In Bernadette's own words, what happened during the first apparition on February 11th 1858, from Catholic Online - Blessed Mother Mary - Apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes:
"'I had just begun to take off my first stocking when suddenly I heard a great noise like the sound of a storm. I looked to the right and to the left, under the trees of the river, but nothing moved; I thought I was mistaken. I went on taking off my shoes and stockings, when I heard a fresh noise like the first. Then I was frightened and stood straight up. I lost all power of speech and thought when, turning my head toward the grotto, I saw at one of the openings of the rock a bush - only one - moving as if it were very windy. Almost at the same time, there came out of the interior of the grotto a golden coloured cloud, and soon after a Lady, young and beautiful, exceedingly beautiful, the like of whom I had never seen before, came and placed herself at the entrance of the opening, above the rose bush. She looked at me immediately, smiled at me and signed to me to advance, as if She had been my Mother. All fear had left me, but I seemed to know no longer where I was. I rubbed my eyes, I shut them, I opened them; but the Lady was still there continuing to smile at me and making me understand that I was not mistaken. Without thinking of what I was doing I took my Rosary in my hands and went on my knees. The Lady made with Her head a sign of approval and Herself took into Her hands a Rosary which hung on Her right arm. When I attempted to begin the Rosary and tried to lift my hand to my forehead, my arm remained paralysed, and it was only after the Lady had signed Herself that I could do the same. The Lady left me to pray all alone; She passed the beads of Her Rosary between Her fingers but She said nothing; only at the end of each decade did She say the Gloria with me.
'When the recitation of the Rosary was finished, the Lady returned to the interior of the rock."
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Add Sex Abuse to Pot Priest's Charges
All alleged of course...
From cleveland.com:
"A priest charged with growing marijuana in his church residence is under investigation for alleged child abuse, a prosecutor said.
Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Mary Ann Kovach said Tuesday that she plans to meet with police to determine if sex charges should be brought against Rev. Richard Arko, 40.
The allegation surfaced during a court appearance by Andrew J. Smith, 25, of nearby Barberton, who tipped police last month to marijuana plants allegedly grown by Arko inside the rectory of Prince of Peace Roman Catholic Church.
Smith, in court Tuesday for violating probation in an unrelated case, claimed Arko began a sexual relationship with him when he was 15. "
From cleveland.com:
"A priest charged with growing marijuana in his church residence is under investigation for alleged child abuse, a prosecutor said.
Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Mary Ann Kovach said Tuesday that she plans to meet with police to determine if sex charges should be brought against Rev. Richard Arko, 40.
The allegation surfaced during a court appearance by Andrew J. Smith, 25, of nearby Barberton, who tipped police last month to marijuana plants allegedly grown by Arko inside the rectory of Prince of Peace Roman Catholic Church.
Smith, in court Tuesday for violating probation in an unrelated case, claimed Arko began a sexual relationship with him when he was 15. "
Much Worst than Anyone Thought
The report will be released on the 27th of this month.
From My Way News:
"The scope of sex abuse accusations against Roman Catholic clergy since 1950 appears to be much greater than previously estimated by victims' groups and the media, an Associated Press review of reports from dioceses has found.
The U.S. church will make an unprecedented, nationwide accounting of abuse claims and costs later this month, and some bishops already have started releasing local figures. The AP contacted dioceses across the country and found that 1,341 clergy members have been accused of molesting minors, with more than half the dioceses yet to report.
'What it's really doing is showing us in black and white that the problem is much worse than any of us thought,' said Sue Archibald, president of The Linkup, a Kentucky-based victim advocacy group.
Statistics have yet to be released by some archdioceses that have faced hundreds of allegations, including Boston and Los Angeles.
A January 2003 review by The New York Times counted 1,205 accused priests nationwide over five decades. Survivors First, an advocacy group compiling its own list from media reports and lawsuits, has counted 1,800."
From My Way News:
"The scope of sex abuse accusations against Roman Catholic clergy since 1950 appears to be much greater than previously estimated by victims' groups and the media, an Associated Press review of reports from dioceses has found.
The U.S. church will make an unprecedented, nationwide accounting of abuse claims and costs later this month, and some bishops already have started releasing local figures. The AP contacted dioceses across the country and found that 1,341 clergy members have been accused of molesting minors, with more than half the dioceses yet to report.
'What it's really doing is showing us in black and white that the problem is much worse than any of us thought,' said Sue Archibald, president of The Linkup, a Kentucky-based victim advocacy group.
Statistics have yet to be released by some archdioceses that have faced hundreds of allegations, including Boston and Los Angeles.
A January 2003 review by The New York Times counted 1,205 accused priests nationwide over five decades. Survivors First, an advocacy group compiling its own list from media reports and lawsuits, has counted 1,800."
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Do You Write Like a Man or a Woman?
The Gender Genie
Thankfully, I write like a man:
Words: 516
(NOTE: The genie works best on texts of more than 500 words.)
Female Score: 342
Male Score: 808
The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: male!
Thankfully, I write like a man:
Words: 516
(NOTE: The genie works best on texts of more than 500 words.)
Female Score: 342
Male Score: 808
The Gender Genie thinks the author of this passage is: male!
Papal Acts--New Bishop for Portland--New Saints
- Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the diocese of Madison, U.S.A., presented by Bishop George O. Wirz, upon having reached the age limit.
- Appointed Bishop Richard Joseph Malone, auxiliary of Boston, U.S.A., as bishop of Portland (area 85,541, population 1,274,923, Catholics 213,680, priests 211, permanent deacons 23, religious 471), U.S.A. The bishop-elect
was born in Salem, U.S.A. in 1946 and was ordained a priest in 1972. The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese presented by Bishop Joseph John Gerry, O.S.B., upon having reached the age limit.
New saints to be canonized on February 19th:
- Blessed Luigi Orione, priest and founder of the Little Work of Divine Providence and of the Congregation of the Little Sisters, Missionaries of Charity.
- Blessed Annibale Maria di Francia, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Rogationist Fathers of the Heart of Jesus and of the Religious Daughters of Divine Generosity.
- Blessed Jose Manyanet y Vives, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sons of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the Missionary Daughters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
- Blessed Nimatullah Al Hardini, priest of the Lebanese Maronite Order.
- Blessed Paola Elisabetta, nee Costanza Cerioli, widow Busecchi-Tassis, foundress of the Institute of Religious of the Holy Family.
- Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla, mother.
- Appointed Bishop Richard Joseph Malone, auxiliary of Boston, U.S.A., as bishop of Portland (area 85,541, population 1,274,923, Catholics 213,680, priests 211, permanent deacons 23, religious 471), U.S.A. The bishop-elect
was born in Salem, U.S.A. in 1946 and was ordained a priest in 1972. The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese presented by Bishop Joseph John Gerry, O.S.B., upon having reached the age limit.
New saints to be canonized on February 19th:
- Blessed Luigi Orione, priest and founder of the Little Work of Divine Providence and of the Congregation of the Little Sisters, Missionaries of Charity.
- Blessed Annibale Maria di Francia, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Rogationist Fathers of the Heart of Jesus and of the Religious Daughters of Divine Generosity.
- Blessed Jose Manyanet y Vives, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sons of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the Missionary Daughters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
- Blessed Nimatullah Al Hardini, priest of the Lebanese Maronite Order.
- Blessed Paola Elisabetta, nee Costanza Cerioli, widow Busecchi-Tassis, foundress of the Institute of Religious of the Holy Family.
- Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla, mother.
Scandal at 34 Catholic Colleges
What Catholic Colleges are planning to perform the Vagina Monologues this year? Here's the list... Unbelievable...visit the site and email the presidents, protest!
Will Something Happen in 2004...
...that will change the world and bring everyone to their knees?
From Father Robert Altier:
Beyond that, back a few years ago, the day after the tragic incidents that took place out in New York City with the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, the very next day Mother Angelica went on national television and announced that in the year 2004 we will be in the era of peace. She said, “Do not ask me how I know that because I will not tell you. All I can tell you is that in 2004 you will see the era of peace.” There is a woman by the name of Christina Gallagher, whom many people purport to be a true mystic from Ireland, and she is saying the same thing. There is a woman from Venezuela by the name of Maria Esperanza who has the approval of her bishops and has made a variety of predictions with extraordinary accuracy over the years, and for quite a few years now, certainly more than ten, she has been telling the world that in 2004 everyone on the face of the earth will know that God exists. More recently, she has said, “In mid-2004, you will begin to see the light,” and that the turn-around is going to be taking place around halfway through the year. Again, all of these people could be entirely wrong. The date can be pushed back; things could be mitigated. We do not know.
There is a Vietnamese priest who was captured by the Communists some 21 or so years ago now. He was put into a concentration camp where for 13 years he had to break rocks everyday. At the end of the day, they would give him a cup of rice and send him back out the next day to break rocks. He did that everyday for 13 years. He is now free, and a couple of years ago this man was traveling to France for some surgery (you can imagine the condition his body is in after all of that) and he heard about a hermit priest in Belgium. He wanted to stop and speak with that priest about something extraordinary that had happened to him, and he told the hermit priest this story. He said, “I had a friend, another priest in Vietnam, who was also captured by the Communists. This particular priest was beaten to a bloody pulp by the Communists, dragged into the sanctuary of this parish church, dumped on the sanctuary floor, and there he died in front of the Blessed Sacrament.” Not a bad way to go. About two years or so ago, he said, “My friend has recently appeared to me and he told me this: that in the year 2000 the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart began, but it will begin with the Triumph of the Cross.” (Which I interpret to mean that the Church is going to be crucified, which the Fathers of the Church told us many times is going to happen.) He then went on to tell his friend that Satan had been given 100 years to destroy the Church. (That is according to the vision of Pope Leo XIII from 1884.) In that 100 years, Satan overstepped his boundaries and in punishment for overstepping his boundaries God has meted out two points of punishment: number one, He took some of Satan’s power away from him and has given it to Our Lady; number two, the reign of the antichrist will be severely limited – perhaps to even as little as six weeks. Thanks be to God! Three and a half years is what Scripture told us it would be, which none of us would be able to survive. Our Lord knew that and He Himself told us, “If the time were not shortened even the elect would fall astray.” So we knew the time would be shortened; the question was how much. This man is saying “perhaps even as little as six weeks”. Then he went on to say, “In the year 2004, you will see the era of peace.”
Now that coupled with what happened back in 1961in a little village called Garabandal in Spain, with some apparitions that have only just recently received local approval by the bishop so now we can actually talk about them, and in those apparitions, Our Lady said a few things that are of import for us. Number one, she said that there will only be three more popes until the end of the present age. How one interprets that is entirely up to you because she did not explain it. Our present Holy Father is the third, the three being Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II. Now this becomes also very important timing-wise because Our Lady told us at Garabandal that there will be a warning, and the warning will be what is variously called “an illumination of conscience”, or simply put, every person will get to see their soul as God sees it. For some, this will be a great blessing. After all, if you just think about it, if you had been shown by God everything that is on your soul so that you have the opportunity to go to confession and rid yourself of absolutely everything that is there, this is cause for great rejoicing. For some, however, she said it will be so horrifying that they will die. So it will not be a pleasant thing for most people to see, but for anyone who is trying to live a good life, it will be a great blessing. That is really something to look forward to, although it is going to require a great grace because she said, “The priests will be in the confessional around-the-clock hearing confessions, one after the next, 24 hours a day.” Not humanly possible, but with God all things are possible. And then she said, “Within a year, that will be followed by a great miracle which will be a Eucharistic miracle.” The children thought it seemed that it would be much, much shorter than a year, but what Our Lady said was that within a year this miracle would happen. It would be able to be seen by television cameras and it will be demonstrated throughout the world. But what is important for us is that she said, “The Pope will see the miracle from wherever he happens to be in the world when it happens,” which means that our Holy Father has to be alive when it happens.
So you have the two persons who have been named: Sister Lucia being 95 years old, and our Holy Father being 83 years old and not in very good health. Whether it happens in 2004 or sometime thereafter, one can surmise that it cannot take too much longer before something is going to occur. Now at Garabandal, Our Lady said, “If people do not change their ways, that will be followed by a great chastisement.” The chastisement was foretold at the last fully approved apparition (“fully approved” meaning not only locally and provincially, but even by the Vatican), and that was at Akita in Japan in 1974 when Our Lady appeared to a nun and told her that fire will fall from the sky killing the greater part of humanity and the living will envy the dead thinking that they had the better part. Everyone in the state of mortal sin will die, and some who are in the state of grace will die so that no one will be able to make judgments about the people who have died. It will not be a pleasant time for anyone on the face of the earth. How exactly that is going to be, we do not know. The fact that Our Lady appeared in Japan to tell us that I think is important. Many saints from back in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries had visions and prophesied about the fact that a comet is going to crash into the earth. Now this is my pure conjecture, but back in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries they did not have intercontinental ballistic missiles; if you were a sixth century mystic and saw a fireball coming from the sky with a tail on it and a huge explosion following from it, what would you think it was? It looks like a comet, so it must be a comet. We know better. If you read the Book of the Prophet Zechariah, you will find two things there that are rather terrifying. One, the prophet says, “One-third of the people will be saved through the fire.” Our Lady said, “The greater part of humanity will die.” So one-third will be saved through the fire according to Scripture. And then the prophet Zechariah gives a particularly terrifying presentation of what is going to happen to people: their flesh will rot, their eyes will be pulled into their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths as they stand there. That is exactly what happens when a nuclear device is exploded.
From Father Robert Altier:
Beyond that, back a few years ago, the day after the tragic incidents that took place out in New York City with the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, the very next day Mother Angelica went on national television and announced that in the year 2004 we will be in the era of peace. She said, “Do not ask me how I know that because I will not tell you. All I can tell you is that in 2004 you will see the era of peace.” There is a woman by the name of Christina Gallagher, whom many people purport to be a true mystic from Ireland, and she is saying the same thing. There is a woman from Venezuela by the name of Maria Esperanza who has the approval of her bishops and has made a variety of predictions with extraordinary accuracy over the years, and for quite a few years now, certainly more than ten, she has been telling the world that in 2004 everyone on the face of the earth will know that God exists. More recently, she has said, “In mid-2004, you will begin to see the light,” and that the turn-around is going to be taking place around halfway through the year. Again, all of these people could be entirely wrong. The date can be pushed back; things could be mitigated. We do not know.
There is a Vietnamese priest who was captured by the Communists some 21 or so years ago now. He was put into a concentration camp where for 13 years he had to break rocks everyday. At the end of the day, they would give him a cup of rice and send him back out the next day to break rocks. He did that everyday for 13 years. He is now free, and a couple of years ago this man was traveling to France for some surgery (you can imagine the condition his body is in after all of that) and he heard about a hermit priest in Belgium. He wanted to stop and speak with that priest about something extraordinary that had happened to him, and he told the hermit priest this story. He said, “I had a friend, another priest in Vietnam, who was also captured by the Communists. This particular priest was beaten to a bloody pulp by the Communists, dragged into the sanctuary of this parish church, dumped on the sanctuary floor, and there he died in front of the Blessed Sacrament.” Not a bad way to go. About two years or so ago, he said, “My friend has recently appeared to me and he told me this: that in the year 2000 the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart began, but it will begin with the Triumph of the Cross.” (Which I interpret to mean that the Church is going to be crucified, which the Fathers of the Church told us many times is going to happen.) He then went on to tell his friend that Satan had been given 100 years to destroy the Church. (That is according to the vision of Pope Leo XIII from 1884.) In that 100 years, Satan overstepped his boundaries and in punishment for overstepping his boundaries God has meted out two points of punishment: number one, He took some of Satan’s power away from him and has given it to Our Lady; number two, the reign of the antichrist will be severely limited – perhaps to even as little as six weeks. Thanks be to God! Three and a half years is what Scripture told us it would be, which none of us would be able to survive. Our Lord knew that and He Himself told us, “If the time were not shortened even the elect would fall astray.” So we knew the time would be shortened; the question was how much. This man is saying “perhaps even as little as six weeks”. Then he went on to say, “In the year 2004, you will see the era of peace.”
Now that coupled with what happened back in 1961in a little village called Garabandal in Spain, with some apparitions that have only just recently received local approval by the bishop so now we can actually talk about them, and in those apparitions, Our Lady said a few things that are of import for us. Number one, she said that there will only be three more popes until the end of the present age. How one interprets that is entirely up to you because she did not explain it. Our present Holy Father is the third, the three being Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II. Now this becomes also very important timing-wise because Our Lady told us at Garabandal that there will be a warning, and the warning will be what is variously called “an illumination of conscience”, or simply put, every person will get to see their soul as God sees it. For some, this will be a great blessing. After all, if you just think about it, if you had been shown by God everything that is on your soul so that you have the opportunity to go to confession and rid yourself of absolutely everything that is there, this is cause for great rejoicing. For some, however, she said it will be so horrifying that they will die. So it will not be a pleasant thing for most people to see, but for anyone who is trying to live a good life, it will be a great blessing. That is really something to look forward to, although it is going to require a great grace because she said, “The priests will be in the confessional around-the-clock hearing confessions, one after the next, 24 hours a day.” Not humanly possible, but with God all things are possible. And then she said, “Within a year, that will be followed by a great miracle which will be a Eucharistic miracle.” The children thought it seemed that it would be much, much shorter than a year, but what Our Lady said was that within a year this miracle would happen. It would be able to be seen by television cameras and it will be demonstrated throughout the world. But what is important for us is that she said, “The Pope will see the miracle from wherever he happens to be in the world when it happens,” which means that our Holy Father has to be alive when it happens.
So you have the two persons who have been named: Sister Lucia being 95 years old, and our Holy Father being 83 years old and not in very good health. Whether it happens in 2004 or sometime thereafter, one can surmise that it cannot take too much longer before something is going to occur. Now at Garabandal, Our Lady said, “If people do not change their ways, that will be followed by a great chastisement.” The chastisement was foretold at the last fully approved apparition (“fully approved” meaning not only locally and provincially, but even by the Vatican), and that was at Akita in Japan in 1974 when Our Lady appeared to a nun and told her that fire will fall from the sky killing the greater part of humanity and the living will envy the dead thinking that they had the better part. Everyone in the state of mortal sin will die, and some who are in the state of grace will die so that no one will be able to make judgments about the people who have died. It will not be a pleasant time for anyone on the face of the earth. How exactly that is going to be, we do not know. The fact that Our Lady appeared in Japan to tell us that I think is important. Many saints from back in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries had visions and prophesied about the fact that a comet is going to crash into the earth. Now this is my pure conjecture, but back in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries they did not have intercontinental ballistic missiles; if you were a sixth century mystic and saw a fireball coming from the sky with a tail on it and a huge explosion following from it, what would you think it was? It looks like a comet, so it must be a comet. We know better. If you read the Book of the Prophet Zechariah, you will find two things there that are rather terrifying. One, the prophet says, “One-third of the people will be saved through the fire.” Our Lady said, “The greater part of humanity will die.” So one-third will be saved through the fire according to Scripture. And then the prophet Zechariah gives a particularly terrifying presentation of what is going to happen to people: their flesh will rot, their eyes will be pulled into their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths as they stand there. That is exactly what happens when a nuclear device is exploded.
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