I got this from Lady Rose's blog.
Isn't that awesome!?!? I am so going to get a T-shirt and do that!!!!
Showing posts with label Mary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mary. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
More stuff on Mary and the Catholic Church
I would like to thank Earwen for asking a question on Saint Dominic; because it caused me to do some research and I found out that I was wrong in my information. Our belief that Mary appeared to St. Dominic is based on tradition. So, this article should clear up my mistake:
Of the many forms of devotion to Our Lady, there are some which have been especially recommended by the Church. Devotions which involve the use of physical objects are not superstitious, because these objects are not thought to have any power in themselves. Rather, they are external aids to interior devotion to the Mother of God.
An especially great Marian devotion is the Rosary. There is an ancient tradition that St. Dominic received the Rosary from Our Lady in an apparition at Prouille in 1206 A.D. as a weapon against the Albigensian heresy. What is entirely certain is that in one way or another, numerous Popes have spoken of St. Dominic as author of the Rosary, without pronouncing on the authenticity of the Prouille vision. They have strongly recommended the Rosary. Vatican II in its Constitution on the Church # 67 wrote that whatever the Church has ever recommended in Marian devotion should still be considered of great importance. Not long after, Pope Paul VI in his Encyclical Christi Matris Rosarii pointed out that that statement obviously included the Rosary. Countless are the favors individuals have experienced through the Rosary. The whole Church benefited especially when in October 1571, Pope St. Pius V announced that the Christian fleet had won a decisive victory over the Muslim fleet at Lepanto in the Gulf of Corinth. The Muslims were trying to take over all Europe. The Pope explicitly attributed that victory to Rosary processions being held the day of the victory; in addition, every man on the Christian flagship had been given a Rosary before the battle. Our Lady at Lourdes and at Fatima called for a great increase in the prayer of the Rosary, declaring it one of the conditions needed for world peace and the conversion of Russia.
Okay, now that I have that cleared up, I would like to address her original question: How was it proven that Saint Dominic appeared.
Well, to begin with, it was Mary that appeared to St. Dominic. Secondly…….there is a lot of information. ;)
In order to understand how the Church has the authority to say that an apparition is authentic and be sure that they aren’t wrong (Papal Infallibility) can be read here: http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/papac2.htm
And to understand how the Church decides if an apparition or private revelation is authentic can be read here: "Apparitions/Private Revelations"
Have fun reading!!
Of the many forms of devotion to Our Lady, there are some which have been especially recommended by the Church. Devotions which involve the use of physical objects are not superstitious, because these objects are not thought to have any power in themselves. Rather, they are external aids to interior devotion to the Mother of God.
An especially great Marian devotion is the Rosary. There is an ancient tradition that St. Dominic received the Rosary from Our Lady in an apparition at Prouille in 1206 A.D. as a weapon against the Albigensian heresy. What is entirely certain is that in one way or another, numerous Popes have spoken of St. Dominic as author of the Rosary, without pronouncing on the authenticity of the Prouille vision. They have strongly recommended the Rosary. Vatican II in its Constitution on the Church # 67 wrote that whatever the Church has ever recommended in Marian devotion should still be considered of great importance. Not long after, Pope Paul VI in his Encyclical Christi Matris Rosarii pointed out that that statement obviously included the Rosary. Countless are the favors individuals have experienced through the Rosary. The whole Church benefited especially when in October 1571, Pope St. Pius V announced that the Christian fleet had won a decisive victory over the Muslim fleet at Lepanto in the Gulf of Corinth. The Muslims were trying to take over all Europe. The Pope explicitly attributed that victory to Rosary processions being held the day of the victory; in addition, every man on the Christian flagship had been given a Rosary before the battle. Our Lady at Lourdes and at Fatima called for a great increase in the prayer of the Rosary, declaring it one of the conditions needed for world peace and the conversion of Russia.
Okay, now that I have that cleared up, I would like to address her original question: How was it proven that Saint Dominic appeared.
Well, to begin with, it was Mary that appeared to St. Dominic. Secondly…….there is a lot of information. ;)
In order to understand how the Church has the authority to say that an apparition is authentic and be sure that they aren’t wrong (Papal Infallibility) can be read here: http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/papac2.htm
And to understand how the Church decides if an apparition or private revelation is authentic can be read here: "Apparitions/Private Revelations"
Have fun reading!!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Mary and the Rosary
Hey all!! This is a post dedicated on the Rosary and Mary since the month of May is dedicated to her.
Now, someone recently asked me, "How do we know that the Rosary is most pleasing to Mary?" Well, the Rosary is the most renowned Catholic prayer, because it was given to us by Mary herself. Mary (and this has been approved by the Church) appeared to St. Dominic and gave him the Rosary. She has constantly told us in her apparitions through the ages, to pray the Rosary.
Just so you know and aren’t confused about Catholics praying the Rosary to Mary, we aren’t really praying to her. When we “pray” to her, we are simply asking her to take our intentions to her Son, Jesus. Just like we ask our friends and family members to pray for us, how much more good will it do us to ask His mother to pray for us? Just like at the Wedding Feast in Cana, Mary saw that help was needed, so she asked Jesus to do something about it. And even though he didn’t feel ready, what did she say? She turned to the servants and said, “Do whatever He tells you.” Out of obedience and love for Mary, Jesus preformed His first public miracle of turning the water to wine. (John 2:1-11) In the olden days, when you really needed something granted from the king, you know what people would do? They would go around to the king’s mother, the queen, and ask her to intercede for you. What son does not love his mother? And what Son would not honor the special request of the mother who bore Him?
Basically, the Rosary is praying the Gospels. We meditate on the Gospel events and mysteries. For instance, when we pray the Luminous Mysteries we meditate on Our Lord's public life: His baptism in the River Jordan, the Wedding Feast in Cana where he preformed His public miracle, the preaching of the Kingdom of God, the Transfiguration, and the Last Supper. And the prayers that we say on the beads of the Rosary (the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be) are taken from passages in the Bible and on faith.
One last note about Mary for all you who love our Lord’s love letter to us, the Bible: "And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women…” (Luke. 1:28) and "And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43)
God bless you all!!!
Now, someone recently asked me, "How do we know that the Rosary is most pleasing to Mary?" Well, the Rosary is the most renowned Catholic prayer, because it was given to us by Mary herself. Mary (and this has been approved by the Church) appeared to St. Dominic and gave him the Rosary. She has constantly told us in her apparitions through the ages, to pray the Rosary.
Just so you know and aren’t confused about Catholics praying the Rosary to Mary, we aren’t really praying to her. When we “pray” to her, we are simply asking her to take our intentions to her Son, Jesus. Just like we ask our friends and family members to pray for us, how much more good will it do us to ask His mother to pray for us? Just like at the Wedding Feast in Cana, Mary saw that help was needed, so she asked Jesus to do something about it. And even though he didn’t feel ready, what did she say? She turned to the servants and said, “Do whatever He tells you.” Out of obedience and love for Mary, Jesus preformed His first public miracle of turning the water to wine. (John 2:1-11) In the olden days, when you really needed something granted from the king, you know what people would do? They would go around to the king’s mother, the queen, and ask her to intercede for you. What son does not love his mother? And what Son would not honor the special request of the mother who bore Him?
Basically, the Rosary is praying the Gospels. We meditate on the Gospel events and mysteries. For instance, when we pray the Luminous Mysteries we meditate on Our Lord's public life: His baptism in the River Jordan, the Wedding Feast in Cana where he preformed His public miracle, the preaching of the Kingdom of God, the Transfiguration, and the Last Supper. And the prayers that we say on the beads of the Rosary (the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be) are taken from passages in the Bible and on faith.
One last note about Mary for all you who love our Lord’s love letter to us, the Bible: "And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women…” (Luke. 1:28) and "And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43)
God bless you all!!!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Medjugorje
Dear Readers,
I recently read a post on a Catholic blog that disturbed me so here is my reply to that post:
Dear Grace,
I recently read your post titled “Our Lady of Medjugorje is FAKE! -Why?”, and I was deeply concerned and disturbed, because my family firmly believes in the apparitions of the Blessed Mother in Medjugorje, and I would like to correct some of the information in your post, and at the same time tell you why I believe in Our Lady of Medjugorje.
First of all, no Pope has ever proclaimed Medjugorje fake. It’s a fact. No where is there a written document or proclamation, from the Vatican, condemning Medjugorje or prohibiting private pilgrimages. Proof: “When, some time ago, the news was spread that Vatican had forbidden pilgrimages to Medjugorje, the spokesman of the Holy See Joaquin Navarro-Valls declared: ‘You cannot say people cannot go there until it has been proven false. This has not been said, so anyone can go if they want.’” (Catholic News Service 21.8.1996.)
One thing you said was: “In 1985 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – now Pope Benedict – banned pilgrimages to the site, but this has been widely ignored.” First of all, Cardinal Ratzinger never banned pilgrimages; and even if he had, he had no authority to, since he was not the Pope, and not even the bishop of the area! As a matter of fact, he spoke positively about it: “Concerning Medjugorje, the Cardinal – now the Pope – Joseph Ratzinger spoke very positively about it in his book if interviews “Zur Lage des Glaubens” published in 1986. There is an interview about the situation of faith in the Church and in the world, where he speaks positively about Medjugorje as a place of prayer, a place where people are converted, spurred by Mary, our Mother.”
Another reason to believe in Medjugorje is that our most beloved, Pope John Paul II supported it. In a private conversation with the visionary Mirjana Soldo the Pope said: "If I were not Pope I would already be in Medjugorje confessing.”(1987) Also, in Feb. 1995, Pope John Paul II, in response to a question asked by the Archbishop of Asuncion, La Paz, Bolivia, said "Authorize everything that regards Medjugorje.” In addition, he said, "Medjugorje is a great center of spirituality.” This was the Holy Father's comment during a February 1990 conversation, as reported by Bishop Murilo Krieger, Auxiliary Bishop of Florianopolis, Brazil, made prior to His Grace's fourth Medjugorje pilgrimage. The Holy Father assented to Bishop Krieger's request and gave his papal blessing to the visionaries (National Catholic Register, April 29, 1990). Now if Pope John Paul II gave his Papal blessing to the visionaries, that’s enough to convince me it is authentic!
One last reason involves a personal experience by my mom. My family was attending a Medjugorje Conference in California, and Our Lady was appearing to Ivan Dragicevic in a room (and my dad was working as security, so he was blessed to be in the room at the time). A crowd was around the door to the room (my sister and I were right by the door and my mom was about 20-30 feet away), and when a lady opened the door (from the inside) to tell the crowd that Mary was appearing, my mom “felt a cool, fresh breeze of air and smelled roses”. My mom looked around quickly and no roses were anywhere in sight, and since it passed so suddenly, it was not perfume, and she even asked a person next to her if he smelt roses, to which he replied, “No.” And I will have you know that my mom has an extremely sensitive nose! My sister also smelt the roses. So, there is first hand proof of Mary appearing to one of the visionaries, Ivan.
Now, if you still decide not to believe in the apparitions of Medjugorje, that’s fine, but please do not write, proclaim, or say that it is false! Until the Vatican has made an official statement that Medjugorje is false, people are allowed to believe in and make pilgrimages to Medjugorje!
Thank you and God bless,
Victoria M.
___________________________
May I humbly submit to you that we avoid the criticism of spiritual events which have affected so many thousands of lives with a deeper faith; the evil one is active at moments of great grace. Our Lord tells us you shall know a tree by its fruit: look at the great fruit of Medjugorje!! No example you can give hides the great light of grace which has illuminated thousands of changed lives turned to Christ. If there are any dark shadows, clouds of misunderstanding, the dust of doubt, the evil one is surely there. Beware! Be sure of your sources of information, and avoid a spirit of critical judgment which tears down and gives scandal. Sometimes we seek to spread truth and stop what we perceive as error, but we might be in fact spreading error and stifling God’s great work. Pray for a spirit of understanding and read for yourself the sweet messages of your Mother calling her children to a greater faith in her Son.
God bless,
Vicki’s Mom
I recently read a post on a Catholic blog that disturbed me so here is my reply to that post:
Dear Grace,
I recently read your post titled “Our Lady of Medjugorje is FAKE! -Why?”, and I was deeply concerned and disturbed, because my family firmly believes in the apparitions of the Blessed Mother in Medjugorje, and I would like to correct some of the information in your post, and at the same time tell you why I believe in Our Lady of Medjugorje.
First of all, no Pope has ever proclaimed Medjugorje fake. It’s a fact. No where is there a written document or proclamation, from the Vatican, condemning Medjugorje or prohibiting private pilgrimages. Proof: “When, some time ago, the news was spread that Vatican had forbidden pilgrimages to Medjugorje, the spokesman of the Holy See Joaquin Navarro-Valls declared: ‘You cannot say people cannot go there until it has been proven false. This has not been said, so anyone can go if they want.’” (Catholic News Service 21.8.1996.)
One thing you said was: “In 1985 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – now Pope Benedict – banned pilgrimages to the site, but this has been widely ignored.” First of all, Cardinal Ratzinger never banned pilgrimages; and even if he had, he had no authority to, since he was not the Pope, and not even the bishop of the area! As a matter of fact, he spoke positively about it: “Concerning Medjugorje, the Cardinal – now the Pope – Joseph Ratzinger spoke very positively about it in his book if interviews “Zur Lage des Glaubens” published in 1986. There is an interview about the situation of faith in the Church and in the world, where he speaks positively about Medjugorje as a place of prayer, a place where people are converted, spurred by Mary, our Mother.”
Another reason to believe in Medjugorje is that our most beloved, Pope John Paul II supported it. In a private conversation with the visionary Mirjana Soldo the Pope said: "If I were not Pope I would already be in Medjugorje confessing.”(1987) Also, in Feb. 1995, Pope John Paul II, in response to a question asked by the Archbishop of Asuncion, La Paz, Bolivia, said "Authorize everything that regards Medjugorje.” In addition, he said, "Medjugorje is a great center of spirituality.” This was the Holy Father's comment during a February 1990 conversation, as reported by Bishop Murilo Krieger, Auxiliary Bishop of Florianopolis, Brazil, made prior to His Grace's fourth Medjugorje pilgrimage. The Holy Father assented to Bishop Krieger's request and gave his papal blessing to the visionaries (National Catholic Register, April 29, 1990). Now if Pope John Paul II gave his Papal blessing to the visionaries, that’s enough to convince me it is authentic!
One last reason involves a personal experience by my mom. My family was attending a Medjugorje Conference in California, and Our Lady was appearing to Ivan Dragicevic in a room (and my dad was working as security, so he was blessed to be in the room at the time). A crowd was around the door to the room (my sister and I were right by the door and my mom was about 20-30 feet away), and when a lady opened the door (from the inside) to tell the crowd that Mary was appearing, my mom “felt a cool, fresh breeze of air and smelled roses”. My mom looked around quickly and no roses were anywhere in sight, and since it passed so suddenly, it was not perfume, and she even asked a person next to her if he smelt roses, to which he replied, “No.” And I will have you know that my mom has an extremely sensitive nose! My sister also smelt the roses. So, there is first hand proof of Mary appearing to one of the visionaries, Ivan.
Now, if you still decide not to believe in the apparitions of Medjugorje, that’s fine, but please do not write, proclaim, or say that it is false! Until the Vatican has made an official statement that Medjugorje is false, people are allowed to believe in and make pilgrimages to Medjugorje!
Thank you and God bless,
Victoria M.
___________________________
May I humbly submit to you that we avoid the criticism of spiritual events which have affected so many thousands of lives with a deeper faith; the evil one is active at moments of great grace. Our Lord tells us you shall know a tree by its fruit: look at the great fruit of Medjugorje!! No example you can give hides the great light of grace which has illuminated thousands of changed lives turned to Christ. If there are any dark shadows, clouds of misunderstanding, the dust of doubt, the evil one is surely there. Beware! Be sure of your sources of information, and avoid a spirit of critical judgment which tears down and gives scandal. Sometimes we seek to spread truth and stop what we perceive as error, but we might be in fact spreading error and stifling God’s great work. Pray for a spirit of understanding and read for yourself the sweet messages of your Mother calling her children to a greater faith in her Son.
God bless,
Vicki’s Mom
Monday, June 2, 2008
Catholic Info
Hey everyone! Now that I have a blog I can share with people some things about my beloved faith.....and now is the time! Here are some thoughts (and facts) to start with:
The Eucharist: The Catholic faith is centered around the Eucharist; which we believe is truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. If a Catholic doesn't believe that, he/she has no right calling themselves a Catholic; as Fr. John Corapi says, "If you do not believe what we [the Church] believe, then you are a heretic!" Without the Eucharist we would be any other Protestant religion. How do we know that it is Jesus in that tiny host and not just bread? "Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.' "(Luke 22: 19) Did you get that? He didn't say "this represents my body", or "pass crackers around on Sunday in imitation of this." No. He said, "This is my body...do this in memory of me."! We are ultimately blessed to have Christ at our disposal everyday of the year, except Good Friday. We can never appreciate or fully conceive Who we are receiving..it is so awesome!
Where we came from: There is a Catholic T-shirt that says, "Who started your Church?" Jesus started ours and other Christian faiths have sprung from it. Martin Luther started the Lutheran Church, Chuck Smith started Calvary Chapel, and I believe it was John Smyth who started the Baptist church. Why after hundreds of years after Jesus Christ would these persons feel that they were "called" to start the true church? Jesus started the Catholic Church, nobody else. We know it is the true Church because we have the four marks: one-holy-apostolic-catholic (universal). We are one: because we profess the same faith, have the same sacrifice, and sacraments, and are united under one and the same invisible head (Jesus) and visible head (the pope; the Vicar of Christ); we are holy: the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ (who is all holy), and because it teaches holy doctrines (under the Holy Spirit), and provides the means of leading a holy life; our Church also gave the world its saints; we are apostolic: we can trace its origins to the apostles; and we are catholic/universal: because we are destined to last for all time, it never fails to fulfill the divine commandment to teach all nations all the truths revealed by God.
The Pope: What other church has a pope to lead them? The pope, whoever he is, is not perfect, he is human just like anyone else but we are guaranteed by Jesus Christ that the pope would never be wrong in matters of Faith and Morals. (Matthew 16: 18-19) He is our spiritual father who guides the people of the Church. Some people say that the Pope is rich because he surrounded by such wealth, this is not true because when a man is ordained, he takes a vow of poverty. All those riches you see belong to the Church, not the pope.
Mary: Protestants say that Catholics worship Mary, and that we deny that we worship her when asked about it. Well, duh! We deny it because we do not worship Mary!!!! We honor her, we don't worship her, because that would be idolatry. Protestants treat Mary as a nobody. Why? How could you not honor the one woman on earth chosen to carry within her, hold, and raise God. Mary was free from original sin. Why? Because how could the Almighty, Divine God be conceived into an imperfect being, who is blemished by sin? She had to be perfect and pure. Mary is our spiritual Mother who helps us reach heaven; she intercedes for us to her Son, and what true Son does not honor his mother's request? (the Wedding Feast at Cana [John 2: 3-8] ) People question why we have statues and pictures of Mary and the saints in our homes. Well, we have them there to remind us of them; it is just like carrying a picture of your friends or family members in your wallet or having their picture up on the wall.
(Reference for this post: Baltimore Catechism and the Bible)
Well, that is all for now folks! God bless you all.
The Eucharist: The Catholic faith is centered around the Eucharist; which we believe is truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. If a Catholic doesn't believe that, he/she has no right calling themselves a Catholic; as Fr. John Corapi says, "If you do not believe what we [the Church] believe, then you are a heretic!" Without the Eucharist we would be any other Protestant religion. How do we know that it is Jesus in that tiny host and not just bread? "Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.' "(Luke 22: 19) Did you get that? He didn't say "this represents my body", or "pass crackers around on Sunday in imitation of this." No. He said, "This is my body...do this in memory of me."! We are ultimately blessed to have Christ at our disposal everyday of the year, except Good Friday. We can never appreciate or fully conceive Who we are receiving..it is so awesome!
Where we came from: There is a Catholic T-shirt that says, "Who started your Church?" Jesus started ours and other Christian faiths have sprung from it. Martin Luther started the Lutheran Church, Chuck Smith started Calvary Chapel, and I believe it was John Smyth who started the Baptist church. Why after hundreds of years after Jesus Christ would these persons feel that they were "called" to start the true church? Jesus started the Catholic Church, nobody else. We know it is the true Church because we have the four marks: one-holy-apostolic-catholic (universal). We are one: because we profess the same faith, have the same sacrifice, and sacraments, and are united under one and the same invisible head (Jesus) and visible head (the pope; the Vicar of Christ); we are holy: the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ (who is all holy), and because it teaches holy doctrines (under the Holy Spirit), and provides the means of leading a holy life; our Church also gave the world its saints; we are apostolic: we can trace its origins to the apostles; and we are catholic/universal: because we are destined to last for all time, it never fails to fulfill the divine commandment to teach all nations all the truths revealed by God.
The Pope: What other church has a pope to lead them? The pope, whoever he is, is not perfect, he is human just like anyone else but we are guaranteed by Jesus Christ that the pope would never be wrong in matters of Faith and Morals. (Matthew 16: 18-19) He is our spiritual father who guides the people of the Church. Some people say that the Pope is rich because he surrounded by such wealth, this is not true because when a man is ordained, he takes a vow of poverty. All those riches you see belong to the Church, not the pope.
Mary: Protestants say that Catholics worship Mary, and that we deny that we worship her when asked about it. Well, duh! We deny it because we do not worship Mary!!!! We honor her, we don't worship her, because that would be idolatry. Protestants treat Mary as a nobody. Why? How could you not honor the one woman on earth chosen to carry within her, hold, and raise God. Mary was free from original sin. Why? Because how could the Almighty, Divine God be conceived into an imperfect being, who is blemished by sin? She had to be perfect and pure. Mary is our spiritual Mother who helps us reach heaven; she intercedes for us to her Son, and what true Son does not honor his mother's request? (the Wedding Feast at Cana [John 2: 3-8] ) People question why we have statues and pictures of Mary and the saints in our homes. Well, we have them there to remind us of them; it is just like carrying a picture of your friends or family members in your wallet or having their picture up on the wall.
(Reference for this post: Baltimore Catechism and the Bible)
Well, that is all for now folks! God bless you all.
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