Catholic Radio Seeks to Promote Station and Year of Mercy with New Billboards

The Anchor - Serving the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts.

By Kenneth J. Souza
Anchor Staff

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — As a Franciscan, Friar John Mary, F.I., has witnessed signs of faith throughout his life.

Now he’s hoping others will notice one of the signs that recently went up in the Greater New Bedford area promoting WPMW Radio CorMariae and its mission to spread the Good News.

The “micro FM” Catholic radio station that broadcasts at 88.5 on the dial and originates from studios above Our Lady’s Chapel in downtown New Bedford recently contracted with Boston-based Clear Channel Entertainment to advertise its mission via large billboards in three key locations.

“The station has been doing OK financially, and we found we could afford to do another campaign, which is always good because we’re always trying to look for ways to increase our listenership,” Friar John recently told The Anchor. “I think this is one of the most effective ways, other than a bumper sticker campaign.”

The billboards prominently feature a beautiful stained-glass image of Our Lady next to a Scripture passage — “Mercy and Truth have met” (Ps 85:10) — and are located near the intersection of Cove Road and Rockdale Avenue in New Bedford; near St. Mary’s Cemetery on Route 6 across from Shaw’s Supermarket on the New Bedford-Dartmouth line; and on Route 6 (State Road) in Dartmouth, about halfway between Reed and Cross roads.

“The first two went up in mid-January and the third is (going up this week),” Friar John said. “I’m happy with the locations. The one (at Cove Road and Rockdale Avenue) is very conspicuous, near a pretty busy intersection. You can see it as you slow down for the stoplight — it’s very viewable.”

Friar John explained how the billboard on Route 6 in Dartmouth, which can be spotted driving from Westport heading towards New Bedford, was actually a replacement for one that had originally been planned for Coggeshall Street in New Bedford.

“There’s been ongoing construction there,” he said. “It did get put up, but when I went to see it, there was (construction) equipment parked in front of it — it wasn’t a good location. I talked to Clear Channel and told them about it and they found out from the construction crew that the area isn’t going to be cleaned up anytime soon, so they very graciously did the right thing and moved us to the Dartmouth location.”

Friar John said he likes the relocated site better.

“The station is heard pretty well between New Bedford and Westport, and that’s where our signal originates,” he said. “Those coming from Westport heading to the (Dartmouth) Mall will see it.”

Unbeknownst to Friar John, there is also a notorious strip club not far from where the new billboard is located.

“One of our volunteers said that was a good location because the area needs it,” he said. “So I guess they need the prayers and they need to see Our Lady up there.”

The story behind the eye-catching image of the Blessed Mother that dominates the new billboards is perhaps proof positive of Divine intervention in the radio station’s latest advertising campaign.

Friar John first noticed the depiction of Our Lady on the Facebook page of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary — a group that did a recent recording session at Radio CorMariae.

“I contacted them to see if they had a high-resolution image of it and they said they found it on the Internet and they didn’t know much more about it,” he said. “They didn’t have the source to give me.”

  Stained Glass Window Photographed by Loci B. Lenar 

 

Thankfully, a graphic design artist named Mary Flannery who does work for the Franciscan Friars was able to do a little digital digging online and discovered that the image, entitled “Immaculate Heart of Mary,” was a photograph taken by Loci B. Lenar and was prominently featured on his Flickr page, blog and website (www.christian-miracles.com). She contacted him and he graciously gave WPMW permission to use it in the billboard campaign.

Ironically enough, Lenar has also been featured several times on the syndicated radio program “Sacred Treasures,” which currently airs on WPMW Radio CorMariae.

“He has all these websites and blogs about miracles and conversion stories,” Friar John said. “The thing that got me is this image could have been from anywhere in the world, but the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart found it, used it, which got me to see it, and then it all led back to someone with a connection to our radio station. I really believe it was Divine providence that it’s now being used on our billboard.”

Since we are in the midst of the Year of Mercy as proclaimed by Pope Francis, Friar John said he also wanted to connect that with what the radio station was doing.

“In our last (advertising) campaign, we used the phrase: ‘Behold your mother,’” he said. “I know Our Lady can work with her own image — she doesn’t need words — but I just didn’t want us to have a blank billboard on one side, so I was looking for a good Scripture quote.”

Friar John did a quick Bible search for quotes relating to mercy and came across the line “Mercy and Truth have met” from the Book of Psalms.

For him, it was the perfect quote to include alongside the woman praised in “Hail Holy Queen” as the “Mother of Mercy.”

“I believe that in Pope Francis calling for the Year of Mercy to start on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, he had Our Lady in mind,” Friar John said. “Of course, we always talk about mercy, but we have to accompany it with truth — the truth being our faith, the Church, the Sacraments, and Our Lord Himself.

“So we have a merciful, motherly figure in Our Lady and then the Church being the truth — so God knew what He was doing when He put the two together. They go hand-in-hand.”

Friar John said the plan is to keep the billboards up at least throughout the month, but hopefully with additional funding they might be able to extend the campaign even further.

“We want to have the billboards up as long as possible while the funds are coming in,” he said. “On our website we have a page specifically for making donations to support the billboard campaign. People can either use a credit/debit card on the website, or send us a check.”

Since Radio CorMariae doesn’t subscribe to the costly Arbitron ratings system to gauge how many listeners they have, Friar John said it’s important to get feedback via advertising campaigns like this and through word-of-mouth.

“For a station like ours we wouldn’t be involved in the techniques they use and we wouldn’t be able to pay for those services,” he said. “They say if you receive one call during a show, that means there are probably another 99 listeners out there. It’s always pleasant to hear when someone does give you feedback, because then you know someone is getting something out of it. This is why we meet on a regular basis with our volunteers to help publicize the station.”

Tax-deductible donations to support the billboard campaign may be sent to: Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, P.O. Box 3003, New Bedford, Mass. 02741-3003. Please write “Billboard Campaign” on the memo line of the check or money order.

For more information about the campaign or to make a donation online, visit www.radiocormariae.com.

First published on February 17, 2016 by The Anchor.
(Reprinted with Permission)

Miracles abound in the life of Sister Mila

Sister Maria Milagros Dela Cruz - photo courtesy of Linda Andrade Rodrigues

The Anchor - Official Catholic Weekly Newspaper of the Fall River Diocese, Massachusetts

By Linda Andrade Rodrigues, Anchor Correspondent

ATTLEBORO, Mass. — In the wake of Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, the world watched the apostolic visit of Pope Francis, including Mother Superior at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette.

Sister Maria Milagros Dela Cruz, SNDS, was born and raised in Ramon, Isabela, in the far north of the Philippines.

A visit by the pope is a great blessing to the Filipino people, according to the vibrant, animated nun, affectionately known as Sister Mila, 65.

“I watched the Mass in Manila, and it was raining,” she said. “We Filipinos don’t get discouraged when it rains. The old people would say it is a blessing from God.”

Sister Mila came from a very large family of 17 children, including eight girls and nine boys. Her parents would also adopt another son.

“I was number 10 and a blue baby,” she said. “The doctor told my aunt that they did their best, but the baby was dead. The doctor left, and then my aunt said I started crying. My aunt reported to the doctor that the baby came alive.”

Consequently, the doctor baptized the preemie Maria Milagros (Miracles).

Her siblings walked to school, which was two miles away; but Sister Mila was too weak to walk a long distance.

“My father would come with us, and he put me on his shoulders,” she said.

He also gave her a small dog so that she would never be alone. She named him Pepsi.

“I had him for 16 years,” she said.

Learning to write her long name in first grade was a trial. Her classmates’ names were short, and they would tease her, “Mary Miracles!”

“I would come home crying,” she said.

Many years later when she went to college, she was asked to translate her name into English.

“Your name is very beautiful,” said the professor. “Your name is ‘Miracles of the Cross.’”

“That teacher was very stern, but I loved him,” she said. “He was the only one who was able to tell me the meaning of my name.”

Growing up in a very poor family on a small tract of farmland, Sister Mila remembers the long years of drought.

“The La Salette Fathers came to my area and did a Novena at the farm,” she said. “They carried the cross and sang songs in Latin. We saw cracks in the soil, and you know in those cracks we found edible frogs. We could not plant rice, but God gave us frogs. We brought them to the market and sold them.”

One of the La Salette priests, Father Conrad Blanchet, gave the family a gas-powered well pump so that they could plant rice and irrigate the land. They also watered a neighbor’s field.

“We were very poor, but my mother and father always shared,” she said. “Lots of people who needed food came to our house for help, but we always had something to eat. It is a mystery.”

Sister Mila attended La Salette High School in Santiago, and that’s where she first saw a statue of Our Lady of La Salette. She learned about the weeping mother and received her calling.

“I told them I wanted to become a Sister of La Salette, even though we had none in our area,” she said.

Her formation was done in Manila at their regional house. In her fourth year, she received her veil. Through the years she served the apostolate in schools as Religious Education coordinator, guidance counselor, registrar and principal.

Three of her siblings also had vocations; two joined the La Salette missionaries and a third is a Maryknoll.

In October 2007, Sister Mila was assigned to the U.S. mission in Miami, where she served as school principal.

“The American culture was itself a challenge,” she said. “I was unprepared to deal with all the technical demands of my job, including using computers. Amazingly, I learned quickly how to do many things, and I was even able to teach others to do the same."

Now serving at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Attleboro, Sister Mila works in the shrine church as Liturgical coordinator of their 80 volunteers — acolytes, lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, altar servers and sacristans — and assists the priests.

Living in Cumberland, R.I.,  about 30 minutes from the shrine, the nuns leave their house early each morning to take part in Community Prayer and Mass at the Attleboro monastery. Two nuns, one from Madagascar and the other from Connecticut, work in the gift shop. Sister Mila’s day revolves around the 12:10 and 6:30 p.m. Masses. When the nuns return to their convent at the end of the day, they go directly to the chapel to pray.

Pilgrims from all over the world worship at the shrine church, where Sister Mila offers a special ministry. She set up a box for prayer petitions and also answers prayer requests online every day.

She recalls the first time she was approached by someone in need of prayers. “Sister, I want to talk to you,” said a young mother with three small children.

“We have priests,” Sister Mila replied. “I can get you a priest.”

“No, no, Sister,” the woman said. “I want to talk to you.”

“I just came from the doctor’s office, and I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” said the woman. “I have a short time to live.”

“Don’t worry,” said Sister Mila. “I will pray.”

A year later, the priest in charge of vocations came looking for Sister Mila.

“Do you remember a lady with three children who talked to you last year?” he asked. “She wanted me to tell you that her breast cancer is gone.”

“And she’s not the only one,” said Sister Mila beaming. “You cannot believe how many prayers have been answered.”

Still a farm girl at heart, Sister Mila also tends the many beautiful live flowers that thrive at the shrine even in winter.

“We need a beautiful place for people to come and experience the nearness of God,” she said.

***

This article is reprinted with permission of Linda Andrade Rodrigues, Anchor Correspondent, Fall River, Massachusetts. First published by The Anchor on Jan 30, 2015.

Anchor Website: http://www.anchornews.org

Guardian Angels Watch Over Us

Photograph by Loci B. Lenar - St. Michael's Church

Catholic Weekly Newspaper of the Fall River Diocese - AnchorNews.org

By Linda Andrade Rodrigues, Anchor Correspondent

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Guardian angels are the servants and messengers of God.

“How great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it,” St. Jerome said.

The “Catechism of the Catholic Church” teaches that as purely Spiritual creatures, angels have intelligence and will: they are personal and immortal, surpassing in perfection all visible creatures, as the splendor of their glory bears witness.

“The Holy Spirit advises me,” and “there’s the angel who advises me,” said Pope Francis. “Nobody walks alone, and none of us can believe we are alone.”

Nine years ago I interviewed a devout Catholic who believes she had an encounter with an angel. She works in marketing and lives in Rhode Island. She shared her story on the condition of anonymity.

Sitting in the front passenger seat of her boyfriend’s car, the woman, along with her two girlfriends, was riding around town late one night.

Out of the blue, a car cut them off running them off the road. Spinning out of control, they crashed into a telephone pole.

“I remember the point of impact,” she said. “I was holding onto the door with a death grip to brace myself as we hit the pole.”

Her boyfriend and friends managed to crawl out of the crushed car, but she was trapped inside.
“I remember not being able to feel my legs,” she said. “I panicked because I couldn’t catch my breath.”

The telephone pole was inside the car; her feet were in the engine compartment.

“I actually saw my life flash before my eyes at the moment of impact,” she said. “I remember seeing family members who had passed on.”

She heard their voices calling to her.

Then she saw a hand coming through the twisted metal. She reached for it.

“I’m a nurse,” the person said.

She told the nurse about the voices.

“Don’t listen to them,” the nurse said. “You’re going to be fine. It’s not your time yet.”

It would take more than an hour for emergency personnel to cut her out of the car with the Jaws of Life. All the while, she kept asking for the nurse who had promised not to leave her.

But the paramedics told her, “There’s nobody here. We’re going to take care of you.”

Her injuries were grave. Her legs and pelvis were shattered, she had massive internal injuries and bleeding, as well as a blood clot. She received Last Rites.

She spent three months in the hospital’s trauma unit, and it would take a year of intensive physical therapy for her to walk again.

A short time after her discharge from the hospital, she arranged to meet the paramedics who had saved her life.

“They couldn’t believe I was there,” she said. “They assumed I wasn’t going to make it.”
Once again, she asked them about the nurse. They told her there was a witness walking his dog in the woods, but there was no nurse.

“It may have been your mind playing games with you,” the paramedic said. “Your body was in shock.”

Today she bears few scars from the accident that nearly took her life. She is married to her boyfriend, the driver of the car, and is convinced a guardian angel came to her on the night of the accident.
“I still feel she’s watching over me,” she said. “I always feel protected.”

A resident of Mine Hill, N.J., Loci Lenar reports news of Christian signs and wonders on his blog and website — “Angels, Wonders and Miracles of Faith” (http://lenarpoetry.blogspot.com) and “Signs, Wonders and Miracles” (www.Christian-Miracles.com) — which have recorded over a million page views.

Lenar also documents his own spiritual encounters, following instructions from his spiritual advisor, Father Richard Tartaglia of St. Mary’s Church in Denville, N.J.

Sharing his experiences, he has been interviewed several times for the program “Sacred Treasures” on the international Catholic station Radio Maria, which is broadcast locally by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate of Our Lady’s Chapel in New Bedford at 88.5 FM (WPMW).

Lenar often visits churches to photograph stained glass windows and statues to use on his website and blog.

Five years ago he stopped to pray at The Church of St. Michael in Netcong, N.J., and photographed a statue of St. Michael the Archangel.

“Without the flash, you see the striking rainbow beyond the statue and around the arms,” he told me. “I gave the small memory card to Father Richard.”

Catholics invoke St. Michael the Archangel in prayer for physical protection.

Lenar said that Jesus is calling people to pray for divine protection, not just for their families but for the world.

“We are living in difficult times, but through prayer we could change things,” he said. “The message is now more important than ever before to invoke the powerful name of Jesus and to pray for the intercession of St. Michael the Archangel to protect our families and nation, especially in light of the violence surrounding our world and the Middle East.”

Two years ago thieves broke into the basement of St. Bernard Catholic Church in Assonet, causing massive damage to the property, pilfering church offerings and leaving behind a feeling of unease that this sacred ground had been violated.

Consequently, Father Michael Racine inserted the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel in the front cover of church missals.

Just before the closing rites at every Mass, the congregation invokes the saint’s protection:
“St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.”

(Reprinted with permission by Linda Andrade Rodrigues, Anchor News Correspondent.)

Medugorje Visionary Ivan Dragicevic to speak at St. Anthony of Padua Church

Reprinted with permission from The Standard-Times and www.SouthCoastToday.com

By LINDA ANDRADE RODRIGUES
 

NEW BEDFORD, Massachusetts — Climbing Podbrdo Hill in Medugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina in June 1981, six young people — Vicka Ivankovic, Marija Pavlovic, Ivan Dragicevic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Ivanka Ivankovic and Jakov Colo — said they saw the apparition of a beautiful young woman with blue eyes, dark hair and rosy cheeks, floating off the ground in a gray dress with white veil.

 

"Praise be to Jesus," she told them. "I am the Blessed Virgin Mary. I have chosen this place specially, because there are many faithful believers here. I wish to be with you to convert and reconcile the whole world."

 

One of the visionaries, Ivan Dragicevic, will speak at St. Anthony of Padua Church at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5.

 

Beginning with the recitation of the Rosary, there will be a period of silence at 6:40 p.m., followed by Holy Mass at 7 p.m. and witness by Dragicevic and Artie Boyle.

 

Of the six visionaries, three have daily apparitions, including Dragicevic.

 

"It's my wish that many people can come to this beautiful night of prayer and Holy Mass," said the Rev. Edward Murphy, pastor of St. Anthony's.

 

In 2009, Cardinal Christopher Schonborn, the archbishop of Vienna and member of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, told the thousands of pilgrims at St. James Church that "we have all come to Medugorje to be especially close to the mother of the Lord."

 

"Some of the leading cardinals have said that the seminaries would be empty today without the men who got their vocations from Medugorje," said Murphy. "I personally can testify to that."

 

Twenty-two years ago, Murphy went to Medugorje to discern his future. When he returned home, he applied to the seminary and within six months was studying for the priesthood.

 

"I entered the seminary through the intercession of the Blessed Mother," he said. "I try to go to Medugorje every year."

 

Ordained as a deacon at St. Anthony's and as a priest in St. Mary's Cathedral in 1998, he spent six years at Holy Name Church in Fall River and the last nine years in the chaplaincy at Morton Hospital in Taunton.

 

Assigned as pastor of St. Anthony's in May, Murphy received the call from Bishop George Coleman while he was on pilgrimage in Medjugorje.

 

"Eleven years ago I was at Holy Name Church when Ivan Dragicevic was invited to our parish, and he willingly came," said Murphy. "The church holds 700, and 1,400 people were present. There were many great healings that night. People still come up to me and tell me about the graces they received that night."

 

According to Murphy, the main message of Medugorje is that God exists.
 

"Today most people in New Bedford believe in the Lord Jesus, but many have come to live without Him," he said. "Before people go to Medugorje, they know God existed, but after Medugorje they really know He exists."

 

Pope John Paul II said that Medugorje is a continuation of Fatima.

 

"The world has lost its sense of the supernatural," the late pope said. "It will find it again in Medjugorje through prayer, fasting, and sacramental penance."

 

Murphy told his own story at St. James Church in Medugorje. An Irish man who was there at the time told him that he also thought he had a vocation. Three years later Murphy went to the Capuchin priest's ordination in Dublin.

 

Offering Confession to thousands of pilgrims at St. James Church became an enormous problem for the priests.

 

"They had to build new confessionals out in the open, the only place I know of in the open air," he said. "They are heated in the winter and air conditioned in summer. You see people from all over the world speaking all different languages waiting for hours to make their confessions. I have also witnessed 10,000 people at Holy Hour."

 

Murphy hopes to serve as the spiritual director for a group leaving from our area next May.

"Our Lady is drawing all people to her Son," said Murphy. "St. Louis de Montfort would say that there are many roads to Heaven, and the surest and easiest way is through the intercession of the Blessed Mother."

 

The messages given to St. Bernadette at Lourdes, France, in 1858 are difficult to comprehend, as well as those at Fatima, Portugal in 1917.

 

"Those three young children did tremendous sacrifice after seeing the Mother of God," Murphy said.
 

Conversely, he said that the message of Our Lady Queen of Peace given once a month on the 25th of the month for the world is not complicated nor harsh.

 

"Today I call you to accept and live my messages with seriousness," said Mary to Visionary Marija Pavlovic on Jan. 25, 1993. "These days are days when you need to decide for God, for peace and for good. May every hatred and jealousy disappear from your thoughts, and may there only dwell love for God and for your neighbor. Thus, only thus, shall you be able to discern the signs of this time. I am with you, and I guide you into a new time, a time which God gives you as grace, so that you may get to know Him more."

Religious painting expected to draw thousands to Worcester church

The video and excerpt is from NECN.com:

(NECN: Mike Cronin, Worcester, Mass.) - A religious painting is expected to draw thousands to a special church service in Worcester, Mass. Tuesday evening.

It's a painting of the Virgin Mary, and some say it can perform miracles.

It’s on display and bringing people together to see what some say is a miracle.

“I prayed from the bottom of my heart. I felt that Jesus and St. Mary are listening to me,” says Clara Elnerm.

The Elnemr family is one of many flocking to the St. George Orthodox Cathedral in Worcester Tuesday. It's all to see a religious painting, called the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Virgin Mary. Five years ago, a Hawaiian clergy member discovered his painting suddenly smelt of roses and was gushing myrrh, a type of oil.

“It's a miraculous icon that's performed many miracles,” says Walter Haddad.

The icon is touring the east coast this month, much to the delight of Haddad, the president of the east orthodox churches of central Massachusetts.

“The oil is supposed to be miraculous oil. That's why everybody's coming to be anointed with her tears.”

Clergy members say they don't worship the icon, rather they pray through it.

“Some people don't realize that miracles like this do happen. They do happen around us all the time,” says Milad Selim.

Father Selim is the dean of the cathedral. He's been anointing those who have come by to pay their respects.

Read More: Religious Painting

A DECADE OF GRACE, CENTURIES OF MIRACLES

Reprinted with permission from The Standard-Times and www.SouthCoastToday.com

A DECADE OF GRACE, CENTURIES OF MIRACLES

By LINDA ANDRADE RODRIGUES

NEW BEDFORD,  Massachusetts — Catholics believe that Jesus Christ dwells in their midst and is present in the Eucharist because He said this is so.

"While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it, he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take and eat; this is my body.'" (Matthew 26:26)

Catholics believe this through an act of faith, yet there are prodigies of Eucharistic miracles recorded throughout the world.

The most preserved and scientifically studied Eucharistic miracle occurred during the 8th century in Lanciano, Italy.

According to an ancient document, a monk spoke the words of consecration, and the host changed into flesh and the wine into blood.

They are still intact and on display in the Church of St. Francis, built on the site of the original church.

In 1971, the latest team of medical and scientific experts examined the flesh and confirmed that it is striated muscular tissue of the human heart wall and the human blood is type "AB" — with both having no trace of agents used for preservation.

The extract summarizing the scientific work of the Medical Commission of the WHO and the UN, published in December 1976 in New York and Geneva, declared that "science, aware of its limits, has come to a halt, face to face with the impossibility of giving an explanation."

In honor of the 10th anniversary of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, Our Lady's Chapel will celebrate "A Decade of Grace," a six-day observance that will feature the Vatican International Exhibit "Eucharistic Miracles of the World," which will be on display from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Oct. 8-12 in Blessed John Duns Scotus Hall.

"When I go to the church (in Italy) and see the host, I see a miracle that is continual, our Lord is still really present. He has worked these miracles to help people who struggle with their faith to believe in Him," said the Rev. Louis Maximillian, FI, Father Guardian of the Chapel. "But I don't have to go to Lanciano. I can go to Our Lady's Chapel or one of the Catholic churches here in New Bedford, where the Lord is really present."

During the past 25 years, there has been an explosion of Eucharistic Adoration taking place, according to the friar.

"Maybe this is our Lord's way of helping people, particularly Catholics, rediscover their faith at a very critical moment in our history," he said.

The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate instituted Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration a decade ago with the blessing of the bishop.

"It's really a gift from our Lord, something our Lord wanted all along," said Father Louis. "We are simply trying to respond to our Lord's desires that He become better known and loved. We truly want Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration instituted in every Catholic parish."

Fifteen years ago, Father Louis was a young man attending The Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta, Ga., one of the few churches for miles around that offered Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration.

"Words cannot describe the impact this had on my own faith life," he said. "I had the privilege of being able to adore our Lord on a regular basis. There's no question that Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration and devotion to Our Lady — the two pillars — were instrumental in my eventually being a priest."

Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is the adoration of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

For the past 10 years, the Holy Eucharist has never been unattended at Our Lady's Chapel. The friars are responsible for covering adoration several hours each day, but most of the hours are covered by adorers, who pray the rosary, read Scripture or just sit quietly in the presence of the consecrated host in the monstrance.

"Whoever decides to participate commits to a fixed hour per week with the resolve to remain faithful to that commitment," said Father Louis. "It is a great act of faith that they make."

The celebration of the10th anniversary of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration at Our Lady's Chapel will include talks on "Our Lady and the Eucharist" at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 8-12, featuring the Rev. George Roth, FI, of the Marian Friary of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Griswold, Conn., on Oct. 8; the Rev. Edward Murphy, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in New Bedford, on Tuesday, Oct. 9; the Rev. Ron Floyd, parochial vicar at St. Patrick Parish in Wareham, on Wednesday, Oct. 10; the Rev. David Mullen, pastor of St. Brendan Parish in Bellingham, on Thursday, Oct. 11; and the Rev. Monsignor Gerard O'Connor, pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet, on Friday, Oct. 12.

All talks will be preceded by recitation of the Holy Rosary and followed by Benediction.

A Solemn Holy Mass will be held at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, with principal celebrant Bishop George Coleman. The Mass will be preceded by the recitation of the Holy Rosary and followed by a reception.

For more information, call Our Lady's Chapel at (508) 996-8274. If you are interested in becoming an adorer, drop by the chapel anytime at 600 Pleasant St. in New Bedford, Massachusetts and talk to any of the friars.