Thursday, 30 July 2009
Reflections on a quiet morning outside the abortion clinic.
A quick nod to Saint Martha
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Link to some great posts on Lourdes
henna hand
Friday, 24 July 2009
Journeys and promises
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
SUMMER PROMISES- MILITIA OF THE IMMACULATA
MI Consecration Prayer
(Composed by St. Maximilian Kolbe)
O Immaculata, Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to you. I, (name), a repentant sinner, cast myself at your feet, humbly imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to yourself as your possession and property. Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases you.
If it pleases you, use all that I am and have without reserve, wholly to accomplish what was said of you: "She will crush your head," and "You alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world. " Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing your glory to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For wherever you enter you obtain the grace of conversion and growth in holiness, since it is through your hands that all graces come to us from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
V. Allow me to praise you, O sacred Virgin
R. Give me strength against your enemies
Thursday, 16 July 2009
18th apparition - A day for Mary
"I felt that I was in front of the Grotto, at the same distance as before, I saw only the Blessed Virgin, and she was more beautiful than ever!"
Bernadette had to let go of her grotto, and a few years later of Lourdes (in the physical sense) all together and find her own path to serving God and Our Blessed Mother in her life. As we all do- the fact that she managed to do it with such completeness is a testimony to her sainthood. But hey, the rest of us can but try!
I do know that I believe completely in the phenomenal POWER of Mary's immaculate heart and that she is capable, through her son, of things that we would consider impossible. I believe, as she promised at Fatima, that she will triumph over all the evils of this world. I also know that through her, in spite of all my faults and failings I have received so many graces in my life (one of them has been stumbling on blogging as an outlet and meeting so many people living out their faith and vocations in so many different ways everyday).
To read each of the other apparitions just click on the post labelled marked apparitions
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Confessions of a reluctant grace seeker
Sunday, 12 July 2009
hope
Finished reading Redemptoris Mater and so much enjoyed it - I feel that there is so much hope to be found in the gift of Mary our blessed mother. I thought I would just share this bit: The Second Vatican Council, by presenting Mary in the mystery of Christ, also finds the path to a deeper understanding of the mystery of the Church. Mary, as the Mother of Christ, is in a particular way united with the Church, "which the Lord established as his own body." It is significant that the conciliar text places this truth about the Church as the Body of Christ (according to the teaching of the Pauline Letters) in close proximity to the truth that the Son of God "through the power of the Holy Spirit was born of the Virgin Mary." The reality of the Incarnation finds a sort of extension in the mystery of the Church-the Body of Christ. And one cannot think of the reality of the Incarnation without referring to Mary, the Mother of the Incarnate Word. In these reflections, however, I wish to consider primarily that "pilgrimage of faith" in which "the Blessed Virgin advanced," faithfully preserving her union with Christ. In this way the "twofold bond" which unites the Mother of God with Christ and with the Church takes on historical significance. Nor is it just a question of the Virgin Mother's life-story, of her personal journey of faith and "the better part" which is hers in the mystery of salvation; it is also a question of the history of the whole People of God, of all those who take part in the same "pilgrimage of faith." |
PETITION
Just a request to anyone able to do so here in the UK to sign the petition HERE arranged by SPUC to lobby against abortion referral in schools. I understand this is a policy Mr Obama is in admiration of so if anyone in the US is interested in this issue it might be worth checking out this:
"Although people think that giving contraceptives to teenagers should stop them getting pregnant, this is not the case. Recent research found that areas which provided greater access to contraceptive services tended to had bigger increases in teenage pregnancies. Figures for 2007, the latest available, show the highest rate ever of under-18 abortions."
Statistics here show that throwing contraceptives at kids is only increasing irresponsible behaviour and casing a RISE in abortions and STIs. Why would you want to implement this failing policy
SPUC to hold national petition day against school abortion push
Preston, 3 July 2009 - Tomorrow (4 July), hundreds of pro-life campaigners throughout the UK will be seeking signatures from the general public and church-goers for SPUC's petition against the promotion of abortion in schools.
"The aim of the petition is stop schools being turned into abortion referral centres," said Tony Mullett, the national co-ordinator of the petition day. "Abortions are being arranged for children in schools behind their parents backs and one out of three secondary schools already has a school-based clinic where sex advice can be offered and abortions can be arranged without parents knowing. Successive governments have targeted young people with sex education telling them where to get contraception and abortion advice. But sexual diseases and abortions continue to increase among the young. The policy has failed, and now they are arranging secret abortions, destroying unborn children and leaving young teenage mothers to deal with the aftermath of abortion. It is profoundly evil."
SPUC's goal is to reverse the government's approach and end the promotion of secret abortions through schools.
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Down here in the dirt
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Redemptoris Mater
I am trying to do a little more encyclical reading and at the moment I am on John Paul II's Redemptoris Mater. I read this today and enjoyed its simple beauty - I wanted to share:
From Redemptoris Mater (1987) |