IPVS newsletter is coming out soon in PDF Format.
Jun 12, 2009
Jun 1, 2009
Virgin's image is reminder of the miracle at Fatima
Virgin's image is reminder of the miracle at Fatima
By Sandi DolbeeRELIGION & ETHICS EDITOR
SEAN M. HAFFEY / Union-Tribune
The statue gets a steadying hand from Monsignor Frederick Florek at St. Therese.
For a moment, as the flickering candlelights illuminated people's faces and they stood shoulder to shoulder in the church courtyard, Justin Wright felt a sense of unity.
Harmony.
They were bound together by the same feelings.
“You don't get to see a lot of moments like that,” said Wright, 33.
The object of their affections: a statue of an image of Mary, mother of Jesus, known as Our Lady of Fatima.
About the size of a young girl, the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima is visiting San Diego parishes this month, and on Monday night it was at St. Therese Roman Catholic Church in Del Cerro.
About 700 people turned out for the afternoon and evening adoration. The evening ceremony began with a candlelight procession to usher in the statue, carried into the sanctuary on a platform. She was then placed at the front of the church, vases of roses arranged on the floor beneath her, along with a box for prayers and petitions.
Wright said Mary's image “reminds you of the simple things that can impact lives.”
“And how humans complicate it,” said his fiancé, Catalina Amparano, 32.
Amparano collected tokens of the visit for her sister and niece, who live in Imperial Valley. Her niece is named Fatima, in honor of this apparition that is said to have appeared to three children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
By Sandi DolbeeRELIGION & ETHICS EDITOR
SEAN M. HAFFEY / Union-Tribune
The statue gets a steadying hand from Monsignor Frederick Florek at St. Therese.
For a moment, as the flickering candlelights illuminated people's faces and they stood shoulder to shoulder in the church courtyard, Justin Wright felt a sense of unity.
Harmony.
They were bound together by the same feelings.
“You don't get to see a lot of moments like that,” said Wright, 33.
The object of their affections: a statue of an image of Mary, mother of Jesus, known as Our Lady of Fatima.
About the size of a young girl, the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima is visiting San Diego parishes this month, and on Monday night it was at St. Therese Roman Catholic Church in Del Cerro.
About 700 people turned out for the afternoon and evening adoration. The evening ceremony began with a candlelight procession to usher in the statue, carried into the sanctuary on a platform. She was then placed at the front of the church, vases of roses arranged on the floor beneath her, along with a box for prayers and petitions.
Wright said Mary's image “reminds you of the simple things that can impact lives.”
“And how humans complicate it,” said his fiancé, Catalina Amparano, 32.
Amparano collected tokens of the visit for her sister and niece, who live in Imperial Valley. Her niece is named Fatima, in honor of this apparition that is said to have appeared to three children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
During the program, Carl Malburg, the statue's custodian and traveling companion, told of the messages that Mary gave to the children.
“She said, 'War is the punishment for sin,' ” Malburg told the people in the pews. “She said, 'If you do what I tell you to do, there will be peace.' ”
She asked for prayers, devotion and conversion. Those things, she had said, could save the world.
The statue has traveled the world on a teaching mission since 1947. It stands nearly 4 feet tall, weighs about 100 pounds, with a golden crown and a beaded robe.
Malburg sees it as more than an icon. “When you come up here and kneel, you feel that there is somebody there. You feel like the eyes are alive or something.”
Gina Bliss, 48, brought her three teenagers to the event. “I just want my kids to really look up to the Virgin,” she said. “And when they're in trouble, to ask for her help.”
“She said, 'War is the punishment for sin,' ” Malburg told the people in the pews. “She said, 'If you do what I tell you to do, there will be peace.' ”
She asked for prayers, devotion and conversion. Those things, she had said, could save the world.
The statue has traveled the world on a teaching mission since 1947. It stands nearly 4 feet tall, weighs about 100 pounds, with a golden crown and a beaded robe.
Malburg sees it as more than an icon. “When you come up here and kneel, you feel that there is somebody there. You feel like the eyes are alive or something.”
Gina Bliss, 48, brought her three teenagers to the event. “I just want my kids to really look up to the Virgin,” she said. “And when they're in trouble, to ask for her help.”
CATHOLICS FILL SAN DIEGO CATHEDRAL AND PROCESS FOR LIFE
CATHOLICS FILL SAN DIEGO CATHEDRAL AND PROCESS FOR LIFE
Thomas McKenna, president of Catholic Action for Faith and Family, organized the event. He called it a “Procession of Reparation” to decry the January 22 anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the United States. McKenna said that the infamous anniversary coincided with the three week tour of the statue he had organized for the diocese in January, so he tied the two together. “In the past 35 years more than 48 million children have been killed in their mother’s womb and the message Our Lady gave at Fatima in 1917 spoke of this type of extreme moral decay,” he said. “At Fatima the Blessed Mother asked for prayer and reparation and that is what we did” he continued.
In the early afternoon people gathered in the cathedral where the Fatima Statue was displayed. As the choir intoned hymns, the faithful filed out onto the street. Some of the participants stayed in the cathedral in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament which was exposed on the main alter after people left.
On Sunday, January 20, more than 700 faithful gathered in San Diego’s St. Joseph’s Cathedral for prayer and a procession to decry 35 years of legalized abortion in the United States. The procession was led by auxiliary bishop, Salvatore Cordileone, and was blessed with the presence of the famous International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
In the early afternoon people gathered in the cathedral where the Fatima Statue was displayed. As the choir intoned hymns, the faithful filed out onto the street. Some of the participants stayed in the cathedral in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament which was exposed on the main alter after people left.
On Sunday, January 20, more than 700 faithful gathered in San Diego’s St. Joseph’s Cathedral for prayer and a procession to decry 35 years of legalized abortion in the United States. The procession was led by auxiliary bishop, Salvatore Cordileone, and was blessed with the presence of the famous International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
The procession stretched over three city blocks with the Fatima statue carried aloft by four men. As they walked, the people prayed the rosary in unison and chanted hymns. A police escort stopped traffic at intersections as the faithful walked just over a mile to the Family Planning Associates Abortion Center located across the street from San Diego’s Balboa Park. At the park people gathered on the lawn across the street from the clinic for a brief addresses by Bishop Cordileone and Mr. Kent Peters, the director of the diocesan office of Social Ministry. After the bishop gave his Episcopal Blessing, the procession returned to the cathedral along the same route.
“It is not ever day you see a bishop in beautiful liturgical vestments, with miter and crosier, leading hundreds of the faithful in procession through the streets of a major city in our country,” commented Sue Lopez of Helpers of God’s Precious Infants who leads weekly prayer vigils at the clinic. She said “it was very inspiring, a day to be remembered.” The presence of many religious in their habits added to the solemnity of the day.
Upon arriving at the cathedral people filled the pews and sang the Salve Regina as the beautiful statue entered the church led by the bishop and a color guard escort from the Knights of Columbus. With Our Lady beside the alter and the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance, the bishop delivered a very inspiring meditation followed by Benediction.
--> -->
As the bishop processed out blessing the faithful, the church was filled with voices singing Holy God We Praise Thy Name and tears could be seen in the eyes of many.
Upon arriving at the cathedral people filled the pews and sang the Salve Regina as the beautiful statue entered the church led by the bishop and a color guard escort from the Knights of Columbus. With Our Lady beside the alter and the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance, the bishop delivered a very inspiring meditation followed by Benediction.
--> -->
As the bishop processed out blessing the faithful, the church was filled with voices singing Holy God We Praise Thy Name and tears could be seen in the eyes of many.
For Bishop Cordileone's inspiring meditation, click here.
Copyright 2008 Catholic Action for Faith and Family
All Rights Reserved
Copyright 2008 Catholic Action for Faith and Family
All Rights Reserved
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)