Mary's Catholics

cc photo from Wikimedia Commons Date of Birth:  November 13, 354 Birthplace:  Thagaste, Numidia (now Souk Ahras, Algeria) Parents:  Patricius, a pagan and St. Monica, a Christian Died:  August 28, 430  Feast Day:  August 28 One of the most celebrated sinners turned saint in the Catholic Church is St. Augustine, who's also known as the "son of so many tears." St. Augustine had lived an immoral life.  In the year 373, he left the Christian church and joined the Manichaean religion, much to the sorrow of his mother St. Monica who influenced him to Christianity at an early age.  He had a son born out of wedlock from a woman with whom he had an affair for many years.  But in the year 386, he was converted to Christianity and decided to serve God through priesthood. In 387, Easter Vigil, he was baptized by St. Ambrose at Milan along with his son Adeodatus. He was ordained priest in 391 and in 395, he was made Bishop of Hipp...

Rome's exorcist finding Bl. John Paul II effective against Satan :: Catholic News Agency (CNA) When I read the above news, I no longer wonder why Blessed John Paul II is effective against Satan.  I know the reason.   St. Louis Marie de Montfort wrote in his book "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary" that Mary is Satan's most fearful enemy . This remarkable book fell in the hands of Blessed John Paul II during World War II.  It made him understand that Mary is the surest and the safest way to Christ.  His motto  "Totus Tuus"  was an expression of his total consecration to the mother of God.   St. John Bosco who also had a great devotion to Mary under the title "Mary Help of Christians" said, "Invoke Mary and you will see what miracles are."  If Blessed John Paul II is effective against Satan, it's mainly because of his true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

"Totus Tuus".   It is a Latin phrase which means "I am totally yours." This was Blessed John Paul II's motto addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Have you ever wondered why John Paul II had so much devotion to Mary? Source: Wikimedia Commons / cc In his book, Crossing The Threshold of Hope, John Paul II explained that his motto Totus Tuus  was not just an expression of piety and devotion, it was his total abandonment and personal consecration to the Mother of God. His deep devotion to Mary was manifested in many different ways; among these is his Coat of Arms which bears the letter M that stands for Mary. Even his coffin has a letter M on it.  He credited St. Louis Marie de Montfort for his Totus Tuus  when he read the saint's book "True Devotion to Mary." John Paul II came to know the book "True Devotion to Mary" when he worked as a factory worker at a chemical plant during World War II. He studied the book and oftent...

   Genesis 3:15 - "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head while you strike at his heel. The following are excerpts from the book "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin" by St. Louis Marie de Montfort.  "God has established only one enmity - but it is an irreconcilable one - which will last and even go on increasing to the end of time. That enmity is between Mary, his worthy Mother, and the devil, between the children and the servants of the Blessed Virgin and the children and followers of Lucifer.   Thus the most fearful enemy that God has set up against the devil is Mary, his holy Mother.  From the time of the earthly paradise, although she existed then only in his mind, he gave her such a hatred for his accursed enemy, such ingenuity in exposing the wickedness of the ancient serpent and such power to defeat, overthrow and crush this proud rebel, that Satan fears her not only more tha...

Today, May 1, 2011 is a very significant day for Catholics around the world for two very important reasons: 1st - Today is the second Sunday of Easter which is the feast of The Divine Mercy. 2nd - Today is the day of Pope John Paul II's beatification. A Short Background In the 1930's, a Polish nun named Sister Faustina Kowalska received revelations from our Lord Jesus Christ - who appeared to her on February 22, 1931 - about God's mercy.  She wrote all of these revelations in a diary.  But in 1959, the spreading of The Divine Mercy message was banned by the church, and Sister Faustina's diary was placed on the  Index of Forbidden Books  which is a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church . The prohibition of Sister Faustina's writing was due to the faulty and confusing translations of her diary that were submitted to the Holy See. In 1965, Pope John Paul II who was then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla intervened.  A new investigation ...

We are now in the season of Lent, and fasting is one of the very important elements of its observance.  But what is the true essence of fasting?  The saints knew very well the real meaning of fasting, saints such as St. Maximus of Turin and St. Francis de Sales just to name a few.  Let's learn from what these saints taught about fasting. Excerpts from St. Maximus of Turin's Sermo. 35 on Fasting. 1.  By fasting we control the passions of the body; by prayer we nourish the soul. 2.  There is a useless and empty fast that empties the stomach and the intestines but does not empty the mind of worldliness and the heart of wickedness. 3.  What's the use of abstaining from food while the soul is indulging in sin.  The body is weakened by fasting while the soul grows stronger in wickedness. The body refrains from strong wine while the thoughts wallow in the wine of avarice.  Such fasting weakens the body but does not save the soul. 4.  True fasting ...

Name:  Joseph Aloysius Ratzinger Birthday:  April 16, 1927 Birthplace:  Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany Father:  Joseph Ratzinger, Sr. Mother:  Maria Peintner Siblings:  Older brother Georg and                older sister Maria who died in 1991 Priestly ordination:  June 29, 1951 cc photo by Sergey Gabdurakhmanov on flickr - He obtained his doctorate in Theology with a thesis entitled "People and House of God in St. Augustine's Doctrine of the Church" in 1953. - Appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising in March of 1977 by Pope Paul VI. - Received episcopal ordination on May 28, 1977. - Made Cardinal by Pope Paul VI on June 27, 1977. - Appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and of the International Theological Commission on November 25, 1981 by Pope John Paul II. - Elected Vice-Dean of t...

Werner, the famous German poet, was born and reared a Protestant. Later he became a convert to Catholicism.  A member of the royal household criticized him for doing so:  "I do not like those who change their religion.  I think they are doing something wrong." "Prince," answered Werner, "I am also of your Majesty's opinion.  I think that Luther, in changing his religion, did what was indeed very wrong, and for that reason I have returned to the religion he left."                                                            - Anecdotes of the Great                                                                  Compiled by J. Maurus Source:  Kerygma, I...

Saint Therese of the Child Jesus I had wondered for a long time why God had preferences and why all souls did not receive an equal amount of grace.  I was astonished to see how He showered extraordinary favors on saints who had sinned against Him, saints such as St. Paul and St. Augustine.  He forced them, as it were, to accept His graces. I was just as astonished when I read the lives of saints to see that Our Lord cherished certain favored souls from the cradle to the grave and never allowed any kind of obstacle to check their flight towards Him.  He bestowed such favors on them that they were unable to tarnish the spotless splendor of their baptismal robe.  I also wondered why such vast numbers of poor savages died before they had even heard the name of God. Jesus saw fit to enlighten me about this mystery.  He set the book of nature before me and I saw that all the flowers He has created are lovely. The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of t...

Luke 2:41-49 tells us that Jesus, at the age of 12, went to Jerusalem with his parents for the feast of the Passover.  But after the feast, as they were returning home, Jesus remained behind without the knowledge of his parents.  After three days of searching, they found him in the temple of Jerusalem. Ephesians 5:23 - "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. If Jesus, the head of the church was searched by Mary when he was lost for three days, then undoubtedly, Mary is also search ing for those members of the church which is the body of Christ, who had gone astray and are still lost until now. Let us pray for our lost brothers and sisters that they will return to the head of the church, Jesus Christ. - Mary June D.

Today, March 25th is the feast of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38). The Annunciation was the beginning of a vast and wonderful repair work to be done by God on the destruction caused by Adam and Eve. A woman caused the downfall of the human race; a woman will raise man back to God. A devil approached Eve; an angel appeared to Mary.  The devil tempted Eve to disobey and cast down the human race; an angel appeared to Mary to receive her obedience and raise up the human race.  The devil urged infidelity; the angel fidelity to God's will. The first woman believed the tempter; Mary believed her Maker. Eve brought destruction; Mary salvation. Mary was deserving to receive God the Son physically in her womb because she has first received Him spiritually in her heart. - St. Peter Chrysologus _____________________________________________ - Excerpted from St. Peter Chrysologus Sermo. 140 on Luke 1:26-29. Source:  Winnowing Fan, Vol. XI, No. 1, January 1994

Matthew traces the genealogy of Jesus from Joseph and refers to him as the husband of Mary.  But he does not allow us to have misconceptions about Christ's birth by immediately narrating the unusual manner in which Christ was born. Mary, being espoused or betrothed to Joseph was living in the bridegroom's house for her protection.  It was the practice of the ancients.  The practice being such, Joseph was going to be very certain that nothing amiss could take place. We, too, must live our lives in such a way so no one can attribute wrongdoing to us. Finding Mary with child, he who should be jealous and suspicious, he who should degrade her, in fact cherished her. So convinced was he that what was done was done by God. Though how it was done exactly, he was not sure until confirmed, not explained, by the angel. So instead of setting her aside, he kept her with him after he was assured and he ministered to her.  St. Joseph said to himself, this was done by ...

I'm a Marian devotee, meaning, a Catholic who has a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  But in spite of my devotion to her, I still can't fathom the depth of her life and her mysteries, probably because of my sinfulness.  The simplest and the immediate knowledge I have of her is that she is my beloved spiritual mother, and the mother of God. I know that there's more to her than what I read about her from the bible or from books written by the saints and Marian scholars. Far from being an obstacle to Jesus, the fact is, where it not for the Blessed Virgin Mary, I would still see God as someone who is "high up there," someone who's strict and authoritative just because He is God. But the Blessed Virgin Mary changed all that. Because of my devotion to her, I now see God in a totally different light.  Mary brought me closer to Jesus in a way that I can't explain.  All I can describe is that, the more I pray to her, the more I love praying ...

Priests need prayers.  Even if they are consecrated to God, they still need prayers.  Even if they pray every day, they still need prayers. Why they need prayers? 1.  Priests are also humans. 2.  Priests are not perfect. 3.  Priests also have their weaknesses. 4.  Priests are the primary targets of satan's attacks. That's why they need prayers.   The saints were very much aware of the need to pray for priests, that's why they include the priests in their prayers or composed special prayers for the priests. Here are some of the prayers from the saints. A PRAYER FOR PRIESTS St. Charles Borromeo O Holy Mother of God, pray for the priests Your Son has chosen to serve the Church.  Help them by your intercession, to be holy, zealous, and chaste.  Make them models of virtue in the service of God's people. Help them to be pious in meditation, efficacious in preaching, and zealous in the daily offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Help th...

 St. Claude de la Colombiere It is usually the case that other people can see better than we can ourselves what is good for us.  It would be foolish to think that we can see better than God Himself, who is not subject to any of the passions that blind us, knows the future and can foresee all events and the consequences of every action. Experience shows that even the gravest misfortunes can have good results and the greatest successes can end in disaster.  A rule also that God usually follows is to attain His ends by ways that are the opposite to those human prudence would normally choose. Joseph was sold into slavery and thrown into prison.  If he had felt aggrieved at these apparent misfortunes, he would really have been feeling aggrieved at his happiness for they were the steps to the throne of Egypt.  Saul loses his father's assess and has to go on a long vain hunt for them.  But if he had felt annoyed at the great waste of time and energy it ca...

I have a twitter account.  I opened an account last year so I can follow my favorite dance crew.  I followed them for months.  I send them tweets, but I never receive a single reply from them. They replied to their friends' tweets and to celebrities' tweets but not to my tweets.  I also send tweets to other celebrities as well, and again I don't receive any reply from them.  I kept asking myself, "Have they seen my tweets?" or "Is there something wrong with my tweets?" They can see their friends' tweets or the tweets of their fellow celebrities but why can't they see my tweets?  I was hurt that I stopped following them.  I was thinking, maybe they don't reply to ordinary or unknown people like me. Maybe if I'm Oprah Winfrey, I would surely get replies from these celebrities.  Do they know that a single simple reply is worth more than a million bucks to their fans? They don't have to spend a single dime for this, it only requires thei...

Today, 11th of February is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. In 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary  appeared in Lourdes, France to a fourteen year old peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous. She made a total of 18 apparitions. Her first apparition was on February 11, 1858. SIGNIFICANT APPARITIONS Among our Lady's most significant apparitions were the 9th and 16th apparitions.   1.  It was on  February 25, 1858, the 9th apparition that the Lourdes miraculous spring was discovered.  In obedience to the Lady's instructions to "Go and drink from the spring," Bernadette dug a hole on the left of the Grotto, and water came out of the hole which is now the spring that cures many sickness. 2.   The Lady's 16th apparition is perhaps the most significant of all her apparitions in Lourdes.  Father Peyramale, the parish priest who was known as "the priest of the apparitions in Lourdes" requested Bernadette to get the Lady's name.  On March ...

Today, January 31st is the feast of St. John Bosco A Summary of St. John Bosco's Life cc photo by IMA Neuquen on flickr - St. John Bosco or more popularly known as Don Bosco ("Don" an Italian term of respect for priests) was born Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco on August 16, 1815 at Becchi, Castelnuovo, Italy.   - He was the youngest of three children of Francis Louis Bosco who died in 1817 and Margaret Occhiena. - He had his first communion in 1826, and had his Elementary studies in Castelnuovo in 1830. - He entered the Seminary of Chieri in 1835 and was ordained to the priesthood on June 5, 1841 in Turin.  In December of that same year, he began his work for the young when he met a 16-year old orphan, Bartholomew Garelli. - He instituted the Salesian Order on December 18, 1859 with 18 members. - He built a church in honor of Mary Help of Christians which is now the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin.  It was consecrated on Jun...

NEGROS AND CEBU PROVINCES St. John Bosco's relic is on world tour, and the Philippines is one of those countries his relic visited.  His relic made visits to different provinces, cities and towns in the country.  From December 5 to December 23, 2010, his relic visited the cities and towns of the provinces of Negros and Cebu. The relic's first destination in the Philippines was the Negros province where it stayed there from December 5 to December 11,  2010.  The relic arrived in my hometown, Cebu City on December 12 at the church of the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, and from there, it visited other Salesian schools, homes, centers and the church of Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. On December 23, the relic was brought back to the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes for a farewell mass before its voyage to the nation's capital, Manila.  The relic's journey in the Philippines ended on January 15, 2011.   St. John Bosco's relic...

Mary, Mother of God is not just a Marian title.  It is a Marian Dogma. Presently, the Catholic Church has four Marian Dogmas, namely:  1) Mary, Mother of God; 2) The Virginity of Mary; 3) The Immaculate Conception of Mary; 4) The Assumption of Mary. What is a Dogma?  A dogma is a doctrine of our faith officially proclaimed by the Church. - from The Pope's Calendar 2008: Marian Dogmas, SHMI-QCP, Manila, Philippines. cc  photo by Heather Clemons on flickr The first Marian Dogma, Mary, Mother of God was defined by the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. The Council was called to solve a dispute arising from the doctrine of Nestorius, Archbishop of Constantinople who  rejected Mary's title Theotokos (Mother of God).  His doctrine emphasized the disunity of Christ's human and divine natures. In the end, the council condemned him for heresy.  Here are some excerpts from the Council's statements most notably from Cyril, the Patriarch of...