relics, and found the stone arm, still wet and red with blood. An "illustrious personage" then stealthily took the arm and wrapped it in a cloth; by mixing with the crowd, he managed to conceal his theft. The [...] 1877 - investigation ongoing) In 1187, Mary reconciled the English and the French In the spring of 1187, the Duchy of Berry (Central France) was the scene of a confrontation between the Houses of France [...] Philip-Augustus, king of France, marched on Châteauroux, a fortified town near Déols (Berry). The son of Henry II Plantagenet, Richard "the Lionheart", built a defensive position in the place and ordered his troops
the culture we have inherited and owe a great deal to. In primitive religions, the woman was generally associated with fertility and the earth, and represented as a pregnant, often multi breasted goddess [...] Blessed Francisco Marto of Fatima Mary places maternal love at the heart of the mysteries of salvation The daughter of Israel, the Virgin Mother, the Immaculate Conception is a central figure in the early history [...] France, starting with the one in Paris), thousands of churches and monasteries are placed under her patronage, all over Europe. This is not by chance, but rather because of the centrality of Mary's person in
attention and love with which they treated me. That a doctor, nurse or care-giver comes into your room with a simple smile or to just check on whether you need anything meant so much to me. It was a heartwarming [...] are here for you like Mary! This year, the commemoration of Our Lady of Sorrows, which in Malta we traditionally celebrate with great devotion on the Friday before Holy Week, has had a much deeper and personal [...] youths, parents who had just lost their son or their daughter at a tender age through sickness or a tragic accident, young adults riddled with drug addiction, among others. Before such situations, I always
of the grotto in Lourdes, or making the sign of the cross with holy oil from the Shrine of Le Laus with a little contempt. Being close to the people also means showing respect for popular expressions of [...] Assumption (Italy, 1624) Mary and the intellectualization of faith On September 14, 2017, Pope Francis received 114 bishops who were appointed during the past year. We spoke with Bishop Xavier Malle, the [...] Holy Father said about popular religious gestures. He insists a lot on that. It is true that in France we have intellectualized the faith a bit too much, and treated gestures such as touching the wall of
intervened in favor of the Sicilians, appearing on the back of a white horse, amid a cloud of intense blue smoke and with an unsheathed sword! Faced with such an apparition, the Moors fled and Sicily remained [...] formerly a mobile feast, should be celebrated on the Saturday before Passion Sunday. According to a widespread tradition, documented by various authors of historical and religious works, a fortnight before [...] 1091, a confrontation between Roger the Norman and the Saracen emir Belcàne took place on the shore of Scicli, miraculously resolved in favor of the Christians by the intervention of the Virgin Mary, who
others are waiting for a Madonna to be reinstalled! Each re-installation of a statue of Mary in a niche is a small heritage victory! Indeed, there are many steps to follow. First the homeowner associations [...] agenda. "We also have put in place a very good working relationship with the city departments, who notify us when a façade renovation is scheduled. We can then get in touch with the homeowners early enough to [...] of the Virgin Mary in the many niches built for that purpose, most of the time empty, in the facades of buildings. The association has counted 200 niches to date. Some niches already have a statue, others
(...) If Mary no longer finds a place in many theologies and ecclesiologies, the reason is obvious: they have reduced faith to an abstraction. And an abstraction doesn’t need a Mother.” “With her destiny [...] explained the importance of Mary and the need for an "incarnate" faith, which reconciles "reason with the reasons of the heart". Here are some excerpts: “If the place occupied by Mary has been essential to the [...] the Light (Mexico) "Mary has always been essential to the equilibrium of the Faith" Benedict XVI has testified publicly to his Marian devotion on many occasions. In an interview with Vittorio Messori in
of the Virgin Mary: “Suddenly a strikingly beautiful lady stood in front of me. She was of tall stature, with a graceful face, a venerable appearance, dressed in blue with a white veil,” she explained. [...] (Italy, 1432) Mary asks for peace between East and West On May 26, 1432, Giovanetta di Pietro Vacchi, daughter of Lombard peasants (Italy), a simple and pious woman married to a violent man, had a vision of [...] the peoples of the East and the West. Caravaggio remains a famous pilgrimage in Lombardy to this day. The bishop of Cremona quickly agreed to build a shrine, visited in 1992 by Pope Saint John Paul II. René
I, through you, with you, in you, Blessed Virgin, love, pray, plead and suffer with always more love. May my life be nothing more that a loving "yes" (...) May I be nothing more than a soul (...) completely [...] March 06 - Our Lady of Nazareth (Pierre Noire, Portugal, 1150) O Mary, O My Sweet Mother O Mary, O my sweet Mother, obtain for me from Heaven, on this beautiful day, complete abandonment, perfect abandonment
July 25 – Our Lady of the Castle The Virgin Mary remains young forever Mary was young—probably just a teenager—when the Angel spoke to her, upsetting her simple plans, in order to make her part of God's [...] , when, despite the passing of the years, she became a disciple of her Son with the enthusiasm of the young, and she followed him to the Cross with the courage that only young people have. She remains [...] on of the Lord has brought us. The Holy Father's video message for the International Marian Vigil with young people at the new Shrine of St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (Teramo, Italy), 12 May 2018
