Free Rosaries to the World

I ran across this article on a Central New Jersey web site:

Since 1992, Holy Cross Family Ministries has given away approximately 17 million Rosaries. The mission is to provide people from all around the world with Rosaries. There is no charge and Rosaries can be sent to families, schools and parishes.

The Rosary has been a major influence in Roman Catholic thought for over 500 years while paving the way for a greater understanding of the mystery of Christ; celebrated within family prayer.

Holy Cross Family Ministries believes in the importance of family prayer so much so, that they do not want anyone in the world to be without the Rosary. So they have been fulfilling their goals by providing the rosaries free of charge to anyone and everyone.

Rosaries for the world would not be possible if it were not for the support of parishes and individuals who donate Rosaries to the cause.

Website owner Jose Rodriguez of TheOnlyDish.com has decided to join forces and help support the goal of providing Rosaries to the world. TheOnlyDish.com is an affiliate of VMC Satellite an authorized retailer of Dish Network. Rodriguez has been selling Dish Network since 2004. Rodriguez has vowed to donate $10.00 for every Dish Network that is installed using his website. He states that Holy Cross Family Ministries has a great vision and that they are helping many people including people in remote parts of the world who would otherwise not be able to afford Rosaries. Rodriguez has donated in the past and wants to continue to contribute to the cause.

Anyone interested in receiving Rosaries can visit http://www.HCFM.org & clicking on Rosaries. People are also encouraged to donate for the cause which can be done on the website as well.

The Miracle of the Sun Video

Just today I was thinking of the fact that I have never seen pictures from the final apparition of the Blessed Mother at Fatima. It isn't that I think there are photos of her from that day;rather, I have always thought there should be books featuring pictures of the crowd (in excess of 100,000 present - if I'm remembering correctly) and of the sun dancing. The secular press was said to be there, yet I've not seen pictures.

Well, ask and you shall receive.

I was just made aware that there is a video on YouTube of pictures from that day. If you'd like to see it, please go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBIs8cuIwTo
It is entitled "The Miracle of the Sun."

Mary Unites Christians - Zenit Article

I think the reason I liked the article below is because, on the surface, many would see the Catholic tradition of honoring Our Lady as one of the biggest stumbling blocks to the reunification Christian religions; therefore, I find it noteworthy that Cardinal Kasper asserts that she "is an essential part of the ecumenical movement." This serves as a reminder that man's ways and perceptions cannot be counted on as being the ways of God. Sin leads us to be self-centered separatists while God and His heavenly saints long for us to be joined in Christ-centered communion.

Mary Unites Christians, Cardinal Tells Anglicans

Ecumenical Pilgrimage to Lourdes Called a Miracle
By Inmaculada Álvarez

LOURDES, France, SEPT. 25, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Devotion to the Virgin Mary has an essential role in ecumenical dialogue and the journey to full and visible unity among Christians, says the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Cardinal Walter Kasper affirmed this Wednesday when he presided over an ecumenical celebration in Lourdes, where Anglicans and Catholics had joined on pilgrimage. Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury gave the homily at the event. The pilgrimage began at the Anglican shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in England.

"Lourdes is known for its miracles," Cardinal Kasper said. "Who would have imagined, only 20 or 30 years ago, that Catholics and Anglicans would go on pilgrimage and pray together?

"For those who are familiar with the debates and controversies of the past on Mary, between Catholics and non-Catholic Christians, for those who know the reservations of the non-Catholic world toward Marian pilgrimage sites, for all these people, today's unprecedented event is a miracle."

The cardinal contended that, in fact, Mary is an essential part of the ecumenical movement, though this topic "is neither common nor obvious among ecumenists." Click HERE to read complete article.


One other thing - Did you read what the Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams said of the Blessed Mother's appearance to St. Bernadette in his homily at Lourdes? If not, please read this snippet of it:

"She came at first as an anonymous figure, a beautiful lady, a mysterious thing, not yet identified as the Lord's spotless mother. And Bernadette -- uneducated, uninstructed in doctrine -- leaped with joy, recognizing that here was life, here was healing. Only bit by bit does Bernadette find the words to let the world know; only bit by bit, we might say, does she discover how to listen to the Lady and echo what she has to tell us."

In an article that I read before Williams went to Lourdes, his secretary noted that the Anglican Archbishop is devoted to Our Lady. Gives you hope, doesn't it?

Santa Marian Kamalen - Our Lady of Camarin

The statue to the right is an image of Guam's patron saint, the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Chamorro, as the indigenous people of Guam are called, honor her as Santa Marian Kamalen, Our Lady of Camarin.

The Chamorro have a legend associated with a 300 year old wooden statue of Santa Marian Kamalen.

One version of the legend of Santa Marian Kamalen is that one day a fisherman noticed the statue in the water while he was spear fishing. He swam toward it to get a closer look. Oddly though, no matter how much he tried to draw closer to it, it seemed to retreat. Every attempt to get close to the statue failed. Frustrated, he returned to land to ask the advice of the village priest.

The priest had a simple answer. He told the fisherman who fished dressed in next to nothing that he needed to only attempt to approach Our Lady's statue again fully dressed in his finest Sunday clothes.

The man listened to the priest and did just that. On that attempt he had no difficulty approaching and getting the statue.

A member of the Dotacion, the militia, the fisherman soon reported for a required two months of service. He took the statue with him. Due to the fact that the main barracks where under construction, the statue had to be placed in a tool shed.

That is where the name of the statue originated - in Spanish the word for that building that housed the statue is camarin. In the Chamorro it is a kamalen. Therefore, she is Maria del Camarin or Santa Marian Kamalen, The Lady of the Barracks.

The statue was moved to the barracks chapel when construction was completed. There she remained for almost 150 years until the militia was disbanded. At that time the Santa Marina Kamalen statue was moved to Dulce Nombre de Maria church. The church has since become a cathedral.

There have been notable times when the statue was moved from the church.

During World War II occupation of Guam by the Japanese a young woman named Mariquita Torres cared for the statue, lying to the Japanese authorities when they tried to take it. Tita, as she was called, told the soldiers that the statue was only lent to the church for special occasions.

Father Jesus Baza Duenas, who would later be beheaded by the occupiers, validated the assertion informing those in command that it was indeed property of the Torres family. When the family would be forced by bombings to go to a bomb shelters, Tita would bring the statue.

In more recent times, the statue has been stolen three times. The first two times, the statue was returned without repercussions. The thieves weren't even identified.

The recovery of the statue after the third theft occurred a little more than a month after it disappeared. While trimming plants in a park, a maintenance person looked up from his work to see someone waving at him. It was the missing statue.

The Santa Marian Kamalen statue has survived war, theft, an earthquake and fire.

The natural wear caused by the passage of time has led to the statue occasionally being removed from the church for minor repairs. The Chamorro say that one such time her face was scraped too roughly. It was then that the statue is said to have bled.

A replica of Santa Marian Kamalen is enshrined in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Good Samaritan Hospital of Los Angeles, California will be placing a replica of Santa Marian Kamalen in the hospital's All Soul's Chapel. On September 7th, a Mass in honor of the Blessed Mother will be celebrated at the chapel. A Southern California Chamorro choir will sing at the Mass.

Luminous Mother of Light - Ina ng Liwanag at Pagmamahal

The image above, by Araceli Dans, is the first depiction of the Virgin Mary by an award winning artist in what would be considered Filipino attire. Baro at saya is what the blouse and skirt are called. Tapis is the term for the sash over the Blessed Mother's shoulder. The lacework, calado.

The genesis of the painting was when Dans visited the Luminous Cross of Grace shrine in Agdangan, Quezon with her niece last September. In the Araceli Dans' native language the piece is titled “Ina ng Liwanag at Pagmamahal.” Dans has said that she feels her life's work has been a preparation for the creation of this work.

As for the Filipino attire, “I wanted an image of the Blessed Mother that the suffering Filipinos can connect and identify with,” Dans said.

Holy Day of Obligation

Since things can get hectic, I thought you might like a reminder that Friday the 15th of August is the day we celebrate the Mother of Christ's Assumption into Heaven.

It's noted in the Catechism that the "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians."

Pretty special day of remembrance. See ya at Mass.

Our Lady of Fatima

Today 91st anniversary of Our Lady first apparition to the children in Fatima.

Prayers taught to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta

Pardon Prayer

Taught by an angel, prior to the Blessed Mother's first apparition, Spring 1916

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee! I beg pardon for all those that do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.

The Angel's Prayer

Taught by an angel, prior to the Blessed Mother's first apparition, Fall 1916

O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary I beg the conversion of poor sinners.

The Eucharistic Prayer

Taught by an interior impulse May 13, 1917

Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee! My God, my God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

The Sacrifice Prayer

Taught by Our Lady Jule 13, 1917. It is to be said when offering up a sacrifice.

O Jesus, it is for the love of You, in reparation for the offences committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and for the conversion of poor sinners.

The Fatima Prayer

Taught by Our Lady July 13, 1917. To be said as part of the recitation of the rosary.

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.