Showing results by narrator "Luz Elena Sandoval-Lord" in All Categories

March 25 is the Feast of the Annunciation. On this particular year 1945, it fell on Palm Sunday. This is such an important season in our church. But in those times, during the final days of the war, thoughts were not focused on Palm Sunday, or the Feast of the Annunciation, or even Easter, for that matter. Ida Peerdeman, the woman to whom the virgin Mary chose to come, called it a "hunger winter". Priests would visit private homes, rather than take a chance on Nazi retaliation for trying to perform religious ceremonies, like Mass, especially not in public places, like churches.

Realizing he was not able to handle all of the niceties of his office, due to the tensions he was constantly under, Pius IX had handed over most of the diplomatic chores of his Papacy to Cardinal Atonelli, but he died in 1877, and Pope Pius IX died the following winter. It is fair to say that the Vatican was in a diplomatic shambles after the death of Pope Pius IX. So who was the Lord going to choose to put in the hot seat of the Papacy? He chose a very strong, but very peace-loving Cardinal from Perugia, Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci, to be known as Pope Leo XIII.

The history and account of the miraculous image of Our Lady that is known as Our Lady of Czestochowa.

Our Lord Jesus loves us so much, he made detailed preparations for our well-being, right up to the end of his life. He wanted to have a last supper with his disciples. He had instructions for them. He wanted to be sure they understood their role in Salvation History, and how they were to conduct themselves. He wanted to leave them and his Church ammunition for the days ahead.

One of the most fascinating gifts the Lord has given us is His own burial cloth. How His image was projected onto that cloth, and how it has survived these 2,000 years is nothing short of miraculous. We have always had a great love for and devotion to this gift of Our Lord. Let us share with you the history and the journey of the Shroud.

The account of the "Apparitions of Our Lady at Tepayec Hill in Mexico City - 1531".

Ireland is a magical land, famous for its shamrocks and harps, leprechauns, shillelaghs, and green-eyed colleens with skin as white as milk. It is called the Emerald Isle, and the national color is green; Ireland is lush green, almost tropical in certain areas. The national drink is Guinness, although he’s a “damned Protestant”. Ireland is not only a country; it’s a state of mind, a way of life. We think of the Irish people as being quite fanciful, partly because of Barry Fitzgerald, who gave us our unofficial description of what an Irishman should be.

St. Thomas Aquinas is so outstanding. The Lord has given him the ability to take very complex matters, such as the differences between animal, human, and angel, and break them down into logical, extremely understandable terms. He was particularly enraptured by angels, as are we. He made a study of them. I have to believe he got a lot of help in his research from the angels themselves, in the form of angelic inspiration, or possibly by a direct line. We pray they will be as kind to us, as we try to explain their culture, and their role in salvation history in general, and in our lives.

St. Paul of the Cross was born Paul Francis Danei, on the January 3, 1694, the second of 16 children. One of his brothers John Baptist would be very instrumental in the work Our Lord had chosen for St. Paul. His parents, although of nobility, were neither affluent nor privileged. Even though the town hall at Castellazzo had once been the family palace, St. Paul's father, a cloth merchant, was always in serious debt.

To study the history of the world, especially Europe, is to discover the history of the Church. For, the Church has always played an integral part in the annals of history, as she continues to follow her master Jesus Christ, who told the apostles, “I will be with you till the end of the world.” For, since the children of God are living in the world, then so must the happenings of the world be intertwined with Mother Church as her children are affected by the world they live in.

We follow Mother Mary on a journey again to a far-off place high up in the mountains, where no one would consider going. We have never really paid much attention to what towns are located where in Japan, other than Tokyo, Nagasaki, and Hiroshima. In looking on a map, we find Akita to be a thriving metropolis in the north of the country, with a population of about 300,000 people - a lot more than you would consider for a small town in the mountains of Japan.

It is popularly believed Arius was born in Libya in AD 270. He is credited with having started one of the most deadly heretical sects to attack the early church - that of Arianism. It has continued assaulting the church until today, under many titles. Our first encounter with Arius is somewhere between AD 300-311, when he joined up with a group of heretics called Meletians. Evidently, he did not find what he was searching for and left them. Explore more with the audiobook, Arianism and 4th Century Heresies.

How does a just king, a loyal defender of the faith, turn on all that he vowed to protect, betraying church and country? Was it the limitless power he had, the power to decide between life and death, that gave birth to him placing himself above his pope and church? Was it the example of other Henrys before him? This chapter is about one man's infamy and the powerful men and martyrs God raised up to defend his church. But before we speak of King Henry VIII and the martyrs who died rather than deny the Church, we want to touch briefly on some of his predecessors.

Our walk with our most precious Pope John Paul II began in June of 1979. We had come back to our Church four years before and once we tasted of the vine (our 2000 years of unbroken heritage), we couldn’t stay away from all that was Catholic and Church. We took every opportunity to return to the roots of our Faith - the Holy Eucharist, Mother Mary, the Saints, the Angels, and the Martyrs, making Journeys of Faith to Europe, the Holy Land, Mexico, and Canada.

God's beloved children of Ireland are a paradox in terms. Those who only see the surface of the Irish people, don't know about the years of suffering, persecution, famine, Martyrdom, and near annihilation of them as a people, all for their faith. When they joke that there are more Irish in Boston than in Ireland, there is somewhat of a note of melancholy, mixed with the joke.

Lourdes is such a tribute to, and affirmation of, the love and care, the concern, patience, and attention that is showered on us by our Heavenly Family. It is also a magnificent prayer of faith the world has been given in the the desire of Our Sweet Mary, Bernadette’s Aquero (Dear One), to take care of our physical and spiritual needs. The natural question we are asked after we have visited Lourdes is, "Did you see any miracles, any cures in Lourdes?" The account of the apparitions at Lourdes, France 1858.

Padre Pio was gifted with the cross of Jesus from his earliest days. His personal relationship with Jesus and Mary manifested itself to him from the time he was a child. His entire world centered around the little church of Our Lady of the Angels in his little home town of Pietrelcina. It might as well have been his home. He spent more time there than at his home. All the important events in his early life took place in that church.

Prophetess of Germany, visionary, mystic, doctor of the Church. Come with us as we travel to Bingen, Germany, and the area of the beautiful Rhine River which is where St. Hildegard lived and had her visions. It was also here where she wrote her books on her visions and many other things, like a morality play put to music, which she also wrote. She wrote a book on herbal medicine, which is used to this day in that area of Germany.

Fatima, the pleas of Our Lady, and the promises of Fatima have been repeated to and embraced by everyone she has touched. A new generation of believers, people like us who were not born when Our Lady gave us this gift, have become completely enthralled by the power of Jesus and the love of Mary, as revealed to us at Fatima.

We know Our Dear Lady was upset about how her priests and nuns, as well as the laity were being treated. She had always been so loving to her children. It was she whom Jesus allowed to intercede on our behalf. We drove him beyond reconciliation, and yet, because of her, he allowed his arms to be held back. It did not seem that mankind was going to get any better. It was time for tribulation. But the Mother, the loving Mother, asked again for one more chance to reason with her children, and again, the gift was given by the Son to the Mother.