The Stabat Mater: Mary’s Bitter Passion

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Is there any grief like a mother’s when she loses her child? Stabat Mater, a Latin hymn that can also be recited in prayer, immerses us in the Blessed Mother’s intense sorrow at seeing her beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, dying on the cross in His Passion so that we might have Eternal Life! Its title comes from its first line in Latin “Stabat Mater dolorosa” (roughly translated “the sorrowful mother stood”). A Franciscan friar named Jacopone da Todi is said to have written the original text of the Stabat Mater in the 13th century, although some scholars have attributed it to Pope Innocent III, among others. There are over 60 English translations of the Stabat Mater. It has been so popular that numerous composers including Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn, Schubert, and Verdi have set the original Latin text to music. The Stabat Mater was used frequently in the Liturgy for centuries before it became a sequence (a hymn spoken or sung before the Gospel) in 1727 for the feast of the Seven Sorrows [or Dolors] of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 15th. Its use as a sequence is optional now on that feast day (now called the feast for Our Lady of Sorrows), but the hymn is often prayed with the Stations of the Cross at Lent. The Stabat Mater brings to mind front and center just how fully our Blessed Mother suffered along with Jesus, like Him on our behalf! St Alphonsus Liguori once wrote that “two hung upon one cross.” While she wasn’t crucified, of course, her heartbreak was just as intense! After all, as we read in the seventh stanza of the twenty that comprise the Stabat Mater she saw her beloved Son “bruised, derided, cursed, defiled…all with bloody scourges rent.” Imagine seeing a loved one, a very special loved one, in fact, undergoing such physical and emotional agony. Now add to that the thought that you can’t do anything to help that person, who’s suffering all the more to see your anguish! Is it any wonder that we have devotions and prayers to our Blessed Mother as Our Lady of Sorrows? St Bonaventure wrote of Mary’s sorrow at her Son’s death that “no grief was more bitter than hers, because no son was as dear as her Son.” From what tradition tells us, the Blessed Mother had a strong sense of what was coming way before Christ’s Passion. When she presented her little baby Jesus in the Temple, fulfilling Mosaic law, a “just and devout” (Lk 2:25) man named Simeon, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, foretold both our Lord’s greatness, saying He would be “a light of revelation to the Gentiles and a glory for thy people, Israel,” calling Him “a sign that shall be contradicted” (Lk 2:32 and 34). He told Mary that she would suffer along with her Son as well, saying that “thy own soul a sword shall pierce” (Lk 2:35). Her wounds would be figurative but just as painful! St Bernard once noted that “Love inflicted on the heart of Mary the same tortures caused by the nails in the body of Jesus.” When the Blessed Mother experienced, along with her Son, such an intense, bitter martyrdom of love that awful day at Calvary, could anyone present there have imagined that anything good would come out of it? Yet something quite wonderful did occur! Christ, in His death and resurrection, paved the road for our salvation and “life everlasting” with Him in Heaven. When we offer up our sorrows to Jesus on the Cross, bearing our own cross with patience, and truly seek to follow in His footsteps in our daily lives, we say to both Him and His Blessed Mother, “your efforts on my behalf weren’t in vain!”

Adapted from Our Catholic Prayers

At the cross her station keeping, 
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last. 

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, 
All His bitter anguish bearing, 
Now at length the sword had passed. 

Oh, how sad and sore distressed 
Was that Mother highly blest, 
Of the sole begotten One! 

Christ above in torment hangs. 
She beneath beholds the pangs 
Of her dying glorious Son. 

Is there one who would not weep,
Whelmed in miseries so deep, 
Christ’s dear Mother to behold? 

Can the human heart refrain 
From partaking in her pain, 
In that Mother’s pain untold? 

Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled, 
She beheld her tender Child,
All with bloody scourges rent. 

For the sins of His own nation, 
Saw Him hang in desolation 
Till His spirit forth He sent. 

O thou Mother: fount of love! 
Touch my spirit from above, 
Make my heart with thine accord. 

Make me feel as thou hast felt; 
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ my Lord.

Holy Mother, pierce me through; 
In my heart each wound renew 
Of my Savior crucified. 

Let me share with thee His pain, 
Who for all my sins was slain, 
Who for me in torment died. 

Let me mingle tears with thee, 
Mourning Him who mourned for me, 
All the days that I may live. 

By the Cross with thee to stay; 
There with thee to weep and pray, 
Is all I ask of thee to give. 

Virgin of all virgins best, 
Listen to my fond request:
Let me share thy grief divine.

Let me to my latest breath, 
In my body bear the death 
Of that dying Son of thine. 

Wounded with His every wound, 
Steep my soul till it hath swooned 
In His very blood away.

Be to me, O Virgin, nigh, 
Lest in flames I burn and die,
In His awful Judgment day. 

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, 
Be Thy Mother my defense, 
Be Thy Cross my victory.

While my body here decays, 
May my soul Thy goodness praise, 
Safe in Paradise with Thee. Amen.

Our Lady of Wisdom regains “her” rightful place

On March 25, 2021, feast day of the Annunciation, the parish council of Tavel (France) installed a new statue of Our Lady of Wisdom in their village. This project was made possible thanks to a broad appeal for donations to protect this heritage. The alcove where the statue was placed is on a street corner in the center of the village. Some years ago, the old alcove had been broken into and the original statue damaged. Thanks to donations, the alcove was restored and a new statue was purchased from the Villa d’Elba workshop, located in Carpentras (France). A local quarry donated the base of the statue, made of Tavel stone. The parish priest, Father Richard, conducted the blessing ceremony.

Translated and adapted from: Midi Libre Article published on March 29, 2021

Human DNA is the ID Tag of God? | Angelic Twaddle™ Comics

Human DNA is the ID Tag of God?

Ponder this: If you were on an outdoor nature hike and found a cave and saw that inside the cave was artwork and many letters on the interior walls… you would immediately think that someone drew those characters… you wouldn’t think that this presence of letters evolved out of dust and natural cave conditions. Right?

Research shows every human has around ~30 trillion cells and inside each cell is a unique word/name consisting of ~3 billion letters (DNA). This intelligent combination of letters is different for each human. The Angels playfully refer to it as the Almighty’s ID Tag.God has made us in His image and knows each of us personally, he has counted the hairs on our heads and with the angels, knows the ~3 billion letter name he has given each of us. We are not alone.

Angelic Twaddle™ Comics

{Trib Times} June 14, The Lie of the Wokeing Dead

Tribulation Times

June 14, 2021  

(Rev 22:14-15) Blessed are they that wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb: that they may have a right to the tree of life and may enter in by the gates into the city. Without are dogs and sorcerers and unchaste and murderers and servers of idols and every one that loveth and maketh a lie.

FATHER KIRBY VIDEO: Our Response to Pride Month

CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: The Lie of the Wokeing Dead

Related comment: WOKE as not only zombies, but as SLAVE ZOMBIES…Here, something about ancient history—-as it now applies to our own society, followed by an insight into modern/woke slavery:

“[in Greece] Late marriages and small families became the rule, and men satisfied their sexual instincts by homosexuality or by relations with slaves and prostitutes. This aversion to marriage and the deliberate restriction of the family by the practice of infanticide and abortion was undoubtedly the main cause of the decline of ancient Greece, as Polybius pointed out in the second century B.C. And the same factors were equally powerful in the society of the [Roman] Empire. . . .” (Christopher Dawson, “The Patriarchal Family in History,” in The Dynamics of World History).

This from G.K. Chesterton: “[T]he Catholic Church is the only thing that frees a man from the degrading slavery [!] of being a child of his age.”

DESMOND BIRCH VIA FACEBOOK: SOCRATES – WILL HIS LIFE & DEATH BE REVISITED today, tomorrow?

A few days ago, I posted an article in which contained a prediction made by Pope John Paul II in 1980 to the effect that:

“We must be prepared to undergo great trials in the not too distant future; trials that will require us to be ready to give up even our lives, as a total gift of self to Christ and for Christ …”.

Have you ever wondered about whether if faced with death – you will have the strength to stand with Christ?… How can anyone face death with the kind of calm required for martyrdom?

EVEN A PAGAN OF GOOD WILL HAS PROVED CAPABLE OF DOING IT (undoubtedly with God’s help).

Who has done this. The answer may shock us but, the pagan philosopher, Socrates, was able to do just that. He didn’t do it for Jesus Christ, because Socrates died in 399 B.C., four centuries before the birth of our Lord. What did he die for then? A principle – the defense of truth.

How did it come about? He taught young men philosophy – through what has become known since as, The Socratic Method. That was through the art of asking questions … which led others to actually think things clearly through.

In ancient Greece, the Athenians had what was called the Pantheon of Greek gods. They were manmade gods to be sure. They gave them names, Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athene, Hephaistos, Ares, Aphrodite, Apollon, Artemis, Hermes, and Dionysos. The Greeks – especially the Athenians were expected to honor and pray to those ‘gods’. To deny them such honor was a capital crime – to be punished by death. Socrates was accused of scandalizing the young men who were his philosophy students. How? He asked them embarrassing questions about their definition of a god, what was it, how could there be many of them – rather than one?

Are there pagan gods or idols around today in our western culture, who or which could be used as an artifice to persecute Christians even to death. Oh yes!:

The most obvious is the one Pope Benedict XVI calls, ‘The Dictatorship of Relativism.” There are numerous people out there who grow irrationally furious when anyone states there is such a thing as absolute truth.

If you haven’t already found out the hard way, try saying in a civic crowd in some venue that: homosexual acts are vile, horrible deeds against both the Natural Law and nature’s Creator/God, the Judeo-Christian God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Say to them, the Bible clearly states that homosexual acts are a stench to God and that if unforgiven, they will be rewarded with eternal punishment. [That Natural Law is revealed and discussed by the Apostle Paul. He makes it clear that even the Gentiles have this type of understanding in their hearts.]

[KNOW WHY SUCH A STATEMENT ENFURIATES ‘THE WORLD’? IT IS BECAUSE A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD AT LEAST IMPLICITLY ‘VENERATES’ ONE OF THE PAGAN GODS OF ANCIENT GREECE – APHRODITE – whether they’ve ever heard that name or not. [Love be darned, lust is the name of the game.]

If you haven’t already found out the hard way, try saying in a large civic crowd that Abortion is the deliberate killing of a human being, and is in fact murder! There will be no shortage of people – both male and female around you – who will begin to howl at and threaten you [sometimes to the point that you may be expecting at any time for their head to spin around 360 degrees and spit up green stuff].

You will be screamed at, told that: men and women have a right to freely (promiscuously) engage in sex without having to bear and raise children in the bargain. Children after all bring work and self-sacrifice to raise, etc., etc. Once you have seen that kind of reaction, is there any longer any doubt in your mind that if given a good sounding excuse – many of such types would be more than willing to have you put to death? WHY???
It is because, they at least implicitly worship ‘Aphrodite’, and claim the unlimited right to the Greek ‘Charity’ called ‘LEISURE’. After all, everyone has a right to as much leisure as he or she wants – don’t they. Children can crimp their leisurely style.

How can the world have gone this mad you ask? It is easy. Virtually the whole world thought that way about labor till the advent of the religious orders of Christianity. The monks and nuns who prayed and did manual labor in monasteries and convents – they brough honor to the very concept of labor – for the first time in recorded history. [Prior to the monks and nuns performing manual labor for all to see – labor was considered to be a curse rather than an honest and honorable way to live ones life.] We could go through the rest of the Greek Gods in more or less the same manner. They all represented in one way or another an appealing desire to avoid the suffering entailed in the living of our lives in our fallen nature’s human condition.

The very biggest appeal of those Gods is that accepting them entails an acceptance of fate being the ruler of destinies. Personal responsibility be damned. It’s all in the hands of the capricious gods. It won’t matter what I do – it is all a matter of fate Socrates was capable to some degree of avoiding such thought – as he could see the glimmer of the perennial truths of the Natural Law poking through much of the gloom of Pagan Greek culture. He died at peace – forced to drink the poison (of the water hemlock). His young students around him were grief stricken that Athenian law demanded that Socrates be put to death for questioning their lurid Pantheon of manmade gods.

HOW IS ALL OF THAT SO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND US TODAY??? HMMM???

The only meaningful difference is that we have the benefit of God’s Revelation, of His love, of Him sending His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ to make salvation possible for us. He also sent Jesus through the woman who bore him in her womb, His mother Mary. As first demonstrated later at the Wedding Feast of Cana, Jesus is always moved by requests for aid for man from His Mother. It is to this common mother of us all that John Paul II sends us at this time in salvation history when JP II says: “Put everything in the hands of the Mother of God!”

Why does he say that? Because the poor Jewish couple at the wedding feast of Cana had run out of wine. [In Jewish Culture – this was a terrible embarrassment.] Mary simply goes to Jesus and says, “Son, they have no wine.” He at first objects that His “time” has not yet come. But she simply turns to the chief steward and says, “Do whatever he tells you,” and in response Jesus performs His first public miracle.

It’s that simple. That of course isn’t denying the efficacy of going directly to Jesus. So what then is the point of going to His mother? To use an expression of the day, ‘She’s got more juice with Him than I’ve got.’ I still do it both ways. I have my steadfast prayer directly to Jesus. And I have my request to her for her to pray for me – to intercede for me with her son as at the Wedding Feast of Cana.

Thoughts and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Will of God27. You will obey promptly, simply, lovingly and without replying, to those who have power to command you, remembering these words: “I did not come to do my own will, but the Will of Him Who called me.”

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Prayer request?  Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
“Have ANY Catholic Question? Just ask Ron Smith at:hfministry@roadrunner.com

This month’s archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.

Protect Our Children from Exploitation and Pride Month

Every year, I think to myself that we must have reached the peak of Pride mania. Practically everywhere you look there are rainbow flags. Advertisement after advertisement on television or the radio emphasizes the advertising company’s complete commitment to every dot and tittle of the LGBT agenda. Enormous Pride parades take over the main thoroughfares of most of our cities, sometimes for days on end, and are attended by most of our politicians and entertainers, as well as millions of ordinary citizens.   In recent years, an increasing number of children’s TV shows and networks are openly celebrating “Pride” and pushing a radical LGBT agenda. However, this year, things seem be ramping up, in a big way. A recent article in Breitbart notes that after years of intense lobbying by LGBT activists, “nearly every TV series, animated or live-action, has added gay characters.” This includes shows such as Arthur, SpongeBob SquarePants, Scooby-Doo, DuckTales, and My Little Pony…   (Click here to continue reading this article.)   Sincerely yours in Christ, Father Shenan J. Boquet President, Human Life International Human Life International 4 Family Life Lane ● Front Royal, VA 22630 www.hli.org ● 540-635-7884 ● hli@hli.org

The Madonna and Child of Trapani

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The Madonna and Child of Trapani is venerated in a chapel of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Annunciation (Santuario dell’ Annunziata) in Trapani, Sicily, some 45 miles west of Palermo. The work of an 8th-century Cypriot sculptor, the original statue seems to have remained in Jerusalem until the failure of the Seventh Crusade (13th c.), when one of the Knights Templar sailed for Italy taking the statue with him, possibly to save it from profanation by the Turks. During the course of the voyage, the ship ran into a terrific storm and soon it appeared that the ship and all on board were doomed. But the knight did not despair–he prayed fervently to the Blessed Mother and solemnly promised her, if they weathered the storm, that he would enshrine her statue on the first land they would touch. The storm died down and eventually the ship landed at Trapani, Sicily. Attempts were made to move the Madonna from the Sicilian city to Pisa, but all failed. When the holy statue was transported without any resistance to the church of the Carmelite convent outside the city walls, there was no doubt that this place—and no other—had been chosen by the Virgin Mary. The statue is still there today, in the church of Santissima Annunziata in Trapani, where she spreads her blessings over the city, the island and its pilgrims. At one end of the church behind the main altar, there is a fine chapel and in it stands the venerated marble statue of the Madonna and Child of Trapani.

Adapted from Roman Catholic Saints

JOIN US LIVE! ST. MICHAEL IS CALLING FOR A GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER THIS TUESDAY, JUNE 15.

Countdown to the Kingdom is a new website giving a place for the Body of Christ to discern credible voices of prophecy.

Global Day of Prayer: June 15th      Flame of Love Rosary Livestream    ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL IS CALLING FOR A GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER THIS TUESDAY, JUNE 15.   Join Fr. Santiago Carbonell (from Spain), Christine Watkins (from the U.S.), and Alejandro Yáñez (from Mexico) in praying a bilingual Flame of Love Rosary.    In the U.S at 11 a.m. (PT), 2 p.m. (ET) In Mexico at 1 p.m. (CDT)  In Spain at 10 p.m. (CET)   Click Here for the Scheduled Livestream        Why a Global Day of Prayer?   St. Michael the Archangel gave a message to us through Luz de Maria de Bonilla on May 27th, 2021, asking for a Global Day of Prayer on June 15, 2021.    To read the entire message, which stresses the great need for world-wide prayer for the Church and the world, click on the button below. The message ends with: “The hard work of God’s people is required at this time. You should organize a global day of prayer for June 15. I bless you; do not be afraid, be one. Take action; do not be afraid, convert.”     Click to read the full message   What is the Flame of Love Rosary?    For the times in which we live, Mother Mary has given us a bishop-approved form of praying the Rosary that literally blinds Satan. If you are not familiar with this Rosary, please click here to read the prayer, también disponible en español.   On February 2, 1982, Our Lord explained [to the mystic Elizabeth Kindelmann], “Because of the Holy Virgin’s efficacious pleas, the Most Blessed Trinity granted the outpouring of the Flame of Love. For her sake, you must place this prayer in the Hail Mary so that, by its effect, humanity is converted.”   Click for the Flame of Love Rosary   Christine Watkins is the author of…Fr. Santiago Carbonell is the Spanish translator of…and Alejandro Yáñez is the producer of the coming movie of…    www.countdowntothekingdom.com   VIDEOS  |  OUR CONTRIBUTORS  |  HOME PAGE

Mary, Refuge of Sinners, pray for us!

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The year was 1836. Father Desgenettes, the parish priest at Our Lady of Victories Church in Paris, was discouraged. For four years, his zeal had been unable to overcome the indifference of a middle class bogged down by material interests. He thought seriously about resigning. This temptation hounded him until Saturday, December 3rd, when, as he was celebrating the Mass at the altar of the Blessed Virgin, he received this interior word several times: “Consecrate your parish to the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary.” When Fr Desgenettes placed his parish in the hands of the Virgin Mary everything changed: his church became a “refuge of sinners,” to the point that its renown spread worldwide. Our Lady of Victories Church was founded on December 8, 1629 in commemoration of King Louis XIII’s victories, particularly over the Protestants in La Rochelle, France. It was entrusted to the Discalced Augustinians. A very popular humble monk, Br Fiacre, was the originator of Marian devotion at this shrine. In November 1637 he had received the mission from God to announce the imminent birth of the Dauphin (heir apparent to the throne), the future King Louis XIV, and to hasten the official consecration of France to the Blessed Virgin. Through his efforts, he had Mary invoked at this church under the beautiful titles of “Mother of Mercy” and “Refuge of Sinners.” But since the 17th century, the Revolution had done its work and Father Desgenettes counted but 40 people at the Sunday High Mass, in a parish of forty thousand souls! For four years, he traversed a desert. “It is in vain,” he said, “for the priest to mount the pulpit to break the bread of the Word when there is no one to hear him. His flock consists of a handful of Christians, who are afraid to be seen as such. The others, absorbed in calculations of interest and profit, or drowned in sensuality and passions, know neither the church, nor the shepherd.” Following an interior locution he received during Mass on Saturday, December 3, 1836, he drew up the statutes for a prayer society for the conversion of sinners, and invited the faithful to come to the office of Vespers on Sunday, December 11th to beg for the conversion of sinners through the intercession of the Heart of Mary. Throughout the day that Sunday, the poor pastor worried, hoping that at least a few parishioners would come. That evening, to his great surprise, 500 people showed up, including many men! Many admitted that they did not know why they had come! The assembly, quiet during Vespers, participated enthusiastically in the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. They spontaneously chanted the invocation from the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary three times: “Refuge of Sinners, pray for us.” Moved to tears, the priest asked and obtained the dramatic conversion of a notorious sinner as a sign of approval of the confraternity. Soon, Fr Desgenettes understood his mission—to lead poor sinners to the feet of Mary, and so fight Satan’s work in souls and in society. In a letter dated June 1837, he wrote, “Countless sensational conversions have taken place, and most of the converts are men between the ages of 20 and 30! My parish was the center of indifference and impiety. Well! This has given me astonishing consolations. In my whole life I have never heard as many confessions as I have since last December… All live as Christians today, many leading an angelic life.”

Adapted from Clairval

Mary leads us to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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Every morning, a young girl of about 12—a sweet, silent figure—visits the Church of the Sacred Heart in Basra, southern Iraq. She stands in quiet prayer, for quite a long time, in front of a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. Then she lights a candle and kisses the statue of Mary. She exits the church, quietly. She does that every morning. Bishop Atanasios Firas Dardar, Patriarchal Vicar of Basra for Syrian Catholics, took notice. So one day he decided to make her acquaintance. Her name is Sarah, she lives in Abo Sker, one of the most popular Shiite neighborhoods in Basra, and she sells plastic bags for a living. As evidenced by her clothes, Sarah is a Shiite Muslim. Yet she comes to pray every day at the Church of the Sacred Heart. “I don’t really know who Mary is. But this woman never leaves you empty-handed,” she says. “The simple faith of this child is the type of faith in God that every person should have,” Bishop Atanasios wrote on his Facebook page, where he shared this story. In the deep Shiite south, many Muslims pray to Mary, and sometimes even attend festivals in her honor. This popular devotion among Muslims seems to have been revived by the recent visit of Pope Francis to Iraq in early March 2021 (1).

Translated and adapted from: Avvenire  (1) Muslims do differentiate the Christian figure of Mary from the ‘Myriam’ of the Koran, who is the sister of Moses

Mary And The Moslems

by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Mary

The Koran, which is the Bible of the Moslems, has many passages concerning the Blessed Virgin. First of all, the Koran believes in her Immaculate Conception, and also, in her Virgin Birth. The third chapter of the Koran places the history of Mary’s family in a genealogy, which goes back through Abraham, Noah, and Adam. When one compares the Koran’s description of the birth of Mary with the apocryphal Gospel of the birth of Mary, one is tempted to believe that Mohammed very much depended upon the latter. Both books describe the old age and the definite sterility of the mother of Mary. When, however, she conceives, the mother of Mary is made to say in the Koran; “O Lord, I vow and consecrate to you what is already within me. Accept it from me.”

When Mary is born, the mother says: “And I consecrate her with all of her posterity under thy protection, O Lord, against Satan!”

The Koran passes over Joseph in the life of Mary, but the Moslem tradition know his name and has some familiarity with him. In this tradition, Joseph is made to speak to Mary, who is a virgin. As he inquired how she conceived Jesus without a father, Mary answered: “Do you not know that God, when He created the wheat had no need of seed, and that God by His power made the trees grow without the help of rain? All that God had to do was to say, ‘So be it, and it was done.’”

The Koran has also verses on the Annunciation, Visitation, and Nativity. Angels are pictured as accompanying the Blessed Mother and saying: “Oh, Mary, God has chosen you and purified you, and elected you above all the women of the earth.” In the nineteenth chapter of the Koran there are 41 verses on Jesus and Mary. There is such a strong defense of the virginity of Mary here that the Koran, in the fourth book, attributed the condemnation of the Jews to their monstrous calumny against the Virgin Mary.

Fatima

Mary, then, is for the Moslems the true Sayyida, or Lady. The only possible serious rival to her in their creed would be Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed himself. But after the death of Fatima, Mohammed wrote: “Thou shalt be the most blessed of all the women in Paradise, after Mary.” In a variant of the text, Fatima is made to say, “I surpass all the women, except Mary.”

This brings us to our second point: namely, why the Blessed Mother, in the 20th century should have revealed herself in the significant little village of Fatima, so that to all future generations she would be known as “Our Lady of Fatima.” Since nothing ever happens out of Heaven except with a finesse of all details, I believe that the Blessed Virgin chose to be known as “Our Lady of Fatima” as a pledge and a sign of hope to the Moslem people, and as an assurance that they, who show her so much respect, will one day accept her divine Son too.

Evidence to support these views is found in the historical fact that the Moslems occupied Portugal for centuries. At the time when they were finally driven out, the last Moslem chief had a beautiful daughter by the name of Fatima. A Catholic boy fell in love with her, and for him she not only stayed behind when the Moslems left, but even embraced the Faith. The young husband was so much in love with her that he changed the name of the town where he lived to Fatima. Thus, the very place where our Lady appeared in 1917 bears a historical connection to Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed.

The final evidence of the relationship of Fatima to the Moslems is the enthusiastic reception, which the Moslems in Africa and India and elsewhere gave to the Pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima, as mentioned earlier. Moslems attended the church services in honor of Our Lady, they allowed religious processions and even prayers before their mosques; and in Mozambique the Moslems who were unconverted, began to be Christian as soon as the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was erected.

Daily Quote – Think, kind Jesu!

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DAILY KOLBE QUOTE

Engaging in the World through Mary Meditation “The first and essential condition for membership in the MI is the total consecration of oneself to the Immaculata. Such consecration does not require at all that one abandon at the same time the world and one’s family and enter religious life. Not at all! We may peacefully continue to engage all the lawful business we have committed ourselves to, except that we will not give up all our daily cares to God on our own but through her, the Immaculata, of whom we have become the property.” (KW 1226) Prayer of Consecration O Immaculata, I renew my consecration to you. May I fully engage myself in the world by giving up all my daily cares to God through you. Please intercede that … The Holy Eucharist may nourish our souls and make us bearers of hope and instruments of mercy. (June Intention) Watch the new film about the MI! CLICK HERE and please share with others! This important new short film is available in 7 languages (in English with six other versions subtitled in Spanish, French, Polish, Portuguese, Italian or Vietnamese). Released on the feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, this film will continue to carry out his mission that all people might be consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.