in the coliseum.

In the case of the HHS mandate, there is something different. A strange thing is happening on the way to the coliseum. Normally, we expect to hear cries of: Down with the Christians! amid the roars of lions. Usually, there is the classic and unanimous exhibition of hostility to the Faith that turns the arena into a horrific spectacle.

But this time around, as we Catholics look up into the stands, we hear scattered cries of Freedom of Conscience! Let there be freedom! or even We are all Catholics now!

The unexpected support from these spectators is undoubtedly welcome even if it comes from the safety of the stands. It does, however, lead us to ask why we are alone in the coliseum and why the others are still sitting in the stands and not joining us in the arena with the lions and wild beasts.

The answer to that question lies not only in the fact that our religious beliefs are at odds with government regulations. Rather, we are in the arena because we uphold a higher and unchangeable natural law that is the same everywhere and binds all men in all times. The mere existence of those who affirm an unchangeable moral law is intolerable to those who wish to transgress this law with impunity.

Thus, the early Christians, who posed no physical threat to the might of Rome, represented a censure to the decadent Romans whose response was to throw the Christians to the lions to appease their heavy consciences. In the same way, the Catholic resistance to birth control, abortion and sterilization represents that same censure to our own decadent society. The wild beasts are merely replaced by nameless bureaucrats.

The Church’s fidelity to its Magisterium will not allow it to change regarding the moral law. The Church must speak out and oppose all that is contrary to this law.

There is yet one more element that assures our lonely place in the arena. While others may believe in a natural law and hold positions similar to those of Catholics, only the Church has a Magisterium, which is a body of doctrine based on Scriptures and tradition that consistently interprets Church teaching and morals over the ages. Others outside the Church have often changed their teachings to accommodate the ways of the world. The Church’s fidelity to its Magisterium will not allow it to change regarding the moral law. The Church must speak out and oppose all that is contrary to this law. The adversaries of the Church realize this intransigence and have always targeted us as a result.

We must, of course, legally and peacefully fight back in this Cultural War. And this we have done over the decades in a fight that has even been crowned with certain victories. However, when the time of outright persecution comes, we can have no illusions. As long as we defend a higher law and hold true to the traditional Magisterium of the Church, we will more often than not be alone in the coliseum.
 

The Harm of Same-sex Marriage in a Nutshell | Crisis Magazine

The Harm of Same-sex Marriage in a Nutshell | Crisis Magazine

Same-sex marriage and related claims, such as adoption of children, are fast becoming flavor of the month among western politicians. Irish pollies are among the latest, so the family-oriented Iona Institute has prepared an excellent, short, briefing paper on the subject.

Iona’s director, David Quinn, introduces the brief, noting that “even people who are instinctively uneasy about the matter ask themselves, ‘what harm would it do?’” He continues:

This is to imply that unless a change to the institution of marriage directly harms yourmarriage, there is nothing to worry about. Of course, it could equally be asked what direct harm it would do your marriage if your Muslim neighbour (say) could have more than one wife?

For more click the link below:
The Harm of Same-sex Marriage in a Nutshell | Crisis Magazine

Thousands visit St. John Vianney's heart in England :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Thousands visit St. John Vianney's heart in England :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Romania’s 20-Year Nightmare: Unraveling Socialized Health Care

By Ion Mihai Pacepa

In my other life in Communist Romania, I managed a large intelligence organization that, among other tasks, was charged with keeping alive a nationalized health care system which in the end bankrupted the country and generated popular contempt. That system, very similar to the Affordable Health Care for America Act, was a bureaucratic nightmare. And it still is a nightmare in the former Soviet empire.

A European Union report on post-Communist Romania’s “Health Care System in Transition” stated that this system “devastated the country,” whose infant mortality rate (20.2 per 1,000) was among the highest in Europe and whose death rate was 70% higher that the EU average.[i] The world’s leading general medical journal, The Lancet, reported that even twenty years after the Soviet Union collapsed, “life expectancy at birth is 66 years for Russians; 16 years less than for people in Japan and 14 less than the European Union average.”[ii]

My past experience gave me reason to believe that the recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to keep the Affordable Health Care for America Act alive constituted a much needed wake-up call for our conservative movement. Since 2009, when the Democratic Party began surreptitiously nationalizing the U.S. health care system, our conservative movement has done nothing but weep and wail and wait for God in heaven and the Supreme Court on earth to save America from such a calamity.

To read the whole impressive story, click here