WEAR THE CORRECT SACRAMENTAL

The phony Maria Divine Mercy is propagating this fake Medal of Salvation.

First of all, the Archdiocese of Dublin has already declared that the messages and alleged visions are in contradiction with Catholic theology, and have no Ecclesiastical approval.

Wear instead the Medal of Our Lady of Grace.

The Holy Father proposes the Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy to end the Year of Faith.

The Holy Father as pharmacist prescribes "Misericordina"!  :)

Why not?

He represents the Wounded Healer here on Earth, doesn't he?

While the Holy Father recommended those, our very own crying cleric and his liturgical minions tried ending the Year of Faith by inviting pagans to invite to a god condemned by our Faith.

Ironic no?

Year of Faith ended with a Concert of Kumbaya.

Anywho....

Most of the liberals who were jumping up for joy for the Pope who I heard a "Spirit of Vatican II" priest say is a "breath of fresh air to two previous pontificates who are extremely restorationist", must be gnashing their teeth right now after Pope Francis, the Spiritual Pharmacist (love that tag) recommended two devotions as great prescriptions for a great and health spiritual life.

This is what was actually given to the pilgrims by the Pope.

Thanks to this blog for the photo.

And here is the close up of the box.



Expect enterprising individuals to be making these boxes in the coming days.


PS:

Oh, speaking of enterprising, did I tell you that an enterprising youth, posing as a tertiary Dominican and as a priest and as a......whatever, sold relic cards, and as an excuse for his ruse, called them "donations".  Donations for what???

Expect something by Wednesday.  ;)

If you read my Facebook posts, you know what I mean.

Only our Lady can bring us all back to Her Son!

From AsiaNews.it, comes this wonderful news...

Our Lady indeed would bring us back to Christ, Her Beloved Son.


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For years now plane loads of Muslim women from Iran have been landing at Fatima, Portugal.  They come to pray before Our Lady who appeared to three shepherd children. The reason is that the Madonna was named after the daughter of Muhammad and wife of Ali Ibn Abi Talib. [Fatima.]

In Harissa, Lebanon, Iranian women constantly come to pray to Our Lady, to the point that the rector of the shrine has a chapel prepared especially for them, with icons, signs and prayers to the Virgin in Persian, to facilitate their devotion.

Last year, during the month of May, as I waited for evening Mass to begin in Harissa, I saw hundreds of Muslim families - probably Shiite - who stopped to listen to the hymns before Mass and who only left at the end.  [Was it Gregorian Hymn?  :)]

When I was in Morocco, I found that many women, during pregnancy and after childbirth, continued the so-called "fast of Our Lady," inspired by the Koran, which speaks of this fast.

The Muslims make their way to these shrines, knowing that Mary is the woman most praised in the Koran, the only woman mentioned by name, called "Siddīqah" (true, believer, holy), a title reserved for men (siddīq). She is the only one whom the Koran states that God has "chosen" (inna Allāh istafāqī), and twice, and that God has preferred her to all the women of the earth (wa-faddalaki 'ala nisā' al-'ālamīn); moreover that she was consecrated (innī nadhartu mā fī batnī muharraran) in her mother's womb before birth. Indeed, a scared saying (attributed to Muhammad and thus regarded as a certainty) says that every child, when born, is "touched" by Satan, with the exception of Mary and her son; a saying that draws very close indeed to the concept of the Immaculate Conception...

What drives Muslims to undertake these pilgrimages? First of all people are looking to rediscover their faith in the essential; they are looking for a renewal of faith.  This is also followed by a desire for physical healing. But the question of a spiritual healing is much stronger. This is very similar to the sense of Christian pilgrimages.

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Read more here. You may also want to read this beautiful catechism from EWTN about our Mother, Mary and Islam.

That is why I still believe in this.

Reflect upon this image.

This is our hope for the times.

Devotion to the Eucharist and Our Lady.

Only hope, only refuge...

And Mary is the only way towards ecumenism and bringing the lost sheep to the fold of Christ!

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

I always wear my Brown Scapular.

Are you?

Look who always wore them!  :)

I have blogged about this wonderful sacramental so many times in the past.

Click here and here and here to read them.

Ave Maria!  Ora pro nobis!



PS:  The RH Law suffered another blow on this very day.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.

Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

And today is the day we consecrate our country to Our Lady!

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Messages given at Fatima:

"My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God."

"Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and say many times, especially whenever you make some sacrifice: O Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary."

"You have seen Hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace..."To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved . . . "

"Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them."

"Look, my daughter, at My Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console Me and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to Me."

"The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the Bishops of the world, to make the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means. There are so many souls whom the Justice of God condemns for sins committed against Me, that I have come to ask reparation: sacrifice yourself for this intention and pray."

Your obligations once you are invested with the Brown Scapular

The Brown Scapular, like any other scapular, is not just a devotional or a sacramental, but it is an identifying garb used by orders of monks and nuns to uniquely identify them from other religious orders.

That is why the Carmelite Family is identified with the Brown Scapular.

So the laity, who wears the Brown Scapular, either as a tertiary Carmelite or not, has a responsibility to do.

I wrote this back in Jul;y 17, 2009:

There is a decree issued by Pope Paul V in 1613 stating the importance of wearing this scapular:  "It is permitted to preach that the Blessed Virgin will help by her continued assistance and her merits, particularly on Saturdays, the souls of the members of the Scapular Confraternity who have died in the grace of God, if in life they had worn the scapular, observed chastity according with their state of life, and recited the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary."

The imposition is done with a scapular of wool. Afterwards, a scapular medal could be worn. The requirements of this devotion are:

To receive the imposition of the scapular and to wear it habitually. To guard one's chastity. To pray daily the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. It could be substituted by praying three Hail Marys; or seven Our Fathers with Hail Mary and Glory Be; or the Divine Office.

The Confraternity of the Brown Scapular lists the following:

The members of the Confraternity must at all times devoutly wear the Scapular (or the medal), as a visible sign of their belonging to Mary in the brotherhood of Carmel. But above all the members are bound to set aside regular time to be with God in prayer, frequent participation in the Eucharist and the sacrament of Confession, daily recitation of one of the Hours of the Liturgy or of some Psalms or the rosary.

You can also read from the blog how you can become a member of the Confraternity.

Members of the Apostleship of Prayer, kiss the Brown Scapular they are wearing (yes, they too must wear it) when during their daily morning habit of praying the Morning Offering, the mention of the words "O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers..."

This is in fact one of the obligations a member of the Apostleship of Prayer must fulfill....daily!

You just not wear this scapular and do nothing.  You just don't wear this scapular so you can walk around the church during a Traditional Latin Mass, or a religious procession, wearing this and do nothing afterwards!

You think you just wear the Blessed Scapular and.........uhm, do nothing?

Pray and live chastely according to your state of life.

You may also want to read the reasons WHY YOU MUST WEAR the Brown Scapular by clicking here and here.

Brown Scapular "responsibilities"

Did you know to  that you have an obligation to fulfill once you are imposed with the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel?

Answers tomorrow.

You may chime in your guesses.  :)

Liturgical Mystery of the Year

I have to admit it.

I did not go to Mass on Monday.  It was only today when I was checking on my Ordo that I found out that the Feast of the Annunciation was moved to April 8 since March 25 fell within Holy Week.

Why it is even on April 8, again, LORD KNOWS WHY?!

We celebrate the Annunciation on March 25 because it falls exactly 9 months to December 25, the birth of Christ.  Why?  Because it is at the moment of the Incarnation, at the moment that Mary said "Yes", Christ became Man in the Immaculate Womb of the Virgin.

This day also makes it the Feast of the Unborn, because life begins at conception.

This is also the reason why we bow or kneel at the mention of the Incarnation at the Creed:

For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.

And also during the praying of the Angelus:

And the Word was made flesh.
And dwelt among us.

As one of fave popes once said,

“This is why the Annunciation is a Christological feast as well, because it celebrates a central mystery of Christ: the Incarnation.”  
(Benedict XVI,  Angelus 25 March 2007)

The Incarnation is one of the greatest mysteries of our Faith and of the whole world in fact.  The Eternal God became one of His created beings, everything like man except sin!

Why have it on April 8, less than 9 months...Lord knows why?!

FYI:  Our Eastern brothers, both Sui juris Easterners and Orthodox still keep March 25 the day of the Annunciation.  Just so you know.

Pope Benedict calls Mary as Mediatrix of all graces

The news of the resignation filled all news sources but one news that surely the mainstream media will not dare cover is the one where the Holy Father appointed a bishop as a special envoy to a particular celebration or gathering of the faithful.

In his letter, written in Latin, where he named Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, as his special envoy to the solemn celebration of the World Day of the Sick at the Shrine of Our Lady of Altötting (Germany), the Holy Father entrusted the archbishop's mission “to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate, Mediatrix of all graces” [intercessioni Beatae Virginis Mariae Immaculatae, Mediatricis omnium gratiarum].

The shrine has a very significant place in the heart of the Holy Father.  On 11 September 2006, the newly elected as Pope Benedict XVI, returned to the shrine and donated the episcopal ring he wore when he was the Archbishop of Munich. The ring is now a part of the scepter held by the Blessed Virgin.

The Second Vatican Council and numerous popes have invoked the Blessed Virgin as “Mediatrix,” the popes calling the Virgin “Mediatrix of all graces” is rarer. Pius XI in Caritate Christi Compulsi, mentioned it and in his 1932 encyclical on the Sacred Heart.  Other documents issued by Pope Benedict XV, Pope Pius XI, Venerable Pius XII, and Blessed John XXIII also used the title

Blessed John Paul II in 1979, 1980, and 1987, raised the dignity of churches dedicated under this title to cathedral or basilica status and referred to the Blessed Virgin in one of the documents (the 1987 apostolic constitution Frequentissimae) as the “most chaste Mediatrix of all graces.”

Our Lady of Lourdes: The movie we should all watch today!

The Song of Bernadette, a classic! Hollywood does not make this kind of films anymore. :(

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

In our liturgical calendar, Ordinary Form, it is an optional memorial.  The other option is to choose Ordinary Time.

Wha?!?

You can that an option?!

Choosing the Blessed Mother over, uhm, Ordinary Time?

Duh!

Just in case you forget.  We blogged about the proper way of blessing and receiving the Medal of the Immaculate Conception aka Miraculous Medal.

Click here.

PS:  You might think I don't have this medal.  I actually DO.  Came all the way from Rue du Bac.  :)

The new archbishop of San Francisco in the Philippines

back in 2009 for the Feast of our Lady of Peñafrancia.

Cardinal subito!

The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

Hail Mary, poor and humble Woman, Blessed by the Most High! Virgin of hope, dawn of a new era, We join in your song of praise, to celebrate the Lord’s mercy, to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom and the full liberation of humanity.

Hail Mary, lowly handmaid of the Lord, Glorious Mother of Christ! Faithful Virgin, holy dwelling-place of the Word, Teach us to persevere in listening to the Word, and to be docile to the voice of the Spirit, attentive to his promptings in the depths of our conscience and to his manifestations in the events of history.

Hail Mary, Woman of sorrows, Mother of the living! Virgin spouse beneath the Cross, the new Eve, Be our guide along the paths of the world. Teach us to experience and to spread the love of Christ, to stand with you before the innumerable crosses on which your Son is still crucified.

Hail Mary, woman of faith, First of the disciples! Virgin Mother of the Church, help us always to account for the hope that is in us, with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love. Teach us to build up the world beginning from within: in the depths of silence and prayer, in the joy of fraternal love, in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross.

Holy Mary, Mother of believers, Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Amen.


(This prayer was said during the Blessed John Paul II's August 15, 2004 visit to Lourdes, France. The Pope asked her among other things to "be our guide along the paths of the world.")

In case we forget..

Yesterday was the Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

I wear mine all the time.  And it was imposed on me using the Traditional Ritual.

Yup, there is a special rite.

I will post it here as soon as I find it.

The symbolisms of the Medal is a Catechism in itself of our Faith, and numerous blessings that our Lady promised and I have personally experiences and received...ineffable.

So, are you wearing one?

For more about the Miraculous Medal, click here

"Come to the foot of the altar. Here graces will be shed on all who ask for them. Graces will be shed especially on those who ask for them."

- Our Lady to St. Catherine Laboure'

This day in 1917

The Blessed Mother appeared to 3 young shepherd children at Fatima.

What an opportune date to announce the name of the new archbishop of Manila!

Pray for the new archbishop.

Consecrate him to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

The Black Scapular and other devotions

Did you know that there is also a Black Scapular?

There are actually two kinds of a Black Scapular.

One from the Passionists.  The Scapular is called the "Scapular of the Passion of the Lord"

The tradition of the Passionists holds that before St. Paul of the Cross founded the Congregation of the Passionists he had a Marian apparition during which he received the black habit of the order with the badge on chest. Thereafer, the Passionist Fathers gave the faithful who wished to associate themselves more closely with their order a black scapular in honor of the Passion of Christ. This small scapular has a replica of the badge of the Passion, namely a heart with three nails above a cross, on which is written "Jesu XPI Passio" and below "sit semper in cordibus nostris". The other portion of the scapular hanging at the back, may consist simply of a small segment of black cloth, but at times has an image of the Crucifixion of Christ.
The indulgences for the scapular were extended to all the faithful who wear it by Pope Pius IX in 1861. Various other indulgences for the faithful who wear this scapular, were then approved by the Congregation of Indulgences in 1877

And the other from the Servites.  This scapular is called the "Scapular of the Seven Sorrows of our Lady"

Members of the Confraternity of Our Lady of the Seven Dolours honour the Seven Dolours of Mary, and wear the black scapular of the Order of Servites, sanctioned in 1255 by Alexander IV. The scapular is in black cloth like the habit of the Order, bearing an image on the front of it of the Mother of Sorrows. It bears the indulgences of the Confraternity if worn constantly, and one must go back to 9th March, 1888, for a summary of these indulgences approved by the Congregation of Indulgences.

You can read more about these two Black Scapulars by clicking here (for the Passion) and here for the Seven Sorrows and about all scapulars here.

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A brotherly reminder my dear TPC readers.

It is not in how many you are wearing, but it is in how what you are wearing affects you in your relationship with God and your fellowmen.

I have seen people wearing a lot of medals and scapulars around their necks they would rival B.A. Baracus (Mr. T.) of the A-Team with the number of necklaces worn.

Stay focused my dear friends.  As one of my patron saints, St. Louis de Monfort wrote:

“All our perfection, consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ; and therefore, the most perfect of all devotions is, without any doubt, that which most perfectly conforms, unites and consecrates us to Jesus Christ. Now, Mary being the most conformed of all creatures to Jesus Christ, it follows that, of all devotions, that which most consecrates and conforms the soul to Our Lord is devotion to His holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more it is consecrated to Jesus” (Treatise on True Devotion, n. 120).

Miraculous Medal Associations

From a TPC reader named Una:

Just wondering if you could tell me how to enrol in the Confraternity of the Miraculous Medal?

Thanks,

Una

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Thanks for asking Una. And I am happy to note that you are interested in joining a group that is devoted to the Medal of the Immaculate Conception or more famously known as the Miraculous Medal due to the innumerable miracles received by those who wear it devoutly, of course as promised by Our Lady Herself.

It depends on what country you came from but I have two suggestions for you.

First, if you are here in the Philippines, you can go and contact the Miraculous Medal Apostolate which is located at the San Vicente de Paul Parish in Adamson University in San Marcelino St., Manila.

You can find all the info you need, including types of membership and contact details by visiting their Facebook page.

The other one is based in Perrville, Missouri, USA. You can find all the details you need in their website. They even have a gift shop where you can find beautiful medals.

Hope this helps and do not forget to have your medals blessed according to the approved rite and have them imposed on you by the priest using the approved formula as well. You can find it here.

God bless you!

Feast of the Immaculate Conception Pinoy Style!

 

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Celdran posted about this on his Facebook wall.

"hopes to see you all at this year's most beautiful day in Intramuros. December 5, 2010 at 4pm. The Grand Marian Parade. Illuminated floats, costumes, ivory images of the Virgin Mary, music, & pageantry. It's one of the best things about Catholicism in the Philippines."

I think the way to this man's heart is through the Blessed Mother. 

I think the Rosary Crusade is the way to do it.  Say the "Ave" and maybe say "Pray for Carlos and his followers and us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.   Amen."

Praying for someone else's conversion is a Christian way to go.

Look who is wearing his brown scapular!

HAPPY MARYMAS!!!

I was checking my posts and to my horror I found out that this post that was supposed to be posted automatically by blogger last week was obviously not posted! So, I'd better post it than not post it at all.

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Today is the birthday of our dear Mother, the Ever Blessed and Immaculate, Mary.

Please pray for me and mu wife too as we celebrate our wedding anniversary.  I remember after our wedding reception, my wife and I went to Malate Church to pray before Our Lady of Remedies, where we consecrated our married life to Her and Her Son.

Include us in our prayer and say an Ave and Memorare for me, my wife and my family.

Thank you very much and God bless you!

***

PRAYER ON THE BIRTH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Come, all you faithful, let us hasten to the Virgin: for long before her conception in the womb, the one who was to be born of the stem of Jesse was destined to be the Mother of God. The one who is the treasury of virginity, the flowering Rod of Aaron, the object of the prophecies, the child of Joachim and Anne, is born today and the world is renewed in her. Through her birth, she floods the church with her splendor. O holy Temple, Vessel of the Godhead, Model of virgins and Strength of kings: in you the wondrous union of the two natures of Christ was realized. We worship Him and glorify your most pure birth, and we magnify you.


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For meditations on the Birth of the Virgin Mary, click here.