November 28, 2005

Bishop Gemma of Naples, a leading expert on exorcism: The devil hates Latin

Editorial: The demonic horror of Latin

Web Posted: 11/27/2005 12:00 AM CST
San Antonio Express-News

Bishop Andrea Gemma of Naples is the enemy of the devil and hero to schoolchildren everywhere.

Gemma is best known as one of the Roman Catholic Church's leading experts on exorcism. He performs several rites each week and has written and spoken extensively about his experiences.

In Rome, Gemma serves as a lecturer in the class on "Exorcism and Prayer of Liberation" at the Pontifical Academy Regina Apostolorum.
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To view comments on this story as well, go to AngelQueen.org.

November 22, 2005

Statue of Virgin Mary in Sacramento appears as if exuding "bloody tears"

As is right and prudent, such unusual phenomena must be carefully monitored, scrutinized and validated. And, as always in these instances, we Christians must prayerfully discern and follow the Church's final judgement.

Nov 21, 2005 12:52 pm US/Pacific

Virgin Mary Statue Seen Crying Tears Of Blood

(CBS 13) SACRAMENTO There are often reports of statues or paintings of the Virgin Mary crying. There are even websites that chronicle the occurences. But it's not often there are sightings in your own backyard.

Overnight, some parishoners say they witnesses a 'miracle' saying they saw the statue of the Virgin Mary crying tears of blood at the Vietnamese Catholic Martyr's Church in Sacramento County.

We sent a crew there this morning, and you can clearly see some kind of red streaking on the face of the statue. A steady stream of parishoners came to see and worship in front of the statue. For many it was a very emotional experience. Many were crying, others were praying the Rosary.

CBS 13's Marcy Valenzuela will have more on this story tonight on KOVR 13 News At 5:00.

If you'd like to see the Virgin Mary statue yourself, the church is located along Highway 16 at 10371 Jackson Road just east of Bradshaw.

(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

November 20, 2005

A theologian in Rome teaches on exorcism: "The devil exists, but we must not be afraid"

On the Devil's Doings
Theologian Delivers a Lesson in a Rome Pub

ROME, NOV. 18, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Rome's Theology on Tap series for English speakers resumed with a talk on angels and devils.

Father Pedro Barrajón, a professor of theological anthropology, explained to a group of young people, who gathered Monday in an Irish pub near the Piazza Venezia, how an exorcism is carried out.

He recommended that one should not be afraid of the devil.

"The devil exists, but we must not be afraid," said the Legionary priest who lectures in the course on exorcism and the Prayer of Deliverance at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum.
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November 14, 2005

That we might have the eyes of our souls opened to Christ, the light of the world

As Saint Symeon the New Theologian, an Orthodox monk who lived around 949 to 1022 said in Ethics 5:

“Son of David, have mercy on me”
My friend, you have learned that the Kingdom of Heaven is in you (Lk 17:21), if you wish, and that all the eternal goods are in your hands. So hurry to see, to take hold of and to obtain within yourself the goods that are reserved… Groan, prostrate yourself. Like the blind man in the past, you now also say: “Have mercy on me, Son of God, and open the eyes of my soul so that I might see the Light of the world that you are, oh my God (Jn 8:12), and that I too might become a child of that divine light (Jn 12:36).
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November 12, 2005

We are created for God; we are created to love Him and our fellow man

Jeff Pioquinto,SJ has created a blog, "Photography and the Spiritual Exercises," which links evocative photographic images with the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Especially evocative is his post of November 5, "The End of Man":

Text of St. Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises:

Man was created for this end: to praise, reverence, and serve the Lord his God, and by this means to arrive at eternal salvation.

This meditation comprises three great truths which are the foundation of all the Exercises: I come from God; I belong to God; I am destined for God. That is to say, God is my first principle, my sovereign Master, my last end.

God is in pursuit of us; He is a God for whom we are created.

Knowledge without God can breed arrogance; humble knowledge with God can breed wisdom

Spirit Daily

FROM EVOLUTION TO THE NEW AGE, TRUTH COMES WHEN 'WISDOM' BEATS 'KNOWLEDGE'

The other day a priest was speaking about the Book of Wisdom and recalling a meeting he'd had with a physician.

He was startled, said this priest (who was born abroad), at the haughtiness of the American doctor.

Asked this priest: what caused this arrogance?

The answer was knowledge. The physician was knowledgeable (at least about the human body) and was intent on letting everyone know it.

Such knowledge was undeniable but was not to be confused, noted the priest, with wisdom.

The doctor was knowledgeable but he was not very wise. No one arrogant is.
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November 11, 2005

We must watch for the Son of Man to return and detach ourselves from illusory realities

According to today's gospel reading, Luke 17:26-37, we are to wait and watch for the Son of Man to return for,

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will
save it (Luke 17:33).
In like vein, in our commentary today, St. Gregory of Nyssa asks us to save our life by abandoning our "illusory dreams":


Saint Gregory of Nyssa (around 335-395), Monk and Bishop
Homily 11 on the Song of Songs

“They ate and drank, they bought and sold”

The Lord gave his disciples important recommendations so that they might shake off like dust everything earthly in their nature and might thus be raised to the desire for supernatural realities. According to one of these recommendations, those who turn towards life on high must be stronger than sleep and must always remain watchful… I am talking about the drowsiness that arises among those who are plunged in life’s lie through illusory dreams such as honors, riches, power, pomp, the fascination of pleasure, ambition, the thirst for enjoyment, vanity and everything that their imagination leads superficial people to seek madly. All these things pass away with the fleeting nature of time; they belong to the domain of appearances… Hardly have they seemed to exist when they disappear like the waves of the sea…

So that our minds might be free of these illusions, the Word invites us to shake this deep sleep from the eyes of our soul, so that we might not slip away from the true realities by becoming attached to that which has no consistency. That is why he suggests that we be watchful when he says: “Let your belts be fastened around your waists and your lamps be burning ready.” (Lk 12:35) For when the light shines before our eyes, it chases sleep away, and when our kidneys are held tight by a belt, they prevent the body from succumbing to it… The person who has fastened the belt of temperance lives in the light of a pure conscience; the trust of a child illuminates his life like a lamp… If we live like that, we will enter into a life that is like that of the angels.

November 09, 2005

We are to be the temple of His body--the resting place of God's eternal throne

In today's commentary from St. Hilary:

Saint Hilary (around 315-367), Bishop of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church
Treatise on Psalm 64

“He was talking about the temple of his body”

The Lord said: “This is my resting place forever,” and he “chose Zion as the place where he will dwell.” (Ps 132:14) But the temple is destroyed. Where will God’s eternal throne be? Where will his resting place be forever? Where will his temple be for him to dwell there? The apostle Paul gives us an answer: “You are the temple of God, … the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Cor 3:16). That is the house and temple of God. They are filled with his teaching and his power. They are the dwelling place for the holiness of God’s heart.

But it is God who builds this dwelling place. If it were built by human hands, it would not last, not even if it were founded on human teaching. Our fruitless work and our worries are not enough to protect it. The Lord goes about this in a different way: he did not found it on earth or on moving sand, but it rests on the prophets and the apostles (Eph 2:20); it is built constantly out of living stones (1 Pet 2:5). It will develop to the ultimate dimension of Christ’s body. Its construction continues constantly. Many houses go up all around it and they will resemble one another in one big and happy city (Ps 122:3).

November 07, 2005

Blessed are the persecuted who suffer for Christ

WorldNetDaily

FAITH UNDER FIRE

Tortured for Christ
The extraordinary story of 1 man's victory over Communism

Posted: July 16, 20051:00 a.m. Eastern

By Ron Strom© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

He was an outspoken anti-communist with the scars to prove it, a man raised Jewish who embraced Christianity with uncommon devotion, and a visionary whose life was dedicated to helping believers who suffer for their faith.

He was Richard Wurmbrand, founder of leading Christian-persecution organization The Voice of the Martyrs.

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November 04, 2005

The Eucharist is the strength of martyrs

Eucharist as the Strength of Martyrs
Pontifical Academy's Congress Focuses on a Sacramental Bond

ROME, NOV. 3, 2005 (Zenit.org).- A congress held for the close of the Year of the Eucharist pointed out the relationship that Church martyrs have always had with the sacrament of Jesus' real presence.

The Pontifical Academy of Devotion to Martyrs organized a day of study Oct. 27, at the Teutonic College of St. Mary in Camposanto, on the theme: "The Eucharist: Strength of Martyrs, Source of Christian Witness."

One of the congress's speakers, Monsignor Pasquale Iacobone, a member of the martyrs academy and an official of the secretariat of the Pontifical Council for Culture, spoke with ZENIT.

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Life is a challenge to go beyond ourselves

Spirit Daily

Do What You Least Want And You Will Find Yourself In A Place Of Grace

By Michael H. Brown

Life is such that when we do what we least want to do, joy is often the result. Life on earth is a challenge to go beyond ourselves. Contradictory, isn't that?

But considering the Crucifixion, could anything be more in line with Jesus?

Crucifixion was followed by Resurrection and so we have a most crucial lesson: Life is a series of tests, and when we approach it as such, we transcend it.

Day after day -- year after year -- we face challenges that we can face or shirk. When we face them, we conquer them. And doing that often means doing what we don't want to do. It means doing what is difficult. Here you will find some of life's sweetest grace!

Take weight loss. It's enjoyable to eat. It's one of life's greatest pleasures. But when we overindulge with no effort at reining in the flesh, it ends up being a misery (and even the death of us).

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November 02, 2005

Exorcist: Women are more open to the spiritual world and therefore more prone to possession

Women prone to demonic possession, says exorcist

First posted 05:52am (Mla time) Nov 01, 2005
By Christian V. Esguerra
Inquirer News Service

Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the Nov. 1, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND looking a little peaked? Are her eyes red? Can she do a 360-degree head turn, accompanied by flying green vomit?

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

According to a certified Filipino exorcist, women are prone to demonic possession because they are generally more “psychic and intuitive” than men.

“They are more open to the spiritual world,” said Fr. Jose Francisco Syquia, a professor of spiritual theology at the San Carlos Seminary and one of the few “designated” exorcists in the local Catholic hierarchy.

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