New Frederica Mathewes-Green book on praying with icons. Frederica has a style that is accessible to all and as a Publisher's Weekly review says of this book, "this slight volume offers rewards for both the intellectually curious and the religious seeker."
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Feast of the Imprinting of the Stigmata on St. Francis
"From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." -Paul's Letter to the Galatians 6:17
From CIN - St. Francis Receives the Stigmata:
"'O my God, Jesus Christ! On this Feast of the Holy Cross, I ask for two things before I die: that during my short life I may feel Your sufferings and Your love in my soul and in my body!'
Francis was kneeling outside his hut. His prayer quivered in the silence of the night. Dawn was near. It was bitingly cold, and the stars were shining brightly in the sky. And then, as the first glimmer of light appeared in the dark, what he had lived for all his life happened.
All of a sudden there was a dazzling light. It was as though the heavens were exploding and splashing forth all their glory in millions of waterfalls of colors and stars. And in the center of that bright whirlpool was a core of blinding light that flashed down from the depths of the sky with terrifying speed until suddenly it stopped, motionless and sacred, above a pointed rock in front of Francis. It was a fiery figure with wings, nailed to a cross of fire. Two flaming wings rose straight upward, two others opened out horizontally, and two more covered the figure. And the wounds in the hands and feet and heart were blazing rays of blood. The sparkling features of the Being wore an expression of supernatural beauty and grief.
It was the face of Jesus, and Jesus spoke.
Then suddenly streams of fire and blood shot from His wounds and pierced the hands and feet of Francis with nails and his heart with the stab of a lance. As Francis uttered a mighty shout of joy and pain, the fiery image impressed itself into his body, as into a mirrored reflection of itself, with all its love, its beauty, and its grief. And it vanished within him. Another cry pierced the air. Then, with nails and wounds through his body, and with his soul and spirit aflame, Francis sank down, unconscious, in his blood. "
"From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." -Paul's Letter to the Galatians 6:17
From CIN - St. Francis Receives the Stigmata:
"'O my God, Jesus Christ! On this Feast of the Holy Cross, I ask for two things before I die: that during my short life I may feel Your sufferings and Your love in my soul and in my body!'
Francis was kneeling outside his hut. His prayer quivered in the silence of the night. Dawn was near. It was bitingly cold, and the stars were shining brightly in the sky. And then, as the first glimmer of light appeared in the dark, what he had lived for all his life happened.
All of a sudden there was a dazzling light. It was as though the heavens were exploding and splashing forth all their glory in millions of waterfalls of colors and stars. And in the center of that bright whirlpool was a core of blinding light that flashed down from the depths of the sky with terrifying speed until suddenly it stopped, motionless and sacred, above a pointed rock in front of Francis. It was a fiery figure with wings, nailed to a cross of fire. Two flaming wings rose straight upward, two others opened out horizontally, and two more covered the figure. And the wounds in the hands and feet and heart were blazing rays of blood. The sparkling features of the Being wore an expression of supernatural beauty and grief.
It was the face of Jesus, and Jesus spoke.
Then suddenly streams of fire and blood shot from His wounds and pierced the hands and feet of Francis with nails and his heart with the stab of a lance. As Francis uttered a mighty shout of joy and pain, the fiery image impressed itself into his body, as into a mirrored reflection of itself, with all its love, its beauty, and its grief. And it vanished within him. Another cry pierced the air. Then, with nails and wounds through his body, and with his soul and spirit aflame, Francis sank down, unconscious, in his blood. "
Cincinnati Archbishop Under Attack
Over the past few weeks every time I've gone out of the office for lunch and had on the Bill Cunningham show I've been amazed at the attack that he is launching on the Archbishop of Cincinnati. It is relentless, and it is inflamatory.
Sadly, I think even the Catholic League would have a hard time calling it anti-Catholic though. Because Cunningham, a Catholic, is expressing outrage at the sinful behavior that has been coddled and covered up by the Archdiocese and were not talking years ago, but in recent days. There is an arrogance, not to mention strange lack of humility that has been on display by some bishops in response to this crisis within their ranks. One wonders if they read the Office of Readings that they are required to pray every day and over the past weeks the condemnations leveled against those shepherds who do not stand up for the truth.
Until they do people like Bill Cunningham will have plenty to blast them for.
NEWSRADIO 700 WLW
Over the past few weeks every time I've gone out of the office for lunch and had on the Bill Cunningham show I've been amazed at the attack that he is launching on the Archbishop of Cincinnati. It is relentless, and it is inflamatory.
Sadly, I think even the Catholic League would have a hard time calling it anti-Catholic though. Because Cunningham, a Catholic, is expressing outrage at the sinful behavior that has been coddled and covered up by the Archdiocese and were not talking years ago, but in recent days. There is an arrogance, not to mention strange lack of humility that has been on display by some bishops in response to this crisis within their ranks. One wonders if they read the Office of Readings that they are required to pray every day and over the past weeks the condemnations leveled against those shepherds who do not stand up for the truth.
Until they do people like Bill Cunningham will have plenty to blast them for.
NEWSRADIO 700 WLW
Future Terror Strikes on the US and Vatican?
Michael Brown has an interesting essay over at Spirit Daily today about Muslim apocalyptic writers that may indicate the veiled plans of extreme Muslim radicals.
Spirit Daily - Daily spiritual news from around the world
Here is a sampling:
In chilling references that predate September 11, Muslim philosophers -- including at least one said to have influenced Bin Laden -- have used terms like "partial strike" and link it to the war over Kuwait as well as the immorality they saw as flourishing in the West, especially under the Clinton Administration. In a bizarre rendering of symbols, Muslim apocalypticists have cited Jeremiah 50:2 and 51:44, where the figure of "Bel" (a Babylonian god) is "punished in Babylon." They connect "Bel" to "Bill" Clinton....
In Muslim apocalyptic literature, America is associated with "Ad," a city whose destruction is detailed in the Koran. Ad was an advanced civilization, according to Cook, who has studied the Muslim apocalyptic interpretations and quotes Abdallah as seeing Ad as a civilization that "could predict weather and possessed other advanced technology.
"They had advanced weaponry and organized sports and cultural events," Cook writes, summarizing the Muslim beliefs regarding the evil power they had to overthrow. "These, however, were merely for pleasure, not for the purpose of glorifying God. Their buildings were skyscrapers [speaking of their capital, Iram dhat al-`Imad], just as in New York."
Therefore, says Abdallah, "America deserves now, according to the sunna of God regarding the punishment of nations, a partial strike like that which caught Ad." In the matter of earthquakes or khasfs, says Cook, the Muslim apocalyptic writers believe America will be targeted "and specifically New York City, which is called the 'great Babylon.'"...
The "Mahdi" is a messianic figure whom some radicals now associate with Osama Bin Laden. According to Muslim writers, the Mahdi will proclaim himself in Mecca and move against Jordan, which will be ruled by a Jew.
"Then America will live through the worst disaster in its history," writes Muhammad 'Isa Da'ud. "This disaster will be the destruction of New York by a terrible flood after a terrifying series of explosions nearby makes the surrounding waters swallow it up as if it is an ant inside a terrifying star of heat and water."
In the perspective of these Muslim writers, "Florida also suffers nuclear explosions of unknown origin and this triggers even more explosions as the American nuclear arsenal in the area detonates."
After the disabling of the U.S., much of Europe will convert to Islam, in the view of modern Muslim prophetic writers, but there will be one stumbling block. "This ideal state of affairs is wrecked by the Vatican, since groups of saboteurs under Roman Catholic control are caught, and brought before the Mahdi," says Cook. "They confess who sent them to him personally and to representatives of the foreign countries. Then the Mahdi proclaims that his armies are moving to the Vatican and going to attack Rome."
Michael Brown has an interesting essay over at Spirit Daily today about Muslim apocalyptic writers that may indicate the veiled plans of extreme Muslim radicals.
Spirit Daily - Daily spiritual news from around the world
Here is a sampling:
In chilling references that predate September 11, Muslim philosophers -- including at least one said to have influenced Bin Laden -- have used terms like "partial strike" and link it to the war over Kuwait as well as the immorality they saw as flourishing in the West, especially under the Clinton Administration. In a bizarre rendering of symbols, Muslim apocalypticists have cited Jeremiah 50:2 and 51:44, where the figure of "Bel" (a Babylonian god) is "punished in Babylon." They connect "Bel" to "Bill" Clinton....
In Muslim apocalyptic literature, America is associated with "Ad," a city whose destruction is detailed in the Koran. Ad was an advanced civilization, according to Cook, who has studied the Muslim apocalyptic interpretations and quotes Abdallah as seeing Ad as a civilization that "could predict weather and possessed other advanced technology.
"They had advanced weaponry and organized sports and cultural events," Cook writes, summarizing the Muslim beliefs regarding the evil power they had to overthrow. "These, however, were merely for pleasure, not for the purpose of glorifying God. Their buildings were skyscrapers [speaking of their capital, Iram dhat al-`Imad], just as in New York."
Therefore, says Abdallah, "America deserves now, according to the sunna of God regarding the punishment of nations, a partial strike like that which caught Ad." In the matter of earthquakes or khasfs, says Cook, the Muslim apocalyptic writers believe America will be targeted "and specifically New York City, which is called the 'great Babylon.'"...
The "Mahdi" is a messianic figure whom some radicals now associate with Osama Bin Laden. According to Muslim writers, the Mahdi will proclaim himself in Mecca and move against Jordan, which will be ruled by a Jew.
"Then America will live through the worst disaster in its history," writes Muhammad 'Isa Da'ud. "This disaster will be the destruction of New York by a terrible flood after a terrifying series of explosions nearby makes the surrounding waters swallow it up as if it is an ant inside a terrifying star of heat and water."
In the perspective of these Muslim writers, "Florida also suffers nuclear explosions of unknown origin and this triggers even more explosions as the American nuclear arsenal in the area detonates."
After the disabling of the U.S., much of Europe will convert to Islam, in the view of modern Muslim prophetic writers, but there will be one stumbling block. "This ideal state of affairs is wrecked by the Vatican, since groups of saboteurs under Roman Catholic control are caught, and brought before the Mahdi," says Cook. "They confess who sent them to him personally and to representatives of the foreign countries. Then the Mahdi proclaims that his armies are moving to the Vatican and going to attack Rome."
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
John Paul II's Twenty-fifth Anniversary Approaches
It is rather amazing to think that twenty-five years have almost passed since John Paul II was elected pope in 1978. I have seen the pope in person twice during those twenty five years, in Miami, in the ninth year of his pontificate. He was still young then and full of vigor.
In recent years I have had a book autographed by him through the intervention of a friend, Dr. Lena Allen Shore. She is a close confidant of the Holy Father and is an amazing story herself. A Polish-Jew, she grew up in Krakow, Poland at the same time as Karol Wotija. Like him she survived the War, in her case, by pretending to be Catholic. That pretending has left its mark on her and in the correspondence that she now has with the pontiff, it is interesting how often he counsels her to "be herself"--a testimony to the genius of the pope who realizes the scars that have never totally healed of someone who in the formative years of their lives could not be themselves for it would have meant a certian death.
Dr. Allen Shore has compiled a book of that is filled with her poems, the Pope's poems, their correspondence, her reflections on the pope's formative years and her own. It is entitled "Building Bridges" a play on the English translation of the title that John Paul II now holds "pontiff". It probably is the greatest testimony to the greatness of John Paul II as he approaches his twenty-fifth. It would make a great gift for anyone out there wanting to commemorate the event with a truly unique book on the papacy of John Paul the Great.
It is rather amazing to think that twenty-five years have almost passed since John Paul II was elected pope in 1978. I have seen the pope in person twice during those twenty five years, in Miami, in the ninth year of his pontificate. He was still young then and full of vigor.
In recent years I have had a book autographed by him through the intervention of a friend, Dr. Lena Allen Shore. She is a close confidant of the Holy Father and is an amazing story herself. A Polish-Jew, she grew up in Krakow, Poland at the same time as Karol Wotija. Like him she survived the War, in her case, by pretending to be Catholic. That pretending has left its mark on her and in the correspondence that she now has with the pontiff, it is interesting how often he counsels her to "be herself"--a testimony to the genius of the pope who realizes the scars that have never totally healed of someone who in the formative years of their lives could not be themselves for it would have meant a certian death.
Dr. Allen Shore has compiled a book of that is filled with her poems, the Pope's poems, their correspondence, her reflections on the pope's formative years and her own. It is entitled "Building Bridges" a play on the English translation of the title that John Paul II now holds "pontiff". It probably is the greatest testimony to the greatness of John Paul II as he approaches his twenty-fifth. It would make a great gift for anyone out there wanting to commemorate the event with a truly unique book on the papacy of John Paul the Great.
Praying for Protection Against Hurricanes and Other Storms
One memory that I have of living in Florida was a Jesuit priest who daily would say the Divine Praises at Mass for protection against hurricanes and storms. This priest a native southerner from Mobile, AL could say Mass faster than any priest I have ever encountered in over 40 + years of attending Mass. A Sunday mass with homily and the Divine praises in less than twenty minutes! Anyway below is another prayer for protection against storms.
Prayers Against Storms
Jesus Christ a King of Glory has come in Peace. † God became man, † and the Word was made flesh. † Christ was born of a Virgin. † Christ suffered. † Christ was crucified. † Christ died. † Christ rose from the dead. † Christ ascended into Heaven. † Christ conquers. † Christ reigns. † Christ orders. † May Christ protect us from all storms and lightning † Christ went through their midst in Peace, † and the word was made flesh. † Christ is with us with Mary. † Flee you enemy spirits because the Lion of the Generation of Judah, the Root David, has won. † Holy God! † Holy Powerful God! † Holy Immortal God! † Have mercy on us. Amen!
One memory that I have of living in Florida was a Jesuit priest who daily would say the Divine Praises at Mass for protection against hurricanes and storms. This priest a native southerner from Mobile, AL could say Mass faster than any priest I have ever encountered in over 40 + years of attending Mass. A Sunday mass with homily and the Divine praises in less than twenty minutes! Anyway below is another prayer for protection against storms.
Prayers Against Storms
Jesus Christ a King of Glory has come in Peace. † God became man, † and the Word was made flesh. † Christ was born of a Virgin. † Christ suffered. † Christ was crucified. † Christ died. † Christ rose from the dead. † Christ ascended into Heaven. † Christ conquers. † Christ reigns. † Christ orders. † May Christ protect us from all storms and lightning † Christ went through their midst in Peace, † and the word was made flesh. † Christ is with us with Mary. † Flee you enemy spirits because the Lion of the Generation of Judah, the Root David, has won. † Holy God! † Holy Powerful God! † Holy Immortal God! † Have mercy on us. Amen!
Monday, September 15, 2003
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