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Our Lady of Good Success By Kathleen M. HeckenkampApproved Prophecies and Devotions for Our Times     In the years between 1594 and 1634, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a cloistered Conceptionist sister in Quito, Ecuador named Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres. During these forty years, Our Lady appeared to her asking that she wished to be known under the title of Nuestra Senora del Buen Suceso which in English translates to Our Lady of Good Success She spoke to Mother Mariana about the future times that were to come for the Catholic Church particularly during the 20th Century....

Pentecost marks a time when Mary's presence is of singular importance, says a specialist in Marian studies.  In this interview with ZENIT, Discalced Carmelite Father Jesús Castellano Cervera, who is also a consultor for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, elaborated on the Blessed Virgin's presence at the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Q: The time we are now living is the conclusion of Eastertide and of the month of May. Is it of special Marian relevance? Father Castellano Cervera: I think the time extending from the Ascension to Pentecost is a particularly Marian time.  The fact emphasized...

Our Lady of Good Counsel   by Zsolt Aradi The majesty of the Roman countryside has remained unchanged for centuries. Just to the south of the city rise the famous Castelli Romani, the Roman Castles, the popular name given to the hills and townships in Rome's immediate neighborhood. These hills are studded with the palaces of the once rich nobility of Rome who leave the city whenever the depressive and humid scirocco hits the Eternal City. The Castelli Romani are still a part of Rome, yet once we enter that district around Palestrina, popularly called Ciociaria, we are in a...

THE LADY OF FATIMA- Introduction Some Roman Catholics believe that Mary, the mother of Christ, has actually appeared to people in places like Fatima and Medjugorje. Well, did she? THE LADY OF FATIMA- Biblical? In evaluating the alleged appearances of Mary, our primary concern would be to determine whether these apparitions are indeed biblical. Interestingly enough, these “Marian apparitions” (as they are commonly referred to) are inextricably woven together with the official Catholic teachings about Mary which, by the way, is known as Mariology. In fact, it would be fair to say that Catholic Mariology is the very foundation of...

The Scenario: Ever have one of those days when you’re feeling full of energy and vigor? I mean, you’re feeling just obnoxiously happy? Well, this is one of those days. Driving home from work, you switch on the radio to see what’s happening, and you tune in to a local Protestant radio station just in time to hear a preacher speaking against various Catholic doctrines concerning Mary. The show is called Pastor Bob’s Bible Hour. Pastor Bob proclaims: “Jesus knew Catholics would come along and begin to worship His mother and call her perpetual virgin and absurd things like that....

Our Lady of Guadalupe: She Who Smashes the Serpent Written by Cesar Franco    Monday, 30 November 2009 11:59 Pope Pius XII gave Our Lady of Guadalupe the title of “Empress of the Americas” in 1945. Since December 12 is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, this is a propitious moment to recall how she reigns over our nation from Heaven, protecting and guiding us with motherly solicitude and tenderness. The constant miracle memorialized on Saint Juan Diego’s tilma and the context of the apparitions remind us that Our Lady is victorious over the serpent, intervenes in history and...

When secularists parade with the European Union flag they are unwittingly honouring the Immaculate Conception Belgium is a wonderful country but one can’t always tell that when in Brussels. This city is the least example of how wonderful the country as a whole is. I don’t think even the residents of Brussels want to be there. I walked across one of the many plazas scattered throughout this, one of the three capitals of the European Union, when I spied a shop festooned completely, in and out, with the European Union flag. The EU symbol is so ubiquitous throughout Europe that...

In the various Christian traditions Marian doctrine and devotion take shape in manifold and diverse ways. Since the Second Vatican Council the Church has striven to promote a new and more careful study of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the mystery of Christ and of the Church; to encourage theological faculties in the pursuit of knowledge, research, and piety with regard to Mary of Nazareth. The Mother of the Lord is understood as a "datum of revelation" and a "maternal presence" always operative in the life of the Church. [1] The history of theological reflection witnesses...

Devotion to Mary 1411. It is unscriptural to attribute power to Mary. That is a very unscriptural statement. At His mother's request Jesus changed water into wine at Cana, though He had said, "My time is not yet come." St. James tells us that "the prayer of a just man availeth much." Jas 5:16. How much more the prayer of Mary! 1412. Does the Bible sanction such prayers to Mary? Yes. All through the Bible you will find God conferring favors through the prayers of others. In the Old Testament we read of the prayers of Abraham, Moses, and of...

Unexpected Joy Icon of the Mother of God Unexpected Joy Temple of the Holy Trinity in Listy Unexpected Joy Icon of the Mother of God The icon is written in commemoration of the following event: one sinner, as he was on his way to commit a sin, said a prayer for his success to the Mother of God. In response she, in anger, pointed at the immediately opened wounds on the hands and feet of the Divine Child sitting on her lap, and explained to the sinner that every time when someone falls into sin, the wounds begin to torment...

CALIFORNIA AVE. — Santa Monica Police are investigating an alleged hate crime after officials with St. Monica Catholic Church discovered a statue of the Virgin Mary beheaded shortly before Easter services commenced. A priest found the 55-year-old marble statue, which stands on the corner of Seventh Street and California Avenue, decapitated around 5:45 a.m. on Sunday, spotting the head on the ground just a few feet away. The top of the statue was covered with a white plastic bag before service began. “Even though it was a sad event, it didn’t take away from the joy of Easter and celebrating...

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,"...