[NYer]

Fr. Don Calloway is now the Vocations Director for the Marian priests that spread the Divine Mercy message. This past Sunday, he was interviewed by EWTN. He said their vocations are booming - 12 seminarians and 7 on their way into the seminary.

God bless Fr. Don and the continued expansion of the Divine Mercy message.

[Salvation]

**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.**

A lot of people are praying for him now as well as, I bet, did then.

[Salvation]

Another conversion story! This one is so dramatic! (Not that others aren’t.)

[Pyro7480]

The Queen of Peace Visits Medjugorje

Why does Spirit Daily continue to spread the devotion to this "apparition"? It is miraculous that this priest, with God's grace and the intercession of the saints, was able to turn his life around. But I don't think it "authenticates" Medjugorje.

[NYer]

“The best thing that a kid can see in the parents is for a man, a father, on his knees,” says Father Calloway. “That is strength. When a man is on his knees, that is stability. When a kid sees that, it’s a confessional statement. It speaks volumes. And when they see a mom and dad being kind and loving to one another, that’s also important — showing kindness to each other.”

This works doubly well in grandparents :-)

[NYer]

Ping!

[annalex]

50 Days of Easter 2008 Celebration ping, dedicated to converts to the Catholic faith. If you want to be on the list but are not on it already, or if you are on it but do not want to be, let me know either publicly or privately.

Happy Easter. Christ is risen!

Alex.

---

Previously posted conversion stories:

Anti-Catholicism, Hypocrisy and Double Standards
Why I Returned to the Catholic Church. Part I: Darkness
Why I Returned to the Catholic Church. Part II: Doubts
Why I Returned to the Catholic Church. Part III: Tradition and Church
Why I Returned to the Catholic Church. Part IV: Crucifix and Altar
Why I Returned to the Catholic Church. Part V: The Catholics and the Pope
Why I Returned to the Catholic Church. Part VI: The Biblical Reality
His Open Arms Welcomed Me
Catholic Conversion Stories & Resources
My Personal Conversion Story
My (Imminent) Reception into the Roman Catholic Church
Catholics Come Home
My Journey of Faith
LOGIC AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF PROTESTANTISM
"What is Truth?" An Examination of Sola Scriptura
"Have you not read?" The Authority behind Biblical Interpretation
The Crisis of Authority in the Reformation

[bt_dooftlook]

I can highly recommend a movie “The Song Of Bernadette” (1943) about the peasant girl Bernadette’s visitation by Our Lady Of Lourdes.

Also, the book “The Incorruptibles” about saints whose bodies remain, without decomposition, through the ages (this is the case with Bernadette).

Lastly, Pope Benedict has been welcoming of the renewal of the Latin mass; if you can find a service in your area, it is a profoundly moving and contemplative rite.

[bt_dooftlook]

I can highly recommend a movie “The Song Of Bernadette” (1943) about the peasant girl Bernadette’s visitation by Our Lady Of Lourdes.

Also, the book “The Incorruptibles” about saints whose bodies remain, without decomposition, through the ages (this is the case with Bernadette).

Lastly, Pope Benedict has been welcoming of the renewal of the Latin mass; if you can find a service in your area, it is a profoundly moving and contemplative rite.

[TASMANIANRED]

Cruel times call for strong me.

God frequently chooses broken vessels.

[It's me]

.

[baa39]

The founder of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, this priest’s order, was recently beatified. Blessed Stanislaus Papczynski was Polish, born in 1631, and particularly advocated devotion to the Immaculate Conception and intercessory prayer for the souls in Purgatory.

The miracle that finally allowed his beatification after hundreds of years occurred in Poland, a woman was told the child in her womb was dead, no heart beat, etc, and her cousin prayed to Stanislaus. When she went to the doctor to have the fetal body removed, the child was alive (now a healthy four year old boy).

Very interesting all the connections God has interwoven through Poland. Pope John Paul worked on St. Faustina’s cause as a bishop, never knowing he would one day become pope and declare her a saint and institute Divine Mercy Sunday.

Then the priests that are charged with worldwide responsibility for the Divine Mercy Message suddenly have their Polish founder pulled from obscurity by a miracle in Poland.

And a miracle that involves the most critical issue of our time, the sanctity of life, especially the unborn.

Poland is currently the only country opposing the EU pressure to make abortion a “right.”

And this comes full circle back to Mary, whom Blessed Stanislaus honored as the Immaculate Conception two centuries before the dogma was declared. Mary, who is a greater advocate for life than the woman who carried the God-Man in her womb for 9 months?

[baa39]

Homosexuals in the church are the result, he believes, of “the devil twisting” priests and seminarians. “With no Mary, there is a lack of tenderness and they seek in a new way.”

This is quite a profound statement, and it makes sense psychologically and spiritually. Look at the orders with the greatest homosexual problem, and where is Mary? I was recently in a Jesuit retreat center chapel. The statue of “Mary” seemed to be a wooden tribal carving of some Asian goddess (and not a very pretty one).

He may have hit on the one truth that can save the Jesuits from their path of utter self-destruction, they need to turn in humility to the Blessed Mother (before it’s too late).

[stevio]

May God continue to bless this man. Satan, I’m sure, wants him back.

[ArrogantBustard]

"Time ceased," he says. "I saw myself at Calvary with the faithful beholding the sacrifice of the lamb." Everything about it captivated him. He felt the Presence of Christ -- knew He was there -- as the priest held up the "white circle."

He was twenty, going on 21, and "all I knew was that I was madly in love with God and Our Savior."

THAT, friends and neighbours, is "wonderful testimony".

[ArrogantBustard]

It was like every fluid in my body was coming out of my eyes. Yet at the same time I knew there was hope, and I was crying tears of joy. I was almost laughing. I knew that this Jesus died for me and loved me.

It just gets better.

[ArrogantBustard]

With youth, the biggest problem is indifference, he notes -- the attitude of "whatever." Everything is okay.

How can we expect our kids to take Faith seriously if we don't? Again, wonderful testimony from this servant of God.

[DungeonMaster]

Book on Mary turns runaway youngster immersed in drugs and crime into a priest

Let me guess, it's not the Bible.

[al_c]

This must have been the guy I was listening too on EWTN radio the other day. It was really interesting and I couldn’t turn it off. I just sat in the garage in my car listening to it after I got home. His turnaround is nothing short of amazing.

[Ciexyz]

Faith sharing bump.