Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen

YouTube Video 

Review by Loci B. Lenar

Shannon Attaway, director of home media production at Zeitgeist Films has sent me a screeners copy of 'Vision' before its public debut in the USA. I am grateful for her kindness in supplying me with a copy of the movie.  Produced in Germany by Zeitgeist Films, Vision was originally released in 2009, but now is available to purchase in a DVD format with English subtitles for the U.S. market beginning on April 19th.

Not knowing what to expect from this attention-grabbing film, I sat down on my living room couch and watched the movie for the entire 110 minutes without flinching an eye.  My usual routine is to consume some snacks and drink beverages to counter my restlessness when watching TV or a movie.  However, I was totally absorbed in this fascinating film for the entire time!

Director Margarethe von Trotta has captured the spiritual journey of Hildegard von Bingen in an upfront and poignant film about the 12th-century Benedictine nun and mystic, portrayed with a powerful performance by actress Barbara Sukowa. The movie provides insight into Hildegard von Bingen's remarkable life including her straightforward approach and skill in challenging superiors to make changes as a result of her visions and messages that she said were from God.

Vision is categorically a thought provoking film of intensity with an impressionable account of Hildegard's Christian faith that a general audience will find interesting!

Image Courtesy of Zeitgeist Films

Zeitgeist Films: Vision - From the life of Hildegard von Bingen



Vision - Official U.S. Trailer

The following excerpts are courtesy of Zeitgeist Films:

About the Film:

Hildegard von Bingen was truly a woman ahead of her time. A visionary in every sense of the word, this famed Benedictine nun was a Christian mystic, composer, philosopher, playwright, poet, naturalist, scientist, physician, herbalist and ecological activist.

In Vision, New German Cinema auteur Margarethe von Trotta (Marianne and Juliane, Rosa Luxemburg, Rosenstrasse) reunites with recurrent star Barbara Sukowa (Zentropa, Berlin Alexanderplatz) to bring the story of this extraordinary woman to life. Sukowa portrays von Bingen’s fierce determination to expand the responsibilities of women within the order. Vision is a profoundly inspirational portrait of a woman who has emerged from the shadows of history as a forward-thinking and iconoclastic pioneer of faith and change.

PLOT SYNOPSIS

A child of a wealthy German family, Hildegard is handed over to a Benedictine Monastery at the age of 8. Taught in the arts of herbal medicine, reading and writing by her mentor Jutta von Sponheim, she quickly excels in all. When Jutta dies, Hildegard is horrified by evidence of self-flagellation on her body and vows to change the ways of the order.

Hildegard becomes the abbess of the convent and by subtly using her intelligence and diplomacy begins to change the laws from the highest level. Since childhood she has had powerful visions that she records. Certain that these mystic perceptions are messages from God, she mentions them to her superior, without fear of the obvious scepticism and suspicion of heresy from the Christian order. The Pope grants her his support and allows her to publish the written accounts of her revelations. With this, Hildegard’s life takes a new turn. Allowed to build her own convent—the monastery of Saint Rupertsberg at Bingen—she invents a revolutionary and humanist approach to devotion.

About Hildegard

Born nearly 1000 years ago, Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) remains a popular figure to this day. A polymath ahead of her time who was at once spiritual and practical, von Bingen challenged Church rules and founded two convents. She was a visionary and modern theologian who, at age 60, explained the lunar eclipse not as a divine occurrence, but rather from a scientific viewpoint. With a keen mind, von Bingen was someone who believed in a positive image of humanity. Centuries later, masters such as Dante and Leonardo di Vinci were inspired by her works. Hildegard von Bingen was one the most important inspirational and visionary female leaders of the Medieval age, responsible for bringing Europe out of the darkness and into the modern era of science and enlightenment. In 1233, Pope Gregor IX initiated the process of canonizing her but for formal reasons the canonization was never completed. Regardless, Hildegard von Bingen has continued to acquire an ever-expanding faction of admirers worldwide.

Read more: Zeitgeist Films

Inspiritional Video: 'Get Clean' through Confession

YouTube - Get Clean

I was reading my emails today and received one from Martin Harold, MBA Director of Admissions at John Paul the Great Catholic University which is promoting a new video produced by the students of the school. The timing of 'Get Clean' could not be any better since many Catholics during Lent refresh their spiritual lives through the church confessional. The inspirational video is designed for a competition to publicize New York's All Day Confessions on Monday, April 18, 2011.

If you enjoy the video's message, please consider visiting YouTube and clicking on the "Like" button to support JP students.  A $25,000 scholarship could be won by the students for producing the timely "Get Clean" video.

John Paul the Great Catholic University is located on 10174 Old Grove Road, San Diego, CA.

For additional information, contact Martin Harold by calling 858-653-6740 ext. 1101.

Man Claims to Have Seen Jesus

 


Fort Smith Man Writes About Seeing "City of Light" - ky3.com

The interview and following excerpt is from KY3.com

John Edwards has written a book about his experience the night he nearly died. Edwards spoke with 5NEWS via Skype from his home in Dallas.

He was a junior at Northside High School the night the car he was riding in rolled at a Fort Smith intersection pinning him underneath the Oldsmobile. The year was 1966.

The driver and other passengers suffered minor injuries, but Edwards skull was fractured. He says today doctors would probably diagnose it as a traumatic brain injury. The teen was rushed to St. Edwards emergency room. There he claims to have had an out-of-body experience, traveling through a black void toward a tiny point of light.

"I saw something that's described in revelation 20 and 21 very well,” Edwards said, recalling the experience. “It was the city of light."

Edwards says members of his family were there to greet him; his uncle and a close family friend. As they talked, he stood in the green grass admiring the city from afar. He's careful in his choice of words, but it's obvious that Edwards believes he saw heaven. His uncle Cleve told him they were waiting for someone to arrive, but Edwards could not make out the man's face because of the bright light.

Edwards says he believes the figure that stood before him was Jesus himself. He would grow up to become a missionary and bible translator. Forty-five years after that night, the author tells his story in a new book entitled "Encouraged By The Light."

Read more: John Edwards

Finding Fatima: A Documentary for Our Times

Photo courtesy of Dynomite Productions Ltd

Finding Fatima DVD: The following photographs and commentary is courtesy of Joel Fletcher, Director of Dynomite Productions Ltd:

The film opens on Hiroshima 1945, where 8 Jesuit priests miraculously survived the atomic bomb without any trace of radiation poisoning and minor injury, when asked why they survived, Fr. Hubert Schiffer’s only answer was ‘we survived because we were living the message of Fatima.’



Finding Fatima Official Trailer - YouTube

In 1917, while a generation of men were being sacrificed on the killing fields of World War 1 and the seeds of a bloody revolution were being sowed in Russia, just outside a small town called Fatima in Portugal, three young Shepherd children made an extraordinary claim that they had been visited by a lady from heaven, a lady "brighter than the sun."

The series of events that followed, would resonate around the world, culminated in what has been described by many, as the greatest miracle of the 20th century, an event witnessed by over 70,000 people.

Photo courtesy of Dynomite Productions Ltd

Directed by Ian and Dominic Higgins and filmed over two years, the documentary presents the complete story of Fatima with innovative and dramatic reconstructions of the events, interviews with many leading experts on Fatima and rarely seen archival material.

Photo courtesy of Dynomite Productions Ltd

Filmed on location in both Portugal and the UK, utilizing state of the art CGI and a cast of 100’s ‘Finding Fatima’  is an epic production that spans from 1910 to the present day.

With worldwide and mainstream appeal for both Catholic and non Catholic audiences ‘Finding Fatima’ is a beautiful depiction of an event that is as relevant today as it was almost a hundred years ago.

‘Finding Fatima’, is a documentary that will both move and inspire you.

Run time: 90 mins

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Sister Marie Simon-Pierre to Speak at Beatification of Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

The Canadian Press: 'Miracle nun,' John Paul II aides to be protagonists in beatification ceremony

The following excerpt is by Nicole Winfield of The Associated Press:

VATICAN CITY — A French nun whose inexplicable cure from Parkinson's disease was the miracle needed to beatify Pope John Paul II will have a starring role in the Vatican's three-day, around-the-clock beatification extravaganza, officials said Tuesday.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, as well as John Paul's closest aide, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, and longtime spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls, will all speak about their experiences with the beloved pope at a prayer vigil at Rome's Circus Maximus on the eve of the May 1 beatification.

The Vatican on Tuesday released details about the ceremonies, which are expected to draw some 300,000 people to the Eternal City on charter trains, planes and boats. Tent cities are being planned at two locations outside the city in case hotel rooms become scarce.

Eight churches in Rome's historic centre will remain open all night from April 30 to May 1 for a "white night" of prayer reminiscent of the all-night cultural events that Rome and many other cities organize, said Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the pope's vicar for the diocese of Rome which is organizing many of the events.

St. Peter's Basilica itself is expected to keep its doors open well into the night of May 1 to accommodate the faithful who want to pray before John Paul's tomb, which will be moved upstairs from the grottoes underneath the basilica for the occasion.

Shortly after John Paul died, Sister Simon-Pierre says she experienced an inexplicable cure of her Parkinson's disease. Benedict earlier this year confirmed that her healing was indeed miraculous, setting the stage for the beatification.

Beatification is the last major step before possible sainthood, and means John Paul can be publicly venerated. No feast day has yet been set, Lombardi said.

Read more: Beatification of Pope John Paul II

Cross Appears During Lent as a Sign of God's Love

Cross Appears During Lent
 Examining the cross, Brooke said, "It looks like Jesus"
All photographs by Loci B. Lenar

Cross Appears During Lent as a Sign of God's Love

By Loci B. Lenar

As a Christian and practicing Catholic, God has called me to share my spiritual journey with others by being a witness to my faith through signs and wonders which are arising from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In John 3:21, it says: "...whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Since 2005 a cross with an outline of a shield has appeared annually on my property in Mine Hill, New Jersey. Once again on March 27, 2011, rays of light from the sun are shining on the fence and creating an image of a cross. This image has been showing up every morning since last week. The image appears at the top of the fence and slowly descends until it touches the ground. It then changes into a circle and disappears. The cross can be seen for about 30 minutes.

Interesting Note: The sun is on the outside of the fence, while the cross appears on the inside. However, the sun is high above in the sky and God is shining his light upon humanity including our home and property. With that in mind, it's not impossible for God to send rays of light in all directions of the world, including inside our yard and on the fence.   Furthermore, there are no objects in our house windows which might cause a reflection.

I believe that God has opened the windows of heaven and is pouring out the Holy Spirit on our world.  Joel 2:28 says, "...I will pour out my Spirit on all people..."   
 

In Psalm 84:11, it says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.”

Interestingly, this is the Lenten season, a time of spiritual renewal and conversion for Catholics and many Christians as we prepare for Easter.

Jesus said in John 12:46, "I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness."

My wife, Teresa, had invited her cousin Diane Kayal to come visit with her husband and children on Saturday, March 26th. Diane's daughter, Brooke, stayed overnight with my family. Then on Sunday morning, the cross appeared on our backyard fence at around 9:00 AM. Brooke went outside to examine the image. I photographed her standing next to the cross and Brooke said in awe, "It looks like Jesus."

Prior to Sunday, I went on March 24th to visit my spiritual advisor, Fr. Richard Tartaglia to speak with him about spiritual matters including the cross that began to appear once more on our property. I also gave Fr. Tartaglia an open invitation to visit my home to see the cross appear for himself.

On Monday, March 28th, I dropped off some photographs in the rectory office at St. Mary's Parish, which is located in Denville, NJ, for Fr. Tartaglia to examine and to keep for church archives.  Fr. Tartaglia is my spiritual advisor for over fifteen years.

I believe this cross is a sign for the world. God is forgiving and sending a message of love for people to return to the sacraments of the church and to reconcile through confession.

Our Lord is calling everyone to make a sincere effort to attend weekly church services or Holy Mass.  In doing so, it helps to receive Our Lord's blessings and divine favor.  

He is calling each person to pray for world peace and divine protection so that violence can be mitigated.  

Jesus is calling everybody to open their heart to receive the Holy Spirit in order to have peace in their lives and families and throughout the world. 

I believe the Lord's plan is to move forward with an era of peace as foretold by Our Lady of Fatima in her 1917 apparitions in Fatima, Portugal, and to fulfill Revelation 20:1-3 with a thousand-year reign of God's peace.  To read Our Lady's message, please visit the following link: The Fatima Message

I believe that if enough people pray, the course of history will change through God's divine intervention.

"For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37

May Our Lady intercede on behalf of humanity for God's mercy to enfold our world with peace and love.

May Our Heavenly Father bless you and answer all your prayers through his Divine Son, Jesus Christ.

Copyright 2011 Loci B. Lenar
Christian-Miracles.com

Trip to Lourdes Leads to Healing

Lourdes healing hailed as ‘remarkable’ - SCO News

The following excerpt is from the Scottish Catholic Observer:

The incredible recovery of a French man, who walked the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route in Spain after being cured of a paralyzed left leg following a trip to Lourdes is being examined as a possible 68th miracle of the shrine

Serge Francois, a TV repair worker said he felt a warm glow spread down his herniated leg during a visit to Lourdes in 2002.

After having prayed at the Lourdes Grotto Mr Francois reported the healing to the international Medical Committee of Lourdes (CMIL) and 20 doctors have agreed on the remarkable nature of the healing.

“In the name of the Church, I publicly recognise the ‘remarkable’ character of the healing from which Serge Francois benefited at Lourdes on April 12, 2002,” said Bishop Emmanuel Delmas of Angers in western France, where Francois lives. “This healing can be considered a personal gift from God to man, as an event of grace, as a sign of Christ the Saviour.”

Read More: Lourdes Healing

Padre Pio's Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Statue of Padre Pio
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

The statue of Padre Pio is on display inside the Blessed Sacrament Chapel which is located at the Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Washington, New Jersey. The display is a representation of St. Pio holding prayer requests for his intercession which are presented to Jesus.

The shrine is part of the World Apostolate of Fatima, USA.

***

Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

(Padre Pio recited this novena every day for all those who requested his prayers)

I. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of...... (here name your request)

Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father....Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

II. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you." Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of.......(here name your request)

Our Father...Hail Mary....Glory Be To the Father....Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

III. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of.....(here name your request)

Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father...Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender Mother and ours.

Say the Hail, Holy Queen and add: St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.

More Prayers: Daily Devotional Prayers

2011 New Jersey Provincial Directory

2011 NJ Provincial Directory
Courtesy of Catholic Star Herald 

2011 New Jersey Provincial Directory - Catholic Star Herald

Genealogy of Jesus
Photo by Loci B. Lenar

Commentary by Loci B. Lenar

I am delighted to announce that my photograph of the Genealogy of Jesus is published on the book cover of the 2011 New Jersey Provincial Directory. The directory was released in March and has listings for all six New Jersey Catholic Dioceses. The directory supplies useful information about NJ parishes and organizations.

The new 2011 New Jersey Provincial Directory is published by the Catholic Star Herald for the Diocese of Camden and has more than 440 pages.

***



Image Courtesy of Catholic Star Herald 

 

***

The following information is from the website of the 2011 New Jersey Provincial Directory:

While Catholics represent 25 percent of the population in the United States, they represent more than 41 percent of New Jersey’s population, the third largest percentage of Catholics in the nation.

The six New Jersey Catholic dioceses—Newark, Trenton, Camden, Metuchen, Paterson and Passaic—serve more than 3.5 million Catholics in nearly 600 parishes in New Jersey. The 500 Catholic elementary and high schools educate more than 120,000 students every year. The 13 Catholic hospitals and numerous health care facilities in these dioceses serve thousands of New Jersey residents.

Where can you find reliable, up-to-date directory listings for all these Catholic institutions, facilities, organizations and programs?

It’s easy with the New Jersey Provincial Directory, the only publication with directory listings for all six of the Catholic dioceses of New Jersey.

Now in its 69th year, the 2011 New Jersey Provincial Directory, which will be published in February 2011, is the place businesses, educators, clergy, religious, church professionals and Catholic parishioners turn to for the most up-to-date and comprehensive listings for these dioceses.

This year’s edition includes more than 400 pages of listings, including:

All New Jersey Catholic Parishes

Priests, Deacons and Religious

Diocesan Departments, Officials, Staff

Religious Residences and Retreat Houses

Catholic elementary and high schools

Catholic colleges

Catholic hospitals

Catholic health care facilities

Cemeteries

Social Service Centers and Agencies

To Order Directory: http://njprovincial.com/

The Day the Sun Danced - The True Story of Fatima

Gloria.tv: The Day the Sun Danced - The True Story of Fatima

(Children will enjoy this video)

From the website of Vimeo.com:

The True Story of Fatima

In 1917, three children named Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta experienced a great miracle.

While herding a flock of sheep outside the tiny village of Fatima, Portugal, the Blessed Mother visited them, not once, but many times, telling the children great and wondrous secrets that would affect all of creation.

It soon became clear that they had been chosen by the Blessed Mother to share her message.

THE DAY THE SUN DANCED is the inspiring true story of Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, whose great faith and courage brought the message of Our Lady of Fatima for the entire world.

Prayer to Saint Rocco



St. Rocco - Photo by Loci B. Lenar



Prayer to St. Rocco

O Great St. Rocco, deliver us,

we beseech thee,

from the scourges of God;

through thy Intercessory,

preserve our bodies from contagious diseases,

and our souls from the contagion of sin.

Obtain for us salubrious air;

but, above all, purity of heart.

Assist us to make good use of health,

to bear suffering with patience;

and, after thy example,

to live in the practice of penance and charity,

that we may one day enjoy the happiness

which thou has merited by thy virtues.

St. Rocco, pray for us (say three times)

St. Rocco - Photo by Loci B. Lenar

Saint Rocco is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as the protector against the plague and all contagious diseases.

Biographical information about St. Rocco: http://www.stroccosociety.com/story1.htm

More Devotional Prayers

The stained glass window and statue of St. Rocco can be seen inside of St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 243 Abington Avenue, Newark, NJ.

Miraculous Novena of Grace to Saint Francis Xavier



St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Newark, NJ
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

 

 

Miraculous Novena of Grace to Saint Francis Xavier

Most amiable and most loving Saint Francis Xavier, in union with thee I reverently adore the Divine Majesty. I rejoice exceedingly on account of the marvelous gifts which God bestowed upon thee. I thank God for the special graces He gave thee during thy life on earth and for the great glory that came to thee after thy death. I implore thee to obtain for me, through thy powerful intercession, the greatest of all blessings--that of living and dying in the state of grace. I also beg of thee to secure for me the special favor I ask in this novena. (Here you may mention the grace, spiritual or temporal, that you wish to obtain.) In asking this favor, I am fully resigned to the Divine Will. I pray and desire only to obtain that which is most conducive to the greater glory of God and the greater good of my soul.

V. Pray for us, Saint Francis Xavier.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

O God, Who didst vouchsafe, by the preaching and miracles of Saint Francis Xavier, to join unto Thy Church the nations of the Indies, grant, we beseech Thee, that we who reverence his glorious merits may also imitate his example, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Then add 3 Our Father's and 3 Hail Mary's in memory of Saint Francis Xavier's devotion to the Most Holy Trinity, and Glory be to the Father 10 times in thanksgiving for the graces received during his 10 years of apostleship.

St. Francis Xavier - Photo by Loci B. Lenar

Biographical information about St. Francis Xavier: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06233b.htm

More Devotional Prayers

The Spirit of Lent



Our Lady of the Mountain Catholic Church, Long Valley, NJ
 Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

 

Lent prepares us through sacrifice and prayer for a spiritual renewal of the soul.

St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Newark, NJ
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar



However, Easter rejuvenates our lives as God the Father calls us to live by the gospels of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by transforming us into the resurrected image of His divine son.

Copyright 2011 Loci B. Lenar

Christian-Miracles.com

Lent leads to Spiritual Renewal



 Photograph by Loci B. Lenar


Pope describes ‘Lenten road’ that leads to renewal - Catholic News Agency (CNA)

The following excerpt is from Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Vatican City, Mar 9, 2011 (CNA/EWTN News).- During today’s general audience, Pope Benedict XVI invited the faithful make the “Lenten journey” together with Christ, to return to the grace and commitment of conversion, and reach Easter “renewed.”

More than 7,000 pilgrims and faithful were on hand at the Vatican's Paul VI Hall during the March 9 general audience. The gathering coincided with Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of Lent.

The “austere symbol of the ashes” are the beginning of the spiritual path that leads to Easter, said the Pope. They are “a sign reminding us of our status as created beings and inviting us to penance, to intensify our commitment to conversion so as to continue following the Lord.”

At Ash Wednesday Masses all over the world, priests mark the beginning of Lent by making a sign of the cross with ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a physical symbol of repentance and the temporary nature of earthly life.

“Lent is a journey,” said Pope Benedict. “It means accompanying Jesus as he travels to Jerusalem, the place where the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection is to be fulfilled.”

The season is a reminder to Christians of "the road to be traveled, consisting not so much in a law to be observed as in the person of Christ himself, who must be encountered, welcomed and followed."

This is experienced most of all through the liturgy in which believers are drawn closer to the figure of Christ by reliving the very events that granted man his salvation, he explained.

"Participating in the liturgy means then emerging our lives in the mystery of Christ, in his permanent presence, walking a path in which we enter into his death and resurrection to have life."

Pope Benedict explained that the liturgical readings of the Sundays of Lent—which were used in ancient times to prepare Christians for baptism—offer an opportunity for the faithful to return to the foundation of Christian life in a "baptismal itinerary."

"They are the great announcement of what God carries out in this Sacrament, a stupendous baptismal catechesis directed at each of us," he said.

Pope Benedict then walked through the successive readings for the Sundays of Lent.

Read more: Lent Leads to Renewal

Monthly Prayer Service being held on St. Patrick's Day at St. Mary's Church, Denville, NJ

St. Patrick - Photo by Loci B. Lenar

All are welcome to attend St. Mary's Catholic Church for Mass and prayer services.

St. Mary's holds a monthly service for prayer including special prayer intentions which are submitted through the website of Christian-Miracles.com.

The prayer theme for March focuses on St. Patrick and St. Joseph.  Previous themes included prayer for Christian unity. The next evening prayer service is scheduled for Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 7:30 P.M. (EST).  The service is held every third Thursday of each month with a new prayer theme.  However, prayers are always included for world peace.

With the support of Father Richard Tartaglia, prayer requests that are submitted through Christian-Miracles.com are also prayed for every Monday morning after the 8:00 A.M. Mass, during Holy Hour Adoration, which is between the hours of 8:30 to 9:30 AM.

In 2008, Loci B. Lenar launched Christian-Miracles.com as gathering place for all who are seeking Jesus, especially for Catholics and Christians to renew their faith through news of miracles.

Reaching out with evangelization, Loci B. Lenar and Fr. Richard Tartaglia were recently interviewed on Radio Maria regarding their Catholic faith. Both were guests on the radio program Sacred Treasures which is hosted by Kathie Duggan and discussed issues related to Christianity.

If you live in the area or plan on visiting New Jersey, please consider attending and joining in the evening prayer service with Fr. Richard Tartaglia. The service begins with singing of hymns followed with psalm prayers and then reading of the gospels. After the reading, Fr. Tartaglia gives his homily which is followed with a prayer of intercession for Special Prayer Intentions (prayer requests). The Lord's Prayer is recited and after that there is a closing prayer with a blessing given by Fr. Tartaglia. The prayer service is concluded with a song.

St. Mary's Catholic Church is located on 15 Myers Avenue in Denville, New Jersey. Father Martin Glynn is the head pastor of the church.

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

Regardless of your religious denomination, please feel free to submit your prayer request at the following link: http://www.christian-miracles.com/apps/prayers/. Your email address will remain confidential.

Loci Lenar visits Father Richard Tartaglia on a regular bases for spiritual guidance and shares with him the prayer requests. As a result, Mr. Lenar will hand deliver all emails requesting prayers to his spiritual advisor, Father Tartaglia.

Regarding prayer, Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20, "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

Take delight in the LORD,and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

St. 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

A Secret Communion on the Moon

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin Take Communion on the Moon - Guideposts.com

The following excerpt is from Guideposts.com:

By Joan Wester Anderson

Americans will never forget the first time human beings set foot on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down on July 20, 1969.

Armstrong took the first step and said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” An entire planet probably trembled with a new awareness of God and His vast creation.

But more was happening during this amazing time. Shortly after the men landed, Aldrin radioed NASA and asked for a moment of silence so that “each person listening in (could) contemplate the events of the last few hours.” During this quiet period, Aldrin opened little plastic packages containing bread and wine, silently read a few verses of Scripture and received communion. “It was interesting to think that the first liquid ever poured on the moon and the first food eaten there were the Christian communion,” Aldrin said later.

Only the pastor at Aldrin’s Houston Presbyterian church—and a few NASA personnel—knew that communion was happening on the moon. To broadcast a private communion in a very public arena might create even more challenges. So Aldrin was asked to “keep it quiet,” which he did.

It was twenty years before the secret was revealed.

Read more: Communion on the Moon 

Reggie Williams: Compelled by Grace

Reggie Williams: Compelled by Grace - CBN TV - Video

He rejected his childhood faith and followed his friends toward a life of crime. Today, he's a street-smart youth pastor.

Prayer To Our Lady, Help Of Christians

Our Lady in Prayer - Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

Prayer To Our Lady, Help Of Christians - Prayers - Catholic Online

Most Holy Virgin Mary, Help of Christians,
how sweet it is to come to your feet
imploring your perpetual help.
If earthly mothers cease not to remember their children,
how can you, the most loving of all mothers forget me?
Grant then to me, I implore you,
your perpetual help in all my necessities,
in every sorrow, and especially in all my temptations.
I ask for your unceasing help for all who are now suffering.
Help the weak, cure the sick, convert sinners.
Grant through your intercessions many vocations to the religious life.
Obtain for us, O Mary, Help of Christians,
that having invoked you on earth we may love and eternally thank you in heaven.

By St. John Bosco

A Sun Phenomenon at the World Apostolate of Fatima, USA

Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

By Loci B. Lenar

As a follow-up to the One World Praying for Life and Peace that was televised live by EWTN on Sunday, October 18, 2009, I am releasing previously unpublished photographs of the event. The prayer service was organized by The World Apostolate of Fatima, USA.  I attended this beautiful event at The Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima which is part of the apostolate at 674 Mountain View Road in Washington, New Jersey.

It was estimated that millions of viewers had tuned into the program and joined in prayer for the sanctity of life and peace.

Visitors Photographing the Sun
Photo by Loci B. Lenar

I believe Our Lady of Fatima acknowledged the prayers of the faithful by giving a sign to humanity through her divine son, Jesus Christ.

Sun Phenomenon at Shrine
Photo by Loci B. Lenar

Numerous visitors were blessed to witness a sun phenomenon and took photographs. I believe the sign was given as an affirmation of God's love for humanity and to acknowledge the prayers of everyone on this special day.

The sign I believe is intended to help evangelize the world through the gospels of Jesus Christ with Our Lady of Fatima's message. To read the message of Fatima, please visit the following link: http://www.wafusa.org/fatima_message/full_message/fatima_message_fullarticle.html

Visitors taking photos of Sun
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

In John 12:46-47, Jesus said, "I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world."

Celebration of Mass at Prayer Service
Photo by Loci B. Lenar

Additional information about the event with more interesting photographs can be seen by visiting the website of Christian-Mircales.com at the following link:
http://www.christian-miracles.com/miracleatfatimashrine.htm

Please pray for the Lord's blessing and grace of mercy to enfold humanity and the unborn in order for all to respect life and for an era of peace to unfold.

Thank you very much for the kind prayer support.

Medjugorje: 30 Years of a Phenomenon

NEW BOOK CLAIMS MORE THAN 600 HEALINGS AT MEDJUGORJE

The following excerpt is posted on SpiritDaily.com:

Recently, two new books have been issued outlining fascinating information about Medjugorje, which is the most famous apparition in nearly a century (since Fatima in 1917).

One of the books, written by two news reporters, Marijan Sivrić and Ivo Šćepanović (Medjugorje: 30 Years of a Phenomenon), says at least six hundred healings have been credibly reported at Medjugorje.

"The Holy See observes with caution but the documentation only increases the observer's curiosity of the Medjugorian happenings," they report. "Recorded cases of the healings of people from all over the world are kept in the information center, along with all the given documentation which is then forwarded to medical and theological examiners." The two journalists cite an especially impressive cure of multiple sclerosis -- wherein a woman who had been unable to walk suddenly was able to hike more than seven miles to the shrine from the hotel she was staying at in Ljubuški. They report that the case was studied by twenty-five experts. So far, they say, "there are 143 similar documents of healings that can't be medically explained."

As at Lourdes (where the official tally of "miraculous" cures is just 68 out of the approximately 7,000 people who sought to have their cases confirmed), hundreds and perhaps thousands of other cases have gone unreported. The accounts we have directly heard themselves number in the dozens -- although they are far outnumbered by dramatic spiritual healings (and conversions).

Read more: SpiritDaily.com

The Miraculous Healing of Sister Caterina Capitani

Gloria.tv: Walking Miracle

The video is about the miraculous healing of Sister Caterina Capitani as a result of intercessory prayers made to Pope John XXIII. The following excerpt is from Gloria TV:

The story of Sister Caterina Capitani is absolutely amazing. Suffering for four years from an extraordinarily violent illness, she was instantaneously cured by a stupendous miracle of the late Pope John XXIII. To read this astonishing story in full please visit the following link:

http://www.papastronsay.blogspot.com/2011/02/to-lost-sheep-contradicting.html

Colton Burpo: Glimpses of Heaven

Colton Burpo: Glimpses of Heaven - CBN TV - Video

Colton's 4 year old spirit left his body during an emergency surgery and he experienced heaven with Jesus.

Prayers to Padre Pio are Answered with a Miracle

Lenny Martelli
Photo from National Catholic Register

The Rebuilding Year: A Miraculous True Story - Blogs - NCRegister.com

The following excerpt is from the National Catholic Register:

By Matthew Archbold

In sports, it’s called a rebuilding year. It’s when everything’s gone wrong, but there’s still hope for the future.

In life it’s called faith.

Everything went wrong a year and a day ago when 15 year old Lenny Martelli fell off his snowboard in Schwenksville Pennsylvania. His friends gathered round him as he lay in the snow and they heard the words nobody wanted to hear.

“I can’t move,” Lenny said.

This is a story about a year when reason allowed no reason to hope. It’s a story about a miracle that culminated on the basketball court at St. Joseph’s University—under the glare of television cameras from news networks and ESPN. Thousands in the stands cheered Lenny’s name, but there was no amazing basket with seconds left on the clock that night. No dunk highlights. This was a different kind of miracle altogether. The kind nobody expected. But maybe that’s exactly when miracles happen—when nobody expects them.

Doctors offered the Martellis a grim prognosis. The injury had left Lenny paralyzed from the chest down. They said the statistical likelihood of Lenny walking ever again was slim to none. But sometimes that little space between slim to none is all the space a miracle needs to slip in unnoticed and change everything.

Leti Martelli took a leave of absence from teaching at Our Lady of Victory School and she stayed with Lenny every day. She was there when doctors asked Lenny if he could move and she watched his frustration when he couldn’t. She asked the doctors every medical question she could think of and prayed at his bedside to Padre Pio and St. Therese. And she was there when a therapist off-handedly asked Lenny if he was related to Saint Joseph’s University basketball coach Phil Martelli. He said he wasn’t but he’d love to meet him. That was all Leti needed to hear.

When Leti heard that something might make her boy smile when smiling ever again seemed like a fantasy, she would’ve done anything. So Leti called Saint Joe’s and asked to speak to coach Phil Martelli. It was a desperate call to try to bring a little hope into her son’s life. She left a message and an hour later when she picked up the phone Phil asked if her name was really Martelli as well and then he said, “Tell me your story.”

Leti started but could hardly get through it. “My name is Leti Martelli and my son was in a serious accident.” Then came the tears. It’s strange how you can live through just about anything as long as you’re looking forward but when you look backwards even for a moment, the words themselves become too heavy to pronounce; as if saying them is harder than living them.

In the end, she asked Phil Martelli for a hat or a note with his autograph to brighten Lenny’s day. But Phil said that wouldn’t do. That wouldn’t do at all.

“What’s the room number?” he asked.

To the surprise of just about everyone, a few days later Phil Martelli walked into Lenny’s room. Lenny was startled this man he’d only seen on television before was suddenly in his hospital room. “I was just a 15 year old kid in the hospital,” he said. “I mentioned his name once and he came. I was shocked and amazed.”

Faith in the Martelli family is strong. Someone had given Lenny a Padre Pio prayer card and “so we started to pray to Padre Pio every night,” said Leti. “And we blessed Len with Padre Pio oil every day.”

Leti didn’t eat or sleep while her son was in the ICU. Lenny’s Dad took care of their other children and Leti stayed right next to Lenny. To ask her to leave his bedside would’ve been like asking her to jump to the moon—impossible.

One night in the quiet of the hospital Leti looked up and saw someone else in the room. She knew what she thought she saw but didn’t know if she believed what she was seeing. She says she saw Padre Pio in the room. “Oh my, now I’m thinking I see a dead monk in the room,” thought Leti. Her mind knew what she was seeing was impossible. It’s impossible because we’re told it’s impossible but she also knew what she was seeing. “He walked right up towards me but focused on Lenny. He put his arm over Lenny’s weakest leg, his right one, and then he went away.”

The next morning the therapist asked Lenny to put his arms around her and see if he could put any weight on his legs. Lenny stood up put his arms around her.

Lenny asked “now what do you want me to do?”

“Walk,” she answered.

So he did. He walked all the way down the hallway. When he reached the end of the hallway, he turned and wondered to himself, “How did I get from there to here?”

Then he told everyone “I told you so” in that way that only a fifteen year old could. He said he told them he would walk and then he did.

“I believe Padre Pio was with us,” said Leti.

But miracles are miracles and they don’t always get you across the finish line. Sometimes miracles just give you the strength to believe the impossible is possible. It still took Lenny fighting his body, forcing it to do things it couldn’t.

Read more: Lenny Martelli

Vicka Ivankovic Dicusses Apparitions of Virgin Mary on Television Show in Ireland

Gloria.tv: Vicka in Ireland on RTE One

Vicka Ivankovic is interviewed in Ireland on the television show RTE One by host Ryan Tudbridy. Her message is regarding the apparitions Our Lady of Medjugorje which are happening in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Vicka's interview is translated into English by Manuela Spinelli.

Saved by Prayer

Elena Popkov: Swept Away - CBN TV - Video

The following excerpt is from CBN.com:

By Jewel Graham Taylor

The Popkov children loved to play in the streets when it rained, that is until a flash flood swept Elena out of sight and into a drain pipe.

"I was on like a swimming tube, " remembers Elena. "I just sat on it and the water just kept carrying me until I got to the drain pipe."

Elena's brother Viktor remembers the terrifying ordeal. "There was like no air in there, so she couldn't, she had no chance of breathing or anything."

While the current pushed Elena farther and farther down the sewer line, one of the other children ran to the house to get help.

Elena's mother Olga immediately began praying. "I couldn't believe it at first. I couldn't believe it. And I started praying right away that God, please keep her alive, please keep her alive."

While struggling to surface, Eleven year-old Elena remembered what her mother taught her. "From the beginning I said, 'if you're alone by yourself,'" said Olga, "'and you're struggling, you can't, you know, find your way out, just pray. God, He's there for you, you know, He's listening to you'."

"'Jesus, help me.' That's all I said in my head," says Elena. "And then seconds later there was some sort of bright light and somebody , it was like some sort of power was like just dragging me out of there by my arms. I did not feel any pain or anything. It was like my body was already on shore and somebody was just dragging my soul from there."

Elena surfaced at a split in the pipe, two city blocks from her back yard.

"I don't really know how I got out," says Elena. "But I'm pretty sure it was God."

The entire family credits God for Elena's miraculous survival, especially Olga. "I told my kids that life is boring without God. If you live for Jesus, your life will be exciting and full of miracles."

Read more: Elena Popkov

Our Lady of Lourdes: A New Painting by Artist Stephen B. Whatley

Our Lady of Lourdes
Painting by Stephen B. Whatley

Our Lady of Lourdes by Stephen B Whatley | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Stephen B. Whatley is recognized as an accomplished artist and is remarkably talented when it comes to painting pictures.   His images of religious figures are painted with colorful abstract strokes of the brush and immediately grab your attention.  Stephen has created a masterful work of art which captivates the viewer with his new painting of Our Lady of Lourdes.  This beautiful picture is posted on the website of Christian-Miracles.com.  The painting is combined with Prayers to Our Lady of Lourdes and can be read at the following link: Devotional Prayers.       ~Loci B. Lenar


By Stephen B. Whatley

February 11 was the anniversary of the beginning of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a young girl, Bernadette Soubirous - now St Bernadette - in 1858, Lourdes, France. Since then , the Mother of God has been known in that region as Our Lady of Lourdes.

It was in a grotto that she first miraculously appeared; and where on February 25, she told Bernadette to dig around in the soil and drink the water. The following day, water flowed from that spot; and on March 1st, a woman was cured of paralysis by dipping her hand into the spring.

A priest requested from Bernadette to ask the beautiful lady her name, and was convinced and confirmed that it was indeed the Blessed Virgin Mary, because the young girl had answered "Immaculate Conception," words she would not have known then.

Since then, thousands have made pilgrimages to this holy spot in France; and 67 known cures have been recognised by the church- though it is possible that many have gone unrecorded. It remains a great haven of hope; as do the prayers to Our Lady of Lourdes.

"It was cloudy and gray in London this February 11, 2011 as I prayed in preparation to paint this tribute from my heart and soul - but just as I began, the sun broke through the clouds - my prayers were for healing for all those I know who are sick and suffering.

I hope viewers will be blessed with peace, hope and healing, through faith, by seeing this painting.

Our Lady of Lourdes
Oil on canvas
36 x 24in/82 x 61cm

***

For more information about the artist, please visit the following link: Stephen B. Whatley

For additional information about the apparitions, please visit the following link: Our Lady of Lourdes

Prayers to Our Lady of Lourdes

Sister Briege McKenna, a Nun with the Gift of Healing

Sister Briege McKenna, a nun with the gift of healing and who ministers to priests

The following excerpt is from the website of RomeReports.com:

For the past 35 years, Sister Briege McKenna (St. Clare Sisters Retreat Ministry) has traveled more than 1 million miles to more than 100 countries to minister to priests.

She feels she received her call from God to speak on the priesthood years after she was miraculously cured of arthritis during the celebration of the Eucharist. She says God told her there was going to be a great shortage of priests and that many would reject the priesthood.

"And I said to the Lord there is no way, Lord. I'm a first grade teacher. I can't do that. And I got this most extraordinary love for the priesthood, and the Lord said in a voice I could almost hear, you don't do it, just be obedient, just listen and I'll do it through you."

Although she said she was scared, she put her trust in God and now helps priests and encourages others to join the vocation.

The Miracle Prayer Recited by Fr. Peter M. Rookey

Gloria.tv: MIRACLE PRAYER - Fr. PETER ROOKEY

The Miracle Prayer

Lord Jesus, I come before Thee, just as I am, I am sorry for my sins, I repent of my sins, please forgive me. In Thy Name, I forgive all others for what they have done against me. I renounce Satan, the evil spirits and all their works. I give Thee my entire self, Lord Jesus, I accept Thee as my Lord God and Savior. Heal me, change me, strengthen me in body, soul, and spirit.

Come Lord Jesus, cover me with Thy Precious Blood, and fill me with Thy Holy Spirit, I love Thee Lord Jesus, I praise Thee Lord Jesus, I thank Thee Jesus, I shall follow Thee every day of my life. Amen.

Mary, My Mother, Queen of Peace, St. Peregrine, the cancer saint, all the Angels and Saints, please help me. Amen.

Say this prayer faithfully, no matter how you feel. When you come to the point where you sincerely mean each word with all your heart, Jesus will change your whole life in a very special way. You will see.

Prayer © 1993 Fr. Peter M. Rookey and Servite Fathers, O.S.M.

***

The Miracle Prayer is written by Father Peter M. Rookey, O.S.M., the founder of International Compassion Ministry (ICM). Father Rookey and the ministry has received invitations for healing services from nations throughout the world including England, Ireland, and Mexico, to name a few. The ministry is located in Olympia Fields, Illinois and is part of the Servite Order's USA Province. For more information, please visit the following link: Fr. Peter M. Rookey

Contact Information:

International Compassion Ministry
20180 Governors Hwy., Room 203
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461-1067

Gloria TV News on the Feast of St. Valentine

Gloria.TV: Gloria TV News on the Feast of St. Valentine