検索キーワード： ナレーター "Luz Elena Sandoval-Lord" すべてのカテゴリー

Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to History of the Cross and learn about the origin and history of the true cross.

We must give you at least a short version of what happened because everything about the shrine is miraculous. It is truly an extraordinary place to visit. But don't let us forget to tell you about the miracle of the Cross which took place here. It's as remarkable as the account of the translation of the image of Our Lady which came here.

When Our Lord wants a message to get out to his church, he raises up a powerful saint to do the task. Such a saint was Gertrude the Great! She was the one to plant the seed which would bloom through the hands of another powerful saint and visionary St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, four centuries later, and subsequently through Saint Faustina Kowalska in the 20th century, through the Mission of Divine Mercy.

As we research the lives of saints and other powerful men and women in the church, we sometimes wonder if they were ever given a job description of what was expected of them in their positions and if they had been given the opportunity to say “aye” or “nay”. Did they and do we really have a choice to say “aye” or “nay” to the Lord when he calls us into ministry?

The Lord has given the church many heroes down through the centuries, and each person he gives us is for a specific reason for a specific time, but not only for that time. The 19th century is a perfect example of that. The church suffered greatly during that century, but the Lord knew we needed him to be at our sides to assure us that he would keep his promise that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church.

When did we stop singing this love song to our country? It was so subtle; did it just sort of disappear with many of the other patriotic traditions that our country stood for? How many of us still remember this song, reminding us of the price paid by our fathers - the hopes and dreams of our ancestors, as they struggled in filthy disease-ridden holds of ships bringing them to a new land of promise and freedom for all? Writing about Mother Cabrini and the reason she came to our country, we became aware of the struggle, the crosses our families bore to give us a land of promise.

The story of Oscar Romero is one of transformation, from one born of poverty, to one living comfortably within the system, to one determined to change the system. The story of Oscar Romero is one of conversion, of Paul on the road to Damascus, of a man who was blinded, and whose eyes were opened by the Lord, to see his brothers and sisters in agony and misery. The story of Oscar Romero is one of a man who committed his life to right wrongs to his flock, or die trying. The story of Oscar Romero is one of a Martyr for Christ.

During one of Catherine of Siena's ecstasies, she exclaimed, referring to St. Agnes of Montepulciano: "I give you thanks oh my Lord, for showing me the place that will be mine (in Paradise), next to my sister Agnes." Who is this saint (virtually unknown in our country) that a powerful saint and doctor of the Church - Catherine of Siena should say this of her?

There was a large crucifix on the back wall of the church. Many in the parish had a great devotion to Our Crucified Lord and paid homage to him on this crucifix. But on this particular evening, they were coming to the close of the mission, and so the attention was not on the crucifix, but on the priests, who were giving their last teachings.

Bob and Penny Lord travel to Lithuania, to a hill where crosses have miraculously appeared over a period of centuries of enslavement and harsh treatment at the hands of foreign dictators. Witness the apparition of Our Lady at the hill. This is a tribute as well, to a brave people who were undaunted in the face of the enemy. Learn of the miracle of the cross on a hill high above the capital city of Vilnius, which would not go away.

To study the history of the world, especially Europe, is to discover the history of the Church. For, the Church has always played an integral part in the annals of history, as she continues to follow her master Jesus Christ, who told the apostles, “I will be with you till the end of the world.” For, since the children of God are living in the world, then so must the happenings of the world be intertwined with Mother Church as her children are affected by the world they live in.

One of the most powerful Sacramentals is the Brown Scapular. On July 16, 1251, Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, accompanied by her Heavenly Army of Angels and made the following promise: "Whoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire." Now, it was not our Lady's intention that the Scapular should replace the living out of a holy and virtuous Christian life. Instead, she meant it to remind us of the life she led, one of obedience to the Will of the Father, of humility, of fidelity, a willing vessel bringing the Savior to us.

St. John Bosco, better known as Don Bosco, is one of the great apostles of the 19th century. His ministry was to the children of Turin in Northern Italy, victims of the Industrial Revolution in that country at that time. Don Bosco was God's gift to the Church of that century. The magnetism of Don Bosco reached out and touched souls all over the world. He was one of the most multi-faceted diamonds the Lord has ever given us.

When we wrote on the life of St. Teresa in our book Saints and other Powerful Women in the Church, little did we think that we would, some day, be using her visions of heaven, hell, and purgatory to affirm these important truths of our Catholic faith.

According to tradition, Our Lady of Perpetual Help is considered the oldest icon in the Church. It is believed that the first icon of the Virgin of the Passion (or Our Lady of Perpetual Help) was in fact painted by St. Luke. And who better than he to paint this sorrowful image of Mother and Son? For, St. Luke, of all the Gospel writers, wrote most personally of the Lord in his infancy up to his death on the Cross.

We sometimes believe that the only reason she is not weeping all the time is because she has the Beatific Vision of her Magnificent Son to comfort her. There’s an expression, “You can’t get hurt if you don’t stick your chin out”. She always sticks her chin out. She is always being hurt. If we study the history of the world, in particular the 16th through the 19th centuries, we become alarmingly aware that we’ve hurt Mary very deeply. However, very seldom do we ever hear her complain about the outrages committed against her.

March 25 is the Feast of the Annunciation. On this particular year 1945, it fell on Palm Sunday. This is such an important season in our church. But in those times, during the final days of the war, thoughts were not focused on Palm Sunday, or the Feast of the Annunciation, or even Easter, for that matter. Ida Peerdeman, the woman to whom the virgin Mary chose to come, called it a "hunger winter". Priests would visit private homes, rather than take a chance on Nazi retaliation for trying to perform religious ceremonies, like Mass, especially not in public places, like churches.

A rainbow is a promise. God our father reaffirmed the promise he made about our redemption in the Garden of Eden when Noah landed on the rock after having spent 40 days and 40 nights in the ark during the flood. The Lord stopped the rain, and gave us a double rainbow. We believe that when we die, when we shake off this mortal coil, we go to the next step in our eternal existence, from a physical, bodily life, to a new life, a new beginning.

Santo Nino de Atocha: He kept them out of harm's way as they traveled the dangerous roads. He saved them from snake bites, dehydration, starvation, and always brought them back to Mother Church. There is a tremendous devotion to the Santo Niño de Atocha to this day in many Hispanic countries.

When we talk of saints who have been maligned, misunderstood, and mistreated, no one deserves more a place in this book than venerable Pope Pius XII. We have learned late in life that the history passed down depends on the authors, not necessarily on the facts. We can remember in our lifetime, the escalator of our emotions and intellect, as a country ascended from enemy to friend and then descended, back again, from friend to enemy.