St. Maria Goretti

St. Maria Goretti, originally uploaded by Loci Lenar.

The following biography is from Catholic Online:

Maria Goretti was Born in Corinaldo, Ancona, Italy, on October 16 1890; her farmworker father moved his family to Ferrier di Conca, near Anzio. Her father died of malaria and her mother had to struggle to feed her children.

In 1902 an eighteen-year-old neighbor, Alexander, grabbed her from her steps and tried to rape her. When Maria said that she would rather died than submit, Alexander began stabbing her with a knife.

As she lay in the hospital, she forgave Alexander before she died. Her death didn't end her forgivness, however.

Alexander was captured and sentenced to thirty years. He was unrepentant until he had a dream that he was in a garden. Maria was there and gave him flowers. When he woke, he was a changed man, repenting of his crime and living a reformed life. When he was released after 27 years he went directly to Maria's mother to beg her forgiveness, which she gave. "If my daughter can forgive him, who am I to withold forgiveness," she said.

When Maria was declared a saint in 1950, Alexander was there in the St. Peter's crowd to celebrate her canonization. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950 for her purity as model for youth.

She is called a martyr because she fought against Alexander's attempts at sexual assault. However, the most important aspect of her story is her forgiveness of her attacker -- her concern for her enemy extending even beyond death. Her feast day is July 6. St. Maria Goretti is the patroness of youth and for the victims of rape.

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The statue of St. Maria Goretti is displayed inside the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, (Blue Army Shrine) which is located on the grounds of The World Apostolate of Fatima, Washington, NJ, USA.

Photograph Copyright 2011 Loci B. Lenar

Heaven is for Real: Boy describes seeing Mary and Jesus

Near-death experience led to heaven's door - Winnipeg Free Press

The following excerpt is from Winnipeg Free Press:

WHILE on a family road trip in 2003, a small-town Nebraska boy just shy of four years old survived a brush with death made all the more maddening by how preventable it was.

A simple case of appendicitis took a malevolent turn when medical miscalls, parental errors in judgment and the vagaries of winter travel conditions lead to Colton Burpo suffering a rupture and rampant infection.

Heaven Is for Real, by Colton's father, Todd, a Baptist preacher,

In conversation, Colton starts to drop the names of some remarkable religious figures, saying that he had met them in heaven during the moments he was nearest to taking his last breath.

Todd, a pastor at a Nebraska Wesleyan church, wonders about his son's otherworldly comments that pop up in the midst of otherwise normal little-boy chatter.

Colton goes on to describe meeting Jesus's cousin, John the Baptist, and knowing that Colton could not possibly have had prior knowledge of the experiences and people he describes, interprets the situation as a calling.

"We'd been given a gift and our job now was to unwrap it, slowly, carefully, and see what was inside."

From this point forward, Todd faithfully presents a complete record of Colton's visit to heaven, as revealed to him in a naturally unfolding conversation over the course of months.

The Burpos' middle child (his younger brother was not born until 2005), Colton reveals that he has travelled extensively throughout heaven, meeting dearly departed family members, and luminaries of the faithful, including God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Todd is even able to report to Catholic friends that Colton "saw Mary kneeling before the throne of God and at other times standing beside Jesus."

For believers who like to share the Good News, Heaven Is For Real is manna in a couple of ways. For the Christian-centred family, the book is perfect to share and discuss around the dinner table as a means to grow and deepen faith.

Read More: Heaven is for Real

Our Lady of Medjugorje: Messages from Heaven

Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

The Medjugorje Web - Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje

Our Lady of Medjugorje's Message to Visionary Mirjana Soldo on June 2, 2011:

"Dear children!  As I call you to prayer for those who have not come to know the love of God, if you were to look into your hearts you would comprehend that I am speaking about many of you. With an open heart, sincerely ask yourselves if you want the living God or do you want to eliminate Him and live as you want. Look around you, my children, and see where the world is going, the world that thinks of doing everything without the Father, and which wanders in the darkness of temptation. I am offering to you the light of the Truth and the Holy Spirit. According to God's plan I am with you to help you to have my Son, His Cross and Resurrection, triumph in your hearts. As a mother, I desire and pray for your unity with my Son and His works. I am with you; you decide. Thank you."

Read More Messages

Pope Benedict XVI proposes leap of faith to overcome all difficulties

Benedict XVI proposes leap of faith to overcome all difficulties

The video and following excerpt is posted on RomeReports.com:

RomeReports.com - While praying the Regina Coeli, Benedict XVI highlighted the presence of God in the world and asked for others not feel like “Orphans of God” and to overcome the difficulties by renewing their faith every day.

Benedict XVI
“I invite everyone to joyfully renew the Christian hope which is born from the mystery of Easter, to face difficulties, ward off discouragement and efforts to build a world worthy of man , following God's wishes.”

The pope stressed that everyone is responsible for helping others come closer to God. He said this could be done by introducing the Gospel to others and to help rejuvenate the “ancient Christian roots.”

Benedict XVI
“Today the vocation of the Church is the evangelization of the people who are not familiar with the Gospel, as those with ancient Christian roots that need new blood to rediscover the beauty and joy of faith.”

Read more: A Leap of Faith

Editor of Vatican paper says he received miracle from St. Pope Pius X

CNS NEWS BRIEFS

The following news item is from the Catholic News Service:

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The editor of the Vatican newspaper said he was cured of a childhood disease through the intercession of St. Pope Pius X. "I have an authentic veneration for him because, according to family tradition, I was miraculously cured because of him," said Giovanni Maria Vian, editor of L'Osservatore Romano. In 1954, when Vian had just turned 2 years old, he was struck by "an almost deadly form of diphtheria," he said in an interview with Il Consulente Re, an online Italian Catholic magazine. Vian said that on the eve of Pope Pius' canonization in May 1954, a Spanish priest who was a friend of Vian's father said the family should pray for the intercession of the late pope. Family members already felt a close tie to the Treviso-born pope because they were from the same part of northern Italy, Vian said. After the priest celebrated Mass "on the pope's tomb" in St. Peter's Basilica, "I was cured," Vian said.

Science and Faith Merge in Pope's Space Station Talk

Science and Faith Merge in Pope's Space Station Talk | Space.com

The following excerpt is from Space.com:

In a first for The Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI called to the heavens on Saturday, but instead of reaching God, he spoke to two Italian astronauts and their 10 colleagues working on board the International Space Station (ISS).

"Dear astronauts, I am very happy to have this extraordinary opportunity to converse with you during your mission and especially grateful to be able to speak to so many of you as both crews are present on the space station at this time," the Pope said.