Signs of Christian Unity: Some US Episcopal Churches are Joining the Catholic Church

US Episcopal Churches gaining momentum to form Ordinariate

The following news story is posted on RomeReports.com:

June 11, 2011 - (Romereports.com) - In 2009 Pope Benedict XVI opened the door of the Catholic Church to create Personal Ordinariates, inviting Anglicans to join the Church while retaining many of their liturgical practices. Since then, the United States has seen two Episcopal communities accept the pope's offer to become part of the Personal Ordinariate when it's established in the US.

Mount Calvary Church in Baltimore announced it's decision in October of 2010 and is being followed by St. Luke's in Maryland.

An Ordinariate typically covers an entire country. But this will remain open until the exact number is known of US Episcopal Churches that wish to join the Catholic Church.

When St. Luke's announced their decision, they received the full support of Cardinal Wuerl and the Episcopal Bishop John Bryson Chane of Washington.

The congregations are in contact with Cardinal Wuerl who is in charge of guiding the incorporation of Anglican groups from the United States and has given them his full welcome.

Please Join in Prayerful Unanimity for God's Spiritual Blessings

Jesus and John the Babtist - Stained Glass Window
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

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

The church holds a monthly service for general prayer including special prayer intentions which are submitted through the website of Christian-Miracles.com.

Previous services have included prayer for Christian Unity.

The next service is scheduled for Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 7:30 P.M. (EST). The prayer service is held every third Thursday of each month with a new theme. June will focus on John the Babtist. In addition, prayers for world peace is always included.

There is great power when people join together in agreement while praying for God’s help and intervention. However, if you cannot attend, you can still join in by praying in unity with St. Mary’s Church between the hours of 7:30-8:00 PM on June 16th.

God wants us to approach him with the desires of our heart. Our Lord calls us to connect with his divine grace in order to receive blessings in our lives. Trust and believe in God's word and wait for his timing to receive an answer to your prayers.

Miracles happen when least expected!

Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24)

Regarding prayer, Jesus said, "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."  (Matthew 18:19-20)

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)

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 closing songs.

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

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.

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 Fr. Tartaglia.


Monthly Prayer Schedule with Related Topics for 2011:

St. Joachim and St. Anne - Thursday, July 21, 7:30 P.M.

Assumption of Our Lady - Thursday, August 18, 7:30 P.M.

Mary's Birth - Thursday, September 15, 7:30 P.M.

All Saints and Souls - Thursday, October 20, 7:30 P.M.

Thanksgiving - Thursday, November 17, 7:30 P.M.

Advent and Christmas - Thursday, December 15, 7:30 P.M.

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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

Eve of Holy Days: 5:00 PM

HOW SMALL PRAYERS BUILD INTO BIG MIRACLES

St. Padre Pio Statue
Photo by Loci B. Lenar

FORGIVENESS AND CONFESSION BRINGS 'BLESSINGS' THAT CAN THEN TURN INTO 'MIRACLES'

The following excerpt is from SpiritDaily.com:

When coupled with forgiveness, the sacrament of Reconciliation brings tremendous healing.

First, however, ask God to reveal any sins you need to confess or anything you need to forgive -- then watch the blessings flow!

The holy practices we have been taught – in whatever aspect of the Church – have real benefit. During the Eucharist, the stream is channeled through the Host in the same way that light streams from the sun. Perhaps this is why so many see "sun miracles" with a Host in front of it.

From such practices come blessings you didn't even know were there: happiness, security, contentment among them.

He may well be ready to give you what you have sought for so long but may be waiting for you to see His goodness in every aspect of life and to completely turn over your life to Him.

Know that there are blessings around the corner. Have faith! That potent combination will loose many gifts and lift you in a way that will exceed your best Christmas. See every problem as an opportunity, for thankfulness in all situations unlocks grace. When that is kept in mind, it brings the realization that there's never the need for desperation.

It is mindful of a remarkably well-documented case in San Giovanni Rotundo, Italy, in which the missing eye of a construction worker was said to have rematerialized after St. Padre Pio prayed for him. When the bandage was taken off, there was the eye despite detailed medical descriptions of how it had been obliterated in a blasting accident.

Doctors had seen the empty socket.

Miracles are all around, if we would only notice.

Read more: How Prayers build into Miracles

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