In Transit

“How does this beautiful statue of Our Lady travel across the globe?” This is one of the many questions we often hear from people everywhere. The answer:with all reverence and honorworthy for a Queen Mother!
Well, it is simple yet so intriguingfor some when we put Her in one of the seats of the airplane. Of course, we buy Her a ticket. Economy class, though. Interestingly, in some Catholic countries like the Philippines and Haiti, they put us in the business class when they realize ‘who” we are travelling with. The crown comes off, the royal garment (the cape) is carefully folded then put away, what is left is this 63-year old, 42 inch solid mahogany wood, inside a soft-padded bag. Yes, we put on the seatbelt for safety as well.
The same strategy is employed for land travel, particularly in our “Fatima One” vehicle.
This is no ordinary statue. This is the visual representation of the Blessed Mother of God who appeared at Fatima in 1917. Hand-carved according to Sister Lucia’s description, sent and commissioned
by the bishop of Fatima to be the “pilgrim”; blessed by Pope Pius XII while refering to it as “the messenger of Queen Mary’s royalty; venerated by more than 100 million people from all over the world. Spreading the message of conversion, prayer and penance (the peace Plan from Heaven) which is so urgent and important.
The photo below testifies to 12,500 devotees in the heart of Los Angeles at the Convention Center last August of 2010. There we process the statue like no other because She is indeed the Bride of the Holy Spirit.
We have seen 150,000 in one crowd alone in the Latin Archdiocese of Cochin, India. We had a share of the crowd of 5 million who cheered for John Paul II during 1995 World Youth day in Manila when he was on a helicopter ride to see the huge crowd for himself. Ours was the same ride in 2002 over Manila as per the request of the President of the Republic to the Palace, then to different dioceses.

'Weeping Madonna' Makes Area Appearances

CINCINNATI -- An internationally known statue has arrived in Cincinnati as part of a worldwide tour.
The Our Lady of Fatima statue, also known as the "Weeping Madonna," is on display at St. William Parish in Price Hill, and many area Catholics are hoping to witness her message of hope.

Virgin Statue Visits Church

"I felt I really needed to come," said Ashley Gonzalez, who brought her daughter, as well as some roses to place at the statue's feet. "I was wanting to pray to the virgin for some different things I need in my life."The statue is named for a village in Portugal where three children reported a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1917, and the last surviving witness described the vision to the sculptor who created the piece in 1947."She said this is as accurate as you could be as far as the dress (and) the appearance of that person," said Carl Marburg, the statue's caretaker.Marburg accompanies the statue from country to country, and he said miracles follow the artwork."I thought it was very emotional," said Jan Sullivan, who came to see the statue. "It's one of those things that happens once in a lifetime, as far as I'm concerned."The statue will travel to several area churches until Thanksgiving, and then it will go to Saint Louis and then to Saipan.

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Our Lady of fatima in St. William's Church

Our Lady of fatima in St. William's Church-4, originally uploaded by Our Lady of Fatima -The Pilgrim Statue.

Our Lady visits this beautiful Church of St. Williams in Price Hill Cincinnati today. November 18, 2010.

Our Lady of Fatima visits West Side

Our Lady of Fatima visits West Side

By Kurt Backscheider • kbackscheider@communitypress.com • November 12, 2010


Julie Reece, of Delhi Township only needed one word to describe what she saw: "Beautiful."

Reece was one of the many Our Lady of Victory parishioners who stopped by the church Thursday, Nov. 11, to get a glimpse of the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima.

The statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary made stops at several West Side parishes as part of a tour of churches and schools throughout the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

The world-famous statue was sculpted in 1947, based on the descriptions of Sister Lucia, who was one of three children who saw the Blessed Virgin 30 years earlier at Fatima, Portugal.

Sister Lucia was 10 years old when the Virgin Mary appeared to her and her two young cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, on May 13, 1917, in a field outside Fatima. The apparitions continued through Oct. 13 of that same year, and they conveyed Mary's predictions of World War II, the rise of Russian communism and the urgent need for the faithful to pray the Rosary.

The statue of Our Lady of Fatima was created and sent on a teaching mission to spread word around the world about Mary's messages to Sister Lucia and her cousins.

Carl Malburg, custodian/director of the statue for the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue Foundation Inc., said he's been traveling around the world with the statue since 1993.

He said since its creation in 1947, the statue has traveled continuously, visiting more than 100 countries and spreading the message of hope - the "peace plan from heaven" - to millions of people. On more than 30 occasions the statue is reported to have shed tears.

"People are always asking me about miracles," Malburg said. "We know God does make miracles happen from time to time, and as this statue travels around God hears a lot of prayers."

He said the Cincinnati Archdiocese invited the foundation to bring Our Lady of Fatima on a tour throughout the area. He said the statue hasn't been on display on the West Side for several years.

On each stop of the tour, he said there's a constant flow of people who stop throughout the day to see the statue.

Malburg said he loves his job and the mission of the foundation is fulfilling.

"We get to work with saints every day," he said. "I love to see people put God first in their lives and recognize the importance of religion and the messages like those of our Blessed Mother."

Reece said she's seen the statue four times, and tries not to miss an opportunity to see it.

"I've seen it before, but it's still gorgeous," she said. "To me it represents love and peace from our Blessed Mother. Her messages have always been about love."

The statue also visited Elder High School and Holy Family School in Price Hill, and St. Bernard parish in Taylor's Creek.

It will be at St. William Church in Price Hill from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18; and St. Antoninus Church in Green Townsjavascript:void(0)hip from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19.

Mary's Role in the Eucharist

cyril and methodius (9 of 10), originally uploaded by Our Lady of Fatima -The Pilgrim Statue.

Mary leads us to Christ Her Son. Our Lady of Fatima shows us that Jesus is the Way.

Our Lady of fatima Miracle Statue

Miracle statue of Our Lady of Fatima on display in Cincinnati

http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=13465214

Miracle statue on display in Cincinnati

Posted: Nov 08, 2010 2:29 PM CST Updated: Nov 08, 2010 5:17 PM CST

Video Gallery

Our Lady of Fatima

by Jill Eichhorn - email

The statue said to perform miracles is making a pilgrimage in Cincinnati this month.
The Our Lady of Fatima, the "Weeping Madonna", will be at many Catholic churches and schools through November.
The statue was created in 1947 to spread the word of the Virgin Mother's message for the people.  On more than 30 occasions, the statue has been seen shedding tears.
Photographs of these events have been documented around the world.  For a list of churches hosting the pilgrim statue, you can find that information by clicking on this link.

 

Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima making way through Tri-State

"International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima"

• By: Mike Mattingly

The "International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima" is making its way through the Archdiocese of Cincinnati this month.

Hundreds of people have visited the statue at each location where it has stopped.
The statue represents Our Lady of Fatima and what the Catholic church recognizes as the Great Miracle of Fatima in which the Virgin Mary appeared to three children in 1917.
Carl Malburg is the statue's custodian/director. He said, "The statue has been blessed by the Pope and the Bishops.  And it seems that Mother Mary herself is very pleased with the work of the statue she seems to get God to do quite a few cures and other things people call miracleswith the statue traveling about."

The statue will be on display at churches around the area until November 24th.
For a complete list of the tour visit www.pilgrimvirginstatue.com.

Guam News watch

A Song for Mary

In Regnum Cristi from Patrick Sabat on Vimeo.

Statue visits Rhode Island

Our Lady of Fatima statue arrives Wednesday in Westerly RI

The Westerly Sun

The statue is a 40-pound, 46-inch tall, carved mahogany statue of the Virgin Mary that sheds human tears.


. Posted: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 10:15 am
Updated: 11:53 am, Tue Mar 23, 2010.



By NANCY BURNS-FUSARO / Sun Staff Writer


WESTERLY - Carl Malburg not only believes in miracles, he has witnessed them. Malburg, a 70-year-old former lumberjack from Indiana, says that his traveling companion, a 40-pound, 46-inch tall, carved mahogany statue of the Virgin Mary that sheds human tears, has that sort of effect on people.

"It's quite thrilling," says Malburg, who is on the tail end of a Rhode Island tour accompanying the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima. "Our Lady has some nice effects wherever we go."

Just last week, he says, a northern Rhode Island man looked at the statue and was moved to go to confession for the first time in 25 years.

"Now he wants to promote devotion to her," says Malburg, who has also witnessed a couple of simple physical cures since he's been touring the state, like two instant cures from tendonitis.

"We always get a couple," he says, "and then we get reports after our visit."

Malburg and the statue, which has been traveling around the world since the late 1940s, will make a daylong stop Wednesday at Westerly's Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception. They plan to arrive at 9 a.m. and stay until 5 p.m.

Group prayers and Rosaries are scheduled to take place throughout the day, according to Deacon Robert Alessio, with members of the local Legion of Mary leading specific Rosaries and the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, a special set of prayers scheduled to take place at 3 p.m.

In addition to the human tears the statue has shed, says Malburg, the statue occasionally breaks into a smile - "a great big smile that shows her teeth."

At other times she becomes enveloped by the scent of flowers, he says, "a beautiful aroma of roses."

"These are called signal graces," he explains, "little touches that have all been documented."

The Fatima statue, says Malburg, also serves as a reminder of the importance of prayer.

"Our Lady's Peace Plan from heaven" says the Web site, "is a call for prayer and penance offered in reparation for sin." Click here to visit the Our Lady of Fatima Web site.

The statue is one of four official International Pilgrim Virgin Statues in the world today, all belonging to the Fatima Sanctuary in Portugal. Each statue was blessed by Pope Pius XII and each began its pilgrimage on May 13, 1947, the 30th anniversary of the day when Our Lady of Fatima first appeared to three shepherd children in the fields outside the village of Aljustrel in Portugal.

In 1946 Pope Pius XII crowned Our Lady of Fatima as the "Queen of the World," and referred to the International Statues of Our Lady of Fatima as "messengers of Her Royalty."

"We've been going to a different church each day," says Malburg, who began his state tour March 5 in Jamestown and will end it on March 25 at St. Martha's Church in East Providence.

"We've been getting far more people than the priests were expecting," he says.

At some churches, the pair has attracted upwards of a thousand people.

It's understandable, says Malburg, because for many people this is a once in a lifetime event.

Another of the Fatima statues visited Westerly's St. Pius X Church in 2006 for three days of prayer and activity and drew hundreds of worshipers.

Asked in an e-mail to explain the statue's attraction, the Rev. Raymond N. Suriani, pastor of the Elm Street church, writes, "The presence of the Fatima statue - which reminds us of the appearances of our Blessed Mother to three children in Portugal in 1917, gives people an opportunity to seek Mary's special intercession for their own personal needs and the needs of our world."

"It should also inspire them to commit themselves more fully to Jesus and his gospel," he adds.

Guardians Dedicate Life

BY LAURA KILGUS, Staff Reporter 3/18/10

PROVIDENCE—A guardian is a protector, entrusted with caring for the best interest of someone or something that has value. There are two men who travel throughout the world with the responsibility of protecting a 3-foot tall mahogany statue.

Carl Malburg and Patrick Sabat are custodians of the world-famous International Pilgrim Virgin statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Recently, they brought the statue to Rhode Island and have played a part in bringing along the message of Fatima.

For the past 60 years, Malburg said, there has been a full-time guardian that has never left the side of Our Lady of Fatima.

"Years ago it was priests, but probably in the last 30 years it has been lay people," said Malburg, a native of Munster, IN.

The bond between the guardian and the statue is reminiscent of the relationship between Mary and Jesus' disciple, John. On the cross, Jesus said to John, 'Behold your mother.' In a way, he offered the same gift and responsibility to the guardians by asking them to protect the same mother and that is not a task they take lightly.

The statue is carefully carried from place to place, parish to parish, and handled by the custodians wearing white gloves for preservation. A sign placed in front of her reads, "Do not touch her, she will touch you."

Malburg, who has been watching over the statue for 17 years, explained that Sister Lucia, one of the three shepherd children who reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal, described how she looked when she appeared to them, in 1917.

"They said not only did she wear a golden ball around her neck, but also a very sparkling shining star," Malburg said. "The sculptor of the statue had personal contact with Sister Lucia at the time. When this one was made it was made different than any other at the time."

Philippines native, Patrick Sabat was teaching philosophy at a state university in the Philippines when another opportunity was offered to him. He has been a custodian of the statue for six years.

"She called me, how could I refuse," he said. "I gave up my teaching career because it's really an important message."

Sabat explained that as custodians, their travel with the statue has been very extensive.

"We are always on the move," he said. "When we fly we buy her a seat in the plane. We have been to Taiwan, Australia, India, and we were in Haiti last September."

Sabat explained that the message of Fatima that the statue brings does not only come during the Lenten season, but is a year-round request to pray the rosary for peace and repentance for sins.

"It's not about the statue. It's about the message," he said. "This is a beautiful statue, but nothing compares to what our mother looked like."

The beloved statue will continue to travel throughout the Ocean State until Thursday, March 25, ending its visit with a celebration of Mass with Bishop Thomas J. Tobin at St. Martha Church in East Providence.

The Rhode Island Catholic

The Rhode Island Catholic

Carl Malburg, the Custodian

Carl Malburg wanders the world with a statue in tow. The 40-inch Mary he travels with has been venerated by 100 million people. That spells many miles, and, he says, many miracles.
Stephanie Salter, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, September 27, 2003

After all the years and all the parishes, all the grateful hugs, the tearful confidences, the fervent pleas for special prayers -- all the miracles -- Carl Malburg still believes that he's not the best man for the job.
"When people ask me to say prayers for them, I often say, 'If you knew me you'd be asking someone else to pray for you,' " he says. "I am very ordinary."
Possibly, but his job isn't. Malburg, 63, is the official custodian of the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, a 40-inch-tall, carved mahogany Mary, as she is said to have appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
Appeared, that is, with two exceptions: a 7-inch gold crown and white satin cape that adorn the statue these days when it is shown.
"Neither a cape nor a crown was at Fatima, but we always display it that way because we want to give Mary more honor," says Malburg. "She is a queen. But at Fatima she came as a mother, in a simple white dress."
Being the Pilgrim Virgin statue's keeper means that Malburg is on the road for three weeks a month, for 11 months of every year. This Christmas will find him in India. A Michigan native who now lives in Munster, Ind. (when he's home), Malburg drives if the journey is less than 1,000 miles and flies if it's more than.
The statue rides shotgun in his car -- in a seat belt -- and in the seat next to him on planes.
"Once in a while one of the airlines will put us in first class, but that's usually in a foreign country where the people are all Catholic," he says.
Wherever the statue goes, Malburg also packs display lights and dozens of boxes crammed with pamphlets, rosaries and brown scapulars --
symbols of devotion and protection since 1251, when St. Simon Stock said the Holy Mother first pressed a scapular into his hands.
On a foundation's shoestring budget, Malburg's lodgings are nearly always in a rectory or parishioner's home. And he's been at it for more than 10 years.
"I'm a traveler, a wanderer," he says, then adds with a little grin, "They call me a roamin' Catholic."
Malburg and the Fatima statue just ended a three-week, 23-parish journey around the San Francisco Archdiocese. The trip commenced with a special Mass on Sept. 1 at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Mill Valley and concluded last Sunday at St. Isabella Church in San Rafael.
"Since it was carved in 1947, more than 100 million people have venerated that statue," Malburg says, taking a break in the sun from his duties inside St. Cecilia Church in San Francisco. "It's why we have to have a sign that says, 'Please do not touch her, she will touch you.' "
To many non-Catholics, Virgin Mary sightings are right up there with UFOs and alien abduction stories. But to the world's 1 billion practicing Roman Catholics, places like Lourdes in France, Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Guadalupe in Mexico and Fatima are where the mother of Jesus appeared, spoke of peace and penance, worked miracles and continues to work them. Pope John Paul II has credited Our Lady of Fatima for allowing him to survive an attempted assassination.
Millions of faithful travel each year to Portugal and the once-humble site of the 1917 series of six apparitions. Tens of thousands belong to Fatima societies, such as the Blue Army, and pray to replicas of Fatima in their own churches. Two of the shepherd children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, died in childhood -- as the Virgin said they would -- and were beatified by the church in 2000. The third, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun. She is 93 and cloistered in Portugal.
It was Sister Lucia's description of Mary that Portuguese sculptor Jose Thedim used to carve two statues in 1947: one to travel east through Russia, one to go west. The eastern version now spends most of its time in Fatima; the western version has been on the move since its creation.
"People ask me, 'Where does the statue stay?' " says Malburg. "It stays on the road. It doesn't have a home."
On the rare occasions when Malburg is back in Munster, the Fatima statue stays in a Chicago monastery, a Hammond, Ind., nursing home or at Malburg's house: "My wife has fixed a nice place for it in our living room."
But the nice place is not an altar. The crown and cape remain packed, and Malburg and his wife say their nightly prayers as usual, in their bedroom, not in front of the statue.
That Malburg should have a wife at all might seem something of a miracle in itself, what with his travel schedule and all. His predecessor, retired by illness, was a lifelong bachelor. All custodians before that were priests.
Fortunately though, Rose Marie Malburg was "quite dedicated to Fatima things" long before she married Malburg nine years ago. She runs http://www.pilgrimvirginstatue.com/, edits the foundation newsletter and makes a few trips a year that don't require her to live out of suitcase for too long.
"I had this job a year before we became engaged," says Malburg. "She knew what she was marrying -- a wanderer."
Besides, when her husband does come home, Rose Marie gets to hear about "all the little miracles" that occurred on his journey.
"The church wants us to be careful using that word, miracle," he says. "They officially recognize only a couple a year, but there are probably 1,200 that you and I might see."
In the Fatima statue's 56-year existence, there have been several documented and photographed reports of it shedding tears. People have seen its tiny, rosebud mouth smile, its extraordinary brown glass eyes follow theirs.
Meanwhile, Malburg has lost count of the women and men who have prayed to the statue and been cured of all manner of malady. Cancer, alcoholism, drug addiction, suicidal depression, wayward spouses, grief over an abortion, loss of faith in God.
"Usually, it's spiritual things like the cure of alcoholism, but occasionally we have a physical cure, and it's quite astounding," he says. Describing two incidents -- a man whose incurable cancer disappeared and a young woman who'd fallen away from the church but came back after 17 years -- Malburg ranks the latter above the former: "God does not interfere with our free will, so the conversion of a sinner is most significant. The guy who was cured of cancer, 20 years from now, he'll be dead of something else. But that young lady's conversion, that miracle will last for eternity."
For all his self-deprecating jokes, when Malburg tells those kinds of stories, a quiet, grateful wonder creeps into his voice and onto his face. Before he accompanied Our Lady all over the Western Hemisphere, he was raised on a timber farm and worked as a lumberjack for 20 years.
So, unlike his predecessors he does not call his mahogany companion "she." So? His relationship with and devotion to the woman the statue honors are obviously deep and rich.
After more than a decade, after hundreds of setups and take- downs, hundreds of historical talks to grade-schoolers and senior citizens, hundreds of intimate confidences and joyous accounts of comfort and deliverance, Malburg seems as open and obedient as the three shepherd children.
"This is very exciting work," he says. "Every day is different, yet every day we expect some kind of marvels. One day, when it might seem to get mundane,
I'll hear a report of someone who's been helped, and suddenly I'm full of thrills again, and wondering what's around the next corner."

Fatima Seers Help You Have the Best Lent Ever, by Dr. Jose Maria Alcasid

(Source: www.americaneedsfatima.org)

Lent, that time of the liturgical year when Holy Mother Church calls on Catholics to fast and abstain from meat in the spirit of penance and self-denial, also encourages the faithful to meditate on the dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this penitential exercise, Our Lord Jesus Christ serves as our supreme model- He led the way of mortification by denying Himself sustenance for forty days and forty nights in preparation for the commencement of His public ministry. He, who has most tender compassion for humble and repentant sinners, assures us, "I came not to call the just, but sinners to penance." Luke 5:32. And in a supreme act of immolation, Our Lord offered Himself in sacrifice for our salvation and accepted His suffering humanity for the redemption of the world.

Fatima and the Need for Suffering

In light of the above, how are we to model our Lenten practices in the spirit of the Fatima message?

1.    During Lent, Fatima's constant theme of prayer, penance and amendment of life becomes ever more relevant in our daily lives.

Nowadays, many are accustomed to the conveniences that technological progress provides. Fast food, TV dinners, cell phones, ATM's, express delivery, Internet, email, on-line shopping, etc – modern inventions that fuel that frenetic desire to get things done quickly and easily. Everything comes at one's fingertips at one's beckoning. And voila! The recurring mantra jumps out, "I want it and I want it NOW."  In short, no fuss, no delay; period!

•    The appeal of the Seven Capital Sins

In a fast paced world as such, instant gratification is the rule.  Sadly, it also opens the door wide to sin and vice. The myriad of ads that one watches or reads these days appeal in more ways than one to the seven capital sins.  A new facial anti-wrinkle cream flatters a 50-year-old's vanity; a luscious and tantalizing food product feeds one's gluttonous tendencies; the Jones' new car spur's one envy; an exotic perfume wakes up ones passion and lust; a sales pitch for faster delivery service mitigates one's anger over a previously botched job; and so it goes down the line.

•    Our Ruling Passions

From another vantage view, each individual suffers from a ruling passion or vice that dominates all others and, frequently causes one to fall from grace. Be it pride or sensuality, intemperance, a loose tongue or what not, we know, more or less, our own weaknesses. Thankfully by the grace of God, Lent offers the opportunity for one to tackle this or that defect through serious reflection, prayer and the practice of mortification.

Would it burden us much if we cease to be creatures of comfort starting this Lenten season and mortify our senses for the good of our souls? Let us turn to the children of Fatima for inspiration and courage.

2.    Exemplary models of penance and sacrifice

The Angel of Portugal taught the children the virtue of asking pardon for evildoers through prayer and offering sacrifices. He impressed upon them the compelling need to make reparation for the insults, sacrileges and indifference committed against the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Our Lady of Fatima consistently asked the children for prayers of reparation and sacrifice for poor sinners which culminated in the vision of hell that had a profound and lasting effect on them.  Having seen the horrors and torments of everlasting infernal fire, the seers were transformed into heroes of mortification and penance.

•    A belt of rope as self torment

The children devised innovative ways as they see them fit to observe mortified lives. Lucia found a rope one day and suggested it to be cut into three pieces so each of the seers could wear them continuously around their waists. This they practiced with such zeal that it bothered them in their sleep. Pleasing at it was to God, Our Lady had to intervene later and asked them to remove them at night.

•    Suffering Hunger

Francisco thought it a good sacrifice to give their lunches to the sheep and in later days to poor children they met along the way. Thus they fasted much like in the spirit of austere monks. They thrived admirably on acorns from holm oak and oak trees, pine nuts, roots, berries, mushrooms and other things harvested from the roots of pine trees.

•    Suffering Thirst

On one occasion, Lucia and the other two children, while suffering from severe thirst, decided to forego drinking from a jar of water that Lucia fetched from a nearby house and poured it instead into a hollow in a stone for the sheep to drink.

•    Self-Inflicted pain

On other occasions, they would hit their own legs with nettles, "so as to offer to God yet another sacrifice."

Such were the edifying examples of mortification the child seers practiced because of their deep understanding of the urgent necessity of acts of reparation and sacrifices to appease Divine Justice and to mitigate the injuries perpetrated against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Let us take all these to heart and apply them to our own situation keeping in mind the widespread decadence corroding the moral well-being of our contemporary times. It is undeniable that much penance and prayers are needed to atone for all these transgressions. One needs just to open the newspaper or watch the nightly news to find proofs.

3.  Adopting realistic resolutions appropriate for our condition and times

The messages revealed in the apparitions to the three Portuguese children by the Angel of Portugal and the Queen of Heaven and Earth all speak of the gravity of the sins and crimes of mankind - a tragedy that begs for serious and resolute atonement and conversion to appease the wrath of God. To avert a terrible chastisement, Our Lady asks men to pray ardently for the conversion of sinners and to offer many expiatory sacrifices.

•    A sense of urgency and a call to action

We must take this warning with utmost seriousness and immediacy.  It is a standing message for our times directed to all men.

The seers of Fatima responded to this call by making heroic acts of penance and reparation for they fully grasped the meaning of appeasing Divine wrath. Let us follow their lead and reconcile the Fatima message with the real moral crisis staring at us blankly.

•    No easy way out

What has been written here so far would be put to waste if our intellect fails to change our mentality and move our will to make steadfast resolutions. If the service of God consisted only in fulfilling certain obligations, devotional practices and prescribed prayers compatible to a life of ease and comfort, then the Church would be flooded with new-found saints.

But such is not the case. Sadly, it is our human nature to shun sufferings, to avoid pain and to be self-satisfied with whatever little progress we gain in the spiritual life. Let us shed our false optimism. Let us cast our tepidity and lukewarm spirit. With a changed mentality, let us replace our misconceptions with a sincere abiding sorrow for our sins.

•    Carrying the Cross

Take heart in the Divine counsel, 'If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Luke 9:23.

The cross is the embodiment of the Gospel and the glorious standard of a true Christian. And by carrying our cross, we must humble ourselves and look at ourselves as our greatest enemy; with whom we ought to wage a continual war for the rest of our lives.

World-traveling statue of Our Lady to inspire diocese

World-traveling statue of Our Lady to inspire diocese
BY LAURA KILGUS, Staff Reporter
3/4/10
PROVIDENCE—The world-famous International Pilgrim Virgin statue of Our Lady of Fatima is en route to the Ocean State. On March 5, the statue will arrive at St. Mark Church in Jamestown, bringing along the message of Fatima. The statue’s visit to the diocese will end on the Feast of the Annunciation, Thursday, March 25, with a celebration of Mass with Bishop Thomas J. Tobin at St. Martha Church in East Providence.
The veneration of this Marian statue, much like Our Lady of Guadalupe, is approved and encouraged by the Catholic Church as a way to strengthen the faithful in their prayer-lives and to develop a deeper relationship with God through the mediation of his mother.
“Our Lady is Our Lady no matter where she appears,” said Carol Owens, coordinator of the Office of Life and Family for the Diocese of Providence.
The upcoming visit is sponsored by the Human Life Guild apostolate of prayer. Owens said that she was inspired to invite the statue to the diocese because she has always had a deep devotion to Fatima.
“It’s so important to bring her to our diocese to bring hope in our lives,” said Owens. “People are thirsty and she gives them hope. This has always been a story that I have grown up with. We used to hear these fascinating stories of Fatima all the time.”

There are two statues of Our Lady of Fatima, created around 1947, and designed exactly as she was described to have looked when she appeared to three Portuguese children in the early 1900’s in a field at Fatima, Portugal. One statue is enshrined in the basilica in Fatima and the other travels around the world offering hope to millions of believers.
In 1917, the three shepherd children reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal. According to the accounts of the children, Our Lady of Fatima stressed the importance of praying the rosary each day for peace along with requesting reparation and repentance for sins.
Owens explained that guardians from the Pilgrim Virgin Committee, a lay apostolate dedicated to protecting and traveling with the image around the world, maintain the statue and never leave its side.
Owens said that she is eager for the arrival of the Pilgrim Virgin statue of Our Lady of Fatima and is looking forward to seeing the fruits of this visitation.
“Watching people like they’re on a pilgrimage, walking up to venerate the statue, that’s enough to give people hope. We are bringing her here so that people can go see her and get that message out to the world. Now, more than ever we need this. We need it in our world.”
Opportunities to view the International Pilgrim Virgin statue of Our Lady of Fatima
Friday, March 5
St. Mark Church, 60 Narragansett Ave., Jamestown 8:30 a.m. Mass; 9:15 a.m. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, presentation, rosary, veneration, 4:45 p.m. Benediction.
Saturday, March 6
St. Rocco Church, Atwood Avenue, Johnston
8:00 a.m. Mass, veneration, 10:00 a.m. presentation, 10:30 a.m. presentation, 11:00 a.m. Rosary, 5:00 p.m. Mass.
Sunday, March 7
St. Joseph Church, 391 High Street, Central Falls
7:30 a.m. Mass & presentation; rosary, Marian hymns, 10:30 a.m. presentation, 11:00 a.m. Mass followed by Marian devotions.
Monday, March 8
Holy Angels Church, 341 Maple Avenue, Barrington
8:00 a.m. Mass, 1:00 p.m. Adoration, veneration, 3:00 p.m. Divine Mercy Chaplet, 3:30 p.m. presentation, 4:00 p.m. Benediction.
Tuesday, March 9
Holy Apostles, 800 Pippin Orchard Rd., Cranston
7:30 a.m. Mass, veneration, 12 noon rosary, presentation, 2:00 p.m. Adoration, 4:00 p.m. presentation Religious Education Class, 4:45 p.m. benediction.
Wednesday, March 10
St. Lawrence Church, 624 Woonasquatucket Avenue, North Providence 8:00 a.m. Mass, veneration, 1:00 p.m. presentation, 1:30 p.m. Marian prayers.
Thursday, March 11
St. Vincent de Paul, 6 St. Vincent de Paul Street, Coventry. 8:00 a.m. Mass, adoration, veneration; noon rosary, presentation; 3:00 p.m. Divine Mercy Chaplet; 3:45 p.m. benediction.
Friday, March 12
St. Francis of Assisi, 618 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick. 8:00 a.m. Mass; noon Mass, veneration all day; 7:00 p.m. presentation, Stations of the Cross.
Saturday, March 13
St. Anthony, 32 Lawn Ave., Pawtucket. 9:00 a.m. Mass - veneration all day; 11:00 a.m. Marian holy hour; 4:00 p.m. presentation; 5.00 p.m. Mass.
Sunday, March 14
Our Lady of the Rosary, 21 Traverse St., Providence. 7:00 a.m. Mass (Portuguese); 8:45 a.m. Mass (English); 11:00 a.m. Mass (Portuguese), veneration; 2:30 p.m. presentation, Marian holy hour.
Monday, March 15
St. Timothy, Warwick Avenue, Warwick. 8:00 a.m. Mass, veneration; 11:30 a.m. rosary; noon Mass, adoration; 7:00 p.m. holy hour, rosary, presentation, Benediction.
Tuesday, March 16
St. Thomas the Apostle, Metacom Avenue, Warren. 9:00 a.m. veneration; 7:00 p.m. Marian holy hour, rosary, presentation, Benediction.
Wednesday, March 17
St. Patrick, 244 Smith Street, Providence. 9:00 a.m. veneration (Chapel) until 6:00 p.m., then Our Lady will be processed to the church; 6:30 p.m. Presentation; 7:00 p.m. Mass (Bilingual).
Thursday, March 18
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, 64 Brayton Ave. Providence. 6:30 p.m. rosary, 7:00 p.m. Mass followed by a presentation, Benediction, veneration of relics of Francesco and Jacinta.
Friday, March 19
Jesus Saviour, Broadway, Newport. 8:00 a.m. Mass; 8:30 a.m. presentation, adoration, veneration; 4:00 p.m. rosary; 4:45 p.m., Benediction.
Saturday, March 20
St. Paul, One St. Paul Place, Cranston. 8:00 a.m. all day veneration, confession; noon presentation, 4:15 p.m. Mass.
Sunday, March 21
Sacred Heart, 820 Providence Street, West Warwick. 7:30 a.m. Mass; 9:00 a.m. Mass; 10:15 a.m. presentation; 11:15 Mass.
Monday, March 22
St. Elizabeth, 330 Wood Street, Bristol. 7:30 a.m. Mass, veneration; noon rosary, presentation; 6:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross (bilingual), 7:00 p.m. Marian Holy Hour (bilingual).
Tuesday, March 23
Holy Ghost, Judson St.Tiverton. 7:00 a.m. Mass, rosary, veneration; noon presentation – all day confessions.
Wednesday, March 24
Immaculate Conception, 111 High St. Westerly. 9:00 a.m. Marian Holy Hour, rosary, presentation, veneration; noon rosary; 3:00 p.m. rosary, 5:30 p.m. rosary.
Thursday, March 25
Feast of the Annunciation, Linn Health Care/Winslow Gardens Retirement Ctr., St. Martha, Friendship Chapel, 30 Alexander Street, East Providence, Pawtucket Avenue, East Providence, 1:30 p.m. Holy Hour, Benediction, adoration and presentation. Our Lady will remain in the chapel for veneration until 3:00 p.m.; 4:00 p.m. Marian Holy Hour – welcoming Our Lady of Fatima: rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, presentation, Benediction, veneration until 7:00 p.m.; 7:00 p.m. Mass in Celebration of the Feast of the Annunciation. Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, main celebrant/homilist, Rev. Douglas Spina, pastor, concelebrant. Following the Mass the annual Gabriel Project baby shower will be held in Msgr. Bracq Hall. Refreshments will be served.

IPVS on Fox News

Our Lady of Fatima Statue Graces Austin
Updated: Friday, 15 Jan 2010, 9:52 PM CSTPublished : Friday, 15 Jan 2010, 12:52 PM CST

Nancy Zambrano FOX 7 Reporter

Austin, TX - It's the 90 year story behind the statue of the Lady of Fatima that draws attention worldwide. As part of its international pilgrimage it's now in Austin at St. Mary's Cathedral thanks to the efforts of Father Albert Laforet.
"I think it's a great message of hope and when we are in the situation when there's a lot of war and tensions lots of despair the message of Fatima is a message of hope for today," says Father Laforet.
The story dates back to 1917 when three children reported apparitions of Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal. The apparitions to many worshipers was one of hope. That's when a bishop in Fatima suggested the message needed to be spread.
"Christian people around the world weren't getting it, and so he had the idea of a traveling statue going out on a teaching mission," says Carl Malburg.
He is an expert on the history of the statue and has been traveling with the religious icon for years. He says it was around 1947 when two statues were built. Since then what some call a wooden masterpiece of art has traveled around the world and attracted millions of believers.
"There seems to be something to it, we think it is the lord himself providing a lot of answers to prayers and giving gifts and comforts to people, often called miracles," says Malburg.
Also called a miracle the reports and pictures of tears coming down the cheeks of the image.
"In fact investigated at the hospital to be not water but human tears and so those things do attract the people," says Malburg.
The religious story it even inspired a Hollywood movie. In Austin Friday night those who believe in it's power came to see Lady of Fatima for themselves.
"It's an honor to be here tonight to be in her presence and you know it's something that I'll never get the opportunity to visit Fatima," says parishioner Maryann Schmidt.
Following the Mass, a discussion was held about the history of the statue. Saturday statue will make it's way to San Antonio to continue on it's journey.

Marian Icon offers hope to Faithful

By Abe Levy - Express-News

Members of the Ramirez family (from left) Maria; Victoria, 4; Josefina; Thanairi, 10; Horacio, 12; Oscar; Irelinda, 5; Oscar Jr., 2; and Paloma de Cristal, 6, visit a replica statue of Our Lady of Fatima during a tour stop at San Juan De Los Lagos Catholic Church on Wednesday. The West Side church is one of approximately 25 on the San Antonio area tour where followers of the Marian devotion can pray before the statue.

Lisa Krantz/lkrantz@express-news.net
Brother David Munoz (left) and Father Art Flores hold Communion near the statue during Mass at San Juan De Los Lagos. The statue is on tour in the San Antonio area through Jan. 24

Dozens of people formed a line down the center aisle of a West Side Catholic church this week, each waiting for a turn to pray before a replica statue of Our Lady of Fatima on tour in San Antonio this month.
Moms carrying infants in their arms were eager to ask for safety and health for their children. Business professionals dressed in suits sought spiritual and physical healings for themselves, relatives and friends. Gregory Ronnebaum, an unemployed truck driver and single father of two teens, looked to take the edge off a rough past year.
“It gives you a lot of hope in these tough times,” he said Thursday, after a tear-filled encounter kneeling in front of the statue at San Juan De Los Lagos Catholic Church.
Thousands are expected to visit the statue through Jan. 24 at about 25 churches in the San Antonio area as part of a worldwide tour. Sculpted in 1947, it is the official traveling statue for the Marian devotion, which is experiencing renewed popularity in the United States.
It was in 1917 in Fatima, Portugal that the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to three shepherd children and miraculously revealed a message of personal piety, repentance and prayer. A statue and shrine were built at the site and the traveling statue was fashioned according to the account of one of the shepherd children.
This Marian following, like the widely popular Virgin of Guadalupe, is approved and encouraged by Catholic hierarchy as a way to strengthen Catholics in their personal prayer habits and achieve greater closeness to God. Many people credit it with supernatural healings and signs; its promotional material reports the statue has shed actual tears.
To introduce the statue at San Juan De Los Lagos parish, Father Art Flores waived incense around the statue during a morning Mass and later, during Communion, a soloist sang “Ave Maria” while strumming a guitar. The traditional Latin lyrics echoed inside the modest parish sanctuary where the tightknit, Hispanic congregation has a history of devotion to other popular Marian movements.
On one side of the parish sanctuary is a replica of Our Lady of San Juan De Los Lagos in a glass case adorned with bouquets. On the other side in another glass case is a replica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Before dimming the lights and inviting the near-capacity audience to pay homage to the Fatima statue, instruction was given not to cross the line into worship of the statue.
“We do not believe the statue is God,” Norma Saenz Herrera told the gathering, noting that Christ’s presence in a consecrated host on the nearby altar table should be the focus. “There’s a difference.”
White lilies adorned the base of the statue while a floor light illuminated the face. Devotees wrote down prayer requests on slips of yellow paper and dropped them in a nearby box before their turn came. Many stared devoutly at Our Lady of Fatima’s face and then closed their eyes and whispered wishes for divine help. Some laid bouquets of roses at the statue’s feet. Others snapped photos.
“I felt very warm — like I was in her arms,” said Carolyn Kandoff, who credits her Marian devotion for overcoming pancreatic cancer nine years ago.
Neighborhood parishes like this one are sought out for the statue’s visits, said Carlos Malburg, an icon custodian from Munster, Ind., who travels with it on tour
“We feel the place to go is neighborhoods,” he said while passing out pamphlets at an outdoor table. “The people who come around feel it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we’re happy to project that feeling.”
Our Lady of Fatima visitation schedule
Schedule of the traveling statue in South Texas:
• Today — noon-4:30 p.m., Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 314 Merida
• Sunday — 10 a.m.-7 p.m., St. Cecilia Catholic Church, 125 W. Whittier
• Monday — 10 a.m.-8 p.m., St. Matthew Catholic Church, 10703 Wurzbach Road
• Tuesday — 8 a.m.-9 p.m., St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, 1314 Fair Ave.
• Wednesday — 8:30 a.m.-3:15 p.m., Antonian College Prep High School, 6425 West Ave.
• Thursday — St. Gerard Catholic Church, 1523 Iowa; schedule undetermined
• Friday — 7-10 p.m., St. Mary Cathedral, 203 E. 10th St., Austin
• Jan. 16 — 5-9 p.m., Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church, 1107 E. Yager Lane, Austin
• Jan. 17 — 7 a.m.-1 p.m., St. Jerome Catholic Church, 7955 Real Road
• Jan. 18 — 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Carmelite Sisters, 2006 Martin Luther King Drive
• Jan. 19 — 11:45 a.m.-8 p.m., St. Anthony Catholic Church, 16505 Kilowatt, Elmendorf
• Jan. 20 — 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., St. John Berchmans chapel, 1147 Cupples Road; and 1:30-9 p.m., Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 1009 Trail, Floresville.
• Jan. 21 — 8 a.m.-9 p.m., St. Agnes Catholic Church, 814 Ruiz St.
• Jan. 22 — 9:30 a.m.-7:15 p.m., Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, 618 S. Grimes
• Jan. 23 — 7:55 a.m.-noon, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 618 S. Grimes
• Jan. 24 — 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m., Basilica of the Little Flower, 824 Kentucky Ave.