O Lord, we ask for a boundless confidence and trust in Your divine mercy, and the courage to accept the crosses and sufferings which bring immense goodness to our souls and that of Your Church.

Help us to love You with a pure and contrite heart, and to humble ourselves beneath Your cross, as we climb the mountain of holiness, carrying our cross that leads to heavenly glory.

May we receive You with great faith and love in Holy Communion, and allow You to act in us as You desire

for your greater glory.

O Jesus, most adorable Heart and eternal fountain of Divine Love, may our prayer find favor before the Divine Majesty of Your heavenly Father.

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

this prayer discovered here

Want results? Get faith. It’s that simple. It’s also that powerful. But we have to remember a few things, and one is that faith builds upon faith.

That is, for faith to grow, it must be exercised, and we have to be faithful first in small things. We need positive internal dialogue (or “self-talk”). We have to think the best.

 

And we need to pray. It helps to pray with specificity. Envision the end result and pray for all aspects — the details — of what you seek. Don’t just glance over matters. Don’t just throw off prayers. Pray from the heart for every aspect until you have a tranquil feeling. The more we pray, the more God answers, and the more He answers what seem like those little prayers — those prayers about small matters in life, those requests for everyday assistance, those constant supplications about our jobs and children and even a traffic light — the more our faith is increased.

 

This is how faith works and builds and how healing begins.

 

“Small” miracles grow into larger ones.

 

We roll a little ball down a mountain and it grows into a bigger ball — until we can move the mountain itself.

 

Didn’t Christ say that? It wasn’t hyperbole. If we build up faith like we build up our muscles, we’ll get to the point where truly astonishing things occur. In Florida prayer groups have prayed away storms and nuns in Omaha prayed away a tornado that suddenly lifted from its direct path toward them and in California the Big One has not yet come in part due (we are convinced) to those who have unfailingly prayed over that fault known as the San Andreas. Want a mountain? Last November, an archbishop in Italy,  Monsignor Salvatore Gristina, went up Mount Etna, Europe’s highest volcano, when its eruption jeopardized neighboring buildings. For weeks the lava had been posing a dire threat, but only five hours after his benediction the flow suddenly veered off course. “‘Divine intervention’ diverts Etna lava,” said a headline in England’s Daily Telegraph,

 

Fantasy?

 

Faith can do anything.

 

How do we start?

 

As with every other attribute, the way to increase faith is to constantly practice. When we use what we have and all of what we have, faith grows; we receive more; it is a tightened, larger muscle. To use another metaphor, developing faith is like planting seeds. Mustard seeds. Those are among the tiniest seeds, but when nurtured they grow into an awesome tree, the branches of which reach heavenward, the bark of which is impenetrable, and the roots of which can split rocks beneath it.

 

If you want to crack open a mountain, plant mustard seeds on top of it!

 

If we plant enough seeds, there will still be a “harvest.” Any time we have faith, we are blessed. And the better we become at it, the larger our harvest will become. Even if some of the things we have faith in don’t pan out — even if certain prayers aren’t “answered” — we will still receive benefits. To us it may have seemed like an unanswered prayer — like we wasted faith — but that’s never true. He knows when we have done something in faithfulness. He knows when we have held hope despite all the odds. He may not answer in the way we want, but if so, it’s because it is not the time; it is not in His plan for us; it’s not what is best for us.

 

But it still goes into what can be likened to a spiritual bank account.

 

God keeps track of our faithfulness and adds “interest” each time we exercise it.

Once we identify a problem in our lives, we verbalize its remedy. We do this in prayer. We remove thoughts of illness and failure and fear. We replace them with hope — with knowing that God will do what is best for us. If it is right for us that the prayer be answered, then God will work the miracle. We don’t deny the presence of a problem; we don’t hide our heads in the sand. And we certainly don’t lie to ourselves. But we do deny the power of a problem over our divine right to remove it.

 

We have the right. That’s how good God is.

 

When we practice faith in both small and large things, when we are constant, and when we never allow discouragement, we can expect a large harvest. Sometimes, it takes a while; sometimes, it comes in a gradual fashion. But it comes. It is inevitable. No exercise of good faith is ever wasted. If we maintain faith in all things — if we keep exercising it, if we keep tossing those seeds, relentlessly — it’s only a matter of time before a big prayer is answered in a big and miraculous way.

 

 

this article discovered here

 

 

 

When the great explorer Shackleton was on his quest for the South Pole, he was at one time driven back, and was compelled to leave some of his men on Elephant Island, though he promised that he would return for them.

 

But when he endeavored to get back, he found a sea of ice between him and the island. What should he do? He had promised, and he must keep his word.

 

He tried to reach them, but failed. He tried again and again, but without success. Beyond the ice were his trusting companions, who had every confidence in him. They had only a few supplies with them. At that time of the year it seemed folly to hope for any favorable change in the weather, and he was told that there was absolutely no hope of getting his little boat, the Yalcho, through the great ice barrier to Elephant Island.

 

He could not be inactive. He must reach his men; so at the risk of losing his boat and the lives of his crew, he pushed in nearer to the island; and unexpectedly there came an opening in the ice. He hurried in, rescued his men, and in an hour was back again with all on board. Had they been delayed only a few minutes more, their frail vessel would have been destroyed by the crashing of the ice as it closed in.

 

When they were sure they were beyond danger and the nervous tension was over, Shackleton said to one of the rescued companions, Well, you were packed and ready, weren’t you?

 

Yes, came back the reply, We never lost hope. We believed you would come for us, even though circumstances were unfavorable. You had promised, and we expected you; so each morning we rolled up our sleeping bags and packed all our equipment, that we might be ready. And now they were all safe and homeward bound, happy that they had been prepared daily.

 

Before Jesus departed from this world, He left a definite promise in John 14:1-4. The Lord is not slack concerning His promises.

 

by Charles L. Paddock

 

Delight yourself in the LORD;

And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD,

Trust also in Him, and He will do it .

Ask and it will be given to you;

seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you.

this prayer discovered here

 

 

Thou hast fixed all the bounds of the earth;

Thou hast made summer and winter.

 

It’s sometimes easy to forget that God is the Master of time as well as space.  We think of God being everywhere.  We often forget that He is everywhen as well.  But just as surely as it is both summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in Auckland, New Zealand today, so God has His finger on the pulse of all time as well as all space. 

 

Today, if you feel pressed for time, remember that it all belongs to Him.  Give time back to Him and ask Him to help you use the grains of it which are yours to His glory!

 

this article discovered here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Lady of China is the name given to an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Donglu, China, first appearing in 1900.

 

An officially-sanctioned image of Our Lady of China was blessed, granted and promulgated by Pope Pius XI in 1928, in response to the requests made by the 1924 Shanghai Synod of Bishops in China, the first national conference of bishops in the country. Following the event, Archbishop Celso Costantini, Apostolic Delegate in China, along with all the bishops of China, declared the Chinese people dedicated to Our Lady of China, using the official image. In 1941, Pope Pius XII designated the feast day as an official feast of the Catholic liturgical calendar. In 1973, following the Second Vatican Council, the Chinese Bishops conference, upon approval from the Holy See, placed the feast day on the vigil (day preceding) of Mothers Day (the second Sunday of May).

 

Christian devotion to Our Lady of China has been popular in Donglu.

 

Several churches, chapels, and pastoral centers around the world, predominantly those focused on ministry to Chinese-speaking Catholics, have adopted the name, including a mission in Washington, DC. There is a Chapel of Our Lady of China in the National Shrine of the United States in Washington, DC, established and dedicated in 2002 under the Most Rev. Michael J. Bransfield. There has been some controversy because the image used in the Chapel is not the officially approved image of Our Lady of China, but instead a different Chinese image of the Virgin Mary.

 

The Virgin of Sheshan is another, similar apparition which has attained like acclamation and fame among Chinese Christians.

 

Our Lady of China appeared near Peiping. It stands in a village named Tong Lu. A Poor Mission was started there by the Vincentian Fathers. It was a poor place, perhaps the poorest in the whole region, formerly called “the place of beggars.”

 

In 1900, there were some seven hundred Christians gathered about the little hamlet. Suddenly, the famous Boxer rebellion swept China and grew to such proportions, that even small places like Tong Lu could not escape its fury. In April 1900, a force of ten thousand rioters attacked Tong Lu. The soldiers, in senseless rage, started to shoot into the sky. Then suddenly they fled, frightened, and never came back again. According to the legend, a woman in white appeared above the settlement, and the rioters’ bullets were aimed at her. When the apparition did not fade, attackers had not even time to reorganize because a strange horseman put them to flight. Soon after they had disappeared beyond the horizon.

 

Father Wu, a Chinese priest, confessed to his flock that he invoked the help of Mary.

 

A new church was built on the site and Father Wu placed a picture of Our Lady on the main altar. He asked the painter to dress Our Lady in the royal robes of the dowager Empress Tzi-Hsi. The image of the Blessed Virgin in the royal robes of the pagan Empress, with the Christ Child on her knees, is vivid expression of Chinese tradition. It is a shrine of the Mother and her Son. Though her robes be pagan, she belongs to every age, to all people and to every race. As was told and promised in the Old Testament: “I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge and of holy hope.”

The Tong Lu church was completely destroyed recently by the Chinese Communists, but the picture of Our Lady of China remains intact because only a copy of the picture was used in the church. The original was hidden in the wall behind the copy, and this was recovered and found intact. It is now in possession of Chinese priests who carry out their activities in disguise.

Bishop JIA Zhiguo, the underground Roman Catholic bishop of Zhengding, Hebei, was arrested on March 20, 2002. Bishop JIA is 67 years old and was ordained a bishop in 1980. He was previously in jail for approximately 20 years. He was released shortly after our press release and has been under strict surveillance for many years…..

 

Father PANG Yongxing, 30 years of age, was arrested in his home in December 2001. On Easter Sunday, March 31, 2002, Father MA Shunbao, 50 years of age, was arrested while he was offering Holy Mass.

 

Father WANG Limao, 32 years of age, was arrested on Palm Sunday, March 24, 2002, also while offering Holy Mass.

 

All three priests belong to the underground Roman Catholic Church in Baoding, Hebei. On July 7, 2002, they were sentenced to three years of labor camp for “disturbing the peace of society” under the “cult” law…..

 

Six Roman Catholics from Wenzhou, Zhejiang went to DongLu in Baoding, Hebei for a pilgrimage in May 2002 and were arrested by the authorities. They were fined a total of JMP 30,800 (US $ 3,850) for “illegal pilgrimage.” They were released soon after the fine was paid. …..

 

On July 18, 2002, in Dong-An village, Fujian province, 31 underground Roman Catholics, 26 of whom were students under 18 years of age, were arrested during a summer vacation catechism class in a private home. Among the 31 arrested were a Catholic nun, Sister Chen Mei, 27 years of age, and four chaperons. The children and chaperons were released after one day. The situation of Sister Chen Mei is unknown…..

 

Bishop WEI Jingyi, 44 years of age, the underground Roman Catholic Bishop of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, was arrested Sept 9, 2002. He was too released shortly after our press release.

The Cardinal Kung Foundation is promoting the celebration of an annual Mass for the persecuted underground Roman Catholic Church in China. The Foundation has chosen, as the annual date for this Mass, the Sunday before October 1, which is the National Day of the founding the People’s Republic of China and also the anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s canonization of the 120 blessed martyr saints of China.

 

Hail, Holy Mary, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

Mother of all nations and all people.

You are the special heavenly Mother of the Chinese people.

Teach us your way of total obedience to God’s will.

Help us to live our lives true to our faith.

Fill our hearts with burning love for God and each other.

Stir up in our youth an unconditional giving of self to the service of God.

We call on your powerful intercession for peace, reconciliation and unity among believers

and the conversion of the unbelievers in China and throughout the world,

for God’s mercy is our only hope.

Our Lady of China, Mother of Jesus, hear our petitions and pray for us.

Amen.

Source: Daisy Y.Y. Lin, MD, MPH

Imprimatur: Bishop William E. Lori, Bishop of Bridgeport Connecticut

 

 

 

this article discovered here

 

 

The May, 2002 issue of the Brazilian magazine Catolicismo carried a lead article about the private revelations of Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora. Since these practically unknown revelations tie in remarkably with those given at Fatima, the TFP website decided to reproduce key extracts from the article.

 

One hundred years before Fatima, Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora received revelations reminiscent of those given by Our Lady to the three shepherd children in Portugal in 1917. Her prophetic revelations are both a cause for sober reflection and great hope in the coming of God’s triumph.

 

Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora was born in 1774 and lived in Italy until her saintly death in 1825. On instructions from her confessor, she wrote down her revelations which fill hundreds of notebook pages. Today, the manuscripts are safely kept in the archives of the Trinitarian Fathers at San Carlino, Rome.

The Manuscripts of Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora.

 

When a copy of these manuscripts fell into the hands of the staff of Catolicismo, due to their timeliness and importance, an article was inevitable. Here we see already at the beginning of the nineteenth century, God warning mankind about the coming of a great chastisement and the necessity for prayer and penance, as well as foretelling the final triumph of the Holy Church. This is exactly what Our Lady told the three little shepherd children at Fatima in 1917.

 

We now present these revelations in a spirit of prudent devotion, recalling the Church’s constant admonition not to indulge an unbalanced and excessive interest in apparitions and mystical phenomena. However, a humble and prudent consideration of the words of Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora throws valuable light on our chaotic times and gives us great hope for a better future.

 

When Pope Blessed Pius IX authorized Elizabeth Canori Mora’s cause for canonization to proceed, for years, all her writings were scrupulously examined for doctrinal errors, to guard against the dangers of being misled by a false mystic. The ecclesiastical censor commissioned by the Holy See released his official judgment on November 5, 1900. It stated “there is nothing against faith and good customs, and no doctrinal innovation or deviation was found.”

 

Elizabeth Canori Mora was beatified in 1994.

 

 

Crisis in the Church

 

Many of the prophetic visions of Blessed Elizabeth deal with a profound crisis in the Church.

 

On Christmas Eve 1813, Elizabeth was transported in ecstasy to a place refulgent with light. There she saw countless saints in adoration before a humble manger. The Infant Jesus signaled her sweetly to approach, but on drawing near she saw that He was soaking with His own Blood. “Just the thought of it fills me with horror” she wrote. “But at the same time I understood the reason for such shedding of blood was the bad habits of many priests and religious who do not behave according to their state in life and the bad education given to children by their fathers, mothers and others entrusted with this duty. They, who should increase the spirit of the Lord in the hearts of others by their good example, instead mortally persecute Him with their bad conduct and teachings.”

 

Blessed Elizabeth received many other revelations concerning the devastating chaos and decadence into which Catholics, both lay and clerical, would fall. She relates that on February 24, 1814, she “…saw many ministers of the Lord who rob each other and furiously tear off the sacred vestments. I saw the sacred altars despoiled by the very ministers of God.”

 

Likewise, on March, 22, 1814, while praying for the Holy Father she “…saw him surrounded by wolves who plotted to betray him…I saw the Sanhedrin of wolves which surrounded the Pope (Pius VII), and two angels weeping…when I asked them why they were sad and lamenting, looking upon Rome with eyes full of compassion they responded, ‘Wretched city, ungrateful people, the justice of God will chastise you.’”

 

On January 16, 1815, angels showed her “many ecclesiastics who persecute Jesus Crucified and His holy Gospel under the guise of doing good…Like furious wolves they scheme to pull the Church leader down from his throne.” Then she was allowed to see the terrible indignation these wolves aroused in God. “In terror I saw the blazing lightening bolts of Divine Justice fall about me. I saw buildings collapsing in ruins. Cities, regions and the whole world fell into chaos. One heard nothing but countless weak voices calling out for mercy. Countless people will be killed.”

 

“His gaze alone was enough to incinerate the whole world.”

 

What terrified her the most was God’s anger. She saw Him “extremely angry with those who persecute Him. His omnipotent hands were holding bolts of lightening, His face was resplendent with indignation and His gaze alone was enough to incinerate the whole world.” The vision lasted but an instant, whereupon she recalled, “had it continued for another moment I surely would have died.”

 

Concerning her vision of June 7, 1815 she wrote of, “fierce wolves in sheep’s clothing, relentless persecutors of Jesus Crucified and His spouse the Holy Church…I saw the whole world convulsed, especially the city of Rome. How can I possibly relate what I saw of the Holy College? Because of contrary doctrines, together with the secular clergy, they were scattered, persecuted and murdered by the impious…The regular clergy had not suffered a total dispersion, but were also decimated. Countless men of all conditions died in the massacre, but not all were condemned, for among them were those of decent customs and others of holy life.”

 

Mercy Ceases for the World

“Behold my daughter such great ungodliness”

 

On Christmas, 1816 Blessed Elizabeth saw Our Lady, who appeared extremely sad. Upon inquiring why, Our Lady answered, “Behold, my daughter, such great ungodliness.” Blessed Elizabeth then saw “apostates brazenly trying to rip her most holy Son from her arms. Confronted with such an outrage, the Mother of God ceased to ask mercy for the world, and instead requested justice from the Eternal Father. Clothed in His inexorable Justice and full of indignation, he turned to the world.

 

“At that moment all nature went into convulsions, the world lost its normal order and was filled with the most terrible calamity imaginable. This will be something so deplorable and atrocious that it will reduce the world to the ultimate depths of desolation.”

 

On the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, 1820, she saw St. Peter descending from heaven, robed in papal vestments and surrounded by a legion of angels. With his crosier he drew great cross over the face of the earth, separating it into four quadrants. In each of these quadrants, he then brought forth a tree, sprouting with new life. Each tree was in the shape of a cross and enveloped in magnificent light. All the good laity and religious fled for protection underneath these trees and were spared from the tremendous chastisement. “Woe! Woe to those inobservant religious who despise their Holy Rules. They will all perish in the terrible chastisement together with all who give themselves to debauchery and follow the false maxims of their deplorable contemporary philosophy!

 

“The sky took on a morbid blue color which terrified everyone who looked at it. A dark wind blew everywhere. An impassioned and mournful shrieking filled the air, like the terrible roar of a fierce lion, and resounded all over the earth in blood curdling echoes.

 

“All men and animals brimmed with terror. The entire world convulsed and everyone pitilessly slaughtered one another…

 

“When this bloody fight will arrive, the vengeful hand of God will weigh upon these fated ones and with His omnipotence He will chastise the proud for their rashness and shameless insolence. God will use the powers of darkness to exterminate these sectarian, iniquitous and criminal men, who plot to eradicate the Catholic Church, our Holy Mother, by tearing Her up by Her deepest roots, and casting Her on the ground.

 

God Will Laugh at Them

“I saw the devils who would be released on earth to carry their wicked destruction everywhere.”

 

“God will laugh at their malice, and with a mere wave of His almighty right Hand, He will punish the wicked. The powers of darkness will be allowed to leave Hell and enormous crowds of devils will invade the whole world. They will wreak great destruction and thus execute the orders of Divine Justice, to which they are also subjected. They will chastise man’s goods, families, towns, wretched cities, palaces, houses and everything else that exists on the face of the earth to the exact degree that God decrees…

 

“God will allow wicked men to be cruelly chastised by fierce demons, because they voluntarily subjected themselves to the devil and joined in his attack of the Holy Catholic Church…

 

“I saw the horrible prison, Hell. There I saw the devils that would be released on earth to carry their wicked destruction everywhere. They will decimate every place that idolatry was practiced to such an extent, that no trace of them will remain.”

 

The Great Restoration Begins

“…a beautiful splendor will come over the earth, to announce the reconciliation of God with mankind.”

 

However, all will not end in this death and destruction. After these purifying punishments, she saw St. Peter return on a majestic papal throne together with St. Paul, who went through the world shackling the devils and bringing them before St. Peter, who cast them back into the dark caverns from where they had come. “Then a beautiful splendor came over the earth, to announce the reconciliation of God with mankind.”

 

The small flock of faithful Catholics who had taken refuge under the trees will be brought before St. Peter, who will “choose a new pope. All the Church will be reordered according to the true dictates of the holy Gospel. The religious orders will be reestablished and the homes of Christians will become homes imbued with religion.

 

“So great will be the fervor and zeal for the glory of God that everything will promote love of God and neighbor. The triumph, glory and honor of the Catholic Church will be established in an instant. She will be acclaimed, venerated and esteemed by all. All will resolve to follow Her, recognizing the Vicar of Christ as the Supreme Pontiff.”

 

Early in 1821 Our Lord said to her, “I will reform my people and my Church. I will send zealous priests to preach my Faith. I will form a new apostolate and send the Holy Ghost to renew the world. I will reform the religious orders by means of new holy and learned reformers. They will all have the spirit of my predilect son Ignatius of Loyola. I will provide my Church with a new pastor, who is learned, holy and full of My Spirit. With holy zeal he will reform My flock.”

 

“He told me many other things about this renovation. Many sovereigns will support the Catholic Church and be true Catholics, placing their scepters and crowns at the feet of the Holy Father and Vicar of Jesus Christ. Many kingdoms will abandon their errors and return to the bosom of the Catholic Faith. Entire peoples will convert, recognizing the Faith of Jesus Christ as the true religion.”

 

Blessed Elizabeth and Our Days

 

Although Elizabeth Canori Mora died on February 5, 1825, her revelations seem directed more to our days than her own. Nineteenth century man would have difficulty believing that humanity could have sunk as low as it now has, and thus may not have understood the severity of her predictions. Moreover, the revelations of Blessed Elizabeth form an interesting compliment to the Message of Fatima, since both speak of apostasy and sinfulness that provoke the wrath of God to bring chastisements and universal destruction and both promise the same conversion and restoration of the Church.

 

Together, these two sets of prophetic revelations, though separated by almost a century, serve to help us persevere with confidence through the chaotic and wicked times in which we live.

 

 

this article discovered here