I am quite aware of Saint Maximilian Kolbe and not so much of Saint Louis Montfort. I shall follow your advice. Thank you brother.
I have no words for you Carolyn… I’m a simple layman, just a weak Catholic trying to improve a little bit every day, I love my Roman Catholic Church as the True Church of Christ, but I never had any mystical experience of the same level that you did, I wish I had! Thank you for sharing with us.
What is the Immaculate Heart of Mary? "...So, through Her (Our Mother Mary), humanity reacquired the rights lost, and this is why Her birth was the most beautiful, the most glorious birth. From Her very birth, She enclosed within Her maternal little Heart, as though in-between two wings, all generations, as children reborn in Her virginal Heart, so as to warm them, keep them sheltered, and raise them and nourish them with the blood of Her maternal Heart. This is the reason why this tender Celestial Mother loves creatures so much – because all are reborn in Her, and She feels the life of Her children within Her Heart. What can Our Divine Will not do wherever It reigns and has Its Life? It encloses everything and everyone, and makes one the provider of good to all. So, all feel, under Her blue mantle, the maternal wing of their Celestial Mother, and they find in Her maternal Heart their little place in which to take cover." (from the Book of Heaven)
I also see this issue as a mystery that probably can’t be completely achieved by our human understanding until we face God in the Heaven, however there are different levels of understanding that has been achieved by different people according to the Grace and will of God.
Yes. If we give up on Mystery we would never say the Rosary. But on the other hand there is a danger of kind of claiming ownership of the a mystery. Of thinking we have things nailed down. This is why the Holy Spirt is shown as fire, as water, as a gentle breeze, things we cna't put nails through to tie down. This is why I so loved the responses on this thread. They show an insticnctive humilty and authenticity. Or to put it another way, they spoke from the Heart about the Heart. They did not nail down. They did not present with a shopping list.
Yes Padraig, on a practical understanding of that concept, that’s my opinion too, the triumph of the “Church of Christ”. Apparently that’s Lucy’s meaning as well regarding to the 3rd secret contents. “Afterward I felt in the increased beating of my heart and in my spirit a quiet voice which said: ‘in time, one faith, one baptism, one Church, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic.” http://catholictruthblog.com/2014/08/21/fatima-new-text-published/ No matter how destroyed the Roman Catholic Church can be with the lack of faith, discipline and piety, how dirty she become with sex scandals, corruption and increasing apostasy of priests, bishops and cardinals, she is still the one who owns the full Truth and that’s a big responsibility. So, even now, the word conversion can’t be mitigated on the affairs with other Christian churches.
Yes, one CHurch, One Faith, one Baptism. But there is such a mystery in this too. At the present time the world is drifting apart into two communities. Basically as Jesus said we are spearating itno sheep and goats. We are confused thoguh .A lot of folks we considered to be fellow sheep are actually wolves. A lot of folks we considered to sisters and brothers are actually running off to hell and trying their hardest to drag us off to hel lwith them. So this is a time of real confusion. We are in a real war and are no longer quite sure who are friends and emies really are. War is always like this full of confusion and misdirection. But as time goes on and the two flocks settle down, it will be more obvious just who the sheep are and just who the goats are too. Wait and see. Matthew 25:31-46 The Sheep and the Goats 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” View attachment 3357
I think you've got it Padraig. When the departing Jesus gave us His Mother He gave us His Church, Holy Mother the Church. Peter was in charge, (absentee landlord), Mary was the Counsellor; Our Lady of Good Counsel and The Seat of Wisdom, and John was the care-taker. Just another thought.
Hi Basto We are greatly blessed to have this image in our church. One of the prayers displayed at the Shrine is "Mary, Mother of God, Mother of All Peoples and Lady of All Nations, in the sure hope of your care we consecrate ourselves, our families and our nations to Your Immaculate Heart. We consecrate Russia and all the little children of Russia to Your Immaculate Heart. Thank you for all Your love. Protect us from heresy. Keep us faithful to the Holy Rosary. Our Lady of Akita, we offer these prayers in the Name of Jesus Christ Your Son. AMEN."
I heartily agree with you. It seems lately (about the last year) that the sheep and the goats are being separated. Things that were somewhat hidden before are coming out in the open. The homosexual agenda. The abortion clinics with witches openly standing outside in front of them during Christian protests. The satanists operating and doing rituals in the open. The Planned Parenthood videos with doctors laughing and murdering live children. If someone supports these causes it is like God is giving them one last chance to see who they are really supporting. It is as if the devil has thrown his cloak off because he is in a hurry to finish his work. It reminds me of this verse: Revelation 12:12 Woe to the earth, and to the sea, because the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. I don't think there is any more denying we are close, even at the gates.
H Hi Padraig At a recent Osteopathic conference in Wellington I was elightened to discover that the founder of our profession, who was not a Catholic, taught that abortion was the greatest crime a human being could commit. He saw it not only as the most cowardly and callous form if murder but as as cutting short the life of The Spirit in a human being, of throwing God out of his rightful place, a crime against The Holy Spirit. He thought that abortionists should be executed for their crime.
There is also a pastoral "through the Immaculate Heart of Mary" where kasperites and other similar novelties don’t seem to fit very well. http://www.mariancatechist.com/formation/mary/thru_immaculate_heart.html
I agree Padraig, there is so much to contemplate in this mystery. The heart is so central for God isn't it? The Sacred Heart, the Immaculate Heart...and God the Father wants us to have a heart-to-heart relationship with Our Mother and Our Lord. The way I live my faith was changed profoundly through the writings of mystics and through Our Lady's messages in apparitions. I didn't get before that God wants an intimate, heart-to-heart relationship with us, he wants us to love Him and know Him, sharing every moment with Him just as Our Holy Mother did. She is a model for us all of how we were all meant to be before original sin messed us all up. Even unity in the Church, in families and in communities has to happen in the heart first. All of this for me is about leading us back into the Divine Paternal Heart, the source of everything and the person to whom Our Lady gave her total fiat.
I am a weak Catholic too. I believe the reason I had a mystical experience is because I am so wretched and Our Lord in His Great Kindness and Compassion, allowed this, to accommodate for my immence lacks. Sort of making the playing field even.
Ponderings on the Immaculate Heart of Mary: We hear our Mother Mary constantly telling us, "come quickly under My mantle" and "enter into the refuge of my Immaculate Heart". In order to enter into Her Heart, we enter also into the Heart of Jesus. In these two Hearts is found perfect love. In the Book of Heaven, Vol. 17, Jesus tells us, "When my will reigns in a compete manner in the creature, then charity will reach complete perfection in the creature." Does this imply that before the Divine Will reigns in a complete manner that we remain, as Our Mother says, "under Her mantle" until such a time when we will enter into perfect love? In "To the Priests" MMP 1/5/74, Our Lady says, "Before the great darkness, the night of atheism which will envelop the world, It is especially then that my Immaculate Heart will be your refuge...".
I don’t think this byzantine icon could be hung on the wall of a Russian Orthodox church. From their point of view – please correct me if I’m wrong – this icon represents some kind of heresy. And that’s why it has always been so difficult to perform the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Why? Because this icon, or devotion, implies the approval of a few “unacceptable” ideas such as: 1) The recognition of a late Catholic dogma, which is the Immaculate Conception of Mary; 2) The acceptance of some approved catholic revelations or Marian apparitions, at least two major ones, Lourdes and Fatima; 3) A conversion fulfilled in matters of faith; 4) The recognition of the supremacy of the Roman pontiff, by the hypothetical approval of the ideas above. Then, in light of this, we must believe that the consecrations of Russia performed by the Popes didn’t achieve their objective yet.
and at the sametime, Russia bans most abrtions??? and America expands abortion, NO??? you want a leg a thigh, how about a brain! Yes your right, no effect has taken place after JP2 consecration sleepy head
Of one thing we can be sure, they know about this devotion, its meanings, and they recognize its importance in the Catholic world. Both, the religious and the political authorities. But what do they mean with a gesture like this? Apparently, they want to have in the Vatican State and in the institutional Roman Catholic Church an ally and they also respect the Catholic faith – we could say they respect the Immaculate Heart – as long as we keep it inside our “canonical territory”, in the West. Forget all about conversion, don’t even think about “missions” in the East, that’s "terrorism"… The other hypothesis could be some kind of “We are looking forward for you to come and spread your faith here in the East, please come, we can’t wait!” but I don’t think so… Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko met with Vatican Secretary of StateCardinal Pietro Parolin at Minsk, on the last 13th of March (exactly two years after the election of Pope Francis), and gave him a man-made icon of the Immaculate Heart of Mary as a gift to Pope Francis. Belarus is the closest ally of the Russian Federation on the western border and, in matters of religion, this country remains inside the “canonical territory” of the orthodox Christianity, under the Patriarchate of Moscow. http://www.belarus.by/en/press-cent...henko-presents-icon-to-pope_i_0000020487.html
I would be willing to make a bet that an icon very similar to this will be not only hanging in the Kremlin shortly, but held up in front of the Russian armies as they join with the Catholic armies of Western Europe and march to Jerusalem. Hard to believe now, but that is what the many prophecies of the Saints say.
