Mary's Catholics

cc photo by andre.ballensiefen on flickr When I heard the news about the Pope's announcement of his resignation, I was shocked, and my first question was WHY?  When I told my sister who was so blessed to see the Pope in person last year, she told me that the Pope is already frail and is very old (he will be 86 years old this coming April 16).  I totally understand him, being a Pope is not that easy. My heart goes out to him. I remember on the first day of his papacy, he asked Catholics around the world to pray for him.  Yes, I prayed for him but seldom.  Now I feel guilty because I just realized that if there is someone who needs more prayer, it is the Pope for it is not easy to be the leader of the Catholic Church. There are so many things that I would like to thank the Pope.  I thank him for giving us Filipinos our second saint - St. Pedro Calungsod .  I thank him for showing us on how to live a simple life in accordance to God's holy wil...

Pope Benedict XVI shocked Catholics around the world when he announced on February 11, 2013, Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes that he is resigning as Pope on February 28, 2013. Full text of Pope's declaration Dear Brothers, I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church.  After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.  I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering.   Read more  

Deuteronomy 4: 15-19 -  You saw no form at all on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire.  Be strictly on your guard, therefore, not to degrade yourselves by fashioning an idol to represent any figure, whether it be the form of a man or a woman, of any animal on the earth or of any bird that flies in the sky, of anything that crawls on the ground or of any fish in the waters under the earth. And when you look up to the heavens and behold the sun or the moon or any star among the heavenly hosts, do not be led astray into adoring them and serving them.  These the Lord, your God, has let fall to the lot of all other nations under the heavens. Why were the Jews forbidden in Deuteronomy to make images? Because being corrupt and stiff-necked, they had a strong tendency to worship the idol rather than God.  Looking up at the sky, they were easily enticed to worship the stars.  God's prohibition is like forbidding an alcoholic to touch w...

The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus  which means "coming or arrival". Advent is a time of preparation for Christmas.  It is composed of four Sundays in which the fourth and last Sunday is the Sunday before Christmas.   Advent  has a penitential spirit similar to that of Lent.   The liturgical theme during Advent is the preparation for Christ's Second Coming which is called the Parousia.    Advent is symbolized by an Advent Wreath, which is made of evergreen branches formed into a circle or any green leaves (in the absence of evergreen branches) that can be formed into a circle, and four candles - three violet or purple  candles and one pink candle which are inserted into the branches.  A candle is lit every Sunday until all four candles are lit on the fourth Sunday of Advent.  The pink candle is lit on the third Sunday of Advent, which is also called Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is a Latin word which means "Rejoice"....

It is said that the devil, first, attacked the early church from without through persecution.  But failing in this he changed his strategy.  This time he attacked from within through heresies.  The saints fought the heresies; while Holy Mother church protected her flock through Ecumenical Councils. By the 3rd century, the church existed in relative calm and in some parts, even in luxury.  There was much time for everything specially for speculative theology.  Instead of being concerned with how to live holy lives, people were speculating on the nature of God.  The Hierarchy begun to enter into politics and Emperors begun to manipulate the hierarchy. The church became splintered into several groups. St. Jerome observed: that one day the whole world woke up to find itself Arian, a heresy propagated by the priest, Arius, and backed up by a bishop, Eusebius. Before the church could win her battle against the heresy of the priest Arius, a bishop, Ne...

What is genuine devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary? 1.  True devotion to Mary is interior - it comes from within the heart and mind and follows from the love we bear her. 2.  True devotion to Mary is trustful - it fills us with confidence in the Blessed Virgin Mary, just like the confidence of a child for its mother. 3.  True devotion to Mary is holy - it leads us to avoid sin and to imitate the virtues of Mary. 4.  True devotion to Mary is constant - it is guided by faith and not by feelings.  It strengthens our desire to lead good Christian lives. 5.  True devotion to Mary is disinterested - it inspires us to seek God in His Blessed Mother and not ourselves.  Mary's true devotees serve her out of love and not for selfish gain. Source: From the book  True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary             Author:  St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Do you have a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary?  If so, what kind of devotion do you have?  According to St. Louis Marie de Montfort in his book True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary , there are seven kinds of false devotions. 1.  Critical devotees - are those who do not have a clear devotion to Mary.  They criticize all those forms of Marian devotions and practices that do not appeal to them.  They hardly believe or question the truths of the miracles that are attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 2.  Scrupulous devotees - are those who consider devotion to Mary as separate from devotion to Jesus.  They consider devotion to Mary as an offense to Jesus. 3.  Superficial devotees - are devotees who do not have an interior devotion to Mary.  Their devotion consists only of the external practices. 4. Presumptuous devotees - are devotees who continue to live in sin thinking that God will accept t...