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OUR LADY OF THE ROSES
(Andre Castella)
Forty years ago, on 16th October, 1964, Our Lady appeared in San Damiano.
Rosa Quatrini, a family mother from the Province of Piacenza, 70km south
of Milan, was cured in a miraculous manner on 29th September, 1961, the
Feast Day of St. Michael the Archangel. Three years later, on October
16, 1961, Our Blessed Lady appeared to her above a fruit tree near her
home.
These two events completely changed the life of Mama Rosa, as she
became known, as she became the centre of extraordinary events that
became known throughout the world. Not only in Europe hut also in Japan
and New Caledonia, everywhere the faithful, heard Mary's call and
travelled to San Damiano, in order to honour the Miraculous Madonna of
the Roses and to place themselves under Her protection. Mama Rosa radiated the joy to see our Heavenly Mother and Her Divine
Son, but she also accepted a life full of physical and mental
suffering. In order to follow Jesus, one has to carry one's Cross, given
to us by Him, with love and affection. Those Jesus loves most, have to
suffer much (cf Therese, the Little Flower).
Mama Rosa died on 5th September, 1981. Pilgrims did not stop coming
to San Damiano. More than 10,000 pilgrims visited San Damiano in 2004
(to end of September).
One day, Rosa said to me that the places of apparition on earth (San
Damiano, Lourdes, Fatima, etc.) are recreated in Heaven and that the
chosen in Heaven continue to feel themselves drawn to one or the other
place, in accordance with their spiritual life.
Of course, one praises God in Heaven, one implores graces for those
left behind on earth. But when earth comes to its end; when all souls
have been cleansed in Purgatory; when the souls in limbo have been
baptised by Jesus Himself, as He did after His resurrection with the
Just of the Old Testament, then there will only be Heaven and Hell.
Unfortunately, God will not he able to change the fate of the demons
and the condemned, for all of them in their pride and arrogance reject
for an eternity to beg God for forgiveness. Love will reign in Heaven
for all eternity, but hatred in Hell.
Once Rosa spoke with me about Purgatory, which she depicted as a
Roman amphitheatre with several steps. In the middle, that is the
deepest place, is a blazing fire, the heat of which becomes
progressively
less the higher one climbs the steps.
The soul that has finished the cleansing process will then precede
to the waiting room of Paradise until he or she, together with all the
other souls, enter Paradise in a solemn procession. This happens every
Saturday, the day on which the Virgin Mary fetches them and takes them
with Her.
As to the prayers and Holy Masses which are offered up for the Holy
Souls in Purgatory, they are credited to them in accordance with the
merits of the steps on which they find themselves at that moment in
time. Rosa compared them to water drops which one lets fall onto fire. A
part of the drops evaporates before it reaches the fire.
As to the Holy Masses and the prayers which are offered up for
certain souls who can no longer profit from then, fully or in part, or
who no longer need them because in the meantime they have gone to
Heaven, these graces will he given to those souls who are most in need of
them.
Every morning at between 4am and 5am, the Blessed Virgin came to
Rosa, accompanied by St. Michael, and often also with Padre Pio, in
order to give Rosa instructions for the day'.
Prior to the apparitions. Rosa had built a small. Chapel for St.
Michael at the edge of a public road, at the beginning of a path leading
to her home, in thanksgiving for a great favour which he had granted
her.
Padre Pio and Mama Rosa made special efforts inasfar as the
veneration of guardian angels was enlivened.
Rosa always listened attentively to her guardian angel and witnessed
often how he carried out special orders.
She asked us to send her our guardian angel, when in need, if we
were unable to come to San Damiano. Of course, our Patron Saint, whose
name we hear, is important, but we are not the only ones who turn to him
or her. Hundreds, thousands of people in the world have the same first
Christian name. But the guardian angel is only present for one person.
God gave each one of us a guardian angel. Unfortunately, we hardly call
on him for help and leave him "unemployed", so to speak, because we do
not have the necessary trust in him.
When I began my profession as a publisher, Mama Rosa said to me:
"Pray every morning to the Holy Ghost and to your guardian angel, so
that you will know what you have to do on that day. If you do not have
enough work, send out your angel to get you some."
One day, I was in the store-room of our books, and my attention was
drawn to a sock of5,000 brochures bearing the title "Light for the
Consecrated Souls" which we were unable to sell. So I asked my guardian
angel to do something about it. Two weeks later, I received an enquiry
from a Canadian priest, who wanted to distribute these brochures in
Canada. He asked me for permission to print them in Canada. So I told
him if he would take my stock at cost price, he could do thereafter what
he wanted. In less than one month, all my brochures had been despatched
and the matter had been concluded; all thanks to my guardian angel.
In 1975, I took over a religious hook shop in Paris. One day, my
French bookkeeper and I were in a notary office in Drancy. The notary
was not there. A young lady received and informed us of unexpected
difficulties. Thereupon my bookkeeper said to me: "Let us ask our
guardian angel to solve that problem." The young lady overheard us. At
first she said nothing, but when we left she admitted to us: "You are
very lucky to have faith. Even if there is no God, the simple fact that
you believe in His existence and help will give you important spiritual
support. I do not believe; I have to solve any problems myself."
Rosa was right to recommend to us the veneration of our guardian
angel.
Between 1974 and 1976, I came one day to Mama Rosa to partake in
prayers at 11 a.m. A priest from Paris who had come with permission of
his cardinal, was amazed to see that lay-people entered the house
(about 30 people and the seer formed a prayer group) whilst he, a priest,
could not do this. He had met Don Pellacani, the former parish priest of
San Damiano, and wanted to meet Mama Rosa, in order to report hack to
his cardinal. A friend who did not belong to this prayer group but saw
that I entered the house, informed me of the priest's wish. I told him
it was time for prayer but that I would speak with Mama Rosa about it.
Rosa reminded me that it was now time for prayer but that I should
nevertheless fetch the priest.
As the priest did not speak Italian, I was to translate for him. I
had the impression that Rosa talked to him of simple things, but later I
learnt from my friend that this priest from Paris was surprised and flabbergasted at the way with which Rosa spoke to him about his
priesthood and duly in church.
A Swiss priest wrote to me: "It has always been a valuable lesson for
me when I was lucky enough to serve as an interpreter. I always admired
the deep faith of the people but more so the theological and spiritual
knowledge of Mama Rosa, as well as her ability to see clearly the most
difficult problems... Mama Rosa did not play the spiritual doctor. Oh
no! And even far less the spiritual director. More than once did I hear
her reply to questions of spiritual leadership:"Do what your Father
Confessor tells you!"
I do not know what subject I was discussing when Mama Rosa said to me
one day. "A secret must remain between the two persons. As soon as a
third person gets to know it, one will not know who related something
later on."
It is not easy to obey the apparition and at the same time remain
within the framework of true submission which we owe the Church. An
instrument can only disregard an order if the ecclesiastical authority
acted outside their jurisdiction or if they did not transmit decisions
in the form that Canon Law prescribes. For the legal authority must he
respected but also the legitimate independence of the faithful.
I have spent much time and taken many steps to clarify this delicate
question. It was very educational for me to see how Mama Rosa managed to
remain within this strict framework of obedience. I asked her how she
managed to meet all these fine points. "This is quite easy," she
replied, "I do what Our Blessed Lady tells me." And it is quite clear
that Mary, the daughter and mother of the Church, cannot demand
disobedience from Her instrument in deed or attitude.
I stated one day that it is not always easy to take decisions as
things can he complicated. "No," answered Rosa, "it is all very simple.
One has to ask for the Light and for Heaven's help, and then act without
delay. "
In the autumn of 1980, I was honoured to meet Martha Robin, the
well-known stigmatist from Chateauneuf-la-Galaure, who left this world in the
spring of 1981, i.e. six months before Mama Rosa. I asked Martha if she
wanted to give a message to Rosa, but she said: "Her mission is the
prayer."
We mentioned already that pilgrims come from all over the world come to
honour the Miraculous Madonna of the Roses. She comes especially to
dispense graces and intercede for us, for the world in which we live, is full of dangers, enemies, and evil of all kind.
If the soul deserves
the grace, then the grace often will he granted. Very many graces are
granted in San Daminao. Votive tablets hear witness to this fact.
These testimonies refer to visions, fragrances, conversions,
vocations to a religious life (priesthood, religious order), cures,
improvement of health, solutions of family conflicts, etc.
San Damiano is also famous for its pilgrims loyalty who will always
come back. Some even make pilgrimage novenas, i.e. they come for nine
consecutive months on the first Friday, Saturday or Sunday of each month.
This little garden, called Little Paradise, in San Damiano is 8 sq.m.
(ca. 80 sq. ft.) large. It was constructed in accordance with the
instructions which Heaven gave to Mama Rosa. It is surrounded by a
beautiful, cast-iron, gilded fence.
In the garden is a statue of the Madonna, the spring of the
miraculous water, the tree above which the Madonna showed Herself to
Rosa, and masses of flowers which pilgrims bring to show their love for
their Heavenly Mother.
As to the white marble statue, pilgrims had asked that the statue be
placed on a pedestal so that the statue can he seen better. I mentioned
this to Rosa and she replied: "At the moment, Mary wants to be a
pilgrim among pilgrims, i.e. to he their height."
Let us remember the fortieth anniversary of Our Lady's apparition at
San Damiano with dignity, at the feet of a wonderful statue of Our Lady
of the Roses.
SAN MARTINO Dl SCHIO:
RENATO BARON HAS DIED
On Thursday, 2nd September, 2004, at 8.30 in the morning, Renato Baron
of Schio near Vtcenza (northern Italy) was taken into Heaven. He was 71
and had suffered greatly for many years. He leaves behind his
wife Rita and his brother Dario with family.
Mary appeared to Renato for 19 , years, more precisely since 25th
March, 1985. She called Herself in s Schio the "Queen of Love ",
and gave Renato more than 1,500 messages, for the world during that time.
The messages have been examined by the Church and approved for distribution.
In 1987, Renato founded the e Marian Movement of the Queen of Love
(Movimento Mariano Regina dell Amore). Its objective is to realise
Mary's wishes which besides conversion, prayer and genuinely lived
consecration to Mary also include a care home in Schio for the
elderly, and Missions in Kenya, Brasil and Nepal.
This Marian Movement, the statutes of which have been approved by
the Bishop of Vicenza, operates in conjunction with the Catholic Church
by way of a special spiritual assistant, Don Giuseppe Donato.
This priest also celebrated the Requiem Mass in Schio on 4th
September, 2004, together with 40 , priests from other countries. More
than 3,000 pilgrims from Italy, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium
and Croatia attended his funeral.
Renato was the first person who tried to realise Heaven's
messages, "and to offer up his life for it.
His spiritual work is carried on by - his 85 co-workers and the president of the Movement, Silvano Cosaro, as "well as the 22,000 members world r wide.
Renato Baron fought a good battle. He bore his suffering with
patience and love. He was permitted to end his martyrdom in the arms of
his Heavenly Mother, Who was always close to him.
God had entrusted Renato with a great mission which he carried out
with great courage and humility.
May the words of Mary he a consolation but also a request for all the
people in the world and for the Marian Movement of the Queen of Love to
persevere in love and obedience.
Deputising for the many messages of Mary are the following words of
the Queen of Love:
"Glory be to the Father!
My children, I warn you to
persevere and to trust in the final victory.
Evil will be defeated by the power that comes from your prayers.
Jealously defend what I have given you, for it is a valuable gift. Be
worth it, and you will assist in the redemption.
Therefore, look upon Me and My light will let you shine, and you will
be joy and a consolation for the whole Church. Great is My love for you
all. Take My consolation to your loved ones, to everybody who is
suffering. I bless you and press you to My Heart. " (16/10/1991)
Contact:
Movimento Mariana Regina dell
Amore,
Schio-San Martino (VI),
Italy
Tel.: 00-39-0445.53.21.76
Fax: 00-39-0445.50.55.33
e-mail:
uffico. movimento@reginadellamore.org
internet:
www.reginadellamore.org
WHEN ENTERING CHURCH
St. Peter Julian Eymard, a holy priest, who died at the age of 57 in
1868, taught: after entering (a church), remain at rest for a moment.
Silence is the greatest sign of respect and respect is the first
disposition to bring to prayer. Most of our dryness in prayer and our
lack of devotion comes from our lack of respect for Our Lord when we
walk in, or from our behaving disrespectfully. - Judging by the talk in
church: Has anything changed?
(Most Holy Family Monastery)
THANKS TO ECUMENISM:
-->we have a protestantised liturgy;
-->we have
protestantised sacraments;
-->we have more and more Catholics leaving the
faith to embrace Protestantism;
-->we have a frightening drop in
conversions;
-->we have Communion-in-the-hand and lay ministers of the
Eucharist, both considered sacrilegious and totally unthinkable 38 years
ago;
-->we have our Church leaders holding "prayer services" with non-catholic religions of all sorts... baptising and canonising the
predominant heresy that "one religion is as good as another", causing
great scandal and bewilderment among the faithful;
-->we have the dilution
of essential Catholic dogmas necessary for salvation;
the entire concept
of it! "Church Militant" has been practically obliterated;
-->we have the
Charismatic Movement within the Church, having its roots in Protestantism
and Spiritism, and always considered antithetical to Catholicism;
-->we
have Protestant ministers and Jewish Rabbis lecturing from our once
Catholic pulpits, and universities;
-->devotion to Our Blessed Lady has
been discouraged;
-->devotion to the saints and angels has been
down-played;
-->the Rosary and many other traditional Catholic
practices of piety have been falsely labelled "outmoded", clearly a trick of Satan
to keep us from receiving the great graces these devotions acquired;
-->our
Holy Church has become more protestantised and secularised along with
the fact that the Protestants are as protestant as always, and the
secular are more secular than ever;
-->many of the beautiful statues
in our churches have been removed;
-->we have a great crisis of Faith
among our priests and laity;
-->we have the "Spirit of Vatican II", and
evil and deceptive spirit employed to turn the Catholic Church upside
down;
-->we have the 1962 Vatican-Moscow- Agreement, whereas to be assured
that observers of the Russian-Orthodox Church would attend the Second
Vatican Council, an agreement was made between Rome and Moscow that the
Council would contain "no explicit condemnation of Communism". This
policy of "no explicit condemnation of Communism" is still in force.
By contrast, during the reign of Pope Pius XII, any Catholic Who even
voted Communism in the general election, was automatically
excommunicated'
-->we have replaced the Roman Catholic Altar with a "meal
table";
-->we no longer have offertory prayers which stress the
sacrificial nature of the Mass, but new ecumenical offensive to no
non-Catholic, and bearing a closer resemblance to a ~ table
blessing;
-->we have removed the altar rails; we now stand for Holy
Communion, condemned by Heaven itself;
-->there has been a change as to
what is the Mystery of Faith, whereas in the Old Liturgy, the "Mystery
of Faith " clearly referred to the Transubstantiation of the bread and
wine into the Body and Blood of Our Lord. In the New Liturgy, however,
the "Mystery of Faith " is proclaimed as "Christ has died, Christ is
risen, Christ will come again "... a doctrine unlike Transubstantiation
which is acceptable to Protestants. In the new liturgy, there is
actually a choice of five mysteries of Faith, all of which are a little
different. Is there any wonder there is now so much doctrinal confusion? The tabernacles in many of our churches have been taken off
the main altar and placed on the side;
-->we have a drastic drop in the
Sacrament of Confession, and the introduction of the face-to-face
Reconciliation room, by now clearly a flop;
--?we have voided the interiors
of our Catholic churches with the sense of reverence and awe, strikingly
present in all Catholic churches before Vatican II;
-->"the Church is in a
state of auto- demoUtion" (self- estruction);
-->the Catholic Church has
been placed on the same footing with every false religion on the face
of the earth;
-->the dogma 'Outside the Church there is no salvation' has
not only been ignored, but sometimes vehemently fought against by
"Catholic" priests and theologians;
-->we are one step closer to a One
World Government;
-->we have the demonic New Age Movement making inroads
into the Church, manifesting itself primarily in the absurd teaching
that "Jesus did not know he was God until he was baptized by John the
Baptist and received the Christ consciousness";
-->we have prayer
gatherings with Hindus, Buddists, Jews, and Moslems, all who deny the
Divinity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;
-->we have Diocesan bishops
"lending out their cathedrals" for the installation of Protestant
bishops (i.e. Archbishop Bevilacqua, SS Peter & Paul, Philadelphia,
April 1988);
-->we have the humanistic "religion of reason" infiltrating
our Faith, manifesting itself in said sermons and insipid catechisms;
-->we
have widespread rejection of many Catholic teachings on Faith and Morals
(if pluralism is condoned outside the Church, what then is wrong with it
within the household of the Faith?);
-->we have downplayed the social Kingship of Jesus Christ which acknowledges that all governments and all
authorities ultimately receive their power of government and
jurisdiction from Christ, and are therefore, answerable to Him and His
Divine Law;
-->the magnificent hierarchical structure of the Church has been
undermined; Sunday homilies defending Catholic Truth against heretical
positions are practically extinct;
-->we have practically every heresy
that ever existed within the very bosom of the Church;
-->we may ask
ourselves how will our Holy Church ever be in a position to condemn new
errors when she has become so buddy-buddy with the old ones?
-->we
have an "emperor's new clothes " situation where fraudulent tailors have
adorned the Church in the apparel of ecumenism, and there are no
dignitaries to he found who will admit "the Church has been stripped
naked";
-->faithful Catholics who rightly criticize the catastrophic effect's
of modern ecumenism, are labelled "disrespectfill", "dissident",
"rebellious", and "disobedient".
-->Thanks to ecumenism we have indeed very
little to be thankful for in the devastated vineyard of the post-Vatican II Church.
This is Pope Paul VI ' s own official
prohibition of the New Mass now enforced under severe penalties within
their dioceses by rebellious Catholic bishops:
From the Encyclical
MYSTERIUM FIDEI
on Eucharistic Doctrine and Worship
When the integrity
of Faith ban been preserved, it is necessary also to safeguard its
proper mode of expression, lest, by the careless use of words, we
occasion, God forbid, the rise of false opinions regarding the most
sublime of mysteries...
The Church, therefore, with the long labor of centuries and the help
of the Holy Ghost, has established a rule of language confirming it with
the authority of the councils. This rule, which has often been the
watchword and banner of the orthodox Faith, must be religiously
preserved. Let no one presume to change it at his own pleasure or under
the pretext of new science... It cannot be tolerated that any individual
should on his authority modify the formulas used by the Council of Trent
to propose the Eucharistic Doctrine of belief. These formulas, like the
others which the Church uses to propose the dogmas of faith,
express concepts that are not tied to a certain form of human culture,
or to a specific phase of scientific progress, or to one or other
theological school. No, these formulas present that part of reality
which necessary and universal experience permits the human mind to grasp
and to manifest with apt and exact terms token from either common or polished language. For this reason,
these formulas are adapted to
men of all times and all places.
...It is, in fact, the teaching of the
First Vatican Council that 'the same signification (cf Sacred Dogmas) is
to be for ever retained once our Holy Mother the Church has defined it,
and under no pretext of deeper penetration may that meaning he weakened.
...Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, the third day of September, the
Feast of Pope Pius X, in the year 1965, the third year of our
Pontificate.
signed: Pauls PP. VI
A PILGRIMAGE TO FRANCE
AND ITALY
(T. Walsh & S. Norris)
Friday, June 3, 1988
We attended 7 am Mass, had our breakfast in our room, and then tried to
get to the church of St. Peter but we had great difficulty in doing
this and so could not see the Beta. We saw her tomb and then visited St.
Luke's where, we purchased some reading material, post cards, etc., took
a few photographs and then set out for Bologna at 10.30 am.
We arrived in Ferrari (Eucharistic miracle church) at noon, just as
they were going to close the church for the next three hours. This
church of Santa Maria del Ado contains one of the most amazing
Eucharistic miracles ever recorded. But we could not get in as it was
Siesta time in Italy. However, just as we were preparing to wait, a little nun came up to
us and led us around the hack and into the church. She could not speak a
word of English hut she got her message through to us with the usual arm
gestures.
The miracle happened in the year 1171 on Easter Sunday in this church
of Santa Maria del Ado (Mary of the Ford). Mass was being celebrated,
and when it come to Holy Communion, just as the priest broke the large
Host, a stream of blood spurted from the Sacred Host and it went over
the dome-shaped ceiling with droplets of blood. The ceiling was a
semi-circular one and was entirely sprinkled with blood.
Pope Eugenic IV officially recognized the miracle in 1442. Also Pope
Benedict IV (1740-1758). We bought some postcards and left a donation
for the upkeep of the church, then went outside where tables were
provided for people to have lunch. We had a snack there , and then
continued our journey to Bologna.
St. Dominic's was closed until 3.30pm. We paid our first visit to a
pub. Thereafter we visited the incorrupt body of St. Catherine of
Bologna. This saint was born in 1413 and died in 1463. She was born on
the Feast of the Annunciation of Mary, and joined a group of Franciscan
territories at age 17 in Ferrari. They later adopted the Rules of St.
Clare. Catherine wrote many important hooks and sermons, devotions
and verses. Her artistic works included a number of miniatures and
paintings, notably her illustrated breviary.
She was favored with a number of visions. Once Our Lady appeared to
her and placed the new-born Christ child in her arms. On another
occasion, Catherine was permitted to hear the angelic choirs singing
after the elevation of the Mass. From that time onwards, she was
relieved of constant temptation to slumber during religion exercises.
When Catherine died and her grave was dug, the sisters carried her
body to be buried without a casket. As the body of the saint was lowered
into the grave, an incredible sweet fragrance emanated from it. This
lasted for several days. Eighteen days after the burial, miracles began
to happen. The incurably sick were cured. The sisters felt guilty about
her body having no casket, so they consulted their Father Confessor,
obtaining a license to exhume her body. Four nuns unearthed the body and
found that the wooden plank put over her body as protection from the
earth, had broken under the weight of the soil and had crushed Catherine's
face. The wounds were bleeding.
The sisters lifted the corpse, took it down under the cloister porch,
and knelt in prayer. Gradually, the saint's face resumed its features,
and before long also her body returned to normal, showing no signs of
corruption or rigidity, spreading a sweet scent all around.
It now became impossible to bury the saint again as whenever they
tried to do so, a mysterious force pushed her back into her chair.
Countless miracles were attested through the intercession of this saint,
but perhaps the greatest one concerns her own body which still remains
intact and incorrupt after more than five centuries. For about 12 years,
Catherine's body lay on a stretcher. Four nuns had to carry her body
into the parlour every time visitors wanted to see the sacred body. The
nuns decided to sit her in an armchair. To their great surprise, the
body became very stiff, and only when Mother Abbess commanded her to he
seated, under obedience, that the saint promptly obeyed as she had
always done during her lifetime.
Catherine can still be seen to this day, incorrupt, though her face
has now blackened a little because of candles, etc. being lit at her
shrine.
We also visited in this city the covered body of Blessed lmelda
Lambertini, who died at the age of 13. Her body, or rather her bones,
are enshrined under an altar in the church.
We got up the next day, Saturday, 4th June, 1988, at 6am, made some
tea, and left the Pensioni at 7 am. The first thing to confront us was a
broken side window in the car. Vandals had raided it during the night,
but nothing seemed to have been taken. However, it meant a long wait
while Terry got in touch with his insurance company in England, and
reported the matter to the police. It realty was hectic for Terry as he
had to walk everywhere trying to locate the police station and the
telephone company and then having to arrange for somewhere he could
receive the return call from England. He tried the Dominican church, but
they could not help and then he went hack to the Pensioni. They very
kindly agreed for him to receive the calls there, and provided us with a
piece of cardboard and some cellotape to put on the broken window. Luckily it was a
fairly small window. We agreed to try and get to
Prato which would have been our next port of call in any case, and we
arrived there at 5.15 pm, parked the car on a square, and Terry went off
to find the shrine of the Cincture of Our Lady. He returned at 6.25 pm
after attending Mass in the Cathedral, and told me there was another
Mass in the Cathedral starting at 6.30 pm, which at first I declined
but on reflection I decided I could not miss Mass on the First Saturday,
and Our Lord and Our Lady would understand if I were a few minutes
late.
So I set off, with Terry racing to the end of the street to show me
the way. But I got it all wrong and ended up in another church.
However, I got Mass and was so delighted at this that I missed the right
street on the way back to the car and got lost for nearly an hour. Terry
was getting worried about me, and when it came to 8.15 pm he decided to
look for me, but in the meantime I had found my way with the help of one
or two very good people who could speak English. I arrived back at the
car at 20.30 pm. I had been away for nearly two hours. Terry arrived back a
few minutes later, and we decided there was no use in continuing our
pilgrimage.
For some reason, unknown, to us, things had happened to cut short our
journey. We accepted this as part of God's plan, and started our journey
to the Port of Dieppe in France, about 1,000 miles away, traveling
through the night. Terry did all the driving. I must have fallen asleep,
for when I awoke we had passed Turin in Italy and were now on French
soil. I'll never know to this day how Terry had the energy to drive all
the way without resting.
We made one stop during the heat of the day, and continued non-stop
until we reached Dieppe. We had clocked 996 miles. Tremendous skill and
courage on Terry's part. All I could do was pray. We got fixed up with
our passage that night -or to he exact if was already morning-, and in
due course went on hoard the ferry where we had a cup of tea and some
sandwichs. We arrived in England at 6.30 am, and home at 8.20 am. Terry
decided not to rest and to finish his journey to Cornwall. I sent my
angel with him. He needed all the help he could get.
I must say it was a memorable pilgrimage at the time, one I can never
forget as long as I live.
THE ONLY LASTING GLORY
(Franciscan Minims)
Our time on earth is short; it passes quickly. When we look towards the
future, it seems to stretch before us endlessly. But when we turn
towards the past, we realize how quickly it has passed. What can we
remember of the last 10, 20, 30 or 50 years? We should then realize that
the next 10, 20, 30 years will pass just as quickly. And beyond that,
what is there? It is not to late to think about it; it is not too soon
either. The following story took place near Paris in March, 1911.
Monsieur N., aged 40, was dying. The illness that had plagued him for
a year had done nothing to bring this sinful soul closer to God. His
family did not want to summon the priest for fear of making him think
that his death was imminent. The poor soul was on the way to eternal
condemnation. His friends began a novena to Saint Therese of Lisieux, and
gave a picture of the saint to the sick man, who in turn accepted it
graciously, and read the prayer written on it several times a day with obvious pleasure.
Then, on the night before the end of the novena, he had a vision of
St. Therese. "Oh, how beautiful she was, " he said later. "It was almost
as though I were seeing the Blessed Virgin. " The saint came to tell him
of his imminent death, and to show him the eternal flames that awaited
him if he continued to refuse to make his peace with God before it was
too late. He found himself unable to express the absolute authority with
which this saint said to him: "Save your soul!"
At 7 o'clock the next morning he summoned the priest, made his confession, and received Holy Communion with the most sincere conviction.
Throughout the remaining three serene and happy days of his life, he
repeatedly said that if he ever regained his health, he would begin a
new life, for now he had discovered the true path to follow.
This story teaches us that man is created for a life of eternal happiness through blessed union with God, his Creator, and this union begins
here on earth by aligning our will with the Will of God; and that is why
the sinful man, who has in fact broken this union, must he reconciled
with God.
All earthly things and all earthly events are simply the means of
achieving this union between our soul and our Creator. Even illness,
that misfortune of life, failures, etc. are only sent by God to make us
turn to Him, and let us see the fragility of any happiness that does not
stem from Him.
If man's love of God falters in this search for the ultimate union
with his Creator, then at least the fear of the flames of hell should
discourage him from committing sins, especially mortal sin. To lose God
in fact is to condemn oneself to eternal fire. We must all save our
soul.
If we think about it carefully, we realize that we must not lead a
life of sin, that we must change and seek the path that leads to eternal
joy.
Since the time when God became man, 2004 years ago, this path has
been Jesus Christ. I am the Way, He says, the Truth, and the Life. In
other words: I am the way to true life. If is Jesus Christ we must
follow: it is in His footsteps we must tread, for there is no other name
under Heaven granted to men, by which we may receive salvation.
Some people, in an effort to shake off any form of authority, have
convinced themselves that God does not exist, but this is
contradictory to the most basic common sense. If one accepts that a
house or a car presupposes the existence of a constructor, then there is
all the more reason to suppose that the universe itself presupposes
the existence of an intelligent force, whose power surpasses our own.
It was God, Who created the world. It cannot he objected to this that
the presence of evil erodes part of His creation, for if the existence
of a house in ruins presupposes the architect and mason who designed and
built it, then the world, with all its deficiencies presupposes a
Creator: God.
There is no sound reason to refuse to believe in God, but the
everyday cares of the world make it easy to forget Him, to stop
worshipping Him, and from there it is but a short step to denying Him completely. At the height of his glory, Napoleon's only concession to
religion was to attend musical church services on Sundays and Holy Days.
But once captive and exiled on the island of Saint Helena, he began
to take his religion seriously. Misfortune had dispelled all his
dreams of glory and greatness. Faced with sickness and death, he
dispatched his doctors and summoned the Rev. Father Vignali his chaplain.
"I believe in Jesus Christ," Napoleon said. "I follow the religion of
my father. I could not be an atheist. I was born into the Catholic
religion. I wish to fulfill its duties and obligations and to receive
the comfort it offers. "
The followers of this great but ill man were afraid of the effect
this announcement would have in Paris, and that it might be
interpreted as a weakness, test their 'conqueror of the Pope' might
appear to be dying as a monk. Thereupon the emperor got angry. "And what
are men?" he said. "What were Caesar, Alexander the Great, Charlemagne
with all their glory? What will I be, too, all too soon? Like them,
nothing, just rotting flesh, food for worms". We are all mortal! Only
Jesus Christ is constant; only He is immortal' He is the King, He is
the Master! And before Him, I am but the dome of the 'Invalides' in the
sunlight, a piece of lead that I had coated in gold!"
The emperor made his confession, and Father Vignali administered the
Viaticum and Extreme Unction. Napoleon then turned to General Montholon
saying: "I am happy to have fulfilled my duty. I wish the same happiness
for you. General, on your own death." He then confessed to
him: "I did not practice my religion when I was on the throne, for power
twists the mind of men, but I always kept my faith. For me, it was
always shrouded in mystery, but it is weakness to hide if. Let us give
glory to God, General!"
We often think that those things that please us can make us happy:
honour, glory, power, success, pleasure. These are the things we strive
for so ardently. Napoleon's story proves that these are simply an
illusion. While his ambition was at its height, he was not close to
God, but once he was sick and humiliated, he saw the error of his ways
and discovered true happiness by returning to his Creator.
The joys of this world are fragile and ephemeral; they are not solid
and steadfast, and that is why after chasing these ghosts we not only
waste our time but also run the risk of abandoning our eternal life.
Chasing after such things make us forget about God, and once God is lost,
all is lost. He alone can crown all the desires of our hearts. We cannot
live without loving. He who does not love God becomes enslaved to his
passions, and passion engenders sin. The wages of sin are death
of the soul, and hell: "He who does not dwell in Me is thrown away like
a withered branch. The withered branches are heaped together, thrown on
the fire, and burned."
God created all things good. But the human heart, tainted by original
sin, often uses for its own ruin that which should profit it for
eternity. Added to this failing is the wickedness of the devil and
his rebellious angels, inciting us to evil. Since they hate God and all
who are created in His image, they try to force us into their tyranny
and lure us into the eternal flames of hell.
We should not fear the power of the devil. God became man to save us.
He chose to he called Jesus, that is Saviour. Since He loved us above
all else. He chose to suffer for us; in other words, because of us, and
in place of us. Through His Cross, the power of the devil is destroyed.
God's power can transform a soul in an instant, even one who had
previously resisted Him. How much easier it must he with a soul who is
receptive to Him. Thus eternal salvation is within the reach of alt of
us. "We shall not lack God's grace," the saints said. What we do so
often lack is the sincere desire to he saved. What we all too often lack
is prayer. Too few Christians give sufficient space in their lives to
the needs of their soul: prayer, meditation, the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass, Holy Communion, Confession; these should he our priorities, and
the rest will follow in addition. What counts is our spiritual life. No
man, however busy, would neglect the basic daily functions of his
body: eating, drinking, sleeping. Similarly, we should not neglect the
spiritual needs of our soul. We must learn to make sacrifices, in order
to he able to receive the means of sanctification that the Church
bestows on us in the name of Christ.
In Vietnam in 1975, following the invasion of the South by the
Communist army, the Bishop of Kontum received a visit at his home one
day from a peasant family. "Father, at what time is Mass? May we receive Communion?" The peasant's tone
was entreating, his manner humble and
trusting. By his side stood his wife and two children.
These mountain folk had walked 60 kilometers (38 miles), a two days'
march through thick forests in heating rain simply for "that" - that
which they had been deprived of for three long years. There they stood
with downcast eyes, underfed, thin, with swollen feet, dropping from
fatigue, newly arrived and yet all set to return home again the next
day, 120 km (76 miles) on foot just for a Mass. Could it he possible?
And yet there they were. Faith is more than simply fine words!
What does this family teach us? These fervent Christians are a living
example of the words of St. Teresa: "Faintheartedness and prayer do not
go hand in hand." In our so-called "free" societies access to the
Sacraments is so much easier. But there is also an invisible persecution
that we must face up to: that of nonchalance, indifference, love of
comfort, love of personal interests, and entertainment. To stop the
bird from flying, we do not need chains; one single thread is enough.
How can we free ourselves? Turn to Mary, our Mother, the Queen of
Heaven and Earth. She can turn a poor sinner into a saint. She can
obtain anything from her Divine Son! Pray to Her! |
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