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Post by hibernicus on Jun 7, 2010 11:36:22 GMT
Certainly, let us pray for Christopher Hitchens. I am planning a little thread on his brother Peter's new book THE RAGE AGAINST GOD, with the intention of turning it into a book review for the BRANDSMA, and will make a couple of references to Christopher therein. One of the first items I ever read by Christopher Hitchens was in the SPECTATOR in the early 1980s. He sneered at a rather belligerent Republican congressman for not having fought in Vietnam, without mentioning the minor detail that the man fought in Korea. This says all you need to know about the carelessness/unscrupulousness/both of CH. It isn't just Catholicism he has it in for, by the way. I mentioned some time ago on another thread an article by CH which expressed regret that the Hellenisers did not succeed in suppressing the Maccabees, on the grounds that (a) the Hellenisers represented the great tradition of Greek rationalism [they also represented the Seleucids, who are a striking example of a self-deifying Hellenistic absolute monarchy, but this minor detail was beneath his notice]] (b) had the Maccabees been defeated the Jews would have been absorbed into the wider Mediterranean cultural milieu and the other Abrahamic faiths would never have come into existence - i.e. he assumed Christianity, Judaism as a religion [he does not address the possibility that those secular Jewish thinkers he admires received anything positive from the background they rejected] and Islam have never made any contribution to humanity at all, and their prevention would have been an unmixed blessing.
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Post by hibernicus on Jun 9, 2010 16:01:29 GMT
The current issue of THE TABLET (of all places) has a nice article on Kibeho by a devotee. Apparently one of the three visionaries has become a nun and one was killed in the genocide. The piece describes the visions, the massacre at Kibeho during the genocide and the reconstruction of the shrine as a place of reparation under the title of Our Lady of Sorrows, the vision being retrospectively seen as having prophesied the genocide.
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Post by hibernicus on Dec 9, 2010 15:28:10 GMT
The Bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin, has just issued a formal decree stating that an 1859 apparition there was of supernatural origin. This is the first such decree in the US. The combox below has useful material on the apparition and the process wereby apparitions are approved (or not). wdtprs.com/blog/2010/12/marian-apparition-approved-in-d-of-green-bay-wi/#commentsSAMPLE COMMENT Elizabeth D says: 9 December 2010 at 12:42 am I was skeptical (I think there’s too much imprudent and irrational interest in private revelations out there), but the more I’ve read about this, the more pleased I am. The revelation to Sister Adele is refreshingly simple in content. Basically, Mary asked her to make a general confession and offer her communion for the conversion of sinners, and teach catechism to children and teach them to make the sign of the Cross and how to approach the sacraments! Yes, the great message Mary commissioned Sister Adele to give to the world is… THE CATECHISM (and the sign of the Cross, and to partake worthily of the sacraments). That’s it. So, she did exactly that, in faithfulness and self sacrifice and obedience to ecclesiastical authorities even when it was painful. Go ye and do likewise. The point that this is the ONLY formally approved Marian apparition in the US is an important one. There is a lack of certainty about all others. And Bishop Ricken gets specific about a couple that are not for real, Neenah WI and Bayside NY. There are other Marian private revelations with authority to be published, or where some bishop opines in favor of it, but that’s not the same. The bishop also makes a point that the diocesan bishop, not the episcopal conference or the Holy See, is the one with the perogative to approve or disapprove apparitions. For example, the bishop of Medjugorje. AMEN
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Post by loughcrew on Dec 13, 2010 16:55:06 GMT
beauraing.catho.be/ is the address of the official website dedicated to Notre Dame de Beauraing. It is easy to visit the sanctuary by rail from Brussels, first catch the train to Dinant from either Brussels Nord or Brussels Central stations then change at Dinant to the Libramont train which does stop at Beauraing. The sanctary is only ten minutes walk from the station.
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Post by goldenfleece on Jan 31, 2011 14:45:06 GMT
Concerning Tre Fontane, I had a very peculiar experience with a man named John Grey who visited my parish and talked for three solid hours about this vision and made it all sound like a lot of cliches about Italy and the Church! I have not heard of the man since and somehow there was a feeling of fabrication about the meeting. I even thought that the nuns and priests who were in the entourage were impostors. But this is not the only time when I felt like that.I have been to a Mass in Lent said by another strange fellow who seemed not to know one end of the Missal from the other...John Grey used phrases about Our Lady that have since proved to be accurate, but they do not flatter her.
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Post by hibernicus on Mar 25, 2011 17:20:43 GMT
Don't forget today is the feast of the Annunciation, the most important of all our lady's statements. Let us pray and resolve to serve God better and seek to discern His will for us.
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Post by hibernicus on Jul 23, 2011 21:46:18 GMT
Here's a thought. The argument I sometimes hear that it is wrong to pay attention to unrecognised Marian apparitions since the recognised ones should be good enough for us, is IMHO exactly like saying that we ought not to ask for the intercession of those who have not been formally canonised or beatified. In fact, of course, the existence of such devotion is necessary for beatification/canonisation to proceed (since the requirement for miracles involves prayer for their intercession) - in the same way such devotion is necessary for an apparition to be formally recognised. The fact that a devotion has not yet been approved or a Cause advanced says nothing in isolation, and they should be discussed on their merits rather than dismissed as unapproved. Apparitions which have been condemned are of course another matter altogether...
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Post by hibernicus on Sept 20, 2011 21:58:21 GMT
Fr Zuhlsdorf posts on La Salette. Interesting discussion in the combox about the later problems of the seers and the need to differentiate between authentic and embellished versions of the messages. wdtprs.com/blog/2011/09/19-sept-1846-our-lady-of-la-salette/#commentsOne commenter sums up the message: The overall takeaway of Our Lady of La Salette is her enormous grief over the sins of mankind, how mankind will suffer for sins, and Our Lady’s advice and admonitions to pray and do penance. As evil continues, perhaps one day we can look back over these prophecies and see how they fit together and were part of God’s plan. This quote from the apparition resembles St Louis de Montfort's prophecy that "Apostles of Mary" would arise in the last age to call the world back to the Faith. The Legion of Mary used to apply de montfort's words to themselves. EXTRACT [REPORTED WORDS OF OUR LADY OF LA SALETTE] I summon the true disciples of God who lives and reigns in heaven; I summon the true imitators of Christ made man, the one true Saviour of men; I summon My children, My true devotees, those who have given themselves to Me so that I might lead them to My divine Son, those whom I carry, so to speak, in My arms, those who have lived according to My spirit; finally, I summon the Apostles of the Latter Times, the faithful disciples of Jesus Christ who have lived in scorn of the world and of themselves, in poverty and in humility, in contempt and in silence, in prayer and in mortification, in chastity and in union with God, in suffering and unknown to the world. It is time for them to arise and come forth to enlighten the earth.
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