of the parish church of Balasar. Declared venerable on January 12, 1996, she was beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II on April 25, 2004, in Rome. Paulette Leblanc, Specialist of Alexandrina’s spirituality

of Baptism and is fittingly confirmed in personal consecration to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Saint John Paul II, Pope (d. 2005) Warsaw, 11 June 1999, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Vatican

Virgin Mary, who is at the heart of the WYD. The icon of “Mary Salus Populi Romani” was chosen by Pope Saint John Paul II, who started WYD, in 2003. It is the sign of Mary's maternal presence alongside young

destined this place for the conversion of sinners" Benedicta Rencurel was born in September 1647 in Saint-Étienne d'Avançon, a small village in the French Alps. In 1654, the 7-year-old girl lost her father

outstretched hand into his own, and lead to new life the sinner reconciled by the grace of the Cross." Saint John Paul II Letter to Bishop Louis Dufaux, Bishop of Grenoble, May 6, 1996, for the 150th anniversary

as Our Lady of La Leche (the Milk), from the oldest Marian shrine in the United States, located in Saint Augustine, northern Florida. The shrine in question keeps alive the apocryphal tradition according

of all, we cannot go on living as we did previously. We start to understand better the advice of Saint Paul to the Christians of Ephesus, "You were in darkness once, but now you are in the light of the

Montserrat (Spain, 1535) Mary in the Temple (IV) I went during the night to the altar of the Temple Saint Elizabeth, a Benedictine nun from the Schoenau monastery, received this revelation from the Virgin

Holy is His name, and His faithful love extends age after age to those who fear him" (Lk 1: 49-50). Saint Augustine observed: "Mary heard God's word and kept it, and so she is blessed. She gave birth to Christ

stretching forth her fruitful branches and her fragrant leaves, and overshadowing the territory of the saints. And thus the Antiphon speaks of her: "Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thine inheritance in Israel [...] Jerusalem was my power. And I took root in an honorable people, and in the glorious company of the saints was I detained. I was exalted like a cedar in Lebanon, and as a cypress in Mount Sion; I have stretched