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.
Your point? Of course things changed after the Resurrection, but your earlier post seeks to dismiss the Gospels.
This is a great example of how the Roman Catholic church perverts the Gospel.
Yes, Mark. A thousand times yes. All believers will be judged according to the good work of Jesus Christ within them.
No, no, a thousand times no. In your reply, you still didn't post any Gospel. You posted from Romans 3: which does not address this topic at all. If you go back to my last post, you will notice that I include:
2 Corinthians 5: 10 For we must all appear 7 before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.
Romans 14: 10 Why then do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you look down on your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall give praise to God." 12 So (then) each of us shall give an account of himself (to God).
Revelation 20: 11 9 Next I saw a large white throne and the one who was sitting on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence and there was no place for them. 12 I saw the dead, the great and the lowly, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. Then another scroll was opened, the book of life. 10 The dead were judged according to their deeds, by what was written in the scrolls. 13 The sea gave up its dead; then Death and Hades 11 gave up their dead. All the dead were judged according to their deeds.
Romans 2: 5 By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, 6 who will repay everyone according to his works: 3 7 eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works, 8 but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness. 9 Yes, affliction and distress will come upon every human being who does evil, Jew first and then Greek. 10 But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, Jew first and then Greek. 11 4 There is no partiality with God.
I will add to these some more words of Jesus:
Matthew 25: 41 17 Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' 44 18 Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' 45 He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' 46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Matthew 24: 45 26 27 "Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. 47 Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. 48 28 But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is long delayed,' 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, 50 the servant's master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour 51 and will punish him severely 29 and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Matthew 20: 32 His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?' 34 Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. 23 35 24 So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."
Matthew 19: 24 19 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, 20 take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 21 26 What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? 27 22 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.
There are many more, as well. Here you have the voice of Jesus, and Paul, telling us that we are to be Judged on our conduct (which is the belief of all Christianity right back to the Apostles), and you tell me different? I give you verse after verse of Jesus and you give me Sproul?
I see no Christ in your posts on Christianity. I pray for you and for all the lost that in their hubris believe that they know better. No difference between them and Ellen White or Mary Baker Eddy or Joseph Smith or David Koresh or...
You say that we pervert the Gospel. How would a Calvinist have any clue as to what the Gospel actually contains?
We don't have a religion. Christ has us - that is the difference between Christians and pagans. Especially the comfy pagans.
I agree, but the rabid anti-Catholics on this site often attack "Catholics" because of a misinterpretation of the term "alter Christus" by assuming that it means "another Christ" instead of the correct "in the role of Christ". I simply linked the two nearly identical errors.
The real irony is that the anti-Catholic bigots routinely side with those who openly embrace heresy (Nestorianism and Arianism) and those who openly deny the Holy Trinity simply because those heretics also embrace anti-Catholic bigotry.
I and other Bible-believing Christians will rest safely in the knowledge that Christ's righteousness is the only thing that saves a sinner, mercifully imputed to us as if it were our own.
But it's not. It's Christ's alone, given as a free gift to those who are His.
Read that link, Mark. It will help you to refocus your eyes away from yourself and onto the Triune God who alone deserves all glory.
Amen, Amen, Amen. A distinction that gets lost on too many.
The other Apostles were still teaching a hybrid Judaism. They wanted converts to adhere to Jewish rituals and customs. The resurrected Jesus Christ selected Paul to begin the church age of the Gentiles. We have been blessed to be free of rituals and works for salvation.
You must have missed some of my "10,000 posts" because I often mention Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Especially when urging Roman Catholics to give up "vain repetitions" and pray as Jesus instructed us to pray."
But who is Jesus talking to on the Sermon on the Mount? He's talking to believers and He's telling them how believers are to live their lives. This is not a sermon on salvation; it is a sermon on sanctification.
Take for example...
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." -- Matthew 5:10
Jesus is not saying men MUST be persecuted in order to be saved. He is saying most likely Christians WILL be persecuted.
He's tellling Christians how to live their lives now that they've turned from their sins to follow Him.
This is certainly not the first thing RCs get wrong, but sadly, it probably won't be the last.
Then you agree that the The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching. That they take up the promises made to the chosen people since Abraham. The Beatitudes fulfill the promises by ordering them no longer merely to the possession of a territory or a single people, but to the Kingdom of heaven and all believers?
You agree that the Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity, that they express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection; that they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; that they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; that they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples; they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints?
You believe the Beatitudes reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts: God calls us to his own beatitude. This vocation is addressed to each individual personally, but also to the Church as a whole, the new people made up of those who have accepted the promise and live from it in faith?
If we agree on these then all of our other differences are superficial.
I agree with some of it. The Sermon on the Mount does indeed "shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life."
The Sermon on the Mount does "proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured" by all Christ's flock.
However, they are no more secured for "the Virgin Mary and all the saints" than they are for every believer who loves Christ's appearing.
The sad error of Rome teaches that living according to the Sermon on the Mount equates to salvation. And that is not at all what God's word tells us.
At the Sermon on the Mount Jesus Christ tells us that Christians will live a sanctified life in glory to the the Triune God who has given them everything because good works, the fruit of the Holy spirit, are the result of being born again to know the things of God.
Men are not saved by their own good works. Good works are the result of their regeneration from dead men to spiritual men by the Holy Spirit as a free gift from God.
Men are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Period. Read the Bible. Know the truth.
"Be not afraid; only believe." -- Mark 5:36
So what exactly did Christ mean when he are blessed by our actions in the Beatitudes?
You do not have the right to call yourself Bible believing Christian. I posted to you:
2 Corinthians 5: 10 For we must all appear 7 before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.
Romans 14: 10 Why then do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you look down on your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall give praise to God." 12 So (then) each of us shall give an account of himself (to God).
Revelation 20: 11 9 Next I saw a large white throne and the one who was sitting on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence and there was no place for them. 12 I saw the dead, the great and the lowly, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. Then another scroll was opened, the book of life. 10 The dead were judged according to their deeds, by what was written in the scrolls. 13 The sea gave up its dead; then Death and Hades 11 gave up their dead. All the dead were judged according to their deeds.
Romans 2: 5 By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, 6 who will repay everyone according to his works: 3 7 eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works, 8 but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness. 9 Yes, affliction and distress will come upon every human being who does evil, Jew first and then Greek. 10 But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, Jew first and then Greek. 11 4 There is no partiality with God.
Matthew 25: 41 17 Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' 44 18 Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' 45 He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' 46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Matthew 24: 45 26 27 "Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. 47 Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. 48 28 But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is long delayed,' 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, 50 the servant's master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour 51 and will punish him severely 29 and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Matthew 20: 32 His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?' 34 Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. 23 35 24 So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."
Matthew 19: 24 19 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, 20 take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 21 26 What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? 27 22 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.
And many more over our exchanges. It is you, Dr. E. that is not Bible believing. It is you, Dr. E. that is not Christ oriented. It is you, Dr. E. that is, essentially, non Christian.
We preach the Gospel to the world. It is the shrinking world of the Calvinist that rejects it. It is the ever smaller world of the Reformed that substitutes the like of Sproul and Machen and Calvin for Jesus. I will preach Jesus to you all day long and into the night if that is what it takes.
Face it, Dr. E. Calvinists are not Christians; they never were and never will be unless they repent of their heresies. Do you wish more Jesus inflicted upon you? We Christians pray for more Jesus. Why is it that the Reformed do not consider Jesus important except as a symbol?
Read that link, Mark.
It is ordure. Repent of the sty that the Reformed wallow in and believe in Christ instead.
Still misquoting this? I'm not surprised, with Reformed being so unacquainted with the Gospels. Let me quote this to you in context.
Mark 5: 35 10 While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" 36 Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." 37 He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38 When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 11 So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." 40 And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child's father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. 41 12 He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" 42 The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. (At that) they were utterly astounded. 43 He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.
Why is it that you guys can get nothing of the Gospels right at all?
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Stephan Passed on to be with Jesus.
He is there, you are here.
What makes you think he can hear you?
Is Stephan omniscient?
Does he have really good hearing?
Use listening devices?
Why would you need to talk to him anyways when Jesus is right next to him?
Hebrews 4:16
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
It doesn't say anything about talking to the guy standing next to the throne of grace.
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