Image of Virgin Mary Appears on Window at Sime Darby Medical Centre

'Virgin Mary window' to be moved from Malaysian hospital - CathNews

The following excerpt is from CathNews.com:

The window pane at a Malaysian hospital that throngs of Catholics believe has an image resembling the Virgin Mary will be moved to a church, reports AFP on PerthNow.

Hundreds of Catholics have gathered in prayer and worship at the Sime Darby Medical Centre (SDMC) just outside the capital Kuala Lumpur since last week after seeing the image on one of the windows.

Reverend Simon Labrooy, the priest of nearby St. Thomas More Parish, said in a statement that the hospital's management in a meeting with him had agreed to give the glass panel to the Catholic Church.

He said the panel would be moved to another church outside Kuala Lumpur, Marian Church of Our Lady of Lourdes Klang, "which will be more conducive for prayer and reflection".

Read More: Virgin Mary Image

Dominican Publications Releases Nov/Dec 2012 Issue of Spirituality Journal

Spirituality Journal - Vol.18, No. 105

 
Spirituality Journal

Dominican Publications has released the November/December 2012 issue of their Spirituality Journal with a photograph by Loci B. Lenar. The image reproduced is a stained glass window of St. John of the Cross, photographed in Summit, New Jersey. The Catholic journal is published in Dublin, Ireland.



St. John of the Cross - Stained Glass Window
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar



The following excerpt is from the Dominican Publications website:

Dominican Publications was founded in April 1897. They publish many books and also bring out four journals - Doctrine and Life (ten times a year), Religious Life Review (six times a year), Scripture in Church, with Guide for Readers (both four times a year), and Spirituality (six times a year).

Their Book publishing is in line with the interests of the Journals, the main focus being on Homiletics, the Bible and Liturgical aids, current theological problems, comment on political and social issues from a Catholic viewpoint, Spirituality, biography, Church documents and Religious Life.



November/December 2012 Spiritulity Journal 


Order Journals or Books: Dominican Publications

A Tribute to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

St. Kateri by Stephn B. Whatley

Artist Stephen B. Whatley - Flickr Photo Sharing!

Mr. Whatley is a talented artist who paints with brillant and colorful strokes of the brush which captivates the viewer. The artist resides in the UK and is recognized internationally for his Christian tributes. The following story about St. Kateri and the new painting is published on his website.

Kateri Tekakwitha (USA, 1656-1680) was canonised in Rome on October 21, 2012 as the first Native American Saint - and on that special day, expressionist artist Stephen B Whatley painted this new tribute; inspired by an array of historic images - including the earliest painting of 1690.

Nancy Wiechec of the Catholic News Service in Washington DC kindly introduced Stephen to St. Kateri's story, in August 2012, through an eloquent feature she had written - and the artist was immediately inspired, enchanted and moved; especially through his great affection for the USA and its people.

Painting iconic tributes to his Catholic faith often on special anniversaries has become a powerful feature of Stephen's work; and he was determined to honour this most humble of Saints - who was rejected by her tribe, through her devotion to her Catholic faith and fled from her native Fonda, NY home to Montreal, Canada.

Miracles of healing through the intercession of St Kateri have been experienced as recently as 2006 which finally convinced the Vatican to recognise her as a Saint; despite the fact that Native Americans have been appealing for this recognition since the 1800s.

A memorial Shrine to Kateri was established in 1938 in Fonda, NY; 200 acres of beautiful woodlands on the north bank of the Mohawk River.

In 1980, Kateri was beatified as the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha; the first stage toward Sainthood; which has finally come about - bringing joy peace and hope to Americans, Canadians and Catholics worldwide.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha is known as the patron Saint of American Indians, ecology and the environment.

News of the Canonisation of Kateri Tekakwitha, via BBC News:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19996957

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
October 21, 2012 by Stephen B Whatley
Oil on canvas, 27 x 19.5in/68.6 x 50cm
www.stephenbwhatley.com

Loci Lenar to Share Personal Testimony at St. Mary's Prayer Service Regarding God’s Healing Grace

Prwire - Catholic Online

DENVILLE, NJ (November 10, 2012) - Loci B. Lenar will speak at St. Mary’s Catholic Church during its thanksgiving prayer service scheduled for 7:30 PM on Thursday, November 15, 2012.

Mr. Lenar will share his personal testimony about being healed of several medical conditions after receiving the Anointing of the Sick, a healing Sacrament of the Catholic Church.

St. Mary’s prayer service is held every third Thursday of each month with Fr. Richard Tartaglia. St. Mary’s head pastor is Fr. Martin Glynn. The Catholic Church is located on 15 Myers Avenue, Denville, New Jersey.

Reflecting on his spiritual journey of faith, Mr. Lenar, a resident of Mine Hill Township, says that through daily prayer and recitation of a 54 day rosary novena, his prayers were answered for healing and for other requests which remain private.

Mr. Lenar says that nearly twenty years has passed since being healed of a medical condition known as Atrial Fibrillation and from severe bouts of headaches."I was sitting outside in the backyard on a patio chair and praying the rosary. It was a warm summer evening, sometime between 9:00 and 10:00 P.M. near the end of June. Then suddenly, on the twenty-seventh day of the novena, the Blessed Mother appeared as a sign in the sky for about 30 seconds," says Mr. Lenar.

"She was standing over a full moon, appearing white as snow, and her arms spread out, similar to the image on the miraculous medal. It reminded me of Revelation 12:1, which states, A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head," says Mr. Lenar.

At the completion of the life-changing 54 day rosary novena, Our Lady guided Mr. Lenar to receive the Anointing of the Sick from the Catholic church.

Scripture says the following about receiving God's healing grace: Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. (James 5:14-15)

God's spiritual remedy for treating Mr. Lenar's medical ailments was to visit St. Mary’s (Denville, NJ) and be anointed with oil by Fr. Richard Tartaglia with the healing Sacrament. He received the Anointing of the Sick on several occasions from Fr. Tartaglia before being completely healed.

“Through God’s divine gift, I was healed of the heart arrhythmia and from years of suffering daily headaches. As a result of the healing, I was able to stop taking medication for the ailments," says Mr. Lenar

Mr. Lenar was initially treated for the Atrial Fibrillation with the medication Lanoxin by his family physician located in the Denville Associates of Internal Medicine, Denville, NJ.

Loci Lenar has shared his spiritual journey of faith several times as a guest on the Catholic program, Sacred Treasures, hosted by Kathie Duggan on Radio Maria.

On May 7, 2012, Fr. Richard Tartaglia and Mr. Lenar were both interviewed on Radio Maria regarding a Cross of Light that appeared on Mr. Lenar’s residence during Lent and Good Friday of this year.

Fr. Tartaglia validated the sign by photographing the cross of light that was visible on Mr. Lenar’s fence. A video with documentation of the Cross of Light can be viewed on Gloria.tv at the following link: http://www.gloria.tv/?media=282039

Please join Fr. Richard Tartaglia and Mr. Lenar at St. Mary’s Catholic Church during its prayer service scheduled for Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 7:30 PM.

For directions to St. Mary’s Church, please visit the following link:
http://www.stmarys-denville.org/directions.htm

Saint Mary's Weekly Mass Schedule

Sunday: 7:00, 8:30, 10:00, and 11:30 AM

Saturday: 5:00 PM

Weekdays: 8:00 AM and 12:05 PM - (Except June ~ Labor Day - No 12:05 PM)

First Fridays: 8:00 AM, 12:05 PM, 8:00 PM - (Except June ~ Labor Day - No 12:05 PM)

Holy Days: 7:00 AM, 8:00 AM, 12:00 noon, 7:00 PM

Eve of Holy Days: 5:00 PM

***

Contact Information:

St. Mary's Catholic Church: http://www.stmarys-denville.org/directory.htm

Loci B. Lenar: www.Christian-Miracles.com

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."

The Triumph of Christianity and what it means roughly 2,000 years later

The video and following news report is from RomeReports.com:

October 28th marks a special anniversary. It was on that day, 1,700 years ago that Emperor Constantine won the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. That victory, opened a new chapter for Christianity, since the night before, it's said that Constantine had a vision.

EDMUND MAZZA
Professor of Azusa Pacific University, Los Angeles (USA)

“He won that victory because he used the sign of Jesus. The letters of Jesus' name and he put that on the shields of all his soldiers. Before that, he had a vision that night, that said in this sign you will conquer. He put that symbol on all his soldiers. They went into battle and even though he was outnumbered, he was victorious.”

Roughly 300 years before this battle, Christians were openly persecuted by the Roman Empire.

After this battle though, Constantine legalized Christianity and the construction of churches quickly followed. This radical shift is commonly referred to as the Triumph of the Church.

But what exactly can the modern world learn from that victory? This and other topics were discussed during a forum titled 'Mary, Sign of Faith.' Edmund Mazza, who co-chaired the forum says, secularism and politics are once again marginalizing Christians.

Read More: The Triumph of Christianity