The Seven Sorrows of Mary (Fr Ripperger video)

 

Our Lady's Role in Spiritual Warfare

 

Who Dares Wins

 

The recent Ukrainian ‘Operation Spider web’ which targeted airbases and military hardware across Russia in a simultaneous drone attack over several time zones deep behind enemy lines without loss of life was a sharp contrast with how the rest of the war was being waged in the trench warfare in eastern Ukraine aka ‘the meat-grinder’ where every foot of territory gained is measured in lives lost. 

It’s reminiscent of the way in which the allies turned around the desert war in North Africa with the creation of the SAS and its first synchronised raids on German and Italian airbases, a new methodology comprising meticulous attention to detail, covert manoeuvring, split second timing. All the damage was done before the adversary knew what was happening. 

We can certainly draw parallels here too with how humanity handles itself in dealing with the spiritual world around us. If situational awareness of the world we live in is absent then people are essentially walking into machine gun fire, like the trench warfare, being constantly taken out by the enemy of our souls with temptations, weaknesses, and misunderstanding of every kind. This results in helpless victims of an unseen war raging around them. And the world is becoming more broken, damaged and deranged as a consequence. 

There is however another way. Perhaps best demonstrated by our own version of the SAS; the contemplative monks and nuns all over the world and across the centuries know their enemy; their lives and prayer and intercession for us is targeted to do great violence to the enemy camp. They succeed in disrupting his plans and dismantling the apparatus he builds, by applying the power and authority of Jesus. 

Perhaps we are at a stage in human history though, where we cannot leave everything up to the few specialists behind the monastery walls and the heavenly angelic armies. The days we are living in, require something of us too; firstly to be aware of what we are up against or to be more precise who we are up against and to engage in the struggle ourselves too. We need to push in to prayer rather than simply being dismayed by what we see unravelling in our world… to be part of the solution. Put aside the enticing distractions or what gives relief and exchange them for intercessory prayer for what is needed instead. And this will surely tip the balance or move the needle in the right direction. 

Who Prays Wins!

The Incredible Story of the Tibetan Bible

 (Story from the Asia Harvest Newsletter.)

Tibet is vast— three times the size of Texas or the United Kingdom, but with only a fraction of the population. We had dozens of epic stories to choose from when considering what to share as an except in this newsletter, but we have opted for the story of how the Tibetan Bible came into existence. This remarkable account gives an insight into the intense demonic opposition faced by all Christians who seek to penetrate the Roof of the World with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The story of how the Tibetan Bible finally emerged after a long struggle deserves to be widely shared. It highlights the level of spiritual opposition that Christian work in this dark part of the world invariably attracts.

German Moravian missionaries in north India gave themselves fully to the task of translating the Scriptures into Tibetan in 1856. Incredibly, it was to take nearly a century to complete, with the first full Tibetan Bible finally being printed in 1948. God used a Tibetan family—the Gergens—who helped with the translation work and themselves came to Christ as a result.

Although Tempu Gergan died after falling ill, his 12-year-old son Sonam had listened attentively to all the discussions between his father and the missionaries, and he boldly decided to confess Jesus as Lord and Master. Sonam's decision angered the local Buddhist monks, and great pressure was applied in a bid to make him abandon his new faith. He rebuffed their threats, and when he was publicly baptized headopted the new name of Yoseb (Joseph).

Help from Above

The first Scripture translated into Tibetan was the Gospel of John, published in 1862. Although a portion of the Bible was now available, it was not well received by Tibetans, who struggled to understand the words and concepts it contained, causing many readers to give up in frustration. Years of discouragement ensued as the Tibetan Christians and missionaries tried to share God's Word with Buddhists, only to encounter uniform apathy and disinterest.

From the start, the translators had struggled with what terms to use to accurately portray Christian concepts and names to a completely non-Christian culture. Long discussions and prayer meetings were held to discuss what Tibetan words should be used for God, Savior, and sin, among many others. Each word that was tried had Buddhist connotations, and it seemed impossible to find terms that communicated the beauty of God's Word to a people steeped in superstition and a completely different worldview.

After the Lord helped the translators find a way to communicate His Word, the New Testament was finally completed in 1903, and Yoseb Gergan immediately began to translate the Old Testament.

Although the Tibetan New Testament did not cause revival to break out, it greatly strengthened the small number of Tibetan believers, and the profile of Christianity was enhanced among the Buddhist hierarchy now that God's Word was available for them to read. The abbot of one monastery said: "I have read all the New Testament. Is it true that there is an Old Testament? If so, will you kindly send me all the books? I am very much interested in Christianity."

Wrestling with the Devil

Many more years passed until finally, in 1935, Yoseb Gergan laid down his pen. He had on his desk the first draft of the complete Tibetan Bible! He let out a deep sigh. Now, the Holy Bible would be available to reach the millions of Tibetans living on the vast plateau beyond the mountain passes.

Incredibly, although the translation has been completed, a further 13 years of intense struggle elapsed before the full Tibetan Bible was finally printed, as a succession of extraordinary events threatened to totally destroy the decades of work. It seemed as if every demon in hell had gathered to prevent the Word of God being available in Tibetan.

First, the workers at the Bible Society in India were unable to print the manuscript because they did not possess the technology to do so. At a time long before computers or photocopy machines, the precious manuscript was carefully placed inside a crate and shipped to the headquarters of the Bible Society in Britain.

The Tibetan Bible arrived in London, but as Hitler's forces swept across Europe, the Bible Society was concerned that the valuable manuscripts in their vaults might be destroyed by a Nazi bomb, so they transported the documents to safer rural locations. The Tibetan manuscript was placed in the ancient cathedral at Ripon, 200 miles north of London. As the Battle of Britain raged,

One 2,000-pound missile from the sky landed on a roadway beside Ripon Cathedral and came to rest against the wall of the church without exploding. Four feet away, inside the church's wall, lay the Tibetan manuscript. Gingerly, a bomb demolition crew defused the bomb. The firing device seemed faultless, and they could not understand why it had failed to explode.

By the time the Second World War ended, Yoseb Gergan was 60-years-old. For a decade he had patiently waited for news that his Tibetan Bible had been printed. With Europe in disarray and no sign of progress, he asked for the manuscript to be sent back to India, hoping that new technology would allow it to be printed closer to home.

Alas, the printers in India shook their heads, saying the manuscripts had been written on cheap Tibetan paper and would need to be rewritten on special white paper. Gergan asked God to give him the strength to complete the massive undertaking.

Two more years passed, and Yoseb felt his strength beginning to ebb as he continued working on his life's task. Then disaster struck. After days of feeling dizzy as he worked from sunrise to late at night, he fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Yoseb Gergan (pictured above) had suffered a heart attack.

The members of the small Tibetan church cried out to the Living God, asking Him to have mercy. They had never imagined that their beloved pastor would die before the Bible was in circulation. God heard their prayers, and Yoseb experienced a surge of strength. A special table was constructed so he could continue the work from bed, and two Tibetan scribes were employed to do most of the writing, with Yoseb overseeing their work and making corrections.

Finally, on August 11, 1946, Yoseb Gergan wrote down the Tibetan words for the final verses in the Bible: "Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." (Revelation 22:20-21).

Five days later, Yoseb Gergan closed his eyes one last time, and went to his eternal reward.

A Soggy Pulp

Unsurprisingly, more demonic opposition and roadblocks had to be overcome before the Tibetan Bible was finally in circulation. The rewritten manuscript had to be taken on the back of a mule across steep Himalayan mountain passes, and a young Tibetan named Sandrup was employed to deliver the manuscript. The journey was expected to take 50 days, and from there the manuscript would be sent on to the city of Lahore, where the Indian Bible Society was located.

Months went by without any word from Sandrup. He, and his precious cargo, had simply vanished in the remote mountains. The believers worried that he had been murdered by bandits or had encountered some other disaster.

Thankfully, additional sets of proofs had been made by Yoseb Gergan before he died. They were given to a Christian named Bahadur, who retraced the steps of the missing Sandrup. As Bahadur crossed a mountain pass, a massive electrical storm came rolling up from the valley below. He pulled his horse behind a large boulder and squatted close to the ground, waiting for the storm to pass as hailstones the size of eggs smashed into his back and neck. Suddenly,

There was a searing flash of light followed by the crash of thunder. The horse tried to bolt into the darkness, but Bahadur restrained it with tremendous effort. Flash after flash of lightning glanced off the rocks around them, filling the air with the heavy smell of scorched earth. The thunder roared as though the demons of hell had gathered to defy the terrified traveler. Torrential rain followed the hail, pouring from the heavens like a waterfall.

‘Oh God,' he cried, ‘help me now. Deliver me from Satan and his evil host. Protect your Book!' His shouted prayer was answered by another flash of lightning, which laid him out insensible on the ground.

When he revived, the storm had passed. Bahadur noticed that all was quiet, and he suddenly realized he was stone deaf. It would be weeks before he would hear a sound, and then only faintly, as the storm had split his eardrums."

Bahadur bravely soldiered on, and finally reached his destination. The scribes came running out to welcome him, but when the saddle bags were opened, a soggy mass of paper fell to the ground. The storm had succeeded in filling the bags with water. Bahadur tried to pick up the sticky mess, but it was no use. His journey had accomplished nothing. He called God to witness what the devil had done to the precious papers.

One Final Effort

The Bible Society workers realized they were in an intense spiritual battle that required a far greater power than mere human effort to overcome, so they petitioned Christians around the world to intercede for the success of the Tibetan Bible project.

After another delay, a third set of proofs was prepared. Meanwhile, the body of Sandrup, the first courier, had been found at the bottom of a steep cliff. He had perished in an avalanche.

Due to the outbreak of war which led to the formation of Pakistan as a separate country in 1947, the project leaders found that it wasn't safe to send the manuscript to Lahore for printing. It would have to be personally carried across more dangerous mountains, and one of the Tibetan scribes, Gappel, volunteered to undertake the long journey. He entered the war zone, and for months not a word was heard from him.

Four months later, as the Bible Society workers were starting to give up hope of ever seeing Gappel or the manuscript again, news emerged that he was holed up in a little hut in Kashmir. His way to Lahore was blocked by soldiers, but after another series of divine interventions, the manuscript finally arrived in Lahore, where Gappel began to put the finishing touches to the work.

The searing heat and humidity of Lahore soon made Gappel ill, as he had spent his entire life in the crisp air of the Himalayas. Two large fans were installed in his room, and large blocks of ice were placed in front of the struggling Tibetan. His spirit was immediately revived by the cool environment.

With Gappel working up to 20 hours a day to finish the task so he could return home, progress was swift, and the wonderful day finally arrived in August 1948, when the first ever copy of the full Tibetan Bible rolled off the press! It had taken 92 years of struggle and prayer.

God's Word Goes Forth

As soon as his job was done, Gappel hastily headed back to his home in the mountains, and an initial print-run of 5,000 Tibetan Bibles was dispatched to expectant missionaries and Tibetan Christians on both sides of the Himalayan divide.

One recipient of a new Tibetan Bible was Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth and current Dalai Lama, who had fled from Tibet into north India. When a missionary presented him with a brand new copy of the Holy Bible, the Dalai Lama exclaimed, "Thank you! I have heard about this Book. I am told it speaks of the great God who became a man and lived on earth."

After the Communists seized control of Tibet, hundreds of thousands of Buddhist monks were arrested and sent to prison labor camps, where many died after facing horrific cruelties. A Bible reached one imprisoned monk, who after being deeply touched by the words he read, penned a letter in beautiful flowing Tibetan:

"Dear unknown friends. The book you have sent over the mountains has come to my lonely cell. My soul is strangely stirred as I read these words. Light has come to my poor darkened soul. Please send me more light.'

For many years Asia Harvest has helped spread the Gospel throughout the Tibetan Plateau. Literature, audio and video resources that communicate the Gospel in Tibetan have been distributed. We currently support many ethnic-Tibetan evangelists who work inside Tibetan areas of China, and in the border areas of Nepal, Bhutan and India.

(Story from the Asia Harvest Newsletter.)

Ancient Weaponry

I live in the Philippines, one of the few citadels of Christendom that has not as yet ‘flung wide its gates’ to every evil; for example abortion is still illegal here.

Perhaps the reason it remains relatively strong is the realisation that on earth we are living in enemy occupied territory, there is a great confidence and reliance on prayer not only for help and defence but also for offence as I re-discovered last week.

I was in the shopping mall, a bit distracted and irritated, (I hate shopping) and at noon, over the loudspeaker a bell rang, and everyone in the place stopped dead in their tracks, like someone pressed pause on the remote. And we began to pray the Angelus together.

A few minutes and suddenly the atmosphere had changed, people were noticeably calmer, whatever was bugging me had gone too. Had we all just refocused our hearts heavenward or had the demons fled?  Both I believe.

I noticed the same thing on another day, this time at 6pm in the grounds of a Catholic University in Manila. Again as the bells rang out over the loudspeaker, everyone stopped, even the cars stopped and the security men at the gates bowed their heads and those few thousand souls, (together with those in every Catholic school in the entire country), as one, knowingly or unknowingly, went into battle together. 

What a great victory it must have been to eliminate this ancient weapon from everyday life in Europe, the sophistication or complexity of society makes the supernatural seem remote, irrelevant or unnecessary in the age of reason, but look at the continent now.

The funny thing is that it would be quite easy to reinstate this practice in all the Catholic schools and offices in the country; the benefits would be greatly felt.

A samurai warrior (Miyamoto Musashi) was onto something when he said “This is a truth: when you sacrifice your life, you must make fullest use of your weaponry. It is false not to do so, and to die with a weapon yet undrawn”.  

ABBA NOUFER THE HERMIT

Abba Bebnoda once said: I wanted to venture into the inner wilderness for the sake of receiving the blessings of the hermit fathers. I took some bread and water and walked for four days.My bread and water had finished, but I continued walking for a further four days until I was fraught with fear and the thought that I was going to die. With the little strength that was left in me, I stood to pray. With the Lord's encouragement, I continued walking for a few more days until I became extremely hungry and thirsty, and in exhaustion I fell to the ground. I opened my eyes and found a person standing before me. He touched my lips with his fingertips and immediately my strength was renewed. After walking continuously for another four days, I once again felt drained of any energy, so I lifted up my hands and prayed to the Lord. Before me approached the person I had seen before. Once more he touched my lips and my body and again my strength returned.After God granted me this wonderful miracle, I journeyed for a further seventeen days within the wilderness. In the distance I noticed a very strange looking man who wore no clothes, but the hair on his body covered him like a cloak. As he approached me, I became very frightened and so I ran to the top of the mountain; I thought that perhaps he may be a mountain lion. He remained at the foot of the mountain, but lifted his face towards me and said, "Come down my brother Bebnoda and do not be afraid, for I am a man like you and I have dwelt in this wilderness for many years because of my love for Christ." I was astonished he knew my name, but felt that indeed he was filled with the Holy Spirit, so at once I descended and knelt before him.

As we sat together, I asked him to tell me about his life. He humbly responded, "My name is Noufer, and I have dwelt in this wilderness for the past sixty years, living in the fear of God. The beasts are my friends and with them I share my cave. I feed upon wild grass and these fruit-bearing trees and you are the first person I have seen in sixty years." After a brief pause, he continued: "I began my spiritual life as a monk in the Barida Monastery where one hundred and forty monks lived together in love and harmony. Daily we ate together and praised together, and the peace of our Lord filled our hearts. At that time, I was still in my youth and diligently I learnt and observed the virtues and wisdom of my saintly fathers, for they resembled the angels of God. One day I heard my fathers speaking about the desert fathers who dwell within the wilderness. They said that these fathers speak to God as if face to face, just like Elijah and John the Baptist, so curiously I asked, "How could these desert fathers be of higher spirituality than yourselves?" They answered, "My son, they are the ones who are found just and righteous in the sight of God; we are nothing in comparison for we live a communal life - eat and drink when we feel the need, are served when we feel weak and we console one another in times of depression. But as for the desert dwellers, they have none of this. From the start of their ascetic life, they roam the wilderness in the intense heat of the day and the bitter coldness of the night. They suffer from the severity of hunger, thirst and exhaustion, and face relentless spiritual struggles and Satanic wars. But all this they endure patiently and willingly because of their great love for our Lord Jesus Christ and in expectation of their heavenly reward. Because of their perseverance and their strong faith, the Lord sends His angels to administer and serve them, just as it is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet, "Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint...when [they] seek water and there is none...I the Lord will hear them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in desolate heights and fountains in the midst of valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water..." (Isaiah 40:31, 41:17-18), and also in the Psalms of King David we aretold "The righteous cry, and the Lord hears them and delivers them out of all their troubles" (Ps 34:17).

Abba Noufer then said to me, "Abba Bebnoda, as I heard these words, my heart was enlightened, and so that night I packed enough bread to last me three days and went forth from the monastery in the hope that the Lord will lead me to the place He has chosen for me. As I left the monastery gate by night, I found standing before me a person full of light. I was very frightened and wanted to quickly return to my cell within the monastery. The lighted person approached me saying, "Do not be afraid for I am the angel of the Lord; I have been with you from your childhood, and I will accompany you always."Together we walked side by side for about seven miles through the wilderness.

I then continued journeying alone until I reached a small cave,so I knocked on the door and said, "Bless me my father!" A saintly father with the face of an angel emerged from within the cave with a warm smile. I knelt at his feet, but he raised me up saying, "May the Lord bless you my dear friend Noufer, please come in." I remained with him for a few days in order to learn and benefit from his spirituality and wisdom. He taught me how I should spend my time each day and he strengthened and forewarned me of the Satanic wars which I shall face. Finally he said to me, "My son, you too must face spiritual struggles, so arise and venture deep within the inner wilderness, and there spend your time in prayer and praise, for the Lord has called you to live an ascetic life." The saintly father accompanied me for four days until we found a deserted fortress and beside it was a fruit bearing palm tree. He turned to me and said, "Noufer, this is the place which God has chosen for you to serve Him in." The hermit father remained with me for a month, during which time he instructed me in the ways of virtues and godly deeds which I was to apply in my life of ascetism. We continued meeting one another once a year, until he passed away to the Heavenly Kingdom. I buried him with great respect and reverence in the place where he spent his life worshipping God. I Bebnoda then asked Abba Noufer, "Did you face any trials or hardships when you began your life of hermitage in the wilderness?" to which he replied, "Believe me my beloved brother, I have faced death many times; from hunger, thirst,extremes in temperature to the extent that my body withered, but I was patient and endured all things. Many times the devil would appear and torment me, but my Lord Jesus Christ,blessed be His name, would comfort me and save me from the traps of the enemy. This palm tree produces twelve baskets of dates a year, and each basket feeds me for a month. I also eat wild grass and because of God's great love, He makes the grass taste as sweet as honey in my mouth. Now my brother Bebnoda, let us go to the place where I live."

We walked for about three miles through the wilderness until we reached his fortress, and its nearby palm tree. After we stood to pray, we sat together and spoke about the many wonders of God. As the sun began to set, I saw before the entrance of the fortress a loaf of bread and a jug of water. Abba Noufer said to me, "Get up my brother and eat this bread and drink this water, for you have suffered greatly along the way to find me." We shared the meal and even though we ate until we were satisfied, there was plenty left over. We then stood to pray and remained praying throughout the night. The following day I looked at Abba Noufer's face and found it had become like fire. I was very frightened, but he turned to me and said, "Do not be afraid brother Bebnoda, for our beloved Lord Jesus Christ has sent you to me so that you may take care of and bury my body, for the hour of my deliverance quickly approaches." I bebnoda then asked him, "Father, do you think that the Lord will make me worthy enough to live within your dwelling place after your blessed departure?" But he replied,"My dear son, the only reason the Lord had in leading you here is to bury my body, and then return to your monastery to tell your fellow brothers the monks all the wonders you have seen,for in so doing they may praise and glorify our Father in heaven." I knelt before him and said, "Bless me my saintly father; may God be merciful to me and make me worthy of seeing you once again in His Heavenly Kingdom." Abba Noufer remained praying on me for a long while, then he turned to pray for himself with many tears before lying on the ground with his hands outstretched, and quietly he released his spirit. It was the 16th day of the blessed month of Baouna, and I Bebnoda saw before me a whole host of angels praising and singing as they carried the soul of the pure saint Abba Noufer saying, "Pure is your soul Noufer, for it is without blemish; so let us present it as a beautiful 'korban' to Christ our Lord, the King of Glory!" Immediately I took the tunic I was wearing and tore it in two. I wrapped the body of the blessed father Abba Noufer with one piece, and covered myself with the other. I placed his body in a small stone cave, and prayed on him before sealing the cave's entrance.

The same hour Abba Noufer departed, the palm tree withered and fell, and the fortress which was his home crumbled to the ground. It was then that I realised the strength of Abba Noufer's words when he told me that it was not God's will that I remain in his place.

I ate the bread which was left over from the meal we shared together and drank the rest of the water. I then stood to pray before returning to the monastery. Suddenly, the person who had come to me at the beginning of my journey and touched my lips, again returned to me. He strengthened and encouraged me and so I left Abba Noufer's blessed place glorifying the Lord through His beloved saint Abba Noufer the hermit. May his blessings be with us all, amen.

Why the Rosary ?

Dear Children,

Today I invite you in a particular way to enter the battle against Satan by means of prayer. Satan wants to battle more, now that you are aware of his activity. Dear Children put on, therefore, the armor against Satan, and with the Rosary in your hands you will defeat him. Thank you for having responded to my call.

(Message of Our Lady in Medjugorje Aug. 8, 1985)

The Killer and the Rosary.. a story of Ted Bundy

To understand that Our Lady needs us, it helps to begin with the awareness that we also need her and that her help never fails those who pray to her with a sincere heart. This American Monsignor is a good witness of that.

On May 14, 2009, Mgr. William Kerr, a leading human rights figure, died. Mgr. Kerr often spoke of his very first hospital assignment, where he ministered to a young burn victim dying from his injuries. Later, he recalled, he would be called upon to perform even more ghastly duties.

In 1978, the police called Msgr. Kerr in the middle of the night to accompany them to a sorority house in Tallahassee. When he arrived he was told that all but one of the girls in the house were dead or near death, killed by the infamous serial killer, Ted Bundy. After administering last rites to one of the college girls who was dying, the police on the scene asked Fr. Kerr to speak with a girl who had survived the massacre unscathed. They had a very specific question: Why did Bundy stop right inside the door to her room, drop his weapon, and leave without touching her?

The young woman refused to speak to anyone except a priest. When Fr. Kerr approached the near-catatonic girl, she told him that her mother had made her promise, before going off to college for the first time, that she would pray the Rosary every night before bed for protection. Even if she fell asleep praying the Rosary, which she had that night. When Bundy came into her room to murder her as he had the other girls, the beads were still clutched in her hands.

Ironically, Bundy later sought out Msgr. Kerr as a spiritual counselor while he waited on death row. Over the course of their sessions, Bundy explained to Mgr. Kerr that when he entered the girl’s room, he just wasn’t able to continue with his spree, he dropped his weapon, and he fled.

Such is the power of our Mother’s protective mantle. Such also is the wisdom of a mom, who managed to give her daughter the most efficient, powerful weapon - the rosary, which later saved her life.