My Only Strength .... a story from Vietnam (1976)

Excerts from a letter from Archbishop Van Thuan of Saigon during his imprisonment

After being arrested, I was allowed to request in writing the things I needed most, clothes, toothpaste..I wrote to my addressee, please could you send me a bit of wine, as medicine for my bad stomach ? The faithful understand what it means; they sent me a little bottle of wine for Mass labelled stomach Medicine; and some hosts sealed in a torch against the humidity.

The Police asked me Do you have a bad stomach ? I replied yes Here's a little medicine for you I will never be able to express my immense joy. Every day with 3 drops of wine and I drop of water in the palm of my hand, I celebrate Mass.

..at 9.30pm the lights are turned off and I curl up on my bed to celebrate Mass by memory, and I distribute communion moving my hand under the mosquito netting. We make little containers from the paper of cigarette boxes to preserve the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus, in the Eucharist, is always with me in my shirt pocket. Like the Manna that nourished Israel on their journey to the promised land, the Eucharist will nourish you on your road of hope.

..a session of indoctrination (re-education) takes place every week, in which the whole camp has to participate. The strength of the love of Jesus transforms the darkness of prison into light, the seed germinates underground during the storm.

..During my nine years of solitary confinement I celebrated Mass at 3pm, the hour of Jesus's agony on the cross, and had an hour of adoration 9 to 10pm. I felt a singular peace of spirit and of heart and the joy and serenity of the company of Jesus, Mary & Joseph.

..In the back of my cell, without light, without a window, stifling hot, I think with overwhelming nostalgia. Only 2 kilometres from my cell, on the same street, is the Cathedral, I hear the bells ring and the waves of the pacific.

Once I used to celebrate with a gold-plated paten and chalice, now your blood in the palm of my hand. Once I used to travel the world for meetings and conferences, now I'm confined in a narrow cell without windows. Once I used to visit you in the tabernacle, now I carry you in the shirt pocket , day and night. Once I used to celebrate Mass in front of thousands of faithful, now in the darkness of night, giving communion under mosquito netting. Once I used to preach retreats to clergy and lay men, now another prisoner preaches to me the excercises of St Ignatius through a crack in the wall. Once I used to give solemn benediction in the Cathedral, now I have adoration every evening in silence.

I am happy, here, in this cell; where on the mat white mushrooms are growing, because You are with me, because You want me to live here with You. I have spoken a lot in my lifetime, now I speak no more. It is your turn, Jesus, to speak to me. I am listening to You. What have You whispered to me ?

You can leave now, You are cured ..a medjugorje story from Sicily

I am the twelfth of 14 children. My father used to curse God and beat my mother and us children. We were often hungry and had to sleep 3 to a bed. When I was 9 years old, I received the call to become a nun, but my father would not allow it because he wanted me to work in order to help the family. Later I got married and became lukewarm in my faith. My husband didn't believe much, but we went to Mass on Sundays.

In 1998, I had to have an hysterectomy due to cancer of the uterus, followed by chemotherapy and radiation. A few months later: breast cancer, another operation, followed by radiation. Then my husband became very ill and I had to take care of him, until his death two years ago. 

Completely exhausted, I had to have further tests. This time, I was diagnosed with liver cancer. My whole body was suffering and I was vomiting constantly. I decided to go on a retreat at San Giovanni Rotondo, in the former parish of Padre Pio, to put my life in order for the months that I had left to live. I was suffocating under so many hardships. The doctors wanted to do a third operation, and I had to make a decision. The first night at San Giovanni, June 21, 2000, I had a strange experience, which I thought was a dream, but I wasnt sure. 

I found myself in the waiting room at the hospital, waiting my turn to be called for the operation. The door opened and a young woman entered. It was a nurse wearing a white uniform. She had her brown hair in a pony tail. She came straight towards me saying, You can leave now, you're cured. Shocked and surprised, I stuttered that I couldn't leave because I had come to have an operation. She repeated: Yes! You can leave, you've been cured. Again, I told her: There must be a mistake, because I'm scheduled to have an operation. Then with an authoritative voice, she told me: But I've told you that you are cured !

The next morning, this experience still had hold of me. I spoke about it to a priest who told me: We'll see with time if it's true or not. Meanwhile, you yourself have to make the choice to have the operation or not. I decided to not have the operation. In fact, during that same night the pain had completely disappeared. 

I was able to start eating normally again, I gained weight, I was able to sleep, to walk, just like someone in good health. An enormous strength had come into my whole body. And I forgot to say that my first thought upon awakening from the dream was Medjugorje : I must go to Medjugorje I was seized with an intense desire to go there, and yet I didn't really know anything about Medjugorje:

Once I arrived in Medjugorje, I was impressed by the grace of the site, even on the first day while praying the Stations of the Cross on Mount Krizevac. The next day we went to listen to Vicka. When I saw her, I said to myself, I've already seen her face somewhere, but where?'Then it came back to me in a flash, the scene of the night at San Giovanni and I exclaimed, It's her That's the young woman in white who came to tell me, you can leave, you are cured! I was amazed and I looked at the light radiating from her eyes, the rays of love coming from her face. 

Later I had the opportunity to tell her about that night when she came to visit me, and she only said to me, smiling: Thanks be to God !My life is now taken up with an apostolate in Sicily and prayer retreats in Medjugorje. I know that the Gospa has a plan for me through the healing and the freedom that was given to me. My joy is to be her instrument for whatever she has in store for me.

Our Lady of Medjugorje saved me ..a story from Bosnia

Scott O'Grady, the fighter pilot of the NATO forces whose plane was shot down in Bosnia in June 1995, was rescued after a successful operation in which more than 40 planes and helicopters took part, 100 soldiers and some of the best military strategists of NATO.

After his return he wrote a book about the events and the horrors he lived through after the Bosnian Serbs shot down his F-16. Describing the sufferings, hunger, thirst, cold and fear that he lived through in the course of the several days of hiding and waiting for help in the forests of Bosnia .He also reveals an interesting detail which has the most significance in the entire rescue operation.

On the third day of my hiding out, thinking about how survival is first of all a spiritual test, I experienced something amazing and unrepeatable. All of a sudden, in the stillness of my hiding place, I remembered the accounts of my mother's friend who, before the war broke out in Bosnia, had visited Medjugorje, a little place south in the country, where there is testimony about Our Lady's apparition. That afternoon I turned to Our Lady in prayer. Immediately I felt her presence. It became more and more clear and palpable right up to the moment that I saw her. It is hard to describe in words. The vision came through the strength of my feelings, and that feeling was indescribably warm, full of bliss and peace. 

Someone existed that prayed and kept watch over my return home. That vision was the most important thing that happened to me in Bosnia. It gave me the courage to hold out in the most difficult moments. Through his book the American pilot made public his own declaration given immediately after the very rescue operation: Our Lady of Medjugorje saved me!

‘Set free’ ... a new life for all

Many Catholic saints over the centuries have received revelations about hell and St John Bosco had a very detailed dream or journey there. He walked down the wide road that led there; an easy stroll at first although sloping down in a progressively steeper gradient until it dropped off altogether into the abyss. He saw so many of the young people he loved stumbling and falling there. 

It progressed much the same way that sin and separation from God can be seen in our day. Where sins may give pleasure to the senses for example, this leads to giving reasons for sin, defending one’s actions as habits and then addictions are formed. Eventually they are claimed as rights as they become an integral part of lifestyle. The road in Don Bosco’s dream becomes so steep that those on it run uncontrollably for their destination in the end. 

So many young people leave God and the church behind and of those, I wonder how many would return if they felt there was a way back. The bondage of sin is hard to break, but worse when people conclude that their sins are too numerous or too grievous. They don’t realise that God’s Ocean of Mercy, obtained by the death and Resurrection of Jesus, is unfathomable (as revealed to St Faustina) and that every sin since the beginning until the end of time can be washed away by it. 

Others may be put off because they believe that their weakness is such that, even if they repented and were reconciled with God, that they would quickly return to former habits as they are too weak to resist temptation. This is also ‘fake news’ because mercy and forgiveness come with a tag-team partner which is supernatural grace or strength. If a person is sincere with a deep sorrow for sin, grace can vanquish even the worst addictions, sometimes immediately. 

Intercession is needed too as Our Lady reminded the seers in Fatima:- "Pray much and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because there is no one to make sacrifices for them." 

The good news is not only forgiveness & mercy but also strength to carry on and to be victorious in the Spiritual life. Sometimes the greatest sinners become the greatest saints if they change direction and go ‘all in’ for God.

The Unpolished Diamond.(more Padre Pio stories)

My fifteenth visit to San Giovanni Rotondo in December 1953, had a particular reason. I had just returned from a trip abroad. During a pilgrimage, a priest had spoken to me about the so-called Caux movement, which was fairly well known and discussed at the time. He requested that I ask Padre Pio what to think of this movement. The Priest himself had been at Caux and what he told me showed that many, including some Priests were exposed to the danger of a deception. He therefore wanted to ask Padre Pio for prayers and advice.

I had the opportunity to go to confession to Padre Pio and I explained to him about this movement, which did not want to be known as a sect but had certain principles that caused some people to describe it as the antechamber of Catholicism

Padre Pio listened to what I had to say with attention and interest. He promised to pray above all for the Priests so they would recognize the deception, for that is what it actually was. Then, pronouncing each word with that characteristic manner of his, which stamps them indelibly on our minds he said:

Remember: every sect in the world feeds off the Catholic church. Our Holy Catholic church is like a great and extremely precious unpolished diamond, from which every so often somebody takes a particle and polishes itnot without the help of the evil one--so that it begins to shine better than the great unpolished diamond. And this shine draws men, dazzles them and deceives them, so that the particle necessarily is worn out and comes to nothing.

This is the game of deception, which appears and reappears with time. Jesus warned us to watch out for it!

Prayers of Saint Bridget .... Devotion for One Year

Saint Bridget prayed for a long time to know how many blows Our Lord suffered during His terrible Passion. Rewarding her patience, one day He appeared to her and said:

"I received 5475 blows upon My Body. If you wish to honor them in some way, recite fifteen Our Fathers and fifteen Hail Marys with the following Prayers, which I Myself shall teach you, for an entire year. When the year is finished, you will have honored each of My Wounds."

First Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from all eternity in the Divine plan.

Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Thy disciples, having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst foretell them Thy coming Passion.

Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: "My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."

Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.

Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou was crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.

In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission of all my sins. Amen.

Second Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! True liberty of angels, Paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of-cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.

Third Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy Loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged Thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulled Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy Limbs.

I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.

Fourth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.

Fifth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which Thou experienced, when contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred Passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless lost and unfortunate sinners.

Through the abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: "This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.

Sixth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou was fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son!" and to Saint John: "Son, behold thy Mother!"

I beg of Thee O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my affliction and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.

Seventh Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: "I thirst!" suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of Thee O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts; and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.

Eighth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the vinegar and gall which Thou didst taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.

Ninth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou was abandoned by Thy Father, saying: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.

Tenth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! Who art the beginning and end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sakes Thou was plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown of Thy Head. In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen.

Eleventh Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy Being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me, hide me in Thy Wounds, until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.

Twelfth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! Mirror of Truth, symbol of unity, link of Charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou was covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable Blood. O Great and Universal Pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal Flesh for Love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou hast not done! May the fruit of Thy sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy Passion, and may Thy Love increase in my heart each day, until I see Thee in eternity, Thou Who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O Sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.

Thirteenth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! Strong Lion, Immortal and Invincible King, remember the pain which Thou didst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted, Thou didst bow Thy Head, saying: "It is consummated!"

Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.

Fourteenth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, Splendor and figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart Broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst Expire. By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.

Fifteenth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary

O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of Blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.

From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very Substance of Thy Body withered, and the Marrow of Thy Bones dried up.

Through this bitter Passion and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.

Conclusion

O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever.

Our Lord made the following promises to anyone who recited the 15 St. Bridget Prayers for a whole year:

Promises

1 I will deliver 15 souls of his lineage from Purgatory.

2 15 souls of his lineage will be confirmed and preserved in grace.

3 15 sinners of his lineage will be converted.

4 Whoever recites these Prayers will attain in the first degree of perfection.

5 15 days before his death I will give him My Precious Body in order that he may escape eternal starvation; I will give him My Precious Blood to drink lest he thirst eternally.

6 15 days before his death he will feel a deep contrition for all his sins and will have a perfect knowledge of them.

7 I will place before him the sign of My Victorious Cross for his help and defense against the attacks of his enemies.

8 Before his death I shall come with My Dearest Beloved Mother.

9 I shall graciously receive his soul, and will lead it into eternal joys.

10 And having led it there I shall give him a special draught from the fountain of My Deity, something I will not for those who have not recited My Prayers.

11 Let it be known that whoever may have been living in the state of mortal sin for 30 years, but who will recite devoutly, or have the intention to recite these Prayers, the Lord will forgive him all his sins.

12 I shall protect him from strong temptations.

13 I shall preserve and guard his 5 senses.

14 I shall preserve him from a sudden death.

15 His soul will be delivered from eternal death.

16 He will obtain all he asks for from God and the Blessed Virgin.

17 If he has lived all his life doing his own will and he is to die the next day, his life will be prolonged.

18 Every time one recites these Prayers he gains 100 days indulgence.

19 He is assured of being joined to the supreme Choir of Angels.

20 Whoever teaches these Prayers to another, will have continuous joy and merit which will endure eternally.

21 There where these prayer are being said or will be said in the future God is present with His grace.

Deliver us from Evil ..

In Jakarta (Indonesia), a couple who came to listen to the messages of Medjugorje during one of our meetings brought their daughter with them.

While I was explaining how Satan subtly tricks people by using occult practices - using people who look very charitable offering amulets, lucky charms, or other objects - the young woman realized that she was recently given such a gift. She was carrying it around her neck. 

It was an object that a person had advised her to wear for good luck telling her, 'Be careful never to take it off, because if you do, it would bring you bad luck!' She told her parents about this object after the meeting and they asked her to throw it away. 

The young woman was so afraid she began to cry. She reluctantly handed it over to the priest that was present. That same evening, she sent a message to her parents to thank them. 

Since getting rid of the object, she has felt a great interior peace that she had never experienced before in her life: her whole body was liberated from a strong oppression that she had continuously felt on her spine and in her head. Now she was crying for joy and she came closer to Jesus. Her fear disappeared. Thank you Jesus!

www.childrenofmedjugorje.com

Saint Augustine “God Heals All Diseases”

You will say that diseases are great; but the Doctor is bigger!

” God heals all your diseases ” (Ps 103: 3). Fear not, all diseases will be healed. You will say that they are great; but the Doctor is greater. For an all-powerful Physician there are no incurable diseases. Only let Him treat you, do not reject His hand; He knows what he has to do. Do not rejoice only when He acts softly; accept Him when He cuts. Accept the pain of the medicine, thinking of the health that will bring you.

Behold, my brethren, whatsoever men, in their diseases, endure to prolong life a few more days. […] You, at least, will not suffer from a doubtful result: He who promised you health can not be deceived. Why are doctors sometimes wrong? Because it was not they who created the body they treat. But God made your body, God made your soul. He knows how to recreate what he has created; he knows how to reform what he has formed. You just have to abandon yourself to your Doctor’s hands. … Suppose, therefore, these hands and ” bless my soul, O Lord, and forget none of its benefits. It is he who forgives your sins and heals all your diseases “(Ps 103: 2-3).

He who conceived you that you would never be sick, if you had wished to keep his precepts, will he not heal you? He who made the angels and who, when he re-creates you, will make you equal to them, will not heal you? He who made heaven and earth, who made you in his own image, will not heal you? (cf. Gn 1:26). He will heal you, but for this you must consent to be healed. He perfectly heals all the sick, but only if they will. […] Your health is Christ!

Saint Augustine (354-430), in “Remarks to the Psalms – Ps 103,5-6”

Charity works miracles!

from the newsletter of Sr Emmanuel (Medjugorje)

Isabel Margarita Rojas Leiva, from Chile, belongs to the Lay Missionaries Consecrated to the Holy Spirit. She runs inner healing retreats all around the world. She received a special gift for healing the wounds of the heart. During one of her missions in Spain, she shared the following testimony:

"One day, my Bishop sent me for the first time to a juvenile prison. While I was with them, I started to play the guitar. They all came closer and formed a circle around me, adding their voices to mine, except for one young man who just stayed in a corner by himself. Once the songs ended, I headed towards him. However, I had barely approached when he yelled:

"Stay away!" Seeing my surprise he said it again: "Do not come any closer, I'm a bad person." Then he showed me a tattoo of Satan on his back.

At that point, without knowing why, I got the idea to ask: 'Tell me, when did your Mom kiss you for the last time?' "She never did," he replied. "And he burst into tears."

'Can I kiss you?' I asked. I don't know why I said that, because I didn't feel comfortable with it, but I kissed him anyway. Then we talked for a long time about the love of God. 

When the time came to say goodbye, he said: "If you really love me, give me the cross you're wearing!" I must confess that this request crushed my heart. This crucifix had great sentimental value for me, because it was the last memory I had of my deceased mother. But I felt that God was asking me to make this sacrifice, and so, taking a deep breath, I replied: 'I love you. Here, take it!'

We said goodbye, then we lost contact. Seven years later, I met him during another mission. He had already been released from prison. With a face completely transfigured and beaming with joy he approached me and said:"Do you remember me, Isabel? We met in prison. You gave me this crucifix. Since then, I have been baptized! I now belong to the Church and regularly receive the sacraments."

I cannot describe the joy I felt at that moment. I knew, then, that Divine Mercy is infinite. Miracles take place when we open up to this Mercy, when we give ourselves completely without holding back."

In No Strange Land .. by Francis Thompson

O world invisible, we view thee,
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!

Does the fish soar to find the ocean,
The eagle plunge to find the air—
That we ask of the stars in motion
If they have rumour of thee there?

Not where the wheeling systems darken,
And our benumbed conceiving soars!—
The drift of pinions, would we hearken,
Beats at our own clay-shuttered doors.

The angels keep their ancient places;—
Turn but a stone and start a wing!
’Tis ye, ’tis your estrangèd faces,
That miss the many-splendoured thing.

But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
Cry;—and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob’s ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.

Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry,—clinging to Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water,

Not of Genesareth, but Thames!

‘ A Divine Appointment’

In a world of 7 billion souls, it’s easy to suppose that we are lost in a sea of faces, and yet each of us is 'personally, individually and independently related to God'. We have His undivided attention.

An Englishman in the early 1960’s rented a cove from the British government in the Island of South Georgia, in the South Atlantic so he could conduct an experiment in solitude. A troubled chap in many ways, in an interview before he embarked on the journey, he told reporters he was ‘looking for something’. His daughter pressed a Bible into his hand as they parted. 

He was well equipped for the 18-month stay and quickly erected his wooden hut and brought his supplies inside. After a few weeks, a highly localised Tsunami-like storm hit the usually secluded cove. A wave crashed through his window; swept him out of his bed, and straight through the wall, at which point the storm abated. Most of his hut and belongings were sucked back out into the Atlantic. 

Alone, with no communication with the outside world, he stood in a wet string vest in the freezing wind. He ran to retrieve what was left behind. He found a bag of dry clothes, a serviceable tent, dry matches, and what rations, tools and supplies were left. The ‘suicide kit’ he had prepared had been swept away but his box of vitamins remained. 

The uncontrollable fury of nature had been tempered by a benevolent hand that had ensured that the essentials remained. His own meticulous preparations and planning had instantly been brought to nought but he felt he was not alone. 

Sometimes the potter has to ‘rough-up’ the clay a bit when He throws it on the wheel and spins it ‘round (perhaps adding a little water) so it can be moulded and reshaped. During the months that followed, God prepared his heart for a more formal introduction.

After 3 months a seal hunting vessel rescued him and he left the island with his journals, a bottle of scotch, and the still unopened Bible. He sat before it on the ship, and asked God if it was He who arranged all this, opened it and his eyes fell on the words of Ps 33 Verse 7 “He gathers the waters of the sea together as in a heap, He puts the deep in storehouses.” He had another 40 years of life after that with which to build on that meeting.

Those who seek the Lord will find Him, He will prepare our hearts for it and reveal Himself.

I had hoped my own personal epiphany might look like a scene from the Cecil B De Mille movie, a mountain top, a burning bush, heavenly music....but no. It was on the hard shoulder of the autobahn near the bleakest town in Germany and on much of the 900 mile journey home on tow trucks, trains, busses, a ship but that’s a long story...

Hide me in the shadow of your wings...a story from Japan

During the Second World War, an atomic bomb destroyed Hiroshima. A mile around the place of the impact, there was not a soul alive. A desert of death! Yet one house made of a straw thatched roof was left standing near the parish church, 8 blocks from the epicenter of the explosion. As incredible as it may seem, that house remained absolutely intact!

It was the Rectory of the Jesuits. Eight priests lived there. None of them were physically or psychologically affected by the bomb. Not only did they come out of the tragedy alive, but they were in perfect health. They died at an old age many years later. Father Hubert Schiffer, one of the Jesuits, was 30 years old when the bomb exploded. He lived 33 more years in good health before he died in Frankfurt in 1982. In July 1976, at the Eucharistic Congress held in Philadelphia (USA), he publicly witnessed the whole story. I happened to be there. At the time, the 8 members of the Jesuit community were still alive.

Experts looked into this enigma for years and years, using with the best of instruments and searching with passion the best clues for a hidden force in the construction of the house. How could the house, having nothing special and looking like a simple Japanese house, have possibly resisted such a cataclysm? Also the Jesuits were examined by over 200 scientists. The conclusion was always the same, they did not understand how these men could have survived in the middle of the hecatomb when all the other living beings had perished by the thousands. As for them, the Jesuits knew! But though they kept on saying the truth and proclaiming it from the rooftops, no one would believe them. Their answer was not a "scientific"one! Father Hubert explained that he owed this protection to the Blessed Mother since he and his brothers had put into practice what she had asked for in Fatima (1917).He declared to the experts, "I was in the center of the atomic explosion and I am still alive, safe and sound. I was not touched by the bomb." "In our house,", he said, "There was only one thing different from the other houses: each day, we would gather and recite the Rosary together!".

Walking forward in faith...a story from Mexico

In 1964 Fr Rich Thomas was appointed to El Paso in Texas. Around 1969/1970 he was profoundly touched by God and started charismatic prayer meetings in the parish. During one prayer meeting in 1972 they read the passage in Luke 14:12-14 which says, When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relations or rich neighbours, in case they invite you back and so repay you.

. Now when you have a party, invite the poor for they have no means to repay you and so you will be repaid when the upright rise again. The prayer meeting decided that on Christmas day that year, 1972, they would give a Christmas lunch to the poor who lived and worked in the dump in Juarez, which was just across the border in Mexico. The poor people in the dump used to separate the rubbish into various types, cans, bottles, cardboard etc and then sell it to a co-op which would in turn sell it on. They lived in the dump and worked 7 days a week for $5. 

The prayer group had prepared food for 125 people on Christmas Day. When they got to the dump Fr Rich and the group discovered that they had two labour unions . One union could not go into the other area. Eventually Fr Rich got them to come to one area for the food. Three hundred and fifty people turned up so Fr Rich explained that there was not enough food for everyone but they would share what they had. 

All 350 had enough food, the dump people took some food home and then came back to take more home, they returned and took more home again. There was still lots of food left over, so much that Fr Rich and the prayer group took the leftover food to three orphanages. 

It is not the only time a miracle happened in the dump in Juarez, that miracle of multiplication of food was repeated there many times, e.g. on another occasion when they did'nt have enough cartons of milk for everyone when they came to the end of handing out cartons, everyone had a carton of milk. After the miracle on Christmas Day 1972 a beautiful Christian community grew up in the dump and many wonderful events have taken place since then.

The Birdies ..a story from America (by Lloyd Glenn)

On July 22nd I was in route to Washington DC for a business trip. As I collected my belongings from the overhead bin, an announcement was made for Mr. Lloyd Glenn. When I got off the plane a solemn-faced young man came toward me and said, "Mr. Glenn there is an emergency at your home. I learned that my three- year-old son had been trapped underneath the automatic garage door for several minutes, and that when my wife had found him he was dead. CPR had been performed by a neighbour, who is a doctor, and the paramedics had continued the treatment as Brian was transported to the hospital.

Brian was revived and they believed he would live, but they did not know how much damage had been done to his brain, nor to his heart. They explained that the door had completely closed on his little sternum right over his heart. He had been severely crushed. .(he flew home then)..Finally at two o'clock that afternoon, our son regained consciousness and sat up and said, "Daddy hold me," and he reached for me with his little arms. By the next day he was pronounced as having no neurological or physical deficits, and the story of his miraculous survival spread throughout the hospital.

A month later Brian said, "Mommy. I have something to tell you." At this time in his life, Brian usually spoke in small phrases, so to say a large sentence surprised my wife. "Do you remember when I got stuck under the garage door? Well it was so heavy and it hurt really bad. I called to you, but you couldn't hear me. I started to cry, but then it hurt too bad. And then the "birdies" came. "The birdies?" my wife asked puzzled. "Yes," he replied. "The birdies" made a whooshing sound and flew into the garage. They took care of me. One of the "birdies" came and got you. She came to tell you I got stuck under the door." My wife realized that a three year-old had no concept of death and angels, so he was referring to the beings who came to him from beyond as "birdies" because they were up in the air like birds that fly. "What did the birdies look like?" she asked. Brian answered. "They were so beautiful. They were dressed in white all white. Some of them had green and white. But some of them had on just white." "Did they say anything?" "Yes" he answered. They told me the baby would be alright." "The baby?" my wife asked confused. And Brian answered. "The baby laying on the garage floor." He went on, "You came out and opened the garage door and ran to the baby. You told the baby to stay and not leave." My wife nearly collapsed upon hearing this, for she had indeed gone and knelt beside Brian's body and seeing his crushed chest and unrecognizable features, knowing he was already dead, she looked up around her and whispered, "Don't leave us Brian, please stay if you can. As she listened to Brian telling her the words she had spoken, she realized that the spirit had left his body and was looking down from above on this little lifeless form. 

"Then what happened?" she asked. "We went on a trip." he said, "far, far away.." He grew agitated trying to say the things he didn't seem to have the words for. "We flew so fast up in the air." "They're so pretty Mommy." he added. "And there is lots and lots of "birdies". Brian went on to tell her that the 'birdies' had told him that he had to come back and tell everyone about the "birdies". He said they brought him back to the house and that a big fire truck, and an ambulance were there. A man was bringing the baby out on a white bed and he tried to tell the man the baby would be okay, but the man couldn't hear him. He said, "birdies told him he had to go with the ambulance, but they would be near him. He said, they were so pretty and so peaceful, and he didn't want to come back. And then the bright light came. He said that the light was so bright and so warm, and he loved the bright light so much. Someone was in the bright light and put their arms around him, and told him, "I love you but you have to go back. You have to play baseball, and tell everyone about the birdies." Then the person in the bright light kissed him and waved bye-bye. Then whoosh, the big sound came and they went into the clouds." 

The story went on for an hour. He taught us that "birdies" were always with us, but we don't see them because we look with our eyes and we don't hear them because we listen with our ears. But they are always there, you can only see them in here (he put his hand over his heart). They whisper the things to help us to do what is right because they love us so much. Brian continued, stating, "I have a plan, Mommy. You have a plan. Daddy has a plan. Everyone has a plan. We must all live our plan and keep our promises. The "birdies help us to do that cause they love us so much."

Sign of the Cross stops a Tsunami .. a Eucharistic Miracle

The miracle reportedly occurred in 1906 in Tumaco, Colombia.

At the start of the 20th century a great undersea earthquake shook the Pacific Ocean and casued a tsunami that devastated the shorelines of many cities. However, according to the inhabitants of Tumaco, Colombia, a huge wave was pushed back when the local priest processed out with the Blessed Sacrament.

When the people of Tumaco felt the ground shake on the morning of January 31, 1906, they immediately went to their parish priest, Fr. Gerardo Larrondo. The local inhabitants begged their pastor to perform a Eucharistic procession that would invoke God’s aid to fight back the tsunami wave that threatened the very existence of their city.

The people could see the giant wave approaching the city and so Fr. Larrondo gathered up his courage and with the Holy Eucharist placed in a monstrance, processed head-on towards the wave. He said to the people, “Let us go, my people. Let us go toward the beach, and may God have pity on us.”

Bravely, Fr. Larrondo approached the wave and made the sign of the cross with the Eucharist — and almost immediately the wave receded and turned back.

At the sight of the wave receding everyone shouted loudly, “Miracle, miracle!” It appeared to the people that the hand of God stayed the destructive force of the tsunami and spared the people because of their firm faith in the power of the Eucharist.

Word spread about the apparent miracle and the people of the city rejoiced and thanked God for having mercy on them in their need.

Escape from Satan's web ..a story from America (from Charisma magazine)

With just a gun, a pint of Jack Daniels whiskey and a bag of marijuana, 21-year-old Jeff Harshbarger checked into a motel room not far from where he attended college at Ball State university in Muncie, Indiana.

It was 1981, and he had spent the previous four years involved in Satanism, rising quickly to "priest in training" and co-leading his own coven, Now, however, Harshbarger was so miserable he wanted to commit suicide. The whiskey and pot, he supposed, would give him the nerve to shoot himself with the gun he had just bought. His plan didn't work. "I tried to pull the trigger and couldn't," he says. He returned home, determined to try again the next night. This time he threw a rope over a rafter in his garage and put his head through the noose. He kicked the chair out from under himself but fell to the floor with the noose still around his neck. What a failure! he thought. I can't even kill myself. 

He retreated to his room, collapsed on his bed and "bawled like a baby." "But it felt good, like there had been a release," he told Charisma. When he heard a voice say, "Get out!" he thought it was a demon coming to rip him apart for not being a good Satanist. He heard the command again, and this time he went into his backyard where he encountered the presence of God. "I got down on my face," he says. "All I knew to pray was just: 'Jesus, I can't take it anymore. Make my life OK.'That night, Harshbarger came back to Christ. "Boy, do I know the grace of God," he says today.

Growing up in Marion, Indiana, Harshbarger says he longed to be just a normal kid who played baseball and went to Cub Scouts. Instead, he was lonely and from a dysfunctional family. Harshbarger did what he could to escape a turbulent home life, and in third grade he attended a vacation Bible school. There, over stale cookies and warm lemonade, he heard about Jesus and accepted Him into his life. On Sunday mornings he would hop on his bike and head off to church by himself."I just wanted to know more about Jesus," he says. Although as a youngster he had no idea of the spiritual battle being waged for his soul, Harshbarger was aware of a strange presence in his home. 

"I would get up at night to get a drink of water, and something else was there," he says. He discovered he had paranormal abilities--he could read minds, he had premonitions that came true, and he even had a few out-of-body experiences. He told his mom about it all, but she didn't believe him. As much as he longed for a normal childhood, Harshbarger was also intrigued with his special abilities. By 1976 Harshbarger was in high school and no longer attended church. His mother did, however. She had given her life to Christ, had been baptized in the Holy Spirit, and was holding morning prayer meetings in her kitchen.

"It drove me bananas to wake up and hear them praying in tongues," Harshbarger says. Furious, he decided to sever all ties with God, throw away his Bible and delve deeper into the paranormal. 

Two months after turning his back on God, Harshbarger was befriended by his manager at his after-school job. "He was the coolest person I had ever met and had everything I wanted--prestige, power and control of his life," 

Harshbarger says. Satanism, he found out, was the source of his new friend's success. Convinced it was what he had been searching for, the 17-year-old gave his life to Satan, and his manager became his teacher. He learned how to communicate with demons."I became totally possessed," Harshbarger says. "I would look in a mirror and not see me--only the spirits." He and his teacher would visit churches to disrupt services--until one congregation caught the pair off-guard by praying for them right on the spot. After that it seemed Harshbarger couldn't get away from them."I'd be at a drive-in restaurant," he says, "and one of them would pop their head in and say: 'Well praise God! How ya doing, Jeff?'"

Harshbarger and his mentor moved to Muncie to start their own satanic coven. They recruited six young men as disciples and lived in a house off campus where they held satanic rituals, cast spells, and desecrated Bibles and other Christian material. Harshbarger reached his breaking point, he says, when the demons turned against him and wreaked internal havoc upon him. "It was like I was locked up in a room in hell," he says. When he couldn't take it anymore, he decided that as a "respectable Satanist" his only option was suicide. 

Harshbarger credits God's intervention and the prayers of his mother and numerous other Christians for his two failures at suicide. He was promptly kicked out of his coven, but all he cared about was finding a church. He was cognizant enough to know that only prayer would deliver him from the torment (after a long period of counselling he recovered and now helps others trapped in the bondage of satanism and the occult)

‘Siberian Spring’

“Twelve months of winter and the rest is summer” was an expression known by every Zek (prisoner) in the Gulags during the Soviet era and I understand that much of Europe has had a share in the Siberian Spring this year. Coldness is unpleasant and the more severe and protracted the more painful it becomes. 

It’s not the only thing that has gone cold in Europe though; they made the same mistake as the Soviets, as Solzhenitsyn put it describing his nation’s woes “Men have forgotten God”

Recent studies among European youth back this up; even the leftovers of a vague identification with cultural Christianity are evaporating with only small percentages in some countries still believing, even less attending church weekly. 

We cannot imagine how it feels for the Lord to live in hearts that have frozen over with the frigidity of atheism or indifference. What a cold dark space He must now occupy, much like that of a forgotten prisoner!

In a continent that has replaced God’s authority with its own autonomy, those who are still faithful will need to strive all the more to keep faith alive in their own hearts, gathering round the tabernacles as those who are cold get in close to a stove, and have Him warm their hearts. Then, as they are ignited by prayer and works of mercy, His love can grow in them and overflow into the world.

The only way for the lost to find their way home is to see God reflected in the lives of believers and to be the recipients of the fruits of their life of prayer and service.

Miracle on the Hudson ... a Divine Mercy story

A banker on a business trip in New York City, Fred Berretta had just checked into his hotel room. He had about 20 minutes down time before he had to meet his colleagues. 

For some reason he decided to clean out his briefcase, something he hadn't done in a long time. As he emptied it out, he came across a booklet he had stuffed into a pocket years ago on praying the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy. He recalls having prayed it a few times years ago. But by Jan. 15, 2009, it was a good intention mislaid — among spreadsheets and quarterly reports and matters that seemed far more pressing. 

Only two weeks prior, Fred had made a New Year's resolution to try to get into better spiritual shape. Here in this hotel room was an opportunity to fulfill it. So he followed along in the booklet and prayed the chaplet, a prayer our Lord gave to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska in the 1930s during a series of revelations that have sparked the modern Divine Mercy movement.

The time happened to be 3 o'clock, known as the Hour of Great Mercy, when Jesus died on the cross. Fred would consider that detail the following day — as he was preparing to die.

He would be among the 155 people to board a jet airliner at LaGuardia Airport bound for Charlotte, N.C., his home town. Ninety seconds after takeoff, the jet would apparently hit a flock of geese, the engines would explode, and the plane would lose power at 3,200 feet. The aircraft would be out of reach from any airfield. It would lose thrust and altitude. Everything would become eerily quiet. Fred would cinch his seatbelt. His left hand would clutch the armrest, his heart would race, his face would be flush. 

He would think about his family — his wife and four young children. He would think about God, about death, about trust, about an extraordinary promise made by Jesus that he read the previous day in that booklet.

"Prepare for impact," the pilot would say over the PA system.

What was the promise? Suddenly, it would come to him, the last passage he read before heading off to his meeting. Jesus said to St. Faustina, "This is the hour of great mercy. In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion (Diary of St. Faustina, 1320).

As the ground surged into view, Fred would look at his watch. It would be 3:30, the Hour of Great Mercy!

"I prayed with every fiber of emotion and sincerity I could muster, 'God, please be merciful to us,'" Fred would recall two weeks later.

'Miracle on the Hudson'?

You've probably heard about the crash landing of Flight 1549 in the Hudson River on Jan. 15. No one was seriously injured. Politicians and news anchors quickly dubbed it the "Miracle on the Hudson." In the history of aviation no jet airliner had ever made an emergency landing on water without casualties. 

Then, there were the news images of a US Airways Airbus floating gently down the frigid Hudson, like some sort of breaching, people-friendly, aquatic creature. The passengers stood on its wings, calmly awaiting rescue. Amidst all the news of economic collapse, of tens of thousands of layoffs on a weekly basis, of families in peril, of a reckoning at hand for a culture of greed, this plane, these passengers, its pilot, all served as a sort of restorative balm on our nation's collective conscious.

The story made you gasp, gulp hard, smile widely, and be thankful. Thankful for what? For good news. For heroes in the pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, and the rest of the crew. Thankful in the knowledge that in the panic-filled moments when the plane lurched to a stop it wasn't every man and woman for himself or herself. Thankful that humanity's better nature was on display. Thankful the incident wasn't terrorist-related, but apparently geese-related. Thankful that a guy like Fred Berretta, 41, would live to walk through the door of his home once again, hug his wife and children, and make sure they knew he loved them — that he always had and that he always will.

Vinny Flynn who?

For devotees of Divine Mercy, Flight 1549 serves as further proof that the Lord keeps His promises.

We may never have learned Fred Berretta's story if it weren't for Vinny Flynn. Following the crash, Fred felt compelled to send an email of thanks to Vinny, the former executive editor at the Marian Helpers Center, in Stockbridge, Mass. Though Vinny and his family are seen daily at 3 p.m. (EST) on EWTN singing the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy from the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Fred had never heard of Vinny until about two hours before he boarded Flight 1549. 

Following morning meetings on Jan. 15, Fred found himself in the unusual position of having some free time on a business trip. It was noon. He stepped inside Manhattan's St. Patrick's Cathedral. He stayed for the 12 p.m. Mass. Afterwards, he went into St. Patrick's gift shop. A book caught his eye — Vinny's 7 Secrets of the Eucharist (Mercy Song Ignatius, 2006), which, with citations from St. Faustina's Diary, gives a greater understanding of the mystery of the Eucharist. Fred also purchased a St. Michael's scapular.

In an interview with thedivinemercy.org this week, Fred explained what happened next:

"I got into a cab and went to the airport," he said. "My flight was delayed about 15 minutes, so I sat there and started reading Vinny's book. I was really taken by it. I boarded the plane and continued to read. Just as we were rolling out for takeoff, I put the book away and closed my eyes and began to reflect on what I had been reading. Then, I heard the impact, then the explosion, and the plane shook violently. I was sitting in seat 16A, which is behind the wing. I could see smoke coming out of the left engine. You could smell the jet fuel."

As soon as Fred, a private pilot, realized the second engine was also not functioning, he became tense, like everyone else around him.

He heard some cries from the cabin. 

"Some of us looked at each other," he said. "There was nothing to be said. I knew that the only thing I could do was pray."

A Resolution

These were the other things he knew: This sleek, high performance jet airliner had suddenly and irreversibly become a 73-ton glider sinking fast above one of the nation's most densely populated regions. It would touch down somewhere, somehow, very soon, at a speed of about 120 mph. The chances of survival were almost nil. 

He thought about his family, how hard his death would be on them. Indeed, that was the most painful part of the experience for him, his concern for them. 

He thought about the very thing all these years that seemed to stand in the way of growing deeper in his faith. It came down to this: trust. He didn't have much. Ever. He had once fancied himself among the titans of commerce. He once trusted that money would bring security and peace of mind. This flight wasn't the thing that taught him otherwise. Rather, it was this past year. The bottom fell out of the economy, and with it, much of Fred's savings of the last 20 years. 

By Christmas, the self-described "half-hearted Catholic" knew in his heart the only security in the world is the security found in God, which led to his New Year's resolution; which led to him praying the chaplet in a hotel room; which led him to buy Vinny's book; which led him to close his eyes in seat 16A, his trajectory heavenward, and reflect upon how God is real and He loves us and that He wants us to turn to Him in trust.

Which is exactly what Fred did when he suddenly realized it was the Hour of Great Mercy and he would probably be dead in a matter of seconds. He trusted, truly, for the first time. 

All these fragments of thought seemed to piece themselves into place. The plane was going down, yet everything was making sense. He admits he was in shock. But he also felt at peace, a deep peace. God had allowed him to find the Divine Mercy booklet in his briefcase. God had steered him to Vinny's book. God did all this, he thought, to prepare him for death. 

He hunched over in his seat to brace for impact. He prayed for God's mercy. Then he prayed two Hail Marys and one Our Father. He made it halfway though a prayer to St. Michael, the archangel, when the plane hit the water, came to a stop, and bobbed up and down like a toy in a kiddy pool.

'True Peace'

"Under the most precarious situations I could ever imagine," says Fred, "God taught me what true peace is all about — that it's found in accepting God's will. That we must try our best in this life, but not sweat the small stuff, and hand control over to God."

One more thing to mention. A couple weeks before the flight, Fred had prayed the Rosary for the first time in years. He had recently learned of the 15 promises that, as legend has it, the Virgin Mary made to St. Dominic and Blessed Alanus to all who pray the Rosary with a faithful heart. Fred remembers thinking at the time, "Are those promises real?" He feels he recently received his answer. 

"I still have my boarding pass from the flight," Fred said this week, "and I couldn't help but to notice all the 15s associated with the flight. We left on Jan. 15, from gate 15. It was Flight 1549, with 155 passengers. Also, it took off during the 15th hour, by military time, which is what the world of aviation uses. I smiled when it hit me later. There was my answer right there."

He's vowed to embrace the Eucharist, thanks to Vinny; the Rosary, thanks to all those 15s; and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, thanks to that booklet.

God was doing more than preparing him for death: God was preparing him for life.

Emporer Xi ....

My favourite line from the God Father (part 3) is:- ‘Power wears out those who don’t have it’ words whispered into Don Lucchesi’s ear seconds before he was assassinated with his own spectacles. Earthly power is an intoxicating and often rather brief illusion; made savage when it’s in the hands of frightened men who cling to it.

As President Xi Jinping has now ascended to China’s throne as dictator for life we can expect trouble. Already China’s Christians are feeling the pressure as he declares war on religion and Christianity in particular. In some areas of the country it’s a soft approach, instructing Christian villagers to replace holy pictures with those of Xi accompanied by financial inducements as his cult of personality spreads. Mostly though, he is following in the footsteps of the old guard earning him the nick-name ‘Xi Zedong’ after his ruthless predecessor. 

With churches initially being forced to remove crosses from their spires now being torn down altogether, it’s starting to look a lot like the cultural revolution all over again. Even state approved churches, once willing collaborators of the communist party, are now finding themselves under scrutiny and their key members even disappear into labour camps and the infamous ‘black prisons’ from which there is no return.

The unofficial churches, already familiar with persecution, are going underground again, back to the catacombs but it will be more difficult this time as the state has made its plans and is employing Hi-Tec means in its latest assault. Facial recognition software (like on Facebook) coupled with massive use of CCTV cameras (even in rural areas) can easily identify those attending churches or meetings and track all movement now. Underground Christians can only meet casually in two’s and three’s. 

Whilst we certainly need to pray for the protection of our brothers and sisters in China and that those destined for Martyrdom will be given the grace to die well, there is great hope too. Since Mao’s time Christians are a 100-million strong. He failed, as did Stalin, Nero, Herod and Ramses and all the others who stood against their God and saviour throughout the ages. 

God never tires, and He holds the lives of dictators in His hands too. Every beat of their hearts has been counted, the day of their departure known and their fate as they too will kneel at his feet to give an account of their lives. It’s President Xi we need to pity the most and pray for, perhaps the inexhaustible and relentless Divine mercy of God can reach him as it did Saul of Tarsus and so many others throughout the ages.