May: Mary's Month

Source: Apostleship of Prayer

Catholic Culture's entry today:

Mary, the Bride of the Spirit

In the time between Ascension and Pentecost the Church calls the faithful to be in prayer in the Upper Room, especially in front of Jesus in the Eucharist, to prepare to receive the Holy Spirit “in spiritual union with the Blessed Virgin Mary”, as the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI said at the Angelus on 20 May 2007.

The month of May, dedicated to Mary helps us to enter into more intimate communion with Our Lady who, with the Holy Spirit, has a quite unique relationship since the Spirit came to her “and the power of the Most High will covered her with its shadow” (Lk 1, 35) to work the most wonderful miracle of salvation: the Incarnation of the Word.

Montfort writes about this sublime mystery: “the Holy Spirit, sterile in God, that is he does not bring forth another divine person, became fecund through Mary whom he espoused. With her and from her he achieved his masterpiece, which is God made man, and every day until the end of time he brings forth the predestined, the members of this adorable Body. Therefore the more the Holy Spirit finds Mary, his beloved and inseparable spouse, in a soul, the more he becomes active and powerful to form Jesus Christ in this soul and this soul in Jesus Christ” (TVD n. 20).

Similarly , another great Saint the Franciscan Maximilian Maria Kolbe, affirmed: “the Holy Spirit, the divine Spouse of Immaculate Mary, works only in Her and through Her communicates supernatural life, the life of grace, participation in divine love, divinity” (SK 1326).

These words can be only understood in the light of the mystery of the Incarnation, when God entered the world and history, uniting himself as a spouse to the creature He wished Immaculate: “I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving-kindness, and in compassion” (Hosea 2,21).

The bond between the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin Mary must be intensified by every Christian, especially in this special time of preparation for Pentecost, and a new outpouring of the love of God who, with Mary, wishes to work in our souls the miracle of a “mystical incarnation”, as it was called by Mexican mystic Concepción Cabrera de Armida.

The sole purpose of our life in fact is full conformation with Jesus by means of a progressive path of di conversion worked by the Holy Spirit, who lifts us higher and higher, so we may live Christ!

To discover the bond which unites Mary and the Holy Spirit gives unspeakable impulse to our life because we enter harmony with the powerful mystery of the Incarnation of God, which led to our salvation. To enter into spiritual union with the Blessed Virgin Mary, in this dimension of Trinitarian Love, means finding the key to ever deeper knowledge of Jesus: Fruit of the Holy Spirit in Mary!

The Papal Magisterium has often pointed out to believers this indissoluble bond between the eternal Love of the Father and the Virgin Mother, showing it as a marriage bond. For example Paul VI, in his Exhortation Marialis Cultus recalls that some holy Fathers and ecclesiastical authors, “Examining more deeply still the mystery of the Incarnation, they saw in the mysterious relationship between the Spirit and Mary an aspect redolent of marriage, poetically portrayed by Prudentius: "The unwed Virgin espoused the Spirit,"” (MC, n. 26).

In Redemptoris Mater, the Servant of God John Paul II, wrote that when the Spirit came upon Mary at the Annunciation she, “became his faithful spouse” (RM, n. 26). Numerous saints and countless faithful have invoked her as “bride of the Holy Spirit”, “bride of God,” “totally belonging to God”, always and unconditionally faithful to His Love! We too never tire of invoking the coming of the Paraclete in our hearts looking toward the Immaculate Mary we say: “Come Holy Spirit, come through Mary”!

Read more about Pope John Paul II the Great's profound devotion to the Holy Mother here.

St. Louis Marie de Montfort

Source: Apostleship of Prayer

This was yesterday's Saint of the Day, please excuse the belated posting.

Benedict XVI Champions JP2

Source: Apostleship of Prayer



Source: Vatican You Tube



Hat Tip: Orbis Catholicvs

Krupa JP2 Nexus?

Via Fox News the Polish American uber model, Joanna Krupa, is stating she is taking her cue from the late Pontiff in terms of nudity???

"I think worrying about going topless in a photo shoot or film is really ridiculous," Krupa told FOXNews.com in an exclusive interview. "And the fact is Pope John Paul [2] said, since we were born naked, it is art, and it's just showing a beautiful body that God created."

"I was born in Europe, and Europeans have a more casual, natural way of dealing with nudity," Krupa adds. "Interestingly enough, these days, you see nudity and toplessness in almost every critically acclaimed movie, and whenever I pick up a French Vogue, I see bare breasts, and French Vogue still sets the standards."

Photo: JUSTIN PRICE FOR JOANNAKRUPA.COM

I don't even know how to respond to that statement but it's Friday and it has been a long week...














See her Wikipedia entry here.

See her Myspace page here.

See her IMDB page here.

See her official website here.

See her You Tube page here.

John Paul II the Great Pics

Along with the Apostle Peter, the first Pope, and Saint Pope Leo I the Great I truly believe that John Paul II belongs in that select company of Vicars of Christ!

Catholic Fire has a spellbiding dated post here of incredible Pope John Paul II the Great photos...

John Paul II-We Miss You

Hat Tip: A Catholic View

Today's remembrance in his native country of Poland is particularly special and poignant:

Krakow, Poland, Apr 2, 2009 / 03:50 am (CNA).- On Thursday Poland will mark the fourth anniversary of the death of Servant of God Pope John Paul II with prayers, poetry and music as a website advocates for his beatification. A web page has been created where readers can sign in and endorse the “Saint now” appeal launched in St. Peter’s Square on the day of the pontiff’s funeral.

“The page was not opened to pressure people or try to speed up the beatification process, but to send a tangible sign that the words ‘Saint now’ were not just uttered on the spur of the moment,” the page organizers said, according to SIR.

The appeal says “John Paul II exerts great influence on the moral attitudes of the Polish population and lives in our hearts as a saint.”

Signatures to the appeal are displayed under a short prayer thanking God for the gift of Pope John Paul II and asking that he be beatified soon, SIR reports.

The Polish-language website is located at http://www.beatyfikacjajp2.pl/

Also on Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI will preside at a Mass marking the anniversary of John Paul II. Young people from the diocese of Rome are particularly welcome at the ceremony as a preparation for World Youth Day, which is celebrated on the diocesan level on April 5.

As he does so eloquently & with such elan, Deacon Keith Fournier has a magnificent post today regarding the significance of the late, great Vicar of Christ:

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - It is hard to believe that it has been four years since the one whom I call with deep affection, “My Champion”, the beloved late Servant of God John Paul II went to the Fathers house. As I grow older it has become so clear that he is the man who has most influenced my life and shaped my thought. He is also the one who singlehandedly turned my whole plan for my own future upside down through the witness of his life and the wisdom of his writings.

Wednesday, his beloved successor, the Servant of the Servants of God, Pope Benedict XVI, told the Pilgrims gathered in Rome "With you, I pray for the gift of beatification," during the General Audience in Saint Peter's Square. To honor his memory I offer this article which I wrote on the day he died and I join my prayer to the chorus of millions “Sancto Subito”!:

“I am happy. You should be too. Let us pray together with joy” Pope John Paul II right before he died.

"I feel that my mission is about to begin, my mission to make God loved as I love him, to teach souls my little way ... the way of trust and absolute surrender ... I will spend heaven doing good on earth." St. Therese

"The words were just announced to a waiting world “Pope John Paul II has died.” The heart of that world has broken. The tears of the faithful will fill rivers. We will pray, and reflect on the life and example of this incredible gift, Pope John Paul II, for centuries to come. We had in our midst, John Paul the Great.

With millions of the faithful throughout the world, I watched and prayed throughout these painful days for our Pope. He showed us how to live for Jesus Christ. He showed us how to love, poured out for others. He showed us that suffering, joined to the Savior, can become a sign of God’s continued mercy and an occasion of grace. Then, he showed us how to die, not with fear, but with faith. Just this morning, he spoke these words to a friend at his bedside “I am happy. You should be too. Let us pray together with joy.”

It seems like only yesterday that he stepped out on to the balcony in St. Peters Square and proclaimed: "Be Not Afraid! Open up, no; swing wide the gates to Christ. Open up to his saving power the confines of the State, open up economic and political systems, the vast empires of culture, civilization and development…. Be not afraid!" He strode onto that platform with strength and vitality.

This mountain climbing Polish Pope was so filled with the love of God that it was contagious. A talented and gifted "man of letters", a playwright, a philosopher, an intellectual giant, a poet, but more importantly, a genuine human being with a heart that embraced the whole world, like the Heart of the One whom he represents on earth. He was truly the “Vicar of Christ”, representing the Lord, the King of Kings, for us all. We had him but a short time.

Now, he is home with the Lord. (Read entire commentary here)

Remembering Pope John Paul II

UPDATE 1:

Sophia Loren writes the Vatican on behalf of the beatification and sainthood of Pope John Paul II. (H/T NCRegister.com)

ANSA.it reports:

(ANSA) - Rome, March 31 - Sophia Loren has lent her weight to the cause of Pope John Paul II reaching sainthood.

The screen star has written to the Vatican official who is putting the case for the late pope's beatification, one step from sainthood, Italian magazine Chi reports in an edition out Wednesday.

''The memory of John Paul II is jealously guarded in my heart,'' says the 74-year-old screen icon.

''It is a daily memory,'' she says, adding that she prayed at the pope's tomb ''to bear witness to my great admiration and devotion''.

Another Italian magazine, Oggi, reported two new alleged miracles Tuesday as part of the dossier being put together by the pope''s 'postulator', Msgr Slawomir Oder: a Polish boy with incurable kidney cancer who reportedly rose from his stretcher after visiting the pope's tomb; and a Texas woman said to have recovered from respiratory failure after being given up for dead.

Beatification is the final stage on the way to being declared a saint. It means that someone can be called 'Blessed' and that the person can be venerated by Catholics in the place where he or she lived, whereas a saint is venerated by the entire Church.

FAST TRACK.

John Paul was put on a beatification fast track after his death in 2005 but the Vatican has repeatedly denied reports that he will get to the pre-sainthood stage any time soon. Despite this, there has been speculation that a June 2009 date would be chosen to coincide with the 30th anniversary of John Paul's election as pope. (Read entire article)

Plus, if you are so inclined you can purchase the following DVD, with trailer below:

A unique 5-DVD collection that chronologically follows, step by step, Pope John Paul II’s life, including his childhood in Poland, his appointment as Pope, his most important foreign visits, and his last days. The last section is dedicated to his touching final farewell to the faithful in Rome. It is the extraordinary portrait of a Pope who spiritually guided millions of people, leaving an indelible mark in the recent history of mankind.


DVD 1. From Crakow to St. Peter’s chair
DVD 2. 1988-1991: The fall of the Berlin Wall
DVD 3. 1992-1995: Witness to Peace
DVD 4. 1996-1999: Towards the III Millennium
DVD 5. 2000-2005: From the Jubilee to the last goodbye

JP2's 4 Year Anniversary

Source: The Vatican You Tube

R.I.P. Gianni Giansanti

(Catholic News Service Blog) While in Africa with Pope Benedict XVI, the papal press corps received word that longtime colleague and internationally known photographer Gianni Giansanti had died in Rome March 19 of bone cancer.

Gianni, who was 52, was probably best known to the Catholic world as the man who magnificently captured on film the historic and private moments of Pope John Paul II’s 26-year pontificate. His book, “John Paul II, Portrait of a Pontiff” was published in 1996, and he provided a steady stream of news photos of unforgettable JPII moments: his first appearance in St. Peter’s Square, his meeting with would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca in a Rome prison, his prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and many more. (Read entire article)

See some of Giansanti's splendid work here, here and here.

"Let Me Go to My Father’s House”

Deacon Keith Fournier, writing in Catholic Online, reports the following:

ROME (Catholic Online) – It began with a Polish News Report in the Polish daily “Dziennik” and spread throughout the blogosphere within hours, the late beloved Servant of God John Paul II will be beatified on April 2, 2010. He died on April 2, 2005 at 9:37 p.m. in his private apartment shortly after asking “Let me go to my Father’s House”.

The whole world wept.

At the funeral of this extraordinary 'Servant of the Servants of God' the faithful shouted and carried signs. Both expressed the same "sense of the faithful", "Santo Subito" - a saint immediately.

His beloved friend Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakowwho co-authored the touching book “Let Me Go to the Father's House: John Paul II's Strength in Weakness”, told reporters that the process of beatification would be over soon. His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI has also indicated his desire to conclude the rigorous process soon because that “is what the world is asking for.”

The reliable Polish Daily report indicates that the Congregation for the Cause of the Saints has already concluded the process. It began by special dispensation on June 28, 2005, a mere two months after John Paul's death rather than the standard five years. The "sense of the faithful" concerning the sanctity of the late Pope is clear. The miracles attributed to his intercession are multiple.

The Polish newspaper was not the only print source to make this claim of a pending beatification. The Italian Daily “La Stampa”, another reliable source, in an article written by Giacomo Galeazzi, carried a similar report. It indicated that the position paper has already been forwarded by the theologians who carefully examined the life, message and alleged miracles.Msgr. Tadeusz Pieronek is the polish priest who served as the postulator for the cause of the late pope at the Diocesan level. He commented to La Stampa, “This is very good news”.

Indeed it is! April 2, 2010, five years after the Servant of God John Paul II went to His Father’s House, the world may once again pause to remember a life well lived and a death that opened the portal of heaven to the eyes of a watching world.

Finally, in April of 2010, we can officially refer to the late Bishop of Rome as Saint John Paul II the Great...make sure to follow and support the entire process by clicking here.

Indissovable Catholic-Jewish Covenant

The Holy Father, Benedict XVI, "met on Thursday with representatives of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, who were joined by Catholic participants of the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with Jews. "

Complete text of His Holiness' remarks, via Vatican Radio, below:

Distinguished representatives of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel,

Dear Catholic Delegates,

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you, the delegation of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, together with Catholic participants led by the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. The important dialogue in which you are engaged is a fruit of the historical visit of my beloved predecessor Pope John Paul II to the Holy Land in March 2000. It was his wish to enter into a dialogue with Jewish religious institutions in Israel and his encouragement was decisive to attaining this goal. Receiving the two Chief Rabbis of Israel in January 2004 he called this dialogue a "sign of great hope”.

During these seven years not only has the friendship between the Commission and the Chief Rabbinate increased, but you have also been able to reflect on important themes which are relevant to the Jewish and Christian traditions alike. Because we recognize a common rich spiritual patrimony a dialogue based on mutual understanding and respect is, as Nostra Aetate (n. 4) recommends, necessary and possible.

Working together you have become increasingly aware of the common values which stand at the basis of our respective religious traditions, studying them during the seven meetings held either here in Rome or in Jerusalem. You have reflected on the sanctity of life, family values, social justice and ethical conduct, the importance of the word of God expressed in Holy Scriptures for society and education, the relationship between religious and civil authority and the freedom of religion and conscience. In the common declarations released after every meeting, the views which are rooted in both our respective religious convictions have been highlighted, while the differences of understanding have also been acknowledged.

The Church recognizes that the beginnings of her faith are found in the historical divine intervention in the life of the Jewish people and that here our unique relationship has its foundation. The Jewish people, who were chosen as the elected people, communicate to the whole human family, knowledge of and fidelity to the one, unique and true God. Christians gladly acknowledge that their own roots are found in the same self-revelation of God, in which the religious experience of the Jewish people is nourished. (emphasis added)

As you know, I am preparing to visit the Holy Land as a pilgrim. My intention is to pray especially for the precious gift of unity and peace both within the region and for the worldwide human family. As Psalm 125 brings to mind, God protects his people: "As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people, from this time forth and for evermore".

May my visit also help to deepen the dialogue of the Church with the Jewish people so that Jews and Christians and also Muslims may live in peace and harmony in this Holy Land.

I thank you for your visit and I renew my personal commitment to advancing the vision set out for coming generations in the Second Vatican Council's declaration Nostra Aetate.

Click here for BENEDICT XVI's official letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church concerning the remission of the excommunication of the four Bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre.

Lastly, read here the positive reaction to the letter and overture from World Jewish Congress President, Ronald Lauder, as well as The Jerusalem Post.

UPDATE 1:

Zenit has an update regarding the closure remarks of Shear-Yashuv Cohen, the chief rabbi of Haifa.

Remembering Father John Neuhaus

See more photos of this intellectual giant and servant of the Lord here.

Hat Tip: Richard Munro

Papal Visits to Angola

Source: Vatican YouTube

John Paul II in Africa

Source: Vatican You Tube



Source: Apostleship of Prayer

Papal African Trip

Source: Vatican You Tube



Source: Apostleship of Prayer



Hat Tip: A Catholic View

John Paul II's Suffering Message

Plus, today's Saint of the Day is St. Apollonia and she is "the patroness of dentists, and people suffering from toothache and other dental diseases often ask her intercession."

Benedict XVI is meeting today with over 60 American Jewish leaders regarding the Williamson flap, read more about it here and here.

Prayers for the Sick and Bishops

Neuhaus photos

Father Richard John Neuhaus photos from First Things.

St. John Paul 2 we love you!

Hat Tip: Da Mihi Animas

Martin, U2 & Neuhaus

Whispers in the Loggia has an interesting post about Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, and the concept of "atonement".

As an historical aside and as evidenced by the above photos, His Grace was instrumental in orchestrating a Papal Audience between Bono and the late, great John Paul II.

Whispers also informs us that U2's "15th U2 album -- No Line on the Horizon -- will roll out late next month."

On another issue, InsideCatholic.com, asks us to pray for the powerful theologian Father Richard John Neuhaus, who is battling a second round of cancer. Please keep him in your devotions and prayers!