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Some of you by now may have heard about the cover of Mexico's Playboy magazine. To wit: A nude model resembling the Virgin Mary on the cover of the Mexican edition of Playboy magazine, published only days before a major Mexican festival dedicated to the mother of Jesus, prompted the company's U.S. headquarters on Friday to apologize. The magazine, which hit newsstands on Dec. 1 as ceremonies began leading to Friday's pilgrimage to the Mexico City shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, showed a model wearing nothing but a white cloth over her head and breasts. She is standing...

Another fantastic miracle story that I heard about from the Columbian Salesians that I met when I was in Quito is Our Lady of Las Lajas. This story is really miraculous! Some of it might remind you of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but Las Lajas is a lesser known miracle. The Feast of Our Lady of Las Lajas is on September 16. Historians and scientists are at a loss to explain this fabulous image on the wall of a Colombian cave. It may forever remain a mystery. Back in the eighteenth century, María Mueses de Quiñones, a local woman from...

I know we've all had it a little up to here with the whole Messiah complex from Obama. From the pictures of him with halos, to the electric crosses burning brightly behind him, to the "Jesus was a community organizer" motif. But now it seems they're changing things up a little bit. Obama, according to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is now just like...(drumroll please)...The Virgin Mary. This from The New York Times: Twenty years ago,� he (Wright) told the crowd at Elmwood’s branch here on Clinton Avenue, “a scrawny little kid, pointed nose, big-eared, mama from Kansas, daddy from Kenya...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican has thrown its support behind an Italian musical highlighting the life of Mary. The Vatican also will host the show's world premiere in the Paul VI audience hall June 17. "Mary of Nazareth: A Story That Continues" is being sponsored by the pontifical councils for Culture and for Social Communications; the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone; the Italian Senate; and Rome's city and regional governments. Some 40 actors, 12 dancers, and a 60-piece orchestra will bring the story of "the most important woman in the history of humanity" to the stage, according...

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary   Luke 2:19: But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. Luke 2:35: And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed. Luke 2:51: And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart.   Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus focuses mostly on His divine love for mankind and encourages our humility, gratitude, obedience, and adoration; devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary focuses on...

Saturdays and the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Kathryn Mulderink, O.C.D.S.Summer 2003“I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”Most of us are familiar with these words of our Blessed Mother, spoken to Lucia, one of the three young visionaries of Fátima, at her convent in Pontevedra, Spain. This...

Rosary Is a School of Mary, Says Pope Encourages Recitation of the Prayer VATICAN CITY, JUNE 1, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The rosary is a school of Mary in which Christians can learn to let the lamp of faith shine brighter in their hearts, says Benedict XVI. The Pope said this Saturday evening at a gathering in St. Peter's Square marking the conclusion of May, the month dedicated to the Mary. The candlelight event, attended by cardinals, bishops, priests and the laity, is one of a number of events honoring Mary that the Pontiff participated in this May. On the first Saturday...

Bells clanged, children played and police kept watch as pilgrims clutching rosary beads flocked to one of China's most revered Catholic shrines on Saturday, the day Pope Benedict XVI designated World Day of Prayer for China."There are fewer people than last year," said a 30-year-old seminary student surnamed Wu as he welcomed worshippers into the 150-year-old Sheshan Cathedral, which sits atop a scenic hill about a 45 minute drive from downtown Shanghai."The government made sure to keep order this year," Wu added.May is the month Chinese Catholics celebrate the Virgin Mary, and it is the peak season for the country's...

Contact: John Horvat, Organization: The American TFP, 717-225-7147 ext. 227, jh1908@aol.com HANOVER, Penn., July 25 /Christian Newswire/ -- Ninety years after the Marian apparitions in Fatima, Portugal, Catholics are gearing up to commemorate its jubilee anniversary with two thousand public square rosary rallies. The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) and its America Needs Fatima campaign are coordinating the event set for October 13, the day of the Miracle of the Sun. "So far the campaign has received enthusiastic support. Over 537 Catholic activists already volunteered to hold peaceful rosary rallies in their respective cities,"...

The great Auschwitz martyr, St. Maximilian Kolbe (d. 1941), during the 1920’s, translated from the original French into Polish the official depositions given to both state and Church officials by Bernadette Soubirous, the visionary of Lourdes, France. Between the dates of February 11th and July 16th, 1858, 14-year-old Bernadette claimed to have seen, a total of eighteen times, “a lady wearing a lovely white dress with a bright belt” who had on each of her feet “a pale yellow rose, the same color as her rosary beads.” Following strict investigations, these sightings were approved by the Church as apparitions of...

CNA).- Vitorrio Messori, the most popular Italian Catholic writer has slammed so-called “adult” Catholics who want to minimize the role of the Virgin Mary, just days before the presentation of his new book “Hypothesis About Mary” in Spain. The best-selling author of books such as “Crossing the Threshold of Hope,” addresses who Mary is for believers in his new work, the credibility of apparitions in Lourdes and Fatima and Mary’s role in Christian belief.  The new book has yet to be translated into English.Messori confesses that years ago he was asked to write a book about Mary, but the proposal...

A picture of little Lujan Buenos Aires, May 5, 2008 / 02:16 pm (CNA).- The Catholic magazine “Cristo Hoy” in Argentina has published an article on a mother who entrusted her daughter to the intercession of Our Lady of Lujan once she was diagnosed with an incurable disease before she was born. The little girl, Lujan, is now three years-old and living a normal life.Marcela is an eye doctor and mother of three.  During the eighth month of her last pregnancy, doctors found her baby to be suffering from anencephaly, a condition in which the brain does not develop...

Salvatore M. Perrella Rome, May 8, 2008 / 03:33 pm (CNA).- Salvatore M. Perrella, an expert in dogma and Mariology from the Mariunum Pontifical School in Rome, explained this week the criteria used by the Church to determine the legitimacy of Marian apparitions. His explanation comes in the wake of the Church’s approval of the apparitions of Our Lady of Laus in France.In an article for L’Osservatore Romano, Perrella cited Jesuit Father Giandomenico Mucci to explain the difference between a vision and an apparition.  The first is of a spiritual nature, while the second is of a physical one. ...

  As are all flowers, the month of May is dedicated to the Mary, whom we celebrate as Queen of Heaven on the last day of this month. Early in May, a statue of the Virgin at church is crowned with a wreath of roses, and the same are laid at her feet. Little girls and boys dress up in their best, often in blue; one child carries the crown on a cushion to the statue and another child is chosen to crown the statue. The selection process varies -- sometimes a boy is chosen to bear the wreath,...

Should Mary be declared co-redemptrix? One of the items posted by the Roman Catholic Zenit News Agency for Monday 11 February 2008 read as follows – Cardinals Hoping for a 5th Marian Dogma To Declare Mary as Mother of Humanity ROME, FEBRUARY. 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Five cardinals have sent a letter inviting prelates worldwide to join them in petitioning Benedict XVI to declare a fifth Marian dogma they said would "proclaim the full Christian truth about Mary."The text, released last week, includes the petition that asks the Pope to proclaim Mary as "the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the co-redemptrix...

"Rejoice, unfading rose. Rejoice, the only one who budded forth the unfading apple. Rejoice, birth-giver of the aromatic balm of the King of all. Rejoice, 0 Bride unwedded, the world's salvation." The Akathist Hymn is a profound, devotional poem, which sings the praises of the Holy Mother and Ever-Virgin Mary. It is one of the most beloved services in the Orthodox Church. It was composed in the imperial city of Constantinople, "the city of the Virgin," by St. Romanos the Melodist, who reposed in the year 556. The Akathist Hymn has proven so popular in the liturgical life of...

God has a mother and she was chosen before the beginning of time. This is an amazing belief, one that is sometimes mocked and often misunderstood, and misrepresented, sometimes even by Catholics. Yet this truth is at the heart of Advent and Christmas–as well as at the heart of the entire Christian Faith. This belief is also captured in a short phrase in the Hail Mary: "Holy Mary, Mother of God." They are just five simple words, but words bursting with mystery and meaning. They tell us many things about Mary and about the Triune God and His loving plan...

SANTA FE, N.M. (CNS) -- Little did the Spanish conquistadors and Franciscans who came to what is now New Mexico in 1625 realize that the same wooden statue of Mary they brought with them to help instill the Catholic faith would still be a symbol of love and devotion today. Originally called the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the statue is little more than 3 feet high, made of wood and hollow in the middle -- so it might fit atop a staff when displayed on horseback -- but it continues to inspire the faithful as La Conquistadora. Her...

The following is the transcript of Scott Hahn's audio and video tape presentation, "Mary: Holy Mother" as it appears in the "Catholic Adult Education on Video Program" with Scott and Kimberly Hahn. As you probably know, this is our third installment in a series of five sessions that we are spending together discussing how to answer common objections, questions regarding key tenets that are distinctive to the Catholic Church. We have focused upon the Pope and yesterday we looked at purgatory. This morning we want to focus on Mary and the Marian doctrines and devotions of the Catholic Church to...

   The Statue of Our Lady of America will be at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday 9/11 on the 6th annual commemoration of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. This is the same statue that was blessed by Archbishop Burke at the November 2006 Bishop’s Meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and was until yesterday enthroned at the Old Cathedral of St. Louis, MO. The crowds attending the devotion to Our Lady of America are expected to be large because for the first time the actual Ground Zero site will be closed...

MARIAZELL, Austria (CNS) -- When Pope Benedict XVI came to the Austrian Marian shrine of Mariazell, he spoke a lot about Jesus Christ and said relatively little about Mary. That was indicative of the “style” of this pope’s Marian devotion, which Vatican officials have described as prudent, thoughtful and very Christocentric. In general, the pope sees attachment to Mary as a wonderful way for the faithful to draw closer to Christ, but has been wary of anything that tends to exaggerate or over-sentimentalize her role in the church. “We rest awhile with the mother of the Lord, and we pray...

Here is a translation of the words of the Holy Father at the Angelus in Castel Gandolfo today: Dear brothers and sisters! We celebrate today the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is an ancient feast, which has its ultimate foundation in Sacred Scripture which shows us the Virgin Mary closely united to her divine Son and always one with him. Mother and Son appear closely associated in the battle against the infernal enemy until full victory is achieved over him. This victory is expressed, particularly, by overcoming sin and death, a victory over those enemies...

Several points of discussion this week. First, the Chinese government to destroy a shrine: Next July 16th pilgrims and faithful from Henan will not be allowed to go on pilgrimage to the sanctuary in Tianjiajing. The government from the province of Henan has in fact decreed that the historic sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel will be blown up with dynamite; a complete ban on Catholics organizing their annual pilgrimage; a complete ban on any religious gathering or function being celebrated in the area. A statue of the Virgin, over one hundred years old, is destined to be...

Like England is "Our Lady's Dowry". I think that Lithuania is "Terra Mariana" and Hungary is "Regnum Marianum". So what should the USA be called? Since Our Lady under the title of Immaculate Conception is patroness of the USA what about TERRA IMMACULATA?

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Luke 1:28 "And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you."  The Greek kecharitomene means favored by grace, graced. Its tense suggests a permanent state of being "highly favored," thus full of grace. Charity, the divine love within us, comes from the same root. God is infinite Goodness, infinite Love. Mary is perfect created goodness, filled to the limit of her finite being with grace or charity. Blessed art thou among women Luke 1:41-42a "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in...

The Early Church Fathers had no problem referring to Mary as the Mother of God. They saw it as a natural consequence of the Incarnation.IrenaeusThe Virgin Mary, being obedient to his word, received from an angel the glad tidings that she would bear God (Against Heresies, 5:19:1 [A.D. 189]). Hippolytus[T]o all generations they [the prophets] have pictured forth the grandest subjects for contemplation and for action. Thus, too, they preached of the advent of God in the flesh to the world, his advent by the spotless and God-bearing (theotokos) Mary in the way of birth and growth, and the manner...

The Early Church Fathers believed that Mary was full of grace and thus sinless. Justin Martyr[Jesus] became man by the Virgin so that the course that was taken by disobedience in the beginning through the agency of the serpent might be also the very course by which it would be put down. Eve, a virgin and undefiled, conceived the word of the serpent and bore disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy when the angel Gabriel announced to her the glad tidings that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her and the power of...

08 February 2007, 11:26 Virgin Mary said to appear to an American lover of foul language and bless opposition to ROCOR’s unity with the Church in Russia New York, February 8, Interfax - The anonymous creator of the ROCORNEWS website has stated that the Virgin Mary with a host of saints appeared to him during his night walk with his dog in the Central Park in New York. ‘The vision’ is now given all kinds of interpretation by irreconcilable opponents of unity between the Russian Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate, who see in this statement a sign of heavenly...

The Early Church Fathers believed that Mary remained a virgin her entire life. Origen The Book [the Protoevangelium] of James [records] that the brethren of Jesus were sons of Joseph by a former wife, whom he married before Mary. Now those who say so wish to preserve the honor of Mary in virginity to the end, so that body of hers which was appointed to minister to the Word . . . might not know intercourse with a man after the Holy Spirit came into her and the power from on high overshadowed her. And I think it in harmony...

Scott Hahn on Our Lady The following is the transcript of Scott Hahn's audio and video tape presentation, "Mary: Holy Mother" as it appears in the "Catholic Adult Education on Video Program" with Scott and Kimberly Hahn. This morning we want to focus on Mary and the Marian doctrines and devotions of the Catholic Church to see where in scripture do we see, not necessarily logical demonstrations that are brought forth from proof texts that kind of force the mind against the will to give in and to acquiesce in these beliefs, but where do we find in scripture the...

The new movie that debuted on December 1st, The Nativity Story, has received many positive reviews around the country already and also a fair number of attacks by the standard group of village atheists.Criticisms notwithstanding, the movie certainly has many redeeming qualities to it including its portrayal of Joseph and the touching scene of Mary's visit to Elizabeth, but at the same time I feel it necessary to correct the record about its presentation of Mary. More to the point, twenty centuries of theological reflection on the Virgin Mary have been effectively glossed over in the movie, and we have been...

Lea Marie Ravotti “Immaculate Conception� (2004) By David ScottIn November 1848, the specter of revolution sweeping through Europe finally reached Rome.On Nov. 15, extremists executed Pellegrino Rossi, the newly named governor of the Papal States. Angry mobs roamed the streets, surrounding the papal palace on the Quirinal Hill.Besieged for nine days, Blessed Pope Pius IX finally fled under cover of night, disguised as an ordinary priest, taking refuge in Gaeta in the Kingdom of Naples.He was in the third month of his papacy in exile when, on February 2, 1849, he finished a letter to all the world’s bishops....

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- No one knows what she really looked like, yet the Blessed Virgin Mary stands among the most popular artistic subjects in history. In every medium, with every imaginable material, in tiny personal images and gigantic mosaics, artists have depicted her the world over. "Picturing Mary," a stunning new high-definition documentary to debut next month on public television, explores how images of the Virgin reflect numerous traditions, devotional practices and cultures. The one-hour program leads viewers on a pictorial journey through history from the earliest times to the present day and presents a stunning array...

Why the mother of Jesus was more revolutionary than we've been led to believe.There are two Marys. One wears a Carolina blue robe, exudes piety from a somber face, often holds her baby son in her arms, and barely makes eye contact with us. This is the familiar Blessed Virgin Mary, and she leads us to a Christmas celebration of quiet reflection.Another Mary—the Blessed Valorous Mary—wears ordinary clothing and exudes hope from a confident face. This Mary utters poetry fit for a political rally, goes toe-to-toe with Herod the Great, musters her motherliness to reprimand her Messiah-son for dallying at...

Yes, I would like to commit to a rosary for Our Lady's Victory over the Culture of Death and renewal of a Culture of Life! (enter your name and e-mail address at the link above or below)

ROME, JUNE 29, 2006 (Zenit.org).- An Egyptian Muslim and deputy director of a prominent Italian newspaper suggested that Mary could be the figure who brings Christians and Muslims together. Magdi Allam of Il Corriere della Sera spoke to ZENIT about the appeal he launched in the pages of the national daily newspaper to Muslims living in Italy to visit the Marian shrines in their host country. The journalist said that he is convinced that the Virgin Mary is a meeting point between Christians and Muslims. "Mary is a figure present in the Koran, which dedicates an entire sura [chapter ed.n.]...

Muslimism is the only great post-Christian religion of the world. Because it had its origin in the 7th century under Mohammed, it was possible to unite within it some elements of Christianity and of Judaism, along with particular customs of Arabia . Muslimism takes the doctrine of the unity of God, his majesty and his creative power, and uses it, in part, as a basis for the repudiation of Christ, the Son of God. Misunderstanding the notion of the Trinity, Mohammed made Christ a prophet announcing himself (Mohammed) just as to Christians, Isaiah and John the Baptist are prophets announcing...

Saint Bernadette of Lourdes A Sermon by Msgr. Ronald A. Knox, preached February, 1934. ABOUT three thousand years ago, a man stood, thrilled with religious awe, on the slopes of Mount Sinai 'in Arabia. He was a shepherd, feeding on those barren pastures the flocks of his father-in-law; his attention had been aroused, at a distance, by the unwanted sight of a fire in the desert scrub. And now that he had drawn nearer, he saw that this was not merely something beyond the ordinary, but something beyond nature itself; the bush before which he stood burned continually, but was not...

ROME, APRIL 6, 2006 (Zenit.org).- A new book on John Paul II, by Italian journalist Renzo Allegri, looks at a Marian angle of his life. "Il papa di Fatima" (The Fatima Pope) was recently published in Italy by Mondadori. Allegri's research reveals that Karol Wojtyla's life and pontificate seem to have been inscribed in a divine plan that makes of John Paul II that "bishop clothed in white" mentioned in the third part of the secret of Fatima. The Pope himself became aware of that possibility after the 1981 attempt on his life. The attack took place on May 13,...

(AGI) - Vatican, March 25 - During the whole 26 years that Pope John Paul II served as pontiff, "everyone was quite aware of the presence of the Virgin Mary as Mother and Queen of the Church during his spirituality and his untiring inistry". But, said the new pontiff, "this presence was most obvious during the attack on his life in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981". This was a bold statement from Pope Benedict XVI this morning to the new cardinals and all Catholics on the role the Virgin played in deviating Ali Agca's bullet. He made it...

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Keisha Castle-Hughes Keisha Castle-Hughes, the Oscar-nominated teen-aged star of "Whale Rider," has been cast as Mary in "Nativity," which looks at the life of the Virgin Mary before the birth of Christ. Catherine Hardwicke ("thirteen") is directing the New Line Cinema project. The story, to be told with a strong female perspective, will follow Mary and Joseph‘s life before the birth of Christ as their love, faith and beliefs are tested. The script incorporates their departure from Nazareth and travel to Bethlehem and includes such biblical figures as King Herod, John the Baptist and the...

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The president of the U.S. bishops blasted a recent episode of the cable television comedy "South Park" that he said showed Mary in "a tasteless and ugly fashion."In a Dec. 14 letter to Tom Freston, co-president and chief operating officer of Viacom International, parent company of Comedy Central, the cable channel that shows "South Park," Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., said the channel showed "extreme insensitivity" in choosing to show the episode.The episode, which first was shown Dec. 7 and had repeat showings in the week following, was titled "Bloody Mary." During the episode, a...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue remarked today about last night’s episode of “South Park” (it will run again for the next three nights): “A ‘South Park’ character gets a DWI and is ordered to attend AA meetings.  Told about the 12-step program, he concludes that he needs a miracle to cure him.  The plot then focuses on a statue of the Virgin Mary who is ‘bleeding out her ass.’  The Vatican dispatches a cardinal to investigate and he is sprayed with blood when he walks behind the statue.  He then declares this to be a miracle, which draws even more people. ...

Recently, I participated in an online conversation about the Blessed Virgin. As an evangelical convert to the Catholic faith, I can empathize with the deep fears many evangelicals have about Mary. It’s a terror that runs way down into the guts and marrow of many evangelicals. It’s a deep, unreasoning and nameless fear that does not lose any of its power even when every so-called “basis” for the fear is debunked. And like many irrational fears, it has the odd quality of distracting us from reality and clear thinking. To illustrate what I mean, let me sum up not a...

Goddess RosaryJoining scholars like Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza and Letty Russell and a growing number of feminist theologians in reconceptualizing the canon and biblical authority ... connect with the Holy Other in holy writings and sacred rites. The banner on the outside of Ebenezer Lutheran Church boldly proclaims “Goddess Rosary Every Wednesday 7 p.m.” Doubtless this precipitates questions in the minds of passers-by: a rosary at a Lutheran church? A feminist take on a ritual indigenous to a denomination with an especially strong patriarchal foundation? I was eager to experience this new phenomenon, and it was with open mind and heart...

Cops are shot at church 2 officers catch Qns. madman defacing statue of Virgin Mary and her mother BY NANCY DILLON, ALISON GENDAR and DAVE GOLDINER DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS A shotgun and sword-wielding madman wounded two cops at close range yesterday after they caught him blasting the head off a century-old statue of St. Anne and the Virgin Mary outside a Queens church. One officer was hit in the head and the other in the leg by shrapnel from police hater Kevin Davy's shotgun. But at least one of the cops managed to return fire and end the 2...

(AgapePress) - A Southern Baptist theologian says he wrote an article in Christianity Today on the Virgin Mary in hopes of encouraging evangelical Christians and other Protestants to pay more attention to her. Dr. Timothy George is dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. As a biblical scholar and educator, as well as a senior editor for Christianity Today magazine, George has written a number of books and articles on religious subjects, and has authored a doctrinal study for the Southern Baptist Convention. In his recent Christianity Today article titled "The Blessed Evangelical Mary," George notes...

(East Providence-AP) -- A billboard sign urging people to go vegetarian that shows the Virgin Mary cradling a chicken carcass is coming down.The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PEE-Tah) paid three-thousand dollars to rent the billboard off Interstate 195 for a month. The sign was put up a week ago.Some religious leaders have complained it's offensive and the sign has been defaced with spray paint.The company that owns the billboard says the sign will be taken down over the next few days and P-E-T-A will get part if its payment back.Robert Murray, co-owner of Massachusetts-based...

Ding, Dong, The Witch is Dead: The Radio Debate of Gerry Matatics Against James White and Eric Svendsen on the Perpetual Virginity of Mary On November 18, 2003, Gerry Matatics debated James White and Eric Svendsen on the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, hosted by Alpha and Omega Ministries. Let me say first of all that besides his excellent arguments, Gerry Matatics conducted himself as a true Christian gentleman. James White and Eric Svendsen, on the other hand, spent much of the time screaming at Matatics, and accusing him of all kinds of motives and statements that simply were not true....

He was on the ropes. He was millions in debt. A huge corporation was trying to take his patent, ruin his company, and break him legally. His marriage was full of tension. He wore a pattern on his kitchen floor, pacing. So desperate was Louis P. Saia III that he thought of stalking the executives trying to break him. There was nothing left for him and his wife (even his lawyers were dropping him) and he was so beside himself with anxiety -- an upheaval he describes as nearly worse than if a loved one died -- that he could...