Showing posts with label Saints. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saints. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux by Stephen B. Whatley


Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. 2011 by Stephen B Whatley
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
By artist Stephen B. Whatley

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux by Stephen B Whatley - Flickr Photo Sharing!

By Stephen B. Whatley

"I have never given the good God anything but love; He will return that love. After my death I will let fall a shower of roses," so spoke Marie Francois Thérèse Martin (1873-1897) just before her tragic death.

The discovery of Saint Thérèse (canonised in 1925) has taken my breath away. She experienced an urgent calling to serve God; while suffering great mental as well as physical anguish - openly admitting to experiencing darknesses of the soul that she feared might crush her faith entirely.

As an artist, I have fought depressions all my life; and no less so than when, on the last day of August, I felt 'divinely pushed' to begin this tribute. Fighting through exhaustion and darkness; and therefore ever dependent on prayer, I felt the promise of roses...pink roses...graces...I felt her like 'the little flower' that expressed her tender humility.

There are times when perhaps to those distant from any spiritual belief (even agnostic) can find God and I feel that such relatively contemporary Saints such as St Therese (whose presence in this life is recorded in photographs; that inspired this painting) can make the path to God more accessible.

Turn to her, in the must humble and simple of prayers....St Thérèse is known as a Saint, through whom miracles can occur. I pray that there will be miracles of healing, prosperity and waves of peace for all those who mourn. Remembering all those who lost their lives and their families and friends who grieve in New York City on September 11.

Stephen B. Whatley, September 11, 2011

Saint Thérèse de Lisieux (2011)
Oil on canvas
24 x 18in / 61 x 46cm
Private collection, Georgia, USA

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Miracles of the Saints

Padre Pio  

Miracles of the Saints

Excerpt from MiraclesoftheSaints.com:

This website MiraclesoftheSaints.com is devoted to the extraordinary miracles of God in the lives of the Saints including examples of Stigmata, Prophecy, Remarkable Cures, Bilocation, Heavenly voices from the afterlife, Prolonged Fasts, Mystical Knowledge, Crown of Thorns, Speaking in Tongues, Incorrupt Bodies, and Miracles over nature along with many others.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Miracles of Saint Anthony of Padua




Gloria.tv: Saint Anthony of Padua Miracle Worker

Bob and Penny Lord have traveled the world to share great stories about saints and miracles. These wonderful stories have aired on EWTN

The Feast Day of Saint Anthony of Padua is June 13.  He is recognized by the Catholic church as a miracle worker and for finding lost items.

Prayers for St. Anthony's Intercession

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

St. Maria Goretti


St. Maria Goretti, originally uploaded by Loci Lenar.

The following biography is from Catholic Online:

Maria Goretti was Born in Corinaldo, Ancona, Italy, on October 16 1890; her farmworker father moved his family to Ferrier di Conca, near Anzio. Her father died of malaria and her mother had to struggle to feed her children.

In 1902 an eighteen-year-old neighbor, Alexander, grabbed her from her steps and tried to rape her. When Maria said that she would rather died than submit, Alexander began stabbing her with a knife.

As she lay in the hospital, she forgave Alexander before she died. Her death didn't end her forgivness, however.

Alexander was captured and sentenced to thirty years. He was unrepentant until he had a dream that he was in a garden. Maria was there and gave him flowers. When he woke, he was a changed man, repenting of his crime and living a reformed life. When he was released after 27 years he went directly to Maria's mother to beg her forgiveness, which she gave. "If my daughter can forgive him, who am I to withold forgiveness," she said.

When Maria was declared a saint in 1950, Alexander was there in the St. Peter's crowd to celebrate her canonization. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950 for her purity as model for youth.

She is called a martyr because she fought against Alexander's attempts at sexual assault. However, the most important aspect of her story is her forgiveness of her attacker -- her concern for her enemy extending even beyond death. Her feast day is July 6. St. Maria Goretti is the patroness of youth and for the victims of rape.

***

The statue of St. Maria Goretti is displayed inside the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, (Blue Army Shrine) which is located on the grounds of The World Apostolate of Fatima, Washington, NJ, USA.

Photograph Copyright 2011 Loci B. Lenar

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Editor of Vatican paper says he received miracle from St. Pope Pius X

CNS NEWS BRIEFS

The following news item is from the Catholic News Service:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The editor of the Vatican newspaper said he was cured of a childhood disease through the intercession of St. Pope Pius X. "I have an authentic veneration for him because, according to family tradition, I was miraculously cured because of him," said Giovanni Maria Vian, editor of L'Osservatore Romano. In 1954, when Vian had just turned 2 years old, he was struck by "an almost deadly form of diphtheria," he said in an interview with Il Consulente Re, an online Italian Catholic magazine. Vian said that on the eve of Pope Pius' canonization in May 1954, a Spanish priest who was a friend of Vian's father said the family should pray for the intercession of the late pope. Family members already felt a close tie to the Treviso-born pope because they were from the same part of northern Italy, Vian said. After the priest celebrated Mass "on the pope's tomb" in St. Peter's Basilica, "I was cured," Vian said.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Prayer to Saint Rocco


St. Rocco - Photo by Loci B. Lenar

Prayer to St. Rocco

O Great St. Rocco, deliver us,
we beseech thee,
from the scourges of God;
through thy Intercessory,
preserve our bodies from contagious diseases,
and our souls from the contagion of sin.
Obtain for us salubrious air;
but, above all, purity of heart.
Assist us to make good use of health,
to bear suffering with patience;
and, after thy example,
to live in the practice of penance and charity,
that we may one day enjoy the happiness
which thou has merited by thy virtues.

St. Rocco, pray for us (say three times)

St. Rocco - Photo by Loci B. Lenar

Saint Rocco is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as the protector against the plague and all contagious diseases.

Biographical information about St. Rocco: http://www.stroccosociety.com/story1.htm

More Devotional Prayers

The stained glass window and statue of St. Rocco can be seen inside of St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 243 Abington Avenue, Newark, NJ.

Miraculous Novena of Grace to Saint Francis Xavier


St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Newark, NJ
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar
 
 
Miraculous Novena of Grace to Saint Francis Xavier

Most amiable and most loving Saint Francis Xavier, in union with thee I reverently adore the Divine Majesty. I rejoice exceedingly on account of the marvelous gifts which God bestowed upon thee. I thank God for the special graces He gave thee during thy life on earth and for the great glory that came to thee after thy death. I implore thee to obtain for me, through thy powerful intercession, the greatest of all blessings--that of living and dying in the state of grace. I also beg of thee to secure for me the special favor I ask in this novena. (Here you may mention the grace, spiritual or temporal, that you wish to obtain.) In asking this favor, I am fully resigned to the Divine Will. I pray and desire only to obtain that which is most conducive to the greater glory of God and the greater good of my soul.

V. Pray for us, Saint Francis Xavier.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

O God, Who didst vouchsafe, by the preaching and miracles of Saint Francis Xavier, to join unto Thy Church the nations of the Indies, grant, we beseech Thee, that we who reverence his glorious merits may also imitate his example, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Then add 3 Our Father's and 3 Hail Mary's in memory of Saint Francis Xavier's devotion to the Most Holy Trinity, and Glory be to the Father 10 times in thanksgiving for the graces received during his 10 years of apostleship.


St. Francis Xavier - Photo by Loci B. Lenar

Biographical information about St. Francis Xavier: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06233b.htm

Monday, December 27, 2010

History of St. Aloysius

St. Aloysius and St. Charles Borromeo - Church Window
St. Jude Catholic Church, Hopatcong, NJ
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

St. Aloysius Gonzaga - Priest - Saints and Angels - Catholic Online

The following history regarding St. Aloysius is found on Catholic Online:

St. Aloysius was born in Castiglione, Italy. The first words St. Aloysius spoke were the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. He was destined for the military by his father (who was in service to Philip II), but by the age of 9 Aloysius had decided on a religious life, and made a vow of perpetual virginity. To safeguard himself from possible temptation, he would keep his eyes persistently downcast in the presence of women. St. Charles Borromeo gave him his first Holy Communion. A kidney disease prevented St. Aloysius from a full social life for a while, so he spent his time in prayer and reading the lives of the saints. Although he was appointed a page in Spain, St. Aloysius kept up his many devotions and austerities, and was quite resolved to become a Jesuit. His family eventually moved back to Italy, where he taught catechism to the poor. When he was 18, he joined the Jesuits, after finally breaking down his father, who had refused his entrance into the order. He served in a hospital during the plague of 1587 in Milan, and died from it at the age of 23, after receiving the last rites from St. Robert Bellarmine. The last word he spoke was the Holy Name of Jesus. St. Robert wrote the Life of St. Aloysius.

Prayer to St. Aloysius

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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Pope Decrees Sainthood for Blessed Guido Maria Conforti and Beatification for Several Others

Pope decrees sainthood for Italian, beatification for 11 others - Catholic News Agency (CNA)

The following excerpt is from CNA/EWTN News:

- Pope Benedict XVI has advanced the sainthood causes of 16 Catholics. The announcement was made following the Pope’s meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato, head of the Vatican’s office for the causes of saints, Dec. 10.

The Church’s newest saint will be Blessed Guido Maria Conforti, a missionary order founder and Italian bishop who died in 1931. The Pope has authorized a miracle attributed to Conforti’s intercession, the second needed to affirm his sainthood.

He founded the Pious Society of St. Francis Xavier for Foreign Missions, the Xaverian missionaries, who through his guidance brought about a renewal of the missionary spirit at the turn of the 20th century. The missionaries first spearheaded evangelization efforts to China. They are now present in a variety of countries throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.

While his most recent miracle was not described, the first miracle attributed to Blessed Conforti came about in 1965. After prayers for his intercession from Xaverian sisters in Burundi, 12-year old Sabina Kamariza was cured of pancreatic cancer. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1996.

In addition to the miracle attributed to Blessed Conforti, the Pope has also authorized miracles attributed to an Italian priest, the Spanish foundress of a religious institute, the Portuguese foundress of an order of hospitalier sisters and a Brazilian sister who died in 1992. They will all be beatified for miracles attributed to their intercession.

Further papally-authorized decrees will recognize the martyrdom of German Father Alois Andritzki killed in the Nazi’s Dachau concentration camp in 1943 and six Spanish priests who all died for the faith during their country's civil war in 1936. No dates have been released yet for the ceremonies that will recognize them as blesseds.

"Heroic virtue" was decreed in the lives of a 20th-century Italian priest, a Lebanese religious brother of the Melkite Catholic tradition, an Italian sister and foundress of a religious congregation and a Spanish religious sister.

A series of steps marks the road to sainthood. First, the cause is begun on a local, diocesan level at which time information is collected on the person known to have led an exemplary or "heroic" Christian life.

Information is collected at the local bishop's request, resulting in a biography of the person, any writings they created, and testimonies from witnesses being sent to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints. After further investigation by a panel, those who advance are either recognized for their "heroic virtue" and declared "venerable" or declared martyrs for the faith, thus bypassing the venerable stage to be beatified and declared "blessed."

"Venerables" to whose intercession a miracle is attributed advance by further papal decree to be beatified and declared “blessed.”

Once a person is declared “blessed,” the final step to canonization and recognition as a saint is the attribution of a second miracle for non-martyrs and a single miracle for those who suffered martyrdom.

Read More: CNA News


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Sunday, December 05, 2010

Prayers to St. Peregrine Laziosi


St. Peregrine Laziosi
Patron of Cancer Patients
Autom Prayer Card

Novena to Saint Peregrine

GLORIOUS WONDER-WORKER, St. Peregrine,
You answered the divine call
With a ready spirit,
And forsook all the comforts of the world
To dedicate yourself to God
In the Order of His Most Holy Mother.

You labored manfully
For the salvation of souls;
And in union with Jesus Crucified
You endured the most painful sufferings
With such patience
As to deserve to be
Healed miraculously
Of an incurable cancer
In your leg by a touch
Of his divine hand.

Obtain for me
The grace to answer
Every call of God
And to fulfill His Will
In all the events of life.

Enkindle in my heart
A consuming zeal
For the salvation of souls;
Deliver me from the infirmities
that afflict my body

(name your petition)

Obtain for me
Perfect resignation to the sufferings
It may please God to send me,
So that, imitating our Crucified Savior
And His Sorrowful Mother,
I may merit eternal glory in heaven.

Amen.

St. Peregrine, pray for me
And for all who invoke your aid. (3 times)


Prayer to Saint Peregrine

O great St. Peregrine, you have been called "The Mighty," "The Wonder-Worker," because of the numerous miracles which you have obtained from God for those who have had recourse to you.

For so many years you bore in your own flesh this cancerous disease that destroys the very fibre of our being, and who had recourse to the source of all grace when the power of man could do no more. You were favoured with the vision of Jesus coming down from His Cross to heal your affliction. Ask of God and Our Lady, the cure of the sick whom we entrust to you.

(Pause here and silently recall the names of the sick for whom you are praying)

Aided in this way by your powerful intercession, we shall sing to God, now and for all eternity, a song of gratitude for His great goodness and mercy.

Amen.


Saint Peregrine Laziosi - Catholic Online

The following information is from Catholic Online:

Peregrine Laziosi was born of a wealthy family at Forli, Italy, in 1260. As a youth he was active in politics as a member of the anti-papal party. During one uprising, which the Pope sent St. Philip Benizi to mediate, Philip was struck in the face by Peregrine. When Philip offered the other cheek, Peregrine was so overcome that he repented and converted to Catholicism.

Following the instructions of the Virgin Mary received in a vision, Peregrine went to Siena and joined the Servites. It is believed that he never allowed himself to sit down for thirty years, while as far as possible, observing silence and solitude. Sometime later, Peregrine was sent to Forli to found a new house of the Servite Order. An ideal priest, he had a reputation for fervent preaching and being a good confessor.

When he was afflicted with cancer of the foot and amputation had been decided upon, he spent the night before the operation, in prayer. The following morning he was completely cured. This miracle caused his reputation to become widespread. 

He died in 1345 at the age of eighty-five, and he was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726. St. Peregrine, like St. Paul, was in open defiance of the Church as a youth. Once given the grace of conversion he became one of the great saints of his time. His great fervor and qualities as a confessor brought many back to the true Faith. Afflicted with cancer, Peregrine turned to God and was richly rewarded for his Faith, enabling him over many years to lead others to the truth.  He is the patron of cancer patients.

More Devotional Prayers

For Prayer Support:
http://www.christian-miracles.com/apps/prayers/

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Saturday, December 04, 2010

Prayers to St. Dominic Savio

St. Dominic Savio - Stained Glass Window
St. Jude Catholic Church, Hopatcong, NJ
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

Prayers to St. Dominic Savio - 2 Hearts Network

Prayer to St. Dominic Savio, Patron of Choir Boys

Great model for God-loving boys and cherished pupil of the famous Don Bosco, who died prematurely, humanly speaking, but you had already attained mature spiritual wisdom. Your kindness won you many friends but your love above all sought the Master who is present in our tabernacles. His praises you Eucharistically sang. Make choir boys be singers like you for the love of Jesus, our most loving Master. Amen.

Prayer to Saint Dominic Savio

Dear Saint Dominic, you spent your short life totally for love of Jesus and His Mother. Help youth today to realize the importance of God in their lives. You became a saint through fervent participation in the sacraments, enlighten parents and children to the importance of frequent confession and Holy Communion. At a young age you meditated on the sorrowful Passion of Our Lord. Obtain for us the grace of a fervent desire to suffer for love of Him.

We desperately need your intercession to protect today's children from the snares of the world. Watch over them and lead them on the narrow road to Heaven. Ask God to give us the grace to sanctify our daily duties by performing them perfectly out of love for Him. Remind us of the necessity of practicing virtue especially in times of trial.

Saint Dominic Savio, you who preserved your Baptismal innocence of heart, pray for us.

Read More: Biography of St. Dominic Savio


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Prayers to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

St. Frances Cabrini - Stained Glass Window
St. Jude Catholic Church, Hopatcong, NJ
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

Prayer for Immigrants 

How much there can be in a name is most clearly shown in you who was called Frances Xavier, thus expressing your wonderful missionary spirit.

An emigrant from Lombardi in Italy, you in turn took care of immigrants.

You founded the Missionary Sisters and became the first American citizen to be canonized a Saint. Make us dedicated servants of God like yourself and care for the immigrants who need your help. Amen.

Intercessory Prayer

Almighty and eternal Father, Giver of all Gifts, show us Thy mercy, and grant, we beseech Thee, through the merits of Thy faithful servant, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, that all who invoke her intercession may obtain what they desire according to the good pleasure of Thy Holy Will. (mention your request).

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, beloved spouse of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, intercede for us that the favor we now ask may be granted. Amen.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Saint Francesa Saverio Cabrini (July 15, 1850, Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy – December 22, 1917), also called Mother Cabrini, was the first American citizen to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.

Francesca Cabrini was born in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano Lombardy, Italy, tenth of eleven children from Agostino Cabrini and Stella Oldini who were cherry tree farmers. Sadly only four of eleven survived beyond adolescence. Small and weak as a child, born two months premature, she remained in delicate health throughout her 67 years.

Cabrini took religious vows in 1877 and added Xavier to her name to honor the Jesuit saint, Francis Xavier. She became the mother superior of the House of Providence orphanage in Codogno, where she taught.

In 1880, the orphanage was closed. She and six other sisters that took religious vows with her founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC) on November 14. Mother Cabrini composed the rules and constitution of the order, and she continued as its superior-general until her death. The order established seven homes and a free school and nursery in its first five years. Its good works brought Mother Cabrini to the attention of Giovanni Scalabrini, bishop of Piacenza and of Pope Leo XIII.

The Pope sent Cabrini to New York City on March 31, 1889, to help the Italian immigrants there "Not to the East but to the West". There, she obtained the permission of Archbishop Michael Corrigan to found an orphanage, which is located in West Park, Ulster County, New York, today and is known as Saint Cabrini Home, the first of 67 institutions she founded in New York, Chicago, Des Plaines, Seattle, New Orleans, Denver, Golden, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and in countries throughout South America and Europe. Long after her death, the Missionary Sisters would achieve Mother Cabrini's goal of being a missionary to China. In only a short time, after much social and religious upheaval there, the sisters left China and, subsequently, a Siberian placement. The sisters opened Columbus Extension Hospital (later renamed Saint Cabrini Hospital) in the heart of the city’s Italian neighborhood on the Near West Side. Both hospitals eventually closed near the end of the 20th century. Their foundress’s name lives on via Chicago's Cabrini Street.

Cabrini was naturalized as a US citizen in 1909.

Mother Cabrini died of complications from dysentery at age 67 in Columbus Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on December 22, 1917. By that time, she had founded 67 missionary institutions to serve the sick and poor and train additional nuns to carry on the work. Her body was originally interred at Saint Cabrini Home, an orphanage she founded in West Park, Ulster County, New York,

In 1931, her body was exhumed, found to be partially incorrupt and is now enshrined under glass in the altar at St. Frances Cabrini Shrine, part of Mother Cabrini High School, at 701 Fort Washington Avenue, in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. The street to the west of the shrine was renamed Cabrini Boulevard in her honor. Another Mother Cabrini Shrine can be found in Golden, Colorado

Cabrini was beatified on November 13, 1938, and canonized on July 7, 1946, by Pope Pius XII.

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants. Her beatification miracle involved the restoration of sight to a child who had been blinded by excess silver nitrate in the eyes. Her canonization miracle involved the healing of a terminally ill nun.

The date fixed at the universal level for Mother Cabrini's feast day is November 13, the day of her beatification. In the pre-1970 calendar, still used by some, the date was December 22, the day of her birth to heaven, and so the day normally chosen for a saint's feast day. Other dates may be assigned at a local level.

Chicago's Cabrini–Green housing project, which has since been mostly torn down, was named after her, due to her work with Italian immigrants in the location. It has since become a haven for underprivileged and poor people and the MSC sisters still work there.

Cabrini College, in Radnor, Pennsylvania, also bears her name, as does Cabrini High School in New Orleans, and Cabrini Medical Center and Mother Cabrini High School in Manhattan, New York City.

The Cabrini Mission Foundation is an organization committed to advancing St. Frances Xavier Cabrini's mission and legacy of healing, teaching, and caring around the world. The Central Station of Milan is now named Stazione Francesca Cabrini.


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Wednesday, December 01, 2010

How to Request God's Help and Blessings through Prayer


Stained Glass Window of Jesus - Photo by Loci B. Lenar

Prayer is the Key to God's Blessings and Gifts - Christian-Miracles.com

By Loci B. Lenar

In order for prayer to be effective, it's very important to pray from the heart and to pray daily. It's also equally important to ask God to forgive you of all sins. Reconcile with God; ask him to cleanse your heart and soul by washing away all the sins through the precious blood of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Forgiving others is also necessary in order to remove barriers that may impede our prayers from being answered. Ask our Lord to heal the emotional wounds caused by others which might still linger in your heart and memory. Forgiveness is important - free yourself of anger and bitterness by releasing it to God's care. Our Lord will heal the emotional scars and set you free to move forward.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you will experience God's peace as a consolation.

Trust God and wait for his timing to answer your prayers.

Attending weekly worship services at church or Holy Mass will open the windows of heaven for God to pour out His graces and blessings. Consider receiving communion or the Holy Eucharist. When we take a leap of faith, God will embrace us with His merciful love and also bless us with His divine gifts.

Please consider using daily devotional prayers to obtain God's help.  Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will also intervene by intercessory prayers made through the Blessed Mother and Holy Saints.

For a selection of prayers, please visit the following link: Devotional Prayers

If you or someone else has a health issue, the bible speaks of God working through physicians. Although God can heal us with a miracle, he indeed works through modern medicine as well.

The following scripture is noted from Sirach 38:1-15:

Honor physicians for their services, for the Lord created them; for their gift of healing comes from the Most High, and they are rewarded by the king. The skill of physicians makes them distinguished, and in the presence of the great they are admired. The Lord created medicines out of the earth, and the sensible will not despise them. Was not water made sweet with a tree in order that its power might be known? And he gave skill to human beings that he might be glorified in his marvelous works. By them the physician heals and takes away pain; the pharmacist makes a mixture from them. God's works will never be finished; and from him health spreads over all the earth. My child, when you are ill, do not delay, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you. Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly, and cleanse your heart from all sin. Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and a memorial portion of choice flour, and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford. Then give the physician his place, for the Lord created him; do not let him leave you, for you need him. There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians, for they too pray to the Lord that he grant them success in diagnosis and in healing, for the sake of preserving life. He who sins against his Maker, will be defiant toward the physician.

If you're struggling with finances, put your faith and trust into God's hand.

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Whatever difficulty you may be encountering, let God take it over. Let him take control in order to help resolve the problem.

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. (Psalm 55:22)

Be patient when praying and wait for God to answer because His timing can be different from ours. Let him prepare and make a way!

Regarding prayer, Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20, "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

You may submit your prayer requests to Christian-Miracles.com by visiting the following link: Pray for Me

May God the Father answer your prayers through his divine son, Jesus Christ and by the intercession of the Blessed Mother and Holy Saints.

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Sunday, October 24, 2010

Signs and Wonders: Incorrupt Body of St. Pio of Pietrelcina



Video from YouTube of Incorrupt Body of St. Padre Pio

Sainthood and Recognition of Padre Pio

Excerpt from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

On 20 September 1918, while hearing confessions, Padre Pio (1887-1968) is said to have had his first occurrence of the stigmata—bodily marks, pain, and bleeding in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ. This phenomenon continued for fifty years, until the end of his life. The blood flowing from the stigmata is said to have smelled of perfume or flowers, a phenomenon mentioned in stories of the lives of several saints and often referred to as the odour of sanctity.

In 1982, the Holy See authorized the Archbishop of Manfredonia to open an investigation to discover whether Padre Pio should be considered a saint. The investigation went on for seven years, and in 1990 Padre Pio was declared a Servant of God, the first step in the progression to canonization.

Beginning in 1990, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints debated how heroically Padre Pio had lived his life, and in 1997 Pope John Paul II declared him venerable. A discussion of the effects of his life on others followed, including the cure of an Italian woman, Consiglia de Martino, which had been associated with Padre Pio's intercession. In 1999, on the advice of the Congregation, John Paul II declared Padre Pio blessed.

After further consideration of Padre Pio's virtues and ability to do good even after his death, including discussion of another healing attributed to his intercession, the Pope declared Padre Pio a saint on 16 June 2002. Three hundred thousand people were estimated to have attended the canonization ceremony.

Padre Pio is one of only two saints who were priests living after the Second Vatican Council; the other being Saint Josemaria Escriva. Both priests had permission from the pope to offer the traditional Latin Mass without any of the liturgical reforms that stemmed from the Council.

On 1 July 2004, Pope John Paul II dedicated the Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church in San Giovanni Rotondo to the memory of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. A statue of Saint Pio in Messina, Sicily attracted attention in 2002 when it allegedly wept tears of blood. Padre Pio has become one of the world's most popular saints. There are more than 3,000 "Padre Pio Prayer Groups" worldwide, with three million members. There are parishes dedicated to Padre Pio in Vineland, New Jersey and Sydney, Australia. A 2006 survey by the magazine Famiglia Cristiana found that more Italian Catholics pray to Padre Pio than to any other figure. This prayer, more properly understood as a request, is not to be confused with worship which the Catholic Church teaches is due only to God himself.

A statue of Padre Pio will be built on a hill near the town of San Giovanni Rotondo in the southern province of Puglia, Italy, close to the town where he is commemorated. The project will cost several million pounds, with the money to be raised from his devotees around the world. The statue will be coated in a special photovoltaic paint which will enable it to trap the sun's heat and produce solar energy, making it an "ecological" religious icon.

On 3 March 2008, the body of Saint Pio was exhumed from his crypt, 40 years after his death, so that his remains could be prepared for display. A church statement described the body as being in "fair condition". Archbishop Domenico D'Ambrosio, papal legate to the shrine in San Giovanni Rotondo, stated "the top part of the skull is partly skeletal but the chin is perfect and the rest of the body is well preserved".  Archbishop D’Ambrosio also confirmed in a communiqué that “the stigmata are not visible.” He went on to say that St. Pio's hands "looked like they had just undergone a manicure".

Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, celebrated Mass for 15,000 devotees on 24 April at the Shrine of Holy Mary of Grace, San Giovanni Rotondo, before the body went on display in a crystal, marble, and silver sepulcher in the crypt of the monastery. Padre Pio is wearing his brown Capuchin habit with a white silk stole embroidered with crystals and gold thread. His hands hold a large wooden cross. 800,000 pilgrims worldwide, mostly from Italy, made reservations to view the body up to December 2008, but only 7,200 people a day will be able to file past the crystal coffin. Officials extended the display through September, 2009.

Saint Pio's remains were placed in the church of Saint Pio, which is beside San Giovanni Rotondo. In April 2010 they were moved to a special golden "Cripta".

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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Quebec's Brother Andre Canonized as Saint

Saint Andre Bessette, of Canada
(GREGORIO BORGIA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Quebec's Brother Andre canonized as Canada's 1st saint of the 21st century - Winnipeg Free Press

The photograph and following excerpt is from Winnipeg Free Press:

By Nelson Wyatt and Melanie Marquis - The Canadian Press

MONTREAL - Brother Andre, the humble Quebec cleric who was credited with miracle healings before his death in 1937, became Canada's first saint of the 21st century Sunday in a moving ceremony at the Vatican.

People applauded and cheered in Montreal at the ornate St. Joseph's Oratory — which was founded by Brother Andre — when Pope Benedict bestowed the honour on him.

The Pope noted that Saint Andre was poorly educated but nevertheless understood what was essential to his faith.

"Doorman at the Notre Dame College in Montreal, he showed boundless charity and did everything possible to soothe the despair of those who confided in him," Benedict said.

Thousands packed St. Peter's Square for the event, including many Canadians who made the trip to Rome for the canonization. An official Canadian delegation was led by Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and included Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay.

Francoise Bessette, whose grandfather was Brother Andre's first cousin, was among the thousands of Canadians in St. Peter's Square.

"I didn't think this would happen while I was alive," said Bessette, whose brother was named after the saint. "So to be here today is very special for me."

Alain Pilote, a 49-year-old pilgrim from Rougemont, near Montreal, who came for the mass, said, "I think all the people from Quebec are happy now."

He was declared "venerable" by Pope Paul VI in 1978, and beatified — declared "blessed" — by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

Benedict announced his canonization in February after recognizing a second miracle attributed to Brother Andre.

Read More: Quebec's Brother Andre Canonized as Saint


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Mary MacKillop Officially Declared a Saint


Mary MacKillop - Australia's First Saint - AFP Photo

Mary MacKillop officially declared a saint - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The photograph and following excerpt is from the Australian Boadcasting Corporation:

Mary MacKillop has officially been declared Australia's first Catholic saint - Saint Mary MacKillop of the Cross.

Pope Benedict XVI addressed over 50,000 pilgrims who gathered at the Vatican in Rome, of which about 9,000 were from Australia.

St Peter's Square was awash with Australian flags and gold balloons bearing Mary MacKillop's image, as pilgrims packed in to hear the pope's vital words.

Pope Benedict spoke about the achievements of Mary MacKillop.

"She attended to the needs of each young person entrusted to her without regard for station or wills, providing both intellectual and spiritual formation," he said.

The pope also canonised Canada's Brother Andre and four other saints from Italy, Poland and Spain and declared that "throughout the Church they be honoured devoutly among all the saints."

Born in 1842 in Fitzroy, Melbourne, after her mother and father migrated to Australia from Scotland, Mary MacKillop dedicated her early life to educating poor children in regional Penola, South Australia, and at the age of 25 founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

She was the first Australian nun to set up an order and the first to go outside the cities and administer to the poor.

In the early 1990s the Vatican accepted she was responsible for miraculously curing a woman who had leukaemia in 1961 and in 2009 Pope Benedict XVI confirmed her second miracle, which involved the healing of a woman with inoperable lung cancer during the mid-1990s.

Read More: Mary MacKillop Officially Declared a Saint


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Friday, October 15, 2010

Testimony on how Padre Pio Cured Woman's Cancer


Statue of Padre Pio - Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

Minister's mother tells how Padre Pio cured her cancer - CI News

The following story is from Catholic Ireland News:

By Sean Ryan

The mother of Minister for Tourism and Sport, Mary Hanafin has told how she believes she would have died in her twenties if she hadn't been cured of cancer by Padre Pio.

Thurles native Mary Hanafin, who has one of Padre Pio's mittens in her possession, has revealed how she believes she 'is a walking miracle' after her illness disappeared following a visit to the Saint in Italy in 1963.

And she told a new BBC documentary, The Miraculous Mitten, that Padre Pio is the key to helping Ireland out of the recession. She said, “He has to offer hope and peace of mind to a modern Ireland that has gone astray in every way. We are losing what he had; simplicity, prayerful life and helping people.”

Mary Hanafin was just four years old when doctors gave her mother the grim prognosis of cancer. She said, “I had been diagnosed with cancer and the surgeon said I had to have an operation in September and I had to have a hysterectomy.”

“I decided if they couldn't do anything for me I would go to see Padre Pio and he would cure me. I was very ill when I got to San Giovanni.”

“I had the privilege of going to the mass he celebrated at 5 o'clock. I thought in my mind would you put your hand on my head and bless me and so he did.” She added, “I was very sick going home two days later. They gave me the last rites and said there was no hope. I came to the following day and there was no cancer. It had to be Padre Pio there was no other way.”

The Capuchin monk Padre Pio became known as the living saint until his death on September 3 1968.

He was beatified in 1999 and canonised in 2002.

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Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Novena to Mary MacKillop leads to Miracle

Jack Simpson
Photo by Angela Wylie

MacKillop's Untold Miracle - The Sydney Morning Herald

The photograph and following excerpt is from smh.com.au:

By Barney Zwartz

JACK SIMPSON should have died at least five years ago. Instead, he is about to leave for Rome to honour the woman whose intervention he credits with his cure, which the Vatican accepts is a miracle.

Jack, 19, was the ''runner-up'', the one held in reserve, for the second miracle Mary MacKillop needed to be canonised Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop in Rome on Sunday week.

Disaster struck in April 1999. ''He went from a normal boy going to school to another boy we didn't know coming home that night. He lost all his competencies and became like a new baby,'' his mother, Sharon Simpson, recalls.

He was eventually diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, cancer, epilepsy and a loss of neurological functions.

Andrew Kornberg, director of the neurology department at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, called Jack's recovery miraculous and the Vatican agreed - not for the MS or cancer but the unprecedented recovery of his intellectual capacity.

Jack's story has not been told until now because while the case was being investigated by the Vatican the family was asked to keep it secret. It was presented to Pope Benedict last year along with Kathleen Evans's cure from inoperable brain and lung cancer - the case chosen as the second miracle.

The Simpson family's ordeal began in 1999 when Jack, then eight, collapsed at school. ''At first we thought he'd hit his head. His eyes were rolling, he couldn't stand and had no comprehension. It was unbelievably horrible,'' Mrs Simpson recalled yesterday.

For the first year there was no diagnosis, as his central nervous system went into meltdown, leaving him paralysed. Soon after the problem was revealed as juvenile MS - with a maximum life expectancy of five years - the family noticed lumps the size of bars of soap in his neck and groin.

''When he went to the nuclear medicine department and they put the tracer in, he was lit up like a Christmas tree. It was quite advanced, stage four Hodgkin's lymphoma,'' said his mother.

A friend organised novenas (nine-day prayer cycles) to Mary MacKillop at St Ambrose's Catholic Church in Woodend in 1999 and 2000, but nothing changed at first. For Mrs Simpson the turning point came one night in 2000.

''That night I thought Jack was going to die. He seemed to be in the last stage, with the breath rattling. I thought, 'You can't keep fighting forever, you have to surrender', and I said, 'If you want him, God, you can have him'.''

Read More: MacKillop's Untold Miracle

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Friday, July 16, 2010

Woman Claims Cancer Cured By Prayer

 

Woman Claims Cancer Cured By Miracle

Archdiocese Of St. Louis Is Investigating And Is Sending Its Findings To The Vatican.

The following story appeared on KPLR11.com:

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI-FOX2Now.com) - Was a cancer recovery a miracle? The St. Louis Catholic Archdiocese thinks so. They say a St. Louis woman's cancer has vanished because of her prayers to a priest who's now on the verge of becoming a saint. They've asked the Vatican to certify her case miracle.

There are some things medical science can't explain. Rachel Lozano's cure is one of them. Rachel Lozano was first diagnosed with a rare form of cancer when she was fifteen. By the year 2000 it looked hopeless. On a church trip that year to the Vatican for a ceremony honoring Father William Chaminade. she prayed that Father William Chaminade to heal her.

Her prayers continued. So did the cancer. Finally, she was given weeks to live. When surgeons operated they found a dead tumor. Six years later Lozano remains cancer-free. After an investigation the St. Louis Archdiocese concluded it was the prayers and Chaminnade that cured the cancer. If the Vatican agrees chances are good that Chaminade, a French priest and founder of the Marianist order could become a saint.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar


The following information about Veronica's veil with the imprinted Face of Jesus can be read by visiting Catholic Online.  EWTN also has updated information on the subject matter.

St. Veronica - Saints and Angels - Catholic Online

Saint Veronica
Feast Day: July 12
1st Century

The woman of Jerusalem who wiped the face of Christ with a veil while he was on the way to Calvary. According to tradition, the cloth was imprinted with the image of Christ's face." Unfortunately, there is no historical evidence or scriptural reference to this event, but the legend of Veronica became one of the most popular in Christian lore and the veil one of the beloved relics in the Church. According to legend, Veronica bore the relic away from the Holy Land, and used it to cure Emperor Tiberius of some illness. The veil was subsequently seen in Rome in the eighth century, and was translated to St. Peter's in 1297 by command of Pope Boniface VIII. Nothing is known about Veronica, although the apocryphal Acts of Pilate identify her with the woman mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew who suffered from an issue of blood. Her name is probably derived from Veronica , as was reported by Giraldus Cambrensis. The term was thus a convenient appellation to denote the genuine relic of Veronica's veil and so differentiate from the other similar relics, such as those kept in Milan. The relic is still preserved in St. Peter's, and the memory of Veronica's act of charity is commemorated in the Stations of the Cross. While she is not included in the Roman Martyrology, she is honored with a feast day. Her symbol is the veil bearing the face of Christ and the Crown of Thorns.

For additional information on the story, please visit the following link: EWTN

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The plaque showing Veronica wiping the Face of Jesus is displayed inside Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel. The chapel is inside the Gate of Heaven Mausoleum. The Catholic mausoleum is located on Ridegdale Avenue in East Hanover, NJ, USA.

Photograph Copyright 2010 Loci B. Lenar
Christian-Miracles.com


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