7 December 2007
Derry Journal

A woman who claims she was cured of Multiple Sclerosis after visiting the holy shrine at Knock, will visit the Long Tower Church on Sunday night.


Marion Carroll

Marion Carroll thought she was nearing the end of her life when friends took her to the shrine in 1989. But after sitting under the statue of Our Lady in Knock she says she heard a whispery breeze which told her to get up.

She stepped free from her wheelchair that day, dumbfounding medics. She is now considered completely cured of her illness.

Marion now claims she has been blessed with the gift of healing and travels Ireland sharing her story with people in need of healing. By 1989 Marion Carroll had spent 17 years fighting MS and was paralysed from the waist down.

"I was doubly incontinent," Marion told the 'Journal.' "I was paralysed from the waist down, blind in one eye, and had only partial sight in the other eye.

"My speech was badly affected and I could barely eat.

"Friends decided to take me to Knock. I didn't really want to go. Although I'd always liked praying and trusted God to do what was right, I knew I was nearing the end of my life and a trip to Knock wasn't really on the cards.

"I believe now that God and our Lady had it all planned out for me that day.

"During the anointing of the sick I felt only what I can describe as a 'whispery breeze.' A voice told me to get up and walk. At first I didn't listen but then I felt the urge to get up."

When Mass was over, Marion stepped, free of pain, from her chair - and walked.

"I felt a great sense of peace that day," said Marion.

"I had been cured."

In 1991 Marion had another remarkable experience when she visited Medjugorje, another Marian apparition site.

Since that time, she has acquired the ability to help in the healing of others.

"I had an experience with my hands in Medjugorje," she said. "At first I told no-one about it, but when people began coming to my house to pray with me I knew I had been given a gift."

However Marion prefers not to describe herself as a healer.
"No one can heal but Jesus," she says.

"I present people to Jesus. I like to think I give people the prescription but Jesus is the doctor."

Marion claims among her many healings the cure of a young man crushed by a tractor and the cure of a woman with a cancerous lump.

Marion will speak as part of the Long Tower Novena at 6 p.m. on Sunday night

From one of my favourite books, The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. This book is available on line and is a great source of comfort, wisdom and beauty. Gibran was also an artist whose work you can view at this gallery.



And a woman spoke, saying, "Tell us of Pain."

And he said:

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;

And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.

And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.

Much of your pain is self-chosen.

It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.

Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquillity:

For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,

And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.

Derry Journal
01 October 2007

**Those of you who would like to learn more about Padre Pio, a Catholic saint, might want to check out some of these links here

Derry footballer Liam Coyle has revealed how a prayer to Padre Pio saved his football career.
In a new book charting the miracles of Padre Pio, football hero of Derry City F.C. Liam Coyle has admitted that he was cured after his mother Sheila prayed to Padre Pio about his knee injury.


Liam Coyle

“My mother was the one that prayed to Padre Pio and got the mitts,” said Liam.“She would put medals in my bags and boots when I went to play games.Whenever she got his mitt I used to have to go and get a rub of it. That was even before my injury.”

In 1989, a 21 years-old Liam Coyle was injured while playing for Derry City in Dundalk. He was told that if he didn’t stop playing football he would be in a wheelchair by the time he was 30.

“The injury turned out to be an athletic condition, not really an injury as such,” he said. ”The bone was wasting away in my knee and there was a hole in my bone. Bits of bone were breaking off. The hole was getting bigger and bigger.”

At that time Liam had been told that Benfica manager Sven Goran Erikson was interested in signing him and there was also talk of interest from Manchester United, Celtic and Paris Saint-Germain; “Because of the injury it never materialised,” said Liam. “Every doctor in the world told me the same thing - there was really no way I was ever going to play again.”

Despite what the medical professionals said, Liam’s mother Sheila kept praying

“I heard of a lady in Derry, Betty Beales who was supposed to have seen a vision of Padre Pio,” said Liam. “Hundreds of people were going to see her.

“I was sent up to see Betty around 1990.

“She prayed with me and put her hands on me and told me that Padre Pio was
looking after me because my mother had prayed to him for so long. She told me that I would be alright.

“From that minute I never had another bit of bother with my leg.Two years after I had stopped playing I was back playing football again. Since then I’ve won the league twice, I’ve won three cup medals, I’ve won player of the year awards, I’ve played for the League of Ireland. For the injury I had, I have had a pretty decent career. And Padre Pio has had a very big role to play in that.

“I’ve also never forgotten Betty Beales. She wouldn’t take money off me but she said to me once, ‘At some stage you will acknowledge me.’

“I’ll never forget that when I won the player of the year award in Dublin I went up and I said, ‘I just want to mention a woman who had a lot of faith in me and her name is Betty Beales.’ She knows what she did for me.”

Padre Pio, The Irish Connection is out Oct 4.

The Keeping It Catholic - Collection of Prayers

An Online Prayer Book


Click >>here

Catholic Ireland

A life rooted in God: the story of St. Gerard Majella

Robert McNamara CSsR tells the story of St Gerard Majella, a young 18th century Italian who 'eloped', so to speak, in order to join the Redemptorists.

Fintan O'Toole's After the Ball makes for compelling reading if you're an economist. In fact, it makes for compelling reading even if you aren't. O'Toole offers a complex and yet accessible account of the rise, stabilisation, and decline of the Celtic Tiger, citing Ireland as an extreme case of that most talked about phenomenon: globalisation. In a definition memorable for its tidiness and accuracy, O'Toole defines globalisation as "a complex process, in which economic liberalisation, speed of communication and cultural homogenisation are intertwined." (1) This process, he adds, affects everyone on earth, creates winners and losers, and turns citizens into consumers.

To O'Toole's excellent analysis of why the economic boom began to decline – he lays the blame particularly on the shoulders of the government's privatisation programme – we could add that there was a spiritual dimension as well. In the midst of unprecedented wealth, people began to notice a spiritual hunger previously hidden from them. As Fr Harry Bohan prophetically wrote at the height of the boom: "In our headlong rush to economic nirvana, we are in danger of losing touch with people, place, roots, and soul."

And indeed, as the boom receded on the economic horizon, we began to cast around for heroes, inspirational figures at a time when meaning was lost, when the scales had fallen from our eyes, and we had begun to see that the Celtic Tiger had inveigled us into settling for the imitation brand of everything from toothpaste to friendship. Despite her survival skills, Kerry McFadden just didn't do it for us, because while she had the luxury of surviving the jungle, many of us were just trying to survive.

Into all this comes the life and witness of a man the Redemptorists are celebrating in a special way this year: St Gerard Majella, one of Ireland's best-loved saints, known here particularly as the mothers' saint. He was canonized 100 years ago this year.

Obvious frailty

Gerard was born on Saturday, April 6, 1726, in the picturesque southern Italian town of Muro. His parents Domenico and Benedetta had him christened on the day of his birth, because of his obvious frailty. They had already lost a baby boy, also called Gerard, who only lived a week. Twelve years later, Benedetta would be left a widow, with four young children to support. Gerard's education was cut short; he was apprenticed to a local tailor, and later became valet to the temperamental bishop of Lacedonia.

Gerard's piety was evident from early on. He seems to have been blessed with a real hunger to know the Lord better, and spent many hours in prayer. At the same time, as recent research shows, he was anything but the tortured aesthetic portrayed by pictures circulated after his death. We have it on good authority that he was immensely charming, had a great sense of fun, and loved to play practical jokes.

Stuff of romance

The circumstances of Gerard's entry into religious life are legendary in Redemptorist circles, and are the stuff of romance. In 1749, the Redemptorists came to Muro to give a mission. Gerard was then 23 years old. He met with the superior of the mission, Fr Cafaro, and begged to be admitted to the Redemptorist Congregation. Though impressed by Gerard's obvious sincerity and holiness, Gerard's bad health – he looked "more a ghost than a man," said a witness – and lack of formal education put Fr Cafaro off. He refused to accept Gerard, and told him to forget about the idea.

Meanwhile, Benedetta had found out about the plan. On the day the missioners were leaving town, she locked Gerard in his bedroom so he could not follow them. But Gerard made a rope from the sheets, lowered himself down, and pursued the missioners out of town. A note left behind declared that he had gone off to become a saint.

Twelve miles later he caught up with the mission team. On a country road that May afternoon, Gerard knelt before Fr Cafaro and again begged to be allowed to join the Redemptorists. Eventually, Fr Cafaro gave in, sending Gerard to the Iliceto community with some of the most famous words in the Redemptorist annals: "I am sending you a useless brother."

Love of God and neighbour

Gerard's witness as a Redemptorist could be summed up in his living out what Jesus termed the two hinges of good religion: love of God and love of neighbour. For Gerard, these were simply two sides of the same coin.

He had an amazing capacity for pure, simple, agenda-free friendship. If there was any agenda, it was simply to share the liberating message of Jesus Christ, who can make all things new. Gerard had an almost psychic ability to sense the suffering of another and try to alleviate it, to let passion become compassion.

Fr John Carr recalls an incident when Gerard, on the way to the city of Sant' Agata di Puglia, found himself at a crossroads. There he met a man who looked deeply troubled, with "a face with the melancholy and despair of sin." (2)

Just to make conversation, Gerard asked him where he was headed, and was abruptly told to mind his own business. Gerard kept chatting, the man continued to ignore him, and tried to pass him out. Gerard reached out, gently held the man by the shoulders, looked him in the eye, and said: "I know what you're going through. God has sent me here for you. Don't doubt it." This hit home, and the man broke down. They sat there by the road, and years of pain came pouring out in the presence of Gerard's healing heart. Surely, we cannot miss the overtones here of the Jesus of the Emmaus road who meets each of us at our particular crossroads, asking us, "What things are going on in your life?"

Even considering the exuberance of the southern Italian temperament, Gerard's literal invasion of the man's space would be most politically incorrect for us today. We value privacy at all costs. However, in the wake of the Celtic Tiger, this privacy has come at a high price. It is often a privacy without compassion, the privacy, to recall O'Toole, not of the citizen but of the consumer. I walk on by because the other is of no value to me personally. It's what he can do for me that matters.

Bedrock of Christianity

Gerard's witness calls us back to that bedrock of Christianity and, indeed, humanity: community. He challenges us to join him in stumbling on to that mysterious paradox at the heart of Christianity: that it is in losing myself that I will find all, that I should care, that it is through showing compassion for others that I will live an even more rich and varied life. That said, Gerard asks us, how will people know we care if we don't risk reaching out to them? There are worse fates then being told to mind your own business. Christians are their brothers' and sisters' keepers.

Gerard's devotion to the passion of Christ enabled him to see the suffering Christ reflected in broken humanity. His love of neighbour was thus the flip side of his love of God. He was obviously a person of prayer from early on. This means that he was someone blessed with the courage to take time to tap into the centre, to listen to deeper rhythms and truer motivations. As he himself often said, "We cannot talk about God unless we first talk to God."

Deep longing

If, as Richard Rohr says, spirituality is what you do with your "deep longing", Gerard's witness speaks to a world which seems increasingly resistant to depth. This is a resistance which takes many forms. In an increasingly technocratic society, for example, the skill of reflective thinking is not encouraged, because it is not "practical". What you see is what you deal with. The tawdry, the vulgar, and the shallow rule the day. Idealism is equated with foolishness. Even our conversation is affected, with a great paucity of vocabulary becoming more evident.

We are afflicted with a surfeit of shallowness, and are often running on empty from surface-level living. We're tempted to get tired of life early, for "what more is there?" we ask. We have it all, know it all, have done it all. In Patrick Kavanagh's apt phrase: "through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder."

Gerard's warm relationship with the Lord dares us to wonder again, speaks volumes to contemporary people simultaneously longing to be centred and yet fleeing from such an encounter. While we know that living on the surface will not sustain us, we can be afraid of what we'll find when we go deeper.

Homing device for God

Gerard's experience reassures us of the truth of something Karl Rahner would say centuries later, that every human being comes complete with a sort of inbuilt homing device for God, and that we need not be afraid to respond, because in the silence we will receive not condemnation, but hospitality, a welcome home to the heart of the Father. As Pope John Paul II put it so beautifully in Tertio Millennia Adveniente: "The whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father, whose unconditional love we discover anew each day." Gerard was not afraid to visit and revisit the place of the centre, and, in the best Christian tradition, those visits spilled over into social responsibility, the flip of the coin again.

Invited to the splendid feast

On Sunday, August 31, 1755, Gerard returned to the Caposele monastery so exhausted, according to Fr Tannoia, that he looked more like a dead than a living man. Never healthy at the best of times, his final journey had begun. He took to his bed, suffering from sustained bouts of haemorrhaging and dysentery. The pain was terrible. A letter he dictated at the time contains the following lines: "I am writing this from my cross ... the pain is so very, very severe ... I was to die by the lance, but the lance seems to have been mislaid, so I must go on suffering..." Despite such sentiments, there were times, witnesses recall, that Gerard looked like one invited to some splendid feast. This generous sharer of Christ's redeeming love passed to eternal life on the night of October IS, 1755, aged 29.

In a letter to a nun, Gerard once wrote the following wise lines: "There is no need to dwell on the surface of daily events, but rather, to scrutinise them with the eyes of faith. The project and the loving presence of God are real, even beneath the crust of events that at first glance seem to be harsh.” When we can see that, "it is possible to live always in serenity, knowing well that in God's plan lies our happiness and fulfilment.” (3)

The beat of 'the living goodness

In the last few months, we lost one of the great prophets of the church, Columban Fr Niall O' Brien. Fr Niall and the 'Negros Nine' gained international headlines in the mid-80s when they were falsely imprisoned on a trumped-up murder charge in the Philippines. It was a covert way of silencing Fr Niall's voice, a voice constantly raised on behalf of the oppressed sugar workers.

Fr Niall's books, Revolution from the Heart, and Seeds of Injustice make for fascinating reading. They tell the story of a young, raw Irish missionary who left these shores in the 1960's to go and "convert" the Filipinos. After awhile, Fr Niall stumbled on the joyful and liberating discovery that the Holy Spirit was there already, and all he had to do as a priest was to "discover, share, and affirm" the Spirit's gifts.

While he had always tried to live in a way that shared the experience of the Filipino people, imprisonment opened up a whole new dimension to that. Fr Niall recalled the kindness and sympathy of many prison guards, who were as much victims of the system as their Charges. In one memorable passage, he recounts how he and his colleagues were advised to install chicken wire to prevent grenades from being lobbed in. And yet, in the midst of all this uncertainty, Fr Niall was still able to declare that “deep in the heart of the universe there beats a living goodness.”

What defines a saint

It is precisely this double-edged ability to engage with the messiness of human existence and to see deeper dimensions to it – in religious terms, God shining through it – that defines any saint or inspirational figure. This is because the lessons gleaned from such engagement are timeless, and speak to us as much today as when they happened.

Two such experiences from St Gerard's life are cases in point: Gerard as victim of false accusation, and Gerard as peacemaker.

In Gerard's day, if a young woman wished to enter the convent, she needed a substantial dowry. This presented a problem in the cases of young women from poorer families. In such cases, Gerard would often discreetly raise the money from wealthy contacts.

Such was the case in the spring of 1754, with a young woman called Neria Caggiano. It was a name Gerard would never forget. Gerard raised the money for her, Neria entered the convent, got homesick, and left three weeks later. She was embarrassed and angry at having to leave, and, unfortunately, this was taken out on Gerard.

She began to gossip about him in a way which implied that he was not the saint people thought he was, particularly with regard to his relationship with a certain Nicoletta. Neria fabricated a story about Gerard and Nicoletta, told it to a priest, who promptly reported it to Alphonsus de Liguori, the Rector Major of the Redemptorists.

Alphonsus summoned Gerard, read him the accusation, and asked him if he had anything to say. Like the Lord before Pilate, Gerard remained silent. Alphonsus ordered him to stay in the monastery, with no contact with the outside world, and, worst of all, Gerard was forbidden to receive the Lord in Holy Communion. However, as he said at the time, "it is enough to have Jesus in my heart." They could not take that away from him.

Three months later, Neria was seriously ill. She wrote a letter retracting everything, and Gerard's name was cleared. A distraught Alphonsus summoned Gerard again, and asked him why he had not spoken in his own defence. Gerard simply replied that to do so was forbidden by the Rule of Redemptorist religious life, and that he knew that the Lord would work things out.

In a world where the rights of the individual are primary, and where we loudly and vocally assert our autonomy at every turn, such blind trust seems laughable, until we remember that the constant, desperate assertion of our individuality masks the number one heresy around today: that I am in sole control of my own destiny. Gerard's blind trust calls us back to a radical dependence on God's providence, a massive act of faith of which most of us today would be incapable.

Also, Gerard's experience shows us that part of the pursuit of justice in Ireland today lies in not assuming that all priests and religious accused in abuse cases are guilty as charged. Some of them may be the casualties of the bush fires of gossip.

Gerard, the peacemaker

In 1753, the year before Gerard met Neria, the Carusi family was split down the middle by a blood feud which made The Godfather look like child's play. Twenty-year-old Francesco had had a row with his cousin Martino, challenged him to a duel, and been killed in the process. Francesco's parents had never forgiven or forgotten. In the words of an early Redemptorist commentator, they had "entrenched themselves within that most formidable of fortresses, a hating heart."

Gerard was called to the scene. Signore Carusi welcomed him politely, but made it clear that he was not interested in a reconciliation. Gerard tried again a few days later, and this time he seemed to be making progress until Teresa, Francesco's mother, burst into the room holding a bundle of cloth: the bloodstained clothes in which her son had been murdered. Flinging them down before her husband, she screamed: "Look at these clothes and then go and be reconciled! The blood of our Francesco cries out for vengeance!" Signore Carusi began to backtrack.

But if the Carusis had a blood stained relic, Gerard had one as well. Placing his Redemptorist mission cross on the floor, he asked them to walk on it. They refused to do so. Then he said to them: "Don't you see the inconsistency in your position? You refuse to tread on the crucifix, yet by your refusal to forgive, you are continuing the crucifixion of Christ and his people!" They got the message and were reconciled with Martino's family.

Gerard's witness here is a gospel one: that the way of peace and reconciliation is the way of Christ the Redeemer, that peace can break out in even the most unpromising situations, and that the cross shines through all human suffering, giving it meaning, and linking us all. Christ's passion is compassion.

A lesson we may be learning

In the midst of the U.S. war on Iraq, in the wake of those shocking photographs of torture perpetrated by both Americans and Iraqis, we could be tempted to despair, and ask ourselves, do we ever learn? I dare to believe that we are learning.

I spent most of the past year and a half studying in the United States, and was there when the war against Iraq broke out. What was most striking to me, and what seems not to have been well reported here, was the sheer volume of American resistance to that war. On February 14 last year, for example, three million people descended on Washington to protest against the war. Considering that this began as a regional conflict and not as a global war, such a level of resistance was remarkable.

When I look at it through Christian eyes, I can only put it down to the hope that the awareness of the common destiny of humanity is finally dawning upon us, that truth that organisations like Greenpeace and Ploughshares have been telling us all along: that we're all in this together, that along with the animals and plants we share this sacred earth, that what divides us is far outweighed by what we have in common.

Scripture advises us to praise illustrious men, a sentiment from which Gerard would have instinctually shied away. Nevertheless, it is only right that we celebrate the centenary of the canonisation of this young man who was wise beyond his 29 years. His humble but courageous witness teaches us timeless lessons in the Christian life. By following his example, we can be guaranteed to see Jesus more clearly, love him more dearly, and follow him more nearly, day by day.
____________________

1. O’Toole, Fintan. After the Ball. Dublin: New Island, 2003, p. 3.
2. Carr, John, C.Ss.R. St Gerard Majella. Dublin: Clonmore, 1959, 170.
3 From a letter to Sr Maria deJesus, April 25, 1752, quoted in: Londono, Noel (ed). Saint Gerard Majella- his Writings and Spirituality. Liguori: Missouri, 2002, p. 110.

This is a combination of two articles that appeared in Reality (June and July/August, 2004), a publication of the Irish Redemptorists.

Catholic Online

By John H. Carroll
Catholic News Service
4/13/2006

Cardinals, priests, rogues, art historians, aristocrats and even the Irish Republican Army are involved in the story told in The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece.

The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece
by Jonathan Harr. Random House (New York, 2005)

Pride of place in the National Gallery of Ireland goes to the priceless Baroque painting, "The Taking of Christ," by Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. In this intriguing tale an American author, Jonathan Harr, tells how this masterpiece disappeared from a grand Roman palazzo, remained hidden for more than a century and now rests in the Irish capital.

Click on photo for full view from the wonderful Web Gallery of Art

From the little we know about Caravaggio's life, it appears this creator of magnificent "holy pictures" was in fact a roguish vagabond. He was born in 1571 in the Milan area, probably in the village of Caravaggio. He settled in Rome, where he obtained commissions from the hierarchy to paint expressive Gospel scenes.

However, Harr indicates that the young artist was also active in Rome's corrupt demimonde. In 1606, Pope Paul V exiled Caravaggio from Rome after the artist killed a Roman aristocrat in a duel. In exile the artist continued to paint impressive religious masterpieces, such as the "Beheading of John the Baptist," now in the Cathedral of St. John in Malta. Finally in 1610 Caravaggio died on a Mediterranean beach en route to Rome.

In the following four centuries, one of Caravaggio's greatest paintings was lost, even though for most of the 20th century it was hung in plain sight. Two young Italian art students, Francesca Cappelletti and Laura Testa, discovered that Caravaggio had painted "The Taking of Christ" for Cardinal Girolamo Mattei and his brothers, Ciriaco and Asdrubale, members of the Roman aristocracy. But the young Italian scholars could not locate the painting in any collection.

Now the focus of the search turns to the British Isles. During the Napoleonic era, the Mattei family fell on hard times and sold some art treasures to a wealthy Scot who installed the paintings in his country home.

A young English Oxford graduate, Capt. Percival Lea-Wilson, an inspector in the Royal Irish Constabulary, married Marie Monica Ryan of Ireland in 1914. During the 1916 Irish Republican uprising in Dublin, Lea-Wilson abused IRA prisoners. That organization has a long memory. In 1920, unidentified gunmen shot and killed Lea-Wilson.

His distraught widow began to study at Trinity College and became a pediatrician. She bought a painting titled "The Betrayal of Christ" at an estate sale. It was attributed to a Dutch painter, Gerard Honthorst, who painted in the Italian style under the name Gherardo Della Notte. Eventually she donated the painting to the Jesuits of the House of St. Ignatius in Dublin.

Decades later, the Jesuits decided to have their nondescript "The Betrayal of Christ" cleaned at the National Gallery of Ireland. Sergio Benedetti, an Italian-born and -educated art restorer, undertook the task and discovered the missing masterpiece. The Jesuits loaned the painting to the National Gallery for indefinite exhibition and in 1993 an international group gathered in the National Gallery of Ireland to celebrate the discovery and exhibition of the priceless masterpiece, "The Taking of Christ" by Caravaggio.

By a curious coincidence, Cardinal Mattei was "protector of Ireland" in the papal hierarchy. He and members of his circle must have had connections with the likes of such Irish exiles in Rome as Hugh O'Neill, the prince of Ulster, and Archbishop Peter Lombard of Armagh, the primate of Ireland. Some of the Irish may have seen "The Taking of Christ" in the Mattei palazzo long before its disappearance and discovery in Dublin.

-------------

Harr is the author of A Civil Action and lives in Northampton, Mass., where he has taught writing at Smith College.

Carroll is a retired civil servant.

Photo of 'Fox in Brimpt's Wood, Dartmoor' by Peter Reading

I have been looking at the falling numbers of people who visit this humble site, and it occurs to me that there is no need to put the weekly things like I do as people are well able to click on EWTN, for instance, and get the >>Daily Mass Readings at any time. They can also go to any of the other links for everything they need. I get no feedback from anyone, so I think I will go back to the way I used to do it, and that is to just put up things I like as I find them. If anyone has any comment to make, it would be most welcome.

QUEEN OF PEACE

Insignia of the Blessed Virgin

If you wear Mary's Brown Scapular, you should be introduced to St.Simon Stock. You may already know him from his picture (along with Our Lady's) on your Scapular. Actually St.Simon is an old friend, for it was to him that Our Lady gave the Scapular Promise in 1215 saying, "Whosoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire"
One of the great mysteries of our time is that the majority of Catholics either ignore, or have entirely forgotten this Heavenly promise of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Lady further says: "Wear the Scapular devoutly and perseveringly. It is My garment. To be clothed, to be clothed in it means you are continually thinking of Me, and I in turn, am always thinking of you and helping you to secure eternal life."
Blessed Clause de la Colombiere, the renowned Jesuit and spiritual director of St.Margaret Mary, gives a point which is enlightening. He said, "Because all the forms of our love for the Blessed Virgin and all its various modes of expression cannot be equally pleasing to Her, and therefore do not assist us in the same degree to reach Heaven, I say, without a moment's hesitation, that the BROWN SCAPULAR IS THE MOST FAVOURED OF ALL!" He also adds, "No devotion has been confirmed by more numerous authentic miracles than the Brown Scapular.

Old Testament History

Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel ( the Madonna of the Scapular) goes back far before the time of St.Simon Stock -- even before the time of Our Blessed Lord; it goes back all the way to 8th century BC. It was then that the great prophet Elias ascended the holy mountain of Carmel in Palestine, and began there a long tradition of contemplative life and prayer. It is amazing to realize that centuries before Christ was born, Holy Elias and his followers had mystically dedicated themselves to God's Mother-to-come, Mary, Queen of Mt.Carmel. Nearly three thousand years later, that tradition of prayer, contemplation, and devotion to Mary continues to live and prevail in the Catholic Church.

In the fullness of time, God became the God-Man, Jesus. We know of Our Lords life, death, resurrection and ascension from the four Gospels of the New testament, and we know that Jesus bequeathed to the world the Holy Catholic Church to teach, to govern, and to sanctify in His Name.

On the Feast of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, the spiritual descendants of Elias and his followers came down from Mount Carmel. Fittingly, they were the first to accept the message of Christianity and to be baptized by the Apostles. When, at last, they were presented to Our Lady, and heard the sweetest words from Her lips, they were overcome with a sense of majesty and sanctity which they never forgot. Returning to their holy mountain, they erected the first chapel ever built in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From that time devotion to God's Mother was handed down by the hermits on Mount Carmel as a treasured spiritual legacy.

Our Lady appears to St Simon Stock

In the year 1241, the Baron de Grey of England was returning from the Crusades in Palestine: he brought back with him a group of religious from the holy mountain of Carmel. Upon arrival, the baron generously presented the monks with a manor house in the town of Aylesford. Ten years later, in the very place, there occurred the now famous apparition of Our Lady to St.Simon Stock. As the Holy Virgin handed St.Simon the Brown Woolen Scapular she spoke these words: "This shall be the privilege for you and all Carmelites, that anyone dying in this habit shall not suffer eternal fire." In time, the Church extended this magnificent privilege to all the laity who are willing to be invested in the Brown Scapular of the Carmelites, and who perpetually wear it.

Many Catholic are invested in the Brown Scapular at the time of their First Holy Communion; in the case of converts the vesting concurs with their Profession of Faith. When a person is enrolled in the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular and vested in that tiny habit of brown wool, the priest says to him: "receive this blessed Scapular and ask the most Holy Virgin that, by Her merits, it may be worn with no stain of sin and may protect you from all harm and bring you into everlasting life." The following true incidents will give a brief idea of how our Blessed Mother keeps her promise.
A priest relates how one day in a town near Chicago he was called to the bedside of a man who had been away form the Sacrament for many years. "The man did not want to see me: he would not talk. Then I asked him to look at the little Scapular I was holding. 'Will you wear this if I put this on you? I ask nothing more.' He agreed to wear it and within the hour he wanted to go to confession and make his peace with God. This did not surprise me, because for 700 years Our Lady has been working in this way through Her Scapular."

On the very day Our Lady gave the Scapular to St.Simon, he was hurriedly called by Lord Peter of Linton: "Come quickly, Father, my brother is dying in despair!" St.Simon left at once for the bedside of the dying man. Upon arrival he placed his large Scapular over the dying man, asking Our Blessed Mother to keep Her promise. Immediately the man repented, and died in the grace and friendship of God. That night the dead man appeared to his brother and said, 'I have been saved through the most powerful Queen and the Habit of that man as a shield."
St.Alphonsus tell us: Modern heretics make a mockery of wearing the Scapular. they decry it as so much trifling nonsense." Yet many of the popes have approved and recommended it. It is remarkable that only 25 years after the Scapular vision, Blessed Pope Gregory X was buried wearing the Scapular. when his tomb was opened 600 years after his death, his Scapular was found intact.
Two great founders of the Religious Orders, St. Alphonsus, of the Redemptorists and St.John Bosco of the Salecians had a very special devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and both wore Her Brown Scapular. When they died each was buried in priestly vestments and Scapular. Many years later their graves were opened, the bodies and sacred vestments in which they were buried were decayed-dust! BUT THE BROWN SCAPULAR WHICH EACH WAS WEARING WAS INTACT. The Scapular of St.Alphonsus is on exhibit in his Monastery in Rome.

Protection against the Devil

You will understand why the Devil works against those who promote the Scapular when you hear the story of Ven.Francis Ypes. One day his Scapular fell off. As he replaced it, the Devil howled, "Take off the habit which snatches so many souls from us!". Then and there Francis made the Devil admit that there are three things which the demons are most afraid of: the Holy Name of Jesus; the Holy Name of Mary and the Holy Scapular of Carmel. To that list we could add the Holy Rosary.

The Great St. Peter Claver was another of God's heroes who used the Scapular to good advantage. Every month a shipment of 1000 slaves would arrive at Cartegena, Colombia, South America. St.Peter used to insure the salvation of his converts. First, he organised catechists to give them instructions. Then, he saw to it that they were Baptised and clothed with the Scapular. Some ecclesiastics accused the Saint of indiscreet zeal, but St.Peter was confident that Mary would watch over each of his more than 300,000 converts!

Our Lady Protects a Missionary

One day in 1944, a Carmelite missionary in the Holy Land was called to an internment camp in order to give the Last Rites. The Arab driver made the priest get off the bus four miles from the camp because the road was dangerously muddy. After two miles, the missionary found his feet sinking deeper and deeper into the mire. Trying to get solid footing he slipped into a muddy pool. Sinking to his death in this desolate place, he thought of Our Lady and Her Scapular. He kissed his great Scapular--for he was wearing the full habit -- and looked toward the holy mountain of Carmel, the birthplace of devotion to God's Mother . He cried out, "Holy Mother of Carmel! Help me! save me!" A moment later, he found himself on solid ground. Later he said, "I know I was saved by the Blessed Virgin through Her Brown Scapular. My shoes were lost in the mud, and I was covered with it, but I walked the remaining two miles praising Mary.

Saved from the sea

Another Scapular story that bears repeating took place in 1845. In the late summer of that year, the English ship, "king of the Ocean" found itself in the middle of a wild hurricane. As wind and sea mercilessly lashed the ship, a Protestant minister, together with his wife and children and other passengers, struggled to the deck to pray for forgiveness and mercy, as the end seemed at hand. Among the crew was a young Irishman, John McAuliffe. On seeing the urgency of the situation, the youth opened his shirt took off his Scapular, and, making The sign of the Cross with it over the raging waves tossed it into the ocean. At that very moment, the wind calmed. Only one more wave washed the deck, bringing with it the Scapular which came to rest at the boy's feet. All the while the minister; a Mr. Fisher, had been carefully observing McAuliffe's actions and the miraculous effect of those actions. Upon questioning the young man, they were told about the Holy Virgin and Her Scapular. Mr. Fisher and his family were so impressed that they were determined to enter the Catholic Church as soon as possible, and thereby enjoy the same protection of Our Lady's Scapular.

A home saved from fire

Nearer to our own times—in May of 1957, a Carmelite priest in Germany published the unusual story of how the Scapular saved a home from fire. An entire row of homes had caught fire in Westboden, Germany. The pious inhabitants of a 2-family home, seeing the fire, immediately fastened a Scapular to the main door of the house. Sparks flew over it and around it, but the house remained unharmed. Within 5 hours, 22 homes had been reduced to ashes. The one structure which had the Scapular attached to its door remained intact. The hundreds of people who came to see the place Our lady had saved are eye-witnesses to the power of the Scapular and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

A train accident

One of the most extraordinary of all Scapular incidents took place right here in the United States. It happened around the turn of the century in the town of Ashtabula, Ohio, that a man, wearing the Scapular, was cut in two by a train. Instead of dying instantly, as would be expected he remained alive and conscious for 45 minutes -- just enough time until a priest could arrive to administer the Last Sacraments. These, and other such incidents, tell us that Our Blessed Mother will take personal care of us in the hour of our death. So great and powerful a Mother is Mary that She will never fail to keep the Scapular contract, i.e. to see that we die in God's grace.

A priest's life is saved

Still another Scapular miracle concerns a French priest who had gone on pilgrimage. On the way to say Mass, he remembered that he had forgotten his Scapular. He knew he would be late if he went back to retrieve it, but he could not envision offering Mass at Our Lady's altar without Her Scapular. Later, as he was offering the Holy Sacrifice, a young man approached the altar, pulled out a gun, and shot the priest in the back. To the amazement of all, the priest continued to say the prayers of the Mass as though nothing had occurred, It was at first presumed that the bullet had miraculously missed its target. However, upon examination, the bullet was found ADHERING TO THE LITTLE BROWN SCAPULAR which the priest had so obstinately refused to be without.

Conversions

We should even give the Scapular to non-Catholics for Our Lady will bring conversions to those who will wear it and say one Hail Mary each day, as the following true story will show. An old man was rushed to the St. Simon Stock Hospital in New York city, unconscious and dying. the nurse, seeing the Brown Scapular on the patient, called a priest. As the prayers were being said for the dying man, he became conscious and spoke up: "Father, I am not a Catholic." "Then why are you wearing the Brown Scapular?" asked the priest. "I promised my friends to wear it," the patient explained, " and also to say one Hail Mary a day." "You are dying" the priest told him. "Do you want to become a Catholic?" "All my life I wanted to be one." the dying man replied. He was baptized, received the Last Rites, and died in peace. Our Lady took another soul under her Mantle through the Scapular.

A Call Of Fervour

In October of 1952, an Air Force officer in Texas wrote the following: "Six months ago, shortly after I started wearing the Scapular, I experienced a remarkable change in my life. Almost at once, I started going to mass every day. After a short time, I started receiving Holy Communion daily. I kept lent with a fervour I had never experience before. I was introduced to the practice of meditation, and found myself making feeble attempts on the way to perfection. I have been trying to live with God ever since. I credit Mary's Scapular.

Necessity of wearing the Scapular

During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, Seven Communists were sentenced to death because of their crimes. A Carmelite priest tried to prepare the men for death; they refused. As a last resort, he brought the men cigarettes food and wine, assuring them that he would not talk religion. In a short while they were all friendly, so he asked them for one small favour: "Will you permit me to place a Scapular on each of you?", six agreed, one refused. Soon all Scapular wearers went to confession. The seventh continued to refuse—only to please them he put on the Scapular, but he would do nothing more. Morning came, and as the time of the execution came near, the seventh man made it clear that he was not going to ask for a priest. Although wearing the Scapular he was determined to go to his death an enemy of God. Finally, the command was given, the firing squad did its deadly work, and seven lifeless bodies lay sprawled in the dust.

Mysteriously a Scapular was found approximately 50 paces from the bodies. Six men died WITH Mary's Scapular; the seventh died Without the Scapular. Blessed Claude gives us the solution to Mystery of the Missing Scapular: "You ask; what if I desire to die in my sins?" I answer "Then you will die in your sins but YOU WILL NOT DIE IN YOU SCAPULAR." Blessed Clause tells the story of a man who tried to drown himself three times. He was rescued against his will. At last he realized that he was wearing his Scapular. Determined to take his life, he tore the Scapular from his neck and leaped into the water. Without Mary's protective garment he accomplished his wish and died in his sins.

Further Miracles

A Jesuit missionary in Guatemala tells an incident of Our Lady's Scapular protection. In November of 1955 a plane carrying 27 passengers crashed. All died except one young lady. When this girl saw that the plane was going down, she took hold of her Scapular, and called on Mary for help. She suffered burns, her clothing was reduced to ashes, but her Scapular was not touched by the flames.
In the same year of 1955, a similar miracle occurred in the Midwest. a 3rd-grader stopped in a gasoline station to put air in his bicycle tires, and at that moment an explosion occurred. The boy's clothing was burned off, but his Brown Scapular remained unaffected: a symbol of Mary's protection. Today, although he still bears a few scars from the explosion, this young man has special reason to remember the Blessed Mother's protection in time of danger.

The Scapular that saved two lives

My Battalion was a member of the Irene Brigade. We were just about to advance. After we passed Eindhofen, our trucks and tanks went through Uden. In the evening we encamped on an old farm near Nijmegen. Behind the house there was an old wooden pump to wash away the sweat and dust of hours of fighting. You can well imagine that we made good use of this opportunity. I was one of the group and so I tossed my jacket on the ground and hung my Scapular on the pump while I washed.
An hour later we received orders to proceed about a mile and a half further and to occupy a trench there. we were looking forward to being able to get a peaceful night's sleep in that trench.

I was about to lie down and was unbuttoning my collar when to my horror I realized that I no longer had my Scapular. It had been a gift from my mother. I had had it with me all during the war and now that we were approaching the lion's den was I to be deprived of it?
To go fetch it was unthinkable, so I tried not to think about it any more and to go to sleep. I pitched mad tossed from side to side, but I couldn't get to sleep.
All round me, my buddies were sleeping like logs even though from time to time shells fell dangerously close. Finally I was overcome by the desire to get my Scapular back and I crept out among my sleeping companions. It wasn't so easy to get past the sentry but I managed to do it and ran back the way we had come. It was pitch dark, but nevertheless I had good luck and in a short time I was back on the farm and at the pump. My hands glided searchingly all over the pump but the Scapular was gone. I was just about to strike a match when there was the sound of a dreadful explosion. What was I to do? Was that the sign of an enemy attack? As fast as I could I ran back to our trench. Maybe I could do something for my buddies there.
Near the trench I saw the engineers busily removing piles of dirt and barbed wire. At the very spot where my companions had been sleeping there yawned a gigantic shell-hole. Before the enemy had vacated this trench the enemy had placed a time-bomb in it and it had exploded during my absence. Nobody survived the explosion. If I had not set out to fetch my Scapular, I would have been buried under that rubble too.
On the following morning I went to the field kitchen and met a buddy there. He looked at me with astonishment. "I thought you were in that trench!". "And I thought you were buried there!"
My friend continued, "I was lying in the trench, but before I went to sleep I went looking for you. But I couldn't find you. The corporal saw me hunting around and asked me what I wanted. When I told him what I was doing there he said, "Be sensible! Instead go to that inn nearby and get me a bottle of water." And while I was on the errand the explosion occurred.
"Well, I escaped it but a hair's breadth too, "I replied. 'But why on earth were you looking for me so late at night?"
"To give you this, "he replied, and handed me my Scapular which had taken from the old pump."

A Shield in Time of Battle

Mr. Sisto Mosco of North providence, Rhode Island, is a veteran of world war II, who survived, unscathed, the invasion of Normandy, and later, the 7th fleet war with the Japanese fleet, the taking of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and other bloody battles in the south Pacific. Sisto affirms that his miraculous escape in another perfect example of the powerful protection of Our Blessed Mother of Mount Carmel, through Her Brown Scapular.

"I was on the battleship the U.S.S. Nevada as chaplain's yeoman during W W II in the Pacific. ( I always wore my Scapular because I was brought up close to the Church, and I kept it on me all through the war.) The ship was loaded with dynamite. A suicide plane hit the deck real close to where I was positioned. The blast blew open the bolted steel doors of the compartment. I alone was left uninjured after the explosion. The rest were all dead or seriously mangled. I was the only one untouched and I attribute it to the wearing of my Scapular"

Mr. Mosco later received a commendation from the Admiral of the fleet for bravery, but in his heart he firmly believes that the credit goes to Our Lady, the Virgin most powerful, who works such wonders through Her Habit of Salvation.

Vatican approval

In wearing the Scapular at all times we make silent petition for the Blessed Mother's continual assistance. We share in all the prayers and good works of the Carmelite Scapular Confraternity throughout the world. Pope Pius XII often spoke of the Scapular. On the 700th anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady to St.Simon Stock, Pope Pius XII referred to the Scapular as "the sign of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary".

The scapular also represents the sweet yoke of Jesus Christ which Mary helps us to bear. And finally, the pope continued, the Scapular marks us as one of Mary's chosen children, and becomes for us (as the Germans call it) a "Garment of Grace". Blessed Clause tells us, "Of all the pious practices which have inspired the faithful to honour the Mother of God, there is none so sure as that of the Scapular. No other devotion has been confirmed by so many and such extraordinary miracles."

As we mentioned above, during the Scapular Anniversary celebration in Rome in 1951, Pope Pius XII told a very large audience to wear the Brown Scapular as a sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our lady asked for this consecration in the last apparition at Fatima, when She appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, holding the Brown Scapular out to the whole world. It was Her last moving appeal to souls to wear Her Scapular as a sign of consecration to Her Immaculate Heart.

A brief summary

The Scapular is a habit -- Our Lady's habit. The Scapular must be worn over the shoulders in such a manner that one part hangs in front of the body and the other at the back. Worn in any other way, it carries no indulgence or promise. It is not necessary to wear the Scapular next to the skin.

Many Catholics may not know it is the wish of the Holy Father the Pope, that the Scapular Medal should not be worn without sufficient reason. Mary cannot be pleased with anyone who substitutes the medal out of vanity, or out of fear of making open profession of faith. Such persons run the risk of not receiving the Promise. The medal has never been noted for any of the miraculous preservations attributed to the Brown Cloth Scapular.

May a NON-CATHOLIC wear the Scapular?

Yes, and in doing so a non-catholic will receive many graces and blessings with this special sign of devotion to the Blessed Mother of God. Although Baptized Catholics are the only ones who can be officially enrolled in the Confraternity and enjoy the special Scapular privileges, Non-Catholics are warmly encouraged to avail themselves of this special way of honouring Jesus' Mother. By wearing the Scapular we are dedicated to Our Blessed Mother in a special way and have a strong claim upon Her protection and intercession.

TAN Books


St. Louis De Montfort

CHAPTER 6

Wonderful Effects of this Devotion

My dear friend, be sure that if you remain faithful to the interior and exterior practices of this devotion which I will point out, the following effects will be produced in your soul:

(click photo to view)

1. Knowledge of our unworthiness

By the light which the Holy Spirit will give you through Mary, his faithful spouse, you will perceive the evil inclinations of your fallen nature and how incapable you are of any good apart from that which God produces in you as Author of nature and of grace. As a consequence of this knowledge you will despise yourself and think of yourself only as an object of repugnance. You will consider yourself as a snail that soils everything with its slime, as a toad that poisons everything with its venom, as a malevolent serpent seeking only to deceive. Finally, the humble Virgin Mary will share her humility with you so that, although you regard yourself with distaste and desire to be disregarded by others, you will not look down slightingly upon anyone.

2. A share in Mary's faith

Mary will share her faith with you. Her faith on earth was stronger than that of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles and saints. Now that she is reigning in heaven she no longer has this faith, since she sees everything clearly in God by the light of glory. However, with the consent of almighty God she did not lose it when entering heaven. She has preserved it for her faithful servants in the Church militant. Therefore the more you gain the friendship of this noble Queen and faithful Virgin the more you will be inspired by faith in your daily life. It will cause you to depend less upon sensible and extraordinary feelings. For it is a lively faith animated by love enabling you to do everything from no other motive than that of pure love. It is a firm faith, unshakable as a rock, prompting you to remain firm and steadfast in the midst of storms and tempests. It is an active and probing faith which like some mysterious pass-key admits you into the mysteries of Jesus Christ and of man's final destiny and into the very heart of God himself. It is a courageous faith which inspires you to undertake and carry out without hesitation great things for God and the salvation of souls. Lastly, this faith will be your flaming torch, your very life with God, your secret fund of divine Wisdom, and an all-powerful weapon for you to enlighten those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. It inflames those who are lukewarm and need the gold of fervent love. It restores life to those who are dead through sin. It moves and transforms hearts of marble and cedars of Lebanon by gentle and convincing argument. Finally, this faith will strengthen you to resist the devil and the other enemies of salvation.

3. The gift of pure love

The Mother of fair love will rid your heart of all scruples and inordinate servile fear. She will open and enlarge it to obey the commandments of her Son with alacrity and with the holy freedom of the children of God. She will fill your heart with pure love of which she is the treasury. You will then cease to act as you did before, out of fear of the God who is love, but rather out of pure love. You will look upon him as a loving Father and endeavour to please him at all times. You will speak trustfully to him as a child does to its father. If you should have the misfortune to offend him you will abase yourself before him and humbly beg his pardon. You will offer your hand to him with simplicity and lovingly rise from your sin. Then, peaceful and relaxed and buoyed up with hope you will continue on your way to him.

4. Great confidence in God and in Mary

Our Blessed Lady will fill you with unbounded confidence in God and in herself:

1) Because you will no longer approach Jesus by yourself but always through Mary, your loving Mother.

2) Since you have given her all your merits, graces and satisfactions to dispose of as she pleases, she imparts to you her own virtues and clothes you in her own merits. So you will be able to say confidently to God: "Behold Mary, your handmaid, be it done unto me according to your word."

3) Since you have now given yourself completely to Mary, body and soul, she, who is generous to the generous, and more generous than even the kindest benefactor, will in return give herself to you in a marvellous but real manner. Indeed you may without hesitation say to her, "I am yours, O Blessed Virgin, obtain salvation for me," or with the beloved disciple, St. John, "I have taken you, Blessed Mother, for my all." Or again you may say with St. Bonaventure, "Dear Mother of saving grace, I will do everything with confidence and without fear because you are my strength and my boast in the Lord," or in another place, "I am all yours and all that I have is yours, O glorious Virgin, blessed above all created things. Let me place you as a seal upon my heart, for your love is as strong as death." Or adopting the sentiments of the prophet, "Lord, my heart has no reason to be exalted nor should my looks be proud; I have not sought things of great moment nor wonders beyond my reach; nevertheless, I am still not humble. But I have roused my soul and taken courage. I am as a child, weaned from earthly pleasures and resting on its mother's breast. It is upon this breast that all good things come to me."

4) What will still further increase your confidence in her is that, after having given her in trust all that you possess to use or keep as she pleases, you will place less trust in yourself and much more in her whom you have made your treasury. How comforting and how consoling when a person can say, "The treasury of God, where he has placed all that he holds most precious, is also my treasury." "She is," says a saintly man, "the treasury of the Lord."

5. Communication of the spirit of Mary

The soul of Mary will be communicated to you to glorify the Lord. Her spirit will take the place of yours to rejoice in God, her Saviour, but only if you are faithful to the practices of this devotion. As St. Ambrose says, "May the soul of Mary be in each one of us to glorify the Lord! May the spirit of Mary be in each one of us to rejoice in God!" "When will that happy day come," asks a saintly man of our own day whose life was completely wrapped up in Mary, "when God's Mother is enthroned in men's hearts as Queen, subjecting them to the dominion of her great and princely Son? When will souls breathe Mary as the body breathes air?" When that time comes wonderful things will happen on earth. The Holy Spirit, finding his dear Spouse present again in souls, will come down into them with great power. He will fill them with his gifts, especially wisdom, by which they will produce wonders of grace. My dear friend, when will that happy time come, that age of Mary, when many souls, chosen by Mary and given her by the most High God, will hide themselves completely in the depths of her soul, becoming living copies of her, loving and glorifying Jesus? That day will dawn only when the devotion I teach is understood and put into practice. Ut adveniat regnum tuum, adveniat regnum Mariae: "Lord, that your kingdom may come, may the reign of Mary come!"

6. Transformation into the likeness of Jesus

If Mary, the Tree of Life, is well cultivated in our soul by fidelity to this devotion, she will in due time bring forth her fruit which is none other than Jesus. I have seen many devout souls searching for Jesus in one way or another, and so often when they have worked hard throughout the night, all they can say is, "Despite our having worked all night, we have caught nothing." To them we can say, "You have worked hard and gained little; Jesus can only be recognised faintly in you." But if we follow the immaculate path of Mary, living the devotion that I teach, we will always work in daylight, we will work in a holy place, and we will work but little. There is no darkness in Mary, not even the slightest shadow since there was never any sin in her. She is a holy place, a holy of holies, in which saints are formed and moulded.

Please note that I say that saints are moulded in Mary. There is a vast difference between carving a statue by blows of hammer and chisel and making a statue by using a mould. Sculptors and statue-makers work hard and need plenty of time to make statues by the first method. But the second method does not involve much work and takes very little time. St. Augustine speaking to our Blessed Lady says, "You are worthy to be called the mould of God." Mary is a mould capable of forming people into the image of the God-man. Anyone who is cast into this divine mould is quickly shaped and moulded into Jesus and Jesus into him. At little cost and in a short time he will become Christ-like since he is cast into the very same mould that fashioned a God-man.

I think I can very well compare some spiritual directors and devout persons to sculptors who wish to produce Jesus in themselves and in others by methods other than this. Many of them rely on their own skill, ingenuity and art and chip away endlessly with mallet and chisel at hard stone or badly-prepared wood, in an effort to produce a likeness of our Lord. At times, they do not manage to produce a recognisable likeness either because they lack knowledge and experience of the person of Jesus or because a clumsy stroke has spoiled the whole work. But those who accept this little-known secret of grace which I offer them can rightly be compared to smelters and moulders who have discovered the beautiful mould of Mary where Jesus was so divinely and so naturally formed. They do not rely on their own skill but on the perfection of the mould. They cast and lose themselves in Mary where they become true models of her Son.

You may think this a beautiful and convincing comparison. But how many understand it? I would like you, my dear friend, to understand it. But remember that only molten and liquefied substances may be poured into a mould. That means that you must crush and melt down the old Adam in you if you wish to acquire the likeness of the new Adam in Mary.

7. The greater glory of Christ

If you live this devotion sincerely, you will give more glory to Jesus in a month than in many years of a more demanding devotion. Here are my reasons for saying this:

(1) Since you do everything through the Blessed Virgin as required by this devotion, you naturally lay aside your own intentions no matter how good they appear to you. You abandon yourself to our Lady's intentions even though you do not know what they are. Thus you share in the high quality of her intentions, which are so pure that she gave more glory to God by the smallest of her actions, say, twirling her distaff, or making a stitch, than did St. Laurence suffering his cruel martyrdom on the grid-iron, and even more than all the saints together in all their most heroic deeds! Mary amassed such a multitude of merits and graces during her sojourn on earth that it would be easier to count the stars in heaven, the drops of water in the ocean or the sands of the sea-shore than count her merits and graces. She thus gave more glory to God than all the angels and saints have given or will ever give him. Mary, wonder of God, when souls abandon themselves to you, you cannot but work wonders in them!

(2) In this devotion we set no store on our own thoughts and actions but are content to rely on Mary's dispositions when approaching and even speaking to Jesus. We then act with far greater humility than others who imperceptibly rely on their own dispositions and are self- satisfied about them; and consequently we give greater glory to God, for perfect glory is given to him only by the lowly and humble of heart.

(3) Our Blessed Lady, in her immense love for us, is eager to receive into her virginal hands the gift of our actions, imparting to them a marvelous beauty and splendour, and presenting them herself to Jesus most willingly. More glory is given to our Lord in this way than when we make our offering with our own guilty hands.

(4) Lastly, you never think of Mary without Mary thinking of God for you. You never praise or honour Mary without Mary joining you in praising and honouring God. Mary is entirely relative to God. Indeed I would say that she was relative only to God, because she exists uniquely in reference to him.

She is an echo of God, speaking and repeating only God. If you say "Mary" she says "God". When St. Elizabeth praised Mary calling her blessed because she had believed, Mary, the faithful echo of God, responded with her canticle, "My soul glorifies the Lord." What Mary did on that day, she does every day. When we praise her, when we love and honour her, when we present anything to her, then God is praised, honoured and loved and receives our gift through Mary and in Mary.

THE PARISH CHURCH OF SAINT MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS WITH SAINT JAMES

Who are the Saints?

The word SAINT means 'holy one', and so the saints are God's holy people. In this broadest sense, all members of the Church are saints. St. Paul uses the word in this way in his letters, but it wasn't long before the word came to have a more specific meaning.

Very early in the life of the Church it came to be recognised that certain individuals lived more obviously 'holy' lives, or were specially favoured by God. Chief among them were those who had died for the Faith - the martyrs, and supremely the Mother of God herself.

As time passed the Church began to realise that holiness only sometimes went hand-in-hand with martyrdom. More often than not holiness was apparent in other, less dramatic ways. Often, though, it was only recognised after the Saint's death.

"I believe in the Communion of Saints"

Members of the Catholic Church say or sing these words at least every Sunday during the Eucharist; they are part of the Nicene Creed. They remind us that the Church is much bigger than our own congregation, or even the entire 'Church Militant' here on Earth. They remind us that the larger part of the Church exists on the other side of the grave, the Church Expectant and the Church Triumphant. The whole of the Church, living and departed, is united in the one eternal Eucharist. We are united to Christ by Baptism and by eating His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, and so we are intimately united to each other.

Church Expectant

The Church Expectant consists of those Christians who have died relatively recently but who, because of their need for preparation, are unable yet to enjoy the full presence of God. We pray for those souls in the belief that our prayers, together with those of the Saints in heaven, will hasten and ease their passage. As 2 Maccabees ch.2 v.44 & 45 put it, to "pray for the dead ...(will)...free the dead from their sin"

Church Triumphant

The Church Triumphant is the Church in 'heaven'. The souls of all those Christians who are enjoying, to the full, the Heavenly Banquet. The Book of Revelation, although it should not be taken as literally descriptive, paints a picture of the glory of heaven and the fulfilment of the Saints. It also reminds us that the Saints in heaven continue to offer prayer to God.

Praying for ourselves and others

Praying for the needs of other people, and for ourselves, is one of the four basic ways of praying. It is called SUPPLICATION.
We pray for ourselves, in the belief that whatever we ask in the name of Christ, God will give us. We must always remember, though, that.God already knows our needs, and will provide them without waiting to be asked.
Praying for others, in particular, is one of the ways in which we demonstrate our care for them. We also ask other people to pray for us. Prayer for each other is the basic expression of Christian love.
God wants us to pray in this way, not because He will only give us what we need if we ask for it, but because prayer is good for us! It helps us to be aware of God's love for us; it helps us to be aware of the needs of others, and teaches us to love them; and above all it keeps us aware of our total dependence upon Him.

Asking the prayers of the Saints

The practice of asking the Saints to pray for us was, for many years, frowned upon as something alien to the spirit of the Church of England, and somehow wrong. Thankfully, in recent years its value has been rediscovered, and the practice is becoming more widely understood and used.

Why we ask the Saints to pray for us

The most important reason is that God wants us to! When we ask the Saints to pray for us we are doing no more than God's will.
In their lives, many of the Saints were able, by their prayers, to bring about spectacular works of healing and other 'miracles'. Most of them, though, demonstrated that they were friends of God in more mundane ways. Their ability to do marvellous works was not their own, but came from God. It was God's way of blessing us through them, and His way of showing us that He was honouring them; not an honour they deserved, but nonetheless God's will. The same is just as true after a Saint has died.
One of the proofs required by the Church that God wishes us to honour a person as a Saint, is that God has first honoured him/her. As a sign, God grants 'favours' in response to prayers 'addressed' through the Saint. We call these 'favours' miracles. If God gives honour, then who are we to withold our respect and honour?
The second reason is that, just as we believe that the prayers of a 'holy' living Christian will help us, so will the prayers of one who is even more alive! If the prayers of we, who are far from being 'holy' and far from the throne of Grace, can work miracles, how much more will the prayers of the Saints!

St. Mary the Virgin

Of all the Saints, the queen is St. Mary, the Mother of God. The Gospel according to St Luke is quite clear, Our Lady, as we delight to call her, is of all women the most blessed. She, above all people, is most favoured by God who chose her to be the mother of His only-begotten Son Jesus.
Just as Our Lady is the Saint most highly honoured by God, so it is right and fitting that she should be the most highly honoured by Christ's Church. We are told, if not commanded, in St. Luke ch.l v.48, that "all generations shall call me blessed" (RSV).
Of all the means of honouring Our Lady, and indeed all the Saints, open to Christians, by far the most fitting is to ask her to pray for us, Asking her to pray for us is not to take anything away from Christ's glory, but to magnify it by doing His will and honouring His Mother. The first recorded example of people asking her prayers is in the Gospel according to St. John ch.2, v.l and following: the story of the marriage at Cana in Galilee.
St Lukes Gospel cb,2 v.35 shows us that it is indeed God's will that Our Lady will pray for us, and that her prayers will not go unheeded. The prophet Simeon says to Our Lady that "a sword shall pierce through thine own soul; that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed" (RV).
Our Lady's prayer for us is that of a mother for her children. When Our Lord was dying on the cross, almost His last act was to commit "the disciple whom He loved" to her maternal care. The beloved disciple's recorded response was to make a place in his home for her. The beloved disciple, who is not named, stands for all Christians, and so it was we who are committed to her care. It should also be the response of all faithful followers of Christ to make a place for His mother in their hearts.
Probably the best known prayer to Our Lady, which is easy to memorise is the 'Hail Mary':
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Places associated with visions of Our Lady include Walsingham (England), Lourdes (France), Fatima (Portugal) and Medjugorie (Czech. Rep.). They are known today as places of pilgrimage.

Conclusion

Praying for others is a demonstration of our love for each other, and of our faith in God. It is just as important, though, to ask other Christians, including the Saints, to pray for us.