Vatican's Secret Archives to show documents of the Immaculate Conception and of St. Bernadette

Vatican's Secret Archives to show documents of the Immaculate Conception and of St. Bernadette

The following news story is from RomeReports.com:

In February 2012, the Vatican's Secret Archives will show a 100 of its prized documents. Among them, is the original parchment that holds the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. It's titled the 'Bolla Ineffabilis Deus.' It dates back to 1854 and it's signed by Pius IX.
 
Also on display will be a letter St. Marie Bernadette Soubirous sent to pope Pius IX in 1876. It deals with the apparitions of the Virgin of Lourdes, which is one of the few appearances recognized by the Vatican. The letter is hand-written in French, by the very Bernadette Soubirous.

Who was St. Nicholas? The true story of Santa Claus

Who was St. Nicholas? The true story of Santa Claus

The following news reports is from RomeReports.com

December 6 is the feast day of St. Nicholas of Bari, otherwise known as Santa Claus. He was bishop of the city of Myra, in present day Turkey, where he died in the fourth century. When the city was conquered by Muslims, his remains were moved to the Italian city of Bari.
 
When his parents died, he divided his fortune among the poor. Because of his generosity, tradition remembers him as Santa Claus, who every year would deliver gifts to everyone.

He is also the patron saint of Russia, Greece and Turkey.

In Rome, a temple was built in his honor by the year 550. There are currently over 2,000 churches in the world that carry his name.

Encounter With God

Encounter With God | CBN.com

The video and following excerpt is from CBN.com

By Robert Hull

Jeffrey Thompson had developed diverticulitis, a painful condition causing inflammation in the intestinal wall. Months of natural treatments had failed and his condition was so advanced, he needed surgery to remove part of his intestine. What looked like a textbook operation left him suspended between life and death.

"I woke up to a surgeon pulling a sheet off of my stomach. As I looked down I knew immediately something was terribly wrong. I looked into the surgeon’s eyes and I could see concern on his face."

Madeline says, "He had been hemorrhaging for about 24 hours, and they had continually given him blood, but it was hemorrhaging into his abdomen. It was frightening. I’ve never seen anyone so pale. His lips were just completely white."

Jeffrey continues, "My internal clock told me that I was getting ready to die, that I only had a few seconds of consciousness left. I reached up to grab my wife. I just wanted to tell her how much I loved her and tell her that I was getting ready to leave her."

"I went to him and it was right after that that I lost him," Madeline says. "I could tell he left. He took my hand and then he was gone."

"My life came to my center torso," Jeff says. "I began to rise out of my body into that room. Everything was going haywire down below me. They were grabbing. They were saying, 'I’m going to lose him.'"

"They were doing everything they knew to keep him alive at that point," Madeline says.

"It looked like a disaster going on, but it was the sweetest day of my life," Jeffrey says. "I never had any pain, and I never had any fear."

As Jeffrey’s spirit hovered above his body, a light appeared in the room.

"It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. It started in the center toward the ceiling and began to filter out into that room. I was immediately drawn to it. As it began to hit objects in that room, color came flooding out like I’ve never seen before. I could see everything in that room with perfect clarity. There was an entire dimension that we simply don’t see on earth. I’ve never been more alive than I was at that moment. It was incredible.

"I suddenly had an overwhelming sense of God’s presence, of His love of His peace, of His joy. It was all around me and in me. Literally every bit of this penetrated my soul. The thing that was just so incredible to me was how the maker of this universe, who can make the sun the moon, the stars and this earth and us, can come down and hold me and comfort me and love me as if I’m the only person in the universe. I remember thinking about the prodigal son, that long lost son who had gone out and strayed. He had come back home and his father was coming out to hold him, to love him and to welcome him back. That’s what was happening to me. It’s the sweetest love there is.

"I told Him I wanted to go with Him and then I had a fleeting thought, what about Madeline my wife, and what about Will? Then God told me internally I was going to go back. I remember jolting in my bed, and I remember opening my eyes. When I opened my eyes, I’m looking at the surgeon and he’s saying, ‘I’m losing him. We’ve got to get him back into surgery.’"

He was rushed back into surgery where doctors stopped the bleeding. When he finally regained consciousness, Jeffrey had a new understanding of God’s amazing love and presence in his life.

"God loves you more than you’ve ever known," he says. "He knows your circumstances. He knows what you’re going through. I used to wake up with a knot in my stomach. I wake up with joy in my heart. I know He’s with me. You can’t go through something like that and not be a changed man."

Read more: Encounter with God

Future Saint? Book on 100 alleged miracles of Alfonso Maria Fusco to be published

Future Saint? Book on 100 alleged miracles of Alfonso Maria Fusco to be published

The following news excerpt is from RomeReports.com:

Ten years after his beatification an Italian blessed is getting closer to becoming a saint. Alfonso Maria Fusco founded the Congregation of the Sisters of San Giovanni Battista.

Over the years, the sisters from that congregation have collected information on roughly 100 alleged miracles of the Blessed Italian. The writings will be made into a book in the future.

It will include the alleged healing of a child who suffered from malaria in Zambia. Even though the boy's mother wasn't Catholic, she asked a nun to pray for her son.

The book will include other possible miracles that range from physical healings to overcoming moral difficulties.

Blessed Fusco was born in 1839 in Angri, which is located in southern Italy. At the age of 11 he decided to be a priest to help others. Once he was ordained his first assignment was to help underprivileged children from his hometown.

The priest was known for walking along the streets of his town, looking for the poor and offering them help. He would offer them food and education. From this mission, the Congregation of St. John the Baptist was born.

Read more: Alfonso Maria Fusco

Jeffrey and Rachel Hardcastle: ‘This is What Jesus Does’

Jeffrey and Rachel Hardcastle: ‘This is What Jesus Does’ - CBN TV - Video

From the moment Jeffrey and Rachel wed, the clock was ticking towards marital demise. Find out how Jesus changed the course of their relationship.

Pope canonizes Mother Boniface, known for work toward women’s economic independence

Pope canonizes Mother Boniface, known for work toward women’s economic independence

The following news story is from RomeReports.com:

(Romereports.com) - The Spanish nun Bonifacia Rodriguez will be remembered for her fight to help poor women to learn a trade. Before becoming a nun, she was actually a rope maker. She went on to found her own religious order known as the Servants of St. Joseph, right in the local shop where she worked.

It was in 1874, in the midst of the industrial revolution. From that moment, she and the Jesuit Francisco Butinyà devoted themselves to helping poor women to make a decent living and discover their faith in everyday life.

The new order allowed the nuns to dress like the artisans of the country. There was no dowry asked of them to enter the convent, where they would work side by side with lay people. It was a project that did not please everyone.

Sister Victoria López
Servant of Saint Joseph

“It was a life project that was too new for it to be understood. Still, some clergy of Salamanca don't understand it. They don't grasp how the gospel works in the project that's so close to the business world.”

As a result the bishop of Salamanca dismissed Mother Boniface and decided the order would be devoted to education. Boniface died being virtually excluded by her own order in 1905.

Years later, in 1936 her writings were rediscovered and the congregation again recognized her as the founder.

Sister Victoria López
Servant of Saint Joseph

“It's recognizing a charisma that was born in the heart of Nazareth. A charisma that is aimed at working women, poor women, women who are often abused, or underpaid, or deprived of liberty.”

The miracle that made her a saint took place in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was the healing of a 33 year old man who suffered from an incurable stomach disease.

Sister Victoria López
Servant of Saint Joseph

“The entire world was waiting for it to die, but the community had begun to ask Mother Boniface for the healing of Kasongo Bavón. And inexplicably and unexpectedly, this boy was cured.”

Currently, the congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph has around seven hundred sisters, working in one hundred communities in twelve countries. They are the successors of a simple working woman who had the courage to face the challenges of her time including being forced out of her order by those closest to her.

Signs of Christian Unity: Episcopal Parish Received into Catholic Church

Pastor and People from Former Episcopal Parish Received into Catholic Church - U.s. - Catholic Online

The following excerpt is from Cathoic Online:

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - On Sunday morning, October 9, almost 80 parishioners of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Bladensburg, Maryland were received into full communion with the Catholic Church by Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington during Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

St. Luke's parish is a small, tight-knit congregation with a majority of their members from Africa and the Caribbean. While enjoying a rich cultural diversity, the church has been unified in it's one dream - becoming a part of the new Anglican Ordinariate as Catholics in full-communion with the Church.

Cardinal Wuerl was visibly joyful throughout the confirmation Mass and expressed his personal delight, during his homily, in receiving these faithful pilgrims. [His prepared remarks are available in a separate article.]

The cardinal spoke of the increasing momentum toward unity in the Church since Vatican II, with the Anglican Ordinariate the most recent response to those who desire to enter in.

"In recent years," he stated, "there have been communities in the Anglican Communion who said, 'we're ready!'

"Pope Benedict XVI, hearing that call, said 'Why do we not prepare a vehicle to allow this corporate reunion to take place?'

The Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus became that vehicle, as a way for the Church to receive individuals and parishes that desire to enter into full-communion. They have also been invited to bring their rich Anglican heritage with them.

The Cardinal stated that the St. Luke Community eagerly anticipated the announcement of the Ordinariate in America and their establishment as a Catholic Parish with the ordination of their pastor. He also said they approached him about moving forward.

"They asked, 'Rather than wait; why can't we just start now?' In God's good time the Holy See will announce the Ordinariate."

Today's Rite of Reception was the culmination of their preparation.

Read more: Episcopal Parish Received into Catholic Church

A Church Tribunal is Investigating a Possible Miracle of Archbishop Fulton Sheen

Possible miracle of Archbishop Fulton Sheen under investigation

The following news story is from RomeReports.com:

(Romereports.com) - He's remembered as a preacher, archbishop and a gifted communicator. His name was Fulton Sheen, a dynamic priest who became a well known television personality in the 1950's.

Years later, his name is making headlines once again. A Church tribunal is investigating whether a newborn was saved through the intercession of archbishop Sheen. If it's confirmed, it could further his cause for beatification.

The alleged miracle happened in Pioria, Illinois where Sheen was ordained. It all started over a year ago, when Bonnie Engstrom and her husband were expecting a baby boy. They prayed that Sheen would look after the pregnancy. In fact, they decided the boy's middle named would be Fulton.

Despite a healthy pregnancy, the baby was delivered, but without a pulse. The boy's parents told the Catholic Post that for 61 minutes, the boy had no heartbeat. It was the longest minute of their lives. They began praying to Sheen, and within seconds he was baptized under the name James Fulton. CPR was performed and experts were called in. Eventually, his little heart started beating.

His parents were told that the boy might be blind. They also told them, his medical condition could be unstable. A year later, his parents say, he's doing just fine.

The family is convinced that archbishop Sheen played a role in the boy's survival. They say the gifted communicator and EMMY award winner, is also their miracle worker.

For now, witnesses and medical data will be analyzed in Pioria. Once the tribunal makes its case, the file will then go to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. That team, will then pass its own conclusion and recommendations to the pope.

Dr. David Levy: Praying with Patients

Dr. David Levy: Praying with Patients - CBN TV - Video

The following excerpt is from CBN.com:

Neurosurgeon Dr. David Levy wanted to bring his faith into his practice because he believed that he needed to use all the means God can use for healing – even prayer. Since he has addressed his patients’ spirituality and made prayer a part of his regular interactions with his patients, he has seen positive results. He says his patients’ lives have reached levels in their spiritual, physical, and emotional health that they never had before.

Read more: Praying with Patients

Michael Hingson Survives 9/11 because of Canine Hero

Michael Hingson: Thunder Dog - CBN TV - Video

Michael Hingson is blind and shares the incredible story of how his guide-dog Roselle got him down from the 78th floor of the North Tower in New York City on 9/11. 

Michael Hingson's new book, "Thunder Dog" describes the events of September 11, 2001 and is available in book stores.

David Garibaldi: Jesus Painting

David Garibaldi: Jesus Painting from Thriving Churches on Vimeo.


David Garibaldi: Jesus Painting on Vimeo

Commentary by Loci B. Lenar

David Garibaldi is one extraordinary artist that will captivate you as he paints the face of Jesus on canvas.  He surprises the viewer with bold strokes of paint which at first appear abstract and then suddenly flips the painting over (bottom reversed to top) to reveal the face of Jesus.  Stunning work of art!

Common Faith: Arab, Jewish Believers Bridge Divide

Common Faith: Arab, Jewish Believers Bridge Divide - CBN TV - Video

Excerpt from CBN.com:

Even in the Christian community in the Middle East, there is division between Messianic and Arab believers. A small group of Christians is bridging that gap.

Robert Valderzak Regains Hearing After Earthquake (VIDEO)

Man Regains Hearing After Earthquake: MyFoxDC.com

The video and following excerpt is from Huffingtonpost.com:

While Washington, D.C. reeled from a 5.8 earthquake, Robert Valderzak, 75, reveled in a miracle. He got his hearing back.

Valderzak had lost his hearing after falling on Father's Day, according to My Fox DC, and had been recovering at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Northwest D.C. While seated in his hospital bed on Aug. 23, surrounded by his kids, the family felt the rumblings and then heard Valderzak speak for the first time in months.

"I said, you know, my hearing is back," Valderzak told his family. "I can hear everything,"

"To me, it was a miracle, a blessing from God up above," Valderzak said. "Couldn’t ask for a better day."

Pope says God can be seen through art

Pope says God can be seen through art

The following excerpt is from RomeReports.com:

August 31, 2011- During the general audience, Benedict XVI explained that through artwork mankind seeks to find a relationship with God. “Today we reflect on the need to draw near to God through the experience and appreciation of artistic beauty. Art is capable of making visible our need to go beyond what we see and it reveals our thirst for infinite beauty, for God,” said Benedict XVI.

The pope also made note that artwork not only adds to the culture of society but also serves as a means of communication with the heavens.

Read more: Art

World Youth Day Madrid: Pope arrives to “Cuatro Vientos” aerodrome to start vigil

WYD Madrid: Pope arrives to “Cuatro Vientos” aerodrome to start vigil

From RomeReports.com (Video Only):

August 20, 2011 - With almost 2 million people expecting his arrival, the pope made it to Madrid's Cuatro Vientos aerodrome to take part in Saturday's World Youth Day vigil. Young adults from more than 190 countries will take part in the celebration.

Hephzibah Agai: Jesus Fills the Empty Space

Hephzibah Agai: Jesus Fills the Empty Space - CBN TV - Video

Growing up with Islam, Hephzibah Agai shares her conversion to Christianity.

“Courageous” a film that delves into fatherhood

“Courageous” a film that delves into fatherhood

Commentary by Loci B. Lenar

I was invited to see a screening of Courageous by Tim Lilley, Director of Communications, Maximus Group, GA.

I gladly accepted the invitation and saw the pre-release of Courageous which was held on April 14 at Clifton Commons 16, Route 3, Clifton, NJ.

The movie theater was nearly filled to capacity for the viewing of the film and met my expectations for promoting family values based on biblical principals. From my observation, the enthusiasm of those that attended the viewing of the film is a wonderful sign that the movie should find interest with a general audience.

The central focus of the film is on fatherhood and explores the relationships between some law enforcement officers and their families.

Other issues explored in the film are about integrity, and the consequences of actions when failing to live up to those standards.

I recommend seeing Courageous which opens in theaters on September 30th.

***

The following excerpt is from RomeReports.com :

From the creators of the movie “Fireproof,” comes a new film on the virtues of fatherhood. The film “Courageous” is the story of four men and the choices they make in their lives to become better fathers.

By becoming more involved in the lives of their children and being better husbands, the men learn more about themselves.

It teaches about morals and humanity with some humor mixed in.

Many of the actors also starred in “Fireproof” and belong to the Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia.

“Courageous” has something for all ages and can be enjoyed by the entire family.

Reconnecting with God by Using the Web

Breaking religious ground by using the web

The following excerpt is from RomeReports.com:

(Romereports.com) - The internet is used for pretty much everything nowadays. Now these nuns are getting ready to use the web for something they're not all accustomed to.

For years now, Sister de Witt has used the internet to connect with a younger crowd. The idea came, when she realized that less and less youths were going to Church. She decided to go online to chat with them, so they could re-connect with religion.

Sister Elvira Maria de Witt
Divine Heart of Jesus (Netherlands)

“You're not going to convent to ring the bell and say 'can I speak with a sister?' It's so easy to chat with a sister in your own room and ask questions and then think bye, and out it is.”

She's been so successful, she flew down to Rome to teach other nuns from different parts of Europe, about ways to use the internet to promote their work, help people and also to connect with those who may have a religious vocation.

Sister Elvira Maria de Witt
Divine Heart of Jesus (Netherlands)

“Do you know where to find them? On the internet. They said, on the internet? I got all my candidates on the internet. So now they have this theme and I think, oh that's great. I want to be there for every young one who is coming. I want to help them where they fit. They can be with us, they can be with other sisters and also with marriage.”

On the web, she connects with people from the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany and the U.S. It's a way for her to spread the Gospel, but it's also a way to stay in touch with the digital age. The possibilities are endless she says and it's something that simply can't be ignored.

For some, welcoming the digital age is a challenge, but the potential benefits, she says, by far outweigh the obstacles.

Read More: Reconnecting with God

Pope asks Christians to pray for AIDS patients

Pope asks Christians to pray for AIDS patients

The following excerpt is from RomeReports.com:

(Romereports.com) - The Pope has asked all faithful to pray for AIDS patients, especially those in developing countries. He's also asking Christians to help ease their physical and spiritual suffering.

This is his intention for the month of July, according to the pope's Apostolic Letter, an initiative followed by roughly 50 million people worldwide.

In its hospitals, the Catholic Church cares for one of every four patients with AIDS. In some areas, especially in Africa, Catholic hospitals are the main source of care for these patients.

Candace and Dennis Gaines: Miracle Baby

Candace and Dennis Gaines: Miracle Baby - CBN TV - Video

The following excerpt is from CBN.com:

Candace and Dennis Gaines will tell of Candace's 2008 pregnancy when no heartbeat was found for three weeks. They prayed for a miracle and got it. Their daughter Grace is now three- years-old.