Monday, March 19, 2012

VIRGIN MARY DOCUMENTARY WORLD PREMIERE ON CANADIAN TV



Our Lady Video Trailer

The video trailer of Our Lady and following press release is from Jessica Murray, Marketing Manager at Tell Tale Productions:

Halifax, Nova Scotia – March, 2012 Blessed Mother. Star of the Sea. Queen of Heaven. Madonna. Our Lady. She goes by many names and is celebrated by both Christians and Muslims around the world. She is one of the most celebrated women in history, even though little is actually known about her. She gave birth to the one of the most famous historical figures of all time, but she is only mentioned in the bible seven times. Each year millions of people around the world do pilgrimages to shrines dedicated to her and many claim to experience miracles.  

Our Lady is a one hour documentary that chronicles the life and significance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and her apparitions and appearances on earth. Since 1981, Mary has been appearing in one of the most visited religious sites on the planet: Medjugorje, Bosnia. The film follows a pilgrimage led by New Brunswick native Marie Desjardins as she and a dozen others journey to Medjugorje for the 30th anniversary of these spiritual events.

Our Lady is created, written, and directed by Michael MacDonald and produced by Edward Peill of Halifax-based Tell Tale Productions Inc.

Medjugorje is potentially the most important event in modern history. It is a call to action for all to put their own interests aside to serve their fellow human beings.” says MacDonald. “As the Blessed Virgin said to the visionaries, God is real. He asks us to live like eternal beings - to remember that our pains and sufferings are only temporary. We must prepare ourselves daily by learning to love, and to accept love.

The film features world-renowned Marian experts Judith Dupre, Lesley Hazelton, and Charlene Spretnak as they reveal the role that Mary has played over the past 2000 years and the devotion she has fostered in so many followers around the world.

A new iPhone app called iMary will also be released in conjunction with the premiere of the Our Lady documentary. The iMary mobile app is the ultimate smartphone accessory for anyone interested in the Virgin Mary. The app features a complete and detailed database of all the Marian shrines across Canada with a geo-locator function indicating the distance from the user’s location. It also contains a comprehensive list of devotions, a Marian calendar, and a rosary. The iMary app is available on iTunes with a portion of the proceeds from each sale being donated to charity.

Our Lady will have its world broadcast premiere on VisionTV on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 10 PM ET / 7 PM PT (Check local listings). VisionTV is Canada’s only English language cable and satellite television analog specialty channel that airs multi-faith, multicultural and family-oriented entertainment programming.

Our Lady was produced in association with VisionTV, ZoomerMedia Limited, and CTS TV with funding from the Canada Media Fund, and Provincial and Federal tax credits.

For Media Inquiries please contact:

Jessica Murray - Tell Tale Productions Inc.  Marketing Manager
Tel: (902) 482-4650    

Feast Day of St. Joseph

St. Joseph - Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

St. Joseph - Saint and Angels - Catholic Online

The following excerpt regarding the history St. Joseph is found on Catholic Online:

Feastday: March 19

Patron of the Universal Church

Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture and that has seemed too little for those who made up legends about him.

We know he was a carpenter, a working man, for the skeptical Nazarenes ask about Jesus, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" (Matthew 13:55). He wasn't rich for when he took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be purified he offered the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24).

Despite his humble work and means, Joseph came from a royal lineage. Luke and Matthew disagree some about the details of Joseph's genealogy but they both mark his descent from David, the greatest king of Israel (Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38). Indeed the angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as "son of David," a royal title used also for Jesus.

We know Joseph was a compassionate, caring man. When he discovered Mary was pregnant after they had been betrothed, he knew the child was not his but was as yet unaware that she was carrying the Son of God. He planned to divorce Mary according to the law but he was concerned for her suffering and safety. He knew that women accused to adultery could be stoned to death, so he decided to divorce her quietly and not expose her to shame or cruelty (Matthew 1:19-25).

We know Joseph was man of faith, obedient to whatever God asked of him without knowing the outcome. When the angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him the truth about the child Mary was carrying, Joseph immediately and without question or concern for gossip, took Mary as his wife. When the angel came again to tell him that his family was in danger, he immediately left everything he owned, all his family and friends, and fled to a strange country with his young wife and the baby. He waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to go back (Matthew 2:13-23).

We know Joseph loved Jesus. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. Not only did he leave his home to protect Jesus, but upon his return settled in the obscure town of Nazareth out of fear for his life. When Jesus stayed in the Temple we are told Joseph (along with Mary) searched with great anxiety for three days for him (Luke 2:48). We also know that Joseph treated Jesus as his own son for over and over the people of Nazareth say of Jesus, "Is this not the son of Joseph?" (Luke 4:22)

We know Joseph respected God. He followed God's commands in handling the situation with Mary and going to Jerusalem to have Jesus circumcised and Mary purified after Jesus' birth. We are told that he took his family to Jerusalem every year for Passover, something that could not have been easy for a working man.

Since Joseph does not appear in Jesus' public life, at his death, or resurrection, many historians believe Joseph probably had died before Jesus entered public ministry.

Joseph is the patron of the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus' public life, he died with Jesus and Mary close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth.

Joseph is also patron of the universal Church, fathers, carpenters, and social justice.
We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19 for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1 for Joseph the Worker.

There is much we wish we could know about Joseph -- where and when he was born, how he spent his days, when and how he died. But Scripture has left us with the most important knowledge: who he was -- "a righteous man" (Matthew 1:18).

In His Footsteps:
Joseph was foster father to Jesus. There are many children separated from families and parents who need foster parents. Please consider contacting your local Catholic Charities or Division of Family Services about becoming a foster parent.

Prayer:
Saint Joseph, patron of the universal Church, watch over the Church as carefully as you watched over Jesus, help protect it and guide it as you did with your adopted son. Amen

Read more: History of St. Joseph

Devotional Prayers: Prayers to St. Joseph