Our Lady of Victory saved a life today!

It was a brilliantly sunny fall morning, and Gabbi my 18 year old asked me over breakfast, "Do you want to fill in for a vacancy at 40 Days for Life at noon today?" I have been ill with pneumonia for two weeks, but little by little, am venturing outdoors again. I answered "yes", and continued praying the rosary with the children at the Worldwide Children's Holy Hour at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington on EWTN.

At noon we were at 12 Case Street in Norwich, CT where Planned Parenthood has an abortion mill in the medical building with a rear entrance. We relieved an older woman, who was there since 11AM, but Joe, the tall young man who was with her,  got involved in conversation with us in front of the main entrance to the building. Gabbi was holding a sign which read, "women deserve better than abortion" and I had another sign which read "STOP all abortion". Soon a gentleman came running up and started a pleasant conversation about his involvement with pro-life activities. As we were all talking,  a metallic green SUV stopped abruptly in the road opposite us and the driver, a man in his forties, seemed very angry with us. I was afraid of a confrontation and avoided his eyes, but he seemed engrossed in conversation with the twenty something woman next to him in the front seat.
"Well, make up your f---ing mind," he growled, "are you going in or aren't you?" The woman, looking down, merely shook her head. The driver took off with a start, and turning around in the handicapped parking lot with exaggerated motions and angry glares in our direction, careened into the Obstetrician's office parking lot across the street. The SUV disappeared behind the building for twenty minutes.

We discussed the incident and started to pray the Hail Mary for the young woman who was obviously in conflict over entering the abortion mill.

Soon our doubts were answered as the SUV came driving violently out of the OB's parking lot, turned down the street, and passed the abortion mill's parking lot without going in. We tried not to cheer, as it was obvious that the young woman upon seeing our signs, had a change of heart which her companion was not happy about.
We give all the credit to Our Lady of Victory whose feast day, now called Our Lady of the Rosary is today.
NEVER underestimate the power of prayer!

May Feelings III: a message for our priests

Recourse to Mary

Thank you to all my friends and family who are embracing us with love and prayer during the wake of my mother. The large crowd who attended last night's wake was truly touching. We will begin tonight's viewing at 7:15 by reciting the Luminous Mysteries of the holy rosary.

Her funeral is tomorrow at 10AM in St Philip Neri Church 344 Main Street, Northport, NY 11768.

If you can't come, please pray for us as we walk through a valley of tears.

St. Alphonsus di Liguori
"This world being a place of merit, it is rightly called a valley of tears; for we are all placed in it to suffer, that we may, by patience, gain our own souls unto life eternal. When our crosses weigh heavily upon us, let us have recourse to Mary, who is called by the Church the Comfortress of the afflicted; and by Saint John Damascene, the Remedy for all sorrows of the heart.

Ah, my most sweet Lady, thou who wast innocent didst suffer with so much patience; and shall I, who deserve hell, refuse to suffer? My Mother, I now ask thee this favour—not, indeed, to be delivered from crosses, but to bear them with patience."

Glories of Mary, (Tan Books: 1978), 497-8.

HT Mary Vitamin

Join the Perpetual Rosary to Pray for Obama's meeting with the Pope

a message from Jeff Mirus
A web service from Trinity Communications. © 2009Tuesday, June 30, 2009
President Meets Pope
Barack Obama sought a meeting with the Pope and will have that meeting on July 10th. We owe to one of our many CatholicCulture.org users the suggestion that we sponsor another perpetual rosary, this time for the intention that President Obama will be profoundly influenced by his visit with Benedict XVI. Sign up for a time slot here.It can be surmised that Obama wanted the meeting both as a matter of diplomatic propriety and to further enhance his legitimacy in the eyes of Catholics. The President is well aware of the divisions in the Catholic community, and he has proven himself a master of staffing his administration with Catholics who disregard the Magisterium of the Church.The degree to which such Catholics have chosen to ally themselves with Obama's programs is well illustrated by a recent feature story in Catholic World Report by Anne Hendershott: Obama and the Alternative Magisterium.All the more reason, then, to pray that the meeting with the Pope will be a different kind of "Catholic" experience for our President, an experience leading to conversion.

Father Patrick Peyton's cause for canonization opened

This is wonderful news. No one save Archbishop Fulton Sheen did more to evangelize America than Fr Peyton whose famous saying, "the family that prays together, stays together" is well known.
Peyton, who died in 1992, used technology to reach more people than he ever could by person, founding Family Theater Productions in 1947 in Hollywood, said the Rev. John Phalen, president of Holy Cross Family Ministries, which carries on Peyton's work.
He bolstered his message with Hollywood elites, including Loretta Young, Jimmy Stewart, Bing Crosby and Lucille Ball, who appeared on his shows. He ended many programs with his catchy family message, now trademarked by his ministry.
As Peyton grew up in Ireland, his family prayed the rosary daily and it brought them strength, Phalen said. He thought the centuries-old tradition linked to the Virgin Mary could help other families.
May he pray for the Catholics in this nation who need his message of the family rosary more than ever.
HT AP

Pray Pray Pray!

When I was attending President Bush's first inauguration in 2000 after the horrible debacle of an undecided election, my family stayed to attend the March for Life, as we always do on January 22. There was an announcement that those who belonged to "Lepanto 2000" should make themselves known, and the crowd came alive with cheers. Thousands of Catholics had prayed the rosary in imitation of the Rosary Campaign which saved Christendom from the Muslim invasion of Europe.
This is from the EWTN website.
Battle of Lepanto
On October 7, 1571, a great victory over the mighty Turkish fleet was won by Catholic naval forces primarily from Spain, Venice, and Genoa under the command of Don Juan of Austria. It was the last battle at sea between "oared" ships, which featured the most powerful navy in the world, a Musliml force with between 12,000 to 15,000 Christian slaves as rowers. The patchwork team of Catholic ships was powered by the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Knowing that the Christian forces were at a distinct material disadvantage, the holy pontiff, St. Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory. We know today that the victory was decisive, prevented the Islamic invasion of Europe, and evidenced the Hand of God working through Our Lady. At the hour of victory, St. Pope Pius V, who was hundreds of miles away at the Vatican, is said to have gotten up from a meeting, went over to a window, and exclaimed with supernatural radiance: "The Christian fleet is victorious!" and shed tears of thanksgiving to God.
What you may not know is that one of three admirals commanding the Catholic forces at Lepanto was Andrea Doria. He carried a small copy of Mexico's Our Lady of Guadalupe into battle. This image is now enshrined in the Church of San Stefano in Aveto, Italy. As many of you may know, President Bush had two favorable Supreme Court decisions which confirmed his election on December 8(The Immaculate Conception) and December 12 (Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe). Our Lady had him under her starry mantle. Read more here about how she may have touched Senator John McCain's life on the blog "Under Her Starry Mantle".
Another great article on the Battle of Lepanto and it's significance for this election is up at Catholic Exchange.
Sign up for Lepanto 2008 rosary campaign here.
We must stop the most pro-abortion presidential candidate in American history from gaining the White House. Watch this homily on what it means for a Catholic to vote for such a candidtate.

World Youth Day 2011 will be in Madrid, Spain

I was thrilled to hear the Holy Father announce that the next World Youth Day will be held in Spain, for several reasons. First the selfish ones; I have never been to Spain, and have always wanted to go. I learned to speak Spanish 20 years ago, and my daughters will be 18, 14, and 9 in 2011, and speaking Spanish as well by then. I promised them that I would bring them with me as I report on the event.
Now the unselfish reason. Spain, the once solidly Catholic nation that has strayed so far from her faithful roots with same sex marriage, liberal abortion laws and self-destructive low birth rate needs help to return to her once vibrant Cahtolic faith. World Youth Day brings with it a revival of faith in the nations where it is held, and no one seems to need spiritual boost than Spain, the country that evangelized Latin America and gave us the Dominicans, the Jesuits, and doctors of the Church St Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.
There are signs of spiritual revival in Spain, however. One sign of hope in Spain is the strength of such movements at Opus Dei, and St. Jose Maria Escriva. Students at at Opus Dei secondary school produced this video on why they pray the Holy Rosary.

The Smoke of Satan

A Catholic Perspective has a fascinating interview with Fr. Gabriel Amorth, the chief exorcist of Rome on how sadly, many bishops in the Church feel we no longer need exorcism and why he knows that we do now, more than ever.
Fr. Amorth: "The smoke of Satan has entered everywhere. Everywhere! Perhaps we were excluded from the audience with the Pope because they were afraid that such a large number of exorcists might succeed in chasing out the legions of demons that have installed themselves in the Vatican."
I have read his book, "An Exorcist Tells His Story" and highly recommend it. Fr. Amorth's testimonies of demonic posession are credible and will convince you to pray for the Church to restore the Old Rite of Exorcism. This world has certainly given itself over to Satan's power.
Here is another outstanding article by Fr. Amorth about the power of the rosary against Satan. Read it and you'll never miss your daily prayers with Our Lady again.
"The Hail Mary - The Value of the Rosary. Father Gabriel Amorth, chief exorcist of the Vatican writes:
One day a colleague of mine heard the devil say during an exorcism: "EveryHail Mary is like a blow on my head. If Christians knew how powerful the Rosary was, it would be my end." The secret that makes this prayer soeffective is that the Rosary is both prayer and meditation. It is addressed to the Father, to the Blessed Virgin, and to the Holy Trinity, and is a meditation centred on Christ. "
HT A Catholic Life