US nun's cause for sainthood moves forward with initial ruling on second miracle

CNS STORY: US nun's cause moves forward with initial ruling on second miracle

The following excerpt is from CNSBy Patrick Downes - Catholic News Service

HONOLULU (CNS) -- The sainthood cause of Blessed Marianne Cope of Molokai has taken a significant step forward with a Vatican medical board ruling in favor of a miracle attributed to her intercession.

According to a news release from her religious community, the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities in Syracuse, N.Y., the seven physicians at the Vatican Congregation for Saints' Causes declared there is no medical explanation for the cure of a woman who had been suffering from an allegedly irreversible fatal condition.

"The board concluded the woman's healing was inexplicable according to available medical knowledge. The doctors on the case expected her to die and were amazed scientifically at her survival," the release said.

This is the second miracle attributed to Blessed Marianne's intercession to go through the Vatican approval process.

The first miracle, required for her beatification, was the medically unexplainable recovery of a New York girl dying from multiple organ failure after prayers were said to Mother Marianne. It was approved by the medical board Jan. 29, 2004. The board of theologians gave its approval six months later, on July 15. On Dec. 20, Pope John Paul II affirmed the case, making Mother Marianne eligible for beatification. She was beatified in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican May 14, 2005.

Read more: Blessed Marianne Cope of Molokai

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.

Miracle claimed for Pope Pius XII

AP Exclusive: Miracle claimed for WWII-Era Pope - Times Union

The following excerpt is from TimesUnion.com:

CASTELLAMMARE DI STABIA, Italy (AP) — Maria Esposito was ready to give up. Wasted away at 42 kilos (92 pounds), she couldn't bear another dose of chemotherapy to fight the Stage IV Burkitt's lymphoma that had invaded her body while she was pregnant with her second child.

But as she and her family had done since she was diagnosed with the rare and aggressive form of cancer in July 2005, Esposito prayed to the man who had appeared to her husband in a dream as the only person who could save her: Pope Pius XII.

Esposito survived, cured after a single, six-week cycle of chemotherapy — a recovery that, she says, stunned her doctors and convinced her that the World War II-era pope had intervened with God to save her.

Esposito's case, which the 42-year-old teacher recounted to The Associated Press in her first media interview, has been proposed to the Vatican as the possible miracle needed to beatify Pius.
Pius' main biographer, American Sister Margherita Marchione, has championed Esposito's miracle case and personally presented it to the Vatican's No. 2 official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

Pope Benedict XVI moved Pius one step closer to possible sainthood in December 2009 when he confirmed that Pius lived a life of "heroic" Christian virtue. All that is needed now is for the Vatican to determine a "miracle" occurred.

Read more: Pope Pius XII Miracle

Prayers to Father Emil Kapaun are Answered with a Miracle

As girl lay near death, family prayed to Kapaun - Wichita Eagle

The following excerpt is from Wichita Eagle - Kansas.com:

In October 2006, 12-year-old Avery Gerleman scored a goal in a soccer game.

She did not celebrate. She walked to the sidelines and threw up a gob of bright red blood into the grass.

She told her coach, "I need to get back in there."

The coach sat her down. After that, bad went to worse.

Doctors in Wichita put Avery in a drug-induced coma and pushed a breathing tube down her throat. Avery's lungs filled with blood. Her kidneys shut down.

There was so much air and fluid leaking into her chest that her heart nearly stopped beating from the pressure.

Doctors told Melissa and Shawn Gerleman that their daughter was going to die. Melissa cried.

She and Shawn began to pray; to Jesus and to a priest from Kansas who had been dead for 55 years.

Doctors say what happened next is the most mysterious medical recovery they have ever seen.

Avery's two primary physicians are scientists, with intellectual allegiances rooted firmly in facts and skeptical reasoning. And they are Protestants, with none of the Gerleman family's training in the Catholic traditions of sainthood, guardian angels and miracles.

But the doctors have told the Vatican that Avery's recovery is so unusual that there is no other explanation for what happened: They say it's a miracle.

Avery's parents say Father Emil Kapaun heard the prayers, and tipped the scales in heaven.

Read more: As girl lay near death, family prayed to Kapaun

Wonders Photobook on Focus Project 2011

Miracle of the Sun
Photo by Loci B. Lenar

Wonders of Color and Light Photobook on Focus Project 2011

By Loci B. Lenar

Twenty of my photographs have been submitted to the Focus Project 2011 in order to share my work with others. One of the photos, Miracle of the Sun was photographed in 2008 inside the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at the Shrine Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima. The chapel is located on the grounds of the World Apostolate of Fatima, Washington, New Jersey.

After taking the photograph, I shared the image with my spiritual advisor, Fr. Richard Tartaglia, exactly as it was captured on the camera's digital memory card. The image was transferred on to a CD for St. Mary's Church archives in Denville, NJ.

The competition is open to everyone interested in photography and helps in supplying exposure to emerging photographers.  The Focus Project indicates on their website that portfolios are viewed by thousands of visitors every month.

Corpus Christi - 2
Photo by Loci B. Lenar

A jury will review all of the entries; the Grand Prize selected winner will be announced in March 2012.  For additional information, please visit the website: Focus Project 

In the meantime thank you very much for reviewing my portfolio and voting for my work at the following link: Wonders of Color and Light Photobook

Our Lady of Medjugorje's Message of June 25, 2011

Photograph by Loci B. Lenar


The Medjugorje Web - Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje

Our Lady of Medjugorje's message communicated to visionary Marija Pavlovic on June 25, 2011:

"Dear children! Give thanks with me to the Most High for my presence with you. My heart is joyful watching the love and joy in the living of my messages. Many of you have responded, but I wait for, and seek, all the hearts that have fallen asleep to awaken from the sleep of unbelief. Little children, draw even closer to my Immaculate Heart so that I can lead all of you toward eternity. Thank you for having responded to my call."