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An argument FOR Perpetual Virginity from Epiphanius of Salamis (1) I finally had some time to closely work through the argumentation in favor of Mary's perpetual virginity from Epiphanius of Salamis (310/320-403). I'd like to present some of his arguments. With the one below, I'm not going to comment on it, but let it stand as it is. The argument though concludes, "the holy Virgin cannot have had marital relations." 12.1 But if we need to take the matter [Mary's perpetual virginity] up from another point of view, let's examine the findings of the naturalists. They say that a lioness...

24 star Mary Lynn Rajskub gave birth to a baby boy, Valentine Anthony, Thursday – almost two weeks after her due date, her rep Courtney Knittel confirms exclusively to PEOPLE. "It was like an episode of 24 with the clock ticking," jokes Rajskub. Valentine, who weighed in at 9lbs., 5oz., is the first child for Rajskub, 37, and her boyfriend Matthew Rolph, 28, a physical trainer.

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - This year 2008, the Marian Shrine of Lourdes is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In these 150 years pilgrims have continued to flock to this place of grace, to honour the Mother of God. All the many places “visited” by Our Lady have a special mysterious touch of her presence in our midst. Our Lady seems to make a continual visitation to peoples and nations and now and then she stays a while, just as she went to her cousin Elisabeth and remained with her for three...

Now that she's quite pregnant, 24's Mary Lynn Rajskub is doing what any red-blooded American mother would do—getting into firearms! As the adorable actress explains, "I have a family to protect.

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...

Some of you will remember my recent decision to become a Catholic. I suppose I should be surprised it ended getting derailed into a 'Catholic vs. Protestant' thread, but after going further into the Religion forum, I suppose it's par for the course. There seems to be a bit of big issue concerning Mary. I wanted to share an observation of sorts. Now...although I was formerly going by 'Sola Scriptura', my father was born and raised Catholic, so I do have some knowledge of Catholic doctrine (not enough, at any rate...so consider all observations thusly). Mary as a 'co-redeemer', Mary...

ST. LOUIS — When Anglicans and Catholics agreed in May 2005 that Marian dogmas were consonant with Scripture, few guessed the accord would signal a veritable Marian regeneration. Yet, in the nearly three years that have followed, the increasing acceptance of Mary among Christians has been witnessed in everything from theology to pop culture.  The 2006 sleeper hit The Nativity Story, for instance — widely acclaimed by Catholics and Protestants alike — was written by Mike Rich, a nondenominational Christian.  “From the standpoint of ecumenism, the subject of Mary is one we can speak about with a number of groups...

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...

Vatican City, May 16, 2008 / 09:53 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict has composed a prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan to celebrate the Day of Prayer for the Church in China, which will be observed on May 24.In a letter written to the Catholic Church in China last year, the Holy Father expressed his hope that May 24, the memorial of Our Lady Help of Christians, who is venerated at the shrine of Seshan in Shanghai, would become a day of prayer for the Church in China. The full text of the English-language version of the Holy Father's prayer...

May 13 - Homily - Fr Bonaventure: Our Lady of Fatima Our Lady of Fatima speaks of our modern times and the many errors that would be spread. Listen as Fr. Bonaventure outlines the fulfillment of this prophesy in the many modern errors, especially communism, and what is needed for the triumph of the Immaculate Heart. Ave Maria! This is a 31 minute video and it is excellent! http://www.airmaria.com/?sn=080513&vp=1448&prefx=hmly&plyrnb=1&ttl=Homily

LU lab called on again to check ancient DNA Tuesday, May 6, 2008 Kathryn Reuseh uses a pipette during the first day of the Paleo DNA ancient DNA training program Monday at Lakehead University. A Thunder Bay DNA expert was in New York City on Monday to discuss findings that could help researchers prove that Jesus did marry Mary Magdalene and that they had children. >br> Lakehead University‘s Paleo DNA Laboratory operations supervisor Renee Fratpietro joined English filmmaker Bruce Burgess in the Big Apple to discuss his film “Bloodline”, which follows a three-year investigation led by Burgess and his American...

A Roman Catholic Dogma Originating with Heretics and Condemned as Heretical by 2 Popes in the 5th and 6th Centuries. By William Webster The Roman Catholic doctrine of the assumption of Mary teaches that she was assumed body and soul into heaven either without dying or shortly after death. This extraordinary claim was only officially declared to be a dogma of Roman Catholic faith in 1950, though it had been believed by many for hundreds of years. To dispute this doctrine, according to Rome’s teaching, would result in the loss of salvation. The official teaching of the Assumption comes from...

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...

Dive team to scour Danube for Queen Mary's lost belongings By: All Hungary News 2008-05-08 09:25:00 The legend goes something like this: after the disastrous Battle of Mohács in 1526, the twenty-one-year-old Queen Mary of Hungary fled the encroaching Ottoman army on a caravan of ships headed to Vienna. But, on her way up the Danube a few ships sank along with their valuable cargo. It is said that to this day they remain hidden in the murky depths of the river. Soon, any truth to this story may soon be discovered, or disproved. According to inforadio.hu, a team of...

  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,...

CATHOLIC parishes that allow cross-dressing homosexuals to play female saints in the Santacruzan or Santa Cruz de Mayo procession do not honor but instead insult the Blessed Virgin Mary and will be punished, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, Archbishop of Manila, warned on Monday. The punishment is the removal of the faculty for Holy Masses in those parishes. In the Catholic Church, the month of May is devoted to Mary, who is revered as the Mother of God since her son Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Pious Catholics go on pilgrimages to shrines dedicated to the Blessed...

Nestled in a mountain pass, high in the Alps of southern France, there is a most amazing place that, like the fictitious Shangri-La, is hidden away from the rest of the world and is truly unlike anything one's ever seen. The place is a picturesque mountain hamlet that is as quaint as it is supremely restful, and as serene as it is breathtakingly beautiful.... ...It was in May of the year 1664 that the little hamlet of Laus received a most wondrous gift, a visit from a queen of unfathomable greatness, who would make of Laus a sanctuary in the...

Well, it is likely that Sen. Barack Obama won't be going back to Trinity United Church of Christ. Not after this. On Tuesday, Obama responded to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's ill-timed defense by condemning his former pastor's fresh comments as "ridiculous," "outrageous" and "appalling." "When he states and then amplifies such ridiculous proposition as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS, when he suggests that Minister Farrakhan somehow represents one of the greatest voices in the 20th and 21st century, when he equates the United States wartime effort with terrorism, then there are no excuses," Obama said during a...

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Though in agreement with most Protestants on certain points, Roman Catholics diverge with Protestants on critical points concerning salvation. With more than 74 million followers in North America, Catholics make up the largest Christian denomination on the continent. Following is some basic background on Catholicism: -- The Catholic Church was established as an institution around the fifth and sixth centuries. The current pope is Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger, installed April 24, 2005). -- North America has 74,517,041 members of Catholicism. -- The Catholic Church is headquartered in Vatican City. Catholics believe: -- the same as Protestants about God's...

ROME, DEC. 25, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Scholar Scott Hahn roundly rejects the idea held by some outside the Church that Catholics, by honoring Mary, somehow detract from God. "The glories we honor in Mary are merely her own reflections of God's glory," says the author of books such as "Rome Sweet Home" and "Hail, Holy Queen." Here, the one-time Presbyterian minister spells out his ideas. Q: Why do you say that Catholics should love Mary a lot more than they do? Hahn: Because God does! And he wants us to love her as much as he does. At the time of...

Is Mary Worthy of Worship? by David C. GrabbeForerunner, November 2003 A major area of doctrine that sets Roman Catholicism apart from the rest of this world's Christianity is its view of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Many weighty schools of thought and doctrine center on the person and function of Mary, and if one examines Roman Catholicism to any degree, the importance Catholics place on the mother of our Savior becomes readily apparent.These beliefs are not just intellectual. They have led to applications and manifestations that literally fill volumes. For example, when a Catholic prays the rosary, the "Hail...

My first personal encounter with the Blessed Virgin Mary happened while I was a student at an Evangelical Anglican seminary in England. I had been brought up as an Evangelical and found my way into the Anglican church. There I was preparing for ordination. A Catholic friend who was a Benedictine oblate suggested that I might like to visit a Catholic Benedictine monastery. While there I told one of the monks that during a time of contemplative prayer I had sensed God’s presence in a very real, but feminine way. The femininity disturbed me because I knew God isn’t feminine....

February 16, 2004 - Reported in Spirit Daily.com online newspaper. "In 1992 my life changed dramatically," says Father Donald Calloway. "I had a profound conversion experience after reaching rock bottom."Rock bottom indeed! Now a 31-year-old priest who serves as assistant rector at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Father Calloway had been a runaway youngster who was immersed in everything from drug abuse to theft."I had gone through all a boy could do up to the age of twenty," he says. "My mother had been married three times and we had no religion. The family...

Chapter 4 (Pages 1 to 6 of the manuscript, containing chapters 1 - 3, are lost. The extant text starts on page 7...) . . . Will matter then be destroyed or not? 22) The Savior said, All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots. 23) For the nature of matter is resolved into the roots of its own nature alone. 24) He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 25) Peter said to him, Since you have explained everything to us, tell us this...

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Bogota, Mar 24, 2008 / 11:19 am (CNA).- The Colombian daily “El Tiempo” revealed on Holy Saturday that a crisis that could have ended in an open conflict between Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela was averted by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe confiding the situation to the intercession of Mary under the three different titles by which she is the country’s patroness. The crisis between Colombia and its southern (Ecuador) and northeastern (Venezuela) neighbors started On March 1, when Uribe ordered a military raid into Ecuador's territory against a rebel camp used by Marxist guerrillas to launch terrorist...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, MARCH 18, 2008 (Zenit.org).- By declaring Mary the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, Benedict XVI wouldn't be saying anything new about her, only clarifying her role in salvation, says Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez. The retired archbishop of San Juan is one of the five cardinal co-sponsors of the 2005 International Symposium on Marian Co-redemption, held in Fatima, that are asking Benedict XVI to declare a fifth Marian dogma. The petition urges the Pope to proclaim Mary "the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the co-redemptrix with Jesus the redeemer, mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one...

Erumeli, Mar 12, 2008 / 10:41 pm (CNA).- At least 50 in India have been blinded after staring at the sun in the hope of seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary, the Telegraph reports. Devotees have flocked to a hotel manager’s house in Erumeli, near where the apparition is rumored to have occurred. The hotelier claimed that statues of the Virgin Mary in his house had been crying honey and bleeding oils and perfume. The hotelier has since moved, but the house has been the object of attention for months. Health authorities in the Kottayam district have tried to...

DALLAS — Artwork depicting the Virgin Mary as a stripper stirred trouble while on display at a small Catholic university before the piece was apparently stolen. The print was part of an exhibit last month at the University of Dallas that featured the work of students at Murray State University in Kentucky. Joanna Gianulis, a senior art major at Murray State, said she was trying to raise questions about perceptions of saints and sinners and didn't intend to be sacrilegious. "How do we know that an exotic dancer is sinful?" she said. "What if she has the best intentions and...

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...

Sex show at William & Mary OK'd by Nichol The university's president cites the First Amendment and academic openness in his decision. WILLIAMSBURG - The Sex Workers' Art Show will take place Monday at the College of William and Mary, after school President Gene Nichol granted students' requests for the controversial show to be held on campus. The show, which students arranged for, is scheduled for 7 and 9:30 p.m. performances in the University Center's Commonwealth Auditorium, where the show was held last year. Featuring strippers, prostitutes and other sex workers performing and discussing their work, the show is in...

Here's a really splendid bit of Mariophobic Response Syndrome from the Boar's Head Tavern, written in an unconsciously funny way (at least to this Catholic's ears): You have no idea how hard I am working on the right attitude toward Roman Catholicism, but here you have the addition of ANOTHER Marian feast right in the middle of Christmas It's the words "right in the middle of Christmas" that crack me up the most. Mary, intruding on the Christmas story like that! What could the Mother of God possibly have to do with the birth of God the Son? And yes,...

For decades, children have enjoyed singing about the little donkey which is said to have carried the pregnant Mary to Bethlehem.   The calendar features Lord Nelson forced to wear a life jacket But one group of young singers was ordered to change the traditional lyrics of the Christmas song - because they were said to be "too religious".Instead of "Little donkey, carry Mary safely on her way", the youngsters were told to sing "carry Lucy" for fear of offending non-Christians. The incident, at the school's Christmas concert, appears on a new calendar alongside 11 other examples of extreme political...

We have a bit of controversy at my church and I thought I'd throw it out there for FReepers to discuss. We had a guest preacher who was trying to make the point that we should not exclude people based on appearance, background, past history, etc., and as an illustration stated that, after all, Joseph and Mary were only living together and were not actually married - would we have excluded them?

  The Perfect Faith of the Blessed Virgin "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!" Uttered by the heavenly messenger, Gabriel, to a Jewish maiden (Lk 1:28), these words, of course, make up the first phrase of the Hail Mary. The second phrase of that great prayer come from an earthly creature, Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary, who exclaims: "Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb" (Lk 1:42). St. Bede remarks that this is fitting since the two remarks show that Mary "should be honored by angels and by men...

Mary's Gift of Self Points the Way | Carl E. Olson | "The Blessed Mother and Advent", Part 1 of 4 | Ignatius Insight This is the first of four reflections that consider the relationship between four phrases of the "Hail Mary" and the Advent season. These pieces were originally published during the Advent season of 2004 in Our Sunday Visitor, and are reprinted here, with minor changes, with the gracious permission of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper (200 Noll Plaza; Huntington, IN 46750; 1-800-348-2440, x 2; www.osv.com). "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee" An advent...

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...

DAVIE - A fistfight between a man and a woman in the middle of an Interstate 595 on-ramp turned fatal when the pair were struck by a car in the pre-dawn darkness Thursday, traffic officials said. The driver of the car did not see them on the ramp from northbound State Road 7, investigators with the Florida Highway Patrol said. And the battling Ramon Perez, 20, of Port St. Lucie, and Marie M. Mary, 36, of Lauderdale Lakes, apparently did not notice the approaching vehicle in time to get out of the way.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, OCT. 24, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Young people want something built on a solid foundation after seeing how the culture of death is destroying society, said author David Hartline. Hartline is the author of the recent book "The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism," published by Catholic Report. In this interview with ZENIT, Hartline considers some of the changing trends in the Church that have come about through courageous Catholic leaders, seen especially in Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Q: What motivated you to write "The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism"? Hartline: While working for the Church, I began...

Just what did the Mary Rose tell us? By Finlo Rohrer BBC News Magazine The Mary Rose in dry dock The raising of the Mary Rose in 1982 was greeted with feverish excitement, but what has this landmark find actually told us in the 25 years since? At the tail end of 1982 it seemed like you couldn't switch on Newsround without seeing something to do with Mary Rose. Our fascination with the ship that met a sticky end while firing at a French invasion fleet in 1545 has flared at times in the years since. It is almost a...

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...

Lepanto, 1571: The Battle That Saved Europe The clash of civilizations is as old as history, and equally as old is the blindness of those who wish such clashes away; but they are the hinges, the turning points of history. In the latter half of the 16th century, Muslim war drums sounded and the mufti of the Ottoman sultan proclaimed jihad, but only the pope fully appreciated the threat... The Ottoman Empire, the seat of Islamic power, looked to control the Mediterranean. Corsairs raided from North Africa; the Sultan’s massive fleet anchored the eastern Mediterranean; and Islamic armies ranged along...

As some of you know, fr maximilian mary (who has been posting recently on FR) is leaving for Italy on November 1st. He is slotted to be part of the first contemplative community of the Franciscans of the Immaculate in the Tuscany mountains. His final days are winding down, and I am informed that he has three major music events left before he completes his active ministry. This post is a request for your prayers for fr maximilian mary as he completes his missionary work and makes this transition, and to ask you to let anyone who might be interested...

MARY WAS UNITED TO JESUS ON THE CROSS Pope John Paul II General Audience, 25 October 1995 Saying that "the Virgin Mary ... is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the Redeemer" (Lumen gentium, n. 53), the Council draws attention to the link between Mary's motherhood and Redemption. After becoming aware of the maternal role of Mary, who was venerated in the teaching and worship of the first centuries as the virginal Mother of Jesus Christ and therefore as the Mother of God, in the Middle Ages the Church's piety and theological reflection brought...

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...

In Memoriam: Br. Francis Mary Kalvelage, FI (1923-2007)THE EARLY YEARSBorn Martin Kalvelage on April 9, 1923, Bro. Francis Mary was raised in San Francisco, California. During World War II he served with the armed forces as a pilot in the Pacific theatre of operations. Such initial training prepared his natural propensities for the gift of grace: discipline, fidelity, hard working and above all a deep sense of purpose. The angelic doctor St. Thomas confirms that grace is built upon nature. A humorous account Bro. Francis used to tell his confreres that served as one of the factors for him to...

A Son of St. Francis, A Knight of the Immaculate 1923-2007 Br. Francis Mary Kalvelage, FI was born in Portland, Oregon in 1923, the youngest in a family of five brothers. While he was still young the family moved to San Francisco and it was here that he was raised. During the period of World War II, Br. Francis served his country in the United States Air Force as a naval aviator. It was in this period of his life that Our Lord was preparing him to engage in a different type of service. One day Brother attempted to perform...

(14 August is the feast day of the great Marian saint, St. Maximilian Kolbe. The following is taken and adapted from a booklet entitled "The Crusade of Mary Immaculate," printed by the Augustine Publishing Company, Devon, UK, 1988) The Crusade of Mary Immaculate"...The final aim of man is that to which he tends, and for the attainment of which he uses all means. Our aim is to love God through Mary Immaculate, and in her; therefore, our whole life should used for this purpose. To gain as many souls as possible, this is the purpose of our life; to give...

WHAT SOME PROTESTANTS THINK ON THIS [Mary]… I will first turn to the "Fathers of the Reformation" to speak for Orthodoxy in defending the teaching that Mary was "Ever Virgin". First I will let Ulrich Zwingli (leader of the Swiss Reformation, divided from Lutheran Reformers because he denied Christ's real presence in any form in the Eucharist) speak to this: "She (Mary) had to be a virgin and perpetually a virgin..." (Reformed Dogmatics, p. 422, by H. Heppe). And in a prayer he calls her: "the pure and ever virgin..." (Prayers of the Eucharist, p. 184, by Jasper & Cuming)....