St. Mary's Prayer Service is held on January 20th

St. Mary's Church, Denville, NJ
Photo by Loci B. Lenar

St. Mary's Catholic Church holds an evening prayer service every third Thursday of each month.  The next prayer service is on January 20th and begins at 7:30 PM (eastern standard time) and will be held at the church with Father Richard Tartaglia.  The church is located on 15 Myers Avenue in Denville, New Jersey.  Myers Avenue intersects with Route 46 by the Denville Township Police Department.

All are welcome to attend! 

Prayer requests include those from St. Mary's Parish as well as those which are emailed and posted on the website of Christian-Miracles.com.  Prayer requests from the website are personally hand delivererd by Loci B. Lenar to Fr. Richard Tartaglia.

Please consider visiting the church and joining in prayer with Fr.Tartaglia as he prays for those in need of God's help and intervention.

Regarding prayer, Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20, “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

For additional information about the prayer service, please contact St. Mary's Parish by calling 973-627-0269.

For requesting prayer, please visit the following link: http://www.christian-miracles.com/apps/prayers/

For a selection of devotional prayers, please visit the following link:
http://www.christian-miracles.com/devotionalprayers.htm


St. Mary's Mass Schedule:

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

Saturday: 5:00PM

Weekdays: 8:00AM and 12:05PM - except June ~ Labor Day-NO 12:05PM


Confessions:

Saturday: 4:15 - 4:45PM , before 5:00PM mass


Holy Hour Adoration (Exposition)

Mondays following 8:00 AM mass

Angels, Wonders and Miracles of Faith

Corpus Christi Church - Photograph by Loci B. Lenar


Angels, Wonders and Miracles of Faith - Guideposts

The following excerpt is from renown author Joan Wester Anderson and can be read on the website of Guideposts:

By Joan Wester Anderson

One of my favorite fellow bloggers is Loci Lenar, who posts Angels, Wonders and Miracles of Faith. This blog documents current spiritual signs and wonders, happenings that make people sit up and take notice.

It’s a beautiful and colorful site—Loci is extremely tech-talented—but the content is even better because we are able to see it. For example, a lighted cross occasionally appears on Loci’s property, and he has posted photos of it on his site. No one has been able to trace the source of this light, but when we see it as an actual photo, it is far more impressive than just words. Loci also features a statue of Michael the Archangel, with stained glass glowing behind it. Again, there is no apparent source of light.

People contact Angels, Wonders and Miracles of Faith to ask for prayers, and Loci brings those requests to his spiritual adviser, Father Richard Tartaglia, of St. Mary’s parish in Denville, New Jersey.

Read More: Guideposts

***

The following excerpt is from the website of Joan Wester Anderson:

Joan Wester Anderson's 15 books include WHERE ANGELS WALK, TRUE STORIES OF HEAVENLY VISITORS, which was on the New York Times best-seller list for over a year, has sold almost two million copies and been translated into fourteen languages. Published in fall, 1994, were the sequel to ANGELS, titled WHERE MIRACLES HAPPEN, and for children, AN ANGEL TO WATCH OVER ME. Both books were written in response to suggestions from readers, and were followed in rapid succession by three more in this series. FOREVER YOUNG (Thomas More Publishers), the life story of actress Loretta Young, was published in November, 2000. The actress had read the angel series, and requested Anderson as her biographer. The two became close friends. Anderson’s book, IN THE ARMS OF ANGELS (Loyola Press) covers angelic activity primarily during the past decade, including stories of hope from the 9/11 and Columbine School tragedies. Her most recent books, GUARDIAN ANGELS (Loyola Press), and ANGELS AND WONDERS (Loyola Press), focus on amazing and tender stories of God’s answers to prayers.

Anderson has appeared on national television programs including “Good Morning America,” “Oprah,” “20/20,” “NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw” and “Mother Angelica Live,” and was featured in such documentaries as “Angels–Beyond the Light” (NBC), “Angel Stories” and “Stories of Miracles” (The Learning Channel), and many videos. She was a story consultant for the television series, IT’S A MIRACLE, lectures in cities across the country, and has been interviewed on hundreds of radio talk shows.

Anderson is a Catholic and member of St. Edna’s Parish in Arlington Heights IL., a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and a former adjunct professor at Harper Community College in Palatine, Illinois. She and her husband live in suburban Chicago, and have five grown children and four grandchildren.

Pope John Paul II's beatification Approved for May 1, 2011

John Paul II's beatification approved for May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday : Catholic News Agency (CNA)

The photograph and following excerpt is from the Catholic News Agency:

Vatican City, Jan 14, 2011 (CNA/EWTN News).- The much-anticipated beatification of Pope John Paul II will take place on May 1, the Sunday after Easter, the Vatican announced.

The healing of a French nun with Parkinson's disease is to go down in history as the miracle that made John Paul II a "blessed." The title is given to martyrs and other Christians to whom a miracle has been officially attributed, thus bringing them one step closer to sainthood.

Pope Benedict XVI approved the decree for the beatification of his predecessor during a Jan. 14 audience with the head of the Vatican department for saints' causes, Cardinal Angelo Amato.

John Paul II's cause arrived in the current's Pope's hands for approval after doctors studied the miraculous healing of Sister Marie Simon Pierre Normand and concluded it was "scientifically unexplainable." Following approval from theologians and Church officials, Pope Benedict promulgated the decree with his signature.

The atmosphere was electric at noon in the the Holy See's Press Office with journalists from all over the world expecting news of the beatification decree.

During the rather cheerful press briefing, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi explained some of the details of the process and revealed preliminary plans for the ceremony.

In what some have called "record time," the Pope's cause was seemingly expedited through the trials to prove his sainthood. Fr. Lombardi admitted that the cause for the Pope was "facilitated" because of his "great fame of sanctity."

At Pope Benedict's bidding, norms stipulating that saints' causes begin five years after the individual's death were waived. His cause, as those of others Popes and special cases, also leapfrogged others in what is usually a "first in, first examined" process.

This being the case, no corners were cut, the Vatican spokesman assured. He insisted that "each of the legislative steps of the inquiry have been fulfilled, they have been taken with care. They have not been facilitated, rather the cause has proceeded with great attention and fidelity."

Pope John Paul II’s cause is extraordinary in the history of the Church both for the speed with which it was advanced to beatification and because it will be his immediate successor to preside over the ceremony.

The Pope's cause was brought to beatification in just over five years, rivaling that of his good friend Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta for its speed.

His beatification will be celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square on May 1, the first Sunday after Easter.

As Fr. Lombardi explained, the choice is full of significance for the late-Pope, who died just a day before the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005. That year, it fell on April 3.

The date changes from year-to-year, but is always the first Sunday after Easter.

"For those who followed John Paul II's pontificate, it is a special Sunday," said Fr. Lombardi.

It is a "fundamental date in his life and his encounter with the Lord," the Vatican spokesman said. He explained that it is the day the Church celebrates the apparition of Jesus to the disciples in the upper room and the institution of Confession.

The day was particularly important to the late-pontiff because it was the day in 2000 that he celebrated the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska and declared that the Sunday after Easter should henceforth be known as "Divine Mercy Sunday."

Sister Faustina, known for promoting the Divine Mercy chaplet, which is prayed using a rosary, said that all who go to Confession and receive the Eucharist at Mass the Sunday after Easter will be given full remission of their sins.

Divine Mercy is "absolutely fundamental" to the pontificate of John Paul II.

"It's precisely the vision, we could say, of the pontificate of John Paul II that has this theme of the Divine Mercy," Fr. Lombardi said.

The staff at St. Peter's Basilica is already preparing for what is sure to be a grand occasion, drawing pilgrims from all over the globe. Workers are already cleaning the mosaics in the Chapel of St. Stephen, just next to Michelangelo's Pietà, where the soon-to-be "blessed's" body will lie.

John Paul II's body will be taken from the crypt below and set below the chapel's altar.

Because the process came about so quickly after his death, Fr. Lombardi said that the body will not be exhumed for examination.

Read More: Pope John Paul II

Doctors acknowledge "miracles" in Giffords' recovery

WCSH6.com | Portland, ME | Doctors acknowledge "miracles" in Giffords' recovery

(My prayers are with the families and victims of the senseless and horrific shootings in Tucson.  Please pray as we mourn for those that have lost their lives and for the families.  Pray for Gabrielle Giffords' recovery and for all the survivors.  Additionally, please join in prayer for God's healing grace to embrace our nation and world with peace.   -Loci B. Lenar)

From the website of WCSH6.com:

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- After 5 days of urging caution, even Gabrielle Giffords' doctors are starting to call her recovery a miracle.

The Democratic congresswoman, who was shot in the head in an assassination attempt Saturday, is moving both legs and both arms, has opened both eyes and is responding to friends and family. Doctors have sat her up on the side of the bed and dangled her feet over the edge.

Her neurosurgeon, Dr. Michael Lemole, told reporters today: "We're wise to acknowledge miracles."

Few people who take a bullet to the brain -- just 10 percent -- survive such a devastating wound.

Dr. Peter Rhee says the next milestone will be removing her breathing tube, and possibly having her sit in a chair tomorrow. Doctors want to make sure Giffords doesn't backslide, and they're watching for pneumonia and blood clots.

"Miracles of Mary" Documents Miracles of the Virgin Mary

The Miracles of Mary by Bridget Curran

The video and following information is from the website of Rome Reports:

Bridget Curran is an Australian film-maker and author who embarked on a journey to tell of everyday encounters with the Virgin Mary.

In her book “The Miracles of Mary,” Curran depicts encounters with Mary by Christians and non-Christians in the form of apparitions, weeping statues, and other miracles that she notes in detail.

Bridget says, “I've had some really interesting experiences while researching and since researching the book, with people from different faiths, there's quite an interesting Muslim devotion to Our Lady because they saw Jesus as a prophet and they saw Our Lady as someone to really be respected and to look up to.”

The book takes the reader on a tour through Africa, Asia, and Europe through stories that inspire, unite, and teach about ordinary people with extraordinary experiences.

Bridget says,“There are a lot of people that have shied away from the Church but still feel connection to Our Lady which is really lovely and I think very encouraging to help people come back and explore the Church again, and to understand their faith in a different way.”

Stories about apparitions of the Virgin Mary have surfaced around the world, including one in Champion, Wisconsin which was recently approved as the first Marian apparition site in the United States.

This apparition bears resemblance to one of Curran's favorites located in England because they both served to unite people.

Bridget says, “There are a couple of stories which I really love, one of them is Our Lady Walsingham, I was really touched by how it was one of oldest apparitions and one of the first major apparitions in the UK, it was from 12th century. It was really an apparition that brought people together from all different cultures.”

The book was first released in 2008 (Miracles of Mary) and has since reached audiences as diverse those in Brazil and Indonesia, as well as the United States and Europe.

Bridget says, “It's gone into Ireland, the UK, and Europe and it's had a really good response from the readers in the US and it's been lovely to see it kind of flourishing outside of anything that I've been doing so it's really encouraging that people are interested in Our Lady and finding out more.”

“Miracles of Mary” intends to teach about the beauty and grace that people have found in her. Curran continues to be interested in stories related to the Virgin Mary, a figure that she describes as one of love and maternal guidance.

Ted Williams: Homeless to NBA Announcer in Days



Ted Williams displays the sign he used to beg for money
along a highway in Columbus, Ohio.


Ted Williams: From Panhandler to NBA Announcer in Days - U.S. - Catholic Online

The photograph and following excerpt is from Catholic Online:

By James Penrice

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.. Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:35-36, 40)

We've witnessed a beautiful manifestation of this Gospel passage this week, as much of the United States and the world has responded with love and affection to one of "the least."

Just days ago 53-year old Ted Williams stood alone along an I-71 exit ramp in Columbus, Ohio, a homeless panhandler with a lengthy criminal record-including at least one felony conviction and prison time for theft. Addictions to alcohol, marijuana and cocaine helped evaporate interest in his career as a radio announcer, and he ended up living on the streets. While going through detox Williams ate food that should have gone to his grandchildren. His life had reached just about the lowest point possible.

"There was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him. He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem." (Isaiah 53:2a-3)

A reporter from The Columbus Dispatch spotted Williams holding a cardboard sign reading: "I have a God given gift of voice. I'm an ex-radio announcer who has fallen on hard times. Please! Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you and God bless. Happy holidays." The Dispatch created a video report on Williams, in which his "God given gift of voice" was given the opportunity to be heard.

Twenty-four hours later, this homeless panhandler became the most sought-after voice talent in the world.

Just days after begging for change along an Ohio highway, Williams was at the announcer's microphone for NBC's "Today" in Manhattan, after having received countless job offers-including an announcer's position with the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers that includes a house, work with NFL films, and several national commercial opportunities. He has been embraced by the nation and the world, as the Dispatch video has become an internet sensation.

Through it all Williams has been touched with a spirit of gratitude.

"I'm just so thankful God has blessed me so deeply," he told the Associated Press. "I'm getting a second chance. Amazing."

Read More: Ted Williams