A "Q AND A" THAT I FOUND AT CATHOLIC ANSWERS TODAY...NEVER HEARD OF IT BEFORE...

QUESTION:Why do some catholics kiss their fist after they do the sign of the cross?

ANSWER:Hi.Even though they seem to be just kissing their fist, they are actually kissing a cross they make by placing their thumb perpendicularly across their index finger.
Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.

HERE WE BE...AT THE PARK...NEAR THE NEWFOUNDLAND FERRY...

FRIDAY FUNNIES...DON'T ARGUE WITH AN IBEX...

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.....For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1Cor 1:18, 25)

Full communion between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches is being prompted by the Holy Spirit. It is the most important development of the Third Christian Millennium and has implications for the whole world at this critical time in history. This coming communion between the Orthodox and Catholic Church will mark the beginning of the re- Christianizing of the West and a new missionary age.

Harvard Valedictorian Joins Convent

Harvard Valedictorian Joins Convent...GIVES VALEDICTORY IN LATIN...DEO GRATIAS

LAST EVENING,I WATCHED AN EWTN PRESENTATION CALLED GOD IN TIBET..ACTUALLY I DIDN'T REALIZE THERE WERE SO MANY CATHOLICS IN TIBET.THEY PROFILED 2 VILLAGES WITH 80% AND 90% CATHOLIC POPULATION.SUCH A PIOUS PEOPLE...ALWAYS ATTENDING CHURCH,EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE NO PRIEST...THE CARETAKER TEACHES CATECHISM AND THEIR PRAYER BOOKS ARE USED AND TATTERED BEYOND RECOGNITION.A PRIEST CAME FROM CHINA ONCE A YEAR TO SAY MASS ON THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION.

ON CHRISTMAS EVE...THEY HAVE A BONFIRE IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH AND DANCE AND PRAY.THEN AT 11:30,THEY ALL ENTER THE CHURCH FOR MORE PRAYERS.I FOUND MYSELF HOPING FOR THIS MIRACLE...THAT ON THIS CHRISTMAS EVE,THEY WILL BE ABLE TO HEAR MASS.

Abortion Ban Gains Support
23 August 2010
In RUSSIA...The number of Russians who support introducing a nationwide ban on abortions has doubled in a decade, reaching 41 percent, the independent polling agency Levada Center said.

The number of those in favor of a complete ban on abortions has grown from 8 percent in 1998 to 16 percent in 2010, the report said. Another 25 percent only approve of therapeutic, not elective, abortions, up from 13 percent earlier.

Forty-eight percent disapprove of a ban, down from 59 percent, while 11 percent are undecided, compared with 20 percent earlier.

The survey of 1,600 people had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

He was wounded for our transgressions;he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,and with his stripes we are healed.ISAIAH 53:5

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE QUOTES...AS A COUNTRY BECOMES DE-CHRISTIANIZED...IT BECOMES DE-HUMANIZED.FATHER JOHN CORAPI

PETROMONT... ENJOYING HIS VACATION FROM THE RACING CIRCUIT...IN 11 STARTS THUS FAR THIS YEAR,HE HAS HAD 5 FIRST-PLACES,3 SECOND-PLACES AND A THIRD.HE IS SUCH A POWER HORSE...YET SO GENTEEL...HIS PET NAME IS "BIG DOG".THE TRAINER'S 10 YEAR OLD SON ACTUALLY NAPS CURLED UP ON TOP OF HIM IN THE STALL.

Father Euteneuer: Gay Marriage Is An Intrinsically Disordered Lifestyle!
And It Will Bring About the Destruction Of Western Civilization!
Father Thomas Euteneuer - So why, you ask, is gay marriage wrong? Let me count the ways.

First and foremost is because it violates the revealed Will of God as seen in Scripture. There are few things as clear in God’s revelation as the sacred institution of marriage between a man and a woman. From Genesis 1 (the marria ge of Adam and Eve) to Revelation 21 (the marriage of Christ the Lamb with His Bride the Church) God has had only one model of marriage, and it is not gay marriage. Even polygamy and divorce was done away with in the Christian Church, as Our Lord reminded all of the essence of marriage as it was “in the beginning.” This Christian view of marriage became the norm of Western society and its most basic societal unit, undoubtedly allowing the West to flourish.

A close second to this is that gay marriage distorts the very concept of parenting as well as marriage. Even if you overlook the fact that gay marriage is by definition sterile, every child of a gay marriage has to be adopted or artificially inseminated, and that in itself is a violation of the whole concept of family. In the 80s the Vatican actually said that the adoption of children by homosexuals “does violence” to the child. Pretty strong language, but true nonetheless. In its simplest terms, kids need a mom and a dad, and are forever stigmatized by being the child of a gay marriage. Kids model their lives, their concept of family, their morals and oftentimes their whole worldview on their parents’ attitudes and values. These kids get a totally distorted view of all these basics.

Third but by no means the last reason, all of society suffers because of the public endorsement of an intrinsically disordered lifestyle and practice. Yes, “disordered” is what our Church calls both the homosexual orientation and lifestyle, and gay marriage simply ratifies that disorder on a social level. In recent debates, the term “human right” to describe gay marriage and the charge that anyone who stands against it is guilty of “discrimination” are examples of these fundamental distortions. Fr. Marx was right: a society cannot long survive this kind of violence done to its basic values, and history surely shows many societies like Ancient Greece, whose rapid decline was preceded by the proliferation of the gay lifestyle and its public acceptance.

While we respect all people as they are, we don’t have to respect such a wholesale assault on everything that is sacred to us and good for our society; no, in fact, we must fight against it with our very lives. The question is not whether or not we can win the battle; the question is whether we will join it. Will we accept the challenge to defend the sacred or not? We are called to be faithful and obedient to the Plan of God for our world, and within that, God will bring forth the victory. There is no doubt that, if it is not already there, gay marriage will be coming to your state soon. If we don’t fight it, our souls, our families and basically, our very civilization, will find themselves at “the end” of the line in very short order.

PETROMONT CAME HOME TO KNIGHTSWOOD TODAY FOR A MUCH DESERVED 1 WEEK VACATION FROM THE TRACK AT TARTAN DOWNS...

THIS IS WAY TOO FUNNY...JUST WATCH AND LAUGH...

St. Lawrence

FEAST DAY OF St. Lawrence

A Conversation with Scott Hahn, Author of 'Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots' :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

A Conversation with Scott Hahn, Author of 'Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots' :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

News For Growing Christians - Putin, Medvedev celebrate new public holiday marking the adoption of Christianity in Russia

News For Growing Christians - Putin, Medvedev celebrate new public holiday marking the adoption of Christianity in Russia

‎"Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is more powerful than in any other place because here is the Real Presence of God, just as He is in heaven." (St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi)
‎"If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy." - Saint Jean Vianney

St. Francis of Assisi - When Moses asked who You were, Lord God, You replied, "Tell them, 'I Am' sent you, if they ask you My name." Lord Jesus, when questioned by Your enemies who challenged Your identity as the Son of God You replied, "Before Abraham was, I Am'. They wanted to stone You for asserting that You Yourself were the One and Only God. Besides being the great 'I Am', You are so much more, especially to us who believe. And we do Believe - do trust not only in who You are but all the many many good promises of blessings You have made us, because You love us little ones of Yours. We are happy to be Yours! We trust You Jesus - Savior of the world, our Savior. Thank You Lord! Amen.

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Tradition as it was for 2000 years and still going strong. May the beauty of Tradition continue to bring in souls to the Church. Amen.

A Deeper Look at the Many Evangelicals Turning Catholic


Is there a growing trend of Evangelicals converting to Catholicism? Many think so, including this recent article:

There is a large community of young believers whose frustration with the lack of authority, structure, and intellectualism in many evangelical churches is leading them in great numbers to the Roman Catholic Church. This trend of “Crossing the Tiber” (a phrase that also served as the title of Stephen K. Ray’s 1997 book on the phenomenon), has been growing steadily for decades, but with the help of a solid foundation of literature, exemplar converts from previous generations, burgeoning traditional and new media outlets, and the coming of age of Millennial evangelicals, it is seeing its pace quicken dramatically.

The article gives the example of many such notable Evangelical converts from our generation, such as Scott Hahn, Marcus Grodi, Thomas Howard, Francis Beckwith and others. (It also mentions Patrick Madrid, but he is actually not a convert, from what I understand.)

The common threads that seem to be drawing many of these Evangelicals into the Catholic Church are its history, the Liturgy and its tradition of intellectualism.

So is this trend significant? Or is it dwarfed by what seems to be many more Catholics who seem to lose their faith or become complacent with it?

According to a 2009 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, four people leave the Catholic Church for every one person that joins it. Keep in mind that this stat doesn’t count those born into Catholicism as “joining” it. However, it’s still a sad statistic. But we shouldn’t be misled by it.

There are also studies that show Catholicism has a higher rate of retention than all other religious groups. In other words, when people convert to Catholicism, they don’t do so because they didn’t like where they were and just wanted to try something new. Their conversion is deliberate and intentional and they generally stick with it. On the other hand, when people leave the Church, they generally drift around a bit from one denomination to another. This says a lot. The Catholic convert is actually experiencing real, lasting conversion. Those leaving the Church seem to be lost and searching souls that most likely had no idea what they were leaving in the first place.

I’ve long noticed, as have many others, a kind of trend as well. It’s not so much from “Evangelicals” converting to Catholicism necessarily. It’s that of intellectuals converting to Catholicism. And that’s not to say these intellectuals were strictly intellectual. But I mean it to say that they took their reasons for believing very seriously. We only have to look back a few generations to find Chesterton, Merton, Newman, etc. as part of the same trend.

In my own experience, I’ve seen that more people who convert to Catholicism do so on account of their reason. Whereas those that leave the Church do so based on some emotion or negative experience associated with the Church.

When I ask an evangelical why they left the Church. The answer is almost always an emotion. Something made them feel a certain way. Or they just didn’t like the way something was done in Catholicism. Or it didn’t suit their lifestyle. Or some other experience made them feel nice.

There is a long list of protestant (and other) leaders and scholars who have converted to Catholicism. The list for those going the other direction is devastatingly short.

This is why I think we are seeing, and will continue to see even more, protestant thinkers converting to Catholicism. Protestantism is running its course. All the protest is getting tired. And they are running out of places to find answers that don’t lead them deep into Church history, back to the ancient liturgy, and into the intellectual tradition that ultimately leads to one place: Rome.

Protestantism has drifted far enough away from orthodox Christianity that it can now look back at the trees and recognize the forest. And if you’re not entirely in the Catholic Church, that just might be the next best place to be…

“There are two ways of getting home; and one of them is to stay there. The other is to walk round the whole world till we come back to the same place; and I tried to trace such a journey in a story I once wrote. It is, however, a relief to turn from that topic to another story that I never wrote. Like every book I never wrote, it is by far the best book I have ever written. It is only too probable that I shall never write it, so I will use it symbolically here; for it was a symbol of the same truth. I conceived it as a romance of those vast valleys with sloping sides, like those along which the ancient White Horses of Wessex are scrawled along the flanks of the hills. It concerned some boy whose farm or cottage stood on such a slope, and who went on his travels to find something, such as the effigy and grave of some giant; and when he was far enough from home he looked back and saw that his own farm and kitchen-garden, shining flat on the hill-side like the colours and quarterings of a shield, were but parts of some such gigantic figure, on which he had always lived, but which was too large and too close to be seen. That, I think, is a true picture of the progress of any really independent intelligence today; and that is the point of this book.

The point of this book, in other words, is that the next best thing to being really inside Christendom is to be really outside it. ” - G. K. Chesterton (Everlasting Man)

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And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow.Matthew 17:2

Pope Benedict hoped to be a librarian on Independent Catholic News

Pope Benedict hoped to be a librarian on Independent Catholic News

Prayer To Our Lady Of Surprises

O, Mary my mother and Our Lady of surprises,
what a happy joy you caused the wedding guests, when you asked your Divine Son
to work the miracle of water into Wine
What a happy surprise for them, since they
thought the wine had run dry, I too Mary,
love surprises, and as your child,
may I ask you to favour me with one today.
I ask this only because you are
my ever caring Mother, Amen.

St. Francis' Prayer Before the Crucifix

Most High
glorious God,
enlighten the darkness
of my heart.
Give me right faith,
sure hope
and perfect charity.

Fill me with understanding
and knowledge
that I may fulfill
your command.

DOWN A COUNTRY (KNIGHTSWOOD) LANE

POPPY PETE, MATTMAN AND SABETH...THOSE KIDLETS...EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE CITY SLICKERS,THEY ARE COUNTRY BUMPKINS AT HEART.THEY LOVE TO FEED AND WATER THE HORSES...MUCKING OUT STALLS...NOT SO MUCH!

"Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world."
-Pope Pius IX

Hear Mass daily; it will prosper the whole day. All your duties will be performed the better for it, and your soul will be stronger to bear its daily cross. The Mass is the most holy act of religion; you can do nothing that can give greater glory to God or be more profitable for your soul than to hear Mass both frequently and devoutly. It is the favorite devotion of the saints. -- St. Peter Julian Eymard
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An Obituary printed in the London Times - Interesting and sadly rather true.



Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a
beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

PIC OF THE OLD FARMHOUSE ON OUR PROPERTY...IT IS 100 YEARS OLD...OUR CARETAKER/HORSE TRAINER LIVES HERE...

IF YOU BELIEVE IN THIS...PASS IT ON...

Andy Rooney and Prayer
Andy Rooney says:


I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. I don't agree with Darwin , but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his Theory of Evolution.


Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game. So what's the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire Book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game. But it's a Christian prayer, some will argue.


Yes, and this is the United States of America and Canada , countries founded on Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect -- somebody chanting Hare Krishna?

If I went to a football game in Jerusalem , I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer.


If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad , I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer.


If I went to a ping pong match in China , I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha.


And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit.


When in Rome .....


But what about the atheists? Is another argument.


What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humour us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer!


Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations.


Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying.


God, help us. And if that last sentence offends you, well, just sue me.


The silent majority has been silent too long. It's time we tell that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard that the vast majority doesn't care what they want. It is time that the majority rules! It's time we tell them, "You don't have to pray; you don't have to say the Pledge of Allegiance; you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honour Him. That is your right, and we will honour your right; but by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights away. We are fighting back, and we WILL WIN!"


God bless us one and all...Especially those who denounce Him, God bless America and Canada , despite all our faults, We are still the greatest nations of all. God bless our service men who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God.


Let's make 2010 the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions. And our military forces come home from all the wars.


Keep looking up.


If you agree with this, please pass it on.


If not delete it.

Amid explosive Church growth, African bishops meet

“The Church in Africa is growing very fast,” Accra Archbishop Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle told Vatican Radio. “It needs to be able to welcome this growth, accept the challenges thereof form ,our lay men and women so they can take up their places as salt of the earth light of the world, form our young men and women who may want to enter into the priesthood and religious life so they can offer their service to the Church here and elsewhere in the world. Form our Catholic elite in our Catholic universities to be able to take up their roles in the socio-political spheres of society. These are the challenges that we are very happy to take up!”

The explosive growth of the Church in Africa began over a century ago and has accelerated in the past three decades. In 1900, there were 2 million Catholics in Africa; today, there are over 165 million-- triple the 1978 figure of 55 million. 14% of Catholics worldwide now live there, nearly half of the children in Catholic elementary schools study there, and 43% of the world’s adult baptisms-- over a million a year-- take place there. There are more Catholic hospitals in Africa than there are in North and Central America combined.

Between 1998 and 2007, the number of priests increased from 26,026 to 34,658, while the number of women religious grew by over 10,000, from 51,304 to 61,886. Over 14 million African children attend Catholic elementary schools, while another 3.7 million attend Catholic high schools. Since 1978, the number of African seminarians has more than quadrupled from 5,636 to 24,034, and Africa is now the world’s second most vocation-rich continent, bested only by Asia.

I ENCOURAGE YOU TO GO TO VIVIFICAT TO READ AN ARTICLE ENTITLED "Jesus and Muhammad Compared".

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OUR FEATHER REED GRASS IS IN TASSLE.THIS IS MY FAVOURITE OF ALL OUR ORNAMENTAL GRASSES.

Feather Reed Grass...Calamagrostis acutiflora...Zone: 5-9 Height: 3-5 feet

This grass is a vertical, clump forming masterpiece.Both leaves and flowers stand strictly upright.Sways gently in the slightest breeze.
Feather Reed Grass is often used around water gardens and in naturalized areas that tend to flood on occasion.It also looks striking in my container gardens.Indoors you can create a colourful arrangement in a vase with feather reed and rosestems and rosehips.
Flowering occurs in June and July with a compact, upright, narrow, white to reddish-white inflorescence. In the autumn the flowers change to a buff color and are retained throughout the winter...making it striking all winter. The plant is tolerant of a wide range of growing conditions from sun to light shade.
This plant is an asset to a short growing season because it starts to grow early in the spring and blooms early.

NAME YOUR 3 FAVOURITE PRAYERS MEME...

Breadgirl has tagged me for a Catholic meme. I LUV MEMES...YOU MIGHT CALL ME A MEME JUNKIE.I HAVE SO MANY FAVOURITE PRAYERS...I'LL HAVE TO TRY AND WIDDLE THEM DOWN...
The rules, which need to be posted:
"Name your three most favorite prayers, and explain why they're your favorites.
Then tag five bloggers - give them a link, and then go and tell them they have been tagged. Finally, tell the person who tagged you that you've completed the meme. The Liturgy and the Sacraments are off limits here. I'm more interested in people's favorite devotional prayers."

My three favourite prayers are:

THE LITANY OF HUMILITY...I SAY IT EVERY DAY AFTER MASS...ALONG WITH THE PRAYER TO ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL.

This prayer was written by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), the secretary of state for Pope Saint Pius X. It is a very good daily prayer, especially when recited in front of a crucifix so that we can recall the humility of Christ.
He was accustomed to saying it every day after Mass also.


Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,


From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,


That others may be loved more than I, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
That, in the opinion of the world, others may, increase and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

MY 2ND FAVOURITE IS ACTUALLY A NOVENA ...TO THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS.IT IS SO POWERFUL...To be prayed between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost...BUT I PRAY IT MORE.

The novena in honor of the Holy Spirit is the oldest of all novenas since it was first made at the direction of Our Lord Himself when He sent His apostles back to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost. It is still the only novena officially prescribed by the Church. Addressed to the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, it is a powerful plea for the light and strength and love so sorely needed by every Christian.
GO HERE for this prayer.

I HAVE TO SAY MY NEXT FAVOURITE IS EVERY CHILD'S FAVOUITE...PRAYER TO OUR GUARDIAN ANGEL...BECAUSE I DON'T THINK WE ARE AWARE ENOUGH OF THIS POWERFUL BEING BY OUR SIDE,AND I TRY TO CONSTANTLY REMEMBER THAT.

Guardian Angel Prayer

Angel of God, My Guardian Dear
to whom God's love commits me here.

Ever this day be at my side
to light and guard and rule and guide.

Amen.


TAGGING ABBEY,GRAMMA,MONICA'S TEARS,THE DASH,OLIVIA

FARRAH CHECKING OUT OUR WILDFLOWER GARDENS...

If you could choose only one food, it's this...
Nothing nutritionally comes close to quinoa.

Not everyone can pronounce quinoa (it's keen-wah), and even among those who can, many are asking: is it a seed, a grain, a fruit? But that hasn't stopped it from blasting into mainstream popularity, going far beyond its former status as a hippie food that vegans ate for its high protein count.
People say there are super-foods out there but I have a hard time seeing anything with a nutritional profile like quinoa. It's got everything from fatty essential acids, protein [as much as milk], complex carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins and minerals. Nothing comes close to quinoa."

NASA is considering using quinoa for its in-space program.If someone put a gun to your head and said, 'You can only eat one food for the rest of your life,' and you had one second to choose a food that would keep you strong and healthy for the rest of your life, you'd be miles ahead of anybody if you picked quinoa."

Look, stop eating your oatmeal. Stop eating your yogourt. Just eat quinoa. It will impact your fitness. It's really easy. It's as easy to cook as oatmeal.

Charles Dickens...

Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.

Of course we all know that we should count our blessings instead of obsessing on our problems, but, hey, it's always good to be reminded about it, don't you think?

Ramesses II temple discovered at Beni Suef, Upper Egypt | Heritage Key

Ramesses II temple discovered at Beni Suef, Upper Egypt | Heritage Key

TODAY WE LOST OUR FRIEND,OUR BUD,OUR COMPANION...FLAXEN...A WHITE GOLDEN RETRIEVER...BRED IN SCOTLAND.HE LIVED 17 FUN-FILLED YEARS AT KNIGHTSWOOD FARM AND HAD A SWEET TEMPERAMENT.

God turns clouds inside out to make fluffy beds for the dogs in Dog Heaven, and when they are tired from running and barking and eating ham-sandwich biscuits, the dogs find a cloud bed for sleeping. God watches over each one of them. And there are no bad dreams.

GOOD NIGHT SWEET PRINCE.

Authentic Human Freedom cannot be realized in decisions made against God and against the Natural Law. Authentic freedom has a moral constitution. It must be exercised in reference to the truth concerning the human person, the family, our obligations in solidarity to one another and the common good. That is why the fullness of authentic human freedom is ultimately found in a relationship with the God who is its source and who alone can set us free to choose rightly.

Pope heads to Castel Gandolfo to write new encyclical, book :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Pope heads to Castel Gandolfo to write new encyclical, book :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Dutch soccer player who scored winning goal against Brazil is Catholic convert :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Dutch soccer player who scored winning goal against Brazil is Catholic convert :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

CHANNEL-SURFING LAST NITE...ON CNN(ugh channel),THEY WERE ACTUALLY INTERVIEWING THE HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHARITIES IN LOUISIANA RE THE INCIDENCE OF MENTAL ILLNESS SINCE THE OIL DISASTER.AMAZED THE SECULARISTS WOULD GIVE THE CATHOLICS ANY KIND OF MARQUIS.WILL WONDERS CEASE.

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THIS IS HOW I TRY TO LIVE...EPICUREAN LIKE THE PHILOSOPHERS OF ARCHAIC GREECE.

The Desert Fathers were Hermits, Ascetics and Monks who lived mainly in the Scetes desert of Egypt, beginning around the third century CE. They were the first Christian hermits, who abandoned the cities of the pagan world to live in solitude. These original desert hermits were Christians fleeing the chaos and persecution of the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century. They were men who did not believe in letting themselves be passively guided and ruled by a decadent state.(DECADENT STATE...SOUND FAMILIAR ???) Christians were often scapegoated during these times of unrest, and near the end of the century, the Diocletianic Persecution was more severe and systematic. In Egypt, refugee communities formed at the edges of population centers, far enough away to be safe from Imperial scrutiny.

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"Believing Christians should look upon themselves as such a creative minority and ... espouse once again the best of its heritage, thereby being at the service of humankind at large." --Joseph Ratzinger

SO I WATCHED G.K. CHESTERTON,APOSTLE OF COMMON SENSE ON EWTN...ONE OF MY CAN'T MISS SHOWS.IT WAS ABOUT OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM...WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT CAN BE SUMMARIZED IN 3 WORDS...DARWIN,MARX,FREUD.TRY AND CATCH THAT SHOW.

I ALSO CAUGHT THE LAST HALF HOUR OF THE FIREWORKS CONCERT ON THE HUDSON...IT'S DELIGHTFUL HOW MANY INSPIRATIONAL GOD-FEARING SONGS/HYMNS WERE SUNG AND LOVED...I GUESS THE SECULO-ATHESISTS WERE CHOMPING AT THE BIT.MAKES ME WONDER WHEN GOD BLESS AMERICA WILL BE BANNED FROM SPORTING EVENTS.

What is a relic?

A relic is a body or body part of a saint or an object that is associated with a saint.

There are three classes of relics: the first is the body or body part of a saint; the second is a piece of clothing or something used by a saint; and a third-class relic is an item that has been touched to a first-class relic.

Relics have had a long and meaningful role in the history of the Catholic Church because a saint or holy person is seen as an instrument of God, making that person’s remains worthy of reverence. Relics, however, are not items to be worshipped or idolized. They are, in the words of St. Jerome, an early Church Father, venerated “in order to better adore Him whose martyrs they are.”

Today relics continue to serve as visual reminders of a grace-filled life of that individual, which in turn inspire and encourage others to live lives of virtue.

A BLESSED JULY 4TH TO ALL...AND A HOLY SABBETH.

Pope praises life of 13th-century pontiff who quit

SULMONA, Italy — Pope Benedict XVI has traveled to a central Italian town to pay homage to Celestine V, the 13th-century hermit pontiff who resigned, saying he was not up to the task.

Benedict urged the faithful Sunday to learn from Celestine's sober and simple life. He praised Celestine for his detachment from material things such as money and clothes.

Benedict said that "we, too, who live in an epoch of greater comfort and possibilities, are called upon to appreciate a sober lifestyle."

During his daylong visit, Benedict also sought to encourage the faithful still suffering from the April 2009 earthquake in this region. The pope had visited the area soon after the quake, praying before the salvaged remains of Celestine.

I HAVE NEVER HEARD A POPE USE THE PHRASE...THE LAST DAYS...POPE BENEDICT DID IT HERE...

Today (reported June 29) in Rome, on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Benedict XVI gave a remarkable homily in which he mentions the threats that will come against the Church in the "last days."
This homily must be read in part as Benedict's commentary on the sexual abuse crisis and the increasing pressure being placed on the Church by secular judicial and law enforcement authorities.

DOES HE KNOW SOMETHING...

~Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my man; Love to forgive him; And Patience for his moods. Because, Lord, if I pray for Strength, I'll beat him to death. AMEN~

MY FAVOUITE POPE...POPE CELESTINE V ...A HOLY AND SAINTED MAN...MY BLOG WAS NAMED FOR HIM.

The Celestine Sign


Yesterday was the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, apostles of the beginnings of the Church -- one to the Jews, the other to the nations. But the times remind one of a man who took the name "Celestine" when he became Pope, a name never chosen again...

"I resign the papacy out of the desire for humility, for a purer life, for a stainless conscience, the deficiencies of my own physical strength, my ignorance, the perverseness of the people, my longing for the tranquility of my former life." --Pope St. Celestine V (1209-1296), also known as Pietro da Marrone, the only Pope in history to resign the papacy, giving the reasons for his resignation on December 13, 1294 after only five months as Pope. He lived another year and a half, kept in prison by his successor, Boniface VIII.

"I saw and recognized the shade of him who by his cowardice made the great refusal" --Dante, Inferno, III, 59–60; many scholars believe Dante is referring to Celestine V, placing him in Hell because Dante felt Celestine had acted in a cowardly way by resigning rather than facing and fighting the forces of evil in the Church)

A Mystery in Plain Sight

Today (reported June 29) in Rome, on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Benedict XVI gave a remarkable homily in which he mentions the threats that will come against the Church in the "last days."
This homily must be read in part as Benedict's commentary on the sexual abuse crisis and the increasing pressure being placed on the Church by secular judicial and law enforcement authorities.

The homily thus provides a deep insight into Benedict's mind at this troubled moment in his pontificate.

The feast in Rome on June 29 each year is the feast in which the Pope places the "pallium," a cloth made of wool, upon the shoulders of archbishops from around the world chosen during the past year as a sign that they are "linked" or "yoked" to the universal Church, to Rome, and to the person of the Pope.


In his homily, the Pope speaks of the "liberty of the Church" and says this liberty is protected by the strength of the union between the bishops around the world and the bishop of Rome, the Pope.
A little more than a year ago, on April 29, 2009, Benedict did something unusual. He left his own "pallium," the sign of his episcopal authority and his connection to Christ, on a tomb in Aquila, Italy. The tomb held the remains of a relatively obscure medieval Pope named was Celestine V (1209-1296).

Why?

The Pope now wears a pallium designed by Monsignor Guido Marini, a cross between the short pallium with black crosses worn by Metropolitan Archbishops and the longer ones with red crosses. This resembles the pallium worn by the the figure of Celestine in his shrine which is a short pallium with black crosses over an elaborate Roman chasuble.

Celestine was a holy monk. His model was John the Baptist. His wore hair-cloth and a chain of iron. He fasted every day except Sunday and each year he kept four Lents on bread and water alone. Many kindred spirits gathered about him eager to imitate his rule of life, and before his death there were 36 monasteries, numbering 600 religious, bearing his papal name (Celestini).

But he was not just a monk.


He was elected Pope in 1294, a time of great corruption and contention in the Church, after a conclave deadlocked for more than two years. He was elected at about the age of 80 (Benedict was 78 when he was elected Pope in 2005).

At Celestine's election, some of the Spiritual Franciscans, who opposed the worldliness of the Church hierarchy, proclaimed that he was the first legitimate Pope in nearly 1,000 years, since Constantine had granted the Church huge territorial possessions in the 300s.

So the Church had a holy leader, and many devout Catholics at that time thought the Church would be reformed by this good man.

But the holy Celestine -- who pleaded with the cardinals not to choose him as the Pope -- could not manage to rule the powerful cardinals around him.

The cardinals of 700 years ago seem to have chosen Celestine almost humorously, as it were, not seriously, as if to say, "We can't agree on a serious 'Prince-Cardinal' for Pope, so we will choose this holy, quiet, learned monk to be Pope, and watch with a certain amusement as he struggles mightily but in vain to guide the ungovernable bark of Peter."

After five months, Celestine gave up, and resigned -- the only Pope who has ever done so.

He thought he would end his life in peace, but his successor, Boniface VIII, fearing his opponents might use Celestine as a rallying point, ordered him confined, and some allege (probably wrongly, since he was already approaching 90), executed.

All of Celestine's official acts were annulled by Boniface.

Now, Benedict is scheduled to travel this Sunday, on July 4, to Sulmona, not far from Rome. There, in the crypt of the cathedral, as the last act of his visit, he is scheduled to venerate relics of this same holy Pope, Celestine V.

So Sunday, the Pope will pray before Celestine's relics for the second time in 15 months.

I am not suggesting Pope Benedict XVI is thinking of following in the footsteps of the saintly Pope Celestine and resigning.

I am suggesting that the studious Pope Benedict and the studious monk-Pope are "connected" in a mysterious way.

I believe Benedict's decisions to leave his pallium in Aquila, where Celestine's tomb is located, and to schedule a prayer before his relics this coming Sunday, are not haphazard.

These decisions are indicators, ways of communicating truths through gestures. They contain a message the Pope cannot deliver any other way.

HAPPY CANADA DAY...WHAT WILL THIS COUNTRY LOOK LIKE IN 47 YEARS...READ THIS BY Margaret Wente...

Immigration, old age and technology to rule Wente's Canada 47 years from now
Margaret Wente describes what Canada will be like in 47 years, as the country’s national age rises and its population becomes more dependent on immigration


Forty-seven years ago, when my family arrived in Canada, I could never have imagined what kind of country we'd grow up to become. Toronto was a boring backwater. Almost everyone was beige. Nobody drank wine or ate foreign food. Everything was shut on Sunday, because you were supposed to be in church. The Royal York was the tallest building in the city. Dief was the chief, the flag looked British, and nobody had heard of Leonard Cohen or Joni Mitchell yet.

What will Canada be like 47 years from now? Let me imagine.

No one was surprised when Shibani Pushparajah became prime minister. The brilliant second-generation immigrant, who was born in Mississauga, belongs to Canada's second-largest ethnic group. But really, she's a citizen of the world. The last white male prime minister lost his seat in 2043. The only white man in Ms. Pushparajah's diverse cabinet is the minister of agriculture.

Since the turn of the millennium, all of our population growth has come through immigration, mostly from China, India and the Philippines. In the thriving megalopolis of Greater Toronto (population: 12 million), people of European descent make up less than a third of the population. The biggest culture gap isn't between competing ethnic and linguistic groups, though. It's between the vibrant, globally minded, multiracial cities and the shrinking white ghettos of the Atlantic provinces and the rural hinterland.

Canada's population has swelled to 44 million. But immigration hasn't reversed the aging trend. Although the national IQ is high, so is the national age. A third of all Canadians are over 65. But “retirement,” as they used to call it, is long gone. There weren't enough workers to support the retirees. Today, you can't get old-age benefits until you're 75 or 80. That's really not that old. Breakthroughs in biomedicine have yielded cures for many of the old degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, and the average natural life expectancy is pushing 100.

Even so, health-care costs are ruinous, and taxes are sky-high. Like other cash-strapped Western nations, Canada wants to cut people off medicare when they turn 90. Instead, it will offer you a lavish farewell party at a time of your choosing, along with a generous endowment for your descendants and a delicious cocktail to put you to sleep forever.

Some of the old folks remember when the neighourhoods were full of kids. They're much more quiet now. For every person under 16, there are two people over 65. Instead of schools, governments are building group homes for geezers. One thing hasn't changed, though. Caregivers from the Philippines are as popular as ever. Only now, their dependent, diapered charges are at the other end of life.

Compared to Europe, Canada is lucky. Italy is so depopulated that the entire nation has been declared a vast theme park. Most Canadians can't afford to go there any more. Admission is restricted to the very wealthy – mostly Asians – who are happy to fork over the $10,000-a-day entrance fee. (All sums in post-Euro, pre-crash USD.) Instead, we flood to bargain-basement Central America, where huge colonies of elderly North Americans prop up the economies of entire nations.

Today, it's hard to imagine how powerful Quebec's French-Canadians used to be in national life. Demographics and immigration did them in. The separatist party collapsed in 2025, after its supporters literally died out. French-speaking immigrants from Africa and Haiti didn't care about the old battles, and with the end of transfer payments, Quebec lost its leverage on Ottawa for good. Today Quebeckers make up less than 20 per cent of the Canadian population, and live in the poorest province of them all. But they still have the best places to eat.

After the Great Crash of 2024, when China finally stopped buying U.S. debt, Canada endured its darkest decade since the Depression. We're still scarred by the memory of 18 per cent unemployment and the great pension fund collapse. Fortunately, our once-reviled oil sands saved our bacon. We leased them to China for 199 years at highly attractive rates, and that, along with a bonanza of new discoveries in the North, has made us nearly as rich as the Norwegians. We are happy the world is finally weaning itself off oil, but please, not yet.

Nostalgia buffs think everything was better in the good old days, of course. They love to sit around and listen to old Joni Mitchell tunes and show off their souvenir copy of the last Globe and Mail printed on dead trees. Their grandkids can't imagine a time when The Globe did not exist entirely in cyberspace. Everyone agrees the world has changed a lot in 47 years. But one thing hasn't changed at all. Canada is still the best country in the world.

Light fantastic: Stunning pictures show Northern Lights over erupting Icelandic volcano

The Northern Lights are effortlessly one of Earth's most visually striking natural spectacles.

But when they shine over an eruption at the Icelandic volcano which caused ash cloud flight chaos across Europe, the results are stunning, as these pictures show.

Purple and blue lights in the sky contrast with bright yellow and red lava flowing from the Eyjafjallajvkull volcano, erupting from beneath its ice cap.

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Greece lightning...Hammer of Zeus: Ancient Parthenon lit from above as storm breaks over Athens

It looks like a narrow escape for one of mankind's most ancient symbols.

A bolt of lightning illuminates the sky around the 2,500-year-old Parthenon temple, high on the Acropolis during a heavy rainfall in Athens early this morning.

Fortunately, the temple is believed to have escaped any damage.


The Parthenon, completed in 432BC, was originally dedicated to the goddess Athena. Its main function was to shelter a statue of the goddess made out of gold and ivory.

In 1656, a lightning strike to a powder keg destroyed structures on the Acropolis - but fortunately spared the Parthenon.
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First Martyrs of the See of Rome

Feastday: June 30

The holy men and women are also called the “Protomartyrs of Rome.” They were accused of burning Rome by Nero , who burned Rome to cover his own crimes. Some martyrs were burned as living torches at evening banquets, some crucified, others were fed to wild animals. These martyrs died before Sts. Peter and Paul, and are called “disciples of the Apostles. . . whom the Holy Roman church sent to their Lord before the Apostles’ death.”

Rare white elephant caught

Rare white elephant caught

ST. IRANEUS

HE'S ONE OF OUR EARLY CHURCH FATHERS...VERY INFLUENTIAL...AND TODAY IS HIS FEAST DAY...SO DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR.GO HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HIM.

Pre-Christian paganism was a dreadful thing. I fear that post-Christian paganism will be just as bad.

Sent to Earth (Michael Brown)
Throughout the centuries, since Noah, there have been strange times: periods when floods, earthquakes, tidal waves, storms, droughts, plagues, volcanoes, and even asteroid or comet activity have haunted the earth. The hints are right there in the nightly news. It's about to happen again. God is poised to send major events, and it's for a simple reason. Like the people in ancient times, we've allowed evil to build up, and as a result we face happenings everywhere. This is the book Mother Angelica has called 'awesome.' As featured too by Archbishop Philip Hannan of New Orleans.

TODAY IS THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP...I PRAY TO HER ALWAYS...I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE BORN ON HER FEAST DAY.

MEMORIES...1 YEAR AGO THIS W/E...THE BAPTISM OF SABETH AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP PARISH IN HALIFAX,NOVA SCOTIA...

LOOK UP.June Full Strawberry Moon TONIGHT

Full Strawberry Moon – June This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June . . . so the full Moon that occurs during that month was christened for the strawberry!

Our Lady – The Queen of Peace of Medjugorje - has talked of “Nature” frequently. Here are a few of her beautiful words that I cannot overstate how profoundly they accurately capture the relationship between ourselves and the world our Creator has given us.

Dear children! Also today I call you to give glory to God the Creator in the colors of nature. He speaks to you also through the smallest flower about His beauty and the depth of love with which He has created you. Find peace in nature and you will discover God the Creator Whom you will be able to give thanks to for all creatures; then you will find joy in your heart.

Dear children! I invite you now to be open to God. See, children, how nature is opening herself and is giving life and fruits. In the same way I invite you to live with God and to surrender completely to him

Dear Children! Today I invite you to go into nature because there you will meet God the Creator. Today I invite you, little children, to thank God for all that He gives you.

Dear children! Also today I call you to give thanks to God in your heart for all the graces which He gives you, also through the signs and colors that are in nature. God wants to draw you closer to Himself and moves you to give Him glory and thanks.

PROPHETIC PULSE THROBS ONCE MORE WITH SEER IN BRAZIL AS GLOBAL EVENTS SEEM TO INTENSIFY

Having predicted the Vatican crisis over abuse, the earthquake in Haiti, the quake in Chile, a flood in Madeira, Portugal, the oil disaster , we are still paying attention to the alleged Brazilian seer named Pedro Régis.

Is it luck , is he psychic, or is he at last a Marian seer whose predictions materialize in real time?

The jury remains out.

Régis has long worked Brazil into his messages, and as a viewer named Anna Musto from Watertown, New York, writes:

"It looks like Pedro Régis was given another very accurate message from the Blessed Mother. On May 22, he received the following message in part: 'A frightening event will happen in Argentina and be repeated in Alagoinha" [a state in Brazil].'

"Actually," points out Anna. "Alagoinha ('Little Alagoas') is not a state, but is a Brazilian city in the state of Pernambuco. The heavy rains started last week and within two days dumped a month's worth of water on areas of Alagoas and neighboring Pernambuco state."

"Prior to Brazil," adds Anna, "Argentina also experienced devastating floods." The story about Argentina's recent flooding is here. "Since Argentina's flooding happened before Pedro Régis's message, a lot of people will probably discredit the message in its entirety because of the words 'will happen in Argentina.' When Google Translate is used, however, there is no future tense. Instead it says: "An amazing fact is in Argentina and will be repeated in Alagoinha." Argues Anna: "Notice that there is no mention of a future fact event in Argentina, but only that what happens there will be repeated in Brazil."

It is certainly peculiar, perhaps intriguing, maybe significant.

Régis, who asserts that he has been receiving messages from the Blessed Mother since 1987, has been on a run of predicting a great miracle for Brazil of late but also warning of false seers, stigmatics, and even weeping images in Latin America.

"Bend your knees," he quoted Mary as saying last week. "Seek strength in The Lord and show everybody that you really belong to God. Something sorrowful will happen in Rome. The church of my Jesus will weep and lament."

"The devil will act with great fury against the plans of God," was the message days before. "He will cause confusion and sow discord in the church of my Jesus."

And a day earlier: "Difficult times are yet to come. There will be great spiritual confusion everywhere. The devil will make signs and extraordinary wonders that will deceive many people. The false prophets will multiply more and more, and people will be confused. Your Brazil will be the victim of great spiritual confusions.

"The devil wants to destroy what is most precious within you. Pay attention. I have been with you for so long, but only now has the Lord permitted that these things be revealed. The chaff planted by the devil in your Brazil will be torn out, and the false prophets will fall to the ground. Be honest in your acts. Love and defend the truth. I repeat what I have already said many times; love and defend the truth. Return to Him Who is your all and knows you by name. I am your Mom and I come from heaven to defend what belongs to My Lord. The devil's mask will fall. This is the message I give you today in the name of The Most Holy Trinity."

On June 8 he also said: "An image will weep in the presence of a bishop and three priests. It will be the first and only happening in your Brazil."

That hasn't happened there, in Brazil, as yet, but a week after this putative message -- in Yerba Buena, Argentina -- a Catholic news organization called Zenit reported that "archdiocesan officials are calling for prudence regarding an image of the Last Supper that some claim shows Christ's forehead seeping blood that runs down His left cheek."

Is this connected to his message, which may have been heard imperfectly, or one of the falsities of which he warned? Or neither?

It is right to be prudent -- cautious -- about such seers. Yet we will not despise prophecy.

We warned of oil and ecological crisis in Tower of Light -- a book that focuses on the alleged 1990 prophecy, which at one point said cryptically: "As for the anti-christ, remember Europe, and especially Central Europe. Yet know too that God's Hand will be evident in South America."


What to make of this?

"Only in this land has God permitted me to speak to you about future events," asserts another Régis message. "God has chosen the land of the Holy Cross to announce what is to come to the world. I still have noble things to reveal to you. Pay attention. Something frightening will happen in the Iberian Península and death will come to My poor children."

We must be careful.

"Dear Sons and Daughters," is the latest message. "I am your mom and I come from Heaven to offer you my love. Be docile and imitate my Jesus in everything. I need each one of you. Don't back away. Humanity lives in a time worse that the time of the Flood, and my poor children are going as blind leading the blind. I suffer because of what awaits you. Pray much in front of the Cross. Don't be stuck in sin, rather, return to Him Who is your one and true Savior. You are heading towards a future of great trials. I want to tell you that you are the chosen people of God and He expects much from you. When all seems lost, a great victory of God will occur for you. Humanity will find peace when the devil is defeated. In the great triumph of my Immaculate Heart, the enemy of God will never again act against the chosen people of The Lord. You will see a new heaven and a new earth. Joy will reign forever in all hearts, and God will be the only Lord of His people. Don't get away from prayer. Only by prayer will you understand the plans of God for you. Nothing and no one is lost. The time of your liberation is coming close. Listen to me and I will lead you to Him Who is your Way, Truth, and Life. Fear not. I will be at your side. This is the message I transmit to you in the name of the Most Holy Trinity. Thank you for permitting me to reunite you here once more. I bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Most Holy Spirit. Amen. Be in peace."

A PRETTY PIC...PEOPLE CLAIM THESE FLOWERS WERE NATURALLY GROWN...COULD IT BE TRUE...

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NOW A GHASTLY ONE...



KIND OF REMINDS ME OF THE AMITYVILLE HORROR.DID THAT FLY COME OUT OF HIS MOUTH.

HOW STUPID CAN BO REALLY BE...GOING GOLFING AFTER DEMONIZING TONY HAYWARD FOR HIS YACHTING FORAY...WHILE THE GULF SMOTHERS.I MEAN...IS THERE A BRAIN IN THAT LITTLE NOODLE.

KUDOS TO LOUISIANA FOR THEIR PRAYER DAY...BUT IT'S KINDA LIKE CLOSING A DOOR AFTER THE HORSE GOT OUT.I MEAN WHY DO YOU LET YOUR HOME SINK INTO SUCH A STATE OF SIN...WITH VOODOO AND MARDI GRAS INDECENCIES...MAKING IT A SANCTUARY FOR SATAN?WHERE SATAN LIVES...THERE IS NOT GOD...ONLY CHAOS.

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BUYING THIS...FATHER EUTENEUER IS OFTEN A GUEST ON EWTN...HAS A FORWARD BY FATHER JOHN CORAPI WHO CONDUCTS THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SERIES EVERY SUNDAY ON EWTN.


Exorcism and the Church Militant, by Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer, the head of Human Life International and an exorcist himself: explaining in detail the origin of exorcism, its place in the Church, the working of Satan and his demons, discernment, how an exorcism is conducted, the aspects of healing, deliverance, and much more in this splendid, candid book by a true Church militant and prominent speaker. How do spirits interact? Can one evil spirit enhance the power of another? How do we tell if they are there and how to expel them? Excellent!

A Prayer to Recognize God in the World “Give me the grace, dear Jesus, to see You in my neighbor, to see Your Purity in the smile of a child, Your Power in the accomplishments of men, Your Providence in daily events, Your Wisdom in the aged, and Your Goodness in my neighbor. Let youth portray Your Joy and the whole world witness to Your Love. Grant, sweet Jesus, that I, too, may manifest You to the world.”

ISS - Air tests from the Louisiana coast reveal human health threats from the oil disaster

ISS - Air tests from the Louisiana coast reveal human health threats from the oil disaster

A CATHOLIC APPROACH TO THE BOOK OF REVELATION...

Hungry Souls, Supernatural Visits, Messages, Warnings from Purgatory, by Gerard Van Den Aardweg, a new and powerful -- and fascinating -- collection of actual, well-documented cases during which the deceased made contact with the living seeking help in the afterlife -- the noises in the night, the Lutheran minister, no believer in purgatory, who learned about it by direct experience, an indelible hand mark on the sleeve of one witness's clothes! More than just 'Catholic ghost stories,' it discerns truth about afterlife.

ONE DISASTER VISITS ANOTHER...

"You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering." Henri-Frédéric Amiel
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50 Statistics About The U.S. Economy That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe
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Message to Mirjana - June 2, 2010

Our Lady appeared to the visionary Mirjana Soldo this morning, June 2, 2010, in Medjugorje. She gave the following message:

"Dear children, today I call you, with fasting and prayer, to clear the way by which my Son will enter into your hearts. Accept me as a mother and a messenger of God's love and of His desire for your salvation. Free yourself of everything from the past which burdens you and gives you a sense of guilt; of everything that brought you to error - darkness. Accept the light. Be born anew in the justice of my Son. Thank you."

As usual, Our Lady blessed all the religious articles. Mirjana also reported seeing a white dove when Our Lady was leaving; Mirjana interpreted the dove as the Holy Spirit.

DON'T FORGET...THE BELMONT STAKES RUN TONIGHT.



MY FRIEND , CAROL , AN EX-PAT FROM BRITAIN, ...1ST TIME RIDING MIA,SINCE WE SOLD HER THE HORSE LAST FALL.CAROL HAS DONE A GREAT JOB OF GENTLING HER.

Glory Seen in Rome and the Vatican


It is still done today, folks (Laus Deo)!


Meet this great legend whom you will see all over Rome if you live here: every single day he goes to the Basilica of St. Peter in the a.m. and the Basilica of St. Mary Major in the p.m. He attends Holy Mass, receives Holy Communion, prays for priests and then stops in other churches in between.


Meet Cyril from Czechoslovakia!

REST IN PEACE RUE...NOW YOU BEHAVE YOURSELF UP THERE BLANCHE.




LATELY I'VE TAKEN TO WATCHING RE-RUNS OF THE GOLDEN GIRLS...DON'T KNOW WHY...NEVER DID WATCH IT ON THE FIRST GO-ROUND.I RECALL THINKING...WELL...HALF OF THEM ARE GONE...AND NOW ANOTHER.

Judgment in the Gulf-Woes and blessings of the oil spill.Mark Galli

Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, upon the fruit of the ground and the life of the sea, and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. - Jeremiah 7:20 (paraphrase)

Many have destroyed my ocean, they have trodden my portion, they have made my pleasant portion a black desolation. They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole gulf is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart. - Jeremiah 12:10-11 (paraphrase)

And the word of the Lord came to America, and said,

Woe to you, O consumers, who drive when you could walk, who lust for goods that must be flown and shipped from far away in oil-consuming ships of land and sea and air, whose way of life must be preserved no matter the cost to my planet or to those whose lives depend on its health.

Woe to you, O producers, who pile greed upon greed, who drill and pump and ship and refine black gold with little thought of tomorrow, and sometimes not even today.

Woe to you, O presidents and politicians, who have one hand in the pocket of big oil and another tied by self-preservation, who fear to question the American way of life, that addiction to comfort fueled by fuel.

Woe to you, O environmentalists, who lose sleep over shrimp that will vanish and do not remember the eleven created in my image who died in the explosion, who wax eloquent about the suffering salamander and are blind to the plight of those who suffer most when my earth suffers.

Woe to you, O activists, who write articles that cry out "Earth care!", who fly on 747s to conferences and taxi to fine restaurants to network for the environment, who put up online petitions that millions can sign, on gadgets shipped in gas guzzling transport from overseas, gadgets that depend on coal to boot up.

Woe to you, O churches of the land, who tithe and fast, who preach and pray, who grow megachurches in the twinkling of an eye, who care about souls but not the land on which they live, which I too have made and called good.

Woe to you who trust me not for their daily bread, but look anxiously to smoke billowing diesel to deliver them from their hunger. Woe to all who lift up their eyes to call upon my name, but who do not look down at that which they destroy by sucking up energy in their spacious megabuildings and at international gatherings to glorify my name.

Woe to all who feel pulled between fate and necessity, unsure of their needs and wants, confused about facts and propaganda, whose left hand knows the pollution created by their right hand but still have to feed their families, who have eyes to see and ears to hear but who are powerless to change the world economy.

Blessed are those who repent not out of fear but because they believe the Good News.

Blessed are those who know that "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof," that they cannot ultimately destroy anything good I have created and over which I rule, who know that I am almighty and they are not, that I am the Lord still!

Blessed are those who know that I am a jealous God, who visits the environmental iniquity on their children and their children's children, even to the third and fourth generation, but also know that I am a God whose punishment does not last forever, that my wrath is only for a season, like that of a loving father toward his children.

Blessed are those who know that soon this earth will indeed be burned up, that the sea will be no more, and that the environment will pass away, not because of the folly of man but only in my gracious providence.

Blessed are those who know that they cannot save the planet any more than they can save themselves, no matter the extent of their good works, that I will create a new heaven and a new earth, just as I will clothe my beloved in imperishable bodies.

Blessed are those who have these truths written on their hearts, who know the promised future as a blessed present, who live with their God and their neighbor on the Garden called Earth as if the future were already so.

And the oil spewed forth for some forty days and forty nights, for the wickedness of the people was great, and the judgment of the Lord was upon the face of the earth.

"Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you're doing the impossible." -St. Francis of Assisi

A BLESSED MOMORIAL DAY TO ALL.

These heroes are dead. They died for liberty - they died for us. They are at rest. They sleep in the land they made free, under the flag they rendered stainless, under the solemn pines, the sad hemlocks, the tearful willows, and the embracing vines. They sleep beneath the shadows of the clouds, careless alike of sunshine or of storm, each in the windowless Place of Rest. Earth may run red with other wars - they are at peace. In the midst of battle, in the roar of conflict, they found the serenity of death. I have one sentiment for soldiers living and dead: cheers for the living; tears for the dead. ~Robert G. Ingersoll

A BLESSED SABBATH TO ALL.

On May 19, 1780, in the northeastern part of North America, there was a period of "extraordinary darkness," which began between 10 A.M. and 11 A.M. and lasted until the middle of the next night. Also, the full moon rose at 9 P.M. that evening but was not visible until midnight, when it had the "appearance of blood." Records of solar and lunar eclipses for that date, indicate none was close enough to have caused the phenomenon.

For a generation of New Englanders, Friday, May 19, 1780, was a date never to be forgotten. The Sun was blotted out by a strange darkness, varying in intensity and length from place to place, but extending from New Jersey and New York across Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and southeastern New Hampshire into Maine. For several days prior to the "Dark Day," the Sun was obscured by smoky clouds, and the Moon took on an unusual reddish color. Darkness began around 10 in the morning and lasted throughout the day. (When the Connecticut legislature proposed adjournment following the belief that the day of judgment was at hand, a Colonel Davenport declared: "I am against an adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty.") The night that followed was no comfort to the fearful, being unusually black and impervious to any artificial light. The next day, a fine sulfurlike substance was noticed on the edges of water, but the only reports of adverse effects concerned the death of a number of birds. The first theories of a comet or solar eclipse were ruled out, and the earliest guesses regarding smoke from forest fires turned out to be accurate. Out-of-control forest fires, extending from New Hampshire into New York State, burned furiously for a week preceding the dark day, creating great suffocating clouds of smoke. An unusual atmospheric condition trapped the smoke until it reached sufficient density to blot out the Sun. However, for many New Englanders, the Dark Day was an inexplicable mystery, never recalled without a feeling of awe.

May is here, which means voting to name this month’s Full Moon has ended. Readers have overwhelmingly selected the name “Full Bloom Moon” for this month’s Full Moon, which falls on Thursday, May 27th, at 7:07 p.m.


The traditional full Moon name for May is the Full Flower Moon. In most areas, flowers are abundant everywhere during this time. Thus, the name of this Moon. Other names include the Full Corn Planting Moon, or the Milk Moon.

The idea behind the Farmers’ Almanac Name that Moon Contest was to come up with more up-to-date names for the full Moons, not as a replacement for the traditional names, but as modern alternatives that better reflect today’s activities and values. Some things never change though, which is why the name chosen for May is so similar to the traditional name. Other choices for this month were Full Planters Moon, Full Graduate Moon, and Full Remembrance Moon. But the Farmers’ Almanac readers spoke, and spoke loudly, with an overwhelming number of votes pouring in for Full Bloom Moon. Clearly, whether today, or 500 years ago, many North Americans see May as a time for enjoying the numerous varieties of flowers growing in our gardens, parks, and meadows.

AND THE WINNER IS...