Posted on 04/11/2010 6:09:57 PM PDT by stfassisi
The first “Hail Mary” was brought from Heaven by Gabriel the Archangel, the messenger of Holy Trinity
The following text of Father Gabriel Amorth, chief exorcist of the Vatican, is taken from the March-April, 2003 issue of “Echo of Mary, Queen of Peace”:
The recent Apostolic Letter of John Paul II, "Rosarium Virginis Mariae" (released last October 16) encourages all Christians to turn back to the prayer strongly recommended both by the latest Pontiffs and recent Marian apparitions. Paul VI called the Rosary a compendium of the Gospel. To make it more complete, John Paul II added the 'mysteries of light' to cover Jesus' public life. Padre Pio called the Rosary beads a weapon of extraordinary power against Satan.
One day a colleague of mine heard the devil say during an exorcism: "Every Hail Mary is like a blow on my head. If Christians knew how powerful the Rosary was, it would be my end." The secret that makes this prayer so effective is that the Rosary is both prayer and meditation. It is addressed to the Father, to the Blessed Virgin, and to the Holy Trinity, and is a meditation centred on Christ.
Today more than ever, the world is in need of prayer and meditation. It is in need of prayer because people have forgotten God, and without God the world has put itself on the edge of a precipice. This is why in Her messages, Our Lady insists so much on prayer. Without God's help, Satan wins. The world is also in need of meditation because if the great Christian truths are forgotten, souls become void. This void is grabbed up by the enemy, and he fills it with his lies. And today we see the results with widespread belief in superstition and occultism.
The most obvious danger for our society today is the downfall of the family. The rhythm of today's world has broken the family unity. Little time is spent together, and even when the family is together, its members don't speak because the television speaks. Where are the families which recite the Rosary together in the evenings? Pope Pius XII insisted in his own time: “If you pray the Rosary together, you will experience peace in your families; you will get on together.” “The family that prays together, stays together,” would say Father Peyton, the untiring apostle of the family Rosary. “Satan wants war,” Mary said one day in Medjugorje. Well, the Rosary is the weapon which is able to guarantee peace for the world, because it is a prayer and a form of meditation able to transform hearts and defeat the enemy.
Protected by the Rosary
The following inspiring episode from World War II, written by Sr. Mary Sheila O'Neil and reported in the October-December, 1979 issue of Garabandal Magazine (P.O. Box 606 Lindenhurst, New York 11757 USA) also illustrates the power of the Rosary:
It was a busy day in March. As a teacher-principal in the 1950's, I had to make sure that each day provided the time for the two separate roles. On that March fourth, an incident between a teacher and a parent had kept me out of my class for almost an hour that morning, so for the rest of the day, I was desperately trying to make up class time. Hence, the knock on my door at 2:00 p.m. was not welcome.
With relief, I found it was only a salesman who needed my signature and even produced his pen. As he did so, his Rosary had caught onto the pen's clip and came out as well. I signed as I said indifferently, "So, you are a Catholic." "Oh no," he said, "but a lot of us owe our lives to Our Lady, and I promised Her I would always keep my Rosary with me and say it every day."
Twenty minutes later, I was still at the door listening, fascinated, to the account of one of the wonderful experiences a group of airmen had had with Our Lady. My visitor hesitated to start, for he had noticed my "non welcome" opening of the door. But eager now to hear his story, I assured him that the class was doing an exercise, and I begged him to proceed. He continued:
It was May, 1940, and we had joined the Air Force in late September. At Halifax, we were given an intensive training course, because they needed us overseas, and to us young lads, the whole program was exciting.
We were grouped into squadrons, each of which consisted of six to ten planes, and each was trained to maneuver as a unit. Therefore about thirty to fifty men made up a squadron, along with the squadron leader who gave all the orders and kept the group functioning in unity.
In May, our squadron was told we were going overseas and would be in action at once. We would work on nightly missions over enemy territory until the war was over. We were waiting for our new squadron leader, due to arrive in two days on a 9:00 p.m. air-force flight. Being an officer, he would, we thought, go at once to the officers' quarters.
We watched the plane, glimpsed him from the distance, and resigned ourselves to waiting until the next day to "size him up." A couple of hours later, this squadron leader, Stan Fulton, in full uniform, entered our bunk house.
“Well men, we're going to spend some dangerous hours together, but let's hope we all meet back here when it's over. Ah, there's a free bunk and I am tired! I'll meet each of you tomorrow.”
With that, he threw his bag on an upper bunk. Our squadron leader, an officer, sleeping here with us! We liked him at once and our liking and our admiration grew each day.
That first night he knelt on the floor and prayed his Rosary in silence. Astounded, we were struck dumb. When he finished, he looked at us with his friendly smile and said, “I hope you guys don't mind a fellow saying some prayers because where we're going, we're going to need them.”
The next day our maneuver practice, under his command, assured us that Fulton was not just our military leader, but our friend. He was one of us; he never tried to intimidate us with his rank.
That night, he repeated his prayer session. Although our group had trained together for six months at least, I had never seen anyone kneel in prayer, and had no idea that any of our group was Catholic; but the third night three of our companions joined Fulton in saying the Rosary. The rest of us did not understand but we kept a respectful silence.
A few nights later — we were quick learners — we all answered the Hail Marys and Our Fathers. Fulton looked pleased, and thus we ended each day in prayer.
On June 1, 1940, we were to leave Halifax to begin a series of night raids from England over Germany. The evening before, Fulton gave each of us a Rosary.
“We shall be in some tight situations, but then, if you agree, we'll say the Rosary. If you will promise to keep the Rosary with you always throughout your life and to say it, I can promise you that Our Lady will bring you all back safe to Canada.”
We answered, “Sure thing.” Little did we dream we would be in action for four years, many times in dreadful danger with fire all around us. At such times, Fulton's voice would ring through each plane, “Hail Mary...” How reverently and sincerely did we respond! How many hundreds of Rosaries we must have said.
After two years, it was noted that ours was the only squadron that had not lost a plane nor a single life. We said nothing, but we knew.
Finally, the terrible war was over. During those years, we lost all sense of excitement and adventure. All that concerned us was survival! We did survive, too. All returned to Canada in 1945, fully convinced that Our Lady had taken care of us.
So I never forget to keep my Rosary with me and say it every day although I am not a Catholic. When I change my trousers, the first thing I transfer, even before my wallet, is my rosary.
I trust the Bible, and I trust the Church, which, under divine inspiration, compiled the Bible, including the parts which the Jews rejected after the Ascension of Our Lord. The same Church, also divine inspiration, solemnly declared at the Council of Ephesus that the Blessed Virgin Mary was Theotokos, and at the Second Council of Nicaea, repudiated iconoclasm as heresy.
Who do you think are the pagans who made that?
Or rather, which anti-Catholic website says that the Catholics did.
My Goddaughter, who went to the Vatican to study liturgical art says it’s not there.
Someone put a modern Jesus being held by his mother on the back of a classic crucifix. Probably for sale for 20 Lire.
Or maybe some freakout non-Catholic did it for an “ah-ha” moment.
Post it again, it makes my day!
Hegewisch Dupa is saying that some Non-Catholics believe that when we die, we are not alive.
I think you need to read some of the conversations between Hegewisch Dupa and Judith Anne.
You are mistaken. Hegewisch Dupa is a FRiend of mine, and an excellent FReeper on the Religion Forum
Flee from anti-Catholic websites, no matter how good they feel.
This is where you cute picture comes from.
page 8
The "sick soul" part I'll have a tougher time arguing against, for sure...
You post regularly and mostly from the Pauline Epistles.
I don’t need to post scripture, although I have. Scripture is not my only authority. On the other hand, while I revere the Holy Bible, I take it as a whole, not a partial verse at a time.
Bless you both for covering my back; God knows I give it enough chance to be attacked. (And it’s a frightening large area to cover too....)
I took what he said is Mary our Mother is dead.
That is like saying Mary went to Hell.
That is really mentally sick.
I really wish our Catholic brothers/sisters who start these threads would put them in lock down as they do with Daily Mass threads ect.
There is no good IMHO coming out of all the poking and prodding coming from the anti Catholics who find delight in being psuedeo intellects.
I am voicing my opinion.
Think what you want.
As others here have stated the Catholic Ping lists that have been here for close to a decade do not go poking around other Christian threads being nasty/foul.
Ya’ll our hate filled towards Catholics and it is not cool.
>>I took what he said is Mary our Mother is dead.<<
No, seriously. HD is one of us.
It is exactly, precisely because it was such a sick thought that I pointed it out. It’s the only conclusion you can come to when someone says a necromancer prays to the dead, and that someone is a necromancer for saying the rosary. The poster, in order to believe that saying the rosary is akin to calling upon the dead HAS to, by their own definition, contend that Mary’s soul is dead. Sick is right. Hell, “sick” isn’t a strong enough word.
If I misinterpeted you post I apologize.
I thought you posted Mary was a dead soul
Sorry.
I am Catholic. I have been fighting the anti-Catholic bigots on the RF for years.
If you can’t see that, no problem. Pax!
No problem, my FRiend.
no - bless you - seriously, that is about as legit a subject to fire anyone’s righteous indignation. Which is seriously what I meant to do in the first place - just not at me! My writing just wasn’t good enough to keep ME out of the line of fire. Bless you for fighting the good fight.
You’re right about the girls rosaries.
I gave each of my girls a rosary bracelet for First communion!
Well I get confused with all the anti Catholic vile being thrown around.
I am new to being exposed to it.
I apologize to you and others who defending our faith for my mistake/confusion.
I wish these Catholic threads would be locked down to keep the disrupters off of them.
It messes up the unity and sharing of our faith I enjoy coming here for.
I just came home about 5yrs ago....and it was because of Salvations Daily Mass and events off of the internet that brought me home.
But I dont mind ya’ll (Catholic family) setting me straight.
>>I have been fighting the anti-Catholic bigots on the RF for years.<<
And they still post the same stupid pictures and the same boring phrases. Don’t they JA?
*sigh*
Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
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