Our Lady of Sorrows Has Spoken...Why Don't Men Listen?

I was going through Scribd and found documents with messages from Our Lady.  Our Lady of Anguera, Our Lady of Knock, Our Lady of Akita, Our Lady of Fatima.... so many messages.  I started thinking, wasn't she tired of giving us messages?  She comes, talks, sees a sea of curious people.. religious people... some who disbelieve, some who mock her.. but many will convert after realizing that she truly is Our Mother of Perpetual Succour.

Then I noticed... there is a central theme to the messages she gives.

Our Lady of Fatima (message in July 1919), as she spoke to the three children :

"You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go.  To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: But if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father. 

To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the communion of reparation on the first Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church.  The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal the dogma of the faith will always be preserved."

But have her requests been heeded?

Our Lady of Akita

The third message on October 13, 1973, the actual anniversary of the final visions and miracle of Fatima is as follows:

"As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead.

The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by my Son. Each day, recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and the priests. The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, and bishops against other bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their Confreres. The Church and altars will be vandalized. The Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.  

The demon will rage especially against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will no longer be pardon for them." 

Our Lady of Anguera

Message 3259 from Our Lady of Peace, Anguera, Bahia, Brazil, 29/12/2009, Source [3A]

Dear Sons and Daughters, I am your Sorrowful Mother and I suffer because of your suffering. Bend your knees in prayer beseeching the mercy of The Lord for humanity. My poor children will carry a heavy cross. The crust of the earth will split in many regions of the earth. Energy coming from the interior of the earth will bring suffering to many of My poor children. Listen to what I am saying. Humanity is on the eve of the most terrible suffering and punishment. What I have already announced is going to happen. This is the message I transmit to you today in the name of The Most Holy Trinity. Thank you for permitting Me to reunite you here once more. I bless you in the name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Spirit. Amen. Be at peace.

That's Message Number Three Thousand Two Hundred and Fifty Nine.

And Blessed Virgin Mary appeared at so many other places...

She must be getting quite tired of meeting people and giving her warnings by now.  Warnings so many people don't heed.

What Does It Take To Unstop Deaf Ears and Open Blind Eyes?

Yesterday I went for a Divine Mercy mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral.  I brought people with me who were hoping for a miracle, for among the attendees was Stanley Villavicencio. Read about his story here and here and here.  During his talks, many miracles of spiritual and physical healing have been reported.

In the few days before the Mass, I asked a few friends to come.  Most were interested but some had that blank look on their faces that told me that they were working hard to keep their thoughts and feelings hidden.  I knew they thought I was being gullible.

Why is there so much disbelief in our world?  So much cynicism, so much doubt, so much skepticism... what has happened to faith, trust, confidence?

Does it really matter if Stanley Villavicencio is a fake or a con?  It is clear in the Bible that "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20. What miracles may be possible when God is present in our midst? Besides, if Stanley V is a conman, he isn't a very good one.  He doesn't ask for money, he doesn't ask for people to worship him.  All he wants is for people to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet.  He doesn't even get royalties out of that.  Well, I'll be attending his talk on Tuesday night so I'll be able to share more on what happened later.

I think that if there were more love and trust in our world, more reaching out than waiting for others to make the first move, surely there would be more happiness.  If we reached out, and the other rebuffed our gesture, at least we tried.  At least the other person knows we care about him, whether or not his heart is ready to accept the caring.  But what if we reached out and the other person grabbed our hand and realized that someone in this world cared about him, someone in this world noticed his existence?

One of the warning signs of suicide is depression and feeling hopeless.  Perhaps if we opened our hearts to more people, there'd be less hopelessness in our world.  Why guard our hearts so rigidly... we can only be hurt if we allow others to hurt us, anyway.

People like Stanley Villavicencio bring hope and encourage devotion to our Lord Jesus.  We should draw near to such people.

Catholic Tithing and Giving

The word 'tithe' originally meant 'ten per cent', which was the biblical norm for giving (in the Old Testament).  I never really thought about tithing... it was never really taught to me, although generosity, almsgiving and volunteerism was nothing strange in my home and to my family.

However, in the past year, thoughts of tithing kept coming to my mind.  And opportunities to give kept coming.  I remember sitting in church during one Mass with my normal offering in hand.  Suddenly it came to me that my monthly total wasn't even 5% of my monthly income.  Surely that was not right.  I just knew that it wasn't enough.  So I began giving more.

Then a young girl who needed help crossed my path.  I helped her find a place to stay, to study... and unbelievably, without meaning to, I found her sponsors.  I was just sitting in my room, chatting with a friend.  Then I mentioned her case.  The next thing I knew, he dialed a number and passed me his phone to talk to a total stranger.  These Christians (non-Catholics) were practising tithing.  But they didn't give to a particular church.  They just helped those who needed monetary help.  Needless to say, that young lady is now able to concentrate on her studies and no longer needs to look for part-time jobs.  She was suspicious of the help at first but I explained that these men NEEDED to give money back for they had been so blessed by God.

Knowing about these two men's practice made me read up on tithing.

The clincher came last month.  I had an orphanage page on my Facebook but I hadn't been paying them much attention.  Suddenly I just kept coming across references to the orphanage.  At night, I kept thinking of them.  And believe it or not, the sentence 'Give them money.' kept resounding in my brain.  It was an order.  GIVE THEM MONEY.  I lasted about three days and nights.  On the third night, I sat at my computer and thought, OK I give up.  So let's give them money.  I tried to do an online transfer of RM200.  Unsuccessful.  I tried again.  Still unsuccessful.  That was Friday night.

On Saturday morning, I went to a friend's house.  Sat down and unloaded everything to her.  She smiled and then shared HER own stories about tithing.  She too went through almost the same process of getting the idea and then experiencing impulses to give.  The amazing bit of her story came when she felt the urge to give RM500 to a stranger.  But then she only had RM200 left of her ten percent tithe.  However the urge was so strong that she just gave him the RM500.  The very next day, a friend came to her house and handed her an envelope, saying,"X, I don't know why but God wants me to give you this."  Guess how much money was in the envelope?  RM300.

The more she shared with me, the stronger the urge to give that money to the orphanage became.  This time it was 'GIVE THEM RMX00!'.  More than the original RM200!  But by that time, I was just too frazzled to care.  She laughed as I jumped up and ran to my car.  I drove to KK to find an Alliance Bank branch.  The closest was in front of the Filipino market.  At 11am on a Saturday morning, that place is usually FULL of people.  So I began thinking of where I could park my car.  And I also began thinking of what my options were if I couldn't find parking.  Would you believe that there was an empty parking spot just three shops away from the bank?  Right in between two vans.  When I saw that empty spot,  I became all the more anxious to dump that money in the cash deposit ATM.  I didn't want any more unsettled nights or nagging feelings.  Never have I ever been so relieved to see money disappear from my wallet.

But why RMX00?  I puzzled over that for a while. Then I realised... OF COURSE.  RMX00 was my tithe for the month.

Some people may probably think I'm crazy.  That's okay, I wonder about it sometimes too.

St Joseph Spouse of Mary

Thinking of the people who were important to the Child Jesus, I wondered of His foster father, Joseph.  I was sure that Jesus loved Joseph very much, as any babe would feel about the father who cared for his welfare.  As I read about St Joseph, I marveled at what I found out.  Well, I DID mention the poor state of my knowledge.

St Teresa of Avila said this of St Joseph in her autobiography (chapter 6) :

I do not remember even now that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant.  I am astonished at the great favors which God has bestowed on me through this blessed saint, and at the perils from which He has freed me, both in body and in soul.  To other saints the Lord seems to have given grace to succor us in some of our necessities but of this glorious saint my experience is that he succors us in them all...

I also downloaded a talk about St Joseph (Saint-Joseph-the-Man-Chosen-by-God) where the speaker mentioned a few things :

--- St Joseph was confirmed in grace

--- St Joseph from the tribe of Judah was chosen by the high priests in an interesting way : all the single men in the tribe were given a wooden branch to keep overnight.  The branches were collected the next day and St Joseph's branch had blossomed and was covered in leaves.

--- When St Joseph died on March 19 (also his Feast Day), he was in Jerusalem for the Feast of Unleavened Bread and buried nearby.  St Jerome noted that his burial place was within the Garden of Gethsemane.  Perhaps Jesus chose to pray there before his capture, in order to encourage us to seek St Joseph out in our last hours.

--- the early fathers of the church also pointed out that St Joseph's tomb (visible in those days) was empty.  So if his tomb is empty, where haven they taken St Joseph?  Doctor of the Church St Francis De Sales answers the question.  "St Joseph is in heaven, body and soul, of that there is no doubt."

Imagine if we were to ask for St Joseph's intercession for spiritual strength...

An Ancient Prayer to Saint Joseph

O St Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in thee all my interests and desires.  O St Joseph, assist me by thy powerful intercession and obtain for me all spiritual blessings through thy foster Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord, so that, having engaged here below thy heavenly power, I may offer thee thy thanksgiving and homage.

O St Joseph, I never weary contemplating thee and Jesus asleep in thine arms.  I dare not approach while He reposes near thy heart.  Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.

St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for me. 

The 'Amazingness' of Prayers

It's been a year plus since my 'adventures' began.  What a weak word that is ...adventure... How much I've learned since then.

The most amazing thing (time for a duh! moment!) is what I am discovering about prayers.

I used to think that prayers were just things of duty.  People said they were important.  I supposed it was to save my soul... to make me a better person... to help me use up my time in a more fruitful way.  I heard but I never really listened.  Or understood.  Well, some people take longer to learn.

I read the Bible and learned about people who prayed.  And had their prayers answered.  I supposed I half-believed that prayers were answered.  But deep inside me, a little kernel said,"Naaaah, who'd answer YOUR prayers?"  Because in the Bible, prayers were answered in amazingmiraculousextraordinaryastounding ways.  My life was too ordinary for such things.

Plus, I was surrounded by information and exhortations to believe in facts, which usually meant stuff that can be seen, recorded, measured and verified by a few million people.  So if I prayed to pass an exam and I passed, it would be due to hard work at memorising.  If I prayed for my parents to let me attend a party, and they let me go, it would be because THEY wanted to let me go and not because of any sort of divine intervention.  Since I'd never prayed for angels to visit me or for some sort of supernatural event, I've never been able to say for sure that such prayers would be answered.

Anyway.

This is what I've discovered in the past one year.

God wants us to say prayers.

God will only take action when we ask Him to do so via our prayers.

Prayers have power.

Prayers have energy.  Directed at something other than God, these prayers may attract dark forces eager for the energy.

The prayers being said now is not enough.  Not enough for what, I have no idea.  But I suppose the obvious answer would be 'not enough to avert the end.'  Hmm.

Here are a few quotes:

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth

                                                        Psalm 145:18

Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

                                                        Matthew 7:7-8

Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Again I say to you, if two of you shall agree on earth about anything they ask, it shall be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

                                                       Matthew 18 : 18-20

God cannot execute His strategies to loose angels to work with us and for us, if we, God's chief executives on earth, will not pray.  Through our prayers we marshal these angelic beings and release them to work either in our own nation or the nations of the earth.  Evil will be so rife in the end times that a coordinated effort between redeemed men and angelic beings is essential.  Angelic participation  is indispensable and the church must learn to activate and accelerate angelic activities on earth through serious praying.  The church in every nation must know that she has the authority to marshal angels and thrust them out to police the spirit realm of their nation so that no demonic activities can assault that land.  The true governors of a nation are not the politicians, they are those who pray.

                            by Susan Tang "God's Strategies for the End Times Book Five"

God's Word is an amazing testament of His desire for fellowship with those who believe in Him and seek a love relationship with Him.  Among the many topics the Bible covers, prayer is one of the most important, for speaking to God and hearing from Him has the power to change your life.

                             by Stormie Omartian "The Power of Praying Through The Bible"

So many people do not pray and they may be lost.  When we pray, we can 'cover' them.  In Deuteronomy 32:30, God's blessings on the troops of Israel states that one can chase a thousand and two can put ten thousand to flight.  An exponential increase.  Many prayer ministries see this applicable in spiritual warfare, as well.   Imagine how many a praying person can save... 

Knowing all this, can you not pray?  Will you not pray?