St. Maximilian Kolbe

Excerpts from the Writings of St. Maximilian

Immaculate One, Virgin Mother, to Thee I turn in humble prayer: "Grant that I may praise Thee, O holy Virgin; give me strength against Thine enemies!" (Bl. John Duns Scotus)

The Immaculate One appears in this world without the least stain of sin, the masterpiece of God's hands, full of grace. God, the Most Holy Trinity, beholds the lowliness (that is, the humility, the root of all Her other virtues) of His Handmaid, and does great things for Her, He the Almighty (cfr. Lk. 1,49). God the Father gives Her His own Son to be Her Son; God the Son descends into Her womb; and God the Holy Spirit forms the body of Christ in the womb of this pure Virgin. And the Word was made flesh (Jn. 1,14). The Immaculate One becomes the Mother of God. The fruit of the love of God in his Trinitarian life and of Mary the Immaculate One is Christ the God-Man. (Sketches for a Book, SK 1295)

Who is the Immaculate One? To this abrupt question it is not possible to give a satisfactory answer because this mystery transcends our human intelligence. She is the Mother of God, and Her name is the Immaculate One. When God showed Himself to Moses, He said of Himself: I am the One who is (Ex. 3,14)—in other words, I am Being itself. When St. Bernadette asked the most blessed Mother Her name, Mary replied: I am the Immaculate Conception. Such is the Immaculate One defined by Her own words.

But what does the expression Immaculate Conception mean? The word conception tells us that She is not eternal, that She had a beginning. Immaculate tells us that from the first instant of Her existence there never was in Her the least conflict with God's will. The Immaculate One is the most perfect of all creatures...She was immaculate because She was to become the Mother of God; She became the Mother of God because She was immaculate.

Mother of God! The human mind cannot grasp what God is. Neither can we comprehend the dignity of the Mother of God. It is easier to understand a title like servant of God; daughter of God is more difficult to grasp; but Mother of God transcends our minds completely.

God calls creatures into being when He creates them. Then, in their movement of return to God, these creatures draw near to Him and come to resemble their Creator more and more. God comes to this most perfect Creature, the Immaculate One; and the fruit of Their love is Jesus Christ, the Mediator between the Creator and all creatures...

True knowledge of the Immaculate One can only be acquired in prayer. The purer a soul is, the greater efforts it makes to avoid sin; and if it does happen to sin, it tries its best to rise from sin and to make up for its fault by love. The more humble it is, and the more spirit of penance it shows, the more and better it will get to know the Immaculate. (Conference 26.VII.39)

Public Square Rosary Rallies in Las Vegas, NV

With help from Our Blessed Mother, the public rosaries in Las Vegas went very well last October 11 despite the windy conditions and the extraordinary cold weather that day. While the turnout was not as big as last year, we definitely covered more areas this year.

More than 20 public rosaries were held in various parts of the city including in front of abortion clinics, big casinos and hotels, parks and shopping centers, on sidewalks across the Las Vegas Cathedral and other Catholic churches and landmarks, and on busy major intersections.

One was specially organized as a children's public rosary and was well attended and led by young children. We saw a tremendous and very moving display of love for Our Blessed Virgin everywhere. Even motorists and passers by gave thumbs up signs, blew their horns, or waved as a sign of support to the public prayers.

Attached is a copy of our program and also a sample of the fliers distributed or placed in the weekly bulletins in several of our local Catholic Churches. In some parishes, a Holy Mass was offered followed by a procession and/or a talk on the history of the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima.

There was much joy and thanksgiving in the hearts of everyone who attended the public rosaries. Many said we should do it more often because our nation is desperately in need of prayers especially during these very critical times when so much is at stake for our country.

The rally captains already signed up for next year's public rosary. And we have started to enlist the support of many of our new contacts in the twenty-some Las Vegas parishes in anticipation of the public rosary next year. Attached are initial pictures taken at some of our public rosary locations in Las Vegas.

Others will follow. Someone suggested that for next year, we should reserve a park where all participants can proceed for fellowship and celebration following the public rosary event. We did not have enough time to plan for that this year; however, we were able to hold a post-public rosary gathering for our rally captains to thank them for their dedication and support in making the Las Vegas public rosary this year a success.

Also attached is a picture taken of some of the rally captains who were able to attend. It was wonderful because some of us have not met in person before.

Everyone was excited to share how their public rosaries went and ideas for the next public rosary campaign. I thought you might want to meet (at least in picture) some of our rally captains so here they are.

From left facing the picture are: Mr. John Layman, Mr. Jim Hurja, Mrs. Kim Thomas, Caroline Kuhn, Mrs. Diane Ventura, Mrs. Pat Layman, Mr. Ed Graveline, Mrs. Liza Barte, Mrs. Susan Hurja, and Mr. Johnny Ventura. Mr. Clark Barte was behind the camera. (Sorry, some have left the gathering by the time someone thought of taking a group picture.)

Please accept our deepest gratitude to America Needs Fatima for organizing this nationwide public prayer and offering to Our Blessed Mother. We cannot thank you all at TFP-ANF enough for this wonderful gift of being able to express our love for Our Blessed Mother and pray for our country in such a very special way, along with thousands of our brothers and sisters in Christ across the nation!

Also, please give my special thanks and best regards to Mr. Edward Ritchie, Mr. Michael Drake, and the TFP members in the Spring Grove office for their kindness and support. And to Mr. Francis Slobodnik, Mr. Chris Pierce and to all the wonderful folks at the Kansas office and their families for the lovely and memorable stay I had with them in September. I will never forget their hospitality, friendship, and kindness.

May Our Lord bless and keep you always.
Caroline Kuhn

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary in Austria

Catholic fraternities in front of the "Churhaus" next to St. Stephan's Cathedral on October 7th 2008

Flag bearers for the fraternities. From left to right:Banner of the Association of Vienna's Catholic University Fraternities (WCV), next is the same Association but for all Austrian fraternities(ÖCV), the third one is of the

Association of Austrian Catholic Highschools fraternities (MKV), and the last one for the Association of Vienna' High school fraternities (WSTV)

Requiem Eternum Dona Ei Domine

Well-known Catholic pro-life advocate dies

Doc Hite

A gentle legend in the pro-life world has died.

Each day for decades, Doc Hite walked, stood, sat and eventually slumped outside a Portland abortion clinic, urging adoption over abortion. His mission was persistent testimony to what he considered a slaughter of innocents. Hite, a member of Holy Rosary Parish, kept up his protest until he was 100.

He died Oct. 4 at age 102, after several years of sickness thwarted his mission. There was a rosary and funeral Mass at Holy Rosary last weekend.

“Only the dear Lord knows how many babies he actually saved,” says Thomas Di Novo, a Beaverton member of a Catholic men’s association that included Hite as its spiritual inspiration. “I know we are not to declare anyone a saint before the church does, but there are many who thought of him as a living saint.”

Hite received honors for his work from the church and pro-life groups, but not until he was well into his 90s. For decades before that, the former cowboy and berry farmer kept lonely vigil outside the Lovejoy Surgicenter, a clinic in a chic Portland neighborhood. Rain or shine, he always took the bus from the low-rent side of town, toting signs, a lawn chair and an umbrella.

He did not usually speak harshly of others, but did have some words for Christians who would not join him. “I quoted Scripture,” he told the Sentinel in 1999. “‘Naked and you clothed me, thirsty and gave me drink.’ What will He say to them? ‘I was being tortured and killed by the abortionists and you never lifted a finger to stop it!’”

He was more vocal in the 1970s and early 1980s, when he was part of a larger protest group that even blocked the clinic doors with their bodies. Hite was arrested seven times and spent a month in jail, praying and reading. He mellowed with age, but kept up at Lovejoy after the crowds faded. Court injunctions kept him from positioning himself directly in front of the clinic.

Hite always spoke respectfully if pleadingly to the women he encountered outside the building, urging them to call a 1-800 number for information about adoption. He was rarely, if ever, harsh and leaned toward compassion.

There are about 10,000 abortions in Oregon each year and usually about one in three are performed at Lovejoy.

Hite’s motivation, he told the Sentinel in 1999, is “love of God and children.”
Some of the women who did not abort because of his presence at the clinic would bring their babies to see him. You could count them on one hand, but most people assume there were many others who made their decisions without telling him.

Hite grew up on a small farm between Sandy and Boring. A lifelong Catholic, he was raised in the faith at St. Michael Parish in Sandy, the second oldest of seven children.

He attended Benson Polytechnic High School and then he headed to Mount Angel Seminary, intent on becoming a priest. He says that he was forced to leave because of an illness. “General sickness, I guess,” he says.

There began a long series of roughneck and often lonely jobs. He tended sheep and rustled cattle in eastern Oregon. He worked in logging camps around the state and fixed dents in cars.

His given name was Marion. His cowboy nickname, Dock, morphed into Doc.
Hite retired in the early 1970s, just after the U.S. Supreme Court decision that opened the door to legal abortion. It was then that he decided he had better do something.

“Thou shalt not stand idly by when human life is at stake,” he said, briefly breaking into King James English. “I’m afraid that is what a lot of people are doing.”
He never wed. At 100, he admitted it might have been nice to have children.
He is survived by two sisters, Pearl Barger and Marie Spencer, and many nieces and nephews.

Rallies a great sucess across America

Preliminary Report over 3,000 Public Square Rosary Rallies 2008

At intersections, town halls, city parks and other public places, they came in the tens of thousands as Catholics gathered to pray Public Square Rosaries on October 11 at as many as 3,500 locations across the nation. Participants from all walks of life and all ages made this special effort to be public witnesses to the Fatima Message. Their basic message was:

“We’re praying that God save America…”

The rallies were the crowning achievement of six months of intensive planning. When October 11 arrived, the American TFP and its America Needs Fatima campaign could proudly announce that – thanks be to God – well over 3,000 rallies were held across the United States. At the same time across the ocean in Portugal, volunteers placed 3,500 roses – each representing a rally captain -- at the sanctuary of Our Lady at Fatima.

Rallies with a Purpose

The rallies had a simple purpose: to ask God, through Our Lady’s rosary, to save America from its current moral, spiritual, financial and political crisis. It is evident that human solutions will not suffice. Divine assistance is necessary. Thus, the idea of public prayer seems to have captured the imagination of many American Catholics as a solution to the problems the nation faces.

“America is in such a desperate situation, I just know God heard our prayers. The Virgin Mary offered our rosaries to God on Saturday,” said one rally captain from Pennsylvania, “God will not refuse our petition in our time of suffering and uncertainty.”

A Massive Response
In John Haffert’s book, Meet the Witnesses, he estimated that 70,000 to 100,000 people went to Fatima on October 13, 1917 to see the Miracle of the Sun. On October 11, 2008, an estimated 120,000 Catholics went out to the Public Square Rosary Rallies in America.

With 3,500 Rosary Captains committed to organizing these events, the mere scope of these rallies was incredible. With the help of the campaign’s central office near Topeka, Kan., Rally Captains received all that was necessary to organize their own events – a banner, organizing kit and nametags. Posters and programs were downloadable from the Internet. News of the rallies spread quickly and to such an extent that there were rallies in every major city and all fifty states.

Rally locations were published on America Needs Fatima’s web site so that participants could find the one nearest to them. An impressive network was formed in which local organizers would meet nearby Catholics where they thought none existed. Some rallies were only blocks apart. Participants from last year’s rallies became Rally Captains this year, which often increased the number of rallies in a single city.

There were, for example, some half a dozen rallies in the city of Hazleton, Pa. In York, Pa, there were two rallies, one with more than 50 participants. In Topeka, Kansas, there were four rallies within blocks of each other. It is estimated that there were seventy rallies just in the Miami metropolitan area alone.

In this respect, one Rally Captain in Miami wrote: "On Saturday, October 11, 2008, 30 people prayed the Rosary publicly at Bird Road. Our rally was one of five on Bird Road, one of 50 in Dade County, and one of 3,500 prayed at the same time all across America at 12 noon.

We prayed to God and to Our Holy Mother for their intercession to put an end to the bad things that are happening in our nation and in the world, politically, economically, the lack of morality, ethics and principles, plus abortions and outright blasphemy.”

Before a Higher Supreme Court

Members of the American TFP gathered in front of the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. for a Rosary Rally in one of the nation’s most symbolic places. The event was graced with a statue of Our Lady of Fatima with an escort of TFP members in ceremonial garb. The program included the rosary, hymns, bagpipe music and other prayers.

America Needs Fatima director Robert Ritchie reminded the participants that the prayers of 3,500 rallies were being presented before yet a higher court – the throne of God. Mr. Ritchie especially mentioned the need for reparation for the videos showing Host desecration now on YouTube and which has been the target of a special TFP campaign.

Noteworthy Rallies
While the rally reports are just starting to come in, there are some that already stand out. One of the largest rallies was in Austin, Tex., where according to News 8 Austin, “more than 1,000 Christians participated in a prayer rally at the Capitol Saturday,” three hundred of which paraded on the Capitol steps. There was also a large group at the Capitol Building in Harrisburg, Pa. Another group stationed itself in the middle of Jackson Square in New Orleans.

Over 100 people gathered in Cincinnati’s Fountain Square where the rosary was led by a local priest while another gave a short homily. The well-organized event also featured a sound system on Fountain Square to play various renderings of “Ave Maria” and a 60-slide Power Point presentation that looped through the entire vigil that was displayed on a 20-foot high screen on top of the building immediately behind the podium and speakers. The event was blessed with the wonderful weather as the Captain noted, “Our Lady must truly know the weatherman”

“We thought our family was going to be the only people there,” said one young participant at the rally in Marysville, Calif. However, in the middle of the first rosary, another family came who had come the past year. Then, others arrived including one mother with the youngest participant: her two-month-old baby. Two of the young boys played music like “God Bless America” on their trumpets to add to the enthusiasm of the rally. One man watched for a distance. He said he was a veteran of World War II and that he was not a praying man, but the crisis that the nation is facing today, is the worse crisis that the nation has ever faced, and that the only answer is prayer. He said that he was glad that there are Americans all over the country taking to the streets, and praying in town squares.

At this same rally, pedestrians came and started praying while others came up and kissed the picture of Our Lady on the banner. During the whole rally, there were honks, waves, and thumbs up in approval. Many cars slowed down to read our banner, and others who had slowed down, came back around to re-read it. As the rally ended, a lady and her friends spontaneously began singing traditional Mexican songs of praise to Our Lady.

One of the rosary rallies in St. Louis, Mo., had some 50 participants led by the parish pastor. Children as young as one joined seniors assembled at the corner where they began the Rosary prayers. The singing of songs to Our Lady was led by the choir director and the event ended with a blessing from the pastor. There were numerous honks, thumbs up and shouts of encouragement… and a small dose of cowardly obscene gestures and scowls. All of the attendees were exhilarated by the Rally and the shared conversations on the sidewalk lasted long after the Rally was over. The pastor expressed disappointment that this was 'only' done once a year, and has already planned a second rally for November 1.

There were nearly 15 people at the Public Square Rosary Rally in Stockholm – Sweden that is. The event started at a church in the center of Stockholm where they lit a candle and prayed before starting off on a pilgrimage while walking through the city’s center. The group walked through the central square of Stockholm’s‘ King’s Garden, passed in front of the Royal Palace, then through the quays and finally ended at the Cathedral were they celebrated St Bridget’s feast day. “This Pilgrims’ Way seems nothing to some,” reported the Rally Captain, “but for those who know Sweden, it is unbelievable. I want to thank you in the name of Sweden!” The group reported that they have been trying for twenty years to do such a rosary and took courage from the over 3,000 rallies in America.

Facing Obstacles
As reports started flooding in from across the country, it was evident that Rally Captains and participants felt a great joy in praying the Rosary and honor Our Lady in public. The intensity of their commitment and their willingness to overcome obstacles is extremely edifying.

Like last year, participants in the rallies faced all sorts of obstacles ranging from discouragement from friends to inclement weather.

In South Beach, Fla., for example, over 100 people participated in the rosary rally. This beachfront community is known for its large hotels with tourists from all over the world. The Rally Captain reported a large number of these tourists got a different sight on Saturday morning as many stopped to take pictures of the event. She noted that she had been discouraged from organizing the rally from those who said that she would never get a permit for such a “liberal” area. She got the permit and, full of energy and devotion to Our Lady, held the rally.

In New Mexico, a Rally Captain reported on her successful rally: “The wind was terrible and tore my banner to pieces, sparing Our Lady's face (glad for that).” Twenty-five people were at the rally during which the Captain made some very good friends in Christ. She effusively thanked America Needs Fatima for coordinating the event.

One participant from Albuquerque, N.M. found Satan hard at work in preventing her at every turn from coming to the rallies including a problem reading the web site with the rally locations. Thankfully she found a very public and original rally on the catwalk over I-40 at Coors. “My best friend and I went and what a blessing! It was windy and spitting drops of rain ‘holy water’ as one lovely lady called it, but just as we finished praying the sun came out. I have no doubt that Our Lady was with us. It was wonderful, to the have the cars and trucks honking as they went by. I just know that 2009 will be more successful than 2007, and that 2009 even more.”

At the Roseville, Calif. Rosary Rally, twelve brave souls ventured out in the high winds to pray the Rosary and bear witness for the Fatima Message. The high winds made it impossible to attach the banner to any tree or post but they were able to wrap the banner around a large public utility maintenance box that faced the busy intersection. “The winds were high but the prayer warriors were spirited and the incense rose to heaven to honor our Lord through his Blessed Mother.”

The Public Square Rosary Rally in Butte, Montana faced an even great obstacle: it snowed. A severe snowstorm and strong winds, the Rally Captain noted, helped supply the penance part of the Fatima Message. Twenty people braved the elements and came. Last year, some 65 had attended in beautiful weather.

One rally participant in Hialeah, Fla., did not know that the rally location had changed and thus could not make it to the place of the rally in time. As it started to get late, she pulled up at a shopping center, and said to herself: “It's already 12:20 and I am not going to miss this.” She then parked her car, unrolled the banner, and started praying the rosary. "I prayed the rosary, said the litanies and consecration by myself and as I did this a refreshing breeze cooled the area on this typically hot day. As I prayed, I also felt confident, secured a happy strength, knowing that thousands of rosaries were being prayed at the same time all over the United States."

At Oxnard, Calif., the weather was not cooperative for the rally. The wind was blowing harder and harder while the 13 brave souls were praying the rosary. Several noticed that the vase of roses was knocked down and then as if an unseen hand came to prop it again. Despite everything, the Captain hopes the weather will be better next year.

Being Public

Another aspect of the rallies is the great joy of the participants in going public with the rosary. They derived a special pleasure in standing up for Our Lady and made special efforts to be visible.

From Mondovi Wisconsin came the new of a noontime rally of 25 people on the sidewalk of a busy highway. Motorist passed by and read the banner. The Rally Captain quoted The Secret of the Rosary by Saint Louis de Montfort which states: "Public prayer is far more powerful than private prayer to appease the anger of God and call down His mercy and Holy Mother Church, guided by the Holy Ghost, has always advocated public prayer in times of public tragedy and suffering." He reported general excitement in the group and interest in starting other rallies next year in other places since he believed “there is hunger for more of this in the small towns of our area.”

On short notice, one Rally Captain in Woodstock, Ga., arranged the whole event with the help of his parish pastor in just four days. About 80 people started in the center of a local park saying the Consecration prayers together before moving to the sidewalk where we could be more visible to the traffic. Many drivers offered their support or questioned what we were praying for. The event was so blessed that the parish priest asked if another Public Square Rosary Rally could be held in early November.

In Tucson, Ariz., the rosary rally was held with the local pro-life group in front of an abortion clinic. Many passersby showed support while a few loud people voiced their disapproved. It was a windy day and participants had to hold on tight to the banner.

In Omaha, Neb., a small group of Catholics felt honored to process down the street. “We must have seen hundreds of cars go by. I loved to see drivers look at us as they passed. Most responses were positive, and we were already conveniently praying for the people who responded negatively.”

More People and More Often

Many Rally Captains reported more participants than last year. Others want to have the rallies more often. Most are looking forward to next year.

The Rally Captain in Pecos, Texas reported that this rally had four times more people than the 2007 rally. Sixty participants were at the event in front of a nearby county courthouse with a good amount of exposure to traffic.

In Monticello, N.Y., about 140 people took part in a nearly four-block-long Marian procession led by the local Knights of Columbus Council Color Guard to the steps of the county courthouse where the rosary was recited in English and in Spanish. The procession was followed by a Holy Hour back at the parish church. Inspired by his parish priest, the Captain reported that all are “so looking forward to next year!”

At the county courthouse in Hays, Kans., 22 people gathered to pray the rosary for America. It began at noon as the church bells were ringing a block away. The banner was tied and taped to the wooden fence used for decoration in front of the courthouse. People waved as they drove by and read the banner. After the prayer rally some people asked if this was going to be done more often and that they would attend if more were planned.

“Last year our corner had only four people praying the Rosary, this year there were close to 25!” wrote one veteran Rosary Captain. “Our poor country is in deep trouble and our only hope is going to come from heaven.”

From Mission, Texas, the Rosary Captain reported that his rally had gone well and that the Blessed Mother had touched their hearts because “all felt that this should be done every month instead of yearly to steer this great nation in the right direction.”

“We had a very successful Public Square Rosary Crusade with great attendance compared to last year and by next year I expect to triple the number of attendees,” wrote yet another Rosary Captain. Another Captain reported 40 participants in Kalispell Montana up from 12 last year.

Other Repercussions
The reports only give a small sampling of the many graces at the rallies and the intense commitment of those involved to organize this great public effort to call upon God’s blessing for the nation.

One person happened to find the rally by chance. He put up this account on his blog: “I looked out the window and saw a group of people setting up statues of Our Lady. I wandered over to the little square…and saw that I was just in time to join in America Needs Fatima’s Rosary Rally… Curiously enough, this past week a friend was reminding me that it is times like this in which we must turn to Our Lady with our fears and concerns; she also remarked that we ought to make a conscious effort to consecrate our nation to Our Lady.”

The Rally Captain from Saint John’s, Michigan (population 7,485) reported 207 people present at this rally. He said he wished he could have done more to get even more to attend.

On short notice, one Rosary Captain in Chambersburg, Pa., did not even have time to receive an organizer’s kit. However, fifteen people came to his rally and he is ready to do another one in December.

Press Repercussions
Although the major media remained silent on the rallies, local media, church bulletins, blogs and newsletters carried extensive and favorable coverage of the events. A sampling of the stores gives an idea of the coverage.

The Corsicana Daily of Texas, for example, reported that seventy members of Corsicana’s Catholic community joined together for its first rosary prayer rally at Community Park. “Deacon Lewis and I were pleased with the turnout at the first rally,” said Angie Sanchez, team captain for the rally. “Attendees expressed enthusiasm, whereby a larger rally is planned for next year. ”

The Republican Herald of Shenandoah, Pa., reported that group of over forty people took a prayerful request to the public square in the downtown area to ask God to “return to America.” The report gave a full and accurate report on the Fatima apparitions including the miracle of the sun and noted the great interest of passersby and car traffic.

Connecticut’s Milford Mirror reported that about 150 people gathered for a “Public Square Rosary Crusade,” to pray to God to save America. Attendees came from many area churches. There were retired people, families, teens and children. “America is mired in problems — problems in leadership, public scandal and sin, bad economy, terrorism, ” states literature that teenagers distributed in the church parking lot. “Men cannot resolve them. God can. But He has been cast out. It’s time to beg God, ‘Return to America.’”

Confiding in Providence
The main theme of the rosary rallies was “pray for America,” which fit into the headlines of bad news in the economy and elsewhere.

Man’s efforts are insignificant in themselves. However, with the aid of Providence, a simple witness became a massive and beautiful event reinforcing the belief that God can intervene and hear the prayers of the faithful. These prayers and future public prayers may not have immediate consequences, but they might weigh heavily for the future of the nation.

These 3,500 rallies were seen by hundreds of thousands of people, which is good and even necessary to help spread the Fatima message and save souls. Above all, they were a fervent plea made up of hundreds of thousands of rosaries offered by Our Blessed Mother to beg God to return to America.

Posted by Robert Ritchie

Mail call!

This is a photo of the last two volunteers at our Kansas campaign office. On the left is Mrs. Sue Clark of Paulding Ohio, on the right is Mrs. Patricia Schmutz of Zanesville Ohio.

As you can see they have quite a lot to do going through all of the rally reports. This amount of mail was from a second run to the post office at noon time. A pile equal to this came in during the morning run.

As the mail is reviewed we will continue to report on the incredible happenings for Our Lady across the country.

My favorite picture from one of the rosary rallies is this one of a lady in deep prayer. And it matches one of my favorite quotes:

"When men resolve to cooperate with the grace of God, the marvels of history are worked: the conversion of the Roman Empire; the formation of the Middle Ages; the reconquest of Spain, starting from Covadonga; all the events that result from the great resurrections of soul of which peoples are also capable. These resurrections are invincible, because nothing can defeat a people that is virtuous and truly loves God."

Plinio Correa de Oliveira

Posted by Robert Ritchie

Please save your rally banners for 2009

If you were a rally captain this past October 11th, then please save your banners for 2009!

If your banner was damaged or torn by winds we will let you know later on, how you can get your banner replaced. If we all save our banners, that will be a tremendous help in keeping expenses lower for the rally next year.

More News From Rally Captains

One of our rally captains in South Carolina advertised in every bulletin across the state. Their rally was held at the Shrine of Our Lady of South Carolina in Kingstree.

A rally captain in Sandusky Ohio was very disappointed with the turn out having only 85 in attendance. 85 I believe is a very good turnout. The rally captain was disappointed that the turnout was less than 2007.

When the turnout is less that should encourage us to redouble our efforts. If only a few show up, then God will surely, in ways that cannot be imagined, overwhelm with graces, those who had the devotion to be there.

Another rally captain in Wilmington Delaware had 13 in attendance. The notable aspect of this rally, was that it was held at a nursing home. Some of those in attendance were in wheel chairs or had to use walkers. The rally captain noted on her report that she is saving her banner for next year!

Letter From Hostess of Fatima Home Visit

We recently received a letter from the hostess of a home visit with a Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima who lives in the San Antonio Texas area.

She wrote, "I had been depressed with problems at home. I forgot to cry out to my Mother and to Her Son Jesus Christ. However, since the home visit, I pray each and every morning and evening and praise God for His love and goodness. My husband also suffers from the effects of a stroke that happened almost 11 months ago. He is confined to a wheel chair. He told everyone how delighted he was to have Our Lady present. He even has told strangers about this.

From now on I'll ask God and Our Lady, for peace in my home and in our hearts. Now, when I feel lonely I cry out to Our Lady of Fatima to intercede for me."

Some brought lawn chairs!

Idaho rally

St. Bernard’s to hold public rosary prayer

Thursday, 09 October 2008

By Tagen Towsley BLACKFOOT — Come join with members of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church to pray a public rosary from noon - 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, at 584 W. Sexton Street. This is the first year that St. Bernard’s has participated in the Public Square Rosary Crusade sponsored by America Needs Fatima. The crusade is to petition God through the rosary of his most holy mother Mary to save America from the sins of abortion, homosexuality, impure fashions and immoral laws. America Needs Fatima is a special campaign to spread a message about the clear direction and purpose of God’s plans, and the means to achieve it. ANF promotes the public prayer as a way that people can counter today’s immoral and secularist trends. Father John, of St. Bernard’s Church, wants the community to be aware that the public rosary prayer is a way to worship God and petition him for help. “We love and we honor the blessed virgin Mary, but we worship God alone,” John said. For more information about the rosary rally campaign contact St. Bernard’s Catholic Church at 785-1935 or visit the Web site www.americaneedsfatima.org.

Last Updated ( Friday, 10 October 2008 ) http://www.am-news.com/content/view/90554/1/

2007 Archive

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Rosary rallies held across country

Oct 27, 2007
By Chuck Flagg

On Oct. 13, thousands of Roman Catholics took part in a nationwide event called the "Public Square Rosary Campaign." More than 2,000 rallies were held at noon (local time at each location).
The Rosary is an important form of religious devotion for Catholics, one that is gaining popularity among other Christians. In this form of meditation, a sequence of different prayers is recited using a string of beads, each bead representing one prayer in the sequence. The prayers include the "Our Father" ("Lord's Prayer"), "Hail Mary" and "Gloria Patri" ("Glory be to the Father").
This Rosary Campaign was scheduled to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the reported appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three children in the small Portuguese town of Fatima in 1917. She declared herself to be Our Lady of the Rosary and told them to recite the Rosary daily. She also outlined the consequences for the world if people did not pray, convert and do penance: that God would punish the world for its sins by means of war, hunger, persecution of the Church and persecution of the Pope unless people listened to and obeyed the commands of God.
Sponsor of this nationwide event was The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, a tax-exempt religious organization. It is headquartered in Spring Grove, Penn., with 120,000 members.
Many rallies were held around California; locations in the Bay Area included San Francisco, Menlo Park, Cupertino and at Mission Santa Clara. Two rallies were held in San Jose.
Melinda Panes was an organizer of the rally at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 2020 E. San Antonio St.). She reports that more than 150 worshipers came to the event, including three priests, a nun, several lay ministers and all the members of the parish council.
Participants sang hymns, recited prayers and meditated. At the end of the two-hour observance, 60 colored balloons were released into the sky: green, yellow, blue and red to represent the four languages being used, and white symbolizing reverence for God the Father.
Robert Ritchie, national director of the campaign, noted that many rallies were held in public places like steps of state capitol buildings, including Sacramento, Rockefeller Center in New York City, Lafayette Park across from the White House and Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
He noted that The Public Square Rosary Campaign "is a response to the Fatima call for conversion, penance, prayer and recitation of the Rosary. It is a response to a culture that is increasingly banishing faith from the public square."
http://www.gilroydispatch.com/lifestyles/228740-rosary-rallies-held-across-country
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PUBLIC SQUARE ROSARY RALLY
The Knights of Columbus, Father Nouvel Council No. 4232, in Saginaw, will host a Public Square Rosary Rally at Noon on
October 10 at its social hall at 4840 Shattuck Road. The rally is part of the “America Needs Fatima” campaign to petition
Our Lady for prayers of national conversion from immoral and secularist trends of our society. More than 3,000 rallies were
held in 2008. The rallies mark the anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal in 1917. To learn more
about “America Needs Fatima” visit www.americaneedsfatima.org. For more information about the Rosary rally, contact
Patricia Middleton at (989) 792-5185.
http://www.saginaw.org/newsletters/71

Abortion - refuting some myths

LIFE ISSUES FORUM What Reduces Abortions? By Richard M. Doerflinger Sometimes election years produce more policy myths than good ideas. This year one myth is about abortion. It goes like this: The Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision is here to stay, and that’s fine because laws against abortion don’t reduce abortions much anyway. Rather, “support for women and families” will greatly reduce abortions, without changing the law or continuing a “divisive” abortion debate. Various false claims are used to bolster this myth. It is said that over three-quarters of women having abortions cite expense as the most important factor in their decision. Actually the figure is less than one-fourth, 23%. It is said that abortion rates declined dramatically (30%) during the Clinton years, but the decline stopped under the ostensibly pro-life Bush administration. Actually the abortion rate has dropped 30% from 1981 to 2005; the decline started 12 years before Clinton took office, and has continued fairly steadily to the present day. The steepest decline is among minors. Is it plausible that economic factors reduced abortions for teens but not their older sisters, or their mothers who support them? The reality is this: In 1980 the Supreme Court upheld the Hyde amendment, and federally funded abortions went from 300,000 a year to nearly zero. With its decisions in Webster (1989) and Casey (1992), the Court began to uphold other abortion laws previously invalidated under Roe. States passed hundreds of modest but effective laws: bans on use of public funds and facilities; informed consent laws; parental involvement when minors seek abortion; etc. Dr. Michael New’s rigorous research has shown that these laws significantly reduce abortions. In the 1990s, debate on partial-birth abortion – kept in the public eye, ironically, by President Clinton’s repeated vetoes of a ban on this grisly late-term procedure – alerted many Americans to the violence of abortion and shifted public attitudes in a pro-life direction, just as growing concern over AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases was giving new force to the abstinence message for teens. Now the Court has upheld a partial-birth abortion ban, and signaled that other laws to save unborn children and their mothers from the horrors of abortion may be valid. If Roe is reversed outright, that will allow more laws that can further reduce abortions. By contrast, a pending federal “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA) would knock down current laws reducing abortions, and require public programs for pregnant women to fund abortion. No one supporting that bill can claim to favor reducing abortions. Many women are pressured toward abortion, and they need our help. The pressures are partly, but only partly, economic in nature. Women are influenced by husbands, boyfriends, parents and friends, and by a culture and legal system that tells them the child they carry has no rights and is of no consequence. Law cannot solve all problems, but it can tell us which solutions are unacceptable – and today Roe still teaches that killing the unborn child is an acceptable solution, even a “right.” Without ever forgetting the need to support pregnant women and their families, that tragic and unjust error must be corrected if we are to build a society that respects all human life. ­­­­­­­­ Mr. Doerflinger is Associate Director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Go to www.usccb.org/prolife to learn more about the bishops’ pro-life activities. For more on FOCA see www.nchla.org/issues.asp?ID=50.

USCCB Pro-Life Secretariat

Lansing, MI, America Needs Fatima Public Square Rosary Rally

ST. JOHNS — Saturday, Oct. 11 at noon, the St. Johns Knights of Columbus Council 3281 in conjunction with St. Joseph Parish in St. Johns and the other K of C council and Catholic parishes in Clinton County will be holding a "Public Rosary Crusade" on the lawn in front of Bee's Auto Sales, 2100 S. US-127 in St. Johns.

This special event is part of the national 2008 Public Square Rosary Crusade, which is instituted by the Fatima group.

America is at an historic crossroad. Secularists are trying to push God away from the public square.

"Without God's help, where will our public leaders gain their wisdom to provide solutions to resolve the grave problems which we are all facing today," said A.J. Thelen. "He will hear us as we pray through the intercession of His Blessed Mother. Public prayer is more powerful than private prayer. Holy Mother the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, has advocated that public prayer is needed in this time of tragedy and suffering."

This special event in St. Johns is also being sponsored by some 3,000 rosary rally groups across the United States. It will include the rosary and special prayers to reach a divine and productive solution to this nation's deepening problems. In 1955 Austria freed itself from the chains of Communism by praying the rosary, just like Fatima is asking us to do here today, said Thelen.

This prayer program is open to all people and faiths that are interested in helping this country and the world work together to bring peace and unity so everyone can work collectively for the betterment of the total society.

"Your prayers and help are needed to achieve this goal," said Thelen.

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20081005/CLINTON01/810050366/1172/CLINTON

America Needs Fatima rally in Crofton, NE

Public Square Rosary Raffle In Crofton Today

By Linda Wuebben
P&D Correspondent

Published: Saturday, October 11, 2008 12:42 AM CDT

CROFTON, Neb. — Just head toward the big banner on the Gazebo in the South Park for public square rosary rally being planned by the St. Rose of Lima Catholic family at noon today (Saturday) for the second year in a row. It is open to the public.

“Last year we had about 10-12 people and this year we hope for more,” said Laverta Mauch, rally chairman.

Cookies and drink will be provided after. The rosary rally will be praying for America, hoping to bring solve moral problems which are not resolved by human efforts.

Back in 1985, the Americas Need Fatima campaign was organized by the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family & Property (TPF). This special TPF’s campaign strives to spread the message of Fatima to the United States. Supporters believe America needs to pray as Our Lady of Fatima advised the three little children back in 1917 — to counter today’s immoral actions in the world.

Turning back acceptance of same-gender marriages, pornography and abortions are foremost goals in the campaign but the greatest goal would be spreading devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary supporters agree. Prayer for all enemies around the world is the constant work of service to Our Lady.

During the appearances to the youth, Our Lady of Fatima asked for prayer and devotion worldwide. Offering up small daily sacrifices for sin, praying the daily rosary and being consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart are all part of Her Peace Plan From Heaven.

The prayer-gathering event will be held at that time not only in Crofton but also across the United States.

http://www.yankton.net/articles/2008/10/11/community/doc48f039e7580e3716506673.txt

3500 Rosary Rallies across America!

Catholics Launch 3,500 Rosary Rallies Asking God to Save America

October 10, 2008

SPRING GROVE, PA (MetroCatholic) - At noon on October 11, 3,500 public rosary rallies will take place across America to ask God to intervene and save America from its pressing spiritual, moral, political, financial and national security troubles. October 11 is the Saturday closest to October 13, anniversary of the Fatima miracle of the sun.

The American TFP and its America Needs Fatima campaign are coordinating the events and expect it to be one of the largest network of public rosary rallies ever held.

“October 13 is the day the Miracle of the Sun occurred before 70,000 witnesses in Fatima in 1917,” said Robert Ritchie, director of America Needs Fatima. “The date also marks the last apparition of the Blessed Mother, when she asked for conversion, penance, prayer and especially for the recitation of the rosary.”

The America Needs Fatima web site (www.ANF.org) offers visitors material to start a rosary rally, such as posters, banners, rosaries, and a detailed map of the nation announcing rally locations by state. Anyone interested in attending a rally can find the nearest location online.

“Amidst today’s suffering and uncertainty, more people are turning to the rosary. And there is a compelling reason. It offers hope. It changes lives. It’s a great consolation for those who suffer and seek spiritual solutions in this troubled world,” continued Mr. Ritchie.

“There’s lots of anxiety about the future. I believe that’s why 3,500 rally captains volunteered to organize rosary rallies and spread Our Lady’s Fatima message,” Mr. Ritchie said. “Catholics have great confidence in the Mother of God who promised at Fatima: ‘Finally, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.’”

“The phones never stop. We could have possibly had 5,000 rallies if we had enough volunteers to handle all these calls. There’s that much interest,” Mr. Ritchie concluded.

For more information, visit www.ANF.org or call toll-free 866-584-6012.

http://www.dfwcatholic.org/catholics-launch-3500-rosary-rallies-asking-god-to-save-america/.html

Bishop Hermann of St. Louis, MO on abortion and the rosary

October 10, 2008

Bishop Hermann: “I thought you should know”
Save our children!

by Bishop Robert Hermann, Archdiocesan Administrator

Save our children! More than anything else, this election is about saving our children or killing our children. This life issue is the overriding issue facing each of us in this coming election. All other issues, including the economy, have to take second place to the issue of life.

Save our children! Many people in Germany supported Hitler for economic reasons even though, as his programs advanced, he put to death millions of Jewish people. He ended up wrecking the economy together with the country of Germany.

How are we different if we vote for pro-abortion candidates for office? How can we help change our political and legal situation to protect innocent children and support a culture of life?

Save our children! When I speak to some so-called good Catholics, I am shocked that they are quite ready to vote for a pro-abortion candidate under almost any circumstance. I find this hard to understand. We have heard the word "abortion" so often that perhaps we no longer associate procured abortion with the killing of children, yet that is what it is. The term itself can be misleading. The dictionary tells us that it comes from a Latin word that means "to disappear or to miscarry." Sometimes abortions simply happen because of natural causes. That is why this word abortion, for many people, apparently does not really connote the destruction of children. When a human agent induces an abortion, that human agent is taking the life of one of our children.

Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that take the life of innocent children, when there is an alternative? If there were two candidates who supported abortion, but not equally, we would have the obligation to mitigate the evil by voting for the less-permissive candidate.

Save our children! How can a so-called good Catholic vote for a candidate that supports laws that justify the killing of a child that survived a botched abortion? How can such a so-called good Catholic receive the Holy Eucharist?

In Chapter 10 of St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he states: "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the Blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? ... You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons."

Save our children! Have some of our so-called good Catholics become so hardened against the Gospel of Life that they believe that other issues outweigh the Gospel of Life? Have some of our so-called good Catholics put politics ahead of the Fifth Commandment, in which God states: "Thou shalt not kill"? Do some of our so-called good Catholics, who may go to Mass every Sunday and receive the Holy Eucharist, really believe that voting for a pro-abortion candidate, when there is a clear alternative and therefore no justifiable reason for so doing, is really not voting to have children killed? This election is all about saving our children!

Save our children! I have no doubt that there may be some so-called good Catholics who are reading this column and who may be really angry about now. I ask the question "Why would such a person be angry?" If we do good deeds, then our conscience is at peace. If we do evil deeds, then our conscience bothers us. It is my hope that this column will lead some of our so-called good Catholics to study the Catholic Catechism.

Save our children! Some of our so-called good Catholics may have hardened their hearts against the real understanding of induced abortions, that they can no longer see that this involves the destruction of our children. "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts!"

Save our children! Supporting induced abortions is not the greatest sin in the world. A greater sin is the refusal to repent of such a serious crime or the denial that this involves the killing of innocent children.

Save our children! I have used this terminology again and again penetrate the defenses of anyone who in the past may have put personal, economic or political interests above the issue of saving our children. The right to life is our most fundamental right, and to defend this right on behalf of the most vulnerable is a great privilege and is worth giving one’s life for. Policemen and firemen always risk their lives to save human life. Why should we not risk our own reputation to save our children?

Save our children! You can see by now that I do not believe that this column by itself will change hearts. The issue of abortion involves serious sin, and to overcome serious patterns of sin requires grace. If you are still with me, may I suggest that you join me and many others in praying the daily Rosary from now until election day for the sake of life. Why not pray the family Rosary every night between now and the general election. The Rosary brought down the Iron Curtain. It can also help us turn around the culture of death to a culture of life.

Save our so-called good Catholics who ignore Catholic moral principles when applied to our political life. Pray the family Rosary daily. Pray the family Rosary for our so-called good Catholics who could use your love and your charity. Pray for our so-called good Catholics who ignore serious Catholic moral teachings and still receive Holy Communion. Love them by praying the family Rosary for them. Don’t debate with them. Intercede for them. Praying for them is more fun than fighting with them.

Save our children and save our so-called good Catholics who have abandoned Church teachings in favor of personal gain. Pray the Rosary. Pray it every day. Get the whole family to pray the Rosary daily. Prayer is more powerful than contentious arguments. Spread the word to other families. In praying the Rosary, children’s votes count as much as adult votes. Sometimes they pray with purer hearts than we do. If you are disgusted with the TV news, then turn it off and turn on the prayer Internet. What we hear in prayer leaves us in peace. When we pray for our country and for our fellow citizens, we are filled with peace. St. Paul tells us that our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers and the spirits of darkness.

Prayer is our protection. Let it also be a protection for our country. If you want to make Satan angry, pray the Rosary for the sake of Life. Pray that as a nation we will choose leaders that will say “no” to the culture of death and say “yes” to the culture of life. Save our children! Pray the Rosary!

http://www.stlreview.com/article.php?id=16208

Rosary Rally - Atlanta, GA

What I Have Seen and Heard

MOST REVEREND WILTON D. GREGORY, Archbishop of Atlanta

Published: October 16, 2008

My appointment calendar is seldom thematic in its arrangement! I generally go about events that are pretty much helter-skelter in their organization—a school Mass, a meeting with the Finance Council, a visit to Jackson prison. This week, however, there was a very distinct spirit in my schedule—she was the Mother of God. October is the month of the Holy Rosary and like the month of May, Catholics everywhere seem to be drawn to the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Deacon Bert Berding came to my office over a year ago to seek my support for this year’s Rosary Rally, an annual occurrence which was once a huge and highly publicized event for the small but faithful band of Catholics here in North Georgia. He could not conceal his disappointment that this particular tradition had changed and diminished so over the years. The great numbers of Catholics who once assembled in October to pray the rosary had decreased significantly over the years. I tried to assure him that this single event had been replaced by other religious expressions that kept the Mother of God ever before the people of this local church. The Vietnamese have brought their profound love for Mary as Our Lady of Lavang, the Mexicans bring us La Guadalupana, the French Our Lady of Lourdes, the Poles Our Lady of Czestochowa and many others as well, all with their unique religious piety and devotions.

This past Saturday at our Rosary Rally, which was hosted at St. Pius X Parish in Conyers, it was very obvious that the numerous new arrivals to the Archdiocese of Atlanta have carried with them their Marian traditions. The rosary was prayed in five different languages with the first part being offered by members of various language groups and the second part generally responded to in English. We blessed a new Shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe at the parish and sang some of the wonderful hymns of the Mexican community. It was as joyful an event as I have encountered as the Archbishop, and I suspect Archbishop Donoghue, who was also in attendance, would agree.

No, it might not have been like the earlier traditions of the Rosary Rally, but it was a clear indication that the people of the Archdiocese of Atlanta have not lessened in our love for the Mother of God and many, in fact, had brought to this local church many customs and traditions that had originated in the places from which our people hail.

Later that same evening, I celebrated the renewal of the promises of the Marian Servants, another new movement of lay spirituality that has taken hold here in the U.S. A number of families gathered at St. Benedict’s to pledge themselves anew to living their baptismal promises within the home, parish and community with deeper love and devotion following the model of St. Louis de Montfort, a 18th-century priest known widely for his Marian devotion.

Then on Sunday evening St. Jude Parish hosted the first Atlanta celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Aparecida, the Brazilian Madonna. The church was filled to overflowing with our Brazilian neighbors who brought with them the image of Our Blessed Mother under her title of Aparecida. The best part (in my humble estimation) and the most promising sign was the presence of so many of their children, who were celebrating their splendid heritage and who serve as a hopeful indication that this new festival will take its place within the heart of our Archdiocese of Atlanta for future generations who will profess their own special love for the Mother of God.

http://www.georgiabulletin.org/local/2008/10/16/seenandheard/

Bishop Holley on abortion

On Abortion and the African American Family

Bishop Martin D. Holley

Member of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities
Chairman of the Sub-Committee on African American Affairs
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

October 15, 2008

As an African American, I am saddened by evidence that Black women continue to be targeted by the abortion industry. A report issued recently by the Guttmacher Institute shows that Black women have abortions at five times the rate of white women. The loss of any child from abortion is a tragedy, but we must ask: Why are minority children being aborted at such disproportionate rates?

Many African Americans are not aware that since the Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion throughout all 9 months of pregnancy, the number one cause of death in the African American community has been abortion. We have lost over 13 million lives. To put that in perspective, it is one third of our present Black population. Since 1973, twice as many Black Americans have died from abortion than from AIDS, accidents, violent crimes, cancer, and heart disease combined.

As I noted in my recent Respect Life Program article, "A Reflection on the African American Family and the Culture of Life" (www.usccb.org/prolife/programs/rlp/holley.pdf), our legitimate commitment to other social concerns must not push the primary moral issue of abortion onto the back burner. It clearly must be at the heart and center of our discussion of the
survival of African American people.

The Guttmacher Institute called on policy makers to “redouble their efforts to improve access to subsidized contraceptive services for these women.” Yet studies have shown that increased access to contraceptives, especially among teens, does not reduce unintended pregnancy and abortion. On the contrary, several studies link increased access to contraceptives to an increase in STDs, with no decrease in abortion rates.

As the research arm of Planned Parenthood, the Guttmacher Institute is shamelessly trying to build a case for receiving more of our taxpayer dollars. Every year the federal government gives over $300 million to Planned Parenthood. Last year for the first time, Planned Parenthood took in over one billion dollars and reported a profit of $51 million. I join my voice with others in the Black community who have called for the defunding of the abortion industry.

We must demand an end to the victimizing of African American children, women, families and communities by Planned Parenthood and others in the abortion industry. Over 80 percent of Planned Parenthood clinics are located in minority neighborhoods. Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, began the “Negro Project” to reduce the Black population.

We should be shocked and heartbroken by the findings of a recent phone investigation, that recorded a fundraiser at an Iowa Planned Parenthood clinic saying she was “very excited” about a donation specifically for aborting Black babies.

My brothers and sisters, we can overcome abortion in our nation. Let us defend our community by rededicating ourselves to family life and marriage, promoting the gift of chastity and marital fidelity, committing ourselves to prayer and service to others and defending the life and dignity of each human person. We can welcome every child as a gift and we can overcome abortion.

Public Square Rosary Rally in Milford, CT

Rosary rally draws big crowd

Written by Jill K. Dion Thursday, October 16, 2008

With rosary beads in hand, about 150 people gathered outside Christ the Redeemer Church Saturday to pray to God to save America.

The rally, called a “Public Square Rosary Crusade,” was part of a national campaign spearheaded by the America Needs Fatima organization and organized locally by Christ the Redeemer parishioner Ed McCormick.

Attendees came from Christ the Redeemer and other area churches. There were retired people, families, teens and children.

“America is mired in problems — problems in leadership, public scandal and sin, bad economy, terrorism, etc.,” states literature that teenagers distributed in the church parking lot. “Men cannot resolve them. God can. But He has been cast out. It’s time to beg God, ‘Return to America.’”

Speakers and attendees spoke of politics and morality. They mentioned a state court ruling one day earlier that gave homosexuals marriage rights equal to their heterosexual peers, a move the Catholic Church opposes.

“We join thousands and thousands of people in prayer,” said church pastor, the Rev. Cyriac Maliekal, as the prayer ceremony got underway.

The priest prayed that peoples’ faiths hold strong and that government leaders have the ability to solve the nation’s problems.

He prayed for the “end of abortion, same sex marriage and pornography,” and he prayed that those who do sin be brought back to the path of God.

Fingers touched rosary beads as the attendees recited the Our Father and other prayers of the Catholic Church. Some cried.

Helen Rusanowsky, one of the residents in attendance, said the rally was as much political as religious to her.

She prayed for America to fight socialist tendencies. “I don’t think the founding Fathers had socialism in mind,” she said.

Her friend, Marion Healey, said she would pray for the end to abortion.

Megan Allen, who attended with almost a dozen family members, said she planned to pray for the church, for “unity in the country, in the world and for all the priests.”

The Lady of Fatima organization and the Public Square Rosary Rally historically unite politics and religion. Followers cite the occupation of a section of Austria by communist Russians after World War II and maintain that a rosary crusade expelled the communists in 1955.

“The Rosary saved Austria,” states literature that the rally organizers distributed. “Why not America? Secularists seek to drive God from society, but a Rosary Crusade can help expel the secularist mentality from America.”

http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11415:rosary-rally-draws-big-crowd&catid=174:local-news&Itemid=484

Love this picture

Rally in Oneida

10/03/2008

America Needs Fatima rally set

ONEIDA - The America Needs Fatima rally will be held on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 12:15 p.m. at Vets Field, near the pool area, North Main Street.

Participants are asked to bring a lawn chair. If it rains, the rally will be held at St. Joseph's Church.

The rally is sponsored by The Catholic Daughters of the Americas, Court Our Lady No. 1250, and St. Joseph's and St. Patrick's churches, Oneida.

Rally on EWTN

America Needs Fatima Rosary Rally Sat,. Oct 11, 2008 Posted by Deb on October 7, 2008 Reply to: dsmk@roadrunner.com

Celebrate the 91st Anniversary of Fatima and the Miracle of the Sun. Our Blessed Mother asks to Pray the Rosary Daily....The America Needs Fatima Campaign is hosting over 3000 Rosary Rallies in the United States at NOON on Saturday October 11, 2008.

http://www.ewtn.com/vinformation/showmessage.asp?RecNum=279550

Rally in Pottsville, PA

Thursday, October 16, 2008
Pottsville, PA

40-plus gather to recite rosary

BY JOHN E. USALIS
STAFF WRITER
ashland@newsitem.com

Published: Monday, October 13, 2008 4:14 AM EDT

SHENANDOAH — Because there are some who believe God has abandoned America in recent years, a group of people took a prayerful request to the public square Saturday in downtown Shenandoah to ask God to “Return to America.”
More than 40 people gathered at Main and Oak streets in front of St. Stephen Roman Catholic Parish Hall to pray the rosary and sing Marian hymns as part of the national Public Square Rosary Campaign, which is sponsored by America Needs Fatima, a campaign of The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, to spread the Fatima message in the United States.
The faithful believe the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared six times to three shepherd children near the town of Fatima, Portugal, between May 13 and Oct. 13, 1917.
This was the first rosary event held in Shenandoah. Other rallies were planned in Coaldale, Frackville, Mahanoy City, McAdoo, Pottsville and Tamaqua.

The co-captains in Shenandoah were Charles Calise and William “Bill” Jones, who organized the event, including providing participants with copies of the program that included hymns and prayers, such as the Divine Praises, Fatima prayers and the Consecration to Jesus through Mary by St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort.
Saturday was selected for the rally in recognition of the final apparition of Our Lady of Fatima in Fatima. That included the Miracle of the Sun, which was reportedly seen by 70,000 people.
The Shenandoah group gathered around a statue of Our Lady of Grace, placed on a pedestal outside the church hall. The statue had originally been located in a prominent spot in St. George Roman Catholic Church, Shenandoah, which is currently closed.
As the rally was held, many people passed by in vehicles on the busy street, curious about what was going on.
After recitation of the rosary, Calise said he was pleased with the turnout for the first such prayer event.
“I was contacted by America Needs Fatima and asked ... if I would be a captain,” said Calise. “We put the notice in all the church bulletins and we distributed fliers in the town. I had 35 programs made and I didn’t have enough to go around.”
Calise added that prayer events like Saturday’s also helps show that Shenandoah is a good town.
“Shenandoah sometimes gets bad publicity, but Shenandoah is a beautiful town with a lot of good people. This shows what Shenandoah is made of,” he said.

Papal appeal for mature and committed lay people

ECUADOR: MATURE LAITY ILLUMINATES SOCIETY

VATICAN CITY, 16 OCT 2008 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican Benedict XVI received prelates from the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference, who have just completed their "ad limina" visit. Opening his remarks to them he reiterated his condolences for the recent death of Cardinal Antonio Jose Gonzalez Zumarraga, archbishop of Quito, Ecuador.

"I note with satisfaction", the Holy Father went on, "that one of the pastoral initiatives you consider to be most important for the Church in Ecuador is implementing the 'great mission' identified by the Latin American Episcopate at Aparecida, Brazil. ... The call the Lord Jesus made to His disciples, sending them forth to preach the message of salvation and make disciples of all people, must be a constant theme of meditation and the raison d'etre of all pastoral activity for the entire ecclesial community".

"In order to face the many challenges of your mission, and in a cultural and social atmosphere that seems to forget the deepest spiritual roots of its identity, ... it is necessary to make generous efforts to spread the world of God so that no-one remains without this indispensable spiritual nourishment, source of life and light".

The Pope recalled how this missionary task "depends particularly upon priests" and how, given the shortage of clergy in many areas of Ecuador, the prelates are "committed to involving all groups, movements and individuals" of their dioceses "in a wide-ranging and generous form of vocational pastoral care. These efforts", he continued, "must be accompanied by the greatest care in selecting seminarians and in their intellectual, human and spiritual formation. In this way ... they will be able to shoulder the demands of their future ministry with joy and a sense of responsibility".

"In this important stage of history, the Church in Ecuador needs mature and committed lay people who, with a solid doctrinal formation and a profound interior life, live their specific vocation of illuminating all human, social, cultural and political reality with the light of Christ". In this context Benedict XVI thanked the prelates for their efforts in "recalling the attention of society to those values whihc bring greater justice and solidarity to human life".

"Although the activity of the Church must not be confused with political concerns", he said, "it must, through reflection and moral judgements, offer its own contribution to the entire human community, also on those political questions that particularly affect human dignity".

The Holy Father concluded by calling on the bishops to dedicate particular attention to the charitable activities of their Churches, activities which must "express the merciful love of Christ, especially to people in need, the elderly, children, emigrants and to abandoned and mistreated women".
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St. Clotilda - a short biography

St. Clotildis or Clotilda, Queen of France, was daughter of Chilperic, younger brother to Gondebald, the tyrannical king of Burgundy, who put him, his wife, and the rest of his brothers, except one, to death, in order to usurp their dominions. In this massacre he spared Chilperic's two fair daughters, then in their infancy. One of them became afterwards a nun; the other, named Clotildis, was brought up in her uncle's court, and by a singular providence, was instructed in the Catholic religion, though she was educated in the midst of Arians. It was her happiness in the true faith, to be inspired from the cradle with a contempt and disgust of a treacherous world, which sentiments she cherished and improved by the most fervent exercises of religion. Though she saw herself surrounded with all the charms of the world, and was from her infancy its idol, yet her heart was proof against its seductions. She was adorned with the assemblage of all virtues; and the reputation of her wit, beauty, meekness, modesty, and piety, made her the adoration of all the neighboring kingdoms, when Clovis I., surnamed the great, the victorious king of the Franks, demanded and obtained her of her uncle in marriage granting her all the conditions she could desire for the free and secure exercise of her religion.1 The marriage was solemnized at Soissons, in 493. Clotildis made herself a little oratory in the royal palace, in which she spent much time in fervent prayer and secret mortifications. Her devotion was tempered with discretion, so that she attended all her business at court, was watchful over her maids, and did every thing with a dignity, order, and piety, which edified and charmed the king and his whole court. Her charity to the poor seemed a sea which could never be drained. She honored her royal husband, studied to sweeten his warlike temper by Christian meekness, conformed herself to his humor in things that were indifferent; and, the better to gain his affections, made those things the subject of her discourse and praises in which she saw him to take the greatest delight. When she saw herself mistress of his heart, she did not defer the great work of endeavoring to win him to God, and often spoke to him on the vanity of his idols, and on the excellency of the true religion. The king always heard her with pleasure; but the moment of his conversion was not yet come. It was first to cost her many tears, severe trials, and earnest perseverance. After the baptism of their second son, Clodomir, and the infant's recovery from a dangerous indisposition, she pressed the king more boldly to renounce his idols. One day especially, when he had given her great assurances of his affection, and augmented her dowry by a gift of several manors, she said she begged only one favor of his majesty, which was the liberty to discourse with him on the sanctity of her religion, and to put him in mind of his promise of forsaking the worship of idols. But the fear of giving offence to his people made him delay the execution. His miraculous victory over the Alemanni, and his entire conversion in 496, were at length the fruit of our saint's prayers.

Clotildis, having gained to God this great monarch, never ceased to excite him to glorious actions for the divine honor: among other religious foundations he built in Paris, at her request, about the year 511, the great church of SS. Peter and Paul, now called St. Genevieve's. This great prince had a singular devotion to St. Martin, and went sometimes to Tours, to prostrate himself in prayer at his tomb. He sent his royal diadem, which is called, to this day, The Realm, a present to pope Hormisdas, as a token that he dedicated his kingdom to God. His barbarous education and martial temper made it, in certain sallies of his passions, difficult for Clotildis to bridle his inclination to ambition and cruelty, so that he scarce left any princes of his own relations living, except his sons. He died on the 27th of November, in the year 511, of his age the forty-fifth, having reigned thirty years. He was buried in the church of the apostles, SS. Peter and Paul, now called St. Genevieve's, where his tomb still remains. An ancient long epitaph, which was inscribed on it, is preserved by Aimoinus, and copied by Rivet. His eldest son Theodoric, whom he had by a concubine before his marriage, reigned at Rheims over Austrasia, or the eastern parts of France, which comprised the present Champagne, Lorraine, Auvergne, and several provinces of Germany. Metz was afterwards the capital of this country. As to the three sons of Clotildis, Clodomir reigned at Orleans, Childebert at Paris, and Clotaire I., at Soissons. This division produced wars and mutual jealousies, till, in 560, the whole monarchy was reunited under Clotaire, the youngest of these brothers. St. Clotildis lived to see Clodomir defeat and put to death Sigismund, king of Burgundy; but soon after, in 524, himself vanquished and slain by Gondemar, successor to Sigismund; Gondemar overcome and killed by Childebert and Clotaire, and the kingdom of Burgundy united to France. The most sensible affliction of this pious queen was the murder of the two eldest sons of Clodomir, committed in 526, by their uncles Childebert and Clotaire, who seized on the kingdom of Orleans. This tragical disaster contributed more perfectly to wean her heart from the world. She spent the remaining part of her life at Tours, near the tomb of St. Martin, in exercises of prayer, almsdeeds, watching, fasting, and penance, seeming totally to forget that she had been queen, or that her sons sat on the throne. Eternity filled her heart, and employed all her thoughts. She foretold her death thirty days before it happened; having been admonished of it by God at the tomb of St. Martin, the usual place of her tears. In her last illness, she sent for her sons Childebert, king of Paris, and Clotaire, king of Soissons, and exhorted them, in the most pathetic manner, to honor God and keep his commandments; to protect the poor, reign as fathers to their people, live in union together, and love and study always to maintain tranquillity and peace. She scarce ever ceased repeating the psalms with the most tender devotion, and ordered all she had left to be distributed among she poor; though this was very little; for she had always been careful to send her riches before her by their hands. On the thirtieth day of her illness she received the sacraments, made a public confession of her faith, and departed to the Lord on the 3d of June, in 545. She was buried, by her own order, in the church of St. Genevieve, at the feet of that holy shepherdess, and is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on the 3d of June. See St. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc., and Fortunatus; and among the moderns, Abbe Du Bos and Gilb. le Gendre, Antiquites de la Nation et Monarchie Francoise, &c.

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Endnotes

1 See on this at length, Du Bos, Hist. de l'Etablissement de la Monarchie Francoise, t. 1, l.1.

(Taken from Vol. 6 of "The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints" by the Rev. Alban Butler, the 1864 edition published by D. & J. Sadlier, & Company)

St. Maximillian Kolbe, Apostle of Mary

MAXIMILLIAN KOLBE, APOSTLE OF MARY

Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

St. Maximillian was born in the Poland in 1894 and baptized under the name of Raymond. He entered the novitiate of the Conventual Franciscans in 1910 and given the name of Maximillian. He took his final vows in Rome in 1914 and three years later, organized, with six other confreres, the association of the Meletsia Immaculate, which may be translated, The Militia of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Whatever else Maximillian never forgot is that we are here on earth in the Church militant. He was ordained in Rome in 1918. In 1922, he began publishing the magazine, "Knight of the Immaculate," first in Polish and then in other languages. He is an outstanding promoter of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary through the modern media of writing, radio and, since his day, television. In 1927, he began building a whole town with property donated by a wealthy nobleman, called the "Town of the Immaculate," outside of Warsaw. There he began training people with vocations among the laity and prospective Religious and Priests, to become apostles of Mary. The first Marian Missionaries to Japan were trained in the "Town of the Immaculate." In 1930, Maximillian opened a Marian publication apostolate in Nagasaki, Japan—one of the two cities in Japan which would later be ravaged by a nuclear bomb during the Second World War. As popes have been saying ever since, God chose His most faithful people as a sacrifice to insure future peace in the world. In 1939, Maximillian was arrested by the Nazis who had taken over Poland. Two years later, in 1941, he died at Auschwitz, the infamous concentration camp. He had been first denied food, but when after some time had passed they looked into his cell, he was still alive. They then inoculated him with deadly poison. Why? Because he offered his life for another man who was chosen in reprisal by the Nazi's for that father of a large family. He was beatified by Pope Paul VI and canonized by Pope John Paul II. Maximillian's Marian Spirituality We will reconstruct the main features of Maximillian's spirituality. The spirituality of St. Maximillian is based directly on this truth: that the Immaculate Virgin Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces. That is the first premise of his Marian thinking. If this were not so, Maximillian explains, all our strength and effort in the spiritual life would be in vain. In other words, our spiritual life depends on grace. That's obvious, but it also depends on the grace that we must receive through Mary. Second, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mediatrix of all the graces that any human being receives, believer or unbeliever, Christian or non-Christian, without exception. Third, our life of grace depends on the nearness of grace that we have to the soul of the Immaculate Mother of God. It is an article of Faith that everyone receives sufficient grace to reach Heaven. But the degree of grace that any person receives—always from Christ but through Mary—depends on the degree of grace which that person, at the time when the grace is needed, is near to, like to, assimilated to the Mother of Jesus. The more Marian we are, the more assurance we have of obtaining grace from Mary's Son through His Mother. That deserves to be memorized. Fourth, the nearer a person's soul is, to the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the purer that person's soul becomes, the more sinless, the holier that person becomes in his faith, growing in understanding and firmly accepting God's revealed truth. In other words, holiness determines clarity; holiness determines intelligibility; holiness determines certitude in the faith that we already possess. Our faith will grow in the measure of our holiness approximating, at any given point in time, the holiness of Christ's Mother. Correspondingly, the greater becomes that person's virtues—theological and moral. This is a unique insight into Marian spirituality. Our relationship with Mary, as Mediatrix is normative. Depending on how closely our life of grace approximates Mary's at any given time in our lives, she then becomes the standard of how much grace we are going to receive. Fifth, Maximillian describes Our Lady in terms of her relationship with the Holy Trinity. The one created person in whom we can best recognize and find reflected the Holy Trinity, is the Blessed Virgin Mary who is the spouse, says Maximillian, of the Holy Trinity. Everything which God does, outside of His own Trinitarian life—in other words in the created universe of time and eternity—is always done by all three Persons, equally and simultaneously. Having created the world, the apex of the work of the Holy Trinity is the Incarnation and therefore Mary, who had to cooperate with her free human will with the Holy Trinity. Otherwise there would not have been an Incarnation. Maximillian insists that although Mary is of course a creature, there is one and only one who is the most sublime model that God has created among human persons; one for us to both venerate and imitate, and that is the Immaculate Mother of God. Sixth, unlike her Son Who is a divine Person, there are not, as the heretical Nestorius claimed, two in Christ, human and divine. There are two , one Person in Christ. Mary was not divine, but she was as closely united with the Trinity as any human person can be. The key words in Maximillian's Mariology are "human person." The only human person who was as closely united to the Holy Trinity as is absolutely possible, and therefore, the highest reflection of the love of the Holy Trinity; the most perfect human, living, visible, audible human being is the Blessed Virgin Mary. Seventh, St. Maximillian spoke of the human soul as going with Mary to Christ, not going to Christ from Mary. He avoided that preposition of relationship. Eighth, he stressed the importance of every Catholic consecrating him or herself to Mary and he added that this could be done in one of a variety of ways. "We can consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate one in various ways," he said, "and express our consecration in different words or different forms. In fact, a simple act of the will would be enough for that really is the essence of such a Marian consecration." However, he did provide one formula as follows: "My Immaculate Queen of heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and Mother most loving; you to whom God entrusted the entire order of mercy. I am an unworthy sinner. I cast myself at your feet, humbly pleading that you ordain to accept me completely and totally as your property and possession and do with me, and all my powers of body and soul, and with all my life and death and eternity, whatever is pleasing to you." Ninth, for St. Maximillian Kolbe, the outward sign of consecration to Mary was to wear, or at least carry, the Miraculous Medal. He explained, this is not absolutely essential, but then he added, "it is the integral sign and condition for our consecration." Tenth, the most effective means of conversion is through Mary. His great hope was that the missionary evangelization and conversion apostolate of the Catholic Church into the future would be placed into the hands of Mary. He predicted that after 2000 years, only a fraction of the human race would even be nominally Christian. He said, "we need Mary for the conversion of sinners, for the bringing of tepid souls to sanctity, for bringing the millions of non-Christians to Christ. Conditions For Conversion St. Maximillian saw the prospects of converting sinners to a life of grace under two conditions. First, we will be as effective converters (or evangelizers or missionaries) as we are personally devoted to Our Lady. Secondly, we must, if necessary, make drastic changes in our approach to those whom we want to bring to Christ or to a closer following of Mary's Son. We must promote our missionary and conversion zeal through promoting the knowledge, love and devotion to the Mother of God. Mary will do wonders, provided we use her name and her influence to effect what is so desperately needed in the modern world. Given this logic, that Mary is the key to converting the world to her Son, St. Maximillian not only named but organized his special followers as the Militia or "Army of the Immaculate" following, as he said, on the promise that Yahweh had made in Genesis: that Mary would crush the serpent's head. St. Maximillian Kolbe, zealous promoter of the veneration of the Immaculate Mother of God and martyr of charity, pray for us. Great Catholic Books Newsletter Volume II, Number 3 St. Maximillian Kolbe Issue

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