tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89349011899331164892024-03-21T07:40:43.302-04:00Domenic MarandoDomenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.comBlogger138125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-22324651574322611652018-05-22T13:57:00.001-04:002018-05-23T12:05:10.858-04:00Life Canvass in Ireland: Helping to "Save the 8th" <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nzbGclNGm2A/WwJhr3EV59I/AAAAAAAAFV0/fW01yEsfPPIDbCeyM12KjNuqfo59Jja1gCLcBGAs/s1600/lifecanvass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of canvassers in Ireland helping to save the unborn and ensure a "No" vote on May 25." border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="1600" height="362" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nzbGclNGm2A/WwJhr3EV59I/AAAAAAAAFV0/fW01yEsfPPIDbCeyM12KjNuqfo59Jja1gCLcBGAs/s640/lifecanvass.jpg" title="Canvassers in Ireland helping to save the unborn and ensure a "No" vote on May 25." width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Canvassers of Life Canvass helping save the unborn and ensure a "No" note on May 25. Photo: Twitter/<a href="https://twitter.com/Savethe8thInfo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Savethe8th</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In only a few days' time, on May 25, Ireland will vote on a referendum on whether or not to repeal the Eighth Amendment of its constitution: the pro-life provision that prevents the killing of a developing human being in the womb. Among many of the faithful Catholics who are fighting the good fight to ensure that the referendum results in a "No" vote are the folks of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.save8.ie/life-canvass/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Life Canvass</a></span></span>: a nationwide awareness effort of volunteers who travel from door-to-door having conversations, discussing the issues, answering questions, and disseminating information.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Life Canvass, now three years in the running, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">has yielded some impressive results. </span>As noted on the <a href="https://www.save8.ie/monster-canvass/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Save Lives Save the 8th</a> website, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Life Canvass</span> is the biggest grass roots movement in living memory with almost 3,000 canvassers grouped into 146 teams</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> spread out in counties across Ireland. To date, 95% of Limerick has been canvassed and teams in Mullingar and Mayo are busy at it as well, canvassing seven days a week! And if that isn't impressive enough, the website went on to further report that, "</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The
target of reaching 700,000 homes will be exceeded and every one of those
powerful personal conversations is shifting more and more people to a
No vote." </span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The daily effort of this extraordinary group of people</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span>has revealed just how essential their work has been and continues to be in the remaining days leading up to the referendum: many of those canvassed were undecided due to a lack of information. To remedy that canvassers have been properly informing citizens with the truth about the referendum: the facts about what happens to a baby when an abortion occurs; that the referendum is a "stepping stone" to abortion available on demand, that if passed would include the killing of babies identified with any "defects"; that everyone has the right to life; the killing of a human being in the womb can never be considered acceptable under any circumstances; the negative ramifications of abortion upon women and society; and how abortion could negatively impact Ireland for generations to come.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Part of the effort to disseminate information also includes the Protect The 8th's</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> green booklet, <a href="https://www.protectthe8th.ie/governments-proposals/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Your Guide to the Referendum: Information on the Government’s Proposals</i></a>: an essential reading for anyone that seeks to fully understand what a "Yes" or "No" vote would mean for women and their unborn children.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-arn23LZkUw8/WwLxEZvj39I/AAAAAAAAFWs/vzGMHynJax8ClcxJPsApcT3WrL98lGoYwCLcBGAs/s1600/lifecanvass-roscommon-mayo2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A captured video frame of canvassers out in Roscommon and Mayo" border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="1300" height="384" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-arn23LZkUw8/WwLxEZvj39I/AAAAAAAAFWs/vzGMHynJax8ClcxJPsApcT3WrL98lGoYwCLcBGAs/s640/lifecanvass-roscommon-mayo2.png" title="Canvassers out in Roscommon and Mayo" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Canvassers out in Roscommon and Mayo. Photo: thejournal.ie/<a href="http://www.thejournal.ie/roscommon-east-mayo-eighth-amendment-1983-2018-3992222-May2018/?utm_source=shortlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">8 out of 10 voters in this area backed the Eighth Amendment in '83. We went to talk to locals this week</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Admittedly, I am very impressed with Life Canvass!</span> I have been following this campaign for several months on Twitter and I cannot help but think of Saint John Paul II's Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_30121988_christifideles-laici.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Christifideles Laici</i></a>, on the vocation and mission of the lay faithful in the Church and in the World, in which he wrote, "</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A new state of affairs today both in the Church and in social, economic,
political and cultural life, calls with a particular urgency for the
action of the lay faithful. If lack of commitment is always
unacceptable, the present time renders it even more so. <i>It is not permissible for anyone to remain idle.</i>" (3)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Released in 1988, on the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, <i>Christifideles Laici</i>, is more relevant today </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">given <a href="http://voiceofthefamily.com/irelands-tragic-abandonment-of-catholic-teaching/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ireland's tragic abandonment of Catholic teaching</a> that has resulted in a moral disorder: </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">contraceptive devices and birth control pills have been available for decades; a 1992 referendum </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">resulted in the option for women to travel to
another country (England) in order to have an abortion, as well as the
availability of information regarding abortion "services" in other
countries; </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in 1995, Ireland's ban on divorce was removed through another referendum; and </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the referendum of 2015, ushered in "same-sex marriage."</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">O</span></span></span></span>n May 25, the government, supported by mainstream media and </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">with the backing of wealthy foreign donors and organizations like Amnesty International, seeks to usher in a Culture of Death with the repeal referendum</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, which if passed would essentially amount to abortion available on demand.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BaZlCRGJRpE/WwL0gfh32CI/AAAAAAAAFW4/I1UmVuQEGwUhcKYjVdrgzALsH7nVY1kzgCLcBGAs/s1600/lifecanvass-du%25CC%2581nlaoghaire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A video frame capturing canvassers out in the coastal suburb of Dún Laoghaire" border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="1300" height="384" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BaZlCRGJRpE/WwL0gfh32CI/AAAAAAAAFW4/I1UmVuQEGwUhcKYjVdrgzALsH7nVY1kzgCLcBGAs/s640/lifecanvass-du%25CC%2581nlaoghaire.jpg" title="Canvassers out in the coastal suburb of Dún Laoghaire" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Canvassers out in the coastal suburb of Dún Laoghaire. Photo: thejournal.ie/<a href="http://www.thejournal.ie/dun-laoghaire-south-dublin-1983-2018-abortion-referendum-3994883-May2018/?utm_source=story" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Anti-amendment Dún Laoghaire bucked the national trend in '83. We went to talk to locals this week</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There are many faithful in Ireland who have not remained idle! With the understanding of the gravity of what a "Yes" vote would mean for the unborn and the future of Ireland, thousands of faithful Catholics have been putting faith into action, doing their part to </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Save the 8th" on a national level: the <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/11/irelands-rosary-on-coast-for-life-and.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith</a> on November </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">26, 2017; the <a href="https://rallyforlife.net/march-save-8th/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rally For Life</a> event just a couple of months ago on March 10 in Dublin; the <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2018/02/rosary-at-mass-rock-for-life-and-faith.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rosary at the Mass Rock For Life and Faith</a> that followed on March 18; 40 Days/Nights Eucharist Reparation; 54 Day Rosary for Life; Eucharistic Adoration and Mass; public, private and parish vigils; fasts on bread and water (Wednesday and Friday); and novenas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Life Canvass spotlights in a unique way just how committed the faithful in Ireland are to protecting and defending the unborn: individuals who brave all types of weather conditions, fight off fatigue, discouragement and other temptations, and do so on a daily basis (some for more than two years) canvassing counties across the nation, including at times hostile territory. With Life Canvass, the division within Ireland over abortion and the anger among some of the citizenry is directly felt by canvassers. And some take the "heat" with great patience and perseverance, knowing full well, that it is part of the battle. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It
is no small matter to publicly engage people in an awareness campaign: it can drain one both physically and emotionally, especially when confronted with verbal abuse and aggression.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p3OdVoefZxI/WwJksrFiVxI/AAAAAAAAFWM/J8U_MbnSK2c-_1bTDM9_46XPLNYTDlP-ACLcBGAs/s1600/lifecanvass-wexford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A small group of canvassers in County Wexford." border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p3OdVoefZxI/WwJksrFiVxI/AAAAAAAAFWM/J8U_MbnSK2c-_1bTDM9_46XPLNYTDlP-ACLcBGAs/s640/lifecanvass-wexford.jpg" title="Canvassers in County Wexford." width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Life Canvass in County Wexford. <span class="st">Photo: </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Twitter/<a href="https://twitter.com/Savethe8thInfo/status/997141208215498753" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Savethe8th</a></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Canvassers are fighting the good fight for the unborn and are doing so enthusiastically and undeterred with the hope that their actions, united to prayer, will draw God's Divine Intervention and Mercy upon the nation to uproot and remove the moral disorder among the landscape and restore Ireland to a Culture of Life.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Life Canvass demonstrates openly and publicly what faith put into action looks like, highlighting in the process the scriptural passage from James: </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What good is faith that does nothing in practice, it is thoroughly lifeless. (James 2:17)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In addition to being informed on the issues of abortion, canvassing also requires being knowledgeable of what the Catholic Church teaches about the killing of an innocent developing human being in the womb, and drawing from that teaching during each conversation. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By doing so, the faithful Catholics of Life Canvass are demonstrating by their witness the importance of what we as Catholics are called to do: evangelize. Evangelization as Blessed Pope Paul VI put it in his Apostolic Exhortation <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_p-vi_exh_19751208_evangelii-nuntiandi.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Evangelii Nuntiandi</i></a>, "...[I]s in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity." (14)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4TyWPQtv5HG9XeS0J6j5zgkXYrBirYeje7usWmbRf4mHMPqSHg6kRd4OX1rdLf_Hy0AVarzZQ8cpa_4FbbhCrdVqr5QYrgGpIEnAOD5v1BtZAKJpzBF8DyaGsKTIQnJ5zQyf1qaLUfY/s1600/lifecanvass-sligo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of canvassers knocking on doors in the town of Sligo" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4TyWPQtv5HG9XeS0J6j5zgkXYrBirYeje7usWmbRf4mHMPqSHg6kRd4OX1rdLf_Hy0AVarzZQ8cpa_4FbbhCrdVqr5QYrgGpIEnAOD5v1BtZAKJpzBF8DyaGsKTIQnJ5zQyf1qaLUfY/s640/lifecanvass-sligo.jpg" title="Canvassers knocking on doors in the town of Sligo" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Canvassers knocking on doors in the town of Sligo. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="st">Photo: </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="st"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Twitter/<a href="https://twitter.com/Savethe8thInfo/status/997143028383956993" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Savethe8th</a></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Blessed Pope Paul VI's successor, St. John Paul II, responded to that vocation with a distinctive and efficacious missionary zeal. Not only did </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">St. John Paul II</span> publicly expose the evil of abortion on numerous occasions, but he dedicated an entire encyclical on the value and inviolability of human life and the many threats to it entitled, <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Evangelium vitae</i></a> (Gospel of life). Particularly noteworthy is section fifty-eight which helps to explain why many Catholics are no longer aware and do not understand the truth about abortion, and why the government has even bothered to hold a referendum:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable. The Second Vatican Council defines abortion, together with infanticide, as an "unspeakable crime". [</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Gaudium et Spes</i></a>, 51]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But today, in many people's consciences, the perception of its gravity has become progressively obscured. The acceptance of abortion in the popular mind, in behaviour and even in law itself, is a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, even when the fundamental right to life is at stake. Given such a grave situation, we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception. In this regard the reproach of the Prophet is extremely straightforward: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness" (Is 5:20). Especially in the case of abortion there is a widespread use of ambiguous terminology, such as "interruption of pregnancy", which tends to hide abortion's true nature and to attenuate its seriousness in public opinion. Perhaps this linguistic phenomenon is itself a symptom of an uneasiness of conscience. But no word has the power to change the reality of things: procured abortion is the deliberate and direct killing, by whatever means it is carried out, of a human being in the initial phase of his or her existence, extending from conception to birth. (58)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The truth about abortion is understood by many who are canvassed by Life Canvass. In an article from the Irish News web site Independent.ie, </span><a href="https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/abortion-referendum/knocking-on-doors-in-hostile-territories-what-its-like-to-canvass-for-the-referendum-when-local-voting-trends-are-against-you-36894899.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Knocking on doors in hostile territories: What its like to canvass for the referendum when local voting trends are against you</span></i></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">one such individual, an elderly lady</span> stated to canvassers, "Abortion is murder...It's as simple as that."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That simple point was further spotlighted by Saint John Paul II in the same aforementioned encyclical on the Gospel of Life, when he wrote, "...</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">[I] declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as
a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the
deliberate killing of an innocent human being. (62)<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M-WlifshwjA/WwL5KgTbJYI/AAAAAAAAFXM/3ih6CRbfoCMMzYnNcHIeapL00g_b7boggCLcBGAs/s1600/lifecanvass-galway-roscommon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of young volunteers canvassing in Galway and Roscommon" border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="1482" height="518" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M-WlifshwjA/WwL5KgTbJYI/AAAAAAAAFXM/3ih6CRbfoCMMzYnNcHIeapL00g_b7boggCLcBGAs/s640/lifecanvass-galway-roscommon.jpg" title="Young volunteers canvassing in Galway and Roscommon" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Young volunteers canvassing, standing strong for life in Galway and Roscommon. Photo: Twitter/<a href="https://twitter.com/Savethe8thInfo/status/998547827222597634" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Savethe8th</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If we seek to further understand why the killing of a developing human being in the womb is immoral, we can find it in God's Holy Law, The <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Y.HTM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fifth Commandment</a>, "You Shall Not Kill."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Moreover, human life is sacred! The <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Y.HTM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i></a> explains why this is so</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, "</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative
action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the
Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning
until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right
directly to destroy an innocent human being." (2258) </span></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9o_a_F0tiJU/WwMAKIvk8JI/AAAAAAAAFXY/ui-xjxACV6IAiPhb-aMLpOqltY7hvH7qACLcBGAs/s1600/lifecanvass-tullamore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of new canvassers, including Cllr. Declan Harvey of Fianna Fáil in Tullamore, County Offaly." border="0" data-original-height="1247" data-original-width="1253" height="397" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9o_a_F0tiJU/WwMAKIvk8JI/AAAAAAAAFXY/ui-xjxACV6IAiPhb-aMLpOqltY7hvH7qACLcBGAs/s400/lifecanvass-tullamore.jpg" title="New canvassers, including Cllr. Declan Harvey of Fianna Fáil in Tullamore, County Offaly." width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some of the newest canvassers, including Cllr. Declan Harvey of<br /><span class="st">Fianna Fáil</span> (the Republican Party) handing out Protect The 8th's<br />green referendum booklet, in Tullamore, <span class="section-facts-description-text">County Offaly.<br />Photo: Twitter/<a href="https://twitter.com/lifeinstitute/status/996878470415253504" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Savethe8th</a></span></span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sadly,
there are many Catholics in Ireland that simply do not know, understand or accept God's Holy Law and the sacredness of human life. This reality has been exploited by the </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.togetherforyes.ie/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Together for Yes</a>, the </span></span></span></span>anti-life campaign of the referendum, who have assigned their own canvassers with deceptive facts and leading questions, attempting in the process to justify and rationalize abortion: that abortion should be allowed in the case of rape, incest or if someone was handicapped; emphasizing that Irish women are already having abortions by taking </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">unregulated abortion pills or </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>by traveling to England, that it would be safer for them to kill their unborn children in Ireland; that this referendum is the last chance to legalize abortion in Ireland; that abortion is a "compassionate approach" for anyone who needs it; that a "No" vote result would continue to "endanger" the health and lives of women; and a host of other rationalizations and justifications that attempt to make abortion acceptable in the hearts and minds of the citizenry.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Together For Yes anti-life campaign has even tried to </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> exploit the negligence of the medical staff</span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">at </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="ILfuVd yZ8quc">University Hospital Galway, who were responsible for the controversial death of </span></span></span></span></span>Savita Halappanavar and her baby in 2012, <a href="https://www.togetherforyes.ie/the-facts/your-questions-on-the-referendum/how-has-the-8th-affected-the-lives-of-women-such-as-savita-halappanavar/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">claiming</a> that the Eight Amendment was a contributing factor to her death, </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Even though she was miscarrying and sick, she was refused a termination [abortion] because there was a foetal heartbeat. As a result, she contracted
sepsis and died. If doctors had intervened earlier, the issue of sepsis
would not have arisen and she would not have died." </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The true story about Savita and her baby was captured in a well-made documentary film: </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/S24yxcn379Y" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>A Silent Killer: Savita's Story</i></a>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">None of what the anti-life campaign promotes and disseminates negates the truth about abortion: that it is the killing of a developing human being in the womb and that each human being has a right to life. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And that truth was embodied in the life of <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/01/saint-gianna-beretta-molla-life-of-love.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Saint Gianna Beretta Molla</a>—</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a devout Catholic doctor from Lombardy, Italy, who put God</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> first in everything and allowed her Christian faith to permeate every aspect of life—</span>whose unwavering adherence to God's Holy Law and belief in the sacredness of human life was exemplified by the willing sacrifice of her own life for the life of her unborn child in 1962. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ireland responded very positively to the "Eighth Amendment Referendum" in 1983; a referendum that was held to vote on the inclusion of a <a href="https://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/DOT/eng/Historical_Information/The_Constitution/Constitution_of_Ireland_-_Bunreacht_na_h%C3%89ireann.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">pro-life provision</a> in its constitution—approved by 67% of the population—which states, </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“The
State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard
to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to
respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate
that right.”</span> In a few days time, Ireland will have another opportunity to choose life by keeping the Eighth Amendment, responding once again to St. John Paul II's </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">homily of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">October 1, 1979, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in Limerick:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And so
I say to all, have an absolute and holy respect for the sacredness of
human life from the first moment of its conception. Abortion, as the
Vatican Council stated, is one of the "abominable crimes" (Gaudium et
Spes, 51). To attack unborn life at any moment from its conception is to
undermine the whole moral order which is the true guardian of the
well-being of man. The defence of the absolute inviolability of unborn
life is part of the defence of human rights and human dignity. May
Ireland never weaken in her witness, before Europe and before the whole
world, to the dignity and sacredness of all human life, from conception
until death. (6)</span> </span></span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In that homily St. John Paul II—as part of his <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/travels/1979/travels/documents/trav_ireland.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apostolic Journey to Ireland</a> in 1979, which lasted from September 29 to October 1—demonstrated how seriously he understood the Church's vocation to evangelize. It was a timely "visit" that positively impacted the 1983 referendum. Here is more from that homily:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Lay
people today are called to a strong Christian commitment: to permeate
society with the leaven of the Gospel, for Ireland is at a point of
decision in her history. The Irish people have to choose today their way
forward. Will it be the transformation of all strata of humanity into a
new creation, or the way that many nations have gone, giving excessive
importance to economic growth and material possessions while neglecting
the things of the spirit? The way of substituting a new ethic of
temporal enjoyment for the law of God? The way of false freedom which is
only slavery to decadence? Will it be the way of subjugating the
dignity of the human person to the totalitarian domination of the State?
The way of violent struggle between classes? The way of extolling
revolution over God? </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ireland
must choose. You the present generation of Irish people must decide;
your choice must be clear and your decision firm. Let the voice of your
forefathers, who suffered so much to maintain their faith in Christ and
thus to preserve Ireland's soul, resound today in your ears through the
voice of the Pope when he repeats the words of Christ: "What will it
profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life?" (Mt
16 :26). What would it profit Ireland to go the easy way of the world
and suffer the loss of her own soul? </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(3)</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Your
country seems in a sense to be living again the temptations of Christ:
Ireland is being asked to prefer the "kingdoms of the world and their
splendour" to the Kingdom of God (cf. Mt 4 :8). Satan, the Tempter, the
Adversary of Christ, will use all his might and all his deceptions to
win Ireland for the way of the world. What a victory he would gain, what
a blow he would inflict on the Body of Christ in the world, if he could
seduce Irish men and women away from Christ. Now is the time of testing
for Ireland. This generation is once more a generation of decision. (4)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Keep Life Canvass and Ireland in your Mass, Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, and fasting intentions. Pray for the intercession of St. John Paul II that God's Divine Mercy and Intervention be drawn upon Ireland. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thank God for all the faithful Catholics in Ireland. </span><br />
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<br />Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-73377698868008817972018-05-10T13:40:00.001-04:002021-07-03T14:04:11.723-04:00Australia's Coast to Coast Rosary: For Protection, the Future and its Youth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RUceSA-4_5Y/WvMs_n4ukQI/AAAAAAAAFT4/0Fhl1AYTrbcF6HhtzSh5sozAz_4MUkC8QCLcBGAs/s1600/observatorypoint-lookout-esperance.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of the Observatory Point and Lookout in Esperance, Western Australia" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RUceSA-4_5Y/WvMs_n4ukQI/AAAAAAAAFT4/0Fhl1AYTrbcF6HhtzSh5sozAz_4MUkC8QCLcBGAs/s640/observatorypoint-lookout-esperance.jpeg" title="Observatory Point and Lookout in Esperance, Western Australia" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Observatory Point and Lookout in Esperance, Western Australia. Photo: Australia's Guide/<a href="https://www.australias.guide/wa/attraction-tour/observatory-point-and-lookout/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Observatory Point and Lookout</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">With May being the "Month of Mary," it seemed only fitting to publish today's post on another national Rosary prayer event: the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Coast to Coast Rosary for Australia's Protection, Future and the Youth, given the official title, <a href="https://ozrosary.wixsite.com/ozrosary53" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Oz Rosary #53</a>. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In only a few days time on Sunday, May 13, faithful Catholics throughout Australia will be gathering at the coasts for group recitation of the Rosary, surrounding Australia in prayer to draw upon God's Divine Intervention and Mercy through the intercession of Mary. Those that cannot make it to the coasts will be praying the Rosary within churches, at parks, lookouts and farms. There is even one group from Canberra praying at Black Mountain National Park in Queensland.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This national prayer event is drawing participation from <span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">many clergy, religious and laity including: </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the<a href="http://www.legionofmarywa.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Legion of Mary</a> in Perth; </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the Sisters of Mount Schoenstadt in Mulgoa; </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the Missionary Sisters of Charity in Fortitude Valley</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">; </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Sisters of Mercy in Alma and Camperdown; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Parramatta; </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Cardinal Gilroy Retirement Village Merrylands; </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">schools and pilgrimage centers; </span></span></span></span></span>and a long list of parishes that continues to grow each day as Sunday draws near. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">One cannot help but sense that we are witnessing the beginnings of a global Rosary movement. </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">What started out in </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/10/polands-rosary-at-borders-national.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Poland</a></span> as a national Rosary prayer event in the Fall 2017, was followed by similar national events in Italy, <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/11/irelands-rosary-on-coast-for-life-and.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ireland</a>, and the <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2018/03/rosary-on-coast-for-faith-life-and.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">British Isles</a>. Soon it will be Australia's turn and there is also an <a href="http://rosarycoasttocoast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">American national Rosary event</a> set for October 7, 2018.</span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Jane Chifley, who heads the Australian effort, has acknowledged the special significance of the origins of this "global movement": Poland, the homeland of St. John Paul II, whose love for Mary permeated his entire life and pontificate and who admitted, scarcely two weeks after his election to the See of Peter, that "The Rosary is my favourite prayer."</span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As for the selected date of May 13, Mother's Day in Australia—also the first day of the Marian apparitions to the children of Fatima in 1917—Chifley explained that it seemed appropriate since Mary is our Mother. With this national prayer event falling on a Sunday, it fits well into the schedules of many parishes who have </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">planned group recitation of the Rosary and a Consecration Prayer to Mary either before
or after Mass. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Part of this national initiative's online effort began a few months ago on November 3, 2017, with the initial <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OZROSARY53/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a> post, which reads, "</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">On Sunday May 13th, 2018 (Fatima Feast Day) let's pray the rosary
across Australia for our nation, in 53 locations across the nation for
the protection and consecration of our nation to Mary." </span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The number "fifty-three" represents the Hail Marys of the Rosary and as of the publishing of this post, there are <a href="https://ozrosary.wixsite.com/ozrosary53" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">211 confirmed locations</a> participating in this national event. Although the vast majority of participants will be praying at the east and west coasts there are many other locations that deserve to be mentioned: </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Gantheaume Point in the north-west of Western Australia; Lee Point Beach, the northern</span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">most</span></span> group of participants in the Northern Territory; </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Sacred Heart Church on Thursday Island, the northernmost point in Queensland; </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Good Shepherd Parish in Mount Isa, Queensland; and </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.</span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPETOumG1-jYQueTZL9mFNzoKalNJ2I4MylMkZnZoRSs29vEhYuhFhv37TkDrTA6RsoB8ycOJeGE6VnXg20mzQQuLxf9JpgpDp0OIpphfs8FIrpjTmPF2yBCANctbRpxtwUpKPc402SM8/s1600/thursdayisland.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="An aerial photo of Thursday Island, in the Torres Strait, Queensland." border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPETOumG1-jYQueTZL9mFNzoKalNJ2I4MylMkZnZoRSs29vEhYuhFhv37TkDrTA6RsoB8ycOJeGE6VnXg20mzQQuLxf9JpgpDp0OIpphfs8FIrpjTmPF2yBCANctbRpxtwUpKPc402SM8/s640/thursdayisland.jpg" title="Thursday Island, in the Torres Strait, Queensland." width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Aerial photo of Thursday Island, in the Torres Strait, Queensland. Photo: Island Girl Discovery/<a href="http://www.islandgirldiscovery.com.au/about/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">More About Me</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Also worthy of mention are nine locations in Tasmania: </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Lulworth Boat Ramp and </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Weymouth</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> on the northern coast; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">St. Anne's Catholic Church</span></span> in Lilydale; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church and Lagoon Beach in George Town; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">St. Brigid's Catholic Church in Wynyard; St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Riverside; St. Therese of Lisieux in Moonah; and </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral in Hobart.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The fact that Chifley has chosen to follow in the footsteps of other national Rosary prayer events speaks volumes about her faith in God and trust in Our Lady's intercession, as well as to her understanding that the battle for Australia's protection, future and the youth is primarily a spiritual battle that must be fought with spiritual weapons.</span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> And the most effective way to fight the good fight is by <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/09/group-recitation-of-rosary-in-medjugorje.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">group recitation</a> of the Rosary.</span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span class="wixGuard"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Louis De Montfort in his book, <a href="https://tanbooks.com/virgin-mary/marian-devotional-books/the-secret-of-the-rosary/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Secret of the Rosary</i></a>, at the <i>Forty-Sixth Rose: Group Recitation</i>, wrote that not only is the group recitation of the Rosary the method
of prayer that the Evil One fears the most, but "...[I]t is far more
formidable to the devil than one said privately, because in this public
prayer it is an army that is attacking him." (98<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">)</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Utilizing
the Rosary as a spiritual weapon in times of great need has been a long-held tradition in the
Church since its origin when Saint Dominic (Founder of the Order of
Preachers) received the Rosary from the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1214, as an
efficacious method and powerful means to convert the Albigensians and
other sinners.</span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">That long-held tradition was given much attention by Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-rosary-effective-weapon-against.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Supremi Apostolatus Officio</i></a>—the first of many documents issued on the importance of the Rosary—on devotion to the Rosary as an efficacious remedy for the
many evils afflicting society. In that encyclical's first page Pope Leo XIII wrote, </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"It
has always been the habit of Catholics in danger and in troublous times
to fly for refuge to Mary, and to seek for peace in her maternal
goodness; showing that the Catholic Church has always, and with justice,
put all her hope and trust in the Mother of God." (2) </span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Written
in 1883, Pope Leo XIII's encyclical not only encouraged devotion to the
Rosary, but spotlighted how important it has been in the history of the
Catholic Church when faced with several threats; namely, the violence
of heresy, intolerable moral corruption, and aggressive Islamic attacks
by the Ottoman Turks.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEXmNTjvgHPCzDDk2V6_nI6wuuSudICBZ4VRWLkJc3IT3o2qcs1ysxRW7Bsb4Tv-I8TdFTMaYaejlBp72YuNilUz7KQcOB35tUewJzSojwp_0BrtcnseaE00OTz1z_8Jl6g62fSgxP3w/s1600/gantheaumepoint-lighthouse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="An aerial photo of Gantheaume Point Lighthouse, Western Australia." border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="1344" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEXmNTjvgHPCzDDk2V6_nI6wuuSudICBZ4VRWLkJc3IT3o2qcs1ysxRW7Bsb4Tv-I8TdFTMaYaejlBp72YuNilUz7KQcOB35tUewJzSojwp_0BrtcnseaE00OTz1z_8Jl6g62fSgxP3w/s640/gantheaumepoint-lighthouse.jpg" title="Gantheaume Point Lighthouse, Western Australia" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gantheaume Point Lighthouse, Western Australia. Photo: Trip Advisor Australia/<a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g255102-d2296259-i235422033-Gantheaume_Point-Broome_Kimberley_Region_Western_Australia.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gantheaume Point Lighthouse</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Rosarium Virginis Mariae</i></a>, also noted the particular efficacy of the Rosary in most difficult times when Christianity itself was threatened:</span></span></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Church has always attributed particular efficacy to this prayer,
entrusting to the Rosary, to its choral recitation and to its constant
practice, the most difficult problems. At times when Christianity itself
seemed under threat, its deliverance was attributed to the power of
this prayer, and Our Lady of the Rosary was acclaimed as the one whose
intercession brought salvation. (39)</span></span></span></span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Rosary is much more than a protective prayer; as a compendium of the Gospel </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">it is a <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/10/the-rosary-genuine-path-of-contemplation.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">genuine path of contemplation</a> on the life of Jesus and Mary, and the Gospel lessons contained within each mystery</span>. As St. John Paul II put it in the aforementioned apostolic letter the Rosary is, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"...[A] prayer of </span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">great significance, destined to bring forth a harvest of holiness." (1) A little further on he wrote, "</span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">With the Rosary, the Christian people <i>sits at the school of Mary</i> and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer." (1)</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Rosary is <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/05/the-rosary-its-importance-for-your.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">important for our salvation</a>: the primary goal in life! </span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The
Rosary is an opportunity to draw closer to Jesus and
Mary; an invitation from Our Mother who loves Her children
and wants them to be sanctified and saved. </span></span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Louis De Montfort </span></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">in the same aforementioned book lists, in chapter </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i>Twenty Seventh Rose: Benefits,</i> how this can be accomplished by those who pray the Rosary: </span></span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">it gradually brings us a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ; </span></span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">it purifies our souls from sin; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">it gives us victory over all our enemies; </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">it makes the practice of virtue easy; </span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">it sets us on fire with the love of our Lord; </span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">it enriches us with graces and merits; </span></span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">it supplies us with what is needed to pay all our debts to God and
to our fellowmen; and finally, it obtains all kinds of graces from God. (65)</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ptHAFsgWvqI/WvIHWh5w24I/AAAAAAAAFTA/WBxLFNgMFi07LUUl3G7N8RsQGgbvpXGAQCLcBGAs/s1600/stmaryscathedral-hobart.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of St. Mary's Cathedral, Hobart, Tasmania" border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ptHAFsgWvqI/WvIHWh5w24I/AAAAAAAAFTA/WBxLFNgMFi07LUUl3G7N8RsQGgbvpXGAQCLcBGAs/s640/stmaryscathedral-hobart.jpg" title="St. Mary's Cathedral, Hobart, Tasmania" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">St. Mary's Cathedral, Hobart, Tasmania. Photo: Martin Pot (Martybugs at en.wikipedia) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StMarysCathedral.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As part of the spiritual preparation and protection for this coming Sunday's national prayer event, organizers have encouraged participants to daily recite the St. Michael the Archangel Prayer.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Organizers
are also hoping that participants will recite the dedicated Act of
Consecration, at the end of their Rosary recitations on Sunday, in an effort</span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> to consecrate Australia to Mary! Here is that very prayer to<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span>the Patroness of Australia, Our Lady of Help of Christians:</span></span></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">O Mary Help of Christians, Patroness of Australia, Mother of Mercy,
Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners, we consecrate ourselves to
your Immaculate Heart.<br /> <br />To you we consecrate our country, our families, our hearts, and souls and all that we have.<br /><br />
And in order that this consecration may be truly effective and lasting,
we renew today the promises of our Baptism and Confirmation; and we
undertake to live as good Christians - faithful to God, the Church and
the Holy Father. We desire to pray the Rosary, partake in the Holy
Eucharist, attach special importance to the first Saturday of the month
and to work for the conversion of sinners.<br /><br /> Furthermore we promise, O
most holy Virgin, that we will zealously spread devotion to you, so
that through our consecration to your Immaculate Heart and through your
own intercession the coming of the Kingdom of Christ in the world may be
hastened.<br /><br /> Amen</span></span></span></span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Participants have also been encouraged to pray to the three patrons of "Oz Rosary #53": St. John Paul II; St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), who recited several Rosaries each day; and to St. Mary MacKillop, the Australian nun who co-founded Australia's first religious order in 1866, the </span></span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Chifley has informed me that participants are also praying to <span class="st">Eileen O'Connor, co-founder of Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor; a <a href="https://www.sydneycatholic.org/news/latest_news/2018/2018321_1963.shtml" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">saint in waiting</a></span> whose incorrupt body is in chapel near Coogee Beach, New South Wales, where Chifley will be reciting her Rosary on Sunday.</span><br />
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">No spiritual preparation would be complete without fasting; the other "spiritual weapon" that perfectly combines with prayer in the fight against the Evil One and his demons, which Our Lady Queen of Peace in Medjugorje has been encouraging </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">since the early 80's; just one of </span>Her "<a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/12/our-ladys-little-stone-fasting-on-bread.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">little stones</a>." </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4v3lDHApLDi2q5RNCHS6G2E2QNptZCnxZ88nKFP77z9r0I1_DG0bvToYy6JmBEyNs356CUHkjj2Zgl0CPjm-hHjMtQfHABcMAlor8Ek86X90O6XynZdytLdoH4LreVETiZMljbLeUHw/s1600/prayer-fasting.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="An image of Oz Rosary #53 Facebook post encouraging participants of this national prayer event to fast." border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="998" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4v3lDHApLDi2q5RNCHS6G2E2QNptZCnxZ88nKFP77z9r0I1_DG0bvToYy6JmBEyNs356CUHkjj2Zgl0CPjm-hHjMtQfHABcMAlor8Ek86X90O6XynZdytLdoH4LreVETiZMljbLeUHw/s640/prayer-fasting.png" title="Oz Rosary #53 Facebook post encouraging fasting" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Facebook post encouraging participants to fast in preparation for this national event. Image: Facebook/<a href="https://www.facebook.com/OZROSARY53/?hc_ref=ARQ0RAVGg6Km6aZCbiKbVegxpEJh4eWOHybIgZwIsloJd_5UxTFRz3my1pxsPMUGsjo&fref=nf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OZ Rosary #53</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Organizers are keenly aware of the importance of fasting and have expressed their hope that participants will fast to fight the good fight. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">When we fast, we
pray better and our fight becomes more efficacious as some demons only respond to fasting! (Mark 9:29)</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The organizing effort and spiritual preparations put forth for this national prayer event are certainly in keeping with Australia's Catholic heritage: a nation that was discovered in 1606, by a devout Catholic and Portuguese navigator, </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Pedro Fernandes de</span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> Queirós, who </span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">declared Australia as "the Southern Land of the Holy Spirit." </span></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In fact, Australia is Latin meaning "the nation in the south" or "the southern land."</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In one of the <a href="http://www.australiaforeveryone.com.au/maritime-quiros.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">manuscript records</a> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Pedro Fernandes de</span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> Queirós'</span></span></span> proclamation reads, "In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, the Catholic Church, the Order of St Francis and the Order of Blessed John of God and of the Holy Spirit and of His Majesty ... I take possession of these lands and all the parts thereof, in the name of John of God and all the professed brothers of his Order." Another <a href="http://www.australiaforeveryone.com.au/maritime-quiros.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">manuscript record</a> further reveals Pedro Fernandes de Queirós' faith and devotion:</span>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Let the heavens, the earth, the waters with all their creatures and all those here present witness that I, Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, in these hitherto unknown parts, in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of the Eternal Father and of the Virgin Mary, God and true man, hoist this emblem of the Holy Cross on which His person was crucified and whereon He gave His life for the ransom and remedy of all the human race, being present as witnesses all the land and sea-going officers; on this Day of Pentecost, 14th May 1606. </span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Oz Rosary #53 has the support of many clergy, including the Bishop Emeritus David Cremin, the Irish-born retired bishop of Sydney, who has <a href="https://ozrosary.wixsite.com/ozrosary53/endorsements" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">officially endorsed</a> this national prayer event.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As Sunday, May 13, is rapidly approaching,</span> may </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Catholics around the world show their support by uniting their Rosary prayers to those faithful Catholics in Australia.</span></span><br />
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<br />Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-34816061916820837412018-04-27T15:43:00.002-04:002022-06-08T13:54:21.888-04:00Our Lady of Montserrat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JbZKxSvlw0E/WtOn12mUAXI/AAAAAAAAFQo/yeuJ7bU_O9I2AY9ovb0DdVD2CYmJ64U2ACLcBGAs/s1600/montserrat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A mountain view of the Benedictine Monastery and basilica at Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain" border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JbZKxSvlw0E/WtOn12mUAXI/AAAAAAAAFQo/yeuJ7bU_O9I2AY9ovb0DdVD2CYmJ64U2ACLcBGAs/s640/montserrat.jpg" title="Benedictine Monastery and basilica at Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Benedictine Monastery at Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain. Photo: Miriadna/<a href="http://miriadna.com/preview/monastery-of-montserrat-(spain)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Monastery at Montserrat</a></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">With today being the Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat, I thought it fitting to publish today's post in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I first discovered Our Lady of Montserrat many years ago from Michael H. Brown's devotional book, <a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/michael-h-brown-books/products/br-15-off-seven-days-with-mary-by-michael-h-brown" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Seven Days With Mary</i></a>, which some of you may recall from my previous posts on <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/01/our-lady-of-prompt-succor.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Our Lady of Prompt Succor</i></a> and <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/04/our-lady-of-good-counsel.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Our Lady of Good Counsel</i></a>. In total, there are seven Marian devotions with the remaining four being: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, and Our Lady of Saragossa; all of which have been officially recognized and sanctioned by the Church.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Montserrat is an impressive, towering mountain in Catalonia, Spain whose majestic height peaks at 4,055 ft, and at approximately two-thirds of the way up (2,846 ft) is the sanctuary: the Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat and the basilica where the slender statue (Black Madonna) of Mary is located. Brown describes Montserrat as, "...[O]ne of the world's most holiest and august sanctuaries." (16)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Of the ten pages about Our Lady of Montserrat, Brown dedicated the first five pages—the remaining pages consisted of meditations and prayers—to the sharing of his pilgrimage experience at Montserrat, which also included: a brief historical note on the origin of this devotion; the significance of Mary's apparitions and intercession over the centuries; and the importance of miraculous images and statues in the history of the Church.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Citing the example of the Apostle Luke's painting or carving of Our Lady, Brown went on to note that such images are important ways for Heaven to communicate with humans. Accompanying these images have been special graces, heavenly blessings, and Mary's intercession; the statue at the sanctuary in Montserrat is another example of Heaven's communication with us.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xa2V3IfAAyQ/WtOnxOVVNDI/AAAAAAAAFQs/1YHlzisnM3I6-kPs7wFvjabEwwbIU8CuQCEwYBhgL/s1600/montserratbasilica.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of the basilica and monastery at Montserrat." border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xa2V3IfAAyQ/WtOnxOVVNDI/AAAAAAAAFQs/1YHlzisnM3I6-kPs7wFvjabEwwbIU8CuQCEwYBhgL/s640/montserratbasilica.jpg" title="The basilica and monastery at Montserrat." width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The basilica and monastery at Montserrat. Photo: Torero from nl [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Montserrat_Tor_4.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a> </span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The statue in the basilica at Montserrat is known as "Little Dark Lady of Montserrat" or "La Jerosolimitana" (Native of Jerusalem). It is located in an alcove high above the altar where pilgrims are granted access to it by a narrow stairway, allowing each individual to get close to the statue.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At this majestic setting, Brown shared that the time he spent within the "incredible gold-gilded basilica" was one in which he received tangible graces from a statue that is only three feet tall. Describing the statue as Romanesque in style, with a dark Byzantine look of Mary's face, Brown wrote that being in its presence leaves pilgrims in "reverential awe."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The exact origin of the statue is not known, but what is known is that as far back as 718, the statue was hidden in a cave from Arab invaders, where it remained undiscovered for two centuries. In 890, local boys spotted a strange light coming from the eastern part of the mountain, where upon their investigation they heard the sound of music and canticles. The boys informed a local priest in the village of Monistrol, who did not believe them at first, but upon visiting the location, he too experienced the same light and inexplicable music. The priest informed the local bishop in Manresa who headed for the site together with a procession of villagers.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V93rh8Lq4e0/WtO0gl4_uhI/AAAAAAAAFQ8/XQJpVCISJQAYCpiHK_Hb72tfpw96LQXwQCLcBGAs/s1600/montserratimage.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The statue of the Black Madonna in Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V93rh8Lq4e0/WtO0gl4_uhI/AAAAAAAAFQ8/XQJpVCISJQAYCpiHK_Hb72tfpw96LQXwQCLcBGAs/s400/montserratimage.jpg" title="The Black Madonna of Montserrat" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Black Madonna in Montserrat. Photo:<br />Feel the Planet/<a href="https://feel-planet.com/montserrat-catalonia-spain/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain</a></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Upon arrival at the entrance of the cave, and after having experienced the canticles, lights, and fragrant aroma, the bishop ordered the entry into the cave where the image was discovered. That discovery prompted the bishop to have it placed in the cathedral in Manresa, but when those carrying the statue could no longer move where the basilica and monastery currently exist, it was understood to be a sign for the sanctuary to be built on that very spot.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Among some of the pilgrims who have gone to Montserrat have been: Jaime 1 (El Conquistador), St. Vincent Ferrer, King Louis IV, and St. Ignatius Loyola, who after his time at the sanctuary divested his cloths, gave them to a poor man, and proceeded to spend time alone in a cave near Manresa where he wrote his well known spiritual exercises.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Accompanying Christopher Columbus' voyage to the New World was one of Montserrat's hermits, and after having reached his destination, Columbus dedicated one of the first churches to the Virgin of Montserrat, where today in the Carribean there is an island that bears the same name.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">One of the Benedictine abbots from Montserrat, Giuliano ella Rovere, eventually became pope; "the" pope who hired Michaelangelo.</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown quoted the Emperor Carlos V who stated, "A certain divinity which I cannot explain flows from the sanctuary of Montserrat all over the mountain." (18) From his own personal experience Brown wrote, "I cannot more highly recommend a sanctuary than Montserrat. I was truly surprised by the strength of its effect. I was impressed by the atmosphere of holiness way up that unique mountain and what it taught me about praying in solitude." (19)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Meditating and praying with <i>Seven Days With Mary</i>, is essentially a time of Divine Intimacy: a personal retreat where one enjoys a constant feeling of peace and receives an abundance of graces. It is an opportunity to draw closer to Mary, to open ourselves and allow Our Lady, in an ever increasing way, to be our light to Christ and show us the path to Jesus.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This is precisely what Mary's role has been and continues to be: to spiritually prepare Her children for Heaven. To do so, Mary wants to have a personal relationship with each one of us, so as to lead us to have a more personal relationship with Jesus. As Brown points out, Mary has something to give each one of us personally, and he expressed his hope that through </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i>Seven Days With Mary</i>, each one of us will receive it. To that end Brown suggests, "Meditate on each major appearance that is reviewed in this book and apply the lessons to your own lives. There are hidden meanings. There are hidden lessons...This is a book of how to apply all that we have learned about Mary to our own personal lives." (vii)</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Uh_Y5Q2R4w0/WtO-fwoy9NI/AAAAAAAAFRM/oxiRZ5FQxPkxpYNl422rkro_o-IEV-cSQCLcBGAs/s1600/santacova-montserrat.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A mountain view of Santa Cova, where the Black Madonna statue was found in Monserrat" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1099" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Uh_Y5Q2R4w0/WtO-fwoy9NI/AAAAAAAAFRM/oxiRZ5FQxPkxpYNl422rkro_o-IEV-cSQCLcBGAs/s400/santacova-montserrat.jpg" title="Santa Cova: the exact location where the Black Madonna was found in Montserrat" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Santa Cova in the mountains at Montserrat<br />where the Black Madonna was found. Photo:<br />Hello Jetlag/<a href="http://hellojetlag.com/barcelona-day-trip-montserrat-monastery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Montserrat Monastery and Mountains:</a></span><br />
<a href="http://hellojetlag.com/barcelona-day-trip-montserrat-monastery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">An Easy Day Trip From Barcelona</span></a></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown recommends meditating and praying for seven consecutive days to receive the maximum benefit. As to which particular devotion to begin and end with, it doesn't matter so long as each day is dedicated to only one devotion.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To aid each individual's effort to meditate upon Mary's role, and walk with Her to find our way through the current darkness, Brown arranged it so that each day includes: meditations, litanies, and other prayers related to the individual devotions; an additional brief meditation, contemplation, and ejaculation; and the suggestion to pray the Rosary, especially the Scriptural Rosary. In the chapter dedicated to Our Lady of Montserrat, Brown also included two consecration prayers. Here is a contemplation that Brown provided from that chapter, which spotlights the richness of this devotional book, "However much the world tempts us, we know that it is a passing place and that if we do good, if we help others—most of all, if we are reverential, if love and serve Christ, and if we are humble, hidden as the Virgin's statue was hidden—we will resurface, as at Montserrat, in glory." (23)</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The added benefit of this devotional book is the opportunity to seek the aid of Mary for our families, friends, and others that we care about, our respective countries, and the world as a whole.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We don't need to expend a great deal of energy to recognize how the world is in great need of God's Divine Intervention, for which the Church has historically appealed to Mary's intercession. Pope Leo III in his encyclical <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-rosary-effective-weapon-against.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Supremi Apostolatus Officio</i></a> wrote about that appeal to Mary, and how the Rosary is instrumental to remedy the many evils of society: the violence of heresy, intolerable moral corruption, and aggressive Islamic attacks by the Ottoman Turks.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Immorality, materialism, and greed have always existed, but as Brown noted in the <i>Preface</i>, our time is an "unusual and special time," one in which "...[T]he level to which our very institutions have fallen gives great pause and recalls corrupt times like those back during the fall of Rome or during the Middle Ages." (vi)</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Today's moral disorder has ushered in a Culture of Death: <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/12/pray-to-our-lady-of-guadalupe-for-unborn.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">abortion</a>, <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/04/euthanasia-false-mercy.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">euthanasia and assisted suicide</a>; contraception; in vitro fertilization; and the desensitization of all threats (including the death penalty in some countries) to the value and inviolability of human life, creating in the process a deep crisis of conscience. We also see the effects of the <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/06/the-global-sexual-revolution.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">global sexual revolution</a>: pornography and pornovision; sexually explicit advertising; the LGBTQ agenda; gender mainstreaming; the indoctrination of children and our youth in the education system with sexual immorality, and the list goes on.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">But no matter how long that list may be or become, we always have recourse to Mary. From the history of the Catholic Church, we know of Mary's purpose at Her many apparitions: to identify and expose the demonic influence upon people and regions in various parts of the world, to dispel them from both, and lead each individual back to Jesus. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">So numerous are Mary's apparitions—estimated to be in the thousands—in countries like Italy, France, and Spain that today there are literally hundreds of sanctuaries, shrines, monuments, and churches built at those sites in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In a world that seems increasingly evil and indifferent to it, we need to pray (especially the Rosary, the most powerful prayer) to Our Lady that through Her intercession God's Divine Intervention will uproot and remove the moral disorder in our respective countries and restore them to, as St. John Paul II put it, a "Culture of Life."</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We should also seek the comfort of Mary's protective mantle, and implore Her to generously dispense an abundance of graces upon us.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Our Lady of Montserrat, pray for us.</span></span><br />
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<br />Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-40623939931061244022018-03-31T23:17:00.000-04:002018-04-01T21:02:26.494-04:00Rosary on the Coast For Faith, Life and Peace in the British Isles<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KqmJ781EIUA/Wr5vmYfRxAI/AAAAAAAAFNI/kEsd4iZp-wsFAi9GbrV3belq9nQtXRQqQCLcBGAs/s1600/north-coast-scotland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="An image of the rugged north coast of Scotland near Durness and Cape Wrath." border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="800" height="279" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KqmJ781EIUA/Wr5vmYfRxAI/AAAAAAAAFNI/kEsd4iZp-wsFAi9GbrV3belq9nQtXRQqQCLcBGAs/s640/north-coast-scotland.jpg" title="The rugged north coast of Scotland near Durness and Cape Wrath." width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The rugged north coast of Scotland. Photo: Scotland Info Guide/<a href="https://www.scotlandinfo.eu/durness-and-cape-wrath/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Durness and Cape Wrath</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On Sunday, April 29, at 3:00pm faithful Catholics in the British Isles will gather at the coast </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to recite the Rosary as part of a national day of prayer and pilgrimage for faith, life, and peace. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This lay initiative, <a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/" rel="" target="_blank">Rosary on the Coast for Faith, Life and Peace in the British Isles</a>, is another national Rosary prayer event that follows in the footsteps of similar events in <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/10/polands-rosary-at-borders-national.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Poland</a>, Italy, and <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/11/irelands-rosary-on-coast-for-life-and.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ireland</a>.</span> </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In addition to those on the coasts of England, Scotland, and Wales, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Isle of Wight, the Scilly Islands, Lundy Island, the Channel Islands and many other smaller islands, others will gather at cathedrals, churches and shrines inspired by the words of Jesus, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them." (Matt 18:20)</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The date of Rosary on the Coast is not without its special significance: Sunday, April 29, is not only the fifth Sunday of Easter, but also the Feast of Our Lady of Faith and Saint Catherine of Sienna, both of whom are co-patrons of Europe. As the organizers point out, "This frames our initiative in the wider context of re-Christianising our great continent."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rosary on the Coast has received support from many bishops and other members of the clergy: <a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/single-post/2018/03/20/Bishop-Alan-Hopes-of-the-Diocese-of-East-Anglia-encourages-his-parishes-to-make-their-way-to-the-coast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bishop Alan Hopes</a> of the Diocese of East Anglia; Welsh <a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/single-post/2018/03/20/Message-of-encouragement-from-Welsh-Bishop-Tom-Burns" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bishop Tom Burns</a>; <a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/single-post/2018/03/06/Message-of-support-from-Mgr-John-Armitage" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Monsignor John Armitage</a>, Rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham; <a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/single-post/2018/02/13/Support-from-Archdiocese-of-St-Andrews-Edinburgh--Scotland" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Father Jeremy Milne</a>, Vicar Episcopal for Marriage and Families within the Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh; and <a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/single-post/2018/02/26/Words-of-support-and-blessing-from-Bishop-Philip-Egan-Bishop-of-the-Diocese-of-Portsmouth" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bishop Philip Egan</a> of the Diocese of Portsmouth. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Words of encouragement and support have also come from the <a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/single-post/2018/02/16/Message-of-Support-from-the-Sisters-of-the-Gospel-of-Life" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sisters of the Gospel of Life</a> in Glasgow, Scotland who will be actively participating in this national prayer event on the coast, and invite others to join their group.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In a wonderful show of solidarity with fellow Catholics in the British Isles, <a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/single-post/2018/02/28/Message-of-faith-and-encouragement-from-Kathy-Sinnott-organiser-of-Rosary-on-the-Coast-for-Faith-Life-in-Ireland" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kathy Sinnott</a>, who headed the <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/11/irelands-rosary-on-coast-for-life-and.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rosary at the Coast for Life and Faith in Ireland</a>, has also expressed her support and encouragement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It would be remiss of me not to include the support of <a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/single-post/2018/02/13/Message-of-support-from-Bishop-John-Keenan--Motherwell-Diocese" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bishop John Keenan</a> from the Diocese of Paisley, Scotland, who first caught my attention back in November 2017, when he <a href="http://www.sconews.co.uk/news/54287/scots-called-to-support-irish-rosary-on-the-coast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">expressed his desire</a> that Scotland should follow in the example of Poland, Italy, and Ireland with a national Rosary prayer event.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirntYXmiKBoZT6dhIUbmiVvs-oL4Xo7SJHOaGIkYY2vM7bvBoE5mxxCAufXkXfPxF_G0xY01O4hSWB_MCcUNQO9XUpRIBzqA5PopU-AdqvqdSQJ-piJiLscu2KFFEXFYMszbSeVAfXVr4/s1600/bishopkeenan-spiritualpreparation.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A screen shot taken from the Rosary on the Coast's Facebook page of Bishop Keenan's daily spiritual preparation post." border="0" data-original-height="1150" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirntYXmiKBoZT6dhIUbmiVvs-oL4Xo7SJHOaGIkYY2vM7bvBoE5mxxCAufXkXfPxF_G0xY01O4hSWB_MCcUNQO9XUpRIBzqA5PopU-AdqvqdSQJ-piJiLscu2KFFEXFYMszbSeVAfXVr4/s400/bishopkeenan-spiritualpreparation.png" title="Bishop Keenan's daily spiritual preparation Facebook post." width="346"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bishop Keenan's daily spiritual preparation Facebook post.<br>Image: Rosary on the Coast <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rosaryonthecoast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To help strengthen and ensure the efficaciousness of the Rosary on the Coast, Bishop Keenan initiated a <a href="https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/63f077_ce7406c995ff461bbb7ba7548b42c779.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">40 Day Spiritual Preparation</a>—which started on March 19 and will end on April 27—that includes a variety of daily guidelines: recitation of the Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, Stations of the Cross, and other prayers, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Mass attendance,</span> fasting, scriptural reading, sacrifices, and acts of mercy, kindness, and forgiveness. Each day's guidelines are posted on Facebook by Bishop Keenan, which are then shared at the Rosary on the Coast <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rosaryonthecoast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page. Participants are also permitted to freely choose from other guidelines as prompted by the Holy Spirit. At the end of the forty days, organizers are encouraging everyone to receive Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession, on April 28, as part of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">further spiritual preparation for the following day when Catholics will attend Mass in the morning and then gather at the coasts. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Bishop Keenan has also released a <a href="https://youtu.be/nSEyyld-Qt0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">YouTube video</a> in support of Rosary on the Coast, referring to it as "a courageous initiative by the lay faithful," and a call for Catholics to get to the coast and pray the Rosary to implore Our Lady's help to "arouse a great renewal of our Christian faith." It is through Our Lady, the bishop stressed, that the "scourge of abortion" will come to an end, and the Blessed Mother will usher in, "a new era of peace for all of our nations."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As more and more people join the Rosary on the Coast, it is Bishop Keenan's hope that the various groups will form a "ring of grace" around the British Isles. To date there are <a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/single-post/2018/03/16/Over-100-Locations-now-registered" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">141 locations</a> and that number is growing with each passing week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the aforementioned YouTube video, Bishop Keenan characterized the times as a "...[D]ark and turbulent storm of aggressive secularism that's threatening ever more the dignity of the human person, the sanctity of life, and the joy of authentic relationships." Continuing further on this point he stated, "It wants to outlaw religion from public life and thinks it can solve all the serious problems of the world by ever more draconian political encroaches into ordinary peoples' lives."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With tensions rising and hopes fading, Bishop Keenan emphasized that, "...[T]he world is crying out for new solutions and these will only come from a renewal in the Church, that is strong again in faith. Our gospel can dispel the present confusion and lead us into a welcome era of peace and light."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Drawing from history, the bishop highlighted that God has demonstrated throughout the bible that renewal is "...[L]iterally around the corner when nations confess our sins, ask His forgiveness and mercy, and trust in His supernatural power to make everything new."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After encouraging the faithful to trust in Our Lady's intercession, Bishop Keenan imparted his blessing upon the Rosary on the Coast, "May God bless this important venture and begin the conversion and reconciliation of our isles."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As the organizers of this national prayer event point out on their website's <a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/contact" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Inspiration</a> page under the subheading,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> <i>Context of Prayer for a re flourishing of Faith across the British Isles</i>, the Rosary on the Coast is:</span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">...[A]n opportunity to pray for a re-flourishing of faith
across the British Isles as a means of preparing for a New Spring Time
within the Church, so that we Christians of these lands might spread the
Gospel in its fullness in a renewed and joyous way. We hope that Rosary
on the Coast will bring from heaven the grace of renewed evangelistic
outreach and zeal as we further the work of the New Evangelisation.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Organizers have also included a</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> statement under the subheading,</span><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Context of Prayer for the Sanctity of the Human Person</span></i>,<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> in which they not only spotlight the deplorable <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/002581727003800103" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Abortion Act</i></a>—that came into effect in April 27, 1968</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">—that has ushered in a Culture of Death, but they have also identified the deep crisis of conscience in which citizens are, "...[</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">U]nable to fathom and grasp the enormity of this wound to our society." </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And following that statement, at the <i>Context of Prayer for Peace in our National life and for peace among Nations</i> subheading, organizers highlighted the troubled times we all live in evidenced by the "incessant litany of bad news" and the great need of hope that can be awakened through prayer.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The response by the organizers speaks volumes about their trust in Our Lady's intercession, as well as to the understanding that the battle for the British Isles is primarily a spiritual battle that must be fought with spiritual weapons. And the most effective way to fight the good fight is by <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/09/group-recitation-of-rosary-in-medjugorje.html" rel="" target="_blank">group recitation</a> of the Rosary.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="wixGuard"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint Louis De Montfort in his book, <a href="https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/secret-of-the-rosary-3339.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Secret of the Rosary</i></a>, at the <i>Forty-Sixth Rose: Group Recitation</i>,
stated that not only is the group recitation of the Rosary the method
of prayer that the Evil One fears the most, but "...[I]t is far more
formidable to the devil than one said privately, because in this public
prayer it is an army that is attacking him." (98)</span></span></span><br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbX4OaCem7CWa2bq9yaLT6s0kLA2CKQe11jmn-yKkNYiQnEGziNKuCl7wtO2uo_Wyr5x0TkC1TNURq5QERrz3wjNuhxQA5s7QnT_TdYO3Zxz3OvOEn7eXjt2298YQ4ghprcYiIYsYJFk/s1600/mgrjohnarmitage-rosaryonthecoast.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A screen shot of Mgr. John Armitage's message of supprt for the Rosary on the Coast." border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="1109" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbX4OaCem7CWa2bq9yaLT6s0kLA2CKQe11jmn-yKkNYiQnEGziNKuCl7wtO2uo_Wyr5x0TkC1TNURq5QERrz3wjNuhxQA5s7QnT_TdYO3Zxz3OvOEn7eXjt2298YQ4ghprcYiIYsYJFk/s640/mgrjohnarmitage-rosaryonthecoast.png" title="Monsignor John Armitage's message of support for Rosary on the Coast" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Monsignor John Armitage, Rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. Image:<br>Rosary on the Coast/<a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/single-post/2018/03/06/Message-of-support-from-Mgr-John-Armitage" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Message of support from Mgr. John Armitage</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span> <br>
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<span class="wixGuard"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="wixGuard"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As
Monsignor John Armitage stated in his video message in support of this
national day of prayer and pilgrimage, "The Rosary is the most powerful prayer,
quite simply because the Rosary is the compendium of the Gospel."</span></span> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Utilizing the Rosary as a spiritual weapon has been a long-held tradition in the Church since its origin when Saint Dominic (Founder of the Order of Preachers) received the Rosary from Our Blessed Mother in 1214, as an efficacious method and powerful means to convert the Albigensians and other sinners.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The long-held tradition of praying the Rosary in times of great need was given much attention by Pope Leo XIII—who wrote extensively on the subject matter—most notably in his encyclical </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-rosary-effective-weapon-against.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Supremi Apostolatus Officio</i></a>, on devotion to the Rosary and its efficaciousness as a remedy for the many evils of society. In that encyclical, the pope stated, </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"It
has always been the habit of Catholics in danger and in troublous times
to fly for refuge to Mary, and to seek for peace in her maternal
goodness; showing that the Catholic Church has always, and with justice,
put all her hope and trust in the Mother of God." (2) </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Written
in 1883, Pope Leo XIII's encyclical not only encouraged devotion to the
Rosary, but spotlighted how important it has been in the history of the
Catholic Church when faced with several threats; namely, the violence
of heresy, intolerable moral corruption, and aggressive Islamic attacks
by the Ottoman Turks.</span></span></span></span><br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the British Isles, like so many other parts of the world, a struggle has been under way for decades: the struggle to understand the meaning of the human person. That struggle has been the human dilemma of late modernity; one that drove the philosophical work and pontificate of St. John Paul II, and one that Bishop Keenan has been keen to point out in his message, posted on the <a href="https://www.rosaryonthecoast.co.uk/contact" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rosary on the Coast</a> website:</span></span></span></span><br>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Our world is engaged in a fraught struggle over the meaning of the human
person. Aggressively secular anthropologies insist that nothing is
really true or given in human nature, and the only lasting good for each
human person comes about when they can choose everything about their
identity from its very source. It brings a radically new meaning to the
idea of pro-choice because it seeks to lay hold on the very
prerogatives of Creation itself. Against this our Christian
anthropology battles on proposing that God, in His loving plan of
Creation, has already given us a nature that is best for us, so that our
meaning and happiness are integrally linked to discovering, rather than
inventing, the truth of who we are, and so entering its path to real
dignity, freedom and peace. Since this task is now, in our times, an
adventure of evangelisation we need God’s supernatural assistance in
grace and mercy, which the laity are beginning to cry out for in
initiatives like the Rosary on the Coast, asking the Woman who was
content to be the handmaid of God’s plan to be their intercessor and
guide. </span></span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Group recitation of the Rosary on a national level can draw God's Divine Intervention and Mercy upon a nation; organizers, supporters, and participants of Rosary on the Coast are seeking to do just that.</span></span></span></span><br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Writing about this national prayer event, I cannot help but think of Saint John Paul II's</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_30121988_christifideles-laici.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Christifideles Laici</i></a>, </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on the vocation and mission of the lay faithful in the Church and in the world in which he stated, </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A
new state of affairs today both in the Church and in social, economic,
political and cultural life, calls with a particular urgency for the
action of the lay faithful. If lack of commitment is always
unacceptable, the present time renders it even more so. It is not
permissible for anyone to remain idle." (3) It was released </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on December 30, 1988, on the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph; c</span></span>onsidering the current state of affairs in the Church and in the world, how much more relevant is <i>Christifideles Laici</i> today.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The example of the faithful in the British Isles is a source of inspiration for us all throughout the Universal Catholic Church. Hopefully many will be encouraged to seriously consider embarking on a similar venture, including on this side of the pond, here in Canada, where we are in desperate need of a national Rosary prayer event.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">May Catholics in the British Isles and throughout the world be united in prayer on April 29, at 3:00pm.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span><br>
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-20816828126295945752018-03-26T17:07:00.000-04:002018-03-28T16:01:55.927-04:00Rerum Novarum: Pope Leo XIII's Encyclical on Capital and Labour<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1hWQJGRyz_scWXTstE31a6Usjkn9uB7Ep46tA8McdnVkktrmoDAFFhphSd3GrE1aFeu28w4sPe7qqVSgxL5ahW4S996VACTZSyeyGTq-IxZ8V56n6yOKB6pdLW4FgdsbiS5dqhZvkJ6s/s1600/popeleoxiii.fw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photomontage of Pope Leo XIII and his encyclical "Rerum Novarum"" border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="900" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1hWQJGRyz_scWXTstE31a6Usjkn9uB7Ep46tA8McdnVkktrmoDAFFhphSd3GrE1aFeu28w4sPe7qqVSgxL5ahW4S996VACTZSyeyGTq-IxZ8V56n6yOKB6pdLW4FgdsbiS5dqhZvkJ6s/s640/popeleoxiii.fw.jpg" title="Pope Leo XIII and his encyclical "Rerum Novarum"" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pope Leo XIII and the encyclical <i>Rerum Novarum.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Having recently read Pope Leo XIII's <i><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rerum Novarum</a></i>, it is not surprising that this encyclical has been given much attention over the many decades since its release in 1891. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It not </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">only highlights the intelligence and wisdom of Pope Leo XIII, but also illustrates the great effort he put forth to detail and explain the condition of the working classes. In doing so, Pope Leo XIII identified t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he many issues and problems of late nineteenth century's economic and political life, to which he responded with guidelines and solutions based on the principles of truth and justice as proposed by the Church.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Many know of Pope Leo XIII as the "Rosary Pope"—due to his many writings on <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/10/laetitiae-sanctae-pope-leo-xiiis.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">devotion to the Rosary</a> and its <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-rosary-effective-weapon-against.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">efficaciousness as a remedy to the evils</a> of the world—or from the fact that the Church received the <i><a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=1217" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">St. Michael the Archangel</a></i> prayer through a vision he had after having celebrated Mass. What may not be so well known is the fact that it was during </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pope Leo XIII's papacy (1878-1903) that the Church made a transition from </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Counter-Reformation Catholicism to </span><a href="https://eppc.org/publications/evangelical-catholicism/" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Evangelical Catholicism</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">During his papacy Pope Leo XIII set out to create the conditions for a new Catholic engagement with modern culture in the political, economic, and social life; the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">launching of the Church's modern social doctrine in </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Rerum Novarum</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">as its title ("new things") suggests, was part of that </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">engagement with modernity.</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Rerum Novarum</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> continues to remain relevant today as a valuable resource to draw from especially in those parts of the world where the condition of the working classes mirrors those during Pope Leo XIII's time: the exploitation of workers who, due to their vulnerability, are subjected to </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">conditions that reflect a lack of respect for the dignity of the human person.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pope Leo XIII characterized the times he was living in as one of "revolutionary change," where the "elements of conflict" were raging: the vast expansion of industrial pursuits;</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> marvellous discoveries of science; a noticeable change in the relationship between masters and workman; enormous fortunes had accumulated in the hands of a few leaving the masses in utter poverty; increased self reliance; the closer, mutual combination of the working classes; and a prevailing moral degeneracy had taken root in society. (1)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At thirty pages, <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pope Leo XIII provided a thorough analysis that included: the r</span>ealities that brought misery and wretchedness </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">upon the working classes; a lengthy critique of socialism's false solutions; the inviolability of private property to alleviate the condition of the masses; that no practical solution can be found apart from the intervention of religion and the Church; human society can only be healed by a return to Christian life and Christian institutions; the responsibilities of the State; the importance of man's spiritual dimension and how it relates to work; putting God first in any association or organization; and the need to re-establish Christian morals to destroy every evil at its root.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Part of what brought on the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"misery and wretchedness" upon the working classes was the fact that </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">workingmen's guilds had been abolished </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in the previous century with no other protective replacement, and public institutions and laws had discarded religion. Pope Leo XIII noted that a</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">s a result working men, who had become isolated and helpless, were in effect "surrendered" to hard-hearted employers. Making matters worse was the greed of unchecked competition,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> the increase in "rapacious usury," and the hiring of labour controlled by the "hands of comparatively few." The pope referred to such conditions as being slightly better than slavery.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Making the point that socialism was not the answer to society's problems, Pope Leo XIII dedicated several sections (four to fifteen) to dismantling the "solutions" of socialism—which at its core sought to do away with private property as individual possessions would become the common property of all—in which he noted that if ever the "solutions" of socialism were to be implemented, the working man would be the first to suffer. Moreover, he stated that the contentions of socialism are, "...[E]mphatically unjust, for they would rob the lawful possessor, distort the functions of the State, and create utter confusion in the community." (4)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The solutions needed to remedy the "misery and wretchedness" of the working classes—to which the overwhelming majority of people belong—must include the opportunity to own private property. The "inviolability of private property" the pope argued is the first and foremost fundamental principal to alleviate the condition of the masses.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> From s</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ection sixteen until the end of the encyclical, Pope Leo XIII detailed the Church's proposal on how that remedy is to be found.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If there was going to be any practical solution to the problems of his times, Pope Leo XIII made it clear that it can only be achieved through the intervention of religion and the Church:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But We affirm without hesitation that all the striving of men will be vain if they leave out the Church. It is the Church that insists, on the authority of the Gospel, upon those teachings whereby the conflict can be brought to an end, or rendered, at least, far less bitter; the Church uses her efforts not only to enlighten the mind, but to direct by her precepts the life and conduct of each and all; the Church improves and betters the condition of the working man by means of numerous organizations; does her best to enlist the services of all classes in discussing and endeavoring to further in the most practical way, the interests of the working classes; and considers that for this purpose recourse should be had, in due measure and degree, to the intervention of the law and of State authority. (16) </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The pope went on to state that when it came to the need of an intermediary between the rich and the working class, there is none more powerful than the Church to remind each of its duties to the other and of the obligations of justice. (19) Of the many duties of workers, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pope Leo XIII stated: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of these duties, the following bind the proletarian and the worker: fully and faithfully to perform the work which has been freely and equitably agreed upon; never to injure the property, nor to outrage the person, of an employer; never to resort to violence in defending their own cause, nor to engage in riot or disorder; and to have nothing to do with men of evil principles, who work upon the people with artful promises of great results, and excite foolish hopes which usually end in useless regrets and grievous loss. (20)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As to the duties of the wealthy and employers, Pope Leo XIII stated: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The following duties bind the wealthy owner and the employer: not to look upon their work people as their bondsmen, but to respect in every man his dignity as a person ennobled by Christian character. They are reminded that, according to natural reason and Christian philosophy, working for gain is creditable, not shameful, to a man, since it enables him to earn an honorable livelihood; but to misuse men as though they were things in the pursuit of gain, or to value them solely for their physical powers - that is truly shameful and inhuman. Again justice demands that, in dealing with the working man, religion and the good of his soul must be kept in mind. Hence, the employer is bound to see that the worker has time for his religious duties; that he be not exposed to corrupting influences and dangerous occasions; and that he be not led away to neglect his home and family, or to squander his earnings. (20) </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Citing from scripture Pope Leo XIII provided a stern warning to the wealthy and employers with regard to the defrauding of anyone's wages, that such is a "great crime" which cries to Heaven for vengeance (James 5:4).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In another warning to whom "fortune favors," Pope Leo XIII stated that, "...[R]iches do not bring freedom from sorrow and are of no avail for eternal happiness, but rather are obstacles; that the rich should tremble at the threatenings of Jesus Christ..." (22)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Private ownership, Pope Leo XIII contends, is a natural right of man, and for man to exercise that right is not only lawful, but necessary for his existence. Reinforcing this point the pope referred to St. Thomas Aquinas's <i>Summa Theologica</i>, " '</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is lawful,' says St. Thomas Aquinas, 'for a man to hold private property; and it is also necessary for the carrying on of human existence.' " (22) As to what should be the proper understanding of man's possessions and their use, Pope Leo XIII again cited from </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Summa Theologica</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, "</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But if the question be asked: How must one's possessions be used? - the Church replies without hesitation in the words of the same holy Doctor: 'Man should not consider his material possessions as his own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need.' " (22)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Regarding man's true worth, Pope Leo XIII pointed out that it</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> is not based on his material possession, but in his moral qualities; that is, in virtue which is the common inheritance of men, "...[E]qually </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">within the reach of high and low, rich and poor; and that virtue, and virtue alone, wherever found, will be followed by the rewards of everlasting happiness." (24)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At section twenty-six, Pope Leo XIII stated that the Church is not content with simply pointing out the remedies for the working classes, but with their implementation as well. Part of that implementation comes in the form of the training and education of men so they will diffuse the teachings of the Church to everyone; </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">striving to influence the hearts and minds of all, formed and guided by the commandments of God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Drawing upon history, Pope Leo XIII emphasized that it was through the Church and its institutions that the human race was "renovated," strengthened, and renewed. If human society is to be healed it can only happen, as the pope stated, by a return to </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Christian life and through the help of Christian institutions. (27)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pope Leo XIII emphasized that the Church is not only concerned with the spiritual dimension of man's existence, but his temporal and earthly interests; and especially the poor, that they rise above their poverty to a better condition in life. Calling men to live a virtuous life encourages that rise:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Christian morality, when adequately and completely practiced, leads of itself to temporal prosperity, for it merits the blessing of that God who is the source of all blessings; it powerfully restrains the greed of possession and the thirst for pleasure-twin plagues, which too often make a man who is void of self-restraint miserable in the midst of abundance; it makes men supply for the lack of means through economy, teaching them to be content with frugal living, and further, keeping them out of the reach of those vices which devour not small incomes merely, but large fortunes, and dissipate many a goodly inheritance. (28)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The responsibilities of the State was given much attention in <i>Rerum Novarum</i>, to which </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pope Leo XIII </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">dedicated several sections. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The foremost duty of the State, as the pope pointed out was to, "...[M]ake sure that the laws and institutions, the general character and administration of the commonwealth, shall be such as of themselves to realize public well-being and private prosperity." (32) Moreover, he stated that a State prospers and thrives, "...[T]hrough moral rule, well-regulated family life, respect for religion and justice, the moderation and fair imposing of public taxes, the progress of the arts and of trade, the abundant yield of the land-through everything, in fact, which makes the citizens better and happier." (32)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pope Leo XIII stressed that there was something deeper that "must not be lost sight of": the State should consider the interests of all as equal, and since the majority are the working class, it is incumbent upon the State to provide for their welfare and comfort. To do otherwise as the pope pointed out, would violate the law of justice. (33)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The State's primary responsibility is to ensure the safety and security of the citizenry. Pope Leo XIII emphasized this very point, "</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rulers should, nevertheless, anxiously safeguard the community and all its members; the community, because the conservation thereof is so emphatically the business of the supreme power, that the safety of the commonwealth is not only the first law, but it is a government's whole reason of existence..." (35) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At section thirty-six, addressing the threats to the general interest or the suffering of any particular class, Pope Leo XIII wrote that it is the duty of the public authority to intervene should it be a matter</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> that cannot be met and prevented</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As for the establishment of peace and good order—which is in the interest of the community and the individual—Pope Leo XIII stressed that it should be done in accordance with God's laws and those of nature. Elaborating on the specifics, he stated: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">...[T]he discipline of family life should be observed and that religion should be obeyed; that a high standard of morality should prevail, both in public and private life; that justice should be held sacred and that no one should injure another with impunity; that the members of the commonwealth should grow up to man's estate strong and robust, and capable, if need be, of guarding and defending their country. If by a strike of workers or concerted interruption of work there should be imminent danger of disturbance to the public peace; or if circumstances were such as that among the working class the ties of family life were relaxed; if religion were found to suffer through the workers not having time and opportunity afforded them to practice its duties; if in workshops and factories there were danger to morals through the mixing of the sexes or from other harmful occasions of evil; or if employers laid burdens upon their workmen which were unjust, or degraded them with conditions repugnant to their dignity as human beings; finally, if health were endangered by excessive labor, or by work unsuited to sex or age - in such cases, there can be no question but that, within certain limits, it would be right to invoke the aid and authority of the law. The limits must be determined by the nature of the occasion which calls for the law's interference - the principle being that the law must not undertake more, nor proceed further, than is required for the remedy of the evil or the removal of the mischief. (36)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the interests of the working man's soul, Pope Leo XIII dedicated section forty-one to the importance of keeping the <a href="https://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/11/saint-pope-john-paul-ii-apostolic.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lord's Day</a> holy. Work as he went on to write should not be performed on Sundays and certain holy days. Sundays the pope emphasized are not just days of rest, but rest that is hallowed by religion: rest together with religious observances disposes a man to forget about the concerns of everyday life and turn his attention to heavenly things. (41) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At section forty-two, Pope Leo XIII warned against greed and the exploitation of women and children. He also highlighted the need for proper rest so that men are not ground down with excessive labour that will stupefy their minds and wear out their bodies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On the subject of wages, Pope Leo XIII dedicated sections forty-three to forty-six, in which he wrote about the free consent between employers and workers and how injustice would result if employers failed to pay the full amount of wages or if workmen did not complete assigned work. Under such circumstances, the pope considered it necessary for the "public authority" to intervene, so as to ensure that each party "obtains his due."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There are two considerations of man's labour that Pope Leo XIII highlighted, "</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">First of all, it is personal, inasmuch as the force which acts is bound up with the personality and is the exclusive property of him who acts, and, further, was given to him for his advantage. Secondly, man's labor is necessary; for without the result of labor a man cannot live, and self-preservation is a law of nature, which it is wrong to disobey." (44)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With respect to the agreements between employers and workers, Pope Leo XIII stressed that due consideration should be given to workers so that "...[W]ages </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ought not to be insufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner." (45) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pope Leo XIII warned that if workers—through necessity or fear—were subjected to miserable working conditions and if employers refused to alleviate that misery, workers would rightly be considered victims of force and injustice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To help ensure the safeguarding and interests of wage-earners, Pope Leo XIII recommended the establishment of "societies or boards" that would deal with proper hours of labour, sanitary precautions in factories and workshops, and other matters pertaining to working conditions as a way to supersede "undue interference on the part of the State." (45) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As workmen build up savings from wages that afford them to comfortably provide for themselves and their families, Pope Leo XIII emphasized that the law should favour, "...[O]wnership, and its policy should be to induce as many as possible of the people to become owners." (46)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ownership of property Pope Leo XIII argued, will lead to many "excellent results." First, property will become more equitably divided as more and more workman acquire it; thus, reducing the "wide chasm" separating the wealthy and the working classes. As a direct result the two classes will be brought nearer to one another. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Second, ownership will encourage and result in the "great abundance of the fruits of the earth." Elaborating on this second point, Pope Leo XIII stated:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Men always work harder and more readily when they work on that which belongs to them; nay, they learn to love the very soil that yields in response to the labor of their hands, not only food to eat, but an abundance of good things for themselves and those that are dear to them. That such a spirit of willing labor would add to the produce of the earth and to the wealth of the community is self evident. (47)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A third advantage of ownership of property is that men that own land will for the most part remain in their country. As Pope Leo XIII noted, "...[N]o one would exchange his country for a foreign land if his own afforded him the means of living a decent and happy life." (47)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The three excellent results would be dependent upon the State's duty and responsibility not to burden the working classes with excessive taxation:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These three important benefits, however, can be reckoned on only provided that a man's means be not drained and exhausted by excessive taxation. The right to possess private property is derived from nature, not from man; and the State has the right to control its use in the interests of the public good alone, but by no means to absorb it altogether. The State would therefore be unjust and cruel if under the name of taxation it were to deprive the private owner of more than is fair. (47)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pope Leo XIII went on to write about the support for the working classes that can be acquired through associations, organizations, and unions to which he dedicated sections forty-eight and forty-nine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Most noteworthy was section fifty, where Pope Leo XIII emphasized that man needs help and he is not alone in seeking it. Quoting from two scriptural passages he wrote, " '</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is better that two should be together than one; for they have the advantage of their society. If one fall he shall be supported by the other. Woe to him that is alone, for when he falleth he hath none to lift him up' [Eccle 4:9-10]...A brother that is helped by his brother is like a strong city' [Prov 18:19]." (50) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pope Leo XIII went on to mention and elaborate on the options of "private societies," confraternities, religious orders, and organizations that help to ensure that man is not alone. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Solutions to the condition of the working classes, as the pope went on to point out, can be easily provided and implemented if Christian working men form associations, select wise individuals, and follow the path of previous generations that was advantageous to the common good. With respect to the integrity of associations and putting God first, Pope Leo XIII provided details on the specifics of the "general and lasting law":</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To sum up, then, We may lay it down as a general and lasting law that working men's associations should be so organized and governed as to furnish the best and most suitable means for attaining what is aimed at, that is to say, for helping each individual member to better his condition to the utmost in body, soul, and property. It is clear that they must pay special and chief attention to the duties of religion and morality, and that social betterment should have this chiefly in view; otherwise they would lose wholly their special character, and end by becoming little better than those societies which take no account whatever of religion. What advantage can it be to a working man to obtain by means of a society material well-being, if he endangers his soul for lack of spiritual food? "What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?"(39)This, as our Lord teaches, is the mark or character that distinguishes the Christian from the heathen. "After all these things do the heathen seek . . . Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His justice: and all these things shall be added unto you."(40)Let our associations, then, look first and before all things to God; let religious instruction have therein the foremost place, each one being carefully taught what is his duty to God, what he has to believe, what to hope for, and how he is to work out his salvation; and let all be warned and strengthened with special care against wrong principles and false teaching. Let the working man be urged and led to the worship of God, to the earnest practice of religion, and, among other things, to the keeping holy of Sundays and holy days. Let him learn to reverence and love holy Church, the common Mother of us all; and hence to obey the precepts of the Church, and to frequent the sacraments, since they are the means ordained by God for obtaining forgiveness of sin and fox leading a holy life. (57)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Near the end of the encyclical at section sixty, the pope reiterated that the condition of the working classes is the pressing matter of the time and that, "...[N]othing can be of higher interest to all classes of the State than that it should be rightly and reasonably settled." (60) It was a reiteration from a point he made at the beginning of the encyclical that set the tone for its reading, "But in the present letter, the responsibility of the apostolic office urges Us to treat the question of set purpose [the condition of the working classes] and in detail, in order that no misapprehension may exist as to the principles which truth and justice dictate for its settlement." (2)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is at the very end of this encyclical that Pope Leo XIII reminded both the wealthy and the working classes of doing their part to ensure the remedies to the condition of the working classes can and will be implemented, "</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Every one should put his hand to the work which falls to his share, and that at once and straightway, lest the evil which is already so great become through delay absolutely beyond remedy." (62) Addressing the evil in society, Pope Leo XIII made it crystal clear that it is religion alone that can destroy evil at its root, and as such, "...</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">[A]ll men should rest persuaded that main thing needed is to re-establish Christian morals, apart which all the plans and devices of the wisest will prove of little avail." (62)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Rerum Novarum</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> is one of many of Pope Leo XIII's writings that are available at the Vatican's dedicated <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pope Leo XIII</a> page. I hope that today's post will encourage you to visit that page: doing so will be time well spent.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-61391263908870370582018-02-28T22:59:00.001-05:002021-07-03T14:06:12.292-04:00Rosary at the Mass Rock for Life and Faith in Ireland<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzIj7-2LGav_txQB8j2eSuYnhfcybSurO5c6Tug_82qldI9baqyORtCGTqFuVhxzbz4JM0YafvJ2yCUbGu_3YZZfnyFXaVS6W0MfFVwLxiq2Ek0ZTF197IyP6Hz4b_YGuwqTrXQHK7WE/s1600/massrock-glensidebelfast.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photo of a contemporary mass celebrated at the Mass Rock, Glenside Road, Belfast" border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="885" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzIj7-2LGav_txQB8j2eSuYnhfcybSurO5c6Tug_82qldI9baqyORtCGTqFuVhxzbz4JM0YafvJ2yCUbGu_3YZZfnyFXaVS6W0MfFVwLxiq2Ek0ZTF197IyP6Hz4b_YGuwqTrXQHK7WE/s640/massrock-glensidebelfast.png" title="Mass celebrated at the Mass Rock, Glenside Road, Belfast" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mass celebrated at the Mass Rock at Glenside Road in Belfast. Photo: Cliff Donaldson via <a href="http://www.irishnews.com/lifestyle/faithmatters/2015/09/03/news/mass-rock-tradition-serves-as-a-powerful-reminder-247403/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Irish News</a></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">On March 18, at 2:30pm (Irish local time) faithful Catholics in Ireland will be gathering at the historic Mass Rocks, Mass Houses, monastic ruins, and at the Papal Cross in Phoenix Park (Dublin) for the celebration of the Holy Mass, to </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">pray the Rosary, and to appeal to the Irish saints for life and faith in Ireland.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is another initiative by the same <a href="https://www.coastalrosaryireland.ie/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Catholic laity</a> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">who successfully organized the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/11/irelands-rosary-on-coast-for-life-and.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith</a> last November that surrounded Ireland with a human Rosary of 30,000 participants at over</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span>300 locations on the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/11/christ-king-and-pope-pius-xis.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Solemnity of Christ the King</a>.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In this next phase in the battle for life and faith in Ireland, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the organizers during this Lenten season have turned to </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Our Lady of Fatima's requests: repentance; reparation; prayer and sacrifice for the conversion of sinners; and the daily recitation of the Rosary. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">By gathering at the many Mass Rocks (and other locations) scattered throughout the Irish landscape, organizers seek to encourage the faithful to emulate their ancestors who not only drew strength from the Rosary, but courageously risked their lives to attend Mass at the hands of "hunted priests" at these clandestine locations during a very dark period in Ireland's history of persecution against Catholics.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As the title of this national prayer effort suggests, life and faith are threatened in Ireland and have been for quite some time. The lives of the unborn are particularly threatened: a national referendum will be held </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">in late May,</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">on whether or not to repeal the Eighth Amendment, Ireland's pro-life clause in the constitution.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Secularization has also taken its toll on the population; there is a noticeable waning and</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> loss of faith. This did not just happen over night, but over several decades, highlighting in the process how over a few generations, those who consider themselves members of the </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/02/mystici-corporis-christi-pope-pius-xiis.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Mystical Body of Christ</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> are today a smaller percentage of faithful Catholics.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IELl8LnYtZE/WpWlb_bGI-I/AAAAAAAAFI4/eDvCRKGXn581C6CEALFKKWoTp_DEJ_CKwCLcBGAs/s1600/googlemap-rosarymassrock.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Google map image of confirmed locations for Rosary at the Mass Rock" border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="962" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IELl8LnYtZE/WpWlb_bGI-I/AAAAAAAAFI4/eDvCRKGXn581C6CEALFKKWoTp_DEJ_CKwCLcBGAs/s400/googlemap-rosarymassrock.png" title="Confirmed locations for Rosary at the Mass Rock" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Confirmed locations as of February 27, 2017. Image:<br />Google Maps via <a href="http://www.coastalrosaryireland.ie/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Coastal Rosary Ireland</a></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If we look to</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> Ireland's history from the last century up until and including recent decades, it will not be difficult to ascertain how the forces of darkness (the Evil One and his demons) have been waging a war to usher in moral disorder that includes a Culture of Death: contraception (devices and birth control pills) </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">has been available for decades; the 1992 referendum resulted in </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the option for women to travel to another country (England) in order to have an abortion, as well as the availability of information regarding abortion "services" in other countries; divorce was no longer banned as a result of the 1995 referendum; and most recently the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">referendum of 2015, ushered in "same-sex marriage."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">n 2016, the Irish government set up a "Citizens' Assembly" to "consider" the future of the Eight Amendment, which arrived at the conclusion in April 2017, that the Eight Amendment should be repealed. They voted overwhelmingly for abortion to be permitted on the grounds of a mental or physical threat to the life of the mother, in cases of disability, and for socio-economic reasons.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Eighth Amendment was approved by 67% of the Irish population in a referendum on September 7, 1983. It came into effect on October 7, 1983, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and states, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">“The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.” </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This national prayer effort seeks to draw Divine Intervention upon Ireland to prevent what abortion proponents hope will be a "positive" result in the upcoming <a href="https://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/DOT/eng/Historical_Information/The_Constitution/Constitution_of_Ireland_-_Bunreacht_na_h%C3%89ireann.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eight Amendment</a> appeal referendum. For all Catholics in Ireland, the referendum will be an opportunity to respond positively, once again, to</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1979/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19791001_irlanda-limerick.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">St. John Paul's homily</a> of October 1, 1979, in Limerick:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">And so I say to all, have an absolute and holy respect for the sacredness of human life from the first moment of its conception. Abortion, as the Vatican Council stated, is one of the "abominable crimes" (Gaudium et Spes, 51). To attack unborn life at any moment from its conception is to undermine the whole moral order which is the true guardian of the well-being of man. The defence of the absolute inviolability of unborn life is part of the defence of human rights and human dignity. May Ireland never weaken in her witness, before Europe and before the whole world, to the dignity and sacredness of all human life, from conception until death. (6) </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saving the Eighth Amendment is absolutely essential in the battle for life and faith in Ireland; one that is primarily a spiritual battle that must be fought with spiritual weapons.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In addition to the Mass, the selection of the Rosary to fight this spiritual battle is not without its special significance. In the </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="https://tanbooks.com/virgin-mary/marian-devotional-books/the-secret-of-the-rosary/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Secret of the Rosary</a>, </i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">at the </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Forty-Sixth Rose: Group Recitation</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Louis De Montfort wrote </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">that not only is group recitation of the Rosary the method of prayer that the devil fears the most, but "...[I]t is far more formidable to the devil than one said privately, because in this public prayer it is an army that is attacking him." (98)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">By selecting the Rosary to fight the good fight, this national effort follows a long-held tradition in the Catholic Church that began in 1214, when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/lives-of-brethren-origins-of-order-of_37.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">St. Dominic</a>, the founder of the Order of Preachers, and gave him (and the entire Church) the Rosary. In addition to its many benefits—including </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the conversion of sinners—</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the Rosary is an effective weapon against the Evil One and his demons.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In his encyclical </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-rosary-effective-weapon-against.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Supremi Apostolatus Officio</a></i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Pope Leo XIII wrote about </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">devotion to the Rosary and its efficaciousness as a remedy</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> for the many evils of society. Pope Leo XIII stated, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"It has always been the habit of Catholics in danger and in troublous times to fly for refuge to Mary, and to seek for peace in her maternal goodness; showing that the Catholic Church has always, and with justice, put all her hope and trust in the Mother of God." (2)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Written in 1883, Pope Leo XIII's encyclical not only encouraged devotion to the Rosary, but spotlighted how important it has been in the history of the Catholic Church when faced with several threats; namely, the violence of heresy, intolerable moral corruption, and aggressive Islamic attacks by the Ottoman Turks.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JUovbdHDi_0/WpWsChU0SwI/AAAAAAAAFJI/_VGMe0yHI18OcZ3LjUlqOLb_-KFPTMkMQCLcBGAs/s1600/donegal-massrocks.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of the Mass Rock at Letterkenny, Donegal, Ireland" border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="750" height="402" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JUovbdHDi_0/WpWsChU0SwI/AAAAAAAAFJI/_VGMe0yHI18OcZ3LjUlqOLb_-KFPTMkMQCLcBGAs/s640/donegal-massrocks.png" title="Mass Rock at Letterkenny, Donegal, Ireland" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mass Rock ("Carraig an Aifrinn" in Gaelic) at Letterkenny, Donegal, Ireland. Photo: We Love Donegal/<a href="http://www.welovedonegal.com/mass-rocks.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mass Rocks</a></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The <a href="https://teach-tabhairne-fogra.com/Mass_Rock_Penal_Laws.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mass Rocks</a> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">located throughout the Irish landscape were specifically chosen for their historical significance: </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">a period in Ireland when Catholics were legally persecuted by the British Crown and the state-sponsored, Church of Ireland for almost 300 years. As a result of that persecution, faithful Catholics had</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> to clandestinely attend Mass at various locations throughout Ireland where natural flat rock formations became altars and other rocks (some taken from damaged monasteries and churches) had been formed into crosses and altars for midnight-Mass celebrations.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In his <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1979/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19790929_irlanda-dublino.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">homily at </a></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1979/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19790929_irlanda-dublino.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Phoenix Park</a> in Dublin </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">during his Apostolic Journey to Ireland in the Fall 1979, Saint John Paul II had mentioned the Mass Rocks in stressing how important the Mass has always been for Ireland:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As I stand here, in the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">company of so many hundreds of thousands of Irish men and women, I am thinking of how </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">many times, across how many centuries, the Eucharist has been celebrated in this land. How </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">many and how varied the places where Mass has been offered—in stately mediaeval and in </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">splendid modern cathedrals; in early monastic and in modern churches; at Mass rocks in the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">glens and forests by "hunted priests", and in poor thatch-covered chapels, for a people poor in </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">worldly goods but rich in the things of the spirit, in "wake-houses" or "station houses", or at </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">great open-air hostings of faithful—on the top of Croagh Patrick and at Lough Derg. Small </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">matter where the Mass was offered; for the Irish, it was always the Mass that mattered. (1)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In her email to supporters, Kathy Sinnott, who heads the group organizing this national prayer effort stated, "Our Mass Rocks and monastic ruins tell an important story of commitment to life and faith that we must never forget. They remind us that life and faith are treasures worth the greatest sacrifice." </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to why March 18, was chosen as the date for this national prayer event, Sinnott explained:</span><br />
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<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It bridges the feasts of our two great saints: March 17, St Patrick, the Patron and Protector of Ireland and March 19, St Joseph, the Patron and Protector of the Family and of the Universal Church who visited the Irish in Knock in a special manifestation of his care.</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is the Fifth Sunday of Lent (in the extraordinary form known as Passion Sunday) when we through the liturgy begin the ascent to Calvary.</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It marks the 145 Anniversary of the Consecration of Ireland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Passion Sunday 1873</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It falls on the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy (Savona) where Our Lady called for fasting and conversion of life so that we will be shown "Mercy not Justice." This devotion was especially highlighted by Pope Benedict XVI.</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is the feast of Blessed Christian O'Conarchy, the first Cistercian abbot in Ireland 1100s, Bishop of Lismore and a model of Irish monastic devotion.</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It precedes a series of referenda which seek to legalize abortion (<a href="http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/cons/en/html#article40" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Article 40.3.3</a>), blasphemy (<a href="http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/cons/en/html#article40" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Article 40.6.1.1</a>), no fault divorce (<a href="http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/cons/en/html#article40" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Article 41.3</a>) and to remove recognition from the home carer (<a href="http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/cons/en/html#article40" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Article 41.2.1</a>)</span></li>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Sinnott also stated that St. John Paul II and the "Rosary Priest" <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-family-that-prays-together-stays.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Venerable Patrick Peyton</a> will be asked to bless the Rosary at the Mass Rocks and all who take part.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br />This group at <a href="https://www.coastalrosaryireland.ie/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">coastalrosaryireland.ie</a></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> is a shining example of how the laity can effectively put faith into action on a national level.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">When I was first informed about Rosary at the Mass Rock, I was not only pleased to read about this next phase in the continued effort for life and faith in Ireland, but it also brought to mind </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint John Paul II's Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_30121988_christifideles-laici.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Christifideles Laici</a></i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, on the vocation and mission of the lay faithful in the Church and in the world. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At eighty-four pages, it thoroughly details and explains that vocation and mission, and was </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">written with the intention </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">to stir the laity to a deeper awareness of the gift and responsibility they share, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">both as a group and as individuals, in the communion and mission of the Church.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i>Christifideles Laici</i> is perhaps more relevant today than when it was first released </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">on December 30, 1988, on the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. </span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint John Paul II stated, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">A new state of affairs today both in the Church and in social, economic, political and cultural life, calls with a particular urgency for the action of the lay faithful. If lack of commitment is always unacceptable, the present time renders it even more so. It is not permissible for anyone to remain idle." (3)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In today's state of affairs in the Church and in the world, there is an ever increasing need for the laity to get involved and boldly take up the challenges of living the Catholic faith in the twenty-first century as part of the Church's evangelical mission. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Kathy Sinnott, her fellow organizers, and all participants have certainly demonstrating this in a most admirable way last Fall—not to mention the planning, prayer, fasting, and effort it takes to organize such a national event—and will be doing so again in less than three weeks from today.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">May Catholics in Ireland and those throughout the Universal Catholic Church be united in prayer on March 18; that it may </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">draw God's Divine Intervention </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">and mercy upon Ireland, "save the eighth," and</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">uproot and remove the moral disorder from the landscape and restore Ireland to a Culture of Life.</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-61896357802418833882018-02-23T16:14:00.000-05:002018-02-23T22:29:19.158-05:00St. John Paul II's Address to the United Nations in 1979: A "Stunning Speech" Indeed<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-neWHzd69kAU/WndZBhpc-0I/AAAAAAAAFHM/W0xxznSOGtcIyNKGEx8e7o2vYX3ipHX5ACLcBGAs/s1600/stjohnpaulii-1979UNspeech.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A black and white photo of St. John Paul II giving his address to the UN in 1979." border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="360" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-neWHzd69kAU/WndZBhpc-0I/AAAAAAAAFHM/W0xxznSOGtcIyNKGEx8e7o2vYX3ipHX5ACLcBGAs/s640/stjohnpaulii-1979UNspeech.png" title="St. John Paul II's address to the United Nations in 1979." width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">St. John Paul II during his address at the United Nations in 1979. Photo: Catholic News Service</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> via <a href="http://saltandlighttv.org/blogfeed/getpost.php?id=54663" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Salt and Light Media</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Recently I had finished reading George Weigel's book, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2018/01/lessons-in-hope-my-unexpected-life-with.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life With St. John Paul II</a></i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, where he described Saint John Paul II's <a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1979/october/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19791002_general-assembly-onu.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">address</a> to the United Nations (UN) in 1979, as a "stunning speech." As with many of Weigel's writings on St. John Paul II, they lead to further readings from his many references, citations, extensive endnotes, and bibliographies. Being somewhat intrigued by that description, I had decided to add the speech to my blog-draft list. </span></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span>The speech is twelve pages printed and like so many of Saint John Paul II's writings, it contains a dense amount of</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> information that requires the reader's full and undivided attention. After having</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> read it twice, I completely agree with Weigel's description: it is indeed a stunning speech!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the core of Saint John Paul II's speech is the human person: the importance of each individual's dignity </span></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and inalienable rights, and how all threats to peace can ultimately be identified and measured by the manner in which States fail</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> to safeguard and ensure man's freedom and ability to live </span>his human dimension </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to the fullest.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The hour-long speech began with Saint John Paul II's gratitude to the general assembly and in particular to the Secretary-General of t</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he United Nations Organization, Dr. Kurt Waldheim, for inviting him to address the thirty-fourth general assembly. Saint John Paul II then segued into the formal reason for his intervention: the special bond of cooperation that links the Apostolic See with the United Nations—indicated by the presence of the Holy See's Permanent Observer—one that is held in high esteem by the Holy See.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In addition to that bond, Saint John Paul II highlighted the Apostolic See's esteem for the United Nations as a "supreme forum for international life of humanity today," which received much attention in </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">papal messages, encyclicals, in documents of the Catholic episcopate, and in the Second Vatican Council. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Drawing upon his predecessors' (Popes John XXIII and Paul VI) "look of confidence" on the UN as a "promising sign of our times," Saint John Paul II reinforced that confidence and conviction, which as he stated did not stem from merely political reasons, but of the ...[R]eligious and moral character of the mission of the Roman Catholic Church." (4)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Moreover, Saint John Paul II pointed out </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the Catholic Church, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">as a universal community of faithful that exists in almost all countries and continents, "...[I]s deeply interested in the existence and activity of the Organization whose very name tells us that it unites and associates nations and States." (4) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Elaborating further, he stated, "It seeks out the ways for understanding and peaceful collaboration, and endeavours with the means at its disposal and the methods in its power to exclude war, division, and mutual destruction within the great family of humanity today." (4)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This was the "real reason, the essential reason" for Saint John Paul II's presence at the UN that day in October 1979. </span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The speech was not without scriptural passages. Referring to the occasion when Jesus was before </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the tribunal of the Roman judge Pilate, where He declared that the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">purpose of His existence in the world was to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37), </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II made it clear that,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> as the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Vicar of Christ, his mission was to do likewise.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II expressed his gratitude once again and then congratulated the general assembly for the opportunity to speak that day, which as he stated</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, "...[S]hows that the United Nations Organization accepts and respects the religious and moral dimension of those human problems that the Church attends to, in view of the message of truth and love that it is her duty to bring to the world." (5)</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">By no means was the address limited to those in the UN General Assembly building. Saint John Paul II extended his greetings </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to all men and women living on the planet; a greeting that placed an important focus on the human person.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Highlighting the importance of the human person, Saint John Paul II emphasized that </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">although members of the UN represent a particular State, system, and political structure, they represent above all "individual human beings," of which </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">each one </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">is endowed with dignity as a human person, with "...[H]is or her own culture, experiences and aspirations, tensions and sufferings, and legitimate expectations." (6)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II reminded the representatives that political activity "comes from man, is exercised by man and is for man," and what justifies any political activity is service to man; one that has a responsibility and concern for the essential problems and duties of "...[H]is earthly existence in its social dimension and significance, on which also the good of each person depends." (6)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Several minutes (almost two pages worth) was dedicated to the UN's <i><a href="http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a></i>, in which Saint John Paul II referred to it not only as a "fundamental document," but a "real milestone on the path of the moral progress of humanity." (7) Defining progress, he went on to state that, "The progress of humanity must be measured not only by the progress of science and technology, which shows man's uniqueness with regard to nature, but also and chiefly by the primacy given to spiritual values and by the progress of moral life." (7)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Acknowledging the importance of unity, Saint John Paul II highlighted how nations have understood that if they are not to go to war, they must unite and associate with each other. Moreover, he stressed that </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the "real and fundamental way" to achieve this was through "...[E]ach human being, through the definition and recognition of and respect for the inalienable rights of individuals and of the communities of peoples. (7)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II also provided what has proven to be a prophetic warning; that is, if the truths and principles contained in the <i>Universal Declaration of Human Rights</i> were forgotten or ignored, the UN would be faced with the threat of a new destruction. Elaborating on how this new destruction would come about he stated:</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is what would happen if the simple yet powerful eloquence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were decisively subjugated by what is wrongly called political interest, but often really means no more than one-sided gain and advantage to the detriment of others, or a thirst for power regardless of the needs of others—everything which by its nature is opposed to the spirit of the Declaration. 'Political interest' understood in this sense, if you pardon me, ladies and gentlemen, dishonours the noble and difficult mission of your service for the good of your countries and of all humanity. (9)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"No more war, war never again!" Saint John Paul II spoke these words, citing from his predecessor, Pope Paul VI, who fourteen years earlier addressed the UN from the same podium. In 1979, there was great cause for concern of war breaking out throughout the world: it was only in 1978—through direct intervention from the Vatican that successfully mediated a solution to the Beagle Channel boundary dispute—that a war was averted between Argentina and Chile; not to mention the Middle East crises which not only persist to this day, but have increased.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II's concern about the possibilities of wars breaking out was also merited by "troubling reports" of weaponry being developed beyond the size and means of war, and how s</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">uch realities seriously endangered humanity by the threat of destruction.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Avoiding war requires energetic and continuous efforts to ensure that attitudes, convictions, intentions, and aspirations of governments are not geared toward the possibility of provoking war. Saint John Paul II reminded the UN that this is a duty for every society, regime, and government.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The <i>Universal Declaration of Human Rights</i> as Saint John Paul II pointed out, "...[S]truck a real blow against the many deep roots of war, since the spirit of war, in its basic primordial meaning, springs up and grows to maturity where the inalienable rights of man are violated." (11)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Examining the principle tensions that can weaken peace, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II made what is perhaps one of "the" most salient points in the speech, "Every analysis must necessarily start from the premise that—although each person lives in a particular concrete social historical context—every human being is endowed with a dignity that must never be lessened, impaired or destroyed but must instead be respected and safeguarded, if peace is really to be built up." (12)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As to the many inalienable rights </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II enumerated some of the most important ones </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">are universally recognized</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">:</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">...[T]he right to life, liberty and security of person; the right to food, clothing, housing, sufficient health care, rest and leisure; the right to freedom of expression, education and culture; the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and the right to manifest one's religion either individually or in community, in public or in private; the right to choose a state of life, to found a family and to enjoy all conditions necessary for family life; the right to property and work, to adequate working conditions and a just wage; the right of assembly and association; the right to freedom of movement, to internal and external migration; the right to nationality and residence; the right to political participation and the right to participate in the free choice of the political system of the people to which one belongs. (13)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Moreover, Saint John Paul II pointed out that these human rights are, "...[I]n </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">keeping with the substance of the dignity of the human being, understood in his entirety, not as reduced to one dimension only. These rights concern the satisfaction of man's essential needs, the exercise of his freedoms, and his relationship with others; but always and everywhere they concern man, they concern man's full human dimension. (13)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II reminded the general assembly that man lives in the world with both material and spiritual values with the latter having a "pre-eminence": the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">values of the spirit define the proper sense of earthly material goods and the way to use</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> them. When material and technical development, and the development of civilization as a whole are guided by the pre-eminence of spiritual values, they not only serve what constitutes man, but form the basis of a just peace. (14)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Having distinguished material and spiritual values, Saint John Paul II then proceeded with a critical analysis of our modern civilization, in which he not only highlighted how the world has experienced the development of material goods as has never seen before, but also pointed to the rise in attitudes of "insensitivity to the spiritual dimension of human existence." (15) In his analysis, Saint John Paul II identified two main systematic threats against human rights: the distribution of material goods, and the various forms of injustice in the field of the spirit.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The distribution of goods as Saint John Paul II pointed out, is "...[F]requently unjust both within individual societies and on the planet as a whole." (17) Nature's bounty allows man to possess and enjoy many goods but when the inequality of possession of material goods occurs (and in their enjoyment), it can result in injustice and social injury. (17)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II then went on to describe how economic tensions between States and even entire continents, can contain "substantial elements" that can "restrict or violate human rights." Expanding on this point, he stated:</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Such elements are the exploitation of labour and many other abuses that affect the dignity of the human person. It follows that the fundamental criterion for comparing social, economic and political systems is not, and cannot be, the criterion of hegemony and imperialism; it can be, and indeed it must be, the humanistic criterion, namely the measure in which each system is really capable of reducing, restraining and eliminating as far as possible the various forms of exploitation of man and of ensuring for him, through work, not only the just distribution of the indispensable material goods, but also a participation, in keeping with his dignity, in the whole process of production and in the social life that grows up around that process. Let us not forget that, although man depends on the resources of the material world for his life, he cannot be their slave, but he must be their master. The words of the book of Genesis, "Fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen 1 :28), are in a sense a primary and essential directive in the field of economy and of labour policy. (17)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Another aspect of this first systematic threat against human rights is the "frightful disparities" between the excessively rich and those who are extremely poor, even destitute. Saint John Paul II referred to this disparity as an "abyss" which is not only a grave symptom in the life of any society, but also separates countries and regions of the earth.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To remedy such disparities will require a unified and coordinated effort by all countries that must be based on what Saint John Paul II referred to as "an authentic perspective of peace":</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Everything will depend on whether these differences and contrasts in the sphere of the "possession" of goods will be systematically reduced through truly effective means, on whether the belts of hunger, malnutrition, destitution, underdevelopment, disease and illiteracy will disappear from the economic map of the earth, and on whether peaceful cooperation will avoid imposing conditions of exploitation and economic or political dependence, which would only be a form of neocolonialism. (18)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With regard to the second, main systemic threat to human rights in the modern world—the various forms of injustice in the field of the spirit—Saint John Paul II focussed on how man can be wounded in his inner relationship with truth: in his conscience; in his most personal belief; his view of the world; in his religious faith; and in the sphere of civil liberties.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fundamental to civil liberties is the equality of rights without discrimination—on the grounds of origin, race, religion, nationality, sex, and political convictions—which Saint John Paul II went on to define as, "...[T]he exclusion of the various forms of privilege for some and discrimination against others, whether they are people born in the same country or people from different backgrounds of history, nationality, race and ideology." (19) He also point out that despite the "thrust of civilization" giving life to political societies that safeguard the objective rights of the spirit—human conscience and creativity, and man's relationship with God—there are recurring threats and violations against these rights, often with, "...[No] possibility of appealing to a higher authority or of obtaining an effective remedy." (19)</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Drawing attention to another problem with political systems that safeguard freedom of the spirit (freedom of thought, expression, conscience, and religious freedom) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II stressed </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that within those systems exist social structures that "condemns" man to become a second-class or third-class citizen, which can be identified by compromised advancement in the social and professional life, and in the inability of families to freely educate their children. Moreover, he stated, "It is a question of the highest importance that in internal social life, as well as in international life, all human beings in every nation and country should be able to enjoy effectively their full rights under any political regime or system." (19)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Religious freedom is absolutely essential to the cause of peace. Highlighting the importance of religious freedom, Saint John Paul II cited from the</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Second Vatican Council's Declaration, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Dignitatis Humanae</a> (on the right of the person and communities to social and civil freedoms in matters religious):</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In accordance with their dignity, all human beings, because they are persons, that is, beings endowed with reason and free will and therefore bearing personal responsibility, are both impelled by their nature and bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially religious truth. They are also bound to adhere to the truth once they come to know it and to direct their whole lives in accordance with its demands (<i>Dignitatis Humanae</i>, 2). </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(20)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The United Nations proclaimed 1979, to be the "Year of the Child." Saint John Paul II expressed his joy on the subject of children. He also reminded the delegates that a child's life begins at conception, "Concern for the child, even before birth, from the first moment of conception and then throughout the years of infancy and youth, is the primary and fundamental test of the relationship of one human being to another." (21) He went on to further state, "And so, what better wish can I express for every nation and the whole of mankind, and for all the children of the world than a better future in which respect for human rights will become a complete reality throughout the third millennium, which is drawing near." (21)</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At the close of his address, Saint John Paul II expressed his hope for peace, justice, and freedom for all peoples of the world, and that the United Nations would</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> continue to be, "...[A]n authentic seat of freedom of peoples and individuals in their longing for a better future. (23)</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Attending the thirty-fourth general assembly must have been quite the experience for State representatives, the press, and others. George Weigel was one such individual—a "newbie columnist" on his first major assignment: Saint John Paul II's papal pilgrimage to the United States in October 1979. It was a speech that Weigel would come to analyze and write about twenty years later.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In <i><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Witness-Hope-Biography-Pope-John/dp/0060732032" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Witness to Hope</a></i>, the first of three seminal works on the life and papacy of Saint John Paul II, Weigel dedicated three and a half pages (</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">chapter ten, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The Ways of Freedom</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">) to Saint John Paul II's 1979 UN address. Although it was written and published many years prior to <i>Lessons in Hope</i>, that information and in particular the concluding paragraph serves as another resource of just how stunning a speech it truly was:</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The delegates to the General Assembly had listened to John Paul's address in silence. No one had wandered about the floor of the General Assembly, as often happened during normal business. However they construed its meaning, the representatives of the worlds of power knew that they had been listening to a force to be reckoned with. (350)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II's speech is </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">perhaps more relevant today than when it was first delivered in 1979. If one reads the <i><a href="http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a></i> and compares it to the many UN resolutions passed and the initiatives undertaken over the past few decades it will not take </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">much time or effort to conclude that the United Nations has significantly deviated from its origins. What</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> was once an international forum that staunchly defended the human person, and each individual's dignity and inalienable rights has today become a battlefield for the social engineering of States—heavily influenced by </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">non-governmental organizations (NGO) and lobbyists, funded by globalist billionaires—</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">with agendas that bring about a moral disorder in society and a Culture of Death.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The details of what the United Nations has become today can be read at</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://c-fam.org/" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">C-Fam: Center for Family and Human Rights</a>.<br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II's address is a treasure trove of clarity, knowledge, and understanding about the truth of the human person and how each individual's dignity and inalienable rights are inseparable from freedom and peace in the world.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span>Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-89141808360815779252018-01-31T22:54:00.002-05:002018-02-07T10:36:48.841-05:00Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life With St. John Paul II<div style="text-align: right;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O-0WX1XtXck/WnD-qG3PGSI/AAAAAAAAFG8/JhnATWFNTf8J36GpW9dcM7xddyeWRXMxQCLcBGAs/s1600/lessons-in-hope.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life With St. John Paul II and Centesimus annus" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O-0WX1XtXck/WnD-qG3PGSI/AAAAAAAAFG8/JhnATWFNTf8J36GpW9dcM7xddyeWRXMxQCLcBGAs/s640/lessons-in-hope.png" title="George Weigel's book, Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life With St. John Paul II" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">George Weigel's book, <i>Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life With St. John Paul II</i> and St. John Paul II's encyclical, <i>Centesimus annus</i> released in 1991, on the hundredth anniversary of <i>Rerum Novarum</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As a blogger I do a lot of reading in order to be better informed and remain current on a variety of topics that I blog about. At times I put all that aside and take on some pleasure reading. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today's post is about such a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">reading,</span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Lessons-Hope-Unexpected-Life-John/dp/0465094295/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515947991&sr=1-2" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life with St. John Paul II</a>;</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> a book written by George Weigel, a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Catholic theologian, leading American public intellectual, and </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Senior Fellow at</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> the <a href="https://eppc.org/fellows-scholars/george-weigel/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ethics and Public Policy Center</a>, who I had the pleasure of meeting in </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">October 2016, at the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/george-weigels-toronto-speaking.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Catholic Civil Rights League's Annual General Meeting</a> in Toronto</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel's latest book </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">completes the triptych on the life of St. John Paul II, that began with his two previous volumes,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Witness-Hope-Biography-Pope-John/dp/0060732032" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Witness to Hope</i></a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/End-Beginning-II-Victory-Freedom/dp/0385524803/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=31EH4SVK77AXX3JXXA9R" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">The End and the Beginning</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The impetus for writing this "third panel" on the portrait of St. John Paul II's life stemmed </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">from Weigel's discovery that during the promotion of <i>The End and the Beginning</i> (published in 2010) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">readers and audiences wanted to know more about St. John Paul II's life: stories that would, as Weigel put it, "...[M]ake him present again by rekindling memories or illuminating previously unknown aspects of his rich personality." (3)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Responding to that yearning to know St. John Paul II in a more personal way—which did not fit into the genre of serious biography—</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel set out to "widen the anecdotal lens" and wrote the third volume of this seminal work that truly is a treasure trove of anecdotal information on the life of both men.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel presented that anecdotal information within a timeline of his life: that began with Lent 1960; fast-forwarded to his university education; throughout his professional life; St. John Paul II's death and funeral; continued to the writing and </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">promotion of <i>The End and the Beginning</i>; and concluded with a final reflection.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In 1982, having arrived at the Marian shrine of Fatima, on a pilgrimage of thanksgiving </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">for </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">surviving the assassination attempt made on his life a year before at St. Peter's Square, St. John Paul II stated, "In the designs of Providence, there are no mere coincidences." (5)</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> That statement summed up St. John Paul II's view of God's ways with the world and with history. (5) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Reflecting upon his own experience learning about St. John Paul II, Weigel understood that much of what happened over the course of his life was not just happenstance or coincidence, but part of God's providential plan for his life: preparation for becoming St. John Paul II's biographer. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel referred to that preparation as "bricks" that formed the "foundation" for his study of St. John Paul II. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first part of Weigel's reflection took him back to his childhood, detailed in the chapter, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Lent in the Third Grade</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, where he uses the analogy of a seed planted in him that eventually flowered into a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">passion for Polish history and literature, and a determination to tell the story of St. John Paul II, who at that time was </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the forty-year-old auxiliary bishop of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kraków.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That seed during Lent 1960, was the prayer assignment given </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">at the Cathedral School in downtown Baltimore, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">for each grade to pray for the conversion of a communist leader during the entire time of Lent. Grade three's assigned figure was Poland's </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Władysław Gomułka—the de facto leader of post-war Poland until 1948, and later between 1956-1970—who was a supporter for the persecution of the Catholic Church and intellectuals, and who together with his associates mistakenly considered Karol Józef Wojtyła</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to be an intellectual they could manipulate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first brick laid in the foundation of Weigel's life was between 1969-1973, during his seminary studies in philosophy at St. Mary's Seminary College in Baltimore. Although he did not pursue a vocation to the priesthood, the time at St. Mary's proved to be essential for Weigel's biographical studies in order to get inside the mind </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of "Karol Wojtyła the philosopher," who St. John Paul II himself</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> stated, "...[C]ould only be understood from the inside." (93)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The foundation grew during his graduate studies at the University of Toronto, between 1973-1975, and continued into the early part of his career between 1975-1984; a time that Weigel referred to himself as an "apprentice wordsmith."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The "apprenticeship" included two years (1975-1977) as a junior faculty member of St. Thomas Seminary School of Theology in Kemore, Washington; and as Weigel noted, it was a crucial turning point in his life when he learned the invaluable lesson, "...[Y]ou really don't know what you think about something until you try to teach it, persuade others of it, or engage others in it." (17)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The apprenticeship moved from teaching at St. Thomas into the world of think tanks: the World Without War Council (WWWC) in Seattle. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was also a time in which Weigel was afforded the opportunity to further develop his writing skills and he wrote articles about several topics including religion and St. John Paul II</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel's debut as a "public intellectual/theologian/columnist" had several effects. One of which was the exploration of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">St. John Paul II's grand strategy for the victory of freedom in Central and Eastern Europe, "...[T]h</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">e robust defense of human rights, anchored in religious freedom, as a nonviolent weapon that communism could not match." (23)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Think tanks did not offer Weigel the same financial security as teaching, but it did provide him with something even more valuable: freedom. It was with that freedom that Weigel was able to take on his first assignment in 1979: to write </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">about St. John Paul II's first papal pilgrimage to the United States in October of that same year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel elaborated on that assignment in the chapter, <i>Front Row Seat</i>, where he wrote </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">how the "nascent desire" to know St. John Paul II better was born from the few seconds when St. John Paul II passed by him, only a foot or two away, inside the United Nations General Assembly building, where the Pope delivered what Weigel described as a</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "<a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1979/october/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19791002_general-assembly-onu.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">stunning speech</a>." That encounter would </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eventually lead Weigel into relationships and adventures he never thought possible as a "...[N]ewbie columnist on the fringes of the papal media tsunami in October 1979." (27)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On what was an "unforgettable morning," Weigel walked to the home of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">then Pastor Richard Neuhaus seeking his insight on the speech. It was the first conversation Weigel had about the proper interpretation of a St. John Paul II text, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">...[T]he keys, he [Neuhaus] insisted, were the Pope's locating human rights at the center of any humane world politics, religious freedom at the center of human rights, and a biblically informed notion of human dignity as the foundation of the whole edifice." (25)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was only a couple of months later in March of that same year that Weigel "unpacked" the key themes of Christian personalism in St. John Paul II's first encyclical, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_04031979_redemptor-hominis.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Redemptor Hominis</a></i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Between 1984-1985, Weigel spent a year "in t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he castle</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"; </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a reference to his time</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) in Washington, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">which at that time was located in the old Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall. During that year, Weigel experienced: true academic community; a fellowship that reverenced the truth; and was befriended by five men whom he credits as having "decisively" shaped his future thinking and work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Following his sabbatical at the WWICS, Weigel spent the next four years (1985-1989) launching and leading the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">World Without War Council's sister organization, the James Madison Foundation, which involved him in enterprises that would shape his work on St. John Paul II. (33)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nA_yeyZ_Sgo/Wm-FYJqSJPI/AAAAAAAAFFg/HaWheiVRrD0z-F6NV0VBw-k308FzAvnGwCLcBGAs/s1600/georgeweigel-eppc.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of George Weigel, Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington" border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="366" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nA_yeyZ_Sgo/Wm-FYJqSJPI/AAAAAAAAFFg/HaWheiVRrD0z-F6NV0VBw-k308FzAvnGwCLcBGAs/s320/georgeweigel-eppc.png" title="George Weigel, Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">George Weigel. Photo: Ethics and<br />Public Policy Center/<a href="https://eppc.org/author/george_weigel/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">George Weigel</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In 1989, Weigel became the second president of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC); a position he held for seven years.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> The EPPC had as Weigel put it,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "...[A] well-deserved reputation for serious public policy research that fit well within the neoconservative consensus." (38) He went on to further describe it as a place where colleagues shared his conviction that St. John Paul II was "...<i>[T</i></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>]</i></span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">he</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> religious figure of consequence on the world stage." (38)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was during this time that Weigel took one step closer to becoming St. John Paul II's biographer: writing about the pope's encyclical, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_01051991_centesimus-annus.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Centesimus Annus</a>. The experience taught him something very important about the pope: that St. John Paul II had "...[B]rilliantly scouted the terrain on which the battle for the twenty-first century would be fought in the West—a man I thought I would like to know better." (42).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">had been writing about St. John Paul II steadily since 1979, and by 1991, he had become one of pope's "principal interpreters" in North America, which St. John Paul II, through his personal intelligence network, was well aware.</span><br />
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<br />Being one of the pope's principal interpreters did not make Weigel's "stock" rise among those who considered <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Karol Wojtyła a "Conservative Pole with a premodern mind." Weigel had a different view of St. John Paul II, "...[I] had come to the settled view that he [St. John Paul II] was a thoroughly modern intellectual with a very different read on modernity—one that deserved serious attention. That judgement was amply confirmed when </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Centesimus Annus</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> was published at the beginning of May 1991." (41) Weigel dedicated two full pages to this encyclical that included his description of St. John Paul II's brilliance:</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">...John Paul crafted an encyclical that brilliantly described the threefold free and virtuous society of the future as one composed of a democratic political community, a free economy, and a vibrant public moral culture. And, he insisted, the culture was the key to all the rest, because it took a certain kind of people, culturally tutored in certain virtues, to make the machinery of free politics and free markets work so that the result is genuine human flourishing. Truth, he argued, and especially the truth about the human person, had everything to do with living freedom well and building prosperous economies. And the central truth that the free societies of the future had to own was the truth about the human person, which we can know by both revelation and reason. (41)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the chapter, <i>Rookie Vaticanista</i>, Weigel details how over the course of eight days in Rome in 1991, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">he met with several figures in the Roman Curia and Rome-based journalists. From those conversations, Weigel referred to one in particularly as especially important </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in shaping his perceptions of St. John Paul II's role in the fall of communism: the conversation with </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">then-archbishop</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Jan Schotte; a man </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">who</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, "...[I]ntuitively grasped John Paul II's culture-driven approach to historical change, in which the truth, spoken clearly and winsomely enough, has the power to forge cultural tools of resistance to oppression." (52)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Schotte revealed that the first thing St. John Paul II did upon assuming the office of the papacy </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">was to ask for the archives on the Ostpolitik—the well-intentioned failed Eastern policy of Pope Paul VI that sought to appease communist countries with the hope that the Catholic Church would not be subjected to persecution. That review helped convince St. John Paul II to follow his instincts of being, "...[M]ore forthright and 'undiplomatic' in his defense of religious freedom and his unmistakable challenge to communism from the very beginning of his papacy." (52)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The conversation with Joaquín Navarro-Valls, the Vatican spokesman from 1984 to 2006—</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a Spanish layman and medical doctor</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> who had practiced psychiatry before entering into the world of journalism—</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">helped to further distinguish St. John Paul II's approach to communism from Pope Paul VI's, specifically with respect to the different readings of the Yalta accords. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Navarro-Valls emphasized that Pope Paul VI saw the accords (which divided Europe at the end of WWII) as a political fact, whereas St. John Paul II completely rejected Yalta and all that it represented on, "...[E]thical, historical, and cultural grounds—which was why his [St. John Paul II] method turned out to be 'much more subversive' in undermining the Yalta system than an overtly political approach would have been." (54)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--b2wB1Xqd78/Wm-J2fUb6tI/AAAAAAAAFFs/I7z2JTOfqdoJQsN9f36pqLEQiIuMuSfcQCLcBGAs/s1600/johnpaul2-poland1979.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="St. John Paul II on stage to celebrate Mass for Pentecost, Poland 1979" border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="629" height="406" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--b2wB1Xqd78/Wm-J2fUb6tI/AAAAAAAAFFs/I7z2JTOfqdoJQsN9f36pqLEQiIuMuSfcQCLcBGAs/s640/johnpaul2-poland1979.png" title="St. John Paul II during his epic papal pilgrimage to Poland in 1979" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">St. John Paul ll's 1979 Vigil Mass for Pentecost at Victory Square, Warsaw, Poland. Photo: YouTube/<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8aIF5yK5XQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WYD2016 Blog 2 - A Pilgrim's Guide to Warsaw</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Seeking to deepen his understanding of how St. John Paul II "triggered a revolution of conscience" in Poland, Weigel made his first trip to pope's homeland in 1991. During those twelve days he travelled to Warsaw, Kraków, Gdańsk, and Tarnów, where he inquired about the origins of the Revolution of 1989. Whether it was a government official, journalist, priest, house wife, academic or anyone else, they all responded with the same answer: St. John Paul II's epic June 1979 pilgrimage to Poland, the "Nine Days that changed the history of the twentieth century." (57)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">From the many people Weigel met with I found his conversation with </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Polish priest, Father Kazimierz Jancarz particularly interesting, not only from what he shared, but due to the fact that his parish, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the Church of St. Maximilian Kolbe, was in the Mistrzejowice nieghbourhood of Nowa Huta, where the battle to build a church was hardest fought in previous decades against the communists, who planned Nowa Huta to be a town without a Church and without God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The great symbol in that struggle was the Ark Church in the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Bienczyce neighbourhood of Nowa Huta where since 1959, St. John Paul II celebrated midnight Mass at an open, outdoor field until the Ark Church's completion and dedication on May 15, 1977.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel wrote that </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Father Jancarz gave him a lesson in how hope, "...[W]as kept alive at the grassroots level in the 1980s, during and after martial law." (61) Elaborating on Father Jancarz's information, Weigel captured the spirit of Polish cultural resistance:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Under his leadership, the Kolbe parish in Nowa Huta became a piece of free Poland when the regime tried to stamp out Solidarity [A trade union that became legally recognized, independent, and self governing after the 1979 papal pilgrimage] and what it represented: free space for free associations of free people who could think freely about themselves and the future. An underground university was formed for the steelworkers, the professors coming from the Jagiellonian University and the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kraków Polytechnic; some four hundred workers 'graduated' after four semesters (including their 'proletarian' parish priest). 'Evenings of Polish culture'—political cabarets, theatrical performances, musical programs—replicated Karol </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wojtyła's own experience in the cultural resistance during World War II: people in touch with their own culture can never be completely occupied, whether by a Nazi occupation force or by communist usurpers. (62)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When St. John Paul II had given the "green light" for </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Witness to Hope </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">in December 1995, during a "dinner of consequence," </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel decided that the best approach would be to postpone any writing for eighteen months, during which time he set out to meet with as many people as possible and read all that he could on the pope. It resulted in more than a thousand pages of interview notes and eight full-size drawers of research materials.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Much of <i>Lessons in Hope</i> detailed the research of those eighteen months: the many conversations and numerous interviews with </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">members of the Roman Curia, and several other clergy at various levels of the Church hierarchy; </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">members of religious Orders; and St. John Paul II's network of lay friends (young adults and married couples) that began forming around him in the late 40's, the group of people referred to as "Środowisko</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Those conversations provided insights into </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the rich interior life and personality of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">St. John Paul II and his papacy. Some stood out in my mind more than others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first of those individuals is Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (then-cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) whom Weigel</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> describes as "unfailingly helpful" when he was preparing <i>Witness to Hope</i>, and to whom he dedicated an entire chapter entitled, <i>The Indispensable Man</i>. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI informed Weigel that St. John Paul II was a man with "an acute sense of the human dilemma in late modernity"; the problem of 'the human person,' which as he further explained was what "...[D]rove both </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wojtyła's philosophical work and his pontificate." (112) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI shared how he had lunched regularly with St. John Paul II; working lunches that were "quasi-seminars," where St. John Paul II thought out his weekly audience addresses, hashed out major encyclicals, two responses to liberation theology, and the apostolic letter, <i>Ordinatio Sacerdotalis</i>, on the Church's inability to admit women to the priesthood. (113)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6mijnWp3FAs/Wm-aNKUJhfI/AAAAAAAAFGQ/0w-_LYYHhfgMrkUSJ_eZ0o9tpUUHzct2gCLcBGAs/s1600/johnpaul2-cardinalratzinger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of St. John Paul II with then-cardinal Ratzinger at the Vatican" border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="240" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6mijnWp3FAs/Wm-aNKUJhfI/AAAAAAAAFGQ/0w-_LYYHhfgMrkUSJ_eZ0o9tpUUHzct2gCLcBGAs/s400/johnpaul2-cardinalratzinger.jpg" title="St. John Paul II with then-cardinal Ratzinger at the Vatican" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">St. Pope John Paul II with Pope Emeritus<br />Benedict XVI (then-cardinal Ratzinger)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel described the working relationship between St. John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They were something of an odd couple: a Pole and a German of the same World War II generation; a philosopher and a theologian; a former actor and a man one couldn't imagine on stage; a thinker-sportsman-mystic who became a compelling public personality and a learned but shy scholar who was likely happiest when reading or playing the piano by himself. Yet they worked in harness for over twenty-three years, one succeeding the other as pope. And between them, they gave the Second Vatican Council what it lacked until October 16, 1978—a coherent, comprehensive, and authoritative interpretation that pointed the Church into the third millennium of evangelical mission, which was what John XXIII had hoped for in summoning Vatican II. (111)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Another individual that stood out in my mind is </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sister </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Emilia Ehrlich, an Ursaline nun and the Pope's English tutor and personal librarian, who Weigel met in 1997, and to whom he also dedicated an entire chapter: </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Tutor, Translator, Librarian, Nun</i>.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sister Emilia, whose background is both Polish and American, fluent in English, and held a divinity degree from the Pontifical Faculty of Theology, insisted that Weigel not mention her in his book because she was "just a private person helping the Pope" and didn't want to be considered a "second Pascalina"—a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">reference to Pope Pius XII's powerful housekeeper, Mother Pascalina Lehnert, who "...[W]as ejected from the Vatican the day Pius XII died and took refuge in the convent at the North American College, bringing the late pontiff's pet parakeets with her." (123) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sister Emilia had spoken of St. John Paul II in quite a remarkable way:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As for the man who was always being orphaned, she said that 'he was a faithful friend and once you were his friend, you were always his friend.' People loved him because 'he loved people,' and kept promises, said what he thought and didn't speak until he had something serious to say: something rare among intellectuals, she shrewdly observed. She also remarked on his exceptional ability to make people in vast crowds think he was addressing them personally. (124)</span> </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of the many Curial figures Weigel spoke with who taught him about St. John Paul II and the challenges he faced governing the Church, I thought it noteworthy to include some of the details from Weigel's conversation with Cardinal Francis Arinze from Nigeria. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel descried Cardinal Arinze as one of his favourite interlocutors and a man of "...[I]nsight and charm and a first-generation Christian who seemed overwhelmingly grateful for the gift of faith he had been given as a boy." (133)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Cardinal Arinze knew and worked with then Cardinal Wojtyła during the synods of 1969, 1971, and 1977, and he told Wiegel that upon hearing of St. John Paul II's election as pope, he immediately informed some Irish priests in Belfast with whom he was</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> staying, "We're going to have a bit of clarity in the Church. Now, we are going to know where we stand, clearly, without being aggressive, but clear." (133)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is one comment in particular from Cardinal Arinze that was striking and brought back memories of St. John Paul II's life and papacy, "...[T]he John Paul II Effect was to make 'a Catholic who is a serious Catholic happy that he is living at this time in history." (133)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel wrote that Cardinal Arinze understood why St. John Paul II as a vocation magnet, "How can young people join a group of permanently confused people who don't know where they're going? The Holy Father is just the opposite. People who see him know that he is happy in his vocation. His general style has encouraged vocations, because young men see that he is happy." (133)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the chapter, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Wojtyła's Poland in Depth</i>, Weigel details his trips to Warsaw, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kraków, and Lublin in April 1997; researching St. John Paul II's pre-papal life. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">During that time, he met with many people, both clergy and laity, including members of the Środowisko group.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nv44n2hO4AA/Wm-T1yY6LrI/AAAAAAAAFGA/8gvRS7rqxFEnzRjkZbNS9CTyZndTaNK7QCLcBGAs/s1600/karolwojtyla-hiking.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A black and white photo of Fr. Karol Wojtyła with students in 1954" border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="960" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nv44n2hO4AA/Wm-T1yY6LrI/AAAAAAAAFGA/8gvRS7rqxFEnzRjkZbNS9CTyZndTaNK7QCLcBGAs/s640/karolwojtyla-hiking.png" title="Fr. Karol Wojtyła with students in 1954" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fr. Karol Wojtyła with students in 1954. Photo: First Things/<a href="https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2016/03/the-jewelers-shop-john-paul-ii-and-the-joy-of-holiness" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">The Jeweller's Shop, John Paul II, and the Joy of Holiness</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II had insisted earlier that same year (January 1997) that Weigel would not be able to understand him unless he understood the people of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Środowisko. So Weigel set out to learn what they could teach him about Fr. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wojtyła</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In addition to most of the individuals becoming professionals in various fields (some quite distinguished) Weigel was struck by, "...[T]heir stories, while displaying the personal touches that came from intimate friendships involving unique personalities, were completely coherent in the portrait they drew of Karol </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wojtyła as priest, bishop, and friend." (157)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Among the many characteristics of St. John Paul II, they mentioned: his "permanent openness"; a man who mastered the art of listening; how Fr. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wojtyła insisted on the moral responsibility of each individual; that they talked about everything, but never once did </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fr. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wojtyła impose a view; and that the spiritual direction he gave to each individual included what would become his signature phrase, "<a href="https://eppc.org/publications/you-have-to-decide/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">You must decide</a>." (157) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel described how content the people of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Środowisko felt with Fr. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wojtyła: </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The result was a zone of freedom in a world of greyness and conformity. In a communist environment that remained stifling even after the worst of the Stalinist repression, they 'felt completely free with him,' as Teresa Malecka put it. 'While he was among us we felt that everything was all right.' They also emphasized that all this—hiking, kayaking, skiing with young people and young couples, parties in their homes for name days and after the baptisms of their children—was unheard of among other Polish clergy. So was </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wojtyła's custom of saying Mass on their summer vacations with an overturned kayak as an impoverished altar. (158)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Father </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wojtyła had </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">asked the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Środowisko group to call him "</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wujek," which in Polish means "Uncle." He did so as a matter of protecting himself and the group from the ubiquitous secret police; a time when it was illegal for organized Catholic youth groups to meet with priests. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fathert Wojtyła's rise in the Church hierarchy did not end t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">hat special relationship with Środowisko, as he assured them, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Don't worry, Wujek will remain Wujek." (158) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Much of what Weigel wrote rekindled memories of my discovery of the life and papacy of St. John Paul II through the many references to the pope's writings. Perhaps what rekindled that discovery the most was Weigel's inclusion of St. John Paul II's </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.jp2.info/JP2_on_Love-Responsibility.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Love and Responsibility</a> and </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.jp2.info/Theology_of_the_Body.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Theology of the Body</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is in the chapter, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Something Useful for the Universal Church</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, that Weigel wrote about </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Love and Responsibility</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the Kraków archdiocesan institute on marriage that Bishop </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Wojtyła</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> created and whose works were first published in 1960, in a book of the same title—and how it was Fr. Wojtyła's pastoral response to the question of his young student friends, "How do we prepare a good marriage?" </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Love and Responsibility</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> details the answer to this question, providing the fundamental understanding of what it means to be a "person," and the challenge of human sexuality.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was in that same chapter that Weigel also wrote about </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Theology of the Body</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">: </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the 129 general audience addresses the pope delivered at St. Peters Square from September 1979-1984, in which St. John Paul II provided his vision of the human person based on scriptural references; and revealed the truth about what the human </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">body means, the</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> call to be a gift of self, and detailed </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">God's plan for mankind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weigel also included in that same chapter, two other important </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">writings: Saint John Paul II's Apostolic Exhortation <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/01/familiaris-consortio-saint-pope-john.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Familiaris Consortio</i></a> (on the role of the Christian family in the modern world) and <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Evangelium Vitae</i></a>, the encyclical on the value and inviolability of human life</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Ben-Hur and the Pope</i> is the chapter where Weigel wrote about the film documentary, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Witness-Hope-Life-Karol-Wojtyla/dp/B00104OJL6/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_img_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QYYDWMPPV73FCVTD4FDX" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Witness to Hope</a>, </i>and how it came into being which had a special significance for me: it was my first in-depth look into </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the life and papacy of St. John Paul II. It aired on my local </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) station in the fall of 2001, and it immediately instilled in me a desire to know the pope better. From that day on my discovery of St. John Paul II began (and continues to this day) that without a doubt, led to my attendance at World Youth Day 2002, in Toronto.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As to World Youth Day 2002, Weigel included some of his </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">memorable moments in the chapter,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The Long Lent</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. That inclusion brought back several memories, one of which Weigel shared: the clearing of the dark skies and rain that day in North York, into into a bright, sunny one upon St. John Paul II's arrival.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Reading <i>Lessons in Hope</i> afforded me an opportunity to better </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">understand the life and papacy of St. John Paul II in ways that I have never read before. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I also gained a greater appreciation and respect for </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">George Weigel and his achievements.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Among the many lessons that one can learn from reading </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Lessons in Hope</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, one that has stood out in my mind i</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">s that by cooperating with the Designs of Providence—and the many graces, gifts, and blessings that accompany them—God can accomplish great things through His chosen vessels. The lives of St. John Paul II and George Weigel are ample proof of that.</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-20112036427269322862017-12-31T23:10:00.000-05:002018-01-04T18:41:36.805-05:00The God of Healing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E-AfhUuOjh4/WkmK7GzN8vI/AAAAAAAAFEI/o7PR1PMhu90wrU0F804IfmErShSWYGvUgCLcBGAs/s1600/god-of-healing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Michael H. Brown's book The God of Healing" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E-AfhUuOjh4/WkmK7GzN8vI/AAAAAAAAFEI/o7PR1PMhu90wrU0F804IfmErShSWYGvUgCLcBGAs/s640/god-of-healing.png" title="Michael H. Brown's book The God of Healing" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Michael H. Brown's book, <i>The God of Healing</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One of the benefits of the Christmas season is an opportunity to catch up on some reading. This year I decided to read Michael H. Brown's book, <i>The God of Healing</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For those who have been following my blog, you may remember Michael H. Brown (director of the Catholic news website <a href="http://www.spiritdaily.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SpiritDaily.com</a>) from my posts on his four informative talks that he gave during the </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/05/marian-day-retreat-with-michael-h-brown.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Marian Day Retreat</a> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">back in May of this year. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Those talks not only spawned four blog posts on each respective talk and the rereading and blogging of his book, <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/07/michael-h-browns-book-prayer-of-warrior.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Prayer of the Warrior</i></a>, but it also prompted me to acquire four other </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">books he authored: one of which I blogged about in September, <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/09/where-cross-stands-last-chance-to.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Where The Cross Stands: The Last Chance to Reclaim America</a>; two remain on the reading and blog-draft lists; and the other is the focus of today's post.</span><br />
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<i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The God of Healing</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, is a worthy addition to anyone's reading list that seeks to better understand an increasingly important subject matter in today's world where people are suffering from a multitude of chronic ailments, injuries, and life-threatening diseases.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yet even in today's Information Age, many are not aware that healing is available to those who put their trust in God; who pray in a spirit of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">obedience, abandonment, and gratitude, as if the healing had already occurred, much in the same manner as Jesus did when raising Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:42)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Healing happens to those who not only believe that God can heal, but that He actually will heal when asked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Part of the healing process entails our cooperation: a sincere turning to God in perfect contrition and true repentance; forgiving those who we need to forgive; letting go of hatred, resentment, and bitterness; and seeking to live a virtuous life. We should pray for these gifts and the graces to live them fully, each and every day of our lives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We also need to spiritually cleanse our homes and lives from demonic influence. Our homes should be blessed by a priest, especially when moving into a new home. The frequent use of sacramentals (holy or exorcised water, salt, and oil) is also important in fighting the spirits of darkness (demonic) that may attempt to silently influence us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation or <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/12/our-ladys-little-stone-monthly.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">confession</a> is very important to "come clean" with God. Add to this: regularly attendance at <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/01/our-ladys-little-stone-eucharist.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mass</a> (more than once a week, daily if possible); appealing to Our Lady's intercession through the recitation the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/12/our-ladys-little-stone-pray-with-heart.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rosary</a> (the most powerful prayer next to Mass) and the intercession of the saints; adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament; <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/12/our-ladys-little-stone-fasting-on-bread.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">fasting</a> (especially on bread and water) which is a powerful spiritual weapon (Mark 9:29)</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> that expels evil and cleanses the body; meditation on the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/01/our-ladys-little-stone-holy-bible.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bible</a>, especially the scriptural passages that deal with healing (half the passages in the first eight chapters of Mark deal with healing); and calling upon our guardian angels and St. Raphael to heal, guide, and protect us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">God can heal anybody of anything! God's healing is not a matter of if, but when: when we act, God acts. </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The God of Healing</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> is essentially a guide book of what we need to do to put that healing process into motion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We must do so with a strong and unwavering faith, drawing from the lessons of Christ to the Apostles who inquired with Jesus after he cast out a demon, why they were unable to do likewise, to which he replied, "...Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:18-20)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For those who have been injured recently, diagnosed with a condition or disease and are terribly worried or perhaps bordering on despair, Brown offers some words of encouragement: "Don't accept an evil report." (16) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">God is above what any diagnosis and doctor will say about your health. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Do not let the Evil One or his demons discourage, dishearten, and depress you! Never despair; t</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">here is always hope with God!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In chapter three, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Invisible forces,</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Brown illustrates why we should never accept an "evil report" by citing from </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the example of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) who in 1958, was afflicted by bronchial pneumonia. Despite the best efforts of doctors, his condition remained and as tests were conducted, Padre Pio was informed that he had cancer and only had a few months to live. Much to the shock of doctors, Padre Pio burst out laughing and informed them that they didn't know what they were talking about. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Padre Pio refused the evil report! He refused the doctors' advice for chemotherapy. He prayed in front of a famous pilgrim statue from Fatima, and did so the entire time it remained in the monastery. Eventually the statue was taken away and Padre Pio pleaded with Our Lady, "Dear Mother, ever since you came to Italy, I have been immobilized by sickness. Now that you are leaving, aren't you going to say even a word to me?" At that moment, he felt a surge throughout his body; he leaped out of bed and shouted, "I'm healed." Two weeks later, Padre Pio resumed all his duties. (17)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We would do well to remember what Brown wrote in beginning of the first chapter, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Our Creator wants us whole</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, "There's no doubt whatsoever that God can heal anybody of anything." He is the God of healing. (1)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Throughout the book, Brown refers to how the demonic and unclean spirits can—and many times are—the source of emotional, psychological, and physical problems, but it is in chapter seven, <i>Spirits of Darkness</i>, where he elaborates on this in greater detail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In that chapter, Brown quoted Dr. Kenneth McAll's—a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Christian psychiatrist</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">who claimed to have witness dozens of spirits haunt various locations, causing accidents, disputes, and other negativity—</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">recommendation </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that upon moving to a new home, "...[I]t is a good idea to have it blessed." (36)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-BGR_emtudKE9acJwjCcerS0g_5kMp3BiGirsqQROpsOupqXQLPMSOoIyKsRTN68E7t49_lDSmlaod5X5Ikm15s2nEw1BDr8mtvDLUVidpYgvHO1j0sg_OfKN8ugaRQ3uSrA0bktDOk/s1600/giotto_explusionofdevils.fw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="837" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-BGR_emtudKE9acJwjCcerS0g_5kMp3BiGirsqQROpsOupqXQLPMSOoIyKsRTN68E7t49_lDSmlaod5X5Ikm15s2nEw1BDr8mtvDLUVidpYgvHO1j0sg_OfKN8ugaRQ3uSrA0bktDOk/s400/giotto_explusionofdevils.fw.jpg" width="366" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Giotto di Bondone's fresco, <i>The Expulsion of the Devils From Arezzo</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">McAll's recommendation brought to mind </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Giotto di Bondone's</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> fresco, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/10/the-expulsion-of-devils-from-arezzo.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Expulsion of the Devils From Arezzo</a></i>, which serves as another reminder of how the demonic can influence the lives of those who remain vulnerable to their attacks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Giotto's fresco depicts Br. Sylvester blessing the town of Arezzo, Italy and in the process expelling all the demons who, up until that time, were urging people on to a "mutual slaughter."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Although not the focus of today's blog post, including the story of what actually happened in Arezzo, may be of interest to those who want to further grasp the reality of the demonic. Here is the account from St. Bonaventure's Major Life of St. Francis (CH VI, NO.9.), The Expulsion of The Devils From Arezzo:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On one occasion St. Francis arrived at Arezzo when the whole town was being torn with faction fights and threatened with destruction. There he was given hospitality in a village near the town and he could see the devils rejoicing over it and urging the people on to mutual slaughter. He was anxious to put the malicious powers of evil to flight and so he sent brother Sylvester, who was a man of dove-like simplicity, telling him to approach the town like a herald. "Go up to the town gate," he said, "and in the name of almighty God command the devils in virtue of obedience to go away immediately." Sylvester was a genuinely obedient man and did what he was told. There and then the town was restored to peace and the townspeople set about reforming the laws governing their mutual rights peacefully. Once the malignant and presumptuous influence of the demons which encompassed the town like a besieging army had been counteracted, it needed only the wisdom of a beggar, that is, Francis' humility, to restore peace and save the day. By the heroic practice of humble obedience Francis had gained complete authority over the rebellious spirits, so that he could crush their frantic efforts and put an end to the violence they attempted.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Further in <i>Spirits of Darkness</i>, Brown refers to Fr. Jose Maniyangat from Jacksonville, Florida who firmly believes that the majority of physical illnesses are rooted in evil. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Highlighting the hidden aspect of the demonic, Brown wrote, "In the vast majority of cases, spirits aren't recognized and remain hidden (causing 'incurable,' mysterious ailments). Lack of joy and peace—a feeling of despair—is a marker. So is malaise." (38) Brown quoted Fr. Jose on the clandestine aspect of a demonic presence within a home:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is important to remember, that if the entities manifesting are of a diabolical nature, then they must be driven out in the Name of Jesus...They will always clandestinely affect the persons in the home in a negative manner, one way or the other, whether through sicknesses like heart attacks, headaches and stomach aches, relational problems and division within the family, emotional and psychological illnesses like impatience, anger, and depression, temptations like lust, pride, and sloth with regard to one's prayer life and Christian obligations; weakening of faith in God, as well as failures in businesses and other endeavours. (38)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With respect to souls of the departed that are still earthbound, they too may negatively affect us much in the same manner as demons. Elaborating on this Brown wrote, "Again: Jesus used the term 'unclean' when casting spirits of infirmity out of people. If we'd stop and realize how many 'psychological' illnesses are caused by spiritual influence, we would clear out half of our psychiatric wards." (39)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Further highlighting the clandestine demonic root of mental problems, Brown referred to a patient of Sigmund Freud's who was of the belief that the root cause of her condition was due to an "entity" within her. Brown went on to further note that Freud's assistant agreed with the patient. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sadly, there are many in the professional field of psychiatry and psychology that don't understand or believe that demonic influence is the root cause of many conditions or problems.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> We need not look any further than to the vocabulary</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> used by such professionals, "</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They call obsession 'neurosis'; oppression 'schizophrenia'; and possession a 'split' personality or 'multiple-personality disorder' (the Lord said 'legion,' Luke 8:30)." (39)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Much if not all of what is going on in our lives can be cleared through confession, repentance, expiation, and forgiveness; all of which sets us on the path to healing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To aid in the healing process, Brown referred to a few saints that we can pray to for their intercession: St. Lucy, St. Joseph, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, and St. Andre Bessette, the miracle man from Montreal, whose devotion to St. Joseph helped many in the healing process and restoration to normal health.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Brown cited one such case of a woman who was suffering from cancer of the eye, who was told by St. Andre Bessette to, "...[T]ake some oil from the oratory [St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal] apply it to her eyes, and offer a daily prayer to Saint Joseph, using a medal of him." (40) The women complied with the instructions and even climbed the stairs to the crypt on her knees, spending the rest of the day in prayer. Within weeks the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">cancer disappeared and a year later, the woman's daughter wrote to St. Joseph's Oratory </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that her mother was in "excellent health." (40)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We can also cooperate with God's healing by remembering that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body." (1Corinthians 6:19-20)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Part of glorifying God in our bodies translates into: </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">eating the right foods, drinking plenty of water, getting the rest we need, and regular exercise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Brown begins to address the importance of healthy living and expelling stress in our lives in chapter eight, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The Power that closes the wounds.</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> In that chapter, he emphasizes that harmony with God and His Creation can lead not only to a healthy life, but a long one. He cited the example of Esmeralda Stavra from Symi, Greece:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I read an account of a woman named Esmeralda Stavra in Symi who was 107 when she died on the island in Greece where they are very physically active, eat the right things, take time for neighbors, get sun, and don't know stress. Her house was at the top of the village steps and even when she was a hundred years old Esmeralda went up and down three or four times a day so she could sell the feta cheese and yogurt she made. She was never ill; never went to the doctor, for so much as a checkup (her children said). She was 'harmonious.' She was in tune with nature. She was connected to God. (44)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Further in the book at chapter eleven, <i>Lean and Clean</i>, Brown encourages the reader to "Invoke the Holy Spirit and do, eat, and drink what He guides you to do, eat, and drink." (57)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">At chapter thirteen, <i>Those who live longest</i>, Brown refers to the Hunzas, residents of the</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Himalayas (northern Pakistan) who experience such longevity that they have been studied for decades. He described their healthy diet:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They are regularly over a hundred, and some are purportedly a decade or more beyond that. Their diet consists of fresh raw carrots, sprouted legumes, cabbage, whole-grain chapattis, unpasteurized whole milk (yes, they ingest some dairy), a little meat once a week, and lots of pure water...</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the land of the Hunzas, apricots are staples as are cherries, mulberries, and walnuts. Organic vegetables are grown in soil prepared with natural compost. Their proteins come chiefly from beans, legumes, and chickpeas. When meat is taken, it's in small doses from animals ('free-range') that graze in a natural manner. Hunzas also drink that clean glacier water and eat fermented butter and cheese in small quantities. A main drink is apricot oil...(72)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hippocrates who stated, "Let food be your medicine and medicine your food." (74) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hippocrates was the first to write about the benefits of garlic as a medicine for eliminating tumors. Brown noted how recent studies have shown that garlic "...[K]ills insects, parasites, bad bacteria, and fungi. It also eliminates various tumors, lowers blood sugar levels, lowers harmful fats in the blood, and prevents clogging of the arteries." (74) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Further he remarked, "Perhaps this is why a community in southern Italy called Campodimele (halfway between Rome and Naples, and heavy on garlic) is called 'Village of Eternal Youth.' God's medicine is often found in a natural state." (75)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Citing another example Brown referred to those living in Okinawa, Japan, "</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There the mainstay is whole grains, leafy vegetables, sweet potatoes, and smaller amounts of fish, organic soy products, and pork" (75)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Brown went on to write, "The theme is that people who live long lives are drawing minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients right from the way God fashioned them. They also get sufficient rest..." (75)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">God is in total control. Does that mean that everyone who prays will automatically be healed or receive a miracle. It is a matter for God to decide. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If we don't receive a healing, it might be as Brown suggests because we have yet to pray from the deepest recesses of our hearts. It may be a matter of redemptive suffering; that is, the purification through suffering that a soul must undergo so as to become better suited for Heaven.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sometimes healing is immediate, but most occur over a period of time. As Brown notes, "Just as natural remedies may take a while, even a long one, to have their effect, so too do spiritual cures. Often, what is profound takes time. It is progressive. There may be unseen matters to resolve." (35)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the last chapter, <i>Your destiny is the best outcome,</i>" Brown states in the first sentence, "Final outcomes are in the Hands of God." (141) To reiterate from earlier in this post, we must never give up hope!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For those that may be tempted into despair, here are some encouraging words from Brown's last chapter:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">You can't experience victory if you plan for defeat...Don't be the architect of your own failure. Don't draw up a 'blackprint' of your future. With Jesus and your angels (ask for extra ones) and the Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit: all will turn out well in what ever way...Everyone goes through angst, which is a trial in life. We worry about how to pay for our health care. We have debts from a home or a car. We fall back in payments. There is tension at work...The right attitude will take you through any 'furnace,' through any oppression, to a higher place. The more things are difficult for you, the greater your chance of enhancing His glory...God puts you in situations so you come out higher (and whiter). When we persist, He takes away what has been holding us back...God puts us in situations that purge what keeps us from Him and our missions. Move forward, always forward. If you are focussed on what's behind you, you are headed backwards. Often, you have to lose something to gain something. When God takes something away, He gives more back. It is only separation from God that should concern us when the 'going gets tough'; for when the going gets tough, the tough—headed for wellness, healing through God—get on their knees. (143)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the words of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Pray, hope, and don't worry."</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-31897091369420226692017-12-12T12:11:00.001-05:002022-12-12T10:56:38.920-05:00Pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe for the Unborn<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qNB9QrJXoqsJpcCmkvyD7xGtLxOARl9HUJ8jNuThvuhx_0sMVbm4LZ92wfXr5hZDUljSn9SQ9Xy2t68mCMYs12F7dwPcFoqfEHrNMa_2SoQ2WRX1LNHsHbb7jzAZbCqet74FEdTaTPc/s1600/mary_guadalupe.fw.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Our Lady of Guadalupe's image on St. Juan Diego's tilma" border="0" data-original-height="1220" data-original-width="752" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1qNB9QrJXoqsJpcCmkvyD7xGtLxOARl9HUJ8jNuThvuhx_0sMVbm4LZ92wfXr5hZDUljSn9SQ9Xy2t68mCMYs12F7dwPcFoqfEHrNMa_2SoQ2WRX1LNHsHbb7jzAZbCqet74FEdTaTPc/s400/mary_guadalupe.fw.jpg" title="The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on St. Juan Diego's tilma" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe<br />on St. Juan Diego's tilma</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Today's feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is an especially important one for millions of Catholics in the Americas and around the world who pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary for the protection of human life, especially for developing human beings in the womb: the unborn children who are faced with the danger of abortion.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The pregnant aspect of Our Lady's image on Saint Juan Diego's tilma (cactus cloth) has made Our Lady of Guadalupe a symbol for the plight of the unborn. It is a </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">constant reminder of God's mercy and Divine Intervention in the world, and Our Lady's continued work for the salvation of souls that includes exposing the deception of the Evil One and his demons.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is for that very purpose that Our Lady has appeared in so many places throughout the centuries: to eradicate pagan worship, debauchery, New Age and occult practices, and all other types of evil, and in the process has been, and continues to be, our light to Christ, showing us the path to Jesus.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, was revealed in 1531, when St. Juan Diego unfolded his tilma (full of flowers) in front the local bishop and as the flowers fell to the floor, the exquisitely detailed painting of Our Lady was seen by all present. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Our Lady's image also draws our attention to its supernatural power and the fact that it caused the conversion of eight million Aztecs and other indigenous people in less than ten years, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">in the area that is known today as Mexico</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Juan Diego was himself converted to the Catholic faith some time between 1524-1525, and was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr. Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Praying for conversions is an important aspect in the fight against abortion, <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/04/euthanasia-false-mercy.html" target="_blank">euthanasia and assisted suicide</a>, contraception, in vitro fertilization, the death penalty, and all other threats to the value and inviolability of human life. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the powerful intercessor that we have recourse to in the fight against the Culture of Death.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is important to remember that the fight to protect the unborn is primarily a spiritual battle that must be fought with spiritual weapons, of which the Holy Mass and <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/09/group-recitation-of-rosary-in-medjugorje.html" target="_blank">group recitation</a> of the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-rosary-effective-weapon-against.html" target="_blank">Rosary</a>—the two most powerful forms of prayer—are essential weapons in the spiritual arsenal to fight the good fight.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In addition to the Mass, Rosary, and your own personal prayers, you may want to consider the following selected prayers taken from Michael Brown's Marian devotional book, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/michael-h-brown-books/products/br-15-off-seven-days-with-mary-by-michael-h-brown?_pos=1&_sid=5f256fca9&_ss=r" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Seven Days With Mary</a></i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, in which he dedicates one of the seven days to Our Lady of Guadalupe:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Prayer of John Paul II</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, grant to our homes the grace of loving and respecting life in its beginnings, with the same love which you conceived in your womb the life of the Son of God. Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Fair Love, protect our families, so that they may always be united, and bless the upbringing of our children. We beg you grant us a great love for all the holy Sacraments, which are, as it were, the signs that your Son left us on earth. Thus, Most Holy Mother, with the peace of God in our conscience, with our hearts free from evil and hatred, we will be able to bring to all true joy and true peace, which come to us from your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. (47)</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Morning Offering</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Immaculate Heart of Mary, heart of my mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, I unite to thy purity, thy sanctity, thy zeal, and thy love, all my thoughts, words, acts, and suffering this day, that there may be nothing in me that does not become through thee a pleasure to Jesus, a gain for souls, and an act of reparation for the offenses against thy heart. (49)</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Closing Prayer</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Remember, O most gracious Virgin of Guadalupe, that in your apparitions on Mount Tepeyac you promised to show pity and compassion to all who, loving and trusting you, seek your help and protection.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Accordingly, listen now to our supplications and grant us consolation and relief. We are full of hope that, relying on your help, nothing can trouble or affect us. As you have remained with us through your admirable image, so now obtain for us the graces we need. Amen. (51)</span> </blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">So important is Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Americas that in 1945, Pope Pius XII decreed Our Lady of Guadalupe to be “Patroness of all the Americas,” and today in Mexico, it is a </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Holy Day of Obligation.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In more recent times </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">during his p</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">astoral visit to Mexico</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, Saint John Paul II, in his <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19990123_mexico-guadalupe.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">homily</a> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City on Saturday, January 23, 1999, entrusted the future of the continent and the Church to the Blessed Virgin Mary, imploring the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe to, "Save the nations and peoples of this continent. Teach everyone, political leaders and citizens, to live in true freedom and to act according to the requirements of justice and respect for human rights, so that peace may thus be established once and for all." (9)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint John Paul II, who was well known as a staunch defender of human life, stated during that homily, “...[T]he Church must proclaim the Gospel of life and speak out with prophetic force against the culture of death.” (8)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was in 1995, only four years prior to that homily, that St. John Paul II released his encyclical on the Gospel of Life, <i><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Evangelium Vitae</a></i>; an essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the Church's teaching on the value and inviolability of human </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">life, and the many threats to it. For those who are somewhat new to the life of St. John Paul II, here is an excerpt from <i>Evangelium Vitae</i> that captures the richness of this encyclical and his commitment to the protection of the unborn:</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>"Your eyes beheld my unformed substance" (Ps 139:16): the unspeakable crime of abortion</b> </span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable. The Second Vatican Council defines abortion, together with infanticide, as an "unspeakable crime".</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">But today, in many people's consciences, the perception of its gravity has become progressively obscured. The acceptance of abortion in the popular mind, in behaviour and even in law itself, is a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, even when the fundamental right to life is at stake. Given such a grave situation, we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception. In this regard the reproach of the Prophet is extremely straightforward: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness" (Is 5:20). Especially in the case of abortion there is a widespread use of ambiguous terminology, such as "interruption of pregnancy", which tends to hide abortion's true nature and to attenuate its seriousness in public opinion. Perhaps this linguistic phenomenon is itself a symptom of an uneasiness of conscience. But no word has the power to change the reality of things: procured abortion is the deliberate and direct killing, by whatever means it is carried out, of a human being in the initial phase of his or her existence, extending from conception to birth. (58)</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If we look to the human sacrifices of St. Juan Diego's time (1500s) and our modern times, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">we can easily draw a parallel between the demonic worship during the Aztec era with that of today's abortions: the mass murder of innocent human beings in the womb </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">performed in hospitals, "health care centers," "women's care clinics," and so-called "family-planning facilities" such as Planned Parenthood.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Aztecs offered human sacrifices as part of their worship to</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">two chief Aztec gods (</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">demons), Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipocawhich, of which the most popular was the brutal ritual performed on top of Aztec pyramids. The Our Lady of Guadalupe web site at </span><a href="http://www.sancta.org/patr-unb.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">sancta.org</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> details this:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Perhaps the most popular of the public rituals was taking the victims to the tops of the Aztec pyramids where they were laid on top of a flat stone. There, the priests cut open their chests and their hearts were ripped out. The bodies were then thrown down the steps of the pyramid.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">After the bodies tumbled down the stairs, the priests removed the limbs, cooked and ate them. Specially hands and thighs were considered the best delicacies. The heads were placed in skull racks for public exhibition.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The atrocities committed in our modern times against human life, as during the Aztec era, are inspired and influenced by the demonic.</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> Just as the Aztecs intentionally offered their human sacrifices to their gods (demons), so too are people today intentionally performing abortions as part of a blood sacrifice and offering to Satan.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Here in Canada, where abortion is available on demand, we are in great need of God's Divine Intervention and Our Lady of Guadalupe's intercession to eradicate abortion and all other threats to human life (euthanasia and assisted suicide, contraception, in vitro fertilization) from the landscape.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Sadly, Canada is </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">a country whose political leaders </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">have failed the nation by consistently </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">rejecting God’s plan for humanity, and in the process ignored Canada’s Christian heritage, history, and identity. This failure dates back to Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the infamous <a href="https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/chronology-of-laws" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">1969 Omnibus Bill</a> that ushered in "therapeutic abortions" performed in hospitals, which eventually paved the way for Dr. Henry Morgantaler's 1988 constitutional challenge that resulted in abortion being made available on demand across the nation.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Our current Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau (supposedly a Catholic like his father Pierre Elliot Trudeau) has stated on more than one occasion that anyone seeking to join the Liberal Party of Canada must support abortion. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This fact alone is a telling sign of the ongoing moral crisis in Canada that seems to be increasing with each new generation.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">God's Holy Law clearly states in the <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Y.HTM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fifth Commandment</a>, "You Shall Not Kill." The <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Y.HTM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Catechism of the Catholic Church</a></i> elaborates on this Commandment, "</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being." (2258)</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">None of this has meant anything to Canada's prime ministers since Pierre Elliot Trudeau; the result of which has seen a growing moral disorder in Canada and with it the establishment of a Culture of Death.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I respectfully urge my fellow Canadians to pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe for the protection of the unborn, and for God's Divine Intervention, that the moral disorder that has taken root over the past five decades may be eradicated from the land and that Canada be restored to a Culture of Life.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!</span></div>
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-35089620785900402242017-11-30T22:15:00.000-05:002017-12-05T10:14:10.679-05:00Saint John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Dies Domini on Keeping the Lord's Day Holy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvrE3-4SDCdKl2kcu6tDahys1ZxzQ9BEMQWS6Pu29wt6AV6QPoL_UabNCucfe-8jdDr-pAV-ZIET4OxIt2bZJq6I-R32InY2A3U7CZIbGCeJZ26sgNg0wCB0sRHnVy45RQdBYpfiZCDM/s1600/jp2_krakow1991_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Saint Pope John Paul II in Krakow, Poland, September 13, 1991" border="0" data-original-height="1509" data-original-width="1600" height="602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSvrE3-4SDCdKl2kcu6tDahys1ZxzQ9BEMQWS6Pu29wt6AV6QPoL_UabNCucfe-8jdDr-pAV-ZIET4OxIt2bZJq6I-R32InY2A3U7CZIbGCeJZ26sgNg0wCB0sRHnVy45RQdBYpfiZCDM/s640/jp2_krakow1991_2.jpg" title="Saint Pope John Paul II in Krakow, Poland, September 13, 1991" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II in Krakow, Poland, September 13, 1991. Photo: Grzegorz Gałązka via TotusTuus 2010 Calendar, Postulation of the Cause for the Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God John Paul II.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Coming off a fresh reading of <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1998/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_05071998_dies-domini.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Dies Domini</a>, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint John Paul II's apostolic letter on keeping the Lord's Day holy, I thought if fitting to publish today's post on what I consider to be an essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the Lord's Day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Released on May 31, 1998, on the Solemnity of Pentecost, <i>Dies Domini</i>, was written in part to support the pastoral efforts of bishops around the world, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and for the laity as a continuation of St. John Paul II's "lively exchange" with the faithful, inviting the laity to rediscover the full meaning of Sunday with </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a new intensity in the changing circumstances of the times and the "new situations" that had arisen from them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Spotlighting the changing socio-economic conditions and the profound modifications in social behaviour</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> St. John Paul II stressed the need to distinguish between the special character of the Lord's Day from the more widespread "custom of the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">weekend."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Although St. John Paul II acknowledged that there are positive aspects of the weekend's cultural, political, and sporting activities, he encouraged the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">disciples of Christ to, "...[A]void any confusion between the celebration of Sunday, which should truly be a way of keeping the Lord's Day holy, and the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">'weekend', understood as a time of simple rest and relaxation." (4)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Drawing from the <i>First Letter of Peter</i> (1 Pt 3:15), St. John Paul II noted that avoiding such confusion will require a "genuine spiritual maturity" allowing Christians to,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "...'[B]e what they are' in full accordance with the gift of faith, always ready to give an account of the hope which is in them." (4)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Another new situation that St. John Paul II spotlighted was the strikingly low attendance at the Sunday liturgy, which he attributed </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to sociological pressures, weakened faith, and the lack of priests in both mission countries and countries evangelized long ago.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Recognizing that some young Churches have illustrated how fervently Sunday can be celebrated, St. John Paul II presented what he believed to be </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the main causes for decreasing Mass attendance on the Lord's Day, "In the minds of many of the faithful, not only the sense of the centrality of the Eucharist </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">but even the sense of the duty to give thanks to the Lord and to pray to him with others in the community of the Church, seems to be diminishing." (5)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Given these situations and the questions they have prompted, it was St. John Paul II's belief that there was an ever increasing necessity to recover the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">deep doctrinal foundations underlying the Church's precepts, so that the, "...[A]biding value of Sunday in the Christian life will be clear to all the faithful." (6)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is through <i>Dies Domini</i> that St. John Paul II sought to do just that, identifying and elaborating on the many aspects of the Lord's Day and the duty to keep </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sunday holy: the importance to remember God's creative work for six days, that He rested on the seventh day, blessed it and made it holy; the sacred value </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to rest in the Lord; keeping the Lord's Day holy by means of prayer, works of charity, and abstention from work; the Sunday obligation to attend Mass as </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">stipulated in the Code of Cannon Law; and how the Lord's Day is a day of joy and solidarity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Amongst the many different aspects of </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Dies Domini</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, one that stood out in my mind was—perhaps one of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the most salient aspects considering the increasing secular landscape of so many Christian countries—the fact that keeping the Lord's Day holy is a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Commandment, the Third Commandment to be precise which can be found in the <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a3.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Catechism of the Catholic Church</a></i>: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Referring to the Third Commandment in the first chapter under the subheading, "<i>God blessed the seventh day and made it holy</i>"<i> (Gn 2:3)</i> , Saint John </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Paul II emphasized that the Lord's Day was so important for God's plan that it was included the Ten Commandments. Adding to this, he wrote the Lord's </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Day is a "...[D]efining and indelible expression of our relationship with God," and it is from this perspective that "...Christians need to </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">rediscover the Sabbath precept today." </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(13)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Stressing how important that relationship </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">is</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> with God, Saint John Paul II wrote further in the same section, "...But man's relationship with God also </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">demands times of explicit prayer, in which the relationship becomes an intense dialogue, involving every dimension of the person. 'The Lord's Day' is the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">day of this relationship par excellence when men and women raise their song to God and become the voice of all creation." (15)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is worth mentioning that St. John Paul II dedicated the importance and sacredness of rest in sections 64-68 under the subheading, <i>The Day of Rest</i>. It is </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">an especially important aspect for the Christian fulfillment to keep the Lord's Day holy. To get a sense of the richness of <i>Dies Domini</i>, here are a few </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">excerpts from those respective sections:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">...rest is something 'sacred', because it is man's way of withdrawing from the sometimes excessively demanding cycle of earthly tasks in </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">order to renew his awareness that everything is the work of God. There is a risk that the prodigious power over creation which God gives to </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">man can lead him to forget that God is the Creator upon whom everything depends. It is all the more urgent to recognize this dependence in </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">our own time, when science and technology have so incredibly increased the power which man exercises through his work. (65)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In our own historical context there remains the obligation to ensure that everyone can enjoy the freedom, rest and relaxation which human </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">dignity requires, together with the associated religious, family, cultural and interpersonal needs which are difficult to meet if there is no </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">guarantee of at least one day of the week on which people can both rest and celebrate. (66)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Through Sunday rest, daily concerns and tasks can find their proper perspective: the material things about which we worry give way to </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">spiritual values; in a moment of encounter and less pressured exchange, we see the true face of the people with whom we live. Even the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">beauties of nature — too often marred by the desire to exploit, which turns against man himself — can be rediscovered and enjoyed to the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">full.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Therefore, also in the particular circumstances of our own time, Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">duty to keep Sunday holy. In any case, they are obliged in conscience to arrange their Sunday rest in a way which allows them to take part in </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the Eucharist, refraining from work and activities which are incompatible with the sanctification of the Lord's Day, with its characteristic joy </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and necessary rest for spirit and body. (67)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In order that rest may not degenerate into emptiness or boredom, it must offer spiritual enrichment, greater freedom, opportunities for </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">contemplation and fraternal communion. Therefore, among the forms of culture and entertainment which society offers, the faithful should </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">choose those which are most in keeping with a life lived in obedience to the precepts of the Gospel. (68)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">During his inaugural homily in October 1978, Saint John Paul II encouraged the Church and the world, "Do not be afraid! Open, open wide the doors </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to Christ!" In <i>Dies Domini</i>, he renews that encouragement specifically with respect to the rediscovery of Sunday, "...Do not be afraid to give your time to </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Christ! Yes, let us open our time to Christ, that he may cast light upon it and give it direction." (7)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The rediscovery of the Lord's Day is a grace that one should pray for, which St. John Paul II specifically noted in the introduction:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The rediscovery of this day is a grace which we must implore, not only so that we may live the demands of faith to the full, but also so that we </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">may respond concretely to the deepest human yearnings. Time given to Christ is never time lost, but is rather time gained, so that our </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">relationships and indeed our whole life may become more profoundly human. (7)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This latest reading of <i>Dies Domini</i> proved to be just as intriguing when I first read it in May 2002. Given the growing secularism in Canada and so many other Christian </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">countries around the world, this apostolic letter is even more relevant today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">May your reading of <i>Dies Domini</i> strengthen your resolve to "rest and remember" on the Lord's Day.</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-9791211401587975092017-11-14T14:31:00.001-05:002021-07-03T14:07:18.147-04:00Ireland's Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fu7S1Ft2CHo/Wf4zJNeDsqI/AAAAAAAAE_A/k_cNl-bHvokHjj3J6tJExpX5Y9aFLmeGgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Coastline_along_the_Slea_Head_Peninsula_-_geograph.org.uk_-_16669.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Fu7S1Ft2CHo/Wf4zJNeDsqI/AAAAAAAAE_A/k_cNl-bHvokHjj3J6tJExpX5Y9aFLmeGgCEwYBhgL/s640/Coastline_along_the_Slea_Head_Peninsula_-_geograph.org.uk_-_16669.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Coastline along the Slea Head Peninsula, the westernmost part of the Dingle Peninsula, located in the barony of Corca Dhuibhne in southwest County Kerry, Ireland. Photo: Pam Brophy/[CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coastline_along_the_Slea_Head_Peninsula_-_geograph.org.uk_-_16669.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">On Sunday, November 26, at 9:30am (2:30pm local time in Ireland), I will be uniting my recitation of the Rosary to the faithful Catholics in Ireland participating in the <a href="https://www.coastalrosaryireland.ie/" target="_blank">Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith</a>: a national prayer effort that will encircle Ireland with </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">a "Human Rosary."</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Drawing inspiration from Poland's <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/10/polands-rosary-at-borders-national.html" target="_blank">Rosary at the Borders</a> and a similar Italian effort, participants will be praying for the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">preservation of the faith and the protection of life at all stages, including the developing human being in the womb.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It also draws encouragement from Matthew's Gospel, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them. (Matt 18:20)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Organized by a small, but faithful team of Catholics, this national prayer effort calls on all Catholics (the clergy, those in religious Orders, and the laity) </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">to take part by selecting locations along the coast which they are prepared to travel to. It is a call that has been heard and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">well received throughout Ireland as much of the coastline is quickly filling up with </span><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/3/viewer?hl=en&hl=en&mid=1zHJ-Ak_D1lLsf_sIJmfWmSDSFQs&ll=53.32476158116099%2C-7.358749067187546&z=7" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">several locations</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To form the "Human Rosary," organizers initially sought fifty-three locations for all the Hail Mary's of the Glorious Mysteries (including the three in the introductory prayers) and additional locations for the Apostles' Creed, Our Fathers, Glory Be, and the Fatima prayers. As of this blog post, there are almost 200 designated locations on the coast, and that number is growing. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The date for this event was not randomly selected, but specifically chosen to be held on the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/11/christ-king-and-pope-pius-xis.html" target="_blank">Solemnity of Christ the King</a>, which has a special significance for Ireland: Ireland was the first nation to be consecrated to Christ the King in the 1930s. As to the importance of this solemnity, the organizers point out that, "</span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Acknowledging Christ as King has relevance for the spiritual, social, cultural, legal, and political life of Ireland. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">When we honour Christ as King, we are immediately brought to His Queen, Mary and her Immaculate Heart!"</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is Mary's Immaculate Heart that all participants will be appealing to for Her intercession to restore Ireland to a Culture of Life and rid the landscape of the moral disorder that has taken root in the past few decades.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Such an appeal highlights the importance and need for prayer, which organizers for this event have prepared an impressive prayer program that includes: recitation of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary beginning at 2:30pm (local time in Ireland), in honour of Christ the King and His Queen the Immaculate Heart of Mary; prayer to Saint Patrick, the martyrs, saints and holy souls who preserved the faith through the years; prayer to Saint Michael, the angel of Ireland, and the guardian angels of the Irish living and dead; prayer for the protection of life in Ireland; prayer for the preservation of faith in Ireland; prayer of consecration to Christ the King; prayer of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; prayer for the blessing of Ireland; the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3:00pm; and the planting of Miraculous Medals around the coast.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith is also an appeal, in particular, to the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Catholic laity in Ireland, one that echoes the words of </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Pope John Paul II's homily—during his </span><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/travels/1979/travels/documents/trav_ireland.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Apostolic Journey to Ireland</a>—<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">on October 1, 1979,</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> at the</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> Greenpark Racecourse, Limerick:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> Lay people today are called to a strong Christian commitment: to permeate society with the leaven of the Gospel, for Ireland is at a point of decision in her history. The Irish people have to choose today their way forward. Will it be the transformation of all strata of humanity into a new creation, or the way that many nations have gone, giving excessive importance to economic growth and material possessions while neglecting the things of the spirit? The way of substituting a new ethic of temporal enjoyment for the law of God? The way of false freedom which is only slavery to decadence? Will it be the way of subjugating the dignity of the human person to the totalitarian domination of the State? The way of violent struggle between classes? The way of extolling revolution over God? </span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Ireland must choose. You the present generation of Irish people must decide; your choice must be clear and your decision firm. Let the voice of your forefathers, who suffered so much to maintain their faith in Christ and thus to preserve Ireland's soul, resound today in your ears through the voice of the Pope when he repeats the words of Christ: "What will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life?" (Mt 16 :26). What would it profit Ireland to go the easy way of the world and suffer the loss of her own soul? </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">(3)</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Your country seems in a sense to be living again the temptations of Christ: Ireland is being asked to prefer the "kingdoms of the world and their splendour" to the Kingdom of God (cf. Mt 4 :8). Satan, the Tempter, the Adversary of Christ, will use all his might and all his deceptions to win Ireland for the way of the world. What a victory he would gain, what a blow he would inflict on the Body of Christ in the world, if he could seduce Irish men and women away from Christ. Now is the time of testing for Ireland. This generation is once more a generation of decision. (4)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Pope John Paul II's homily is ever more relevant today; a relevance that is also understood by many faithful Catholics from around the world. With each passing day, the Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith is not only gaining momentum, but increased international attention and support. Bishop John Keenan of Paisley, Scotland has </span><a href="http://www.sconews.co.uk/news/54287/scots-called-to-support-irish-rosary-on-the-coast/" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;" target="_blank">urged Scottish Catholics</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> to follow in Ireland’s footsteps.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVKGMFaSWz8v0JdLOTs9DE-vs0X48Yb4NF0_zvVd5GGyHdfiuGe9KTd6wglHwMKzWNvKysXi53L6zLmK03suJHpjvUm_LkAg9B19GHsxJ-YF8ty4KPrEPf5CNGIKFPpzreBdvlvBoLaY/s1600/ireland_nov14locations.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1246" data-original-width="972" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVKGMFaSWz8v0JdLOTs9DE-vs0X48Yb4NF0_zvVd5GGyHdfiuGe9KTd6wglHwMKzWNvKysXi53L6zLmK03suJHpjvUm_LkAg9B19GHsxJ-YF8ty4KPrEPf5CNGIKFPpzreBdvlvBoLaY/s400/ireland_nov14locations.png" width="311" /></a></td></tr>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Confirmed locations as of November 14, 2017.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Image: <a href="https://www.coastalrosaryireland.ie/">Rosary on the Coast for Faith and Life</a></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The <a href="http://motherofhealinglove.org/rosary-for-ireland/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Daughters of Mary Mother of Healing Love</a> in the United States will be uniting their Rosary—and asking others especially of Irish descent to do likewise—encouraging everyone to "...[O]</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">ffer this gift in honor of our Irish ancestors who suffered so much to hand on the great treasure of the Catholic faith to us!" </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Joining the effort will also be faithful Catholics from England: the Missionaries of Charity in London, and at the Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham in</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> Houghton Saint Giles, Norfolk.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Catholic Herald in England also has reported on this national prayer effort with an article entitled, </span><a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/10/24/irish-catholics-plan-mass-rosary-prayer-along-coast/" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Irish Catholics plan mass-rosary prayer along coast</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Here in Canada, LifeSiteNews has reported this event with Dorothy Cummings McLean's article, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/were-in-a-life-and-death-struggle-irish-rosary-on-the-coasts-for-life-and-f" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Thousands to pray rosary on Irish coasts to protect nation from abortion</a></i>.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This is an especially important time for Ireland; secularism has done much to wane and remove the faith from the hearts of minds of many, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">providing an opportunity for those—including international globalist and billionaire <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/08/01/leaked-george-soros-plan-to-turn-ireland-into-a-pro-abortion-country/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">George Soros</a> through his Open Society Foundation—who seek to usher in a Culture of Death and drastically change Ireland's Christian </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">identity and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">culture.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Part of what the Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith seeks to accomplish is the defeat of the <a href="https://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/DOT/eng/Historical_Information/The_Constitution/Constitution_of_Ireland_-_Bunreacht_na_h%C3%89ireann.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eighth Amendment</a> repeal referendum scheduled for May or June 2018. Abortion advocates are hoping that a "successful" referendum will remove the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">pro-life provision in the constitution which reads, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">“The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.”</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Eighth Amendment was approved by 67% of the Irish population in a referendum on September 7, 1983. It came into effect on October 7, 1983, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Next year's referendum will be an opportunity for Ireland to, once again, positively respond to St. John Paul's homily of </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">October 1, 1979, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">in Limerick:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">And so I say to all, have an absolute and holy respect for the sacredness of human life from the first moment of its conception. Abortion, as the Vatican Council stated, is one of the "abominable crimes" (Gaudium et Spes, 51). To attack unborn life at any moment from its conception is to undermine the whole moral order which is the true guardian of the well-being of man. The defence of the absolute inviolability of unborn life is part of the defence of human rights and human dignity. May Ireland never weaken in her witness, before Europe and before the whole world, to the dignity and sacredness of all human life, from conception until death. (6)</span> </blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to why all this is happening in Ireland one need only look to Ireland's history stemming from the last century up until the last few decades. It is not difficult to ascertain how the forces of darkness (the Evil One and his demons) have been waging a war to usher in a moral disorder that includes a Culture of Death:</span><br />
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<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Contraceptive devices and birth control pills have been available for decades</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">A referendum in 1992, resulted in the option for women to travel to another country (England) in order to have an abortion, as well as the availability of information regarding abortion "services" in other countries.</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In 1995, Ireland's ban on divorce was removed through another referendum.</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The referendum of 2015, ushered in "same-sex marriage." </span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In 2016, the Irish government set up a "Citizens' Assembly" to "consider" the future of the Eight Amendment, which concluded in April 2017, that the Eight Amendment should be repealed. They voted overwhelmingly for abortion to be permitted on the grounds of a mental or physical threat to the life of the mother, in cases of disability, and for socio-economic reasons.</span></li>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Those interested in further information about Ireland's moral decline, including a detailed report available for download, please read Voice of the Family's article, <a href="http://voiceofthefamily.com/irelands-tragic-abandonment-of-catholic-teaching/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Ireland's Tragic Abandonment of Catholic Teaching</i></a>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Eight Amendment repeal referendum is a disturbing development, but no matter what the problem, issue, or crisis may be, we as Catholics always have recourse to Divine Intervention through Our Lady of the Rosary who, throughout the history of the Catholic Church, has provided Her assistance to those who have put their trust in Her intercession.</span></div>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br />Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith speaks volumes about the trust in Our Lady's intercession, as well as to the understanding that the battle for Ireland is primarily a spiritual battle that must be fought with spiritual weapons; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">that a most efficacious way to fight the good fight is through group recitation of the Rosary.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Louis De Montfort stated in his book, <i><a href="https://tanbooks.com/virgin-mary/marian-devotional-books/the-secret-of-the-rosary/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Secret of the Rosary</a></i><i>,</i></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i> Forty-Sixth Rose: Group Recitation</i>, that not only is group recitation of the Rosary the method of prayer that the devil fears the most, but "...[I]t is far more formidable to the devil than one said privately, because in this public prayer it is an army that is attacking him." (98)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Utilizing the Rosary as a spiritual weapon has long been understood by the Church from the very beginning of its origin, when it was given to St. Dominic by Our Lady in 1214—which St. Louis De Montfort details in the same book, <i>Second Rose: Origin</i>—as a powerful means of converting the Albigensians and other sinners.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I cannot help but also think of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical, <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-rosary-effective-weapon-against.html" target="_blank"><i>Supremi Apostolatus Officio</i></a>, on devotion to the Rosary and its efficaciousness as a remedy for the many evils of society, who wrote, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"It has always been the habit of Catholics in danger and in troublous times to fly for refuge to Mary, and to seek for peace in her maternal goodness; showing that the Catholic Church has always, and with justice, put all her hope and trust in the Mother of God." (2)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Written in 1883, Pope Leo XIII's encyclical not only encouraged devotion to the Rosary, but spotlighted how important it has been in the history of the Catholic Church when faced with several threats; namely, the violence of heresy, intolerable moral corruption, and aggressive Islamic attacks by the Ottoman Turks.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This encyclical is </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">a historical lesson that has not lost its relevance for the many evils of today's world. It is in my view, a worthy addition to anyone's reading list on the Rosary that is sure to inspire Catholics in Ireland to join Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith at a time in Ireland's history that is so dependent upon the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">May this national prayer effort inspire Catholics in Ireland—and throughout the world—to be united in prayer on November 26; that this day may draw God's Divine Intervention upon the nation, uproot and remove the moral disorder from the Irish landscape, and restore Ireland to a Culture of Life.</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-86787786586767634442017-10-31T22:00:00.000-04:002017-11-01T12:38:05.608-04:00Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán Declares 2018 to be the Year of the Families<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJ5R-d1M_qfbLG51eqjLrDTAJ77VSxHl5BCmKVsdmKRNd81CIdiEHlq2CKscQqVofiaxgGtoW5MsnarzWpBy-JS_0iANj9hT7kZqbGUHTyVZI_M0nJwN12qnfhsggre71I1LW18-0k84/s1600/budapestfamilysummit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the Budapest Family Summit" border="0" data-original-height="876" data-original-width="1550" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJ5R-d1M_qfbLG51eqjLrDTAJ77VSxHl5BCmKVsdmKRNd81CIdiEHlq2CKscQqVofiaxgGtoW5MsnarzWpBy-JS_0iANj9hT7kZqbGUHTyVZI_M0nJwN12qnfhsggre71I1LW18-0k84/s640/budapestfamilysummit.png" title="Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the Budapest Family Summit" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Prime Minister Viktor Orban giving his speech during the Budapest Family Summit. Photo: About Hungary Blog/<a href="http://abouthungary.hu/news-in-brief/pm-orban-at-world-congress-of-families-xi-summit-2018-will-be-the-year-for-families/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">PM Orbán at World Congress of Families XI summit: 2018 will be the year for families</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Orbán declared 2018, to be the "Year of the Families"; a declaration made on May 25, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">during his </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">opening speech at the Budapest Family Summit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is a declaration that not only spotlights</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> a nation's strength relies on its people—and fundamental to that is the family, the primary cell of society—but also seeks to address the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">declining birth rate experienced by many countries in Europe (including Hungary) with real and immediate solutions that will help families have more children.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The <a href="https://wcf11.org/wcf-xi-description" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">World Congress of Families (WCF)</a> and the <a href="https://profam.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">International Organization for the Family (IOF)</a> chose Hungary for the second time to host this summit—whose theme was </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“Building Family-Friendly Nations: Making Families Great Again”—because </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hungary, as the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WCF </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Managing Director </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Larry Jacobs </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">put it,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "...[H]as demonstrated its strategic leadership as an advocate for the natural family in Europe." Here is what the WCF also published </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">about why they chose Hungary:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hungary’s leadership in defense of family, life, and Christianity is well known in Europe. The adoption of key provisions in the Hungarian Constitution in 2011 defining marriage between a man and a woman and protecting human life from conception to natural death have made the Orban government the hero of pro-family and pro-life leaders from all over the world. Hungary’s leadership is fully committed to family friendly governance and has recently launched a new national motto, 'Hungary, the Family Friendly Country.'</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In Hungary's constitution,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.kormany.hu/download/e/02/00000/The%20New%20Fundamental%20Law%20of%20Hungary.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>The Fundamental Law of Hungary</i></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, there are four provisions that specifically point to the truth and accuracy of Jacobs' statements. The first is contained within </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the <i><a href="http://www.kormany.hu/download/e/02/00000/The%20New%20Fundamental%20Law%20of%20Hungary.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">National Avowal</a></i>,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> which states, "We hold that the family and the nation constitute the principal framework of our coexistence, and that our fundamental cohesive values are fidelity, faith and love." (2)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The second is located at <i>FOUNDATION</i> <i>Article L</i>, "(1) Hungary shall protect the institution of marriage as the union of a man and a woman established by voluntary decision, and the family as the basis of the survival of the nation. Family ties shall be based on marriage and/or the relationship between parents and children."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The third is under <i>FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY Article II</i>, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"</span>Human dignity shall be inviolable. Every human being shall have the right to life and human dignity; the life of the foetus shall be protected from the moment of conception."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The fourth is at <i>FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY Article XV</i>, "(5) By means of separate measures, Hungary shall protect families, children, women, the elderly and persons living with disabilities."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hungary's constitution is impressive; reading it is time well spent. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For those interested in knowing more about it, consider my post of December 2016, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/12/viktor-orban-true-leader-of-and-for.html" target="_blank"><i>Viktor Orbán: A True Leader of and for the People of Hungary and Hungary's Constitution The Fundamental Law of Hungary</i></a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It comes as no surprise that Hungary was chosen to host this summit; </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">part of the goal of this summit, as stated on the WCF website, was to "...[S]</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">trengthen our existing international network and help launch a new global profamily alliance of countries dedicated to defending marriage, the family and the sanctity of human life.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">S</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ince Orbán and the party he leads, the Fidesz Party, was elected in 2010, the government has spent 9.7 billion EUR in support of families. Debt relief, child support, family housing incentives, support for household modernization are just some of the latest measures put into place to help families.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is part of a demographic battle that </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán is fighting—an approach that seeks to </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">strengthen families from within Hungary rather than rely on the false solution of immigration—</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">knowing full well that strong families will create </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a strong, competitive, and </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">prosperous Hungary for current and future generations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The family is at the center of Orbán's vision of the future! It is Orbán's firm belief that protecting families, no matter what the costs, is essential.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán certainly articulated that </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">very </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">belief during his </span><a href="http://www.kormany.hu/en/the-prime-minister/the-prime-minister-s-speeches/prime-minister-viktor-orban-s-opening-speech-at-the-2nd-budapest-world-congress-of-families" rel="" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">speech</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> at the Budapest Family Summit (</span><a href="https://wcf11.org/wcf-xi-description" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">World Congress of Families XI)</a>; <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a speech worth reading to not only better understand the importance of the family, but to </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">capture the strength and intelligence </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">of Orbán's leadership.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A safe society is a fundamental component of any government's plan to protect families, which </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán highlighted in the first part of his speech, when referring to Brussels' so-called "refugee" resettlement scheme and the migrant crisis that it created.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-YDkdUhrPGvo5iobjgD2BQKs7GP_7nHYMJtO4LyYuZqDy75v5j7jKnxAhfcNR2mezR0dLTAAttWxzb3kCYIYR1zOuV2obpZt6EOuwgZdl_xS-giKD69hrMgK84XKnjh6gGkjSwqOgpOI/s1600/twoyears_bordersecurity.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img alt="Hungary's border fences along the Hungarian-Serbian border" border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="1554" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-YDkdUhrPGvo5iobjgD2BQKs7GP_7nHYMJtO4LyYuZqDy75v5j7jKnxAhfcNR2mezR0dLTAAttWxzb3kCYIYR1zOuV2obpZt6EOuwgZdl_xS-giKD69hrMgK84XKnjh6gGkjSwqOgpOI/s640/twoyears_bordersecurity.png" title="Hungary's border fences along the Hungarian-Serbian border" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hungary's southern border fences along the Hungarian-Serbian border. Photo: About Hungary Blog/<a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/hungarys-southern-border-fence-has-been-protecting-the-frontier-of-europe-for-two-years/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hungary’s southern border fence has been protecting the frontier of Europe for two years</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán responded to that threat with the building of two border fences along the border with Serbia, as well as establishing <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/search/label/Hungary?updated-max=2017-04-13T23:38:00-04:00&max-results=20&start=4&by-date=false" target="_blank">border-hunters</a> (specially trained border guards), who form part of a security force: modern-day border-fort garrisons, police officers, and the defence forces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Not only has </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán brought the Balkan-migrant route</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">—of which Hungary is an extension—to a complete halt, but he has enabled Hungarians to live in a peaceful and safe society; and in the process, has inspired confidence in young people to have families, secure in the knowledge that throughout Hungary will echo the "Happy cries of children rather than sirens from police cars and ambulances."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today, Hungary is one of the </span><a href="http://abouthungary.hu/news-in-brief/pm-orban-hungary-is-one-of-the-safest-countries-in-europe/" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">safest countries in Europe</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The danger for Hungary and Europe is not over as </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán pointed out,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "It is only a matter of time and political expedience before millions of people who are ready to set out are </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">once again channelled in our direction." (1) The coalition of human rights activists and people smugglers continue to work to send waves of migrants—mostly men in their prime—in the direction of Europe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Recent developments prove </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán to be absolutely correct as </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">has been reported by </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Government Spokesman Zoltán Kovács in his latest blog post, <a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/european-parliament-speeds-up-realization-of-the-soros-plan/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>European Parliament speeds up realization of the Soros plan</i></a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In that post, Kovács spotlights the proposal made by the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) for a limitless resettlement quota scheme, that coupled with what he described as a "Hungary-bashing report," points to a pro-immigration agenda that will attempt to strong-arm any member that refuses to cooperate.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WxJYa3qQHs4/WfjZXMsmeuI/AAAAAAAAE90/-n9kTPr8l8AHMQqKgjCsdCjsdTsNNeZvwCLcBGAs/s1600/traditionalhungariandance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Youth and traditional dancing at the Budapest Family Summit" border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WxJYa3qQHs4/WfjZXMsmeuI/AAAAAAAAE90/-n9kTPr8l8AHMQqKgjCsdCjsdTsNNeZvwCLcBGAs/s640/traditionalhungariandance.jpg" title="Youth and traditional dancing at the Budapest Family Summit" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hungarian youth and traditional dancing at the Budapest Family Summit. Photo: Daily News Hungary/<a href="https://dailynewshungary.com/budapest-demography-forum-orban-europe-undergoing-political-intellectual-change/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">INTERNATIONAL FAMILY SUMMIT – ORBÁN: GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE FAMILY TAX BENEFITS</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One of the most salient points in the speech that Orbán so candidly spoke of, is the declining birth rate among European countries, including Hungary. He went on to state </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that, "...The time for straight talking has come. Europe, our common homeland, is losing out in the population competition between great civilisations. Fewer and fewer marriages are producing fewer and fewer children, and the population is therefore ageing and declining." (2)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There are two views on how to solve this problem. The first sees immigration as the answer, while the other view taken by Central Europe (including Hungary) is that they must solve the demographic problem by relying on their own resources; a truth that </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán stated </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">must be acknowledged </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">through a spiritual renewal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To put the declining birth rate in Hungary into perspective, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> cited from national statistics on Hungary's population in 1980, when the population was at </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">10,709,000 people; by 2017, that figure dropped to 9,799,000. It is a dramatic drop in population—a loss of almost 1 million people—which as </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán pointed out, "...[I]</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">s more than all the casualties we sustained in World War II." (2) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So important is the need to address the declining birth rate that </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán refers to the restoration of natural reproduction not only as a national cause, but "the national cause."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán's goal is to raise the birth rate to 2.1% by 2030, which will require responsible family policies that must be pursued for decades, over the course of several governments. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán considers this to be the first precondition for the population turnaround.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The second precondition is a powerful financial engine, "A</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> competitive model that is full of energy." Elaborating further on this Orbán stated that any</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> major political, social and intellectual turnaround always requires financial resources:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As far as we Hungarians are concerned, I can tell you that here economic growth is in a range between three and five per cent. This is the magical GDP growth. Government debt is declining and unemployment is coming to an end. Because our economic policy has been successful, the next target of our general and economic policy is to promote the number of children being born. It is to this that we’ve adjusted our fiscal system, it is to this that we’ve adjusted our housing support system; and our work-based economic system – with which we shall soon reach full employment – also serves this purpose. (3)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The third precondition for a successful demographic turnaround is for Europe to be in "good shape"; that is, each country's economic plan has to include support for the family. So important is this that </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán stated, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"If as a unit of community the family does not occupy first place in the hearts of young people, however, economic strength and excellent national economy figures are in vain: we cannot achieve anything." (3) Hungary spends 4.6% of GDP on family support.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán acknowledged the simple truth that it is essential to pursue a policy that removes obstacles from the path of young people if more children are to be born. It was in the spirit of this truth, that he declared 2018, as the "Year of the Families." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Accompanying that declaration is an action plan that will help to ensure young people are financially supported and encouraged to have more children. There is no better way to understand that action plan than to read it from </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán's own words:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We’ve decided to further raise the rates of family tax allowances, and to place families with two children at the centre of this, as they represent the largest section in Hungary. And I’ve learnt that where there is room for two, there is also room for three – or even four. Braver families may even find room for five. For young women with two children and student loans, the Government will cancel fifty per cent of their debt, and for those with three or more children one hundred per cent of the student loan debt will be cancelled. For graduates we shall extend the term of maternity leave by a year, and for university students it is extended until the child reaches the age of two. Hungarians 3/4 understand the meaning of this family policy measure. “My home is my castle”: this is how the Hungarians think, and this is another reason why it is difficult to adopt a good policy here. We have decided that families with mortgages can have one million forints written off their debt if they have three children, and one million forints will be written off for each further child, with the state bearing the burden. Finally, we shall embark on infant day care developments on an unprecedented scale. We are going to build infant day care centres everywhere families live, and we shall renovate existing infant day care centres wherever necessary. We are also opening up our family support system – although cautiously – to fellow Hungarians who live outside the borders As a result, from next year they may also be eligible for maternity support after the birth of children, and baby bonds will be available across the entire Carpathian Basin. (4)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If that wasn't impressive enough, Orbán also announced the establishment of a research institute </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that will serve to better Hungary's spiritual and intellectual competitiveness, and good policy planning. The institute will become an international think tank that will, as </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán put it,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "...[P]rovide sufficient knowledge and intellectual munition to help and support families, laying the philosophical foundations for our family policy, and enabling accurate understanding of the situation in Europe and the world." (4)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Using the analogy of a ship sailing into the wind Orbán pointed out that obstacles do exist, but no matter what those obstacles are, with perseverance, courage and the backing of like-minded allies, together Hungary and Europe, just like a ship that knows what port it is aiming for, will reach its destination.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The brave, responsible, and intelligent leadership of Prime Minister Viktor </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán has proven itself for seven straight years, and there is every reason to believe that Hungary's progress and growth will continue for many years to come: the <a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/the-hungarian-model-is-working-lowest-unemployment-since-1989/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hungarian model is working</a> and it shows!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Such is the kind of leadership that other countries should be seeking if they are serious about: a major demographic turnaround; protecting and strengthening the family; securing their borders; and guarding against all threats to their Christian identity, heritage, and culture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">God bless Prime Minister Viktor </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">O</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">rbán for continuing to demonstrate the kind of leadership that is so desperately needed in many countries in Europe, in Canada, and throughout the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">May 2018, be a great year for the families!</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-81229059725382963212017-10-19T23:45:00.002-04:002021-07-03T14:08:05.561-04:00Poland's Rosary at the Borders National Prayer Event and the Importance of Group Recitation of the Rosary<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAP69_Xhyphenhyphenh5nmk29WB43fZ-hqj30xScBIlJyM4jJ6uEEzYtGqmQ3DutoIWH_1rS5XgLbH88xrROBaoPWK9TMo-tXWYdLEtkS3qSfoOQXP36vobdqgAO2EL5DIHQG9cW2H0gfxWd_M0uXU/s1600/borderrosary_forestwalk.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Poles in the forest on route to the Polish-Czech border to pray." border="0" data-original-height="987" data-original-width="1600" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAP69_Xhyphenhyphenh5nmk29WB43fZ-hqj30xScBIlJyM4jJ6uEEzYtGqmQ3DutoIWH_1rS5XgLbH88xrROBaoPWK9TMo-tXWYdLEtkS3qSfoOQXP36vobdqgAO2EL5DIHQG9cW2H0gfxWd_M0uXU/s640/borderrosary_forestwalk.png" title="Poles on route to the Polish-Czech border to pray." width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Faithful Catholics in Poland walking in the forest near the city of Szklarska Poreba, Poland along the Polish-Czech border during the Rosary at the Borders on October 7, 2017. Photo: </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Martin Divisek/<a href="http://www.epa.eu/webgate?SERIESDISPLAY=1&EVENT=WEBSHOP_SEARCH&SEARCHLANGUAGE=eng_usa&SEARCHMODE=NEW&SEARCHTXT1=Martin+Divisek" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">European Press Photo Agency</a> via <a href="https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/10/07/world/europe/poland-rosary-border-prayer.html?_r=0&referer=http://spiritdaily.org/blog/uncategorized/poles-form-rosary-chain-at-border" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">New York Times</a>. </span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It comes as no surprise to read the news coming out of Poland </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">of the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Rosary at the Borders</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> national prayer event that took place </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">on October 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">a feast in which Catholics commemorate and give thanks to Our Lady for Her intercession in the great victory of Christian forces over the Ottoman naval fleet at the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/09/october-is-month-of-rosary.html" target="_blank">Battle of Lepanto</a> in 1571.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The day began with the celebration of the Mass in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary after which the faithful made their way to the borders to recite all four sets of Mysteries between 2:00pm to 4:00pm: the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This national prayer effort was organized by a lay Catholic organization, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://solodiosbasta.pl/" target="_blank">Solo Dios Basta Foundation</a>, founded in June 2015, by a group of secular evangelists, retreat organizers, and filmmakers, whose <a href="http://solodiosbasta.pl/misja" target="_blank">Mission</a> page includes an impressive list of goals, not the least of which is for the "Promotion of Christian culture, activities for the New Evangelization and support for the comprehensive development of Polish society, especially support for cultural, educational and therapeutic activities."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Rosary at the Borders, was sanctioned by Church leaders in Poland, and included 320 parishes from twenty-two dioceses participating at approximately 4,000 locations along Poland’s border with Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Russia and the Baltic Sea.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was a national prayer effort endorsed</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> by Poland's Prime Minister</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> <a href="https://twitter.com/BeataSzydlo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Beata Szydlo</a>—who is the only Prime Minister in Europe whose <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/polish-prime-minister-becomes-mother-of-a-priest-with-sons-ordination" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">son is a priest</a>, ordained in May of this year—</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">in a tweet, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"I greet all the participants."</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This Rosary event was by no means limited to the land as there were participants in fishing boats at sea, as well as on kayaks and sailboats forming a Rosary-chain on Polish rivers.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">One of Solo Dios Basta's (God Alone is Enough) founders, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Maciej Bodasiński, stated that</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> many people also prayed over the radio, in parish churches, in homes, at the airport, in hospitals, in the streets, and at roadside crosses and chapels.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In addition, there were many Catholics from all around the world reciting the Rosary, united with the people of Poland: Akita, Japan, New Zealand, the village of Stamsund in the Lofoten Island above the Arctic Circle, China, Cambodia, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Kazakhstan, and in the USA</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Polish soldiers stationed in Afghanistan also prayed the Rosary in solidarity with their fellow countrymen back in Poland.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Many of us here in Canada were also united to this national prayer effort!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM0RxJylb3FzKTSJt3JV_rBxWcHAlw0YEUITXzMdkryt3_8f9TSCr5HBLVsoIoc5P2uzS61vmniT2ctFhiC3xlKyseQY86lDc2wBFYiddcvnlBd0dS6EBhT9glsmGN38F5D0s-4Bk1y64/s1600/wielka_pokuta_z_gory.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mountain view of participants at the Rosary at the Borders prayer event" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM0RxJylb3FzKTSJt3JV_rBxWcHAlw0YEUITXzMdkryt3_8f9TSCr5HBLVsoIoc5P2uzS61vmniT2ctFhiC3xlKyseQY86lDc2wBFYiddcvnlBd0dS6EBhT9glsmGN38F5D0s-4Bk1y64/s640/wielka_pokuta_z_gory.jpg" title="Mountain view of participants at the Rosary at the Borders prayer event" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Mountain view of the Rosary at the Borders event on October 7, 2017. Photo: <a href="http://solodiosbasta.pl/" target="_blank">Solo Dios Basta Foundation</a></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Poles have always had a strong awareness and understanding of their Christian culture and identity; a fact that I first discovered when reading, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Witness-Hope-Biography-Pope-John/dp/0060732032" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Witness To Hope</a></i>, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">a book </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">written by <a href="https://eppc.org/author/george_weigel/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">George Weigel</a>, on the life of a young Polish man, Karol </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Wojtyła,</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> who later become Fr. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Karol </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Wojtyła and whose vocational path led him to become as he is more widely known, <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Saint John Paul II</a>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was during that reading in 2003—to which I dedicated the majority of my summer weekends—that I became quite impressed with the Catholic Church in Poland specifically with respect to how the young Karol Wojtyła, together with millions of other Poles, kept their Christian culture and identity alive during the Nazi occupation—a time when Poland's political borders were temporarily removed from the map of Europe—and during the many decades that followed under the Communist regime that lasted for half a century.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Today we see that same Polish spirit, keenly aware of the importance of the Rosary for the protection of Poland and Europe, for the conversion of sinners and unbelievers, and peace in the world.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is with that same spirit that the Poles have responded to a similar threat as in the sixteenth century: the threat of Islam overrunning Europe. Unlike the military threat of the 1500s, today's Muslim threat comes in the form of aggressive migration to Europe from Africa, the Middle East, and from even farther away locations like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries in that region.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Poles have always understood that the threat of Islam is primarily a spiritual battle that is to be primarily fought and sustained with spiritual weapons; namely, the Holy Mass and the daily recitation of the entire Rosary!</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is an understanding that has translated into other forms of action. Poland, together with <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/03/hungarys-new-border-hunters-response-to.html" target="_blank">Hungary</a>, have lead the </span><a href="http://v4report.com/" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Visegrad Four</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia) in rejecting all Muslim migration to their respective countries: the <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/george-soros-heres-my-plan-to-solve-the-asylum-chaos-2015-09-29?mg=prod/accounts-mw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soros scheme</a> that Brussels has embraced to change Europe's demographics and Christian culture through a massive influx of Muslim migrants, who are overwhelmingly men in their prime.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">S</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">o threatened is Christianity today in Europe, that Krakow Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski stated during Mass, “Let’s pray for other nations of Europe and the world to understand that we need to return to the Christian roots of European culture if we want Europe to remain Europe."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We see the same concerns in the <a href="http://v4report.com/index.php/2017/10/18/v4-report-migration-fears-dominate-czech-election-pro-merkel-cabal-operating-prague-still-cannot-grasp-reality/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Czech Republic elections</a>, in which migration fears dominate the election.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In the recent Austrian election, the people voted Sebastian Kurz, from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_People%27s_Party">Austrian People's Party</a> (ÖVP), into power who is expected to be the next chancellor and form a coalition with Heinz-Christian Strache of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Party_of_Austria">Freedom Party of Austria</a> (FPÖ); both of whom are conservative and share beliefs in common with Poland and Hungary, including the rejection of Muslim migrants.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Rosary chain at the border. Photo: LifeSiteNews/<a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/poles-describe-their-experience-of-the-rosary-to-the-borders" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">‘There was spiritual unity:’ Catholics reflect on Poland rosary crusade </a></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Many Catholics could learn from Poland of the importance of group recitation of the Rosary, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">which although may be inferred by the large amount of participants through "strength in numbers"—estimated to have been approximately 1.5 million Catholics—is probably something that is not fully understood.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The specifics of that full understanding are available to us from Saint Louis De Montfort's book, <i><a href="https://tanbooks.com/virgin-mary/marian-devotional-books/the-secret-of-the-rosary/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Secret of the Rosary</a></i>, to which he dedicated an entire chapter, <i>Forty-Sixth Rose: Group Recitation</i>. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Louis De Montfort begins the chapter by emphasizing the fundamental importance of group recitation of the Rosary: that it gives the greatest glory to God; that it does the most for our souls; and it is the prayer that the devil fears the most.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Further reinforcing its efficaciousness, St. Louis De Montfort referred to scriptural passage of Matthew 18:20, when he stated, "Our Blessed Lord expressly recommended common prayer to His apostles and disciples and promised that whenever two or three were gathered together in His name He would be there in the midst of them." (96)</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Adding a note of encouragement he stated, "What a wonderful thing to have Jesus Christ in our midst! And the only thing we have to do to get Him to come is to say the Rosary in a group." (96)</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As an aside, it is worth mentioning the footnote attached to that encouragement, "St. Louis' message fits in beautifully with that of the great 'Family Rosary Crusade' of today." (96) In its current form, <i>The Secret of the Rosary</i>, was published in 1954, which explains the reference to the Family Rosary Crusade: an international Rosary prayer effort, founded by Fr. Patrick Peyton in and around that time, that was well known throughout the world, as was the most famous slogan that developed from it, "<a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-family-that-prays-together-stays.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The family that prays together, stays together</a>." </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Other important points that St. Louis De Montfort lists for our consideration when praying the Rosary within a group setting are:</span><br />
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<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Our minds are far more alert during public prayer than private individual recitation</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">With prayer in common, the prayer of each individual belongs to everyone and; thus, it makes for a greater prayer in that, if one person is not praying well, someone else in the same gathering who prays better may make up for the deficiency. Those who are strong uphold the weak; those who are fervent inspire the lukewarm.</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">When an individual recites the Rosary privately, that individual only gains the merit of one Rosary, but when recited within a group setting, every individual gains the merit of the group's recitation.</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Public prayer is far more powerful than private prayer in appeasing God's anger and drawing His mercy upon the Church. This has always been advocated in times of public tragedy and suffering.</span></li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisGwY7yl1dL_fBJMwFivUmIUUUanjBl-7J1TJ1Ne8oSYS7MawhxWykT9Peu8OoeHKxheOhU2uI_yRqs6cySoPJVRZbYD-63lt3pEMyKPm9kdzfgFjStT2GJ7AzkBXs_mc1CuILxI4oT3E/s1600/Rosary_Poland_outdoors.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Poles praying the Rosary outside of a parish" border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="645" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisGwY7yl1dL_fBJMwFivUmIUUUanjBl-7J1TJ1Ne8oSYS7MawhxWykT9Peu8OoeHKxheOhU2uI_yRqs6cySoPJVRZbYD-63lt3pEMyKPm9kdzfgFjStT2GJ7AzkBXs_mc1CuILxI4oT3E/s640/Rosary_Poland_outdoors.jpg" title="Poles praying the Rosary outside of a parish" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Praying the Rosary outside of a parish. Photo: LifeSiteNews/<a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/poles-describe-their-experience-of-the-rosary-to-the-borders">‘</a><a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/poles-describe-their-experience-of-the-rosary-to-the-borders" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">There was spiritual unity:’ Catholics reflect on Poland rosary crusade</a></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Louis De Montfort also makes a special appeal to members of the the </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/10/the-confraternity-of-most-holy-rosary.html" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary</a>—<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">of which I am a member—</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">that no matter where they reside, they should strive to gather together in a parish Church, chapel or someone's home to recite the Rosary in two choirs.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Louis De Montfort elaborated further on the importance of gathering in large numbers to recite the Rosary:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Finally, when people say the Rosary together it is far more formidable to the devil than one said privately, because in this public prayer it is an army that is attacking him. He can often overcome the prayer of an individual, but if this prayer is joined to that of other Christians, the devil has much more trouble in getting the best of it. It is very easy to break a single stick, but if you join it to others to make a bundle it cannot be broken. 'In union there is strength.' Soldiers join together in an army to overcome their enemies; wicked people often get together for parties of debauchery and dancing, and evil spirits join forces in order to make us lose our souls. So why, then, should not Christians join forces to have Jesus Christ present with them when they pray, to appease Almighty God's anger, to draw down His grace and mercy upon us, and to frustrate and overcome the devil and his angels more forcefully? (98)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To illustrate the Rosary's efficaciousness, St. Louis De Montfort cited from his own ministry of the transforming effects upon small towns and villages where he preached missions; places where debauchery, blasphemy, quarrels and feuds ended and became places where hymns and the chant of the Our Father and Hail Mary were heard.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Like in the time of St. Louis De Montfort, there are those today who are enemies of the Rosary and may even try to hinder its establishment and growth</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">—some of whom have even criticized the recent Rosary at the Borders event—</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">to which we can apply the saint's encouragement to the faithful, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"...[D]o not give up." (99)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Louis De Montfort dedicated an entire chapter to enemies of the Rosary, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Ninth Rose: Enemies</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, in which he </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">referred to such people as, "freethinkers," who have "absorbed the poison of hell" and are "inspired by the devil." (29)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Catholic Church in Poland has admirably demonstrated that they will never give up. May Catholics throughout the world be inspired by such faith and devotion.</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-6657511208908227112017-09-30T16:49:00.002-04:002023-11-06T17:34:06.968-05:00Praying The Entire Rosary Each Day a Decade at a Time<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qcTFMfrym-I/Wc8HMHdIC5I/AAAAAAAAEqI/x1y8KqlWSA8NqYdTmRxENACjirPCsYwhgCLcBGAs/s1600/secretoftherosary.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of St. Louis De Montfort's book, "The Secret of the Rosary."" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qcTFMfrym-I/Wc8HMHdIC5I/AAAAAAAAEqI/x1y8KqlWSA8NqYdTmRxENACjirPCsYwhgCLcBGAs/s640/secretoftherosary.png" title="St. Louis De Montfort's book, "The Secret of the Rosary"" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Saint Louis De Montfort's book, <i>The Secret of the Rosary</i>, Tan Book's pamphlet on <i>How to Pray the Rosary</i>, and Rosary beads from Medjugorje blessed by Jesus at St. James Church and Our Lady during one of Our Lady's apparitions</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If you have been following my blog for any serious length of time, you have probably come across my </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/search/label/Rosary" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Rosary</i></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> label and the several posts dedicated to it. With October being the "Month of the Rosary," I thought it fitting to publish today's post adding to that list, drawing encouragement and inspiration from Saint Louis De Montfort's book, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="https://tanbooks.com/virgin-mary/marian-devotional-books/the-secret-of-the-rosary/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Secret of The Rosary</a>.</i><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i>The Secret of the Rosary</i>, is an especially important read for anyone who is serious about understanding the Rosary and its proper recitation. The book is comprised of four main sections: a <i>Preface</i>, that instills in the reader the power of the Rosary and how effective it was in <a href="http://catholicsaints.info/saint-louis-marie-grignion-de-montfort/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">St. Louis De Montfort's</a> life and ministry </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">(1673-1716)</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">; a </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Dedication</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> to priests, sinners, devout souls, and little children; and the two main sections of </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Part 1: What is the Rosary;</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> and </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Part II: How to Recite it</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Louis De Montfort includes many intriguing and informative chapters or "Roses" that </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">will greatly aid and guide the reader to a more devout recitation of the Rosary: a brief history of</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> the origin of the Rosary and how it was given to the Church by Our Lady in 1214, to Saint Dominic; the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/10/the-confraternity-of-most-holy-rosary.html" target="_blank">Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary</a> that arose from this devotion; the miracles of the Rosary; how it is a means of perfection and a wealth of sanctification; the numerous benefits; its power as a weapon against the Evil One and his demons; and how to pray the Rosary with attention, reverence, and devotion.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">For those who are just discovering the Rosary or have been struggling to pray all four Mysteries—the Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous and Glorious Mysteries—</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">it can seem somewhat daunting to include two hours of prayers a day dedicated to the Rosary alone, to what is already a very busy schedule. It is a daily challenge that we all face, but </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">there is a way to achieve this: praying the Rosary a decade at a time.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The effort to pray the Rosary a decade at a time is explained in chapter, <i>Forty-Fifth Rose: With Reverence</i>, which St. Louis De Montfort dedicated to employing an effective method for the reverent and complete recitation of the Rosary each and every day.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Louis De Montfort first begins by recommending that the Rosary be recited reverently and as much as possible, on our knees with hands joined, clasping the Rosary. Exceptions can be made for those who are:</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> bedridden; travelling; or if infirmity prevents people from kneeling, they can recite it </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">seated or </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">standing.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to the effective method to successfully complete the entire Rosary each day, St. Louis </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">De Montfort advises the reader to segment the recitation into "three" different times of the day—to which we can add a fourth for the additional Luminous Mysteries introduced to the Church through Saint John Paul II in 2002—each dedicated to one set of the</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> Mysteries.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Louis De Montfort further suggests that if we cannot find the time to pray a "quarter" of the Rosary all at one time, then we should recite a decade, "here and there," so that as he put it, "...[I]n spite of your work and all the calls upon your time, you will have said the whole Rosary before going to bed." (95)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to how to accomplish this in today's busy world with our hectic schedules imposing upon our time and energy, it really is a matter of </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">rethinking our daily calendar.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If due consideration is given to Rosary, it won't take long to discover that there are several opportune times throughout the day to pray a decade or two, "here and there."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The consideration to pray the entire Rosary can start from the effort of an earlier morning rise</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> for dedicated prayer time, which could be extended to the commute to and from work. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">There may even be opportunities at work—depending on what you do for a living—to add a few decades. Those who make such an effort, can expect a reward from Our Lady as St. Louis De Montfort notes:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Of course, since the soul has its limitations and can only do so much, when we are concentrating on manual work we cannot give our undivided attention to things of the spirit, such as prayer. But when we cannot do otherwise this kind of prayer is not without value in Our Lady's eye's and she rewards our good will more than our external actions. (95)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If you start to take advantage of those five-to-ten minutes throughout the day, you will discover even more time and eventually come to realize that the recitation of the entire Rosary was never an additional two hours to your day, but in lieu of many things that were not really necessary in the first place.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The added benefit of praying the Rosary a decade at a time, is that, it not only begins to develop consistent prayer habits, but it also helps to develop your prayer endurance. The analogy of training for a marathon comes to mind.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Much in the same manner as preparing for a marathon, the daily recitation of the entire Rosary cannot be something you embark on without proper training. As one trains for a marathon by building up one's endurance by running a few kilometres, and increasing that distance over time, so too does praying the Rosary a decade at time, build up your "prayer endurance." Eventually, you will be able to pray many decades completing the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries so that by the end of your day, before you lay your head down to sleep at night, you will have crossed the "spiritual finish line," and completed the "<a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/10/the-rosary-marathon-of-grace.html" target="_blank">Marathon of Grace</a>."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Rosary is such an important prayer, the second most powerful next to the Holy Mass. Its faithful recitation will result in many graces and blessings bestowed upon those who pray it and promote it, as stated in the</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> second and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">twelfth promises respectively of </span><a href="http://www.rosary-center.org/nconobl.htm#prom" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Fifteen Promises</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> given by Our Lady to Christians who recite the Rosary, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary," and "12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">There have been many other saints throughout the history of the Catholic Church who have demonstrated a great love for and devotion to Our Lady through the Rosary: the Dominican Father </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Alan de la Roche, who was given the task by Our Lady of reviving the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, which he began in 1460; the well-known Jesuit, Brother Alphonsus Rodriguez who was known to pray the Rosary with such fervor; we know </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">from the chronicles of Saint Francis of </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">a Franciscan friar who prayed the Rosary so fervently each day, before dinner; Saint Francis de Sales (Bishop and Doctor of the Church) who refused to let exhaustion be an excuse from the complete recitation of the Rosary; Saint Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa); </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-family-that-prays-together-stays.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Father Patrick Peyton</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">; and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) who prayed thirty-six Rosaries a day.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We also know of Pope Leo XIII, the "Rosary Pope," who wrote many documents promoting </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the Rosary and encouraging its recitation; in particular the encyclical, <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_01091883_supremi-apostolatus-officio.html"><i>Supremi Apostolatus Officio</i></a>, to which I dedicated a blog post, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-rosary-effective-weapon-against.html" target="_blank">The Rosary: An Effective Weapon Against the Evils of Society</a>.</i></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In more recent times, we have Saint John Paul II's Apostolic Letter, <i><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rosarium Virginis Mariae</a></i>, a document that was </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">issued in 2002, not only to promote the recitation of the Rosary and to facilitate a better understanding of its purpose and daily inclusion in our lives, but to also introduce a new, fourth set of mysteries, the Luminous Mysteries.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">So significant was this new addition that Saint John Paul II declared October 2002 to October 2003, "The Year of The Rosary," which I also blogged about with my post</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/10/saint-pope-john-paul-iis-apostolic.html" target="_blank">Saint John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae</a></i>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In addition to the many saints, Our Lady has also encouraged us to pray the Rosary at her apparitions in <a href="http://www.rosary-center.org/fatima.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fatima</a> and <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/12/our-ladys-little-stone-pray-with-heart.html" target="_blank">Medjugorje</a>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">There are other resources on the importance and significance of the Rosary and yet with </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">all this—and access to it via the internet for several years—so many Catholics still do not pray the Rosary, and those that do, many do not pray all four Mysteries.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The world would be a much better place if Catholics prayed at least one decade of the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Rosary each day; even that would make a difference!</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">O</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">ne can only imagine the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">peace and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">many blessings bestowed upon the world—not to mention the halting of chastisements upon mankind for participating and promoting evil—if all four sets of Mysteries were prayed, fervently and devoutly, each day.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">May many Catholics be inspired to do just that.</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-19522588461444135492017-09-14T19:40:00.011-04:002022-06-08T13:58:57.914-04:00Where The Cross Stands: The Last Chance to Reclaim America <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qYWQzvks3Mw/Wbr_MUqkNsI/AAAAAAAAEpI/HCT5JsqeNIg7UlaWuoXUFbJb7WWB1vseQCLcBGAs/s1600/brown_wtcs.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Michael H. Brown's book, Where The Cross Stands" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1050" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qYWQzvks3Mw/Wbr_MUqkNsI/AAAAAAAAEpI/HCT5JsqeNIg7UlaWuoXUFbJb7WWB1vseQCLcBGAs/s400/brown_wtcs.png" title="Michael H. Brown's book, Where The Cross Stands" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown's book, <i>Where The Cross Stands</i></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If you found the title of this blog post somewhat intriguing, it borrows from a book titled, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/michael-h-brown-books/products/br-free-shipping-where-the-cross-stands-michael-h-brown" target="_blank">Where The Cross Stands</a></i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, written by Michael H. Brown from SpiritDaily.com.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I recently finished reading this book, one that had been on my reading list since May of this year when I attended the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/05/marian-day-retreat-with-michael-h-brown.html" target="_blank">Marian Day Retreat</a> here in Toronto, where Brown gave four talks, one of which was dedicated to </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/06/michael-h-browns-talk-reclaiming-north.html" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Reclaiming North America's Christianity</i></a>.<br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It seemed fitting to publish today's post on the feast of the <a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2017-09-14" rel="" target="_blank">Triumph (Exaltation) of the Cross</a> to honour Jesus and in part to honour Our Blessed Mother, whose recent birthday of September 8, was also the day that the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">huge cross at Saint Augustine, Florida </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">was dedicated in 1965</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">—displayed on the front cover of the book—the location of the first documented Mass </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">(September 8, 1565)</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> in the United States and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the first permanent American settlement, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Nombre de Dios</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> (Name of God); </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the official spot where Catholicism entered America.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">These facts are among hundreds that Brown includes in his book, which is partly a lesson in US history that begins at America's Catholic origins and continues throughout the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">centuries that followed where he illustrates how there has been a cultural shift into darkness—in large part due to </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">New </i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Age and occult practices, Hollywood, the turbulent sixties, and other aspects of the Spiritual War waged against America by the demonic—that together with the waning of faith and a nation's descent into moral disorder, has resulted in today's state of affairs: a society that can be aptly described as a "Culture of Death."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to the further significance of the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">cross at </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">St. Augustine and its location, Brown suggests that, "Some day in the future—perhaps the not so distant future—this Cross and this area will play a role in the spiritual and temporal survival and revival of America." (1)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Where The Cross Stands</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, Brown's latest book, he explains in detail why that revival is so necessary.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>America's Catholic Origins and Growth as a Nation</b></span></div>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown began his timeline of America's Catholic origins with Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America in 1492, who as Brown notes, "...[C]onsidered the evangelization of the New World his <i>primary</i> goal." (13)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">So important is Columbus's discovery of America that Brown not only dedicates an entire chapter to it, but provides details in the preceding chapter of how historical events—</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the finding of Pope Gregory's statue of Our Lady at a location </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">in Spain</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">referred to in the local dialect as, "Guadalupe" or hidden channel—</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">in Spain aided in the eventual discovery of the New World.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is well known that Columbus was a very devout Catholic, who had a deep devotion to Our Lady. So devout was Columbus that his ship was named, <i>Santa Maria,</i> and on board his ship were fellow Catholics who recited the <i>Hail Mary</i>, and upon arrival in America (New World) they sang the <i>Salve Regina</i> in thanksgiving.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Columbus's arrival in the New World paved the way for other Spanish explorers—Columbus was Italian by birth, but sailed with Spanish ships—to discover other parts of what is now the United States; namely, Florida, which Brown dedicates four chapters to as part of an elaboration of America's Catholic origins.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Florida was originally discovered by Ponce de</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> León in 1513—who had on board his ships, Augustinian, Dominican, and Franciscan clerics—around Easter, and is the reason why he named the land, "La Florida," in recognition of the Paschal flowers and the landscape rich in vegetation.</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Others soon followed such as Don Trist</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">á</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">n de Luna y Arellano (who had Dominican priests with him) and Hernando De Soto, who had named the bay he entered, "Espiritu Santu" or "Bay of the Holy Spirit," which was eventually changed to Tampa Bay.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Many of the newly discovered parts of America were originally given Christian names, but eventually changed to something secular: the "Bay of St. Mary" is now the Chesapeake Bay; "Lake of the Blessed Sacrament" is now Lake George; and the mighty "River of the Immaculate Conception" is now the Mississippi.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Another explorer, Menéndez, also arrived on the scene whose central and only goal was to establish a Christian nation. His fleet consisted of nineteen ships and on board were: four Catholic priests, 1500 soldiers, sailors, millers, sheepherders, hunters, and farmers. One of the priests, Father Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales, is depicted in the cover photo of Brown's book: the statue of a man with his arms raised up.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">By including these and other facts, Brown makes it crystal clear—a point that he reiterated more than once—that Catholics were the first to settle the United States and establish Christianity. The new-found-land was being sanctified by Catholics decades before Jamestown and eighty years before the Puritans at Plymouth Rock. It is an important point which Brown highlights by asking, "How many modern classrooms would dare to teach this?" (29)</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown provides many other historical references that illustrate how America continued to develop as a Christian nation: </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Christianity was reflected in constitutions, laws, and practices; and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">God was acknowledged, praised and worshipped. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Here are some interesting facts worth mentioning.</span><br />
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<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In 1776, all European Americans (except for 2500 Jews) identified themselves as Christian. Benjamin Franklin, Ethan Allen, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Thomas Paine, if not overly devout, were greatly influenced by their Christianity." (53)</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In 1777, the Continental Congress spent $300,000 for bibles to be distributed throughout the thirteen colonies (56)</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Christianity formed the very concept of freedom; university law lectures were quoting Saint Thomas Aquinas. (55)</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In 1782, the United States Cong</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">ress declared, "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools." (56)</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The concept of "separation of Church and state" was</span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> not meant to prevent religion from influencing government, but the opposite: from government trying to control religion. As Brown stated, "When there were arguments that involved religion, it was usually about how government could best serve the Christian faith." (53)</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In 1789, George Washington, in his famous Thanksgiving Day Proclamation stated, " </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">'[I]t was the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor,' and recommended '[T]he people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, Who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be...' "(55)</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span></span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The first communities in the Northeast were Bible-based commonwealths. (56)</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Maryland was a haven for Catholics fleeing persecution by the English government. (56)</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">All but two of the 108 universities were Christian, including Yale and Harvard. (56)</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">George Washington on his inauguration day not only kissed the Bible openly after being sworn in office, but gathered Congress and his first Cabinet at the Chapel of St. Paul and consecrated the United States under the protection of the Almighty. (57)</span></li>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>America's Cultural Shift Into Darkness</b></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown dedicates several chapters to America's cultural shift into darkness that begins with chapter fifteen, where he highlights the Spiritual War of the "Bell Witch" case in Tennessee: the demonic infestation of the homestead of John, Jesse, and Drewry Bell; all three of whom fought for Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Expanding upon the demonic influence, he referred to Mormonism, feminism, American Freemasonry and Spiritualism and how it began in Upstate New York; how the era came to be known as the Age of the Medium.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In chapter eighteen, Brown included a short segment of one of America's darkest occultists, Alex Crowley—referred to as "the Beast" by his own mother—who was the inspiration behind the Church of Satan, established in 1966. Devotees included John Whiteside Parsons, a known rocket scientists and close friend of L. Ron Hubbard, the man who started Scientology in 1954, the <i>New Age</i> belief system that is followed by Hollywood actor, Tom Cruise.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At chapter nineteen, Brown introduces the reader to Margaret Sanger, who as he put it, "...[W]as to champion the most dangerous and dark trend of the coming era...the right to abortion." (103)</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was at the same chapter that Brown revealed the truth about the name "Hollywood," and how it refers to "holly" </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">(not holy) </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">wood; a wood that was considered sacred to ancient wizards, used in magic wands with its beginnings traced to pagan rituals in Nordic times. Brown had also mention and elaborated on this during his talk in Toronto: </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/06/michael-h-browns-talk-current-prophetic.html" target="_blank">The Current Prophet Pulse</a></i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Chapter twenty spotlights "Godless technology"; that is, the failure of mankind to work with God in the creation of products. Many of today's products do not dissolve back into nature and; thus, are not apart of God's plan because they "hurt" His creation. This in stark contrast to all that God has created which was made to dissolve back into nature.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown further elaborated on "Godless technology" by paraphrasing the Venezuelan mystic, Maria Esperanza, "[W]ith God, ingenuity would exceed the imagination while solving problems and disrupting nothing. Instead, our scientists were going their own way without even believing in Him. For years, Esperanza had warned that such misuse of technology—Godless technology, especially human cloning—would be a disaster." (112)</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Chapter twenty-one focussed on the warning coming from LaSalette regarding a world that only thinks about amusements. Some of those "amusements" that Brown cited were from the last century, in particular with respect to rock and roll music. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Further in this same chapter, Brown went on to point out that much of modern rock and roll found its wellspring in a blues singer named Robert Johnson; the significance of which is in the legend of the singer's apparent pact (a classic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deal_with_the_Devil" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Faustian pact</a>) with the Devil near the Dockery Plantation in Mississippi. Here is how Brown partly described the midnight meeting in the Deep South, "...[H]e was met by a 'man' who took his guitar, tuned it, and in exchange for his soul, granted him the gift of blues." (115)</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Regardless of the veracity of this story, other rock stars such as, Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones), Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) and Eric Clapton, admitted to having gone to that same spot, with success following in their respective careers.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The list of musical artists that have been involved or taken interest in </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">New Age</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> and occult practices might surprise some: John Lennon (The Beatles) had a personal tarot-card reader; Aleister Crowley is among those on the cover of the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the Rolling Stones entitled one of their albums, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Their Satanic Majesties Request</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">; Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) has stated that the band received inspiration for their songs at seances.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It gets a little darker with people like Jim Morrison of The Doors, who claimed that the spirit of an Indian boy entered him. Jimmy Hendrix believed he was possessed by a demon. Phoebe Snow claims to have talked to "aliens" via the ouija board.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown also includes a segment on how promiscuity was being normalized through such developments as the publishing of pornographic magazines like Playboy, which started in the early 50s, with others that would follow in the decades to come.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was Playboy magazine that helped to popularize Marilyn Monroe, who was already posing nude for calendars, and whose "career" promoted and injected "free sex" and multiple marriages into mainstream society.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">What Brown makes abundantly clear is that American society has changed substantially, not only from its Christian origins, but also from the past century when society was much more family orientated and decent.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">So evident is this change today, that </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown asks the question, "Where did you go Ward and June Cleaver?" (283)</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>Our Lady's Prophetic Warnings and Messages</b></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">With America's descent into darkness came the prophetic warnings (chastisements) and messages from Our Lady and the lessons to be learned from them; that is, if enough people pray (the </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-rosary-effective-weapon-against.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Rosary</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> in particular) and fast—which can stop wars and suspend the laws of nature—America can stave off the chastisements, prevent the unravelling of society, and recover from the damage already done.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To date, many have heeded Our Lady's requests which Brown suspects is the reason why so many chastisements have not come to pass. As he states in chapter forty-two, "In fact, all the judgements can be averted. The whole purpose of God's warning is to turn the wicked to repentance and obedience. There are enough righteous ones in Sodom-America to make the difference, but these must not remain passive." (262)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Our Lady stated to Sister Mildred Mary Neuzil in the 50s, "What happens to the world depends on those who live in it...There must be much more good than evil prevailing in order to prevent the holocaust that is so near approaching." (305)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">A common thread that runs throughout Our Lady's warnings and messages is to pray the Rosary. Brown notes the importance, drawing from the Marian apparitions in Medjugorje, where he highlighted Our Lady's warning about Satan's attempts to conquer mankind and how through prayer and fasting, we can be victorious.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown went on to ask, "Could America be reclaimed?" The answer comes from Our Lady, "Advance against Satan by means of prayer. Put on the armour for battle and with the Rosary in your hand defeat him!" (263)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If there was ever a time in history to begin a devotion to </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/01/our-lady-of-prompt-succor.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Our Lady of Prompt Succor</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, now is certainly that time. So important is this devotion that Brown dedicated an entire chapter to it; a devotion that has proven to be quite effective in American history.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We could all learn from the faithful Ursuline Sisters of New Orleans, who have on numerous occasions implored the intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor. Most noteworthy is when Our Lady saved the people of </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">New Orleans in an extraordinary way on two separate occasions: the first was the extinguishing of a raging fire that threatened to destroy the Ursuline Convent in 1812; and the second was the surprising military victory of General Andrew Jackson in 1815, against a larger, better equipped invading British force.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This in addition to the countless times Our Lady has come to the aid of individuals in Louisiana, which as the National Shrine notes on its </span>History of the Devotion<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> page, is so numerous that "We will never know them all."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown highlighted the importance of this devotion when he stated, "Such events show us that nothing is beyond the reach of prayer, no problem, no disaster." (66)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As for the future, Brown considers the time frame between 2020 to 2040, as a critical period, which he also mentioned during his <a href="https://youtu.be/mINrm0YsoMI" target="_blank">Toronto talk</a>; a time frame that also includes mercy!</span></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We can better understand mercy through the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/04/divine-mercy-sunday-message-of-mercy.html" target="_blank">Divine Mercy Devotion</a>, in which we not only seek God's mercy, but fulfill the main requirement of the devotion; that is, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">we too must be merciful with others, always and everywhere.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was interesting how, at the end of his book, Brown reiterated the potential, future significance of St. Augustine, Florida. He shared his thoughts from an outing, while kayaking past the Cross, that St. Augustine must become America's refuge; a place of pilgrimage. Perhaps others will be encouraged by the original settlers to, as Brown suggests, "...[M]arch across our land and plant crosses again where once they stood..." (318) He goes on to further encourage his fellow Americans, "Come back, America! Pray goodness back." (318)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">God bless America.</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-79523903836256641922017-08-31T21:26:00.000-04:002017-09-01T07:31:57.202-04:00Saint Stephen's Day in Hungary: A Celebration of Christian Heritage, History, and Identity<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zeFjooGDJYBJG7V86VaYrWWAHFrWcINal2ikXjXe7_1NPM0UxrwLpDWG8P2SEXqUfPRDeaIIsi-yutEWZ5fVf_omw6sgBEBfgHThsjHpDyhy0Jtx-6IUeMpHcy7Mhrv405V114l_0co/s1600/saintstephen_celebrations.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of fireworks celebrating St. Stephen's Day in Budapest near the parliament buildings." border="0" data-original-height="876" data-original-width="1564" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zeFjooGDJYBJG7V86VaYrWWAHFrWcINal2ikXjXe7_1NPM0UxrwLpDWG8P2SEXqUfPRDeaIIsi-yutEWZ5fVf_omw6sgBEBfgHThsjHpDyhy0Jtx-6IUeMpHcy7Mhrv405V114l_0co/s640/saintstephen_celebrations.png" title="Fireworks celebrating St. Stephen's Day in Budapest, Hungary" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Saint Stephen fireworks celebrations at Hungary's parliament building in Budapest, on August 20.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Photo: About Hungary Blog</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">/<a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/st-stephens-day-in-hungary-what-makes-it-special-and-what-to-look-for-this-year/">St. Stephen’s Day in Hungary: What makes it special and what to look for this year</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">August 20,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Hungarians celebrate Saint Stephen's Day; a national holiday that commemorates the founding of the state by its first monarch King Saint Stephen, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the Christianization of the Magyars, and the history of a nation that has endured for more than one thousand years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was a day filled with a variety of festivities, traditions, and celebrations—observed by Hungarian communities throughout the Carpathian Basin—that put Hungary's Christian history, heritage, and identity on full display: the celebration of the Mass at St. Stephen's Basilica, followed by a procession </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">with a relic venerated in Hungary as St. Stephen's holy right hand; a flag-raising ceremony; the swearing-in of new military officers; an address by President</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> János Áder; </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a nationwide cake competition; the blessing of bread under the statue of St. Stephen at the Buda castle, followed by a procession; the Festival of Arts in the Buda Castle District; "Nostaglic Rides" </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">on vintage trams and buses </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that only make their debut once a year</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">; the fireworks at the Danube river (captured in the above photo) that are second to none; the Streets of Hungarian Tastes which this year also featured foods from the other <a href="http://ravsreport.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Visegrad Four</a> (V4) nations, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia; air and water parades; and several family programs and concerts. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Saint Stephen </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">or Szent István Király, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">whose reign lasted from 1000-1038, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">was canonized on August 20, 1083, by Pope Gregory VII for bringing Christianity to Hungary and was later deemed the patron saint of Hungary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In 1771, Queen Maria Theresa declared August 20, as a national state and Church holiday. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Throughout Hungary's history, there were gaps when this day was not celebrated; the most recent during the communist era of the last century (1945-1990) when attempts were made to remove Hungary's Christian heritage, history, and identity from the hearts and minds of the people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Hungarian people have not forgotten who they are and through their faith, perseverance, determination, and hard work, the Christian character of St. Stephen's Day has been restored for several years now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The fact that Hungary celebrates this day on a national level and publishes information about it at the official Hungarian blog and government web site speaks volumes about a people who publicly acknowledge, give thanks, and praise God for the many blessings and gifts bestowed upon Hungary. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As one who follows Hungary's official blog, it came as no surprise to see a post published by </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Zoltán Kovács, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/st-stephens-day-in-hungary-what-makes-it-special-and-what-to-look-for-this-year/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">St. Stephen’s Day in Hungary: What makes it special and what to look for this year</a></i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have been reading about Hungary for approximately three years and became so impressed with the people and its leadership under Prime Minister Viktor </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán and the Fidesz party he leads, that I eventually decided to start blogging about Hungary. Given Hungary's predominantly Christian culture and the many responsible policy developments with regard to its political, economic, and social life—the details of which can read from </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán's</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/04/prime-minister-viktor-orbans-state-of.html" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">State of the Nation</a> address—</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">it was only a matter of time before I added "Hungary" and "Viktor Orbán" as blog labels to my blog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So impressed have I been with Hungary and Prime Minister Viktor Orb</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">án that my first blog post entitled, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/12/viktor-orban-true-leader-of-and-for.html" target="_blank">Viktor Orbán: A True Leader of and for the People of Hungary and Hungary's Constitution The Fundamental Law of Hungary</a>, </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">was dedicated to spotlighting Hungary's </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">constitution—which is explicitly Christian—as well as </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orb</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">án's </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">leadership qualities;</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> in particular with respect to the proper and efficient response to the Middle East migrant crisis and his speech on March 15, 2016, the </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">annual day that Hungarians commemorate the 1848 Revolution.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After reading Kovacs's blog post, I navigated to the Hungarian government's web site to view the details of Saint Stephen's Day, which the government has dedicated an entire page to entitled, <a href="http://augusztus20.kormany.hu/szent-istvan-napi-kenyer-2017" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Augusztus Huszadika</a> or August 20. I encourage all who are further interested to view this page, especially the <a href="http://augusztus20.kormany.hu/kepgaleria-2017" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">photo gallery</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The more I read about this national celebration, the more impressed I became with the people of Hungary:</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> the spirit of the celebrations; the joy of the festivities; </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the upholding of traditions; </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the devotion to God at Mass and processions; the participation by millions of people of all ages; and the respect given to God and to neighbour which Zoltán Kovács captured in his aforementioned blog post,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "Here on August 20th, everyone is Hungarian, a day to celebrate, remember, and give thanks." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">God bless Hungary and all Hungarian communities throughout the world.</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-69067533665388092172017-08-28T20:26:00.001-04:002022-11-13T09:49:38.638-05:00My Daily Bread: A Treasure Trove of the Spiritual Life<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fNu3zCGFfGk/WaIx6-2v32I/AAAAAAAAEnI/NCGvlk_Bw-kDG9pQoOrNb7_MSmp8GUIPwCLcBGAs/s1600/mydailybread_rightintention.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="My Daily Bread reading, reflection, and prayer: A Right Intention in All Things" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fNu3zCGFfGk/WaIx6-2v32I/AAAAAAAAEnI/NCGvlk_Bw-kDG9pQoOrNb7_MSmp8GUIPwCLcBGAs/s640/mydailybread_rightintention.png" title="My Daily Bread reading, reflection, and prayer: A Right Intention in All Things" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Book One, <i>The Way of Purification</i>, Part One, Chapter 3, <i>Conversion</i>:<i> A Right Intention in All Things</i></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Living a Spiritual LIfe is not something that is so readily understood. Some may consider going to Mass once a week on Sunday and the recitation of a few prayers as sufficient to live such a life, but there is much more to it than that. Consider the following questions: </span><br />
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<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Have you ever made a resolution to improve your Spiritual Life at Confession, during Mass, at a retreat, during a pilgrimage or some other moment of grace and failed to follow through on it?</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Have you been struggling to give Christ an honest, daily effort in following Him?</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Do you seem to lack a genuine compunction of heart?</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Are you going through spiritual tepidity?</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Do you seek a closer friendship with God?</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Are you finding it difficult to conquer bad habits?</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Would you like to have a true devotion to Jesus?</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Are certain sins exceptionally difficult to overcome?</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Would you like to live a Spiritual Life, but do not know what that entails?</span></li>
<li><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Do you lack the knowledge and understanding about the spiritual combat, life's daily warfare?</span></li>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If you have answered "yes" to one or more of these questions, then you may want to seriously consider purchasing a copy of <i><a href="https://tanbooks.com/products/books/7-lively-virtues/faith/my-daily-bread/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">My Daily Bread</a></i>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">For conscientious Catholics striving to follow Christ with a greater love and fidelity, this book is a treasure trove to draw from; a summary of the Spiritual Life </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">made simple and easy to follow with daily readings, reflections and prayer. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The book was authored by </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Rev. Anthony J. Paone, S.J. and was first published in 1954. It is considered a Christian classic that to date has sold over 1 million copies.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">So many people have had the opportunity to purchase this book due to the efforts of the Confraternity of the Precious Blood in Brooklyn, New York—originally founded in 1890, and dedicated to supporting the historic Monastery</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> of the Precious Blood in Brooklyn, and the religious sisters who call it home—</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">who are well known for publishing many other pocket devotionals including: </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">My Daily Life, My Imitation of Christ, </i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">and </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">My Meditation on the Gospel.</i><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">One of the many benefits of making <i>My Daily Bread</i> your prayer companion is the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">noticeable, lived-experience of a deep interior life. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As it states in the Foreword, "This</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> book must be read, not only with the head, but with the heart. We must think and pray. This daily exercise will transform belief into realization, theory into practice."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In addition to better understanding your faults, imperfections, and sins, this book invites each individual to lead a virtuous life and to grow in God's grace; explained like no other book that I have ever read, reflected upon, and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">prayed</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> about.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i>My Daily Bread</i> is divided into three books that treat respectively the three ways of the Spiritual Life: Purification, Imitation, and Union. Each book is further divided into various parts that begin with a brief introduction, setting the tone for the many chapters that follow. It is during the chapter readings that each individual is invited to, "listen, think and answer Him."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Whether you are newly converted to the Catholic faith, a daily communicant or somewhere in between, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">My Daily Bread</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, is perhaps "the" book to acquire to truly understand and live the Spiritual Life.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>The Way of Purification</b></span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The <i>Way of Purification</i> is the first stage of the Spiritual Life; a life long task and a daily goal.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Purification is a process whereby we reform what has been deformed in us by sin. It consists of five parts: </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Conversion,</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">After Conversion</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Temptation</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Conquering Bad Habits</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, and </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Self-Conquest Through Mortification</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The daily effort entails that each individual strive to rid oneself of all serious sin and any predominant venial faults that may lead to mortal sin. By doing so a foundation is laid for the development of virtues, which will be practiced in a more positive manner rather than in opposition to present faults.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To get a sense of the "treasure trove" contained within this book, below is an excerpt from Part One, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Conversion,</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Chapter Three, <i>A Right Intention in All Things:</i></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">[Christ] MY CHILD, In all things I want you to have a right intention. This means I want you to have a supernatural purpose in whatever you think, do, or say...</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">A right intention, however, may have different degrees of perfection. Thus, when you do something simply to please Me, your intention is higher than if you think of your own advantage. Still, whatever be the degree of your right intention, it always seeks to fulfill My Will, and it always brings you a greater good than any intention which seeks only your earthly welfare.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Regardless of feelings, moods, prejudices, or preferences, strive to maintain a right intention at all times...</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Do not let life's daily events disturb nor affect you too much. Seek to know My Will and to accept it in all things. With this pure intention, you will have a deep interior peace. This is my gift to those who let Me govern their lives...(6)</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>The Way of Imitation</b></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This second stage invites the reader to a greater following of Christ and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">consists of four parts:</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Following Jesus in Daily LIfe; Virtues Leading Directly to God; Man's Relation With His Neighbour and With Himself; and The Spiritual Combat.</i><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Previously in the first stage, the advancement of virtue occurred by resisting one's faults that the virtues were opposed to. In the second stage, one is lead to rise to a higher degree of union with God by imitating the example which Jesus gave us.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This second level is referred to as the</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> "illuminative way, the way of enlightenment." One is drawn closer to God and comes to understand God more clearly, and appreciate Him more fully.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As in notes in Book Two, "Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life...Learn of Me...' Christ's follower must now take his eyes away from himself for longer periods, so that he may concentrate more and more upon his King and Model." (222)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The development of virtue is now aimed at demonstrating a greater love and fidelity to Christ. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Here is an excerpt from Part One, <i>Following Jesus in Daily LIfe</i>, Chapter 2, <i>The Divine Teacher</i>:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">[Christ] MY CHILD, My grace is richer, deeper, grander, and more glorious than any other possession or achievement on earth. It shows you what is better and more profitable for your eternal success. It strengthens you against all earthly attractions and makes you the true master of your own life...</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I speak to different persons in different ways, according to their background, abilities, and efforts. I do not always use words when I speak within your soul. Often My message is received and understood in an instant. In your reading, reflecting, and prayer, I often speak to you. I help you to understand more clearly what you read in books or hear in sermons. The grandest sermon would be just so many words if I did not bless it with My grace. It is I who enable the listeners to understand it, desire it, and live it. (226)</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>The Way of Union</b></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The third stage consists of three parts: <i>Striving for Closer Union; Union Through the Holy Eucharist; Union Throughout the Day</i>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At this stage, the follower of Christ is now purified of all serious faults and most of the lesser defects, and after having proven to be unselfish and loyal, there is a longing for a more intimate union with God. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The follower of Christ strives to give oneself completely to God, which He in due time, generously rewards by raising the soul to the highest spiritual level: <i>The Way of Union</i>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As it states in Book Three, "The man in this stage of spiritual perfection finds his thoughts turning more frequently and more easily to God. He is constantly aware of God's nearness. His predominant desire in all his activities, is to give more of himself to God, by whatever form of self-sacrifice his daily obligations will permit." (365)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is during this stage that one experiences a supernatural friendship with God and among all of life's trials and difficulties, Christ's generous followers experience peace and joy, a foretaste of Heaven.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The following is an excerpt from Part One, </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Striving for Closer Union</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, Chapter 3, <i>Intimacy with God</i>:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">[Christ] MY CHILD, learn to converse with Me as a child talks with its mother. Let there be no barriers between you and Me. Why should you find it easier to talk to human beings than to Me? I know you better than anyone else.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Nowhere will you find the understanding, sympathy, and appreciation which I have. Nobody else is as interested in you as I am. I love you infinitely more than anyone else does.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">You are never alone. I am always with you, ready to share your burdens and solve your problems. I walk with you at every step. No human being is capable of giving you the perfect friendship which I offer you. (371)</span> </blockquote>
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<b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Ideal Standard, Jesus Christ</span></b><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">What the contents of <i>My Daily Bread</i> point to is the ideal standard, Jesus Christ. It is the only standard with which we should measure how we are living our lives and how to better live it; the one standard alone that will stand the test on judgement day.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Jesus gave us His example and teachings to follow; all that remains is for each individual to decide for Christ and follow His example. It doesn't matter how successful you are, because Jesus does not look at this, but rather, He looks at how much effort you put forth: did you give Jesus your honest daily effort to follow Him?</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i>My Daily Bread</i>, details how to do just that, encouraging each follower to, as it notes at the <i>How to Use This Book</i> page, "dream of becoming a better person." (VI)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Who amongst us does not want to become a better person? </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We can become that better person if we spend time listening to His precious words of wisdom, peace, and joy.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Jesus speaks to us far more often than we listen; He is much closer to us than we realize. We would go far in self-perfection if we, "...[P]laced ourselves at His feet for a few minutes each day, and heard Him tell us how to improve our daily lives." (VI)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Those who sincerely endeavour to remain at His feet each day will experience a time of divine intimacy. As in notes in the book, "Often, between the lines, He will give you a message which is meant for you alone. This will be the grace of that chapter." (VI)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is through God's grace that we will be shown how to live a better life each day, and be given the strength and the resolve to do so. If we use these graces well, God will grant us even greater ones. Daily we will become more like Christ and less like our old self.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">May many strive to follow the ideal standard and live the Spiritual Life.</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-13400968654566045862017-08-10T21:40:00.000-04:002017-08-12T09:51:05.351-04:00Hungary's New NGO Law: Greater Transparency Requirements For Foreign-Funded NGOs<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BCQFSWKnraw/WYztarPR2FI/AAAAAAAAEmI/3T3vClrqfKoouLORT-TS0PZPTaVH0AG6wCLcBGAs/s1600/hungarianparliament_ngolaw.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of Hungary's parliament" border="0" data-original-height="880" data-original-width="1556" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BCQFSWKnraw/WYztarPR2FI/AAAAAAAAEmI/3T3vClrqfKoouLORT-TS0PZPTaVH0AG6wCLcBGAs/s640/hungarianparliament_ngolaw.png" title="Hungarian parliament" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hungarian parliament. Photo: About Hungary Blog/<a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/prominent-us-and-european-think-tanks-taken-in-by-the-ngo-crackdown-ruse/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Prominent US and European think tanks taken in by the “NGO crackdown” ruse</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On June 13, 2017, Hungary's parliament passed a new law requiring greater transparency of foreign-funded non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The new legislation corrected a </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">loophole in Hungarian law that previously allowed such civic organizations to operate without disclosing where and from whom their funds came from. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Prime Minister Viktor </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán and the Fidesz party he leads, have been determined to close this loophole</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> in order to prevent NGOs from being used as Trojan horses to influence Hungary's domestic politics.</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> The announcement to close the loophole was made in February and by April 2, the draft legislation was made available. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The announcement sparked open and public debate, including criticism from Brussels, left-leaning mainstream media news web sites, several prominent European and American think tanks, and even Canada's</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Foreign Minister <a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/guess-who-else-is-concerned-about-foreign-funding-of-ngos/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chrystia Freeland</a></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">; criticism that has been for the most part, untruthful and factually incorrect.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With this new law in place all NGOs </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that qualify as being funded from abroad, must not only report it within fifteen days of receiving foreign funds, but state it as such on their web sites and publications. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Failure to comply with these requirements will result in the notification by a prosecutor to do so within thirty days, as well as the possibility of a fine and suspension.</span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I applaud Prime Minister Viktor </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán for this new law;</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> it is simply a matter of common sense that when NGOs are funded by foreign interests—especially those that engage in political activity that have neither</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> the democratic mandate do so; nor, do they provide any accountability to the citizenry—</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">they should be transparent about that, as Hungarians have the right to know!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The failed "NGO Crackdown" ruse</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In mid-March, opposition to the proposed new NGO legislation came in the form of an open letter representing several prominent US and European think tanks. It was entitled, <i><a href="http://ngocrackdown.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">No to NGO crackdown in Hungary</a></i>, and "fittingly" published at the domain, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ngocrackdown.com.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In essence, what the letter</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> attempted to do was paint a false picture of the new law's transparency requirements, primarily through the use of selected historical references, bombastic language, and false claims about the Hungarian government.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Case in point, the letter states that the Hungarian government's intention is to root out NGOs that receive funding from George Soros. Although Prime Minister </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán and the Hungarian government are well aware of the fact that Soros is in the "NGO business" and has an agenda for Hungary, the new law is aimed at all foreign-funded civic organizations.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The letter also stated that NGOs are an organic part of society and that their role does not depend on whether the government of the moment agrees with them. The letter lacks any specificity with respect to any civic organization, but instead refers to NGOs, foundations, and think tanks as a general grouping.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The signatories also neglected to mention those civic organizations that receive foreign-funding and engage in political activity; civic organizations </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">whose financial support, direction, and agendas comes from well known globalists and billionaires, such as George Soros.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The arrogance and audacity of the signatories comes shining through when they suggest that Hungary should be proud of the "rich landscape of organizations of civil society," and how they ought to be careful not to "undo the extraordinary progress" that Hungary has seen since the fall of communism. Orbán and the Hungarian people don't need anyone to tell them about the struggles of living within a communist system, the fight for freedom </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and independence, and what a country needs to do to consistently and successfully move forward. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Hungarian people have admirably demonstrated this for centuries: during </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the early 1700s (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A1k%C3%B3czi%27s_War_of_Independence" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rákóczi’s War of Independence</a>), the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/07/viktor-orbans-speech-on-anniversary-of.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">1848 War of Independence</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hungarian uprising of 1956</a>, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and in recent years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán who first took office in 2010.</span><br><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><div><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hungary has gone on the offensive and responded to all the criticism with the truth and the facts, and in the process, spotlighted what Hungarian government spokesman, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Zoltan Kovács referred to as a,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "NGO crackdown ruse." In a blog post dated March 21, 2017, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">—follow him on <a href="https://twitter.com/zoltanspox" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and his blog posts at</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, <a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">About Hungary Blog</a>, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">for daily updates on Hungary—wrote a thorough response </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to the letter, <a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/prominent-us-and-european-think-tanks-taken-in-by-the-ngo-crackdown-ruse/"><i>Prominent US and European think tanks taken in by the “NGO crackdown” ruse</i></a>.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács included many valid points that is sure to resonate with those that value the truth, factual information, and common-sense, as well as those who have come to appreciate the consistent progress that Hungary has made in the past seven years.</span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In addition to stressing how Hungary's draft legislation was about greater transparency, and the result of a normal concern of any government who identifies foreign-funded NGOs involved in political activities that could be construed as attempts to undermine the government and democracy as a whole, what most stands out about his blog post was how he debunked the notion that Hungary's transparency requirement is a "NGO crackdown."</span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács first highlighted the signatories' specific wording: "NGO crackdown." It sounds serious, but the fact is, that is not what happened in Hungary. He elaborated with the following statement:</span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The NGO legislation that’s currently under consideration calls for greater transparency, particularly transparency of groups operating with international funding, as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó pointed out in his <a href="http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-foreign-affairs-and-trade/news/to-us-hungary-comes-first" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">statement</a>. Civic groups remain an essential part of every democratic society, but when they’re carrying out activities funded by a foreign interest, they should be transparent about that.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is also the firm position of Prime Minister Viktor </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán who </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács quoted, " </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">'Hungarian citizens must be given the right to know about all public actors, who they are and who pays them. We have the right to know,' said Prime Minister Orbán. 'So we want transparency.' "</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hungary is not alone in its concerns about foreign interests meddling in its domestic politics. As Kovács noted, in March a group of US senators wrote a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/341866712/Lee-Inhofe-Letter-to-Secretary-Tillerson#from_embed">letter</a> to Secretary of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">State Rex Tillerson, asking him to investigate claims that American tax-payer money is being used to back left-wing, globalist-billionaire George Soros's overseas agenda for sovereign nations: specifically the attempts to affect certain political outcomes.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács pointed out that there have been numerous examples of foreign meddling in Hungary. He cited the example of a Hungarian parliamentary opposition figure who received assistance from the Washington-based Center for American Progress, which as </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács wrote is, "...[A] group founded by John Pedesta and itself a Soros grantee."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Further to this, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács highlighted how the European edition of POLITICO described Soro's agenda as an "anti-</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán agenda," due to Hungary's response to the migrant crisis with its tight border security.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hungary's entire border security measures, including the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/03/hungarys-new-border-hunters-response-to.html" target="_blank">3,000 border-hunters</a>, has successfully halted the Balkan migrant route, putting further pressure on other migrant options, most notably the <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/07/migrants-and-madness-in-the-med/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Italian-North African route</a>. It has drawn further attention to </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">how it is all connected to Soros's agenda for Europe; an agenda that you can read about in detail from Kovács's recent blog post</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/wondering-what-pm-orban-meant-with-that-reference-to-the-soros-plan-here-it-is/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wondering what PM Orbán meant with that reference to the Soros plan? Here it is</a></i>. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> also mentioned that some of the most vocal critics against Hungary's border security measures and policies come from NGOs funded by George Soros.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The concluding point that completes the debunking of the "NGO crackdown ruse" is the simple fact that Hungary's new legislation, in comparison to the American equivalent—<i>Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)</i>—is no where near as strict. To illustrate this point, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács quoted FARA, and then made it crystal clear that the signatories clearly were not in possession of the facts and probably just signed the letter without knowing the truth about Hungary's new legislation:</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The United State [<i>sic</i>] has a federal law called the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. It says that people and organizations that are acting 'at the order, request, or under the direction or control' of a foreign government or organizations or persons outside the country must report their relationship with the foreign power. The report must disclose the related activities and finances. FARA is strict.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The new NGO regulations under consideration in Hungary are less strict than those of FARA.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If I were one of those asked to sign the letter and to lend my name to the cause, I would have wanted to know all of the above. I suspect that many did not know. They just signed it without checking.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They got taken in by the “NGO crackdown” ruse.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Putting the opposition to the new NGO law into perspective</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In Hungary there are over 62,000 civic organizations in a country whose population is less than ten-million; the overwhelming majority of NGOs in Hungary have no objections to the new law.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Like in any other country, NGOs play an important role in Hungary's democracy, but a distinction must be made between grassroots and internationally funded NGOs. The former is typically made up of volunteers seeking to better their neighbourhood, town/city, province or state, and country as a whole, while the latter is quite a different situation. Foreign-funded NGOs are in essence a Trojan horse made up of personnel that refer to themselves as "civilians," but in fact, are actually are activists, and usually paid activists, whose goal is to propagate international interests, by directly interfering in the domestic politics of Hungary.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is not surprising that civic organizations such as the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Helsinki Committee, and Amnesty International are so opposed to this new NGO law; all of whom have openly declared their intention to disobey it. It only begs the question, what are they hiding?</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Objections from international NGOs have been based on the claim that Hungarian civil law discriminates and cannot be compared to the NGO legislation in other democracies. Nothing could be further from the truth.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As Zoltan Kovács pointed out in his blog post, <i><a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/why-do-these-ngos-resist-transparency/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Why do these NGOs resist transparency</a></i>, such claims by the international NGOs do not connect to reality: German, Israeli and some aspects of American law (FARA) on foreign-funded NGOs are stricter than their Hungarian counterpart. He went on to further point out that in Austria, NGOs engaging in lobbying activity, such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have to register as lobbyists.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Further in the blog post, Kovács asks the reader, "What do these protesting organizations have in common?" In addition to being pro-migrant NGOs, who are adamantly opposed to Hungary's border security measures, they also have a shared agenda to bring about a moral disorder in Hungary; namely, the legalization of drug use and through the ideology of <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/06/the-global-sexual-revolution.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">gender mainstreaming</a>.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What I found particularly noteworthy was the candid manner in which </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács spotlighted what these NGOs are all about,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "Let’s be honest, the organizations raising their voices against the new NGO Act are not grassroots initiatives. They are vehicles to advance the agenda of foreign political interests. These organizations don’t stand on their own. They depend for their livelihood on funding from Soros sources."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Further to this, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács also pointed out that the objections of the NGOs have not been based on facts, but rather, an ideological opposition with no legal basis. Here is what he stated:</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">'The NGO Act is being criticized exclusively by the same organizations – with funding from George Soros – that are opposing the government in relation to migration,' said Deputy Justice Minister Pál Völner recently. Völner also pointed out that no correspondence has been received from the complaining organizations explaining any concrete legal problems that they claim exist in the new legislation, reinforcing the impression that theirs is an ideological opposition not based on real, legal issues.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was interesting to read that all this opposition came about after the heir to the Open Society empire, Alexander Soros, met with representatives of NGOs.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>A legitimate aim of ensuring transparency of civic organizations</b></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><br></b></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I agree with most of the findings of the Venice Commission, who at the request of Hungary, reviewed the draft legislation, provided an <a href="http://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/?pdf=CDL-PI(2017)002-e">opinion</a>, and approved it as pursuing </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">a,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "...[P]rima facie legitimate aim and can be considered 'necessary in a democratic society in the interest of national security and public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I particularly liked the commission's additional mention of another important point regarding transparency: how it may contribute to the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The thrust of the commission's findings can be read in Kovács's blog post, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/case-closed-venice-commission-says-hungarys-draft-ngo-law-pursues-legitimate-aim-of-ensuring-transparency/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Case Closed: Venice Commission says Hungary’s draft NGO law pursues ‘legitimate aim of ensuring transparency’</a>.</i></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In that post</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács includes a few key points worth mentioning. The first is how he accurately illustrated—through a comparison of legislation with other countries—that Hungary's legislation is straightforward and clearly in line with the Venice Commission's finding of it being a legitimate aim. Here is what he wrote about this first point:</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Hungarian draft law, unlike <a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/thats-exactly-what-were-talking-about/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the one in the United States</a>, proposed relatively lighter reporting requirements and, contrary to the Israeli and Russian laws, avoids labeling foreign-funded NGOs as “agents”. Unlike <a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/is-the-european-union-carrying-out-an-ngo-crackdown/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a proposal in the European Parliament</a>, it does not consider taking away public funding from these NGOs. Hungary’s draft law says that NGOs that receive funding from outside of Europe that exceeds a certain level must publicly declare that they receive funding from abroad in their materials and the registry. That’s pretty straightforward and clearly in line with what the Venice Commission says is a “legitimate aim”.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of the commission's findings, there was one in particular that I did not agree with; that is, the point that Hungary's NGO law could have a "stigmatizing effect on those NGOs receiving foreign funding." Hungary had disagreed with the commission on this point. As </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács noted, the NGO legislation,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "...[D]oes not apply the term foreign 'agents' to these groups and the Commission’s concern would seem to be a contradiction to the opinion’s fundamental finding that 'it is legitimate, in order to secure transparency, to publicly disclose the identity of the [NGOs’] main sponsors.' "</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Lastly, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács drew further attention to the fact all those who, "sounded off alarm bells," have done so without just cause, because the Venice Commision's opinion invalidates any claim that Hungary was carrying out a "NGO crackdown." To reiterate how legitimate Hungary's NGO law is, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kovács further referred to the the commission's opinion:</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">...the Commission said, the draft law pursues a legitimate aim of improving transparency of NGOs. What’s more, it is legitimate for a state to monitor the main sponsors of NGOs and legitimate to publicly disclose the identity of the main sponsors. It’s also not only legitimate but 'necessary in a democratic society' to require transparency of NGOs receiving funding from abroad in order to prevent them from being misused for foreign political goals.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hungary's new NGO law is but one, in a long list of positive developments under the leadership of Viktor </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán; a leadership that has proven itself over and over for seven straight years.</span><br>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EYxxk5EQFC8/WYzpFp3GshI/AAAAAAAAEl8/184AwJ53Xt8xlosRHXmZacr591MbJbt4ACLcBGAs/s1600/freeland_ngocomment.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="1596" height="456" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EYxxk5EQFC8/WYzpFp3GshI/AAAAAAAAEl8/184AwJ53Xt8xlosRHXmZacr591MbJbt4ACLcBGAs/s640/freeland_ngocomment.png" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Zoltan Kovacs's blog post on North American criticism of the new NGO law. Photo: About Hungary Blog/<a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/guess-who-else-is-concerned-about-foreign-funding-of-ngos/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Guess who else is concerned about foreign funding of NGOs</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">With respect to Canada's</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland's tweet on the day the new Hungarian NGO law took effect—calling it a “disappointing outcome”—it reflects badly on Canada. I totally disagree with her tweet.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If Freeland truly "</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">values transparency & civil society as key facets of healthy democratic societies,” then she should retract her comment and apologize to Hungary.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What Freeland and many others fail to realize is that Hungary has got it right: the Hungarian model is working and it shows!</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Case closed."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span></div>Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-36274050223516778962017-07-31T14:49:00.000-04:002017-07-31T19:11:23.310-04:00Viktor Orbán’s Speech on the Anniversary of the 1848 Revolution<div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PjsVzG95aBc/WXqU5cOBzxI/AAAAAAAAEjE/qQBmV48hBtg-6LNN3mDybeSMkqXG42TswCLcBGAs/s1600/orban_march2017.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's in front of the National Museum giving his anniversary speech of the 1848 Revolution " border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1562" height="342" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PjsVzG95aBc/WXqU5cOBzxI/AAAAAAAAEjE/qQBmV48hBtg-6LNN3mDybeSMkqXG42TswCLcBGAs/s640/orban_march2017.png" title="Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's anniversary speech on 1848 Revolution " width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in front of the National Museum, delivering his anniversary speech of the 1848 Revolution.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Photo: About Hungary Blog/<a href="http://abouthungary.hu/blog/in-the-spirit-of-1848-says-pm-orban-we-have-a-chance-to-transform-europe/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">In the spirit of 1848, says PM Orbán, we have a chance to transform Europe</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On March 15, 2017, Prime Minister Viktor</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> Orbán delivered what I consider to be one of the most relevant and significant speeches for both Hungary and Europe, on a national day when Hungarians commemorate the 1848 Revolution; a revolution that became a war of independence from </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">the Austrian Empire, ruled by the Habsburg dynasty.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán's <a href="http://www.kormany.hu/en/the-prime-minister/the-prime-minister-s-speeches/viktor-orban-s-speech-on-the-anniversary-of-the-1848-revolution" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">speech</a> is just one in a long list of impressive speeches, given by a man whose leadership and patriotism is beyond reproach; a man who is</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">, in my view, a modern day hero in the making.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Perhaps what best illustrates </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán's unwavering patriotism and </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">strong leadership abilities </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">has been the exemplary manner in which he has fulfilled the primary responsibility of any</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> prime minister; that is, to ensure the safety and security of the citizenry.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One need only look to the border security measures that </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán has put in place since the summer of 2015; measures that have ensured that Hungary's borders are protected from horde</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">s of so-called "refugees," (economic migrants) who not only pose a threat to the economic, political, and social stability of Hungarian society, but to the very core of Hungary's </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Christian identity, heritage, and culture.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán accomplished this in a most identifiable way by the construction of two military fences at its borders, that together with a group of security forces—3000 border-hunters, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">modern-day border-fort garrisons, officers and the police, and members of the defence forces—has in effect, shut down the Balkan migrant route, of which Hungary was an extension.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To get an even greater sense of just how seriously Orbán takes his responsibility for </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">providing safety and security, consider reading my blog post, <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/03/hungarys-new-border-hunters-response-to.html" target="_blank"><i>Hungary's New Border-Hunters: A Response to the Ongoing Migrant Crisis</i></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Orbán's Speech</b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In keeping with a long-held tradition Orbán delivered his speech at the front steps of the National Museum, where in 1848, a </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">mass demonstration—</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">an event that is considered to be </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">one of the central events that set the revolution in motion—against the Habsburg </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">dynasty assembled during which the "Twelve Points" were read: a list of demands to the Habsburg governor co-authored by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1ndor_Pet%C5%91fi" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sándor Petöfi</a> and his <i>Nemzeti Dal</i>, a revolutionary poem.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán began his speech by welcoming Polish visitors, who regularly attend this most important national day for Hungary; one that Poles intimately understand and support.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Using the analogy of taking a photograph, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán characterized the national celebration—a Hungarian national holiday—as synonymous to the taking a family photograph of the Hungarian people, who have stood the test of time in many battles, wars and uprisings, and through the sacrifice of many courageous compatriots, exist today allowing Hungarians, along with those courageous people from the past to be "photographed" together. It is a photograph that, in part, pays tribute to and honours those brave souls!</span><br>
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Referring to Hungary's history, Orbán mentioned how in the past, those who won battles against Hungary, eventually lost the war, "The Tartars are gone without a trace, the enormous Ottoman Empire wasted away, the Habsburg Empire evaporated, and the Soviet colossus simply perished." These are facts that Orbán referred to as irrefutable proof that, "...[W]e were, we are and we will be."</span><br>
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Perhaps one of the most salient points of the speech was with respect to </span>Orbán's highlighting the importance of 1848, as a common thread that continues to run through Hungarian history and life, becoming both a touchstone and a moral compass for the Hungarian people. It is a point that can only be fully understood in </span>Orbán's own words:</span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The importance of 1848 not only lies in the fact that it happened, but also in the fact that it has been happening ever since – and not only in our annual celebrations: 1848 has become our inner touchstone, and our moral compass. The touchstone and compass of ’48 indicate to this day the measure of every person in terms of their homeland: who is loyal, who is a patriot, who is committed, and who is brave. They show us what greatness is. But they also show us what pettiness is, what falsehood is, and what it is to kill dreams; what it is to build our country, and what it is to destroy it. The touchstone of 1848 defines our personal positions within the nation, and 1848 equally defines our position among nations. And we have reason to be proud of our position, which we deserve. In 1848–49, the Hungarian community contributed more people to fight under the flags of freedom than did all the other countries of Europe combined.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán also referred to the 1848 revolution as a link between</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A1k%C3%B3czi%27s_War_of_Independence" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rákóczi’s War of Independence</a> </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(June 15, 1703 – May 1, 1711) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and the October of 1956, which as he put it, "...[D]elineates the backbone of a great freedom-fighting nation and defines its historical bloodline..."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Continuing in the tradition of nation building, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán spoke of the important and fundamental duties and responsibilities that his current generation must take on and fulfill for the sake of the future generations: the duty to pass on to the younger generations a country with a spiritual and moral inheritance that will allow for the emergence of courageous individuals to fight for freedom; the task of safeguarding the country to retain the nation for them; to provide them with guidance on what they must do; and to ensure the continuity of the nation that includes the embracing of a variety of professions and fields of work.</span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán spoke of the rebellion currently going on in Europe; a rebellion by nations against the "...[H]ypocritical alliance of Brussels bureaucrats, the global liberal media and international capital, with its insatiable appetite." </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today in Europe, the "winds of '48 are blowing once more," as </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán pointed out, but it is a rebellion whose energy can be released within constitutional boundaries and reforms brought about in a peaceful manner. In order for this to happen </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán identified a few fundamental problems that must be resolved, "...[M]asks of hypocrisy in Brussels must be removed, and we need straight talking and open debate on the future. The machinations hidden behind fine principles must come to an end."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Hungarian people are well positioned to spearhead the necessary changes; a people whose history and character has illustrated the important role Hungarians can play in the implementation of these changes. </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán highlighted this </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">important role by describing the spirit of the Hungarian people, paraphrasing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istv%C3%A1n_Sz%C3%A9chenyi" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Széchenyi</a>, one of Hungary's most respected statesman:</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Széchenyi </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">urged us on by saying that when the whole of Europe disintegrates, Hungary – rising from its ashes – will, to the glory of humanity, stand guard over order, peace and freedom: just as when it once defended Christianity. When within us there is more patriotism than envy, and more civic virtue than desire for glory, I sincerely believe that the Hungarian nation will come to something – and something great.</span></blockquote>
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Reinforcing the need for peaceful reforms, </span>Orbán referred to the essence of the <i>Twelve Points, </i>"Let there be peace, freedom and accord."</span></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Recognizing that there are some in society who do not want peace but division, </span>Orbán emphasized that his focus is on nation building!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That nation-building effort was further emphasized when </span>Orbán</span> paraphrased <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lajos_Kossuth" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lajos Kossuth</a>, "...[W]e are a nation, and we have the right and the strength to pursue our own goals, and not to be the tools of foreign ambitions." It is a statement that goes to the heart of Hungary's current struggles in the European Union and with those foreign interests trying to destabilize </span>Orbán's government, so as to impose their own agenda, of which George Soros is at the top of that list.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Addressing Hungary's current problems with Brussels, </span>Orbán continued to </span>encourage his fellow citizens with several statements that made it abundantly clear to Brussels, that Hungary's history, people and future will not be manipulated or compromised by foreign interests and interference. Hungary is determined to manifest its own destiny because that destiny matters to Hungarians:</span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Perhaps neither the past nor the future of the Hungarian nation matters to Brussels and international capital – but they matter to us. Perhaps the security of the European people does not matter to Brussels and international capital – but it matters to us. Perhaps whether or not we remain Hungarian does not matter to Brussels and international capital – but it matters to us. We know what János Arany expressed thus in verse: “If the storm of times blows us away, God will be never more have Hungarians.” This is also true today, and this is what is at stake in today’s European rebellion. In defence of our independence and national sovereignty, we must bravely fight the battles that lie ahead of us. We must stop Brussels: we must protect our borders; we must prevent the resettlement of migrants; we must make the networks that receive their funding from abroad transparent; we must keep the right to regulate taxes, wages and household utility charges here at home. And in this, Dear Friends, we can only rely on ourselves. Therefore we must continue to keep the responsibility of governance within the nation.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Most noteworthy was Orbán's effort </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">to strengthen the bonds of amongst Hungarians by emphasizing an extremely important aspect of nationhood; that is, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"A nation is not only a shared language, culture and past, but also the sum of every moment in which the trials of history weld our hearts together." </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Elaborating further, </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán mentioned how Hungary's rebellion against the slavery of debt has welded together the hearts of the Hungarian people; and so has Hungary's struggle for economic independence and the repelling of the "mass population movement."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hungarians today stand on their own feet, "eat their own bread," and do not serve the interests of foreign powers. Today, Hungarians are a unity people with strengthened families.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Progress has been made in the form of breaking through barriers of class, background, age, religion and political belief, all of which adds to the growing list of positive achievements in Hungarian society. All this, as </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán reminded the audience, was accomplished under the pressure from the "alliance of hypocrites."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán concluded his speech with a warning, that all Hungarians should be cognizant of the fact that unity needs to be maintained with hard work, and on a daily basis. He also pointed out the need for Hungarians to protect their achievements, "There is no achievement which will defend itself."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Further to this he stated that, it is up to Hungarians to defend unity and achievements, and to advance both in an effort to make society functional. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán ended his speech with a very optimistic statement that is telling of the continued success—the details of which can be read at my blog post from </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Orbán's <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/04/prime-minister-viktor-orbans-state-of.html" target="_blank">State of the Nation address</a></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">that Hungary has enjoyed since 2010,</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "The Hungarian nation is strengthening and rising, and, through its talent and hard work, will rightly receive recognition among the community of European nations. The name of Hungary will again be a fine one, worthy of its great fame in days gone by. Long live Hungarian freedom, long live our homeland."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">God bless Hungary.<br>
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-38210964561738190162017-07-23T17:25:00.003-04:002022-06-08T14:03:38.353-04:00Michael H. Brown's Book: Prayer of The Warrior<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H4Evzomp4B4/WWVu_0NBxqI/AAAAAAAAEfY/kPYFWqHrovoPJpknjRZ2HaZPSnB9tnfjACLcBGAs/s1600/prayerofthewarrior_blogpost.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of Michael H. Brown's book, "Prayer of The Warrior"" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H4Evzomp4B4/WWVu_0NBxqI/AAAAAAAAEfY/kPYFWqHrovoPJpknjRZ2HaZPSnB9tnfjACLcBGAs/s640/prayerofthewarrior_blogpost.jpg" title="Michael H. Brown's book, "Prayer of The Warrior"" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown's book, <i>Prayer of The Warrior</i></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Recently I completed a fresh reading of Michael H. Brown's book, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/michael-h-brown-books/products/br-prayer-of-the-warrior-by-michael-h-brown" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Prayer of The Warrior</a>, spawned by his fairly recent talks at </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the <a href="http://marianday.ca/speakers_2017.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Marian Day Retreat</a></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> here in Toronto.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Originally read in early 2003, this latest rereading was not only a rediscovery of Brown's conversion and faith journey, but an opportunity to learn anew about certain aspects of spiritual warfare and how to become a better prayer-warrior.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">A common thread that runs throughout the book</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">—which Brown has dedicated the entire first chapter to—is the reality that we are in the midst of a spiritual war; one that requires prayer-warriors.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To aid those seeking to become prayer-warriors, Brown wrote several key chapters that are fundamental to understanding how to fight the good fight: chapter seventeen, <i>The First Prayer of the Warrior</i>, the prayer to the Holy Spirit; chapter twenty-four, <i>Me and Hillary</i>, the prayer of deliverance; chapter twenty-five, <i>The Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom</i>; chapter twenty-six, <i>The Prayer of Fearlessness</i>; and chapter thirty-five, <i>The Prayers of Faith and Love</i>, which also includes the powerful prayers of suffering.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In addition, <i>Prayer of The Warrior</i>, contains valuable information for those new to spiritual warfare: what is to be </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">understood about </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">spiritual warfare; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown's actual encounters with the demonic; a historical account of the signs of the</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> times; prophetic warnings and messages from the Marian apparitions of Akita, LaSalette, Fatima, and Medjugorje; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">how the "Rulers of Darkness" (demonic) have influenced many aspects of culture </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">and society as a whole; how to fight the good fight against the Evil One and his demons through regular (daily if possible) <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/01/our-ladys-little-stone-eucharist.html" target="_blank">Mass</a> attendance, daily recitation of the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-rosary-effective-weapon-against.html" target="_blank">Rosary</a>, adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament, <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/12/our-ladys-little-stone-monthly.html" target="_blank">regular confession</a> (at least once a month), <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/01/our-ladys-little-stone-holy-bible.html" target="_blank">daily Bible reading</a>, the use of sacramentals (holy </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">water, salt and oil), the wearing of the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/05/the-brown-scapular-devotion.html">Brown Scapular</a>; how effective and beneficial it is </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">to have within our homes blessed crucifixes, holy pictures, objects and relics; and regular "house blessings" by a priest.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown is well known in Catholic circles and throughout the world for his talks, books, articles, blog posts, and his web site, <a href="http://www.spiritdaily.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spirit Daily</a>, where many of his contributions to informing, encouraging, and strengthening fellow Catholics in North America and throughout the world can be found. It is an important web site that p</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">rovides </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">resources </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">on: </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the truth, knowledge, and understanding of the Catholic faith journey; current, real, and relevant news; information on the events and signs of our times; and resources on spiritual warfare, healing, and the afterlife.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The narrative of Brown's life is an inspiring example of one man's journey, coming "back home" to his Catholic roots, and how his acceptance and cooperation with the gift of faith transformed him into a prayer-warrior: putting faith into action and fighting the good fight in the spiritual war. It is the fulfillment of Saint Pope John Paul II's directive, from his</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/02/pope-john-paul-iis-apostolic.html"><i>Christifideles Laici</i></a>, "It is not permissible for anyone to remain idle."</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> (3)</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">A Spiritual War</b><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown instills in the reader at the very beginning of this book, that we are in the midst of a spiritual war.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is a war that should concern us because the Evil One is rising as never before. So important is this subject matter that Brown dedicated the entire first chapter to it, aptly entitled, <i>A Spiritual War</i>. It sets the tone for the remainder of this book: the narrative of Brown's conversion; the many positive changes to his personal and professional life; the sharing of his gift of faith, and his knowledge and understanding of the spiritual war, including how to become a prayer-warrior.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Although, <i>Prayer of the Warrior</i>, was published in 1993, Brown provided many examples of the rising influence of the Evil One, and the negative impact upon culture and society as a whole, that today has increased in both intensity and scope.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Here in Canada, we need only look to the growing <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/07/the-moral-disorder-in-canada-analogy-of.html" target="_blank">moral disorder</a> for proof of this and the Culture of Death that it has ushered into mainstream society: <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/09/thou-shall-not-kill-human-life-is-sacred.html" target="_blank">abortion</a> available on demand; <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/04/euthanasia-false-mercy.html" target="_blank">euthanasia</a> and <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/01/ontarios-end-of-life-consultations.html" target="_blank">assisted suicide</a> deceptively packaged as part of palliative care; contraception; in-vitro fertilization; "fertility clinics"; and other threats to the value and inviolability of human life.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In the past couple of decades, we also have experienced the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">growing negative consequences of the </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/06/the-global-sexual-revolution.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">global sexual revolution</a>,<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> including: </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">gender mainstreaming; gender ideology; the LGBTQ agenda</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">; the indoctrination of our children and youth, and the younger generations with sexual immorality in the education system; pornography and pornovision. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Add to this the infiltration and acceptance of <i>New Age</i> and occult practices into mainstream society. Prime examples are <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/02/yoga-tai-chi-and-reiki-guide-for.html" target="_blank">yoga, tai-chi, and reiki</a>, deceptively marketed as health and wellness; and a host of <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/11/new-age-alternative-therapies-and.html" target="_blank">alternative therapies and medicine</a> that are cleverly included within traditionally accepted medical practices. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is a growing list of evils that, no doubt mirrors what is happening in many other countries; all of which is drawing God's chastisements upon mankind. Brown spoke about this during two of his talks in Toronto: <i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/06/michael-h-browns-talk-current-prophetic.html" target="_blank">The Current Prophetic Pulse</a></i> and <i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/06/michael-h-browns-talk-reclaiming-north.html" target="_blank">Reclaiming North America's Christianity</a></i>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Adding to the concerns of God's chastisements, Brown referred to the Marian apparition of Akita, Japan, "At Akita, which has been formally approved in a pastoral letter from the bishop, Mary has warned that if it does not better itself shortly mankind will face a 'great chastisement' that will 'wipe out a great part of humanity.' " (3)</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Apparition Hill (Brdo Ukazanja) in Medjugorje, Herzegovina, where Our Lady first appeared to the seers.</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown also cited from the Marian apparitions in Medjugorje—which continue to this day—where Our Lady has given ten secrets to six visionaries, part of which are warnings of coming chastisements upon the world. It is not a matter of if, but when the chastisements will come: the chastisements are to occur within the life time of the visionaries.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Given the fact that the Medjugorje seers are in their 50s, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">we should expect major events to occur within twenty-to-thirty years, perhaps forty years from now at the most, which Brown depicted as, "...[A]</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">n exceedingly dangerous time. Satan is pulling all stops. While I don't believe for a minute that we're facing the end of civilization, I do believe that, during the next several decades, we'll see truly major and perhaps unprecedented economic, military, sociological, theological, spiritual, and natural upheavals—if not sooner." (6)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is Brown's contention that, on a lesser scale, the chastisements have already begun. He goes on to elaborate that we are already under a demonic assault that affects us personally, as seen by the division and confusion we experience; to which Brown highlighted the important point that, "Confusion is his [Evil One's] hallmark." (9) </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown added that the spiritual chastisement is "fully in progress," and may soon be followed by chastisements in the physical realm.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i>Prayer of the Warrior</i>, is an invitation to each reader to take a personal journey and discover in the process his/her own </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">own fears, struggles, difficulties, and the many challenges to be faced on this earthly pilgrimage. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Each reader that accepts that invitation will be greatly aided by Brown's personal insights and the sharing of the e</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">vents, occurrences and people in his life, viewed through the eyes of faith, not as a collection of meaningless coincidences, but part of God's plan for his journey. Brown's life is a quintessential example of Saint Pope John Paul II's quote, "In the designs of Providence, there are no mere coincidences."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Here is how Brown explained the relevance and benefit of this book for each reader:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This is what I want to focus upon: Our own state of spirituality and the personal trials we face as the battle heats up and possible chastisements loom. In God's army we'll win, but we have to know how to be prayer warriors, how to view the events around us, and how to purify ourselves. I want to take you on a more personal journey, I want to discuss <i>you</i>, your temptations, your fears, your difficulties, your struggles against dark forces as I share with you some of my own. This is a more personal book. It will offer a more personal look at certain saints and Church-approved visionaries, along with their insights into the world. It will offer glimpses of the afterlife. It will offer suggestions for spiritual protection. It is an account of both the good and evil I have witnessed as a journalist. (9)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As a further encouragement to accept the invitation, Brown stressed that no one should in any way feel depressed or fearful about the spiritual war. Rather, each individual should respond to it with action, a desire for purification, and an excitement to face the challenges ahead, enlisting in the "army of the living God," in the process. (10)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>Brown's Conversion</b></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown's conversion began one night with a powerful dream of Saint Michael and other angels coming to his aid against the Evil One, who was literally at the front door of his apartment. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The dream led Brown to question its meaning for his life and so began his spiritual journey back to God, back to his Catholic roots. Soon thereafter he became a daily communicant where the Mass provided him with "relief, refreshment, and strength."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It also began an awareness of the spiritual war. As his new life began to unfold, that awareness increased and so did incidences and encounters with the demonic.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown's new journey also prompted a life review: an opportunity to reflect upon the personal mistakes in his life and his spiritual negligence, which led him to question some of the occurrences in his life and how they were related to the supernatural.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Our Lady of Good Counsel, Brown's local<br />church during the early days of his<br />conversion. Photo: The New York<br />City Chapter of the American Guild of<br />Organists /<a href="http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/OurLadyGoodCounsel.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Our Lady of Good Counsel</a></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Chapter </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">five, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The Bells of Good Counsel</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, begins with what proved to be a standard fixture throughout this book, a prayer for the reader. This particular prayer highlights how Brown wants the reader to truly benefit from this book and be protected from the knowledge gained about spiritual warfare. Here is that prayer, "Lord Jesus, cleanse us of all evil. Wash us of all spiritual grit. Let us all learn from my experiences, and from our own experiences. Let us review certain aspects of evil but without becoming enticed or obsessed by them. Let this be for all an experience of the Holy Spirit and of His sure deliverance." (26)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown recounted how some of his experiences, such as the encounters with </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">New Agers</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> he described in </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">chapter four, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The House in Chelsea</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">and the short time he spent with a mafia hitman researching a story</span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">,</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> detailed in chapter three, <i>A Brush With the Mafia</i>, made him realize that he was "Not lucky, but blessed," to have walked away unscathed.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I recall from my original reading how I took note of Brown's specific wording, that it was not a matter of luck, but the opposite, God's blessings of protection over his life. Sadly today, many people use the words, "luck" and "blessing," interchangeably when in fact they have very different meanings. To consider oneself lucky is a departure from faith in God—who is the true source of all goodness in one's life—and attributes and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">places value in </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">something other than God to explain a postive occurrence, development, or event in one's life, which many times is a <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7E.HTM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">form of superstition</a>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown's faith was nourished by his daily attendance at a local church, Our Lady of Good Counsel, only half a block away from his apartment at 230 East 90th Street. It proved to </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">be a place of refuge; just part of many gifts Brown received from God during the early</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> days of his conversion. Here is how Brown described this gift:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To me it wasn't just a church but a fort and refuge. I would hear the bells at noon and rush out my door down the elevator and past the doorman for Mass. Most of the time there were just a handful of us, and I was the only one under the age of sixty, sitting there amid the sweet white-haired women with fraying sweaters and Irish brogues. Usually, I sat in the right wing, near the statue of a saint who became very important to me, Saint Joseph.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As I said, it was a fort, and that's just what I needed. I was under attack. For whatever reason—or reasons, plural—the devil was openly showing himself. He was on the attack, and God was granting me the grace to see it and do something about it. (28)</span> </blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown attributed a lot of his spiritual problems to the evil he exposed as a journalist. In particular his writing on the toxic waste that was dumped throughout America, on land and in water systems. He shared some of those details including how many corporations were not pleased with him, and in some cases it resulted in heated exchanges with executives. One executive even went so far as to hire the nation's leading libel attorney, Louis Nizer, in an attempt to stop the publication of Brown's book, <i>Laying Waste: The Poisoning of America by Toxic Chemicals</i>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Part of Brown's spiritual problems also stemmed from the fact that he had a temporary fascination with the <i>New Age.</i> He notes in chapter three, <i>A Brush With the Mafia</i>, how he stopped being a practicing Catholic during high school and even more so when he went to Fordham University.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Elaborating a little further, Brown described how secular he had become that during his university days religion was not apart of his vocabulary, and he never dated any "religious orientated" women. Add to this his side interest in extrasensory perception (ESP) and articles he wrote about thermal noise and nuclear random-event generators, and it is not difficult to ascertain why the demonic was drawn to him.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown reviewed the secular time of his life, during and after university, and came to the conclusion that he was under demonic attack and didn't even know it. Here is how he described it:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">No doubt. Without knowing it, I had been under spiritual attack. Michael [St. Michael the Archangel] must have been watching out for me all along. Michael was my patron, he was the archangel who threw Satan out of Heaven, and he was showing me that, along with everything else, my unhealthy interest in parapsychology, which we now call 'New Age,' as well as my battles with chemical companies and my brushes with the mob types, without adequate </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">spiritual armor, had brought the devil to my doorstep. (30)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown's gift of faith and the new awareness of the spiritual war he was in, brought with it greater torment, anxiety, loneliness, and the temptation to distance himself from Jesus. The closer he drew to God, the more he was attacked. This did not deter him from moving forward in his faith journey, which he was able to do with the recitation of the Rosary; an essential weapon for the daily spiritual battle. Brown shared how important the Rosary was in fighting off the attacks, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"When I was under attack, the attack would immediately dissipate—the gritty tension would flee—after the recitation of the Rosary. (31)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown's recounting of the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-rosary-effective-weapon-against.html" target="_blank">effectiveness of the Rosary</a> in repelling the attacks of the demonic is an important lesson for all of us. This holds true especially for </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">those Catholics who have considerably waned in their faith: those who don't pray the Rosary, don't attend Mass, don't read the Bible and books on the lives of the saints, don't read and pray with spiritual meditations (<i><a href="https://www.baroniuspress.com/book.php?wid=56&bid=48#tab=tab-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Divine Intimacy</a></i> or <i><a href="https://tanbooks.com/tan-classics/my-daily-bread/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">My Daily Bread</a></i>), and think that they are "okay" because of financial wealth, social status or some other mistakenly perceived security. This means nothing to the demonic: they attack regardless of how much money you have; what you do for a living; who you associate with; and irrespective of any other aspect of your life.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In addition to the Rosary, Brown also mentioned how important it was for him to invoke St. Michael and other angels, to praise Jesus, and to read Scripture, which typically ended the demonic attacks. Here is what he wrote, "No matter how fiercely I was being assaulted, I could lie down, and if I spent enough time with the Rosary or reading Scripture, the demonic attack would lift and anxiety would be replaced with peace, comfort and warmth." (32)</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown was becoming a prayer-warrior! Prayer permeated his entire day, "I started praying throughout the day, whenever I wasn't at the computer writing or on the phone. I prayed taking a shower and in the kitchenette and in the elevator. I prayed up and down Third Avenue." (32)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>The First Prayer of the Warrior, Prayer to the Holy Spirit</b></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Come Holy Spirit</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, is the first prayer of the prayer-warrior which Brown dedicated an entire chapter to, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The First Prayer of the Warrior</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">. It is an especially important prayer for our spiritual life as the Holy Spirit addresses all of our needs: discernment, health, enlightenment, guidance, protection, and teaches us how to pray. Brown elaborated on the importance:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I found out quickly that the Holy Spirit is a better instructor than any book or preacher. 'Pray to the Holy Spirit for enlightenment.' He will lead us to where we should go for information and will help us choose the books to read. Passages from the Bible become more vivid and meaningful when they are read with His help. 'Come Holy Spirit.' (111)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown went on to further point out that, prayer that begins with an invocation to the Holy Spirit, is much better and beneficial because as he notes, "When the Holy Spirit comes, everything changes around us." (111) </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Prayer to the Holy Spirit is praying for the spirit of truth! With the Holy Spirit we are less likely to be deceived and we are released from errors and bondages. As Brown notes, "It is the Holy Spirit who illuminates and lifts our blindness." (111) This is important to protect us against attacks of the demonic, who attempt to deceive us masqueraded as "holy spirits."</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown further stated that with our spiritual blindness "cured," we can better perceive the spiritual world around us with an enhanced sensitivity. This ables us to, "...[D]ifferentiate angels from deceiving spirits—this is crucial, for the number of deceiving spirits seems virtually countless." (111)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">When we do call upon the Holy Spirit, we should so with complete spontaneity; a truly heartfelt invocation for help and protection, one that "pierces through the clouds." Further elaborating on this Brown wrote, "God likes us to speak to Him as we speak to friends and neighbors. <i>Come Holy Spirit</i>. It is the prayer of guidance and the prayer of protection. The Holy Spirit can break through any darkness, and He provides answers we could never think up ourselves." (110)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Our Lady in Medjugorje has stated on numerous occasions how important it is to pray to the Holy Spirit. Brown referred to one of Her messages from May 23, 1985, "Open your hearts to the Holy Spirit. Especially during these days the Holy Spirit is working through you. Open your hearts and surrender your life to Jesus." (111)</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Prayer is essential in spiritual warfare and those who intend to fight the good fight should begin their day with the prayer to the Holy Spirit, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Come Holy Spirit</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">. Brown emphasized the importance of this, "The weapons and shields, the equipment of battle, all lay in prayer, and prayer to the Holy Spirit is the first prayer of the prayer-warrior." (113)</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>The Second Prayer of the Warrior, the Prayer of Deliverance</b></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The second prayer of the prayer-warrior is the prayer of deliverance, to which Brown dedicated another chapter, <i>Me an Hillary</i>.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown began this chapter by providing a prayer of deliverance that invokes the Holy Spirit to send the Archangel Michael, Saint Francis of Assisi, the dragonslayer Saint George and a battalion of angels. It implores the Holy Spirit to break all demonic bondages and purge us from them, as well as to free us from oppression, depression, discouragement, and every mental torment.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Deliverance prayers are important to expel demons, but it is also important to know how and why they come to us. Citing an example from the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, Brown illustrated how demons entered into a church through the sinful thoughts of a friar:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">...Francis of Assisi, who had a vision one day in which he saw his favorite place of prayer, the chapel of Portiuncula, besieged by devils--a great army. He watched them hovering about the chapel but noticed that they were not able to enter. They couldn't because the friars praying inside were so holy. However, soon one of the friars was stirred to anger with a second friar and began thinking vengeful thoughts. As Saint Francis watched, the protective grace around the chapel was breached, the grace was lifted, the gate of virtue abandoned, and the door of wickedness allow the devils in. They left only after the friar acknowledged his faults and humbly asked for forgiveness, which once again points up the importance of Confession and its power of deliverance. (155)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Elaborating somewhat on the example of the friars, Brown pointed out that this is exactly how demons—the unseen enemies—negatively affect us through bad temper, a lack of forgiveness, or envy.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To further highlight how sin draws demons to us, Brown asks the reader, "Want a demon to latch and sting? Try lying, cheating, stealing, or sexual immorality." (155)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Demons can perch on to us and, in some cases, it is difficult to expel them without a complete internal cleansing and prayers to the Holy Spirit. Brown included how this can also affect an entire nation due to its collective immorality, citing the example of his own country, the United States of America. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This shouldn't discourage or depress us in any way because as Brown pointed out, there is an opportunity to rid America of demonic influence through prayer. This applies to any country: </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the opportunity to mitigate the punishments from God for the evils that so many in society have accepted and been deceived by, comes in the form of prayer!</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Such an "antidote" to the many evils in society comes to us through prophetic warnings and hope from Our Lady in LaSalette, Fatima, and Medjugorje.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>The Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom</b></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown begins chapter twenty-five, <i>The Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom</i>, with a brief continuation of how his professional life changed after his conversion, highlighting in the process the need to pray for spiritual wisdom. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown was a noticeably changed man, so much so, that contacts in the secular media along with those in the publishing field began to take note. Brown was very cognizant of the change in his professional relationships, especially with those who were atheists and <i>New Agers</i>—who Brown no longer tolerated—as he put it, "Our spirits clashed."</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The sharing of these changes in his professional life highlighted an important point about the battle of good versus evil; that is, it is not limited to a societal level, but also waged on a personal level. Elaborating on this Brown stated:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">...Demons and angels fight over every person and family. That is essentially the condition on earth. At each turn in life, every hour, often every walking minute, we are given two different paths of thought and action, good or evil, and when we make the wrong choice—which is usually the easiest or most immediately pleasurable choice—we attract forces of darkness. (163)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is important to note that not all that happens to us should be attributed to the demonic; sometimes it is simply a matter of life: a sickness due to biology; stress due to fatigue; and general mishaps and accidents. (163) </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At the same time, we must not think of demonic influence upon us as some sort of general, abstract idea: these unseen enemies do attempt to influence us!</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To help us distinguish between regular life occurrences and realities brought on from demonic influence, Brown includes a prayer for wisdom. The prayer implores Jesus: to bind the demonic that come against us; to open our spiritual eyes; to understand what should be understood; for wisdom; and to carry forth with our Christian duty without undue curiousity. It is an ideal prayer to recite daily!</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The danger of a lack of spiritual wisdom is an increase in sin and demonic bondage. As Brown notes, the demonic try to "cling" to us; we are in a constant battle with them. He goes on to state, "They watch us just as guardian angels watch us—but always looking for an opportunity to tempt us and find another pathway inside." (165)</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If you are wondering just how the demonic try to cling to us, Brown listed a few examples: drugs, alcoholism, jealousy and anger, illicit sex, unhealthy literature, bad habits, and the wrong movies.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Most people, as Brown pointed out, have no idea that their lives and mood swings are influenced by the demonic, who can cause: fear, doubt, lust, addiction and other compulsions, and especially pride.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown also pointed out that forgiveness is a most powerful tool of deliverance, "...[W]e must let go of past slights, rejections, or insults before we attain full spiritual freedom." (166)</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Perhaps one of the most salient points that we need to remember about deliverance is that almost everyone needs some form of deliverance! Deliverance is not necessarily a dramatic, combative event with the demonic, but rather, a quiet, soft, and quick occurrence that is accomplished through the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3W.HTM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sacrament of the Eucharist</a> (Mass) and the <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P4C.HTM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sacrament of Reconciliation</a> (Confession). He highlighted the importance of confession by stating:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Confession is a key to deliverance. When we confess our sins we are acknowledging the evil we have invited into our lives, and we are renouncing that evil. Renunciation of evils does a simple and yet extraordinarily powerful thing: it breaks our bondage to the evil. Confession and prayers of purification, in which we specifically pray to break each bondage brought into our lives through sin, open the clear path to full joy and deliverance. (167)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The rest of chapter twenty-five, Brown dedicated to explaining the different levels of demons and how they attach to and influence: entire territories, such as cities and countries, as well as to specific neighbourhoods, homes, and even rooms where "poignant sin" has occurred; <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/11/beware-night-cases-of-demonic.html" target="_blank">objects</a>, occult books or jewelry; and to each individual.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">What I found particularly noteworthy was the mention of how demonic bondage can occur through obsession over money, emotional hurts, relationships, sexual tendencies, work, superstition, and people in general.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown also mentions a list of occult practices that we should avoid, as they open the door to demons: mediums, <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/11/demonologist-ralph-sarchie-and-two.html" target="_blank">ouija board</a>, pendulums, tarot cards, clairvoyance, and channeling. The result of such demonic influence is: deception, oppression, depression, obsession, and the ultimate goal of possession.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>The Prayer of Fearlessness</b></span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Being a prayer-warrior entails that one be fearless in fighting the good fight.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown elaborated as to why this is, but first premised that explanation by reminding us that we are already victorious in Christ because He defeated Satan 2000 years ago; what remains is for us to reclaim that victory.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Quoting the Bible, Brown referred to the scripture passage in Luke 10:18-19, highlighting in the process how we have also been given the power to expel demons from our midst, which he spoke about and included in his talk in Toronto, <i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/06/michael-h-browns-talk-spiritual-warfare.html" target="_blank">Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing</a></i>. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">A key sign of fear is anxiety and Brown warns the reader that if there is any anxiety, "...[T]hat means the devil has a piece of us and is feeding off that nervous energy." (172) He continues to warn that if we fear the devil, we give him power because fearing him is fearing his nefarious power.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Also important is to not become obsessed with the Evil One and his demons because l</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">ike fear, obsession can lead to serving their power. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To help readers avoid becoming obsessed, Brown included prayers to Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The prayer to Jesus asks that: our path in life, including our families, leads to the correct path of deliverance; that we be given the right prayer companions and ministers; that we receive the information we need to have; and the gift of powerful prayer.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The prayer is to the Blessed Virgin Mary is a plea for her intercession: that we not give undue attention to the demonic; that we learn what we need to learn about evil and move on with our focus always on Jesus; and for the gift to see our own pride so as to not serve the "Prince of Pride."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Then there is a third prayer, one recited from Brown's heart, for the need to focus on the glory and truth of Jesus.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown adds to all this with his recommendation that, "Before we advance forward we must first pray to the Holy Spirit for total freedom from any fears or obsessions." (172)</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The importance of being fearless also extends to the Evil One's human instruments; that is, those who are <i>New Agers</i>, involved in the occult, and any practitioners of black magic.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to why that is, Brown explained that when we are in a state of grace and grow closer to God, we wear what he described as, "...[T]he breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation." (172) Any attempts by the demonic to fire their "darts" at us fall to the ground. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to what Brown meant by "darts," he stated the following:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The enemy's darts? We encounter them every day. You know how it is: Everything will be going well, and your mind will be happy and at peace, when suddenly an anxious thought will come flying into your head from nowhere.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Or the actions and words of someone will sting you, burn you, create aggravation or apprehension.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">That's what demons are constantly poised to do: disrupt you and especially take away your peace and equilibrium.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Or tempt you. They will lead you away from discipline. They will make you too antsy or too busy to pray or to read the Bible. They'll lead you back to bad habits, or to unclean thoughts, or to confusion and doubt. Confusion and lust especially. Lust and arrogance, which really opens us to snares. (173)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is important to be armed against the demonic and recognize their wiles and deceptions, otherwise they, "...[C]an often fester within us and cause us to sin or lead us into discouragement." (173)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Spiritual warfare is a lifelong struggle, a daily challenge that can be defeated with: faith, humility, self-discipline, Bible reading, and prayer.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown concludes the chapter with a short list of questions that is sure to go to the core of every individual's conscience, helping each one of us to root out pride and vanity, "Are we mired in pride? Do we think we are smarter or more spiritual than others? Do we judge? Are our egos easily riled? Are we concerned about status? Do we gauge a person's worth on a material or reputational basis? Are we jealous?" (175)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If "yes" is the answer to any of these questions, then we must pray to free ourselves from such pride. Brown goes on to state that, "...[A] person free of pride, or at least of most pride, is the toughest prayer-warrior." (175)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The added benefit of having no or very little pride is that we are not easily deceived because we are, "...[A]fforded special armor—special fearlessness—against the gathering enemy." (175)</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The Prayers of Suffering, Faith, and Love</b><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown dedicates an entire chapter to the prayers of faith, love, and suffering, chapter thirty-five, <i>The Prayers of Faith and Love</i>.</span></span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown begins the chapter by stating that the most powerful prayers are those of faith, love, and suffering; powerful against the Evil One and his demons, and powerful to appease God's chastisements for all the evil we have allowed and participated in. Here is how Brown explained it:</span></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Most powerful are the prayers of faith, love, and suffering. The devil always flees when rebuked by those soft of heart. He flees from humbleness. He flees especially from the powerful prayers of the suffering. He flees from the prayers of those in wheelchairs, or those battling cancer. He flees from those who offer up their depression or mourning. He flees from those who offer up their suffering asking nothing in return. God lessens chastisement when we suffer for purification, just as He responded when the residents of Nineveh donned sackcloth. As one mystical revelation said, 'A faithful soul is more powerful than Hell, but a crucified soul is more powerful than a thousand hells.' (228)</span></span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">These types of prayers are beneficial to us on a personal level, as Brown noted, "It is through those battles, those times of pain and loneliness, those times of suffering, and fasting, that we are strengthened and draw nearer to Him." (229)</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown also emphasized that those who suffer and fast serve as "our best prayer-warriors," and lessen their own time in Purgatory. He goes on to explain the different levels of Purgatory and the respective suffering at each level.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Fasting is a fundamental weapon in spiritual warfare, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">just one of five "<a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/12/our-ladys-little-stone-fasting-on-bread.html" target="_blank">Little Stones</a>" </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">that Our Lady in Medjugorje has given to us. Brown elaborated on the importance of fasting:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Fasting helps us approach Heaven and ward off evil attacks. There are few things which are more powerful against Satan. It is no coincidence that Jesus fasted for forty days before publicly entering the spiritual combat. With fasting we are made stronger and purified. It breaks demonic bondages and sets us free from past dabblings in the occult, wrongful sexual dalliances, and other transgressions. (230)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown also reminds the reader that we should also pray for other souls already in Purgatory, especially for those who have no one to pray for them. He further highlighted the importance and need to pray for the souls in Purgatory by quoting Our Lady in Medjugorje, who told the visionaries on July 21, 1982:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">There are many souls in Purgatory. There are also persons who have been consecrated to God—some priests, some religious. Pray for their intentions, at least the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, and Glory Be, seven times each, and the Creed. I recommend it to you. There is a large number of souls who have been in Purgatory for a long time because no one prays for them. (230)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Prayers of faith are those that "...[S]oundly defeat the harassing presence of demons." (231) Having faith translates into having no fear of the devil and his demons, for to fear them is to inadvertently express faith in their power, which is not comparable to that of God's! </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">That is not to say that the Evil One won't try to intimidate you, as he did with Brown, whose experienced a fire in his house that resulted in the loss of his clothes, computer, holy pictures, tape recorders and just about everything he owned. Brown's learned to laugh at this harassment, which in addition to despising and ridiculing the Evil One, makes him flee.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The fire incident proved to be an opportunity for Brown to put his faith into action through his recitation of the Rosary and adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament. It was time well spent because all that Brown lost in the fire, he got back and more than before. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It illustrated what Brown further reiterated with regard to the importance of having faith in God:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">When we have faith in God we rise above the storm clouds, we transcend the maelstrom, instead of looking up at the clouds and listening fretfully to the echoes of thunder, with our feet mired in the mud. When we have faith, the proper level of faith, the faith that maintains itself beyond little disappointments, beyond the trials that seek to <i>rob</i> us of that faith, we become one with the power of Eternity. (232)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Faith in God does require vigilance! Brown provided an example of the need to be faithful and vigilant, drawing from his own personal experience while in Italy, on his way to spend time at Monte San Angelo and San Giovanni Rotundo.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The time in Italy was part of his research for his book, <i><a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/michael-h-brown-books/products/br-the-final-hour-by-michael-h-brown" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Final Hour</a></i>, in which he required the use of a Xerox machine for the purpose of photocopying his notebook. It was a necessary precaution against the possibility of it being confiscated in Croatia, his next planned location, which at that time was under attack by the Serbs. His budget only allowed him to spend $25/day for a room, so he prayed earnestly with faith that God would provide. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It just so happened that as he suspected, when he arrived in San Giovanni Rotundo, there was no occupancy available. He considered the possibility that he might have to sleep in his car that night. Brown kept on praying.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">He searched each hotel, but to no avail. When he got to the last one, he was met by the night clerk who informed Brown that he was not going back to sleep, so he could have his room for a discounted price of $25; God provides for those who pray with faith and are vigilant!</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Prayers of love is what Brown referred to as the "final prayer of the warrior." You have heard the expression, "love conquers all," well it applies to spiritual warfare as well. Here is what Brown wrote about it:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">That is the final prayer of the warrior: love. There is nothing more powerful. Love has dominance over every evil and hatred. We love when we work at longsuffering, patience, tolerance, kindness, humility, and forgiveness. Humility is the bridge to Heaven and love is the wood. We win the war when we work at loving every single person we see in the course of the day, every friend, every stranger, no matter how much they irritate us. We win when we avoid pride, envy and jealousy, which are subtle forms of hatred. (234)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown recommends that to win with faith, we need to consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which he provided the prayers to do just that.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Praying with love is something we should pray for—certainly include as an intention in our daily Rosary—and thank God for the gift of His love. For Catholics, the best way to do this is at Mass.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Love is especially important for our eternal salvation as Brown noted in the last paragraph of the book:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">And we must love. For Heaven is love. God is love. The light visionaries see upon entrance to Heaven is the light of love, and whether we are allowed <i>into</i> that light, at the moment of judgement, will depend, more than anything, more than any ritual or prayers, more even than suffering, on how often and much we have loved our fellow humans and most importantly how much we have loved and fought for the Eternal God. (236)</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If you have made it to the end of this blog post, perhaps you will take reading about, <i>Prayer of The Warrior</i>, one step further and purchase your own copy. You won't regret it if you do.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Reading this book is "food for the soul" and serves as </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">an ideal reading for those newly converted to the Catholic faith.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It also will greatly benefit those Catholics who have neglected their faith with very little, if any, spiritual readings, and desire to be brought "up to speed" on spiritual warfare.</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-64452168822254446692017-06-29T20:20:00.003-04:002022-06-08T14:13:22.761-04:00Michael H. Brown's Talk: Reclaiming North America's Christianity<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mbCIiu4oE0s/WVBzZEjqrFI/AAAAAAAAEds/Q8Ue5cEMNGIudt7cwbIAyR30bM-Ss0jygCLcBGAs/s1600/cross_stands2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A photo of Michael H. Brown's book, Where the Cross Stands and Fr. John Hampsch's healing prayer" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mbCIiu4oE0s/WVBzZEjqrFI/AAAAAAAAEds/Q8Ue5cEMNGIudt7cwbIAyR30bM-Ss0jygCLcBGAs/s640/cross_stands2.jpg" title="Where The Cross Stands, by Michael H. Brown and Fr. John Hampsch's healing prayer" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown's book, <i>Where the Cross Stands</i> and Fr. John Hampsch, CMF <i>Prayer For Healing the Family Tree</i></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Today's post is the last in a series of blog posts on Michael H. Brown's talks given during the Marian Day Retreat on May 20, 2017, here in Toronto, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">at Canada Christian College. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was a grace-filled day, organized by Ave Maria Centre of Peace, that consisted of four intriguing and thought-provoking talks on:</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> <i>Heaven, Hell and Purgatory</i>; <i>Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing</i>; <i>The Current Prophetic Pulse</i>; and <i>Reclaiming North America's Christianity</i></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Attending this year's Marian Day Retreat was an especially beneficial time for me as I had greatly anticipated these talks having known about them for many years; part of an impressive list of contributions that Michael H. Brown has made to fellow Catholics and Christians alike to reclaim North America's Christianity.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown is a prayer warrior whose mission has been to strengthen his brethren primarily in North America and throughout the world. In addition to his talks, he has accomplished this through the writing of his many <a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/michael-h-brown-books?page=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">books</a>, articles, and blog posts which are available at his web site, <a href="http://www.spiritdaily.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spirit Daily.com</a>—a web site that I first discovered in 2001—where one can find: </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the truth, knowledge, and understanding of the Catholic faith journey; current, real, and relevant news; information on the events and signs of our times; and resources on spiritual warfare, healing, and the afterlife.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In typical fashion at the Marian Day Retreats, each one of the four talks was preceded by prayer: the first three by the</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/09/group-recitation-of-rosary-in-medjugorje.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;" target="_blank">group recitation of the Rosary</a>,<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> and the last by the</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/04/divine-mercy-novena-and-chaplet-begins.html" target="_blank">Divine Mercy Chaplet</a>. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown also added his own selected prayers that differed from talk to talk, imploring God's blessings, mercy, protection, healing, and deliverance upon all in attendance.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Reclaiming North America's Christianity entails many things, in particular prayer: prayer for conversions and purity of heart, that will stop God's chastisements upon the world; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">prayer for the spirit of truth, invoking the Holy Spirit to make the truth known to us; as Our Lady in Medjugorje stated in her January 25 message, prayer for peace in human hearts, families and the world, and to fight against materialism, modernism and egoism; and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">prayer for Divine Intervention to end the many evils of this world.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In addition, we also need to be cognizant of the signs of the times if we are going to pray to stop God's wrath upon us for our disobedience, and the disorder that we have created; and we need to seek an understanding about our mission in the Church and the world, and to go forth and fulfill it.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown has written about reclaiming North America's Christianity in his book, <i><a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/michael-h-brown-books/products/br-free-shipping-where-the-cross-stands-michael-h-brown" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Where The Cross Stands</a></i>; a book that, as is noted on the back cover, is a "...[M]ost powerful book about current events and the 'prophetic pulse' since Brown's 1992 best seller, <i>The Final Hour</i>." The accolade further describes this treasure trove of information as follows, "Michael H. Brown takes the reader on a fast-paced tour through America's often hidden history, surveying everything from culture to politics to apparitions of the Virgin Mary in a sweep through the decades and centuries that lead up to this present hour—and what is America's last chance to recover—to reclaim—its Christian and Catholic foundation."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>Reclaiming North America's Christianity</b></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown began this talk with Father John Hampsch's <a href="https://www.spiritdaily.org/tobitfamily%20healing.htm" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Prayer For Healing the Family Tree</a>, part of which has been captured in the above photo. It is an important prayer and subject matter which you can </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">further </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">read about from Fr. Hampsch's book, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Your-Family-Tree-Hampsch/dp/1579181082" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Healing Your Family Tree</a></i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The next thing that Brown shared with the audience was a </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"word of knowledge" from one particular individual (who remained anonymous) that receives message—four in the past twenty years—that Brown has been following. Here is the message that Brown read to the audience:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">A new and great evil has now come and settled and will be there for the duration. It was a choice by man, including my people, who find deception and rancour, and rancour where was ordained love. Not for years will an interior light return for those whose god is gold and whose love is cold. Not since times in history deep ago, have my children so been skewed in what they perceive, with eyes that distort and minds that form reality in a way that has no true destiny. Flee to Saint Joseph and the Blessed Mother of the holm oak who tells us that brightness can be found only by those who practice the diligence of prayer amid consternation. Those who frame the future in accordance with their own time tables, now find disbelief in prophecies though they unfold around you.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown expanded upon the "new and great evil," specifically the growing division, deception, and rancour that exists both in the Church and in the world. If </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">one looks to talk radio and television, people seem to always be at each other's throats, both conservatives and liberals. Brown interpreted "ordained love," to mean the Church. He went on to describe how we see this today: factions fighting each other; liberals and the traditionalists, and the Marian people; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Catholics will tell other Catholics that if you don't </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">do things this way, "you're no good"; others attacking Medjugorje, and so forth.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">An essential aspect of reclaiming North America's Christianity is prayer! Brown mentioned how important and necessary prayer is against existing and coming chastisements. Here is how he put it, "If we are going to think and pray when it comes to quote, chastisements, we must pray these things away. We must pray for the type of conversion and purity of heart that will stop epidemic..." </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">When Brown mentioned this I could not help but think of a related post I wrote about prayer back in October 2016, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/10/the-rosary-effective-weapon-against.html" target="_blank">The Rosary: An Effective Weapon Against the Evils of Society</a></i>. At that post, I also included a list of the evils of today's world that could easily add to Brown's talk about the prophetic pulse and God's chastisements upon mankind for its disobedience to God: <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/07/the-moral-disorder-in-canada-analogy-of.html" target="_blank">abortion</a>, <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/04/euthanasia-false-mercy.html" target="_blank">euthanasia</a>, <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/02/the-negative-implications-of-legalizing.html" target="_blank">assisted suicide</a>, <i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/11/the-new-age-basic-introduction.html" target="_blank">New Age</a></i> and <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/11/beware-night-cases-of-demonic.html" target="_blank">occult practices</a>, gender mainstreaming, gender ideology, the LGBTQ agenda, and other aspects of the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/06/the-global-sexual-revolution.html" target="_blank">global sexual revolution</a>, just to name a few.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">A little further in the talk, Brown cited a few examples of possible chastisements that, if they were to occur, would "illuminate our consciences." Further emphasizing the importance of prayer he stated, "That's why we need not wait for stuff to occur with excitement, but pray that none of this has to occur because things can be prayed away..."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to what we should understand about prophecy with regard to chastisements, Brown actually explained and clarified this by quoting from </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Cardinal Bertone, Secretary of State for the Vatican from 2006-2013:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Cardinal Bertone, who used to be a high ranking official at the Vatican, in fact, he was in charge of the release of the third secret dealing with Sister Lucia [Fatima], but like he said, 'When a prophesy doesn't occur, it doesn't necessarily mean the prophecy is in error,' it just, the prophecy is showing you what would happen at that time in history if things continued as they were right at that time...Like Cardinal Bertone said, this is his quote, 'Prophecy does not predict some inevitable fate that is deterministically bound to happen no matter what. Otherwise we would be at the mercy of dark forces dangling us over an abyss of nothingness. That would make absolutely no sense given everything we know about theology, spirituality, or the Church. Prophecy gives us a glimpse of the wailful consequences of certain individual or collective actions of behaviours. It gives us a glimpse of them, but this doesn't mean they are necessarily bound to occur.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Putting things into perspective in our own time Brown stated, "The prophetic pulse is ringing pretty strongly." Citing from the prophecy of Our Lady, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">who appeared to a young, devout woman, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.spiritdaily.org/chicagoharbinger.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Adele Brisé</a>, in</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> Wisconsin in 1859, he </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">illustrated how we need to be part of the process of reclaiming Christianity in North America. Brown then read what Our Lady told Adele, "</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If they do not convert and do penance, my son will be obliged to punish them."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Commenting further on this apparition, Brown was </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">quite adamant about how there should be no opposition to its authenticity, since it is an officially Church approved apparition. Brown also emphasized that prophecy should be understood as a matter of Divine Intervention:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Church approved apparition. The only one in the United States history and I believe the only one in North America; fully approved by the Church. If the Virgin Mary says that we get punished for sin, I don't want to hear said by anybody in the Church, that that's not true. It is throughout the bible, there is chastisement, there is purification, in God's mercy because he would rather do that then send people to Hell. I believe it when we are at a point in a region of the world or a city where there is more people going to Hell than not going to Hell, that's when he sends purification in mercy to stop it...to try wake people up.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown further stressed the importance of prophecy. Sadly, many pay no heed to them, thinking that nothing will happen, and carry on with their lives according to their own time tables. Brown described such people as those who, "Eat, drink, and be merry just like before the time of Noah." He then added his own recommendation, "We have to be careful about all these things...the future is extremely dynamic right now."</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PZbJJnO2q4Y/WVE4e0p5EyI/AAAAAAAAEd8/nldWCBVjtN44vupBjbOoyiqYQLPcs3mygCLcBGAs/s1600/brown_dynamicfuture.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A closer view from the screens of Michael H. Brown during his last talk at the Marian Day Retreat" border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="1000" height="368" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PZbJJnO2q4Y/WVE4e0p5EyI/AAAAAAAAEd8/nldWCBVjtN44vupBjbOoyiqYQLPcs3mygCLcBGAs/s640/brown_dynamicfuture.png" title="Michael H. Brown during his last talk at the Marian Day Retreat" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown talking about the dynamic future and the prophecy from Howard Storm</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Elaborating on that "dynamic future," Brown cited the near-death experience of Howard Storm </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">and how the future may not be so bright for America. Here is what Brown had to say:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Doctor Howard Storm, when he claimed to have been shown the future by those angels, said that he was shown the United States was supposed to share more of its wealth with the rest of the world and because it did not, will be turned into a third-world country. I don't know if you noticed it from up here, but there are some glimmerings of that already. And broken down: the infrastructure broken down; this technology we have broken down; the end of our technological era; the regional chastisements; the rise of nefarious persons who will try to take advantage of the disorder...we are not talking about the end of the world, we are talking about the end of our era...because according to some of these people we were meant to live more simply and more in tune with what God created, instead of building a false world, and a false reality ourselves. It's Satan who was cast down for trying to ascend to the throne and be as God, and yet that is what our science too often, and our economy, aspire to do.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">A particularly important point Brown that made about prophetic warnings and coming chastisements is that, "All these things can stopped, but we need to realize them to stop it." </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown emphasized how important coming to that realization is, which requires that we constantly pray for the spirit of truth; it is the truth that will set us free (John 8:32). Here is what he had to say about it:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">That is something we should pray for constantly, not just about events like this, but in our own lives. The spirit of truth...the truth of who we are, the truth of circumstances, because it is the truth that sets you free...So, it is the Holy Spirit of truth that we have to remember to invoke, many, many times. All the time, especially now.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Elaborating on the importance of "now," Brown cited from the Marian apparitions in Medjugorje; one of many apparition sites that he subscribes to. He mentioned </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the prophetic messages coming out of Medjugorje—already considered to be a holy place, a shrine and designated as such by Cardinal Dr. Franjo</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> Kuharić, Archbishop of Zagreb—</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">including the ten secrets, part of which warns about chastisements for the world. So important are the <a href="http://www.medjugorje.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">messages</a> coming from Medjugorje, that Brown read Our Lady's January 25, 2017, message to the visionary, Marija:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Dear children! Today I am calling you to pray for peace: peace in human hearts, peace in the families and peace in the world. Satan is strong and wants to turn all of you against God, and to return you to everything that is human, and to destroy in the heart all feelings towards God and the things of God. You, little children, pray and fight against materialism, modernism and egoism, which the world offers to you. Little children, you decide for holiness and I, with my Son Jesus, intercede for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is a message that speaks volumes about the times and the world we live in, and what we need to do: pray, fight, and decide for holiness. Anyone seeking to better understand Medjugorje and Our Lady's messages should seriously consider reading Wayne Weible's book, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/09/medjugorje-last-apparition-how-it-will.html" target="_blank">Medjugorje The Last Apparition: How It Will Change The World</a></i>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown also referred to the Church approved apparition in Argentina, in the Diocese of San Nicolas, Buenos Aires, where Our Lady first appeared </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">to the seer, <a href="http://www.english.santisimavirgen.com.ar/historia_de_maria_del_rosario_eng.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gladys Quiroga de Motta </a>on </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">September 25, 1983. This apparition also ties into the message Our Lady gave in Medjugorje regarding materialism. Brown read from one of Our Lady's messages to Gladys and added his commentary:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">'At these moments all humanity is hanging by a thread. If the thread breaks, many will be those who do not reach salvation. That is why I call you to reflection. Hurry because time is running out; there is no room for those who delay in coming. Today the Sacred Heart of Jesus is beside you, to be your guide and to ward off the Evil One who is attacking with all his fury. The enemy attacks like a violent tempest in all places.' But she also says, she showed Gladys a wall and she said, 'This is my protecting cloak. The Lord places me like a shield, like a guardian; I will defend you my children. The enemy is challenging me pitilessly, he is tempting my children openly; it is a war between light and darkness; a constant persecution of my dear Church.' She also adds here, 'All is falsehood because it is a mistaken way of living.' Talking about materialism again, as was also emphasized in Kibeho, Rwanda.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">When we read and hear about the enemy (the Evil One), our response should not be one of fear, but one of prayerful action: there is no need to run and try to avoid the battle because as Brown put it, "You will be protected wherever you are if you are under the Mantle of Virgin Mary, like Adele Brisé </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">was during the great </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Peshtigo fire in 1871."</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgDL7tB2jIA3jMsUV2NdiR4XauGbWjS6gQldfcYKsZ_F7eM1GfQCTxjfEY7bz7a9jhnVW5seAEnFxEG67ygndz_VDmwNbnWo160H1RBejOFi7ohWeP318tgYTyQLIZaCp5pOPKyq4Csk/s1600/brown_screenpodium.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Michael H. Brown at the podium giving his last talk at the Marian Day Retreat" border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="1270" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgDL7tB2jIA3jMsUV2NdiR4XauGbWjS6gQldfcYKsZ_F7eM1GfQCTxjfEY7bz7a9jhnVW5seAEnFxEG67ygndz_VDmwNbnWo160H1RBejOFi7ohWeP318tgYTyQLIZaCp5pOPKyq4Csk/s640/brown_screenpodium.jpg" title="Michael H. Brown at the podium during the Marian Day Retreat" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown at the podium during his last talk at the Marian Day Retreat</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Living under Our Lady's mantle is not some abstract concept, but a lived experience for Brown and his family, who moved from Albany, New York, to St. Augustine, Florida: hurricane country.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown shared that his move to St. Augustine was spiritually motivated, as the Diocese of Albany proved to be somewhat lacking. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Browns experienced hurricanes, but did not incur any damages or great inconveniences; a living example of the safety living under Our Lady's mantle. Brown actually explicitly expressed this point; that what is most important to understand about living under Our Lady's mantle is that, you should not be afraid to go anywhere, because as Brown put it</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, "You go where you are called, you go to your place of blessing." </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Adding to that point, Brown stressed that, "It is not a time for fear, but it is a time for sobriety, and to see the signs of the times."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to what the signs of the times say to us today, Brown offered his own personal opinion: a "guestimate" at best, based on the assumed lifespan of the Medjugorje seers. All six seers in Medjugorje will see the ten secrets unfold in their lifetime—whose current age range is from the early-to-mid 50s—so Brown considers that there may be events </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">(not the end of the world, but major changes)</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> beginning to occur during our current year and building up through the 2020s; events that will culminate into a crescendo by the mid 2030s.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The one thing we do know is that our time on earth is limited; it is precious, there is no time to waste! </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In the interim, Brown reiterated the importance of dedicating the time we have to purification and fulfilling our mission.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Fulfilling our mission brought to mind St. Pope John Paul II's apostolic exhortation, <i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/02/pope-john-paul-iis-apostolic.html" target="_blank">Christifideles Laici (Christ's Faithful People)</a></i>, a post-synodal document on the vocation and mission of the laity in the Church and in the world. It is a document that is known in Catholic circles for St. Pope John Paul II's quote, "It is not permissible for anyone to remain idle," (3) and in my view, is not only an apt additional mention to Brown's point, but a great resource for further reading on </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"fulfilling our mission."</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Adding to the importance of fulfilling our mission, Brown referred to near-death experiences from the morning talk on </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/05/marian-day-retreat-with-michael-h-brown.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory</a>, <span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">that the fulfillment of one's mission in life is an especially important aspect during one's "life-review."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In citing another near-death experience of a US Marine, Brown utilized the example to express how important it is for us to invoke the angels: Saints Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel, and our guardian angels.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown shared an especially beautiful description of God from an individual who went through a near-death experience, "God is love, love is light, light is life. God is the light of the life that loves."</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Coming to the conclusion of this talk, Brown offered advice in the form of "bullet-points" where he stated in all humility, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">that </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">they are as much for him as the audience. Here is some of that advice: </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">s</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">ense your mission and go forth; your mission is where your gifts are; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">bless those who curse you; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">remember, the trials handled with joy turn into glory; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">drink not of the poison, if somebody says something to you to get you going, to get you angry, to get you hateful, get you into a fight and tension, don't drink that poison; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">remember in painful times, a pruned tree bears more fruit; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">to hover over a hurt is to give it power: forgive, forgive, forgive; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">remember that the bigger your problem, the greater your destiny; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If you are right with God, what do you care what others think; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">cast out darkness by the rhythm of faith; finding little prayers that lead to little answered prayers, that lead to bigger prayers that lead to bigger answers when it is God's will; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">when things don't go as planned, it could be God stirring up the pot; and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">bad things are only bad when they bear no lesson.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown closed out his talk with a couple of jokes—a standard fixture of all four talks—that not only helped lighten the mood, but put a smile on everyones' face.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">For those who would like to watch this entire talk on video, please visit my YouTube channel for the following three videos: </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/mINrm0YsoMI" target="_blank">Reclaiming North America's Christianity</a></i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/IkJCOVHaNU0" target="_blank">Reclaiming North America's Christianity Part 2</a>, </i><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/C6D2iTm9pIE" target="_blank">Reclaiming North America's Christianity Part 3</a>.</i><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To Michael H. Brown, thank you for coming to Toronto!</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span>Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-45789666766742614442017-06-24T13:32:00.003-04:002022-06-08T14:16:04.717-04:00Michael H. Brown's Talk: The Current Prophetic Pulse<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E09T18xkqsc/WSt8Jt6IxiI/AAAAAAAAEak/VAxjYqzZWRM0QuGwoi3K8v_9duu5zh_WACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/IMG_20170520_1118208.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Michael H. Brown at the Marian Day Retreat on May 20, at Canada Christian College" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E09T18xkqsc/WSt8Jt6IxiI/AAAAAAAAEak/VAxjYqzZWRM0QuGwoi3K8v_9duu5zh_WACPcBGAYYCw/s640/IMG_20170520_1118208.jpg" title="Michael H. Brown during his talk at the Marian Day Retreat" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown during the Marian Day Retreat at Canada Christian College on May 20, 2017.</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown's talk, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The Current Prophetic Pulse</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, was the third of four talks given during the Marian Day
Retreat in Toronto on May 20; a retreat hosted by Canada Christian College and organized by Ave Maria Centre of Peace.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Having known about Brown's talks for many years, I attended this retreat with great enthusiasm and high
expectations that it would be an exceptionally beneficial time for me. Brown certainly did not disappoint and there was no doubt in my mind, that it was a shared experience by many, if not all, in attendance that day, especially by those who knew of Brown from his web site, <a href="http://www.spiritdaily.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spirit Daily.com</a>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If you are new to Michael H. Brown, he is an American Catholic writer whose own conversion in
the early 80s led him to focus on writing about the Catholic faith. Since then he has written <a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/michael-h-brown-books" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">several books</a>, and published numerous articles and blog posts at Spirit Daily on: the truth, knowledge, and understanding of the Catholic faith
journey; current, real, and relevant news; information on the events and signs of our times; and resources on
spiritual warfare, healing, and the afterlife.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The other three talks Brown gave at the retreat were: <i>Heaven, Hell and Purgatory</i>; <i>Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing</i>; and <i>Reclaiming North America's Christianity</i>.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown's talk on </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">The Current Prophet Pulse</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> was intriguing and perhaps the most thought-provoking of all four talks. It included historical events from the Catholic Church that certainly challenged the audience to consider: are we here, in North America, disobedient to God; is society in conformity with God's plan for humanity; are there prophetic warnings we should be paying heed to regarding God's chastisements; and what can we do to appease God and avoid His punishments.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>The Current Prophetic Pulse</b></span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">LIke at all of the Marian Day Retreats, prayer is a common thread that runs throughout the entire day: <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/09/group-recitation-of-rosary-in-medjugorje.html" target="_blank">group recitation of the Rosary</a> before each talk; the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/04/divine-mercy-novena-and-chaplet-begins.html" target="_blank">Divine Mercy Chaplet</a> just after 3:00pm, before the last talk; and the Saturday Vigil Mass, a perfect ending to a grace-filled retreat. Add to this the availability of confession throughout the entire day and Brown's own selected prayers, that together with his talks, made attending this retreat time well spent.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown began this talk by leading the audience in the recitation of the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and a prayer to St. Michael the
Archangel, after which he added a few important details from the previous two talks before segueing into the "prophetic pulse" content.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Referring to his morning talk on <i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/05/marian-day-retreat-with-michael-h-brown.html" target="_blank">Heaven, Hell and Purgatory</a></i>, Brown stressed that the first person we will meet in Heaven is ourselves: we will see who we really are. Life on earth is a challenge, one that entails that we strive to be that person who God made, who we really are: ourselves at our best, ourselves at the height. Brown elaborated on why this is so necessary, "</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">...Because that's what Heaven is, the peak of the best we have ever been and we need to get to that level and maintain it through discipline, like I said, and through prayerful discipline, through circumspection; getting rid of the impatience of life."</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">From his second talk, <i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/06/michael-h-browns-talk-spiritual-warfare.html" target="_blank">Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing</a></i>, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown went on to remind everyone </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">that "love reverses the curse." He referred to the scriptural passage of </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Love for Enemies</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you..." (Luke 6: 27-28) As Brown stated, many times, this gets rid of the Evil One. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Loving your enemies is not all that one needs to do. With everyones' situation </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">being unique</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">—</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">different challenges and circumstances to deal with—</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown stressed how important it is for prayer to the Holy Spirit for answers as to how to fight the Evil One. There are certain things that help us in all circumstances, but the Holy Spirit—who knows you better than yourself—will best address your personal situation.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqQCDU2Zu4OP1l8ciD-ya_Mu9HN9qeGn1QduZnyhaGv-7POJiIaPrekU9p0ugRfO2astk4UYNL4rFa3354joRLpyDVOma5MywnD9aPQzYgEcgIcO9ldwtsmHydzLGfwyJeYMj9wg5Bdc/s1600/hollywood.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A panoramic photo of the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, California" border="0" data-original-height="162" data-original-width="648" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqQCDU2Zu4OP1l8ciD-ya_Mu9HN9qeGn1QduZnyhaGv-7POJiIaPrekU9p0ugRfO2astk4UYNL4rFa3354joRLpyDVOma5MywnD9aPQzYgEcgIcO9ldwtsmHydzLGfwyJeYMj9wg5Bdc/s640/hollywood.jpg" title="Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, California" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Hollywood sign located on Mount Lee, Los Angeles, California. Photo: Hikespeak/<a href="https://www.hikespeak.com/trails/griffith-observatory-to-hollywood-sign-hike/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Griffith Observatory to the<br />Hollywood Sign in Griffith Park</a></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Continuing with spiritual warfare in an effort to highlight how t</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">here is so much around us that we don't realize is connected to the demonic, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown provided the example of the well known "Hollywood" sign </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">in the hills of Los Angeles, California.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At first, many may assume that the sign means or refers to "holy wood," but the reality is quite different. In fact, the term "hollywood" derives its meaning or purpose from the pagan Norse god of Odin. Hollywood is actually is a type of wood that wizards would use for their wands.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown then referred to how just south of Hollywood at Disneyland, the magic wand is normalized as part of their attractions. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Should we consider the glorification and propagation of the occult (magic wands, spells, witchcraft) as "coincidences." Brown made it crystal clear that the existence of occult elements in society is anything but a coincidence!</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">One of the most interesting points of this talk, that resonated very well with me, was with respect to "never accepting the "evil report." It is in reference to a medical report given by doctors to their patients about how long they may live. Brown went on to make the point that doctors are not God and can't really know how long someone will live or when they will die.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Further reinforcing the point that God is in charge, Brown referred to afterlife accounts of individuals who went through an out-of-body experience, and could watch surgeons operate on them, assisted and guided by angels, who in fact were the ones conducting much of the delicate part of the surgery. It is any wonder why surgeries go so well when we pray enough for them? Brown asked that very question and reiterated the importance of prayer when he stated, "...There are some great Christian doctors, prayerful doctors, but only if they all prayed, if only they gave more credit to God, if only they invoked angels more, oh how much better off we would be."</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LAWM3empB8U/WU2sfEUXQaI/AAAAAAAAEdQ/MSLSbZndtrsIgY0ZJwBo5YfHIoCz5k-ewCLcBGAs/s1600/brown_bigscreen2.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Michael H. Brown from the screens during his talk at Canada Christian College" border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="498" height="347" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LAWM3empB8U/WU2sfEUXQaI/AAAAAAAAEdQ/MSLSbZndtrsIgY0ZJwBo5YfHIoCz5k-ewCLcBGAs/s400/brown_bigscreen2.png" title="Close up view of Michael H. Brown from the screens." width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A closer look at Michael H. Brown from the screens.</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was around the ten minute mark of the talk that Brown actually began to talk about the prophetic pulse, which started with a look back to the 60s, a time when, as Brown put it, "A lot of evil entered Canada, entered the United States, entered the world, the West...a very mysterious decade." M</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">uch of the evil that we have to contend with today (the moral disorder, especially </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and sexual immorality)</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> had its origins in the 60s—Canada's 1969 <a href="https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/abortion/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Omnibus Bill</a> that allowed "therapeutic abortion" in hospitals is a prime example—a dark decade of confusion, deception and rebellion.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to some of the events from the 60s that has brought many evils upon today's society, Brown listed the following: 1966 was the foundation, in San Francisco, of the "Church of Satan" in the west; 1969, saw the first "satanic bible" published; rock music beats, reminiscent of voodoo beats, opened many souls to drug use or pharmakeia</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">which was used for centuries </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">by witches; the spirit of rebellion which in scripture tell us is equivalent to the spirit of witchcraft; free sex and orgies </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">(what pagans refer to as Saturnalia)</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">; monogamy fell out of fashion with many of the younger generation that led some to sodomy and homosexuality; fornication; and contraception which helped perpetuate "free sex." </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In the United States, this all culminated in the legalization and normalization of abortion on demand with the 1973 Supreme Court case, <i>Roe vs. Wade</i>, which Brown referred to as a "blood sacrifice." Elaborating further on this Brown stated, "So you have rituals leading up to a blood sacrifice. And then, we wonder why the world, the west, Canada, the United States, which of course has not only abortion, but is moving sometimes dangerously to euthanasia up here. We wonder where the evil came from that we now contend with, the darkness, the dark cloud."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown went on to share some important historical facts: how North America was established by Catholics a few centuries ago; the story of the Pope Gregory the Great and the statue of Our Lady in Guadalupe, Spain; and the end to the chastisements of the Roman Empire.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As a matter of historical record, native Indians have been living in what we now refer to as North America for centuries, but America and Canada were established by Christians, specifically Catholics. North America came into being as a Catholic territory.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It is the understanding by some that the first Mass was celebrated in North America as earlier as the sixth century by Saint Brendan, who came over from Scandinavia; an occurrence that was not documented.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The first documented Mass was celebrated in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565. In Canada, Brown pointed to the Shrine of St. Anne, in Quebec, built in 1658. These two facts point to North America's Catholic foundations.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to the historical events and times of <a href="http://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-gregory-the-great/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Saint Pope Gregory the Great</a> (540-604), Brown explained why God had punished the Roman Empire and how the pope, through the intercession of Our Lady, appeased God's wrath and ended the chastisements.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">During Pope Gregory's time, Rome was under attack by barbarians and suffering a plague that took many lives including Pope Pelagius II (Pope Gregory's predecessor) that made Pope Gregory wonder if it was apart of the final judgement; a judgement that Rome incurred on itself due to its disobedience to God that manifested itself in many ways: orgies, materialism, gluttony, and all that the emperors, and their subordinates, have been guilty of over the centuries. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To illustrate the seriousness of Rome's situation, Brown read and provided commentary on a letter written by Pope Gregory to King Ethelbert of Kent describing God's punishments upon man kind for its actions:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">...Pope Gregory speculated, this is a direct quote from the Doctor of the Church, that quote, 'The unending kingdom of the saints is approaching,' and he predicted that there would be many unusual signs including, quote, 'Changes in climate, terrors from Heaven, unseasonal tempest, wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes. As he wrote, 'Everywhere death, everywhere morning in Rome, everywhere desolation...cities are destroyed, armed camps overturned, districts emptied of peoples, the earth reduced to solitude. Not a native remains in the countryside, nor scarcely inhabited in the cities; nevertheless, these small remains of human kind are still being slaughtered daily and without cease. The scourges of heavenly justice have no end because even in their midst, there is no correction of the faults of our actions.' The sixth century, Rome being destroyed by what a great pope said was a punishment for its evil; evil that a lot of people are comparing to our own time.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Perhaps the most salient point of this entire talk—what in my view is a historical lesson to draw upon, that is most relevant for the current time in which we live—was when Brown continued with St. Pope Gregory the Great and his response to Rome's decimation: an appeal to the Blessed Mother's intercession by a procession throughout Rome with a statue of Our Lady (believed to be carved by the Apostle Luke himself) together with a faithful following of prayer warriors.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Pope Gregory believed that the statue would be powerful against evil and so he led a procession from the Vatican throughout Rome's many streets. Upon the return to the Vatican, there was an apparition of St. Michael the Archangel putting his sword back in its sheath, which Brown described as a "Sword of punishment, a </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">sword of judgement</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">." This is precisely what that sword was; soon afterward the plagues had ended, as did the barbarian invasions. The great chastisements of the Roman Empire came to an end.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Pope Gregory eventually gave the statue to the Bishop of Seville and it proved to be effective against the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">invasion of Muslims, who were destroying Catholic statues, crucifixes, and persecuting Christians without mercy in their attempts to eradicate the Christian roots of Spain.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Other Muslim invasions were launched in their quest for Spain, and much in the same manner as other Christian statues, paintings, artifacts and so forth, that had to be buried in order to preserve them, the Bishop of Seville had the statue of Our Lady buried in a remote cave, under a church bell in a part of Spain called Estremadura, in an area referred to as "hidden channel," which in the local dialect is "Guadalupe."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The statue remained hidden in that cave for 600 years, until one day Our Lady appeared to </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Gil Cordero, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">a humble shepherd in 1326. Cordero who was searching for a lost cow, eventually found the animal, motionless and dead on the ground. Preparing to take the hide, Cordero made a sign of the cross—which was customary before such a procedure—and all of a sudden the cow stood up, alive and well.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was at this moment that Our Lady appeared to Cordero, and requested at the very spot where she was standing, that it be dug up and a shrine built on top. Cordero told the bishop, who eventually led a procession to the apparition location, where they began to dig and soon found the statue from Pope Gregory. The shrine was built and through the years it became a bigger and popular shrine; a place of pilgrimage for many.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This shrine became such an important location that it even attracted the King and Queen of Spain in the fifteenth century, who prayed about whether or not they should send ships to discover a new world, which would later be called America.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was at this shrine that another well known pilgrim prayed many times, Christopher </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Columbus, who had a great devotion to Our Lady, and desired to explore the new world to </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">conquer it for Christ. So great was Columbus's devotion that he had a replica of Our Lady's statue made to accompany him on his voyage, which he placed on his ship named, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Santa Maria</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">. It is known that Columbus and his crew prayed </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Hail Mary</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> together, and upon reaching land, they recited the <i>Salve Regina</i>.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Columbus discovered America. The Blessed Mother aided other voyages and missions as well. Many of the Spanish explorations had up to thirty priests on board an individual ship, as they had the same mission as Columbus: devout Catholics that set out to establish Catholic territories in the new world.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This encompasses the bulk of the prophetic pulse, which I captured on video and is available for viewing at my YouTube channel, <i><a href="https://youtu.be/3HK8NXCh5Mo" target="_blank">The Current Prophetic Pulse</a></i>. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Those interested in reading more about the prophetic pulse—including current events of our time—may want to consider purchasing Brown's book, <i><a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/michael-h-brown-books/products/br-free-shipping-where-the-cross-stands-michael-h-brown" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Where The Cross Stands</a></i>.</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-5098787122291973492017-06-09T15:53:00.002-04:002022-06-08T14:19:54.646-04:00Michael H. Brown's Talk: Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-unxEWEtAR5Y/WTNJ1rs4WOI/AAAAAAAAEb0/A65Ct2lVahko4tGdFi00szhlPc4DGGv4QCLcB/s1600/prayerofdeliverance_browntalk.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Michael H. Brown's book, Prayer of The Warrior and Fr. Amorth's Prayer For Deliverance" border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-unxEWEtAR5Y/WTNJ1rs4WOI/AAAAAAAAEb0/A65Ct2lVahko4tGdFi00szhlPc4DGGv4QCLcB/s640/prayerofdeliverance_browntalk.jpg" title="Michael H. Brown's book, Prayer of The Warrior and Fr. Amorth's Prayer For Deliverance" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Prayer for Deliverance</i> from Father Gabriele Amorth's book, <i>An Exorcist Tells His Story</i> and Michael H. Brown's<br />book, <i>Prayer of the Warrior.</i></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Today's post is the second in a series of posts on the recent talks given by Michael H. Brown during the Marian Day Retreat here in Toronto </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">on May 20, that was hosted by</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> Canada Christian College and organized by Ave Maria Centre of Peace.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was a grace-filled day that proved to be time well spent with Brown's four well-delivered, intriguing talks: <i>Heaven, Hell and Purgatory</i>; <i>Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing</i>; <i>The Current Prophetic Pulse</i>; and <i>Reclaiming North America's Christianity</i>.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I attended these talks with great anticipation having known about them for many years—Brown gives many retreat talks throughout the year mostly in the United States and some in Canada—and being fully aware of how qualitative and beneficial they would be. This was no doubt a shared feeling by many in attendance that day, especially by those who knew of Michael H. Brown from his web site <a href="http://www.spiritdaily.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spirit Daily.com</a>, where since 2000, he has published numerous articles and provided many books on: the truth, knowledge, and understanding of the Catholic faith journey; current, real, and relevant news; information on the events and signs of our times; and resources on spiritual warfare, healing, and the afterlife.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In typical fashion at the Marian Day Retreats, each talk was preceded a </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">by a </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/09/group-recitation-of-rosary-in-medjugorje.html" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;" target="_blank">group recitation of the Rosary</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, except for the last talk which was preceded by the </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/04/divine-mercy-novena-and-chaplet-begins.html" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;" target="_blank">Divine Mercy Chaplet</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown added to those prayers with his own selection that</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> implored God's mercy, blessings, healing, and the deliverance and protection from the Evil One.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I found Brown's talk on <i>Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing</i> particularly interesting and it certainly put the spiritual battle, that we are all in, into perspective. Much of what he talked about that day was "familiar territory," as I have been reading about spiritual warfare for almost twenty years.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">That is not to say that there wasn't something new to discover or learn anew. Brown certainly did not disappoint in this regard as his talk included: deliverance and healing </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">prayers; his own personal experiences with the demonic; how to recognize the presence </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">of the Evil One and his demons; the importance of casting out evil spirits from our lives; warnings on how the demonic can enter into our lives; the importance of faith, the Holy Mass, the recitation of the Rosary, and fasting for the cleansing and protection from all evil spirits; and the use of sacramentals (water, oil, and salt) to effectively protect ourselves and our our homes, cars, places of work, and other locations from the Evil One and his demons.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing</b></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown began this talk with a set of deliverance </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">and healing </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">prayers: </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Prayer Against Malefice</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Anima Christi</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Prayer Against Every Evil</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Prayer For Inner Healing</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, and a </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Prayer for Deliverance</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">These prayers were recited in that order which coincidentally happen to be the exact prayers provided in Father Gabriele Amorth's book, <i><a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/spiritual-warfare/products/br-an-exorcist-tells-his-story-rev-gabriele-amorth" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">An Exorcist Tells His Story</a></i>, a book that I purchased almost two decades ago from SpiritDaily.com, and blogged about in a post titled, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/10/the-expulsion-of-devils-from-arezzo.html" target="_blank">The Expulsion of The Devils From Arezzo: The Spiritual Battle</a></i>.</span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjMTs0MNyPXpd6x6AaUA1ctinXiS-kDc07WflbwmOul0x8I508lpd4p3Gz_55Oga9t23XSMOrQ_MRiZG_8OSbGlc9AOa08OhUkGwRPxv1Zeyao6FgCuzInMos09MLsVhirkdoY-Vz_Ao/s1600/giotto_explusionofdevils.fw.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Giotto di Bondone's fresco: The Expulsion of the Devils From Arezzo." border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="837" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjMTs0MNyPXpd6x6AaUA1ctinXiS-kDc07WflbwmOul0x8I508lpd4p3Gz_55Oga9t23XSMOrQ_MRiZG_8OSbGlc9AOa08OhUkGwRPxv1Zeyao6FgCuzInMos09MLsVhirkdoY-Vz_Ao/s400/giotto_explusionofdevils.fw.jpg" title="Giotto di Bondone's fresco: The Expulsion of the Devils From Arezzo." width="366" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Giotto di Bondone's fresco, <i>The Expulsion<br />of the </i></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i>Devils From Arezzo,</i> the front cover<br />image of Fr. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gabriele Amorth's book, <i>An<br />Exorcist Tells His Story.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Referring to the last prayer he recited, the <i>Prayer for Deliverance</i>, Brown made particular mention of how important it is to specifically recognize when the Evil One is </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">present, trying to negatively influence us in a variety of ways. This prayer (see the first photo) implores God the Father, through the </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">intercession of the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel, and invokes the aid of all the saints in heaven, to deliver those enslaved by evil from: anxiety, depression, sadness, hatred, fornication, jealousy, rage, suicide, abortion, sinful sexuality, division in our families, harmful friendships, spells, malefice, witchcraft and every form of the occult. The prayer concludes with a plea to be liberated from such influences through the added intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the granting of peace in the name of Christ, our Lord.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown explained that by specifically recognizing the many ways in which the Evil One can influence us, it renders the Evil One ineffective and ensures that he doesn't expand his power by operating in the dark, which is exactly what he likes to do.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At the same time, Brown warned that it is also important to avoid the extremes of obsession and ignorance. Here is what he had to say about it:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">And so we need to recognize where evil is, not to become paranoid, not to go in the extreme of seeing him constantly, becoming obsessed with him, but the other extreme is being ignorant. We have to find a balance that the Blessed Mother will help us gain during the Rosary and that we gain also during the Liturgy, during the Mass, especially when that chalice with the wine is raised, the Precious Blood that brakes the hold of the Evil One. When that chalice is raised, elevated during Mass, that's the time we can break things that may be holding us in bondage. That is the time when we can cast out darkness because often we cannot make the break through, we cannot get our prayers answered, we can't be cleansed until we cast out inner darkness, until we cast out darkness that may have attached to us through curses of other people...We can't get where we want to go because first we have to cast out these things that are holding us back, and we have to make sure we are not giving the devil a foothold by being obsessed, or oppressed, or depressed...or regressed, because what is the eventuality of all this? All this obsession, all this oppression can lead to possession.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Another benefit of casting out darkness from our lives is the healing of our physical maladies. Brown made a</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">n important point </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">with respect to the source of our sufferings: God sends us physical suffering for the purpose of sanctification of ourselves or others, but a lot of sufferings may also be caused by the Evil One. So what we want to do is command it out. Here is how Brown put it:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We cast out darkness from our lives and often not only does this help purify our spirits, but when the spirit around us and in us is purified, a lot of times we are healed of physical malady. Yes, a lot of physical illnesses are given to us by God as sufferings for sanctification for ourselves or others. Yes a lot of that is sent by the Lord, but also a lot of it is caused by the Evil One. Jesus said he is a killer from the beginning and so we want to command it out because a lot times darkness in the robe, in the spirit, translates into physical illnesses.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Drawing from the life of Jesus, Brown reinforced how demons can cause us physical illness, referring to when Jesus healed people, he first cast out demons, which points to the reality that the demonic can be the source of major illnesses.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Further highlighting the connection of illnesses to the demonic, Brown asked a series of questions for the audience to ponder, "If he [Jesus] did it, if he was showing us that, why are we not doing it? Why are we not following him? Why are we not doing what he said to do, which is to lay hands on people and cast out demons in his name, only in his name? Until we do we will not be the full Church we want to be, we will not be the clean spirits we want to be."</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown singled out another important aspect of the Prayer for Deliverance; that is, the</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> specific mention of the Evil One, which is located in the first few lines of the prayer (see the first photo). It actually compliments old translations of the Lord's prayer which specifically stated, "Evil One," as opposed to the generic "evil." The relevance of which points to what Brown had mentioned earlier in the talk, the need for specificity. Here is what Brown had to say about that, "...When we are specific, when we specifically cite Satan as a personal, destructive, dark force, we gain power over that."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Elaborating on the "gaining of power," Brown mentioned a few examples of prayer that are effective when we specifically mention the type of demons that are afflicting us, "</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Same thing in our lives, if we have depression, 'I command you out spirit of depression or anxiety, I command you out spirit of anxiety in Jesus's name, and in the name of Jesus, I command you to the foot of the Cross to be disposed according to the will of the Father, in Jesus's name and never to return', sealed against its return. Amen. "</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown reinforced how important it is to cast all types of demons from us, including jealousy which as he went on to further point out is very powerful. He warned that if we are jealous of others, we need to "work" on that. Jealousy is synonymous to a curse; not wanting the best for someone to put it mildly. Like all other darkness in our lives, we need to cast it out.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">During the next segment of the talk, Brown emphasized the many different ways </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">that evil spirits can enter into our lives:</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> through our transgressions; the movies and television shows we watch; pictures posters in our homes; heavy metal and other types of music that we listen to; and what we are looking at on the internet.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If you are asking yourself how is this possible, Brown answered that question with the example of what we watch on television or the computer. Here is what he had to say, "Spirits can come right through a computer, no problem! Come right through a television set! All they need is the opening. All they need is to see that you allowed it through your free will and boom, they're there."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Citing the "ghost hunter" shows on television—individuals who have no idea that they are dealing with the demonic—Brown made what was in my view, one of the most salient points of the talk; that is, we need to avoid reading or watching such shows or reading about such things. He also referred to Stephen King novels and the Harry Potter series.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was interesting that Brown mentioned the Harry Potter series because not only am I completely familiar with the dangers of it from my own readings—that spawned an extensive blog post </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">in October 2013, titled, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/10/the-dangers-of-harry-potter-occult.html" target="_blank">T<i>he Dangers of Harry Potter: The Occult Controversy</i></a>—</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">but it was through Spirit Daily that I first read </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Father Gabriele Amorth's </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">warning about it in 2002; a warning that Brown referred to.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9RaGsIj0b3gEKr1Vwep_iNrZmx_m5QQ4HXuBE0L361YGIkDm-rw6HhqZSQI3nYcwUFfkx4tZEzb92STRfd3eO71wMMgK_5bGhYrZt-zEhUaW7hwDkyKIdaK7n4FWXVMp-PePS-6PWno/s1600/spiritdaily_harrypotterwarning.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Harry Potter warning from Fr. Amorth on SpiritDaily.com" border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="1600" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9RaGsIj0b3gEKr1Vwep_iNrZmx_m5QQ4HXuBE0L361YGIkDm-rw6HhqZSQI3nYcwUFfkx4tZEzb92STRfd3eO71wMMgK_5bGhYrZt-zEhUaW7hwDkyKIdaK7n4FWXVMp-PePS-6PWno/s640/spiritdaily_harrypotterwarning.png" title="Harry Potter warning from Fr. Amorth on SpiritDaily.com" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Fr. Gabriele Amorth's warning about the dangers of Harry Potter from January 3, 2002.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Image: Spirit Daily.com/<a href="https://www.spiritdaily.org/exorcistwarns.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rome's Chief Exorcist Warns Parents Against Harry Potter</a></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Elaborating on his experiences in dealing with skeptics about the dangers of Harry Potter, Brown mentioned how some simply dismissed it as a children's story, claiming that "It is just a book." But as Brown aptly pointed out, it is much more than "just a book," as the Harry Potter series contain actual witchcraft spells. In response to the claim that it is just a book, Brown asked the audience, "Is it? Then why does it have real spells, actual spells of witchcraft? Do you think it is healthy for young people to be reading actual witchcraft spells?"</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">More to the point about such novels, Brown stated that, "Things can attach to us when we allow them in, and never mind something like the ouija board. Once they are around, they are really hard to get rid of sometimes, especially if we don't recognize their presence."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Expanding on that point, Brown pointed out that a lot times, we don't recognize the presence of the demonic or earth-bound spirits, even though they may be negatively affecting us consistently. To illustrate this point, Brown provided the example of how when you are having a great day, everything is going well, but all of a sudden, when you enter someone's home, office, or some other location, tensions arise, there may even be a certain flash-point with someone, a spontaneous eruption; often this is due to the presence of the Evil One.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to what we can do about it, Brown stressed that we should discipline ourselves so that every time we feel that tension we should begin to pray, especially to the Blessed Virgin Mary for her help and to Jesus in a personal way. Here is how Brown explained it:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">You know in life when this happens, if we would only discipline ourselves. Discipline is a key to happiness. If we would only discipline ourselves to step back every time we feel that tension, every time we start to succumb to that energy, step back and pray, especially to the Blessed Mother for her help, and of course to Jesus in a personal way. If we would just step back, we would avoid so much strife, we would avoid so much divorce, we would avoid so much pressure and stress and tension in our lives. Just step back, just step back, and nothing, insults don't matter. Somebody insults you, step back, step back. You will be real happy during your life review [see Brown's first talk, <i><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2017/05/marian-day-retreat-with-michael-h-brown.html" target="_blank">Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory</a></i>] in eternity that you did, and you will be happier here on earth.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown also spoke of earthbound spirits, which are not demonic, but spirits (deceased souls) for one reason or another, that remain on earth. As to why they remain on earth, Brown provided a few examples: souls that are overly attached to a house, to someone, and even to an addiction in which they refuse to go on because they keep on wanting to experiencing that addiction.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Certain earthbound spirits remain because they are doing their Purgatory on earth. Brown cited an example from </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Pio of Petrelcina (Padre Pio)</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the Capuchins, the Franciscan Order that he belonged to. Here is how Brown unfolded this incident:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Padre Pio once encountered the "ghost" of a monk. One night he was praying in a choir, and he looked down and saw this young monk who was cleaning the altar...who made a lot of noise. Padre Pio went down, didn't recognize him. Padre Pio lived there for twenty or thirty months...Padre Pio said, 'Who are you, I haven't seen you hear before?' The young monk turned to him and said, 'I was hear before you came, I died here and the Lord is letting me do my Purgatory here. When I was a noviciate here, I failed to fulfill my duties, clearing the altar'...obeying his superior, and so he was doing his Purgatory.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown offered his thoughts for the audience's discernment, that these earthbound spirits, bound here for negative reasons, can be extremely negative and can cause us negativity and illness, similar to the demonic.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Earthbound spirits have been written about from bishops in England as far back as the 1700s, but as Brown pointed out, they are not discussed anymore these days.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e0WUbByggQc/WTWYT-zjZVI/AAAAAAAAEcU/XbLow3xRe9M82VJs7Ad6kqx_trEwiwXkgCLcB/s1600/mdr_brown_spiritualwarfare2.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Michael H. Brown at his talk on May 20 at Canada Christian College" border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="1272" height="334" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e0WUbByggQc/WTWYT-zjZVI/AAAAAAAAEcU/XbLow3xRe9M82VJs7Ad6kqx_trEwiwXkgCLcB/s640/mdr_brown_spiritualwarfare2.png" title="Michael H. Brown at his talk on May 20 at Canada Christian College" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown during the Marian Day Retreat at Canada Christian College</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Coming back to the subject of the demonic, Brown pointed out that we can identify the presence of an evil spirit when we experience anxiety and confusion, "The evil spirit, one of the first thing he does, very consistently, is cause confusion. So any time we see confusion, all of sudden something doesn't make sense, we need to sit back and ask the Holy Spirit for His help."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We want to be fully protected from the Evil One and his demons, which we have been warned about throughout the history of the Church from mystics to saints to the accounts of near-death experiences. How do we go about doing this? Brown answered this question in a most passionate way:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We want to be fully protected. We want to realize like these saints, and mystics tell us, and other people that have had experiences on the other side. They tell us we are surrounded by spiritual entities, we want to be protected every single day, so the very first thing in the morning...we need to pray the Rosary. We need to pray, if we can get to Mass, get to Mass. It is the most powerful prayer, it is so powerful against the enemy. It is so cleansing, so healing if we put our hearts into it and don't just sit there. With real prayers; we need to feel the prayers; we need to pray sincerely; we need to pray from the heart. We need to talk to Jesus in a very personal way...we need to have faith.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown added his own warning that the Evil One can do many things, and part of his goal is to take life from us, to remove its spiritual abundance and bring us down to Hell.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This part of the talk can be viewed at my YouTube channel: </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/nZ5QQoeUyP4" target="_blank">Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing</a>.</i><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Reinforcing the need to have strong faith in our lives, Brown mentioned how important this is especially when experiencing an assault by the Evil One. To illustrate the point further, Brown provided his own </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">testimonial of an incident with the demonic that was remedied through his faith and the power of the Rosary.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The incident with the demonic (infestation) </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">occurred at a Catholic convent in Chicago; the location where Brown slept one night after having given a talk to a local Catholic church. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At the time of Brown's talk, the entire convent was uninhabited due to the fact </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">that the nuns that previously lived there were involved in occult practices. Brown was made aware of this fact and it not only led him to suspect a demonic presence, but it prompted him to inquire about it with one of the sisters who had helped him with his talk. That sister informed Brown that he was sleeping there that night, all by himself.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown settled for bed, he heard noises that led him to wonder if mice or rats had taken up residence at the second floor, but as time went on the noises took on a different sound: footsteps of "someone" ascending the staircase.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At first he thought about opening the window, jumping out and finding some other location to sleep at, but it dawned on him that he should practice what he just preached that night at a local Chicago church, "...Never fear the Devil, never fear the Devil because as soon as you fear the Devil, that is showing you have faith in his power, and when you have faith in his power, he is allowed to exercise more. Just like when we have faith in Jesus, Heaven responds."</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">From that inspiration, Brown took his Rosary and began to recite it faithfully and wholeheartedly; it proved to be exactly what he needed to do, as not only were there no more incidences of demonic infestation, but Brown had a wonderful sleep.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Elaborating a little further, Brown talked about how evil spirits can exist within entire neighbourhoods and cities, and he even provided a few examples of entire locations, that by his estimation, have "dark clouds" over them: Greenich Village, New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Adding to this, Brown stated that evil spirits are also attracted to places where there is prostitution, tattoo parlours, strip clubs and so forth.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown then went on to highlight how blessed salt is an effective sacramental in cleansing and protecting cars, homes, neighbourhoods and entire cities, any area from the demonic. He encouraged the audience to purchase salt and obtain the prayer of blessing, that any priest can recite. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">This is entirely consistent with what Fr. Gabriele Amorth states in his book, <i>An Exorcist Tells His Story</i>, at the chapter on <i>Water, Oil, Salt</i>, where he states:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Exorcising salt too is beneficial for expelling demons and for healing soul and body. The specific function of this salt is to protect places from an evil presence or influence. Where there is suspicion of evil infestation, I usually advise people to place exorcised salt across the threshold and in the four corners of the room or rooms that are affected.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">...It is certain that sacramentals are most efficacious when they are used in faith; without faith, they are ineffective...(119)</span> </blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At the next segment of the talk, Brown highlighted how powerful and important fasting is against the Evil One and his demons. To further reinforce this point, Brown referred to the following message from Our Lady in Medjugorje on fasting, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">"The best fast is on bread and water. Through fasting and prayer one can stop wars, one can suspend the natural laws of nature. Works of charity cannot replace fasting. Everyone except the sick, has to fast." (July 21, 1982) Brown asked the audience to think about how powerful that message is, in particular the part about "suspending the laws of nature." </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Elaborating a little further on fasting, Brown stated that:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">When we fast, we are far more powerful against the Evil One. I don't come and do these retreats without several days of fasting because you are too exposed to the Evil One. When we fast, we are beyond his reach because we are indicating that we are not bound to just physical appetite, we are not just bound to the material things of this world, we are not bound to his domain because like Jesus said, 'He is the prince of the power of air, he is the prince of this world.' And while we are in this world, we are always going to have spiritual conflict.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Fasting is one of Our Lady's "Little Stones," one of five stones or spiritual weapons that she has given to us in Medjugorje. The reference to fasting as a "stone," stems from the biblical story of David and Goliath. As God gave David stones to hurl at Goliath, Our Lady has done likewise for our spiritual battle against the Goliath of our times, the Evil One.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">You can read more about the importance of fasting and Our Lady's message from Medjugorje from my post, </span><a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2013/12/our-ladys-little-stone-fasting-on-bread.html" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Our Lady's Little Stone: Fasting on Bread and Water</i></a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown went on to provide two other personal experiences: his brief time with a mafia hitman, researching for a book on the mafia in New Jersey, and the dream he had many years ago while living in New York City of seeing St. Michael and other angels, and how he was shown that the Evil One was after him, literally at his front door.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">You can watch Brown explain these experiences and the second half of this blog post at my YouTube channel, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="https://youtu.be/B3LO2nfte4U" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing Part 2</a>. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">For those who want to read more about such experiences and further details about Brown's faith journey, insights, and life, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">you may want to consider purchasing, </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/michael-h-brown-books/products/br-prayer-of-the-warrior-by-michael-h-brown" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Prayer of The Warrior</a></i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown's talk concluded with what proved to be a standard fixture throughout all four talks, a couple of jokes that helped lighten up the mood from all the serious details.</span><br />
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Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8934901189933116489.post-74606088699057220562017-05-29T21:35:00.001-04:002022-06-08T14:30:23.792-04:00Marian Day Retreat With Michael H. Brown<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xpmFsxmGWtc/WSnbtOAZutI/AAAAAAAAEZ8/eFtrHeY_n3Q1t_iV1uVRgsznErxaKY8DQCLcB/s1600/mariandayretreat2017.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="An image of the Marian Day Retreat 2017 flyer." border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xpmFsxmGWtc/WSnbtOAZutI/AAAAAAAAEZ8/eFtrHeY_n3Q1t_iV1uVRgsznErxaKY8DQCLcB/s640/mariandayretreat2017.jpg" title="Marian Day Retreat 2017 Flyer" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Marian Day Retreat 2017 flyer</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">On Saturday, May 20, I attended the talks given by </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown at the Marian Day Retreat, an event hosted by Canada Christian College and organized by Ave Maria Centre of Peace.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It was a grace-filled day that had a particular relevance for me in that I finally attended one of the well known talks of Michael H. Brown; a man who I greatly admire and who has been—and continues to be—a great source of inspiration for my personal faith journey.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown has also been a great source of information and clarity, not only from the writing of his many books, but from the numerous articles published at his web site, <a href="http://www.spiritdaily.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SpiritDaily.com</a>: a web site that I highly recommend for anyone who is serious about acquiring the truth, knowledge, and understanding of the Catholic faith journey; </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">current, real, and relevant news; information on the events and signs of our times; and resources on spiritual warfare, healing, and the afterlife.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Part of what is so inspirational about Michael H. Brown are his talks: putting faith into action; being a soldier for Christ; strengthening and encouraging fellow devout Catholics; and injecting Catholicism into a secular North American culture that has seen so many Catholics wane in or altogether lose their faith.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown certainly accomplished this in fine fashion with his four talks: <i>Heaven, Hell and Purgatory; Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing; The Current Prophetic Pulse; </i>and <i>Reclaiming North America's Christianity.</i></span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">All four of his talks were preceded by a <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2015/09/group-recitation-of-rosary-in-medjugorje.html" target="_blank">group recitation of the Rosary</a>, with the only exception of the last talk, which began at 3:15, after the recitation of the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2014/04/divine-mercy-novena-and-chaplet-begins.html" target="_blank">Divine Mercy Chaplet</a>. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In addition, Brown preceded his talks with his own selected prayers of deliverance, and other prayers imploring God's mercy, blessings, and healing upon all in attendance.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Today's post is the first in a series of blog posts dedicated to each one of Michael H. Brown's talks beginning with,</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Heaven, Hell and Purgatory</i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">. Throughout, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I have included links from my </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">YouTube channel </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">of videos that I took during the talk</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> should you desire to watch it.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>Heaven</b></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Prior to the first talk all in attendance recited the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary after which Brown came to the podium and opened up his talk with what proved to be a standard fixture throughout the day, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">a couple of jokes, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">helping to lighten the mood from all the serious details.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">In addition to mentioning that he has written a couple of books on the <a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/after-life" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">after life</a>, Brown stressed the seriousness of this subject matter by asking the audience, "W</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">hat could be more important than what happens when we die?"</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To help explain the answer to that question, Brown cited a few examples of near-death experiences from people who have clinically died, but came back to life and described what they experienced in another realm; all of which are entirely consistently with millions of other accounts.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_7q2Z8FwKv4/WSsYuomvMOI/AAAAAAAAEaM/lhsfT3SaulcDUWfOyAl8K2KUBTJ4T7tRwCLcB/s1600/theiller_neardeath.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="An image of Dr. Theillier's book on near-death experiences from Lourdes" border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="222" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_7q2Z8FwKv4/WSsYuomvMOI/AAAAAAAAEaM/lhsfT3SaulcDUWfOyAl8K2KUBTJ4T7tRwCLcB/s400/theiller_neardeath.png" title="Dr. Theillier's book on near-death experiences from Lourdes" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;">Patrick Theillier's book on near-death</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;">experiences. Image: Amazon/</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Near-Death-Experience-Examined-Testimonies/dp/0824522176" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Near-Death Experiences Examined: Medical</a></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Near-Death-Experience-Examined-Testimonies/dp/0824522176" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Findings and Testimonies from Lourdes</a></span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">One such cited example was from a book, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/after-life/products/br-near-death-experiences-examined-patrick-theillier-m-d" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Near-Death Experiences Examined: Medical Findings and Testimonies from LOURDRES</a></i>, by Doctor Patrick Theillier, M.D.—chief medical examiner at the Marian Shrine of Lourdes—about an abbot named <a href="http://spiritdaily.org/blog/afterlife/an-astounding-near-death-experience" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jean Derobert</a>, who in his certified testimony, recalled a crossover into the eternal during the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962) where he was stationed as a member of the French army’s health corps.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown highlighted the well made point by Dr. Theillier; that is, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">these near-death experiences have a lot to tell us about life and the afterlife, that we need to pay attention to them. Add to this the mention that the book was endorsed by Dr. Theillier's local bishop—who also wrote the introduction to the book—and Brown set the stage for an intriguing glimpse into the afterlife.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The case began one morning in August 1958, when Abott Derobert received a card from St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)—who adopted </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Derobert</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> as a "spiritual son"—that had two handwritten lines on it, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">“Life is a constant struggle, but it leads to the light,” which was underlined two or three times. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">That very night Derobert and everyone at the village he was staying at were attacked and killed. At his "death," Derobert experienced a disembodiment, where he observed his own body next to other fallen comrades, and then began an ascension through a "tunnel."</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As he travelled through the tunnel, he </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">saw many familiar and unfamiliar faces with a fog that surrounded him. At first these faces were somber, of people who did not have such a good reputation, sinners lacking in virtue. As he ascended, the faces he saw became more luminous. He was astonished to discover that he could see everything around him without turning and move about without having to walk. To top it all off, he wasn't feeling his wounds anymore.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">During this time Derobert thought of his parents who lived with him at his home back in France, and he soon found himself amongst them; both of whom were sleeping. He noticed a piece of furniture that had been moved, and </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">left </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">soon afterwards.</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">When he eventually came back to life and returned to his home several </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">weeks later</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">, he mentioned the furniture to his parents, who were baffled as to how he could have possibly known that. </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">While in the other realm Derobert also thought of Pope Pius XII, after which he found himself in the Pope's room. The Pope was asleep, but Derobert stated that, "He spoke through the exchange of thoughts since the Pope was spiritually attuned."</span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown stated that he included these details because of what Derobert further shared about his time in Heaven. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Q</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">uoting him at length, Brown read directly from Theillier's book: </span></div>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I saw thousands of people all about thirty years old, and a few of them I had known when I was alive. I left this paradise with many extraordinary flowers that I had never known down below. I went even higher. There I lost all human nature and I became a drop of light. I saw many other drops of light and I knew one of them was St. Peter, another one was Paul or John, an apostle or a saint. Then I saw Mary in full radiance and beauty; She met me with Her ineffable smile. Jesus was behind Her looking spectacularly beautiful, and behind them was an area of light that I knew was the Father and I dove head on, into it. There I felt total fulfillment of everything I could ever desire. I experienced perfect happiness and briskly I felt myself back on earth with my face in the earth and in the middle of my comrades. </span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Some time after this experience, Derobert went to see Padre Pio who after motioning him to approach him stated, "Oh, you really took me for a ride this time, but what you saw was really beautiful wasn't it?" Derobert did not reply; nor, did Padre Pio say anything else.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">During the next segment of the talk, Brown elaborated on the significance of the afterlife, which I thought was particularly noteworthy:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We live forever. In light of that fact, nothing on earth, no challenge, no problem, no tragedy, no tragedy can stand up to the vastness of what comes afterwards. When people have these near-death experiences they come back and they will tell you that all these major things, the greatest of tragedies: losing a child, having a terrible illness, what ever it might be, in light of the light, in light of what they see, in light of what they now know for sure, all that seems minor. And life on earth seems like it was, just a very momentary flash and then there is eternity.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown went on to stress that every second, every minute on earth counts; life is so short! Elaborating further he stated that we need to grasp every single minute and thing in life because it is a "precious opportunity to gain upward in the afterlife." </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">One of the most salient points that Brown made was with respect to the coincidences in our lives; that they have a purpose whether we realize it or not! It reminded me of Saint Pope John Paul II's words, "In the designs of Providence there are no mere coincidences." Here is what Brown had to further say about this:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">God is perfect, He doesn't waste a second of your life. There are no coincidences. Everybody who you ever met, everybody you will meet was there for some reason, however fleeting. We won't understand these things until we are on the other side and that's one of the consistencies of people that have these experiences. They say that the first emotions, like the abbot, was this total sense of well being, this feeling of I'm home. This is my home. Earth wasn't my home, this is my home. Now I see, now I understand, </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">now I can comprehend why I met this person or that person, why I had this problem. Everything suddenly comes together.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown compared this with our lives on earth, full of knots, but when viewed from Heaven, it all makes sense. That is why we should ask for the intercession of Our Lady Undoer of Knots to help us because life is difficult, just as Padre Pio told the abbot, life is a constant struggle.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">I found the next point Brown made to be a much needed friendly reminder: no matter how much we try to make life on earth a paradise, it won't work because it is not supposed to work, "It is supposed to be a place of testing and purification."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Near-death experiences are nothing new in the Catholic Church; the first recorded account goes back to the sixth century with official cases documented by Pope Gregory the Great, who logged the details of such experiences.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown then went on to share other modern day accounts with descriptions that were for the most part, challenging to grasp; there was hardly any reality here on earth that could compare to what Brown referred to as, "truly awesome."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Elaborating upon that awesomeness, Brown tried to explain it in a manner that we might be able to understand: </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">being in the light of Heaven's love is synonymous to all the love you have experienced in your life, multiplied by infinity; or citing from another near-death experience, "If you took all the love that every mother, in history, has ever had for their children, put all this love together since the beginning of time, billions of mothers, it wouldn't be a fraction of what she felt when she went into that light into God." </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Further highlighting just how awesome God's love is and the experience of that felt love in the after life, Brown reiterated that a consistent aspect of all these modern day accounts is the fact that, it is simply impossible to describe it in human terms.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Apparently one of the additional benefits of Heaven is actually getting to meet your guardian angel who has been with you since the very beginning, as well as your deceased love ones, and those who you were closest to on earth.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If all this seems to good to be true, Brown explains that with God and His vastness, "It is too good not to be true."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">To view this part of the talk, please visit my YouTube video: <a href="https://youtu.be/fCXQlcqwOVw" target="_blank"><i>Michael H. Brown: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory</i></a>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>Purgatory</b></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E09T18xkqsc/WSt8Jt6IxiI/AAAAAAAAEag/h1pNXxz0boU-cTbtGXRcGL6l8bDp4knvACKgB/s1600/IMG_20170520_1118208.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="An image of Canada Christian College with Michael H. Brown." border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E09T18xkqsc/WSt8Jt6IxiI/AAAAAAAAEag/h1pNXxz0boU-cTbtGXRcGL6l8bDp4knvACKgB/s640/IMG_20170520_1118208.jpg" title="Michael H. Brown at the Marian Day Retreat" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael H. Brown during one of his talks at Canada Christian College.</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown segued into a talk about Purgatory through the account of another near-death experience where the individual described it as a place that is "dim as dusk" and where people were dressed in dreary clothing with "duller colours" in comparison to those that exist in Heaven.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Those in Purgatory were content because they knew they were going to Heaven, but in the interim, they were separated from that "light" for a period of time; a time of great suffering that had to be endured.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Those who have had such near-death experiences no longer fear death, but actually look forward to dying! What they had seen in Heaven is something they want to get back to, but at the same time they know they must remain on earth because they have a mission in life, which was only finally understood during their near-death experiences.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We all have a mission in life, one that we too will fully understand in the after life. Each individual's mission is equal in God's eyes, no matter how trivial it may be. Brown elaborated on this with the following details:</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">...Just like we will understand it because each person here on earth, each person here in this convocation hall, every person you have ever known and ever will, has a mission in life, has an equal mission in life. Everyone is equal in the eyes of God, everybody is made equally, everybody...you may not be able to understand until you are on the other side because what you are doing here may seem to you trivial, what other people are doing may seem trivial to you; there is no such thing as a trivial mission.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">There are great souls at all stations of life...there are great people who aren't leaders...there are people who are janitors or who have cleaned the room I slept in the hotel last night, and they seem by worldly standards, to be trivial and unimportant, but somehow what they are doing has eternal effects, has a ripple effect.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We won't understand until we die and go through what they call a life review where our entire lives will be shown to us in every detail and every moment, and like I said because there is no moment on earth that is wasted by God. </span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Every moment of life will be shown to us, and not only will we see it, but we will re-experience it, and we will not only re-experience as we did, but as everyone else around us did also.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">That is why there is nothing I can tell you today that is more important that this, and this is the most insistent thing that I hear of all these near-death experiences: the first thing God wanted to know is how much they had loved...When we love no matter what we are doing throughout the day, when we love, we are sending forth light into His creation, and when we die we will see it.</span></blockquote>
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown went on to refer to a simple example of an individual who smiles at everyone; a smile that makes others feel better. By sending out that love, that individual may have earned a high place in Heaven because of that smile; that individual used his/her gift.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">We may not have the same gift, but we do have gifts. Whatever those gifts are, we are to use them to complete our mission of love on earth. Brown stressed how important this is!</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to why we must go to Purgatory, Brown explained that when we die, if we still have attached to us any: anger, impatience, resentment, lack of forgiveness, anxieties and so forth, these will have to be cleansed in Purgatory.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown also stressed that there are many levels of Purgatory for this cleansing process, where each individual will go to the appropriate level before arriving at the "light" or Heaven.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Elaborating further on what Purgatory is like, Brown stated that when we reach the other side, we see all those who we knew and loved. In some cases, those who have gone through near-death experiences will say that, they not only encountered deceased love ones, but thousands who welcomed them and cheered when they arrived, embracing them with much love. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">At first they could not figure out who these people were, but eventually found out that they were their ancestors from the very beginning.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As to the significance of all this, Brown suggested that </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">perhaps family is our mission; that is, cleansing the family line. Here is how Brown put it, "I submit for your consideration, maybe family. Maybe, cleansing the family line. Maybe, making sure that whatever perhaps was passed on to you spiritually, whatever darkness may have been in the past in your ancestry, is not passed on to the next generation, and generations after that."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown went on to mention that, what we know about Purgatory comes to us not only from the near-death experience accounts, but from Catholic mystics throughout the ages.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">If and when we go to Purgatory, we will go where we need to go, to the appropriate level. Brown stated that it may be "Middle-Purgatory" where most people go, where it is "kind of foggy" like a grey day, where there is loneliness, not huge amounts of suffering, but the loneliness is </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">the suffering</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Others may go to a lower part of Purgatory that is closer to Hell; a level that very much resembles Hell. It may be painful as an ice cold experience or the opposite, very hot.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Then there is the possibility of arriving at the top level of Purgatory, a location that is very much like Heaven. Brown stated that this location has been revealed to us through a mystical revelation from the <i><a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/after-life/products/br-unpublished-manuscript-on-purgatory" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory</a></i>, which Brown has also written about in his book, <a href="https://bookstore.spiritdaily.com/collections/after-life/products/br-what-you-take-to-heaven-michael-h-brown" rel="nofollow" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">What You Take To Heaven</a>. This level of Purgatory has been referred to as the "threshold to Heaven."</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown's talk on Purgatory is available for viewing, during the first twelve minutes, at my second video: <i><a href="https://youtu.be/ZIEnWY3ctXc" target="_blank">Michael H. Brown: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory Part Two</a>.</i></span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">As an aside to Brown's talk on Purgatory, I thought it fitting to mention that those who wish to shorten their time in Purgatory, can strive do so through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the <a href="http://domenicmarando.blogspot.ca/2016/05/the-brown-scapular-devotion.html" target="_blank">Brown Scapular Devotion</a>.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>Hell</b></span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown began his talk about Hell by first stating that, "Hell is very, very real!"</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">He then asked for a show of hands of those who have heard of the account of Howard Storm: an atheist who had a near-death experience in Hell. Only a handful of individuals seemed to know of Storm's account, one that Brown dedicated four articles to at </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Spirit Daily. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The complete details are available at the afterlife section of Spirit Daily's bookstore,</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"> </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-Descent-Into-Death-Second/dp/0385513763" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">My Descent Into Hell</a></i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Although Brown elaborated on Storm's near-death experience with some detail, I would like to refer readers, who may be interested in reading about it, to Brown's web site. The reason being, Brown went on to discuss two other near-death experiences that I found particularly interesting: a man named Alan who was shown where he deserved to go upon his death, and the second </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">about Doctor Gloria Polo, a dentist from Bogota, Colombia, who was struck by lightening.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Alan's near-death experience was a journey into the depths of hell; the place where he would have gone for good if he died! During his near-death experience, St. Michael the Archangel escorted Alan down to what Brown described as a dark mountain, surrounded by other dark mountains and valleys on a narrow path where demons were trying to snatch Alan, but could not do so with St. Michael present. </span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Saint Michael showed Alan several levels of Hell where he saw incredible suffering. At one location was a vault that St. Michael opened and revealed to Alan something to the effect of countless cubes or cells, one after another stacked up, going on as far as the eyes could see. In each one of these small cells was a person who was constantly reliving and watching the events of their lives that got them sent to Hell.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Although Alan wasn't taken down to the worst level of Hell, he was taken down further from the level of the "vault." At this lower level, he saw an awful entity that could have been Satan or a demon, sitting upon a filthy throne on top of tarnished gold coins and money.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown clarified what was to be understood by that experience: money and materialism can get us into a lot of trouble! Elaborating further he stated, "We should be extremely cautious about going after money and focussing on it."</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Of all the cases Brown cited, Dr. Gloria Polo's near-death experience seemed to resonate with me the most. Polo was extremely materialistic, self-conscious of her body, a sensual, lustful woman. She had paid for the abortions and birth control of other women, thinking all along that she was doing a good deed.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Polo's near-death experience began at the moment she was struck by lightening. Immediately she found herself in Hell, where she described it as a dark place of tunnels, so gloomy that it would make the darkness part of earth seem like day light.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Polo was given a "life review" by Jesus, and was shown everything about her life. </span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Gloria was shown how selfish, self-centered and uncaring she was with respect to her neglect to pray for a fellow Colombian woman whose husband had been murdered.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">One day Gloria was in front of the television set </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">watching the news and there had been a report about a woman who was weeping because her husband was assassinated by hired killers of the woman's landlord. The husband was killed due to the refusal of the family to move away from their apartment, which the landlord was insisting upon, so he could charge higher rent.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Although Polo was saddened by the news, knowing that this poor woman had no place to stay, she responded to it with indifference and changed the channel to a fitness program, which she was quite interested in. </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Jesus showed Polo that instead of doing that, if she would have gotten down on her knees and prayed for that poor woman, everything would have been different.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Jesus illustrated this point to Polo in such a manner that it is a lesson for all of us to learn from and employ in our own lives. Polo was driving around Bogota with her son, and they happened to go through the "red light district" and at one point, the son noticed a prostitute and mentioned it to her, "Mommy, what is that woman doing over there? Why is she dressed that way?" Polo responded something to the effect of a rebuke of the prostitute, directing her son to not even so much as look in the prostitute's direction.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Polo was shown that the prostitute was that same woman she saw on television whose husband was murdered. Jesus informed Polo that had she gone down on her knees and prayed for that woman, the Holy Spirit would have come upon her and inspired her to contact a local priest that she knew. The priest would have taken care of that woman and she would have never become a prostitute!</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown pointed out the relevance of Polo's near-death experience for our own lives; that is, we too will go through a life review and will be shown not only what we have done, but also what we haven't done. This will include our words, thoughts and actions during our lives. For this reason, Brown recommended that we need to purify every thought we have and try imbue them with love.</span><br />
<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown went on to state that </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">love is a double protection: it protects us on earth from the Evil One and brings us to Heaven, as does humility and not being worldly.</span><br />
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<span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Brown's talk about Hell is available for viewing at my YouTube video from the twelfth minute and on, that also includes the case of Howard Storm: </span><i style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;"><a href="https://youtu.be/ZIEnWY3ctXc" target="_blank">Michael H. Brown: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory Part Two</a>. </i><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">For those interested in watching the concluding segment of Howard Storm's near-death experience, please watch my third video: </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><i><a href="https://youtu.be/MrppJhk-CZw" target="_blank">Michael H. Brown: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory Part Three</a>.</i></span><br />
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<br />Domenic Marandohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13249195831402440587noreply@blogger.com0