Friday, September 30, 2011

Saint Michael the Archangel, Model of the Perfect Knight

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

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Yesterday was the Feast of Saint Michael.

The Catholic calendar reads: Saint Michael, Prince of the Heavenly Host fought the rebel angels in the heavenly battle.

He continues to lead the battle to free us from the devil. Our guardian angels depend on him. He is the custodian angel of the Church and the one who presents the Eucharistic Oblation to the Eternal Father. We are in the novena of Our Lady of the Rosary and in the novena of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces.

I call your attention to the fact that Saint Michael is the chief who fought against the devil and cast him into hell. He is the leader of the guardian angels of individuals and also of the guardian angels of institutions. He is himself the guardian angel of the Institution of institutions, the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Therefore, he has a custodian function, which one may ask how it relates to his attitude or mission of casting into hell those who rose up against Our Lord, on the one hand, and on the other hand the protection he gives the Church and men in this vale of tears and in this arena of life. And we see that these two missions are concatenated. He defended God; God wanted to employ him as His shield against the devil.

God wants him to be the shield of men against the devil. God wants him to be the shield of the Holy Catholic Church against the devil. But he is not merely a shield: he is also a sword. He not only defends but also defeats and casts into hell.

This is, therefore, the twofold mission of Saint Michael. This is why in the Middle Ages the knights considered Saint Michael the first of all knights; the heavenly knight, perfectly loyal as a knight must be, ideally strong as a knight must be, pure as an angel as a knight must be, and victorious as a knight must be; a knight who placed his whole confidence in God, and then, after she was born, also in Our Lady.

So we should consider admirable Saint Michael as our natural ally in the struggle; because the counter-revolutionary movement wants to be nothing other than a group of men who execute, on a human level, mutatis mutandis, the task of Saint Michael the Archangel; in other words, to defend the honor of God, the glory of Our Lady, the Catholic Church, and Christian civilization.

Therefore, we see this has an enormous affinity with us and that it is very fitting for counter-revolutionaries to make Saint Michael the Archangel their special patron.

Dom Guéranger has a text on the angels’ contemplative devotion:

“The Church considers Saint Michael as the mediator of her liturgical prayer. He stands between humanity and divinity. For His own glory, God, Who has established in admirable fashion the visible and invisible hierarchies, abundantly employs in His service these heavenly spirits who incessantly contemplate the adorable face of the Father and who know, better than men, how to contemplate the beauty of His infinite perfections.”

This is where it goes on to say that Saint Michael also presents the Eucharistic oblation to the Eternal Father. And this is also how he appeared to the three little shepherds at Fatima — with the chalice in hand.

“Mi – cha — El: who is like God? Of itself, this name expresses, in its brevity, the most perfect adoration, the most complete recognition of divine transcendence, and a creature’s humblest confession of his own nothingness; he is, therefore, the model of humility.”

Because he who exclaims that no one is like God, exclaims that he himself is nothing; this is perfect humility. The knight’s form of humility is not a gooey, sugary and illogic sentimentality.

“So also the Church invites the heavenly spirits to bless the Lord and sing His praises; to laud and bless Him incessantly. This contemplative vocation of the angels is the model of our own, as the beautiful preface to the Sacramentary of Saint Leo reminds us.

It is truly fitting to render graces to Thee Who teaches us through the Apostle that our lives are meant for heaven; Who benevolently wishes us to transport ourselves in spirit to the place where these whom we venerate serve Thee, and especially to soar to those heights on the feast of the blessed Saint Michael the Archangel.”

This is a remarkable trait of devotion to the angels. The angels are inhabitants of the heavenly Court. And in the heavenly Court they live in eternal contemplation, a contemplation of one who sees God face to face; and all the great mystics tell us about their visions of parties that are held in heaven, which are true feasts indeed. They are not mere images or chimeras; they are true feasts in which God successively manifests His grandeurs and they acclaim Him with new triumphs which absolutely never end.

There is a heavenly happiness, a sense that heaven is the motherland of our soul and precisely the order of things for which we have been created; the one that fully corresponds to all our aspirations. There is such a sense of heavenly happiness through the face-to-face contemplation of God, Who is the absolute perfection of all things that some of it can and must transpire to earth. And in epochs of true faith some of that happiness filters down; something of that piety is felt by pious souls and communicated through the most pious ones to become a common treasure of the whole Church.

And that is what we lack so direly nowadays: One has no idea of heavenly happiness; and without the idea of a heavenly happiness one has no appetite for heaven; and people wallow in the sheer craving of the goods of the earth. But if they were able to understand even for a moment what the consolation of the Holy Ghost is like, what a grace from the Holy Ghost is like, what type of happiness the consideration of the heavenly goods actually brings; if they were able to understand that even for a minute they would begin to become detached from the goods of the earth and to understand how everything is fleeting, how all this is nothing, how there are values which are above all this and make the earth a little handful of dust.

That is exactly what is missing and what the angels can obtain for us; they, who are inundated with this happiness and, once in a while, communicate it to the saints. There is a kind of mystical phenomenon which is a concert — Saint Therese the Little Flower experienced it and tells about in the History of a Soul — a marvelous, faraway concert with marvelous, otherworldly harmonies. It is a little bit of the eternal canticle of the angels that thus arrives to the ears of the blessed, precisely to give them an appetite for the things of heaven.

This appetite is abysmally absent in our times. Many people are only interested in and enthralled with things of the earth — money, politicking, worldliness, trivia in the daily news — but they are not enthused with elevated things, doctrinal things, and even less for specifically heavenly things.

Let us therefore ask the angels to communicate to us this desire of heavenly things with which they overflow. This is an excellent intention to be added to the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel: that he make us his imitators and perfect knights of Our Lady on this earth.

The preceding article is taken from an informal lecture Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira gave on the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, 1966. It has been translated and adapted for publication without his revision. –Ed.

Homosexual activists boast of victory over pro-family groups in PayPal campaign

by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

September 29, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Homosexualist websites are boasting of victory in an ongoing campaign to induce PayPal, one of the world’s largest payment processing companies, to eliminate pro-family Christians from its service.

The homosexual magazine “On Top” reports that PayPal has eliminated Coral Ridge Ministries from its service, as well as LifeSiteNews translator and eminent Brazilian pro-family blogger Julio Severo.

Severo’s account has also been frozen by PayPal, which says it will not give him access to the funds left in the account for half a year.

The homosexualist organization “All Out,” which is spearheading the campaign with a petition drive, boasts that “Our pressure is working - PayPal already dropped several extremist sites! Lets keep up the pressure so PayPal knows we won’t give up until they drop all extremist sites!”

The All Out petition asks PayPal to eliminate service to Christian groups that oppose the homosexual lifestyle and political agenda, claiming the groups preached “hate” and are “extremist.”

The list of groups denounced by All Out mixes mainstream pro-family organizations such as Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP), and Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), with the extremist Dove World Outreach Center, which provoked violence in Muslim countries after threatening to publicly burn the Koran.

Following the initiation of All Out’s campaign, LifeSiteNews began its own petition drive to ask PayPal not to discriminate against pro-family Christians for expressing their religious and moral principles.

Although the petition has gathered more than 7,400 signatures, PayPal continues to stonewall all attempts to deliver the signatures and to ask questions about its policies, which appear to favor homosexual activists over Christians.

Contact information:

Sign the petition to PayPal to protest against persecution of pro-family Christians

Call PayPal at:
1-402-935-2050 (USA)
4:00 AM PST to 10:00 PM Pacific Time Monday through Friday
6:00 AM PST to 8:00 PM Pacific Time Saturday and Sunday

Email PayPal by clicking here and selecting “Email Us”. Non-account-holders can select the option to the right and will be given a form to fill out.

Dad of 18-year-old who died after RU-486 abortion tackles abortion drug misinformation

by Jeremy Kryn

  • LIVERMORE, CA, September 29, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The father of an 18-year-old casualty of a drug-induced abortion has mourned the 11th anniversary of RU-486 legalization by launching a website and video to help women learn about the health risks of the abortion drug.

Monty Patterson, whose daughter Holly died in 2003, said that it is critical that a patient be fully informed of the procedures, administration, and risks involved with the chemical abortion.

“The website isn’t about the abortion debate. However, the website is about women’s health, safety and welfare,” Patterson told LifeSiteNews. “Women will always have a choice for what they believe is in their best interest. It’s too late for Holly and the other women who have died or have been seriously injured because they didn’t have the information they needed to make an informed decision.”

Holly Patterson, one of 14 U.S. women who have died after taking RU-486, was under the care of Planned Parenthood of Hayward at the time of her death. After taking the drug, Patterson experienced severe cramping, bleeding, and vomiting, but was only encouraged to take more painkillers by the Planned Parenthood clinic’s hotline.

After calling again, the clinic encouraged her to go to the emergency room if the pain continued; an emergency room doctor simply prescribed more painkillers. Patterson died of septic shock from a blood infection resulting from RU-486.

Supporters of medical abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol, which were approved in the U.S. in 2000, had hoped that it would provide a safe and non-surgical approach to rectify the inequities in abortion care.

In December 2004, Patterson filed a lawsuit naming Danco Laboratories, RU-486’s U.S. manufacturer, as well as the abortion provider Planned Parenthood, as defendants. He insists that his daughter was not adequately informed by Planned Parenthood before taking the dangerous drug, saying she received written and video materials that made chemical abortion for a 7-week unborn baby look like a “walk in the park.”

In February 2004, the California Department of Health Services reported that Planned Parenthood did not have Patterson’s signature on one of the consent forms and that it did not educate her on how to administer the abortifacient. State health officials noted that Planned Parenthood failed to report her death as an “unusual occurrence.” Planned Parenthood defended its decision, arguing that it did not see the death as unusual because Holly died in a hospital.

Eight years after Holly used the internet as a source of information to help make a decision about her medical abortion, Patterson has built his website to share with other women.

“Hopefully, any woman thinking about terminating early pregnancy with the medical abortion pill will be able to learn from those that have had the real experience,” Patterson said.

Major study: changing sexual orientation is possible

by Kathleen Gilbert

  • WHEATON, Illinois, September 29, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Therapists who favor normalizing homosexuality say that it is impossible to change sexual orientation, and that the attempt to change is inherently harmful. However, the final results of a long-term study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy has joined hundreds of other studies in concluding that such therapy is both possible and potentially well-indicated for many individuals.

Psychologists Stanton L. Jones of Wheaton College and Mark A. Yarhouse of Regent University are the authors of the longitudinal study, which tracked individuals who sought sexual orientation change through involvement in a variety of Christian ministries affiliated with Exodus International.

The authors note that the study overcomes a primary criticism of same-sex attraction (SSA) therapy data - that the results are not adequately documented over a period of time - by assessing its 98 candidates over a period of six to seven years after therapy concluded.

Jones and Yarhouse’s results show the majority of candidates were successful in their goal of changing sexual orientation, and that the attempt not harmful on average. 

Of the original 98 subjects, 61 were successfully categorized for general outcome at the last assessment. Fifty-three percent were categorized as successful outcomes; specifically, 23 percent reported success in the form of an essential change to heterosexual orientation and functioning, while an additional 30 percent reported no longer identifying as homosexual while maintaining stable behavioral chastity. At the six-year mark, 20 percent reported fully embracing a gay self-identification.

Meanwhile, the authors say the measure of psychological distress did not, on average, reflect increases in psychological distress associated with the attempt to change.

“These results do not prove that categorical change in sexual orientation is possible for everyone or anyone, but rather that meaningful shifts along a continuum that constitute real changes appear possible for some,” states a Wheaton College press release announcing the study. The release also emphasizes, “the results do not prove that no one is harmed by the attempt to change, but rather that the attempt does not appear to be harmful on average or inherently harmful.”

Dr. Jones told LifeSiteNews.com that the study was likely skewed toward optimism towards therapy, as it wasn’t able to count candidates who dropped out early. However, he said, the study still stands out from the crowd for its value as a long-term assessment of the viability of same-sex attraction therapy.

“The ‘silver standard’ [of SSA therapy studies] is a longitudinal study that follows people repeatedly over multiple years and also a prospective study that assesses people from the beginning of change. To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first such study,” wrote Jones in an email Thursday.

“The ‘gold standard’ would be a completely experimental and longitudinal study that would also randomly assign participants to different treatment groups with highly defined treatments; we believe such study would actually be impossible to perform.”

A meta-analysis of over 100 years’ worth of research into therapy for unwanted same-sex attraction published in June 2009 concluded that homosexuality was not immutable, and that individuals seeking change could benefit from therapy. The report, published by NARTH, included 600 reports from clinicians, researchers, and former clients principally published in professional and peer-reviewed journals.

Although the American Psychological Association discourages mental health professionals from offering sexual reorientation therapy, the group’s official position on such therapy states that there is “insufficient evidence” to either approve or discredit the practice.

Homosexuality was declassified as a mental disorder in 1973 in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the universal standard for classification of mental illness, after years of high-pressure lobbying by gay rights activists. The change sparked a policy shift in other top professional associations, which now uniformly oppose SSA therapy.

Dr. Robert Spitzer, who was in charge of the DSM change, reversed his position on therapy for unwanted same-sex attraction nearly 30 years later to support such therapy based on his own research.

Teacher put on leave after suspending student for criticizing homosexuality

by Kathleen Gilbert

  • FORT WORTH, Texas, September 29, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The teacher responsible for suspending a student after he expressed opposition to homosexuality has been placed on administrative leave with pay.

High school student Dakota Ary was suspended for criticizing homosexuality in class.

Last week, Western Hills High School teacher Kristopher Franks retaliated against high school freshman and honors student Dakota Ary after he was overheard telling one other student that he believes homosexuality is wrong because of his Christian faith. The conversation, held during a class discussion on religious beliefs in Germany, arose when one student asked what Germans thought about homosexuality in relation to religion.

Ary says the instructor “started yelling” upon hearing the boy’s statement, and charged him with “possible bullying” before sending him to the principal’s office for discipline, where he received a two-day in-class suspension. The sentence was reduced to one day after Ary’s mother confronted the principal.

In a press release Wednesday, Liberty Counsel attorneys representing Dakota note that the same instructor had displayed a picture of two men kissing and encouraged his students to accept homosexuality. Many of the students were offended by Franks’ actions and his continually bringing up the topic of homosexuality in a German language class, the lawyers allege.

After attorneys sent a demand letter to the school and then met with school officials, the school district reversed the in-school suspension and placed Franks on administrative leave with pay.

Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver said that his group was pleased with the school’s response thus far, although the teacher should “apologize publicly” to Ary.

“It is intolerable for the teacher to ridicule the religious beliefs of students in front of class,” said Staver. “This teacher should not force his views about homosexuality upon students.”

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Marvelous Prayers to Saint Michael the Archangel



Saint Michael Novena
(Say for nine consecutive days)

Saint Michael the Archangel, loyal champion of God and His Catholic people, I turn to thee with confidence and seek thy powerful intercession. For the love of God, Who hast made thee so glorious in grace and power, and for the love of the Mother of Jesus, the Queen of the Angels, be pleased to hear my prayer.

Thou knowest the value of my soul in the eyes of God. May no stain of evil ever disfigure its beauty. Help me to conquer the evil spirit who tempts me. I desire to imitate thy loyalty to God and Holy Mother Church and thy great love for God and men. And since thou art God’s messenger for the care of His people, I entrust to thee this special request: (Here mention your request.)

Saint Michael, since thou art, by the will of the Creator, the powerful intercessor of Christians, I have great confidence in thy prayers. I earnestly trust that if it is God’s holy will, my petition will be granted.

Pray for me, Saint Michael, and also for those I love. Protect us in all dangers of body and soul. Help us in our daily needs. Through thy powerful intercession, may we live a holy life, die a happy death and reach Heaven where we may praise and love God with thee forever.     Amen.
Short Exorcism Prayer to Saint Michael

(by Pope Leo XIII)

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into Hell Satan and all evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.     Amen.
Consecration to Saint Michael

Saint Michael the Archangel, invincible Prince of the Angelic hosts and glorious protector of the universal Church, I greet thee and praise thee for that splendor with which God has adorned thee so richly. I thank God for the great graces He hast bestowed upon thee, especially to remain faithful when Lucifer and his followers rebelled, and to battle victoriously for the honor of God and the Divinity of the Son of Man.

Saint Michael, I consecrate to thee my soul and body. I choose thee as my patron and protector and entrust the salvation of my soul to thy care. Be the guardian of my obligation as a child of God and of the Catholic Church as again I renounce Satan, his works and pomps.

Assist me by thy powerful intercession in the fulfillment of these sacred promises, so that imitating thy courage and loyalty to God, and trusting in thy kind help and protection, I may be victorious over the enemies of my soul and be united with God in Heaven forever.        Amen.
Saint Michael Chaplet

(This chaplet was given by Saint Michael to the Portuguese Carmelite nun Antonia d’Astonac. It was approved by Pope Pius IX. It starts with an act of contrition. Then there are nine salutations, one for each choir of angels, each one followed by an Our Father and three Hail Marys. These are followed by four Our Fathers, honoring Saints Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and the Guardian Angel. The chaplet concludes with a prayer to Saint Michael.)

Act of contrition:
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven, and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.

The prayer starts:
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to the Father.... etc.

Then pray one ‘Our Father’ and three ‘Hail Marys’ after each of the following nine salutations:

  1. By the intercession of Saint Michael and the celestial Choir of Seraphim may the Lord make us worthy to burn with the fire of perfect charity.     Amen.
  2. By the intercession of Saint Michael and the celestial Choir of Cherubim may the Lord grant us the grace to leave the ways of sin and run in the paths of Christian perfection.     Amen.
  3. By the intercession of Saint Michael and the celestial Choir of Thrones may the Lord infuse into our hearts a true and sincere spirit of humility.     Amen.
  4. By the intercession of Saint Michael and the celestial Choir of Dominions may the Lord give us grace to govern our senses and overcome any unruly passions.     Amen.
  5. By the intercession of Saint Michael and the celestial Choir of Powers may the Lord protect our souls against the snares and temptations of the devil.     Amen.
  6. By the intercession of Saint Michael and the celestial Choir of Virtues may the Lord preserve us from evil and falling into temptation.     Amen.
  7. By the intercession of Saint Michael and the celestial Choir of Principalities may God fill our souls with a true spirit of obedience.     Amen.
  8. By the intercession of Saint Michael and the celestial Choir of Archangels may the Lord give us perseverance in faith and in all good works in order that we may attain the glory of Heaven.     Amen.
  9. By the intercession of Saint Michael and the celestial Choir of Angels may the Lord grant us to be protected by them in this mortal life and conducted in the life to come to Heaven.     Amen.

Next, one Our Father is to be said in honor of each of the following leading Angels: Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael and our Guardian Angel.

Concluding prayer
O glorious prince Saint Michael, chief and commander of the heavenly hosts, guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits, servant in the house of the Divine King and our admirable conductor, you who shine with excellence and superhuman virtue deliver us from all evil, who turn to you with confidence and enable us by your gracious protection to serve God more and more faithfully every day.

Pray for us, O glorious Saint Michael, Prince of the Church of Jesus Christ, that we may be made worthy of His promises.

Almighty and Everlasting God, Who, by a prodigy of goodness and a merciful desire for the salvation of all men, has appointed the most glorious Archangel Saint Michael Prince of Your Church, make us worthy, we ask You, to be delivered from all our enemies, that none of them may harass us at the hour of death, but that we may be conducted by him into Your Presence. This we ask through the merits of Jesus Christ Our Lord.    Amen.

BREAKING: Baby Joseph dies at home, surrounded by family

by Kathleen Gilbert

September 28, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The dramatic story of Joseph Maraachli, popularly known as “Baby Joseph,” came to its final conclusion yesterday.

Alex Schadenberg of the Canada-based Euthanasia Prevention Coalition said Wednesday morning that Baby Joseph, who burst into international headlines earlier this year when Canadian doctors scheduled to remove him from life support against his family’s wishes, died at home 4:40 p.m. Tuesday, surrounded by his family. 

“Joseph Maraachli lived a life that changed Canada,” said Schadenburg, whose intervention was pivotal in saving Joseph’s life. “My thoughts and prayers are with the Maraachli family.”

Baby Joseph’s father, Moe Maraachli, wrote on the official family Facebook page yesterday, “Joseph pass away very comfortable and peace fully like what i ask for him.”

“I would like to thank all who contributed to the support of Joseph,” he said. “I thank you very much.”

Baby Joseph’s story began in February of this year when the Ontario Superior Court rejected an appeal by his parents to bring him home where he could die under their care. He had been previously diagnosed with severe neurological issues, for which doctors said there was no hope of recovery.

The family contested claims that their son was in a “permanent vegetative state,” offering footage showing him flailing and reacting to tickling. Their request was that their son be given a simple tracheostomy, which would enable him to breathe on his own, and be sent home where he could die.

After the decision of the Ontario court, doctors immediately scheduled the removal of Baby Joseph’s life support, meaning almost certain death for the young child.

“Monday at 10 am. they will kill my baby,” Moe Maraachli had told LifeSiteNews shortly after the ruling.  “There’s no more humanity.  There’s no more chance.  I’ve tried everything for him.  No more appeals, nothing.”

However, anti-euthanasia and pro-life advocates rallied around the Maraachli family, and effected a dramatic 11th-hour rescue.

Schadenberg and his organization were able to secure professional legal help, with the result that the removal of Baby Joseph’s life support was postponed at the last minute.

After that, with the hospital continuing to try to secure legal permission to take Baby Joseph off life support, Fr. Frank Pavone and Priests for Life stepped in. They arranged for Baby Joseph to be flown to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in Missouri for a tracheostomy, and offered to foot the bill for Joseph’s considerable healthcare costs.

Baby Joseph defied critics by breathing on his own following the tracheostomy, and lived several more months at home.

Fr. Pavone of Priests for Life wrote on Facebook this morning that his organization is “grateful to all who helped to give him and his family more time and joy together.”

“This young boy and his parents fulfilled a special mission from God,” Fr. Pavone said in a separate statement. “Amidst a Culture of Death where despair leads us to dispose of the vulnerable, they upheld a Culture of Life where hope leads us to welcome and care for the vulnerable.”

“From my first conversation with Baby Joseph’s parents, they expressed to me their trust in God. They had no demands of Him regarding how long their son would live. They just wanted to fulfill their calling to love their child unconditionally and to protect him from those who considered his life worthless.”

Part of the reason for the widespread interest in Baby Joseph’s case may be due to its timing, which coincided with the debate in the United States over “death panels” in the new health care law. Schadenberg has warned that Joseph’s case reveals that Ontario is effectively creating a system of such “death panels” where doctors are authorized to force life and death decisions on patients.

Texas judge rules homosexual man can’t leave his child alone with same-sex partner

by Jeremy Kryn

HOUSTON, TX, September 28, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Texas judge has ruled that a homosexual man cannot leave his children alone with his sexual partner. Harris County Associate Judge Charley Prine, Jr. issued the injunction in June, although it was only signed earlier this month.

The injunction was issued after William Flowers sought to change a 2004 custody arrangement with his ex-wife over their three children.

Flowers had three children with his ex-wife, Lacey. When Flowers and his ex-wife divorced in 2004, his wife was awarded custody and Flowers was given regular visitations.

In 2010, Flowers, then a practicing homosexual, “married” his homosexual partner in Connecticut. His partner has two children.

When Flowers recently sued for custody of his three children, a jury found that his ex-wife should keep the kids, though his regular visitations would continue. In an injunctive section, however, Judge Prine ordered that Flowers cannot leave his children with any man who is not part of the family “by blood or adoption,” including Flowers’ sexual partner, without the ex-wife’s express permission.

Flowers and his partner say they will appeal the ruling.

Speaking of the judge’s ruling, Flowers said, “He knows I’m homosexual. He’s knows I’m married to a man and he knew that there’d be times my children may be alone with Jim if I have to run out to work,” according to ABC News.

Jim Evans, Flowers’ partner, says that he won’t bother asking Lacey if he will be allowed to be alone with the children. “She would never ever let the kids be left with me,” he said.

When asked whether Lacey would ever give permission for Flowers’ “husband” to be alone with his children, Lacey’s attorney, Jennifer Broussard, reportedly responded, “Well, he doesn’t have a husband in Texas, dear,” according to the Houston Press.

In November 2005, Texas voters passed an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

‘Abolish heterosexism’: homosexual activists knocking at door of Ontario’s Catholic schools again

by Peter Baklinski

TORONTO, ON, September 28, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the homosexual agenda continues to infiltrate the Catholic educational system in Ontario under the guise of anti-bullying programs, a newer and potentially more sinister homosexual program has already come knocking at the schools’ doors this fall.

LifeSiteNews.com has obtained a copy of a letter signed by Chris D’Souza, director of Harmony Movement, which was apparently sent to all of Ontario’s Catholic school trustees at the beginning of September. The letter promotes Harmony Movement’s brand of “diversity education” that aims to equip students and teachers in the “fight” against “heterosexism.”

The Harmony Movement program, he said, is a tool for promoting “equity and inclusive education,” “student leadership,” and “youth empowerment.”

“Your support in passing on this program information to your schools, principals, and other interested parties would be greatly appreciated,” wrote D’Souza in the letter.

D’Souza shocked Catholics and pro-family activists earlier this year when he openly proclaimed his support for same-sex “marriage” as an invited speaker for a consultation meeting with parents of the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), on the topic of the board’s Equity & Inclusive Education policy.

At the meeting, D’Souza told parents and ratepayers that if one of his children turned out to be “gay,” he would “proudly walk them down the aisle and put their hand in the hand of whoever they fall in love with.”

It was also at this meeting that he interpreted gay ‘marriage’ as a “law” enforced by the human rights commission to protect sexual orientation against discrimination, saying that those who objected to this should “move to another country.”

D’Souza also admitted during the course of the TCDSB meeting that he was enlisted by Dalton McGuinty’s openly gay Minister of Education, Kathleen Wynne, to help draft the controversial Equity & Inclusive Education Strategy.

In a 2008 TV Ontario interview, D’Souza made his mandate clear when he said that he would like to see more homosexual teachers in Ontario’s classrooms.

“There needs to be a collaborative effort to proactively recruit teachers from minority groups. I’m talking about persons with disabilities, alternative lifestyles, sexual orientations,” he said.

Harmony Movement’s program for schools, under the direction of D’Souza, will train participants to “abolish” and “eradicate” the “mentality of heterosexism” within “youth culture” and “within the school and community.”

Heterosexism is a term invented by homosexual activists in the 1970s to cast aspersions on those who believe that heterosexuality is the norm for human sexuality. In a presentation he made to the Ottawa Catholic School Board, D’Souza defined “heterosexism”—which he said must be eliminated—as “the assumption that everyone is or should be heterosexual and that heterosexuality is the only normal, natural sexual orientation.”

Jack Fonseca of Campaign Life Catholics told LifeSiteNews.com that “it’s a matter of public record, that Chris D’Souza supports so-called homosexual ‘marriage.’ This is simply his latest attempt to indoctrinate students and teachers into ‘fighting against heterosexism,’ code words which really mean ‘silencing people who espouse the traditional definition of marriage as one man and one woman.’”

“Given all of this, this is not a chap who should be allowed at all in any Catholic school; neither he nor programs from his organization,” added Fonseca.

“There is no way that this man should be allowed into Catholic schools to teach manufactured ideas that fundamentally contradict Christian anthropology on the human person.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “man and woman were created for one another” and that “sexuality is ordered to the conjugal love of man and woman.”

“God himself is the author of marriage [and has created] the marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love.”

To respectfully express your concerns:

Most Rev. Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto
President of the Ontario Assembly of Catholic Bishops
1155 Yonge Street
Toronto (ON) M4T 1W2
Tel: (416) 934-3400 #609
Fax: (416) 934-3452
E-mail: archbishop@archtoronto.org

Most Rev. Gerard P. Bergie, Bishop of St. Catharines
Chair of the Ontario Bishops’ Education Commission
P.O. Box 875
St. Catharines (ON) L2R 6Z4
Tel: (905) 684-0154
Fax: (905) 684-7551
E-mail: bishop@stcatharinesdiocese.ca, chancery@stcatharinesdiocese.ca

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

September 29 – Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel (MIRACLE STORY)

This is the true story of a Marine wounded in Korea in 1950. Writing to his mother, he told her of a fascinating encounter he experienced in the war.  Father Walter Muldy, a navy chaplain who spoke to the young Marine and his mother as well as to the outfit commander, always affirmed the veracity of this narrative.

We heard it from someone who read the original letter and retell the story here in all its details and in the first person to better convey some of the impact it must have had when first told by the son to his mother.

Click here to print out novenas and prayers to St. Michael.

Dear Mom,

I am writing to you from a hospital bed. Don’t worry, Mom, I am okay. I was wounded, but the doctor says that I will be up in no time.

But that’s not what I have to tell you, Mom. Something happened to me that I don’t dare tell anyone else for fear of their disbelief. But I have to tell you, the one person I can confide in, though even you may find it hard to believe.

You remember the prayer to Saint Michael that you taught me to pray when I was little: “Michael, Michael of the morning,…” Before I left home for Korea, you urged me to remember this prayer before any confrontation with the enemy. But you really didn’t have to remind me, Mom. I have always prayed it, and when I got to Korea, I sometimes said it a couple of times a day while marching or resting.

Well, one day, we were told to move forward to scout for Commies. It was a really cold day. As I was walking along, I perceived another fellow walking beside me, and I looked to see who it was.

He was a big fellow, a Marine about 6’4” and built proportionally. Funny, but I didn’t know him, and I thought I knew everyone in my unit. I was glad to have the company and broke the silence between us:

“Chilly today, isn’t it?” Then I chuckled because suddenly it seemed absurd to talk about the weather when we were advancing to meet the enemy.
He chuckled too, softly.

“I thought I knew everyone in my outfit,” I continued, “ but I have never seen you before.”

“No,” he agreed, “I have just joined. The name is Michael.”

“Really?! That’s mine, too.”

“I know,” the Marine said, “Michael, Michael of the morning….”

Mom, I was really surprised that he knew about my prayer, but I had taught  it to many of the other guys, so I supposed that the newcomer must have picked it up from someone else. As a matter of fact, it had gotten around to the extent that some of the fellows were calling me “Saint Michael.”

Then, out of the blue, Michael said, “There’s going to be trouble ahead.”

I wondered how he could know that. I was breathing hard from the march, and my breath hit the cold air like dense clouds of fog. Michael seemed to be in top shape because I couldn’t see his breath at all. Just then, it started to snow heavily, and soon it was so dense I could no longer hear or see the rest of my outfit. I got a little scared and yelled, “Michael!” Then I felt his strong hand on my shoulder and heard his voice in my ear, “It’s going to clear up soon.”

It did clear up, suddenly. And then, just a short distance ahead of us, like so many dreadful realities, were seven Commies, looking rather comical in their funny hats. But there was nothing funny about them now; their guns were steady and pointed straight in our direction.

“Down, Michael!!” I yelled as I dove for cover. Even as I was hitting the ground, I looked up and saw Michael still standing, as if paralyzed by fear, or so I thought at the time. Bullets were spurting all over the place, and Mom, there was no way those Commies could have missed at that short distance. I jumped up to pull him down, and then I was hit. The pain was like a hot fire in my chest, and as I fell, my head swooned and I remember thinking, “I must be dying…” Someone was laying me down, strong arms were holding me and laying me gently on the snow. Through the daze, I opened my eyes, and the sun seemed to blaze in my eyes. Michael was standing still, and there was a terrible splendor in his face. Suddenly, he seemed to grow, like the sun, the splendor increasing intensely around him like the wings of an angel. As I slipped into unconsciousness, I saw that Michael held a sword in his hand, and it flashed like a million lights.

Later on, when I woke up, the rest of the guys came to see me with the sergeant.

“How did you do it, son?” he asked me.

“Where’s Michael?” I asked in reply.

“Michael who?” The sergeant seemed puzzled.

“Michael, the big Marine walking with me, right up to the last moment. I saw him there as I fell.”

“Son,” the sergeant said gravely, “you’re the only Michael in my unit. I hand-picked all you fellows, and there’s only one Michael. You. And son, you weren’t walking with anyone. I was watching you because you were too far off from us, and I was worried.

Now tell me, son,” he repeated, “how did you do it?”

It was the second time he had asked me that, and I found it irritating.

“How did I do what?”

“How did you kill those seven Commies? There wasn’t a single bullet fired from your rifle.”

“What?”

“Come on, son. They were strewn all around you, each one killed by a swordstroke.”

And that, Mom, is the end of my story. It may have been the pain, or the blazing sun, or the chilling cold. I don’t know, Mom, but there is one thing I am sure about. It happened.

Love your son,

Michael

Click here to print Prayers and Novenas to St. Michael

The PDF document is meant to print an an 8½x11 sheet of paper.

Note: Unfortunately, we do not have the entire prayer "Michael, Michael of the night...." It was not included in the letter.

El Cid: A living legend who was the beating heart of the Spanish Reconquista

El Cid, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar

The Reconquest of Spain from the Moslem occupation suffered several setbacks and reversals. But in the darkest hours, a selfless hero always arose to stem an impending onslaught. Such a danger threatened the Spanish Christians late in the eleventh century when a fanatical horde of North African Berbers invaded the peninsula. An overwhelming disaster was averted when Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, known as “El Cid” (the lord, chief), resisted the whole might of Islam….

El Cid’s early years

When the noble father of the teenaged Rodrigo died around 1058, the future champion went to the Court of Prince Sancho where he studied law and excelled in all the knightly exercises. He earned his reputation as a mighty warrior in 1063 when a dispute arose with Navarre over the ownership of a recently reclaimed castle. Both sides agreed to settle it by single combat. The twenty-year-old Castilian subdued the champion of Navarre by the sword and was thereafter acclaimed “Campeador,” the “Conqueror.”

Sancho II of León and Castile

Sancho strongly disapproved of the partition of the kingdom at his father’s death and promptly challenged Alfonso to a battle for control of their inheritance. In two engagements, Rodrigo del Vivar led the Castilian army and his King Sancho to victory.

Doña Urraca of Zamora

Alfonso, stripped of his kingdom, went into exile with the Moslem king of Toledo. The two brothers had already connived to dispossess Garcia of his share earlier.

Urraca, a sister of the competing brothers and a strong supporter of Alfonso, entered into the family dispute, and through her influence Sancho was treacherously assassinated. The new King, now styled Alfonso VI, was suspected of complicity because of his close relationship to Urraca. Rodrigo, as Sancho’s champion and the leader of the Castilian nobility, exercised his legal right to force Alfonso to swear an oath of total innocence. Realizing that if he refused he would no longer be King, Alfonso complied. El Cid administered the oath and, on so doing, certainly jeopardized his future relationship with the King.

After the oath of purgation, the Cid then swore allegiance to Alfonso as his liege lord, a loyalty that Rodrigo faithfully observed for the rest of his life despite unjust and abusive treatment. During Sancho’s reign, he had held the highest rank in the kingdom. Now, distrusted by the King and extremely disliked by the King’s Leonese favorites, Rodrigo served his King in near obscurity for the next seven years.

El Cid forcing King Alfonso VI of León to swear in the Church of Santa Gadea de Burgos. Painting by Armando Menocal in 1889.

The animosity between the faithful Rodrigo and his envious enemies reached a climax a few years later. While the Cid was occupied handling legal matters, the principal military honors of the kingdom went to the worthless Count Garcia Ordonez, whose ambition, Ramon Menendez Pidal points out, “was only exceeded by his ineptitude.” Late in 1079 the King sent the Cid to Seville to collect tribute from the Moslem King, who was in arrears. At that moment, for some unexplained reason, Ordonez and four Castilian noblemen at the head of a large Moorish army from Granada led a destructive raiding expedition against Seville. El Cid, with only the small escort that accompanied him, rushed to repel the invaders. In a bitterly contested battle, the army of Granada suffered heavy losses and fled, leaving Ordonez and the King’s vassals in the Cid’s power. After three days the great warrior released the prisoners but kept their tents and weapons as spoils of war.

This event increased the hatred and envy of the King’s favorites toward Rodrigo, which infected the attitude of Alfonso himself, so much so that when the latter began the great work of his reign, the conquest of Toledo, the Cid was left ignored in his castle lest, as some have observed, he receive too much glory. Nevertheless, in retaliation for a daring Moslem raid, the indomitable soldier led his followers into the kingdom of Toledo on his own initiative with his usual triumphant success, capturing 7,000 prisoners and much booty. The irritated King, agitated once again by his inner circle, lost all objectivity, stripped the Cid of his rank and lands, and banished him from the kingdom.

Exile

Monasterio de San Pedro de Cardena in Burgos. This is where El Cid and his family lived after being exiled by Alfonso VI.

   Three hundred of Castile’s best knights followed El Cid into exile. Faced with the necessity of providing an income for his vassals, Rodrigo assumed the responsibility of protecting Mutamin, the Moslem King of Saragossa, principally against the king’s brother, al-Hajib, King of Lerida. The situation was further complicated, however, when the King of Aragon and Berenguer, Count of Barcelona, allied themselves against Mutamin in their lust for spoils. Despite the attacks of so many adventurers, the Cid maintained his protectorate and won several spectacular victories against overwhelming odds in difficult circumstances.

Ramón Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona. Painted by Filippo_Ariosto

The lure of the wealth of Saragossa proved too much for Alfonso VI, so early in 1085 he invested the coveted city. Rodrigo, ever the Christian knight with a principled conscience, refused to fight against his King and withdrew once again into obscurity.

Success and failure of Alfonso VI

Alfonso now left the siege of Saragossa to others and returned to Toledo to begin the most illustrious part of his career, which greatly advanced the cause of the Reconquest. For four years he had been tightening a siege around the ancient capital of the old Visigoth Kingdom, choking off all possible assistance. Finally the Moslems capitulated and on May 25, 1085, Alfonso triumphantly entered Toledo. Strategically, the Christians had captured a salient fortress that extended their boundary line from the Douro River to the Tagus.

Statue of Alfonso VI of Castile in Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain

With its capture, the Andalusian Moors could easily see their ultimate defeat. Al-Mutamid, the King of Seville, decided that no options remained except to seek help from the Berber emir Yusuf ibn Tashefin and the fierce Almoravids from the North African desert. When al-Mutamid’s son observed that the Almoravids could be just as predatory as the Christians, he replied, “I would rather be a camel driver in Africa than a swineherd in Castile.”

   Yusuf landed in Spain with a sizable army and collected reinforcements as he marched northward. Alfonso lifted his siege at Saragossa and with Aragonese and French contingents intercepted the Moors five miles outside Badajoz at Sagrajas (Zallaka). The swift Berber horsemen utterly routed the Christians, who lacked maneuverability and discipline. Alfonso barely escaped with his life.

Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, El Cid

Rival of the Holy War

The success of the uncompromising Almoravids that revived the Holy War led to a reconciliation between Alfonso and the Cid. Rodrigo returned to the East and sent his knights raiding in all directions. Seeing the destruction of their crops and livestock, several Moslem kingdoms, including the great stronghold of Valencia, hastened to pay tribute and submit to the relentless Castilian. In 1088 Alfonso once again gave in to his irrational rage and the court intrigue of his worthless favorites and drove from his realm the only commander capable of restraining the new Moslem power.

El Cid

Backed by the conservative jurists or doctors of the law, Yusuf installed a new spirit of fanaticism and resistance in al-Andalus. One by one he deposed the soft, easy-living Moslem kings whose palaces had become centers of pleasure and stifled spirituality. They appealed to Alfonso, who had also been attracted to the sensual side of life. In each case, the debauched King went down in defeat before the better-trained and organized Moslem cavalry.

El Cid holds the East

When El Cid returned to the East, he found himself completely abandoned and surrounded by enemies. The eastern Moors knew that Alfonso had renounced his powerful vassal and anticipated help from the advancing Almoravids.

During his darkest moment, the vaunted courage of the Cid did not fail him and he determinedly set about reconquering the rich territories he had once before subdued. He declared war against his old enemy al-Hajib, the King of Lerida. Raiding and ravaging, he laid the entire territory to waste. As before, al-Hajib called on Berenguer, the Count of Barcelona, to come to his assistance, and the latter assembled a large army of Catalan horsemen to drive out the Castilian.

The Cid took up his position in a rocky ravine that opened up into a narrow-necked valley. There his greatly out-numbered knights would be less vulnerable. Early in the morning, Berenguer attacked through the valley with all expectation of a resounding victory. The Cid rushed out from behind the rocks. In one ferocious charge, he attacked the main column with Berenguer in the lead and sent the Catalans into wild disorder. When the dust cleared, it became apparent that the Cid had won a great victory and had captured Berenguer with 5,000 of his knights, whom he held for ransom. Those who could paid. In a spirit of chivalry, the Cid released the rest from their burdens.

Doña Jimena Díaz, wife of El Cid

The Count formally renounced all claims to the lands of al-Hajib and handed them over to the protection of the Cid. Rodrigo, utilizing his reputation of invincibility, formed a vast protectorate in eastern and southeastern Spain that included Saragossa and Valencia, but he was to have the greatest difficulty in maintaining it. In all the cities and towns, an inflexible Moslem faction developed under Almoravid influence and awaited an opportunity to rebel against Christian suzerainty.

While Rodrigo was away solidifying his hold on Saragossa, he received bad news. The Almoravid faction in Valencia had murdered the compliant Moslem King and gained control of the city. Moreover, a large force under ibn Ayesha, Yusuf’s son, had already conquered Murcia and was advancing toward Valencia, having accepted the surrender of the smaller towns of Denia, Jativa, and Alcira.

An engraving by Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville of El Cid ordering the execution of Ahmed, King of Valencia.

El Cid captures Valencia

Late in 1092, El Cid began the campaign to retake the city by raiding the Valencian countryside. Once he had captured the suburbs outside the walls, he applied a stranglehold around the city. Strangely, the Almoravid army of ibn Ayesha watched as if paralyzed by fear as Rodrigo consolidated his control over the entire area, even regaining the surrendered castles. Finally, Valencia, reduced to starvation, capitulated in June, 1094. This time the Cid Campeador occupied the key defensive positions inside the walls and indicated that his tolerance for peaceful coexistence had ended.

This one stunning defeat spurred Yusuf to make a more determined effort and avenge the severe blemish on his otherwise perfect military record. Over a hundred thousand African and Andalusian Moors, riding to the demoralizing sound of their drums, encircled the great walled city of Valencia and began to shower arrows on the houses and tents of the defending Christians, who numbered only a few thousand. The dauntless Cid encouraged his soldiers to resist and pray, but he could see that the usual tactics of hiding behind the walls would ensure eventual defeat.

Almoravid drummer used in great number's to demoralize the enemy.

After ten days, the Moors amassed a great force and moved against a main gate. Suddenly the gate burst open. The Cid and his Christian knights charged out, surprising the Moslems by their frightening boldness and speed. With a violent clash, they smashed into the center of the Mohammedan ranks and drove them back. The superior discipline and armament of the Cid’s troops gave him an advantage which broke down the cohesiveness of the Moors. When they turned to flee, the Christians fell upon them, inflicting terrible losses. When the Cid returned to his family, they could understand the ferocity of the struggle. The enemy’s blood covered his entire sword and had run up his arm to the elbow.

Painting by Eugène Delacroix at the Musée du Louvre

A few more victories remained for the Christian champion before he died in 1099. Much of the territory controlled by the Cid would revert back to the Moslems for a short period, but the great warrior had broken the force of the Almoravid invasion and allowed the knights of Aragon to build up their strength. Two younger brothers, successive kings of Aragon who had ridden with the Cid, Pedro I and Alfonso the Battler, led the fight in the next century. In the West, El Cid’s great-great-grandson, the Castilian King Alfonso VIII, won the definitive victory over the Mohammedans at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, and his grandson, Saint Ferdinand III drove all the Moors save those in the mountains of Grenada back to Africa. In the advance of Christianity, few have left such a legacy.

Signature of Rodrigo Díaz, also called El Cid, in a document by him in which he made a donation to the Cathedral of Valencia.

Jeremias Wells, History of Western Civilization (n.p., n.d), pp. 210-214.

Short Sto

‘Blood streamed across his body’: Leaked report details chilling stories of China one-child policy

by John Jalsevac

Co-authored with Jeremy Kryn

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 27, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – “Family Planning Official dragged my wife into a dark room and beat her brutally. She gripped their legs and knelt down to beg, ‘I know I’m wrong. Please forgive me. Please forgive me…”

This chilling account of the savage beating of a woman in China is pulled from a groundbreaking new report released last week by Women’s Rights Without Frontiers.  The report recounts in excruciating detail thirteen new, documented cases of the brutal coercion that women and their families routinely experience under the country’s one-child policy.

Family planning officials forced the family of Lixiang Luo and her husband, Muyuan Zou, to smash their house after they were suspected of having a second child.

The report was leaked out of China by a source who requested anonymity for fear of the reprisals that other critics of the one-child policy have been subjected to. It was unveiled at a U.S. Congressional Hearing on the one-child policy, held September 22.

The excerpt at the beginning of this article was taken from Case 2 of the new report. It describes the story of a couple that was late for a pregnancy check-up, by one day. The story is told by the husband, Xiangan Zhao, who says that because of the beating he received, he is now partially disabled.

“They beat and kicked like storms,” Zhao recounts. “When I tried to stand up and run away by instinct, [the family planning official] commanded again, ‘Beat him with rubber sticks.’ I was stricken down again and could not move this time. They dragged my arms and threw me in a dark room.”

“I’d like to ask: where is the justice?” Zhao concludes. “Where is the law?”

But the story, as disturbing as it is, is only one amongst thousands of such stories that happen every year in the communist country, to which Western countries often turn a blind eye, and is by no means the most extreme.

The report tells heart-rending stories of forced abortions - including on one woman who was eight months pregnant and on another who carrying twins at 8 ½ months - forced sterilizations, forced contraception, the demolition of homes, and the use detention, horrendous torture and the fining of relatives of “violators.”

“October 11, 2006 was the day of crushing despair for Shenyue Zhang’s family. Because it was on this day that Shenyue Zhang was beaten to death by the Family Planning Officials,” reads the introduction of Case 12.

The cause of the fatal beating was that Zhang’s son was suspected of having violated the one-child policy. Zhang was seized by family planning officials on the morning of October 10, 2006, and on October 11 an official went to his family to tell them that he was dead. His body had already been shipped off by the officials, and his family was never able to recover it. 

Xin was beaten so severely by family planning officials that he is now permanently and severely disabled.

Case Seven tells the story of a couple who gave birth to a second child in Henan Province. On March 7, 2008, family planning police arrived at the couple’s house in the evening, demanding that they pay the fine for having a second child. After the father, Xin, asked the officials for their credentials, he and his brother, Xiandong Luo, were brutally beaten.

“The man beating Xiandong Luo turned round and hit Xin’s temple with a glass bottle,” reads the account. “Xin was stunned immediately and fell down on the ground. Blood streamed across his body. Xin’s mother (over seventy years old) laid down and held him with her arms, but they kicked her abdomen.”

The beating delivered by the family planning officials was so severe that Xin is now permanently and severely disabled.

“In China, a woman’s body is not her own. It belongs to the state,” said Women’s Rights Without Frontiers President Reggie Littlejohn. “For the Chinese Communist Party to act as ‘womb police’ and crush the life inside her is a heinous crime against humanity.”

In her testimony before the Sept. 22 hearing, Littlejohn also raised the case of blind activist, Chen Guangcheng, who was arrested in 2006 for helping to expose the Chinese government’s use of forced sterilization and abortions to enforce its one-child policy.” He has since been jailed, tortured and denied medical treatment. He is now languishing under house arrest, in poor health and cut off from the world. (A short video on Chen and a petition to free him are posted here.)

“We have chosen to release the names of the perpetrators of these Crimes Against Humanity, so that they can be held accountable before the world,” Littlejohn said of the materials she provided Congress. “This report contains dozens of their names, as well as details of their crimes.”

To sign the Women’s Rights Without Frontiers petition against forced abortion, click here.

BREAKING: Congress investigating Planned Parenthood over sex abuse cover-up allegations

by Kathleen Gilbert

  • WASHINGTON, D.C., September 27, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - According to a letter leaked this morning, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce has launched an investigation into the Planned Parenthood Federation of America to determine whether the abortion organization handles criminal conduct properly, or has mishandled federal funding to pay for abortions.

A letter to Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards leaked to Washington Post reporter Sarah Kliff shows Commerce Chairman Rep. Cliff Stearns telling the group to hand over official documentation that “ensures federal money received by PPFA and its affiliates is not being used to impermissibly subsidize abortion,” as well as “all official written policies and procedures” proving that PPFA segregates the funds in practice.

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards

Getty Images

In addition, Stearns asked Richards to hand over policies and procedures showing Planned Parenthood “ensures” that all clinics “report all cases of suspected sexual abuse” and reports suspected sex trafficking.

Planned Parenthood responded to the investigation in a press release Tuesday. “Planned Parenthood is a trusted nonprofit health care provider that provides professional, reliable and quality health care,” said Cecile Richards. “This politically motivated investigation is a continuation of the efforts of earlier this year to undermine Planned Parenthood, and more disturbingly, women’s access to the primary and preventive care they need.” 

In July the pro-life organization Americans United for Life (AUL) released a comprehensive report alleging that Planned Parenthood had misused Medicaid and Title X family planning funds and harbored “systemic financial irregularities.”

The group says AUL legal team researchers reached the conclusion after examining countless Planned Parenthood records, law enforcement reports, and other materials to outline the financial history of an organization that receives more than $363 million in federal taxpayer funding each year.

In addition, video evidence released by undercover pro-life investigators in recent years has shown several Planned Parenthood clinics in multiple states violating state laws, including covering up the sexual abuse of minors, helping young girls cross state lines to avoid parental notification laws, and coaching them to lie about their age to obtain abortions. Tapes also show several clinic workers and managers appearing to abet illegal sex traffickers seeking abortions and STD treatment for their underage prostitutes.

Americans United for Life President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest today called the investigation “a historic first step in getting the American taxpayer out of the business of subsidizing abortion.”

“We also want to congratulate Rep. Cliff Stearns, chairman of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, for his leadership on this issue and for his willingness to look more closely at Planned Parenthood and its affiliates for their fraudulent use of taxpayer dollars, as outlined in AUL’s report.”

The Committee letter gave Planned Parenthood a two-week deadline to provide all requested documentation.

Louisiana bishop Herzog gives qualified support for Komen Race for the Cure

by Jeremy Kryn

  • ALEXANDRIA, LA, September 27, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The bishop of Alexandria, Louisiana has stated his support for the controversial Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The statement by Bishop Ronald Herzog, published in the September 19, 2011 issue of “The Church Today,” contrasts with a July 20 statement from the Ohio Catholic Conference and statements from other US dioceses which oppose Catholic fundraising for Komen .

“In my opinion a person could, in good conscience, participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, confident that no part of that donation would be given to Planned Parenthood,” said Herzog.

Diocesan newspaper editor Jeannie Petrus said that the national office of Komen and the Northeast Central Louisiana affiliate of Komen currently do not provide grants to Planned Parenthood. She justified support for Komen, saying that the local affiliates that provided grants to Planned Parenthood restricted use of the funds “for the specific and sole purposes of breast exams, breast treatments, and breast cancer education.” She said that the grant money is used primarily in low-income areas “where women do not have access to these services.”

An Alexandria-based Catholic health-care facility, Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital, is a major sponsor of the Central Louisiana Susan G, Komen Race for the Cure.

This summer, Ohio’s bishops asked all parishes and schools to cease support of Komen, citing the breast cancer advocacy foundation’s support for Planned Parenthood, and the fact that their policies do not exclude embryonic stem cell research.

In addition to Alexandria and Ohio, other dioceses have taken a position on Komen.

The St. Louis diocese has discouraged support for Komen. In 2006, the Respect Life Apostolate of the Archdiocese of St. Louis said, “Due to its policy allowing affiliates to offer financial support to abortion providing facilities, its denial of studies showing abortion as a cause of breast cancer, and its endorsement of embryonic stem cell research, the Respect Life Apostolate neither supports nor encourages participation in activities that benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.”

The Lafayette, Indiana diocese discouraged support for Komen in 2008. Both St. Louis and Lafayette encouraged Catholics to support local hospitals engaged in breast cancer research and treatment, rather than Komen.

Also, in 2008, the Little Rock Diocese issued an apology in March and retraction of their initial position in February discouraging Komen funding. The decision was made after Komen assured the Diocese that local fund-raising would not benefit Planned Parenthood. Following Little Rock’s policy reversal, however, both the St. Louis and Lafayette dioceses reaffirmed their opposition to Komen support.

Stop Planned Parenthood, a project of the American Life League dedicated to shutting down Planned Parenthood, released a report on August 24, 2011 detailing the $629,159 in funding various Komen affiliates contributed directly to Planned Parenthood affiliates across the US in 2009-2010, according to the 990 Forms Komen submitted to the IRS for those years.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

This saint wrote in the sand I BELIEVE IN GOD after a heretic had cleft his head in two by a cruel blow of his sword

The Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles which is said on the crucifix of the Rosary is a holy summary of all Christian truths. It is a prayer that has great merit because faith is the root, foundation and beginning of all Christian virtues, of all eternal virtues and also of all prayers that are pleasing to Almighty God.

"He that cometh to God, must believe...." [1] Whosoever wishes to come to God must first of all believe and the greater his faith the more merit his prayer will have, the more powerful it will be, and the more it will glorify God.

I shall not take time here to explain the Creed word for word but I cannot resist saying that the first few words "I believe in God" are marvelously effective as a means of sanctifying our souls and of putting devils to rout, because these three words contain the acts of the three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity.

It was by saying I BELIEVE IN GOD that the saints overcame temptations, especially those against faith, hope or charity---whether they came during their lifetime or at their death.

They were also the last words of St. Peter, Martyr; [2] a heretic had cleft his head in two by a cruel blow of his sword and St. Peter was almost at his last gasp, but he somehow managed to trace these words in the sand with his finger before he died.

The Holy Rosary contains many mysteries of Jesus and Mary and since faith is the only key which opens up these mysteries for us we must begin the Rosary by saying the Creed very devoutly, and the stronger our faith, the more merit our Rosary will have.

This faith must be lively and informed by charity; in other words, to recite properly the Rosary, it is necessary to be in God's grace, or at least in quest of it. This faith must be strong and constant, that is, one must not be looking for sensible devotion and spiritual consolation in the recitation of the Rosary; nor should one give it up because his mind is flooded with countless involuntary distractions or one experiences a strange distaste in the soul and an almost continual and oppressive fatigue in the body. Neither feeling, nor consolation, nor sighs, nor transports, nor the continual attention of the imagination are needed; faith and good intentions are quite enough. "Faith alone suffices." [3]

(Taken from the Secret of the Rosary by Saint Louis de Montfort)

    [1] Heb. 11:6
    [2] Saint Peter of Verona, O.P. 1206-1253, was a Dominican Priest who fought heresy courageously and zealously. He had the honor of receiving the habit from the hands of Saint Dominic himself. He was appointed Inquisitor for Lombardy, and it was in discharging his duties that he gave his life for the Faith.
    [3] From the Pange Lingua.

Parents and religious leaders urge California governor to veto HPV vaccination bill

by Thaddeus Baklinski

SACRAMENTO, September 23, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Outraged parents’ rights groups and religious leaders are demanding that Gov. Jerry Brown veto a bill allowing children ages 12 and older to be vaccinated with the dangerous sexually transmitted disease vaccine Gardasil without parental knowledge or consent.

Bill AB 499, also known as the Gardasil Bill, was sent to the governor’s desk on September 7, after being approved by California state senators on August 31 by a vote of 22 to 17.

In 2007 Gov. Brown vetoed a similar bill that attempted to mandate HPV vaccinations for all girls entering junior high school.

William May, chairman of the California-based lay apostolate, Catholics for the Common Good, said that after the failure of the 2007 bill because of parental backlash, the legislature is now “trying to make an ‘end run’ with a bill permitting providers to by-pass parents and give children as young as 12 years old the power to consent to vaccinations of Gardasil without their parents’ knowledge.”

“We don’t need laws to permit interest groups to go directly to children because their parents have said ‘no’,” May said in a press release. “Governor Brown should apply the same parental rights principles to AB 499 that he used when he recently vetoed the mandatory ski helmet bill and send AB 499 back to the legislature with his veto.”

In his veto of the ski helmet bill, SB 105, Gov. Brown said, “I am concerned about the continuing and seeming inexorable transfer of authority from parents to the state. I believe parents have the ability and responsibility to make good choices for their children.”

In a letter to Gov. Brown dated September 13, May said AB 499 opponents were “heartened” by his concern about parents’ rights. He said that the bill “takes away the rights of parents to make consequential healthcare decisions for their children.”

May stated that the bill offers no protection to children from coercion by “adults with ulterior motives or profit incentives.”

“Children are not equipped to stand up to the authority of adults, to do research, to ask questions, and to understand statistics about health risks that would enable them to make informed decisions,” he said.

The California Catholic Conference (CCC) has voiced similar concerns.

On September 6, Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles issued a statement opposing AB 499. “Without allowing parents to be involved, there is no way we can ensure that our children will not be pressured by parties that may not have their best interests in mind, and may in fact have financial or other motivations to encourage our children to seek these vaccines,” he said.

The archbishop added that the legislation denies parents their fundamental right to be responsible for their children’s physical and spiritual well-being.

“Our children need the knowledge and wisdom of their parents in order to make complicated medical decisions. This legislation would leave our children to make these decisions without the benefit of their parents’ wisdom,” he said.

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins blasted the bill as “a shot at parents’ rights.”

“This debate isn’t about whether we want to protect our children from disease, but whether we want the government making decisions for our kids,” said Perkins.

Critics of the law have also pointed out there are serious questions about the safety of Gardasil.

As of January 15, 2011 the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) had received a total of 21,171 reports of adverse events and 91 deaths following Gardasil vaccination.

An online pamphlet titled “Gardasil: What Every Parent Should Know about the New HPV Vaccine” is available from the Family Research Council website here.

Contact information:

Governor Jerry Brown
Phone: (916) 445-2841
Fax: (916) 558-3160
Email Web Form: http://govnews.ca.gov/gov39mail/mail.php

Catholic college cancels pro-abortion speaker

by Christine Dhanagom

LORETTO, PA, September 26, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Catholic University in Pennsylvania has cancelled a scheduled appearance by prominent feminist journalist Ellen Goodman after the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) drew attention to the conflict between Goodman’s work and Catholic Church teaching on key issues.

The Catholic watchdog group reported in a blog entry that Goodman was scheduled to speak October 12th at St. Francis University in Loretto on the topic of civility in public discourse. The lecture was part of the school’s annual Furlong Lecture Series.

The blog entry detailed the history of Goodman’s outspoken support for abortion, including opposing conscience rights for pharmacists who choose not to dispense abortifacient “emergency” birth control.

She has also publicly criticized the movement to deny communion to pro-abortion politicians, which she derisively referred to as a “wafer watch” in a 2004 Boston Globe article.

Goodman’s lecture was cancelled shortly after the CNS report was published.

In a statement sent by St. Francis to CNS, the school explained: “After careful consideration, the University felt Ms. Goodman’s body of work has reflected statements that are not in close enough alignment with some Catholic teachings and with the values and mission of the University as required for an event of this stature on the Saint Francis campus.”

Saint Francis provost Wayne Powel told the Lebanon Daily News that the school’s screening process for speakers was “broken ... in this case”

“The people who should have been looking and paying attention to who was considered by the committee didn’t do so,” Powel said. “It should have been looked at by the senior administration, including myself.”

In an email response to Powel published on dailykos.com, Goodman accused the university of failing to “uphold the values of academic freedom,” pointing out that her stance on abortion was shared with “over half the country.”

Goodman also added that in her 35-year career as a public speaker, she had made many speeches on Catholic campuses.

“Never before have I been cancelled for any reason, let alone for my beliefs,” she wrote.

CNS spokesman Adam Wilson praised the university’s decision in comments to LifeSiteNews.

“It would be duplicitous for a Catholic college to momentarily set aside pro-life convictions for the sake of basking in the glow of a famous person.  St. Francis University did the right thing and they should be proud of their decision,” Wilson said.

IVF babies up to 10 times more likely to suffer rare genetic disorders: geneticist

by Jeremy Kryn

  • TORONTO, CANADA, September 26, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Babies born from in-vitro fertilization (IVF) are up to 10 times more likely to suffer from rare genetic disorders, according to a pro-IVF geneticist. In an address to the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society, University of Toronto geneticist Dr. Rosanna Weksberg called for more study of a link between fertility treatment and certain rare genetic disorders.

“We are seeing a significant increase in risk,” she said, according to the Financial Post. “The most important message is ... we need follow-up study.”

Weksberg said that she is already seeing many IVF children with rare genetic disorders in her genetics clinic. Among these are children with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome and Angelman syndrome. 

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome occurs in one of every 1,300 fertility-treatment children, compared to one in 13,000 in the general population, according to Weksberg. It causes symptoms such as unevenly sized limbs, an enlarged tongue and a high risk of kidney tumors.

Angelman syndrome occurs in one in 1,500 among fertility-treatment children, compared to one in 15,000 in the general population. It causes serious mental retardation and speech impairment.

In addition to these genetic conditions, there is evidence of an increased chance that a baby will be born at a low weight, and research has also suggested an increased risk of autism, reports the Post.

The exact cause of the genetic problems is likely a combination of the biological parents’ infertility problems and genetics, and the treatments themselves, according to Weksberg.

Weksberg says she would like to partner with fertility clinics to study larger populations of fertility-treatment children, but has not been able to find any willing to work with her.

The Post reported that there was an apparent lack of interest from Weksberg’s audience for her speech, which Weksberg described as “very telling.” 

According to a 2010 French study - the largest yet on the subject - assisted reproductive technologies double a baby’s risk of deformity. The study found that over 4% of fertility-treatment children had some form of congenital deformity, compared to the rate in the general population of between 2% and 3%.

The British government’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority warned in 2009 that IVF babies have a 30% higher risk of genetic abnormality.

Evidence presented at a symposium in Melbourne in 2003 showed that certain IVF techniques may pass on birth defects, such as “ambiguous genitalia,” from fathers with defective sperm.

Monday, September 26, 2011

YES -- Our Lady does play favorites

CHAPTER FIVE - BIBLICAL FIGURE OF THIS PERFECT DEVOTION: REBECCA AND JACOB

183. The Holy Spirit gives us in Sacred Scripture, a striking allegorical figure of all the truths I have been explaining concerning the Blessed Virgin and her children and servants. It is the story of Jacob who received the blessing of his father Isaac through the care and ingenuity of his mother Rebecca.

Here is the story as the Holy Spirit tells it. I shall expound it further later on.

The Story of Jacob

184. Several years after Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob, Rebecca, their mother, who loved Jacob tenderly, secured this blessing for him by a holy stratagem full of mystery for us.

Isaac, realising that he was getting old, wished to bless his children before he died. He summoned Esau, who was his favourite son, and told him to go hunting and bring him something to eat, in order that he might then give him his blessing. Rebecca immediately told Jacob what was happening and sent him to fetch two small goats from the flock. When Jacob gave them to his mother, she cooked them in the way Isaac liked them. Then she dressed Jacob in Esau's clothes which she had in her keeping, and covered his hands and neck with the goat-skin. The father, who was blind, although hearing the voice of Jacob, would think that it was Esau when he touched the skin on his hands.

Isaac was of course surprised at the voice which he thought was Jacob's and told him to come closer. Isaac felt the hair on the skin covering Jacob's hands and said that the  voice was really like Jacob's but the hands were Esau's. After he had eaten, Isaac kissed Jacob and smelt the fragrance of his scented clothes. He blessed him and called down on him the dew of heaven and the fruitfulness of earth. He made him master of all his brothers and concluded his blessing with these words, "Cursed be those who curse you and blessed be those who bless you."

Isaac had scarcely finished speaking when Esau came in, bringing what he had caught while out hunting. He wanted his father to bless him after he had eaten. The holy patriarch was shocked when he realised what had happened. But far from retracting what he had done, he confirmed it because he clearly saw the finger of God in it all. Then, as Holy Scripture relates, Esau began to protest loudly against the treachery of his brother. He then asked his father if he had only one blessing to give. In so doing, as the early Fathers point out, Esau was the symbol of those who are too ready to imagine that there is an alliance between God and the world, because they themselves are eager to enjoy, at one and the same time, the blessings of heaven and the blessings of the earth. Isaac was touched by Esau's cries and finally blessed him only with a blessing of the earth, and he subjected him to his brother. Because of this, Esau conceived such a venomous hatred for Jacob that he could hardly wait for his father's death to kill him. And Jacob would not have escaped death if his dear mother Rebecca had not saved him by her ingenuity and her good advice.

Interpretation of the story

185. Before explaining this beautiful story, let me remind you that, according to the early Fathers and the interpreters of Holy Scripture, Jacob is the type of our Lord and of souls who are saved, and Esau is the type of souls who are condemned. We have only to examine the actions and conduct of both in order to judge each one.

(1) Esau, the elder brother, was strong and robust, clever, and skillful with the bow and very successful at hunting.

(2) He seldom stayed at home and, relying only on his own strength and skill, worked out of doors.

(3) He never went out of his way to please his mother Rebecca,  and did little or nothing for her.   (4) He was such a glutton and so fond of eating that he sold his birthright for a dish of lentils.

(5) Like Cain, he was extremely jealous of his brother and persecuted him relentlessly.

186. This is the usual conduct of sinners:

(1) They rely upon their own strength and skill in temporal affairs. They are very energetic, clever and well-informed about things of this world but very dull and ignorant about things of heaven.

187. (2) And they are never or very seldom at home, in their own house, that is, in their own interior, the inner, essential abode that God has given to every man to dwell in, after his own example, for God always abides within himself. Sinners have no liking for solitude or the spiritual life or interior devotion. They consider those who live an interior life, secluded from the world, and who work more interiorly than exteriorly, as narrow-minded, bigoted and uncivilized.

188. (3) Sinners care little or nothing about devotion to Mary, the Mother of the elect. It is true that they do not

really hate her. Indeed they even speak well of her sometimes. They say they love her and they practise some devotion in her honour. Nevertheless, they cannot bear to see anyone love her tenderly, for they do not have for her any of the affection of Jacob; they find fault with the honour which her good children and servants faithfully pay her to win her affection. They think this kind of devotion is not necessary for salvation, and as long as they do not go as far as hating her or openly ridiculing devotion to her they believe they have  done all they need to win her good graces. Because they recite or mumble a few prayers to her without any affection and without even thinking of amending their lives, they consider they are our Lady's servants.

189. (4) Sinners sell their birthright, that is, the joys of paradise, for a dish of lentils, that is, the pleasures of this world. They laugh, they drink, they eat, they have a good time, they gamble, they dance and so forth, without taking any more trouble than Esau to make themselves worthy of their heavenly Father's blessing. Briefly, they think only of this world, love only the world, speak and act only for the world and its pleasures. For a passing moment of pleasure, for a fleeting wisp of honour, for a piece of hard earth, yellow or white, they barter away their baptismal grace, their robe of innocence and their heavenly inheritance.

190. (5) Finally, sinners continually hate and persecute the elect, openly and secretly. The elect are a burden to them. They despise them, criticise them, ridicule them, insult them, rob them, deceive them, impoverish them, hunt them down and

trample them into the dust; while they themselves are making fortunes, enjoying themselves, getting good positions for themselves, enriching themselves, rising to power and living in comfort.

191. Jacob, the younger son, was of a frail constitution, gentle and peaceable and usually stayed at home to please his mother, whom he loved so much. If he did go out it was not through any personal desire of his, nor from any confidence in his own ability, but simply out of obedience to his mother.

192. He loved and honoured his mother. That is why he remained at home close to her. He was never happier than when he was in her presence. He avoided everything that might displease her, and did everything he thought would please her. This made Rebecca love him all the more.

193. He was submissive to his mother in all things. He obeyed her entirely in everything, promptly without delay and lovingly without complaint. At the least indication of her will, young Jacob hastened to comply with it. He accepted whatever she told him without questioning. For instance, when she told him to get two small goats and bring them to her so that she might prepare something for his father Isaac to eat, Jacob did not reply that one would be enough for one man, but without arguing he did exactly what she told him to do.

194. He had the utmost confidence in his mother. He did not rely on his own ability; he relied solely on his mother's care and protection. He went to her in all his needs and consulted her in all his doubts. For instance, when he asked her if his father, instead of blessing him, would curse him, he believed her and trusted her when she said she would take the curse upon herself.

195. Finally, he adopted, as much as he could, the virtues he saw in his mother. It seems that one of the reasons why he spent so much time at home was to imitate his dear mother, who was so virtuous, and to keep away from evil companions - who might lead him into sin. In this way, he made himself worthy to receive the double blessing of his beloved father.

196. It is in a similar manner that God's chosen ones usually act. They stay at home with their mother - that is, they have an esteem for quietness, love the interior life, and are assiduous in prayer. They always remain in the company of the Blessed Virgin, their Mother and Model, whose glory is wholly interior and who during her whole life dearly loved seclusion and prayer. It is true, at times they do venture out into the world, but only to fulfil the duties of their state of life, in obedience to the will of God and the will of their Mother.

No matter how great their accomplishments may appear to others, they attach far more importance to what they do within themselves in their interior life, in the company of the Blessed Virgin. For there they work at the great task of perfection, compared to which all other work is mere child's play. At times their brothers and sisters are working outside with great energy, skill and success, and win the praise and approbation of the world.  But they know by the light of the Holy Spirit that there is far more good, more glory and more joy in remaining hidden and recollected with our Lord, in complete and perfect submission to Mary than there is in performing by themselves marvellous works of nature and grace in the world, like so many Esaus and sinners. Glory for God and riches for men are in her house.

Lord Jesus, how lovely is your dwelling-place! The sparrow has found a house to dwell in, and the turtle-dove a nest for her little ones! How happy is the man who dwells in the house of Mary, where you were the first to dwell! Here in this home of the elect, he draws from you alone the help he needs to climb the stairway of virtue he has built in his heart to the highest possible points of perfection while in this vale of tears. "How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts!"

197. The elect have a great love for our Lady and honour her truly as their Mother and Queen. They love her mot merely in word but in deed. They honour her not just outwardly, but from the depths of their heart. Like Jacob, they avoid the least thing that might displease her, and eagerly do whatever they think might win her favour. Jacob brought Rebecca two young goats. They bring Mary their body and their soul, with all their faculties, symbolised by Jacob's two young goats, 1) so that she may accept them as her own; 2) that she may make them die to sin and self by divesting them of self-love, in order to please Jesus her Son, who wishes to have as friends and disciples only those who are dead to sin and self; 3) that she may clothe them according to their heavenly Father's taste and for his greater glory, which she knows better than any other creature; 4) that through her care and intercession, this body and soul of theirs, thoroughly cleansed from every stain, thoroughly dead to self, thoroughly stripped and well-prepared, may be pleasing to the heavenly Father and deserving of his blessing.

Is this not what those chosen souls do who, to prove to Jesus and Mary how effective and courageous is their love, live and esteem the perfect consecration to Jesus through Mary which we are now teaching them?

Sinners may say that they love Jesus, that they love and honour Mary, but they do not do so with their whole heart and soul. Unlike the elect, they do not love Jesus and Mary enough to consecrate them their body with its senses and their soul with its passions.

198. They are subject and obedient to our Lady, their good Mother, and here they are simply following the example set by our Lord himself, who spent thirty of the thirty-three years he lived on earth glorifying God his Father in perfect and entire submission to his holy Mother. They obey her, following her advice to the letter, just as Jacob followed that of Rebecca, when she said to him, "My son, follow my advice"; or like the stewards at the wedding in Cana, to whom our Lady said, "Do whatever he tells you."

Through obedience to his mother, Jacob received the blessing almost by a miracle, because in the natural course of events he should not have received it. As a reward for following the advice of our Lady, the stewards at the wedding in Cana were honoured with the first of our Lord's miracles when, at her request he changed water into wine. In the same way, until the end of time, all who are to receive the blessing of our heavenly Father and who are to be honoured with his wondrous graces will receive them only as a result of their perfect obedience to Mary. On the other hand, the "Esaus" will lose their blessing because of their lack of submission to the Blessed Virgin.

199. They have great confidence in the goodness and power of the Blessed Virgin, their dear Mother, and incessantly implore her help. They take her for their pole-star to lead them safely into harbour. They open their hearts to her and tell her their troubles and their needs. They rely on her mercy and kindness to obtain forgiveness for their sins through her intercession and to experience her motherly comfort in their troubles and anxieties. They even cast themselves into her virginal bosom, hide and lose themselves there in a wonderful manner. There they are filled with pure love, they are purified from the least stain of sin, and they find Jesus in all his fullness. For he reigns in Mary as if on the most glorious of thrones. What incomparable happiness! Abbot Guerric says, "Do not imagine there is more joy in dwelling in Abraham's bosom than in Mary's, for it is in her that our Lord placed his throne."

Sinners, on the other hand, put all their confidence in themselves. Like the prodigal son, they eat with the swine. Like toads they feed on earth. Like all worldlings, they love only visible and external things. They do not know the sweetness of Mary's bosom. They do not have that reliance and confidence which the elect have for the Blessed Virgin, their Mother. Deplorably they choose to satisfy their hunger elsewhere, as St. Gregory says, because they do not want to taste the sweetness already prepared within themselves and within Jesus and Mary.

200. Finally, chosen souls keep to the ways of the Blessed Virgin, their loving Mother - that is, they imitate her and so are sincerely happy and devout and bear the infallible sign of God's chosen ones. This loving Mother says to them "Happy are those who keep my ways", which means, happy are those who practise my virtues and who, with the help of God's grace, follow the path of my life. They are happy in this world because of the abundance of grace and sweetness I impart to them out of my fullness, and which they receive more abundantly than others who do not imitate me so closely. They are happy at the hour of death, which is sweet and peaceful for I am usually there myself to lead them home to everlasting joy. Finally, they will be happy for all eternity, because no servant of mine who imitated my virtues during life has ever been lost.

On the other hand, sinners are unhappy during their life, at their death, and throughout eternity, because they do not imitate the virtues of our Lady. They are satisfied with going no further than joining her confraternities, reciting a few prayers in her honour, or performing other exterior devotional exercises.

O Blessed Virgin, my dear Mother, how happy are those who faithfully keep your ways, your counsels and your commands; who never allow themselves to be led astray by a false devotion to you! But how unhappy and accursed are those who abuse devotion to you by not keeping the commandments of your Son! "They are accursed who stray from your commandments."

Taken from True Devotion to Mary by Saint Louis de Montfort