"On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you." Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now." Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him."
The miracle from Jesus came by the request of His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesus answered her request by performing a miracle that was a magnificent gift. The Blessed Mother knows our needs and brings them to Jesus - so His glory may be known for every one to believe in Him.
Our Lady of Lourdes - the Immaculate Conception and St. Bernadette
St. Bernadette was born in Lourdes, France on January 7, 1844 and was the oldest of five children. St. Bernadette was 14 years old when the first apparition appeared. St. Bernadette went to help her sister and friend pick driftwood and fallen branches but first had to cross a stream beside the rock at Massabeille. The two younger girls took off their wooden shoes and crossed the river, but just as St. Bernadette was about to take hers off, "she heard a noise like a sudden rush of wind. Looking up towards the grotto she saw some movement among the branches, then there floated out of the opening a golden cloud, and in the midst of it was the figure of a beautiful young girl who placed herself in a small niche in the rock, at one side of the opening and slightly above it. In the crannies around this niche grew stunted vines and shrubs, and in particular a white eglantine. Bernadette, staring in fascination, saw that the luminous apparition was dressed in a soft white robe, with a broad girdle of blue, and a long white veil that partially covered her hair. Her eyes were blue and gentle. Golden roses gleamed on her bare feet. When the vision smiled and beckoned to Bernadette, the girl's fear vanished and she came a few steps nearer, then sank reverently to her knees. She drew her rosary from her pocket, for, in moments of stress, she habitually said her beads. The mysterious being also had a rosary, of large white beads, and to quote Bernadette's own account: "The Lady let me pray alone; she passed the beads of the rosary between her fingers, but said nothing; only at the end of each decade did she say the Gloria with me." When the recitation was finished, the Lady vanished into the cave and the golden mist disappeared with her."
*** Please click on St. Bernadette for further information about Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes - the Immaculate Conception.
*** Miracle taken from Healings and miracles of Lourdes:
"Since the Apparitions, Lourdes had to deal with about 7000 cases of unexplained cures. 69 cases have been recognised as miraculous by the Church at this time."
Danila CASTELLI from Bereguardo (Italy). Blood Pressure Hypertension with severe and recurrent crisis. Age 43 on 4th May 1989. Diocesis and date of regognition : Pavia (Italy) 20th June 2013. Coming out of the Baths, an extraordinary feeling of wellbeing!
Danila Castelli, born on 16 january 1946, wife and family mother, has lived a more or less normal life until the age of 34 when she started having spontaneous and severe blood pressure hypertensive crisis. In 1982 some Rx and ultrasound tests detect a right para-uterine mass and a fibromatous uterus. Danila is operated for hysterectomy and annexectomy. In november 1982 she undergoes partial pancreatectomy. A scintigraphy the following year proves the existence of «pheochromocytoma » (a tumor that secretes high amounts of catecholamines) in the rectal, bladder and vaginal region. More surgical interventions follow in the attempt to stop the triggers to the crisis until 1988 but with no bettering at all. In may 1989, during a pilgrimage to Lourdes, Danila gets out of the Baths where she had been immerged and she feels an extraordinary feeling of wellbeing. Shortly after she reported to the Lourdes Office of Medical Observations (Bureau des Constatations Médicales de Lourdes) her instantaneous alleged cure.
Danila Castelli, born on 16 january 1946, wife and family mother, has lived a more or less normal life until the age of 34 when she started having spontaneous and severe blood pressure hypertensive crisis. In 1982 some Rx and ultrasound tests detect a right para-uterine mass and a fibromatous uterus. Danila is operated for hysterectomy and annexectomy. In november 1982 she undergoes partial pancreatectomy. A scintigraphy the following year proves the existence of «pheochromocytoma » (a tumor that secretes high amounts of catecholamines) in the rectal, bladder and vaginal region. More surgical interventions follow in the attempt to stop the triggers to the crisis until 1988 but with no bettering at all. In may 1989, during a pilgrimage to Lourdes, Danila gets out of the Baths where she had been immerged and she feels an extraordinary feeling of wellbeing. Shortly after she reported to the Lourdes Office of Medical Observations (Bureau des Constatations Médicales de Lourdes) her instantaneous alleged cure.
After five meetings (1989, 1992,
1994, 1997 and 2010) the Bureau certified the cure with an unanimous
vote : « Mrs Castelli was cured, in a complete and lasting way, from
the date of her pilgrimage to Lourdes – 21 years ago – of the syndrome
she had suffered and with no relation with the treatments and the
surgeries she received ».
Danila Castelli has since gone back to
an absolute normal life. The CMIL (Lourdes International Medical
Committee) in it's annual meeting of 19 november 2011 in Paris has
certified that the cure « remains unexplained according to current
scientific knowledge ». On June 20th 2013 Monsignor Giovanni Giudici,
Bishop of Pavia, the diocesis where Danila Castelli lives, has declared
the « prodigious-miraculous » character and the value of « sign » of
this cure. It is the 69th cure of Lourdes recognized as miraculous by a
Bishop.
Our Lady of Fatima and the three shepherd children: Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco
"In the year 1917, in a mountainous region at the center of Portugal,
the Mother of God appeared six times to three young children - Lucia, Francisco,
and Jacinta - were born and raised in homes where the catechism was
their daily bread, stories from the Bible their recreation, and the
word of the village priest was law. Lucia de Jesus Santos was born,
the youngest of seven children, to Antonio and Maria Rosa Santos, on
22 March 1907. She was a plain child with sparkling eyes and a
magnetic personality, a natural leader to whom other children looked
with confident affection. Blessed with an excellent memory, Lucia was
able to learn her catechism, and make her First Communion and
Confession, at age six. She herself became a catechist at nine. Lucia
would be the constant guide and companion to her first cousins,
Francisco and Jacinta Marto, through the trials that accompanied the
apparitions of the Blessed Mother."
*** Please click on Fatima for further information about the three shepherd children, Our Lady of Fatima, and the apparitions. First Apparition of the Angel - taken from First Apparition - Angel
"We went on that occasion to my parents' property, which is at the bottom of the Cabeco, facing east. It is called Chousa Velha. About the middle of the morning it began to drizzle and we climbed up the hill, followed by our sheep, in search of a rock that would shelter us. And so it was that we entered for the first time into that blessed place. It is in the middle of an olive grove that belongs to my godfather, Anastacio. From there one can see the village where I was born, my father's house, and also Casa Velha and Eira da Pedra. The olive grove, which really belongs to several people, extends as far as these places. We spent the day there, in spite of the fact that the rain had stopped and the sun was shining in a clear sky. We ate our lunch and began to say the Rosary. After that we began to play a game with pebbles. We had only been at it a few moments when a strong wind began to shake the trees and we looked up to see what was happening, since it was such a calm day. And then we began to see, in the distance, above the trees that stretched to the east, a light whiter than snow in the form of a young man, quite transparent, and as brilliant as crystal in the rays of the sun. As he came near we were able to see his features. We were astonished and absorbed and we said nothing to one another. And then he said:
Do not be afraid. I am the angel of peace. Pray with me.
He knelt, bending his forehead to the ground. With a supernatural impulse we did the same, repeating the words we heard him say:
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You.
After repeating this prayer three times the angel rose and said to us:
Pray in this way. The hearts of Jesus and Mary are ready to listen to you.
And he disappeared. He left us in an atmosphere of the supernatural that was so intense we were for a long time unaware of our own existence. The presence of God was so powerful and intimate that even among ourselves we could not speak. On the next day, too, this same atmosphere held us bound, and it lessened and disappeared only gradually. None of us thought of talking about this apparition or any pledge of secrecy. We were locked in silence without having willed it.
The intense effect that the apparition of the Angel had on the children, quite different from the more serene experience of the Virgin the following year. Lucia states,
I don't know why, but the apparitions of our Lady produced in us effects quite different from the angel's visitations We felt in both instances the same intimate happiness, peace and joy, but instead of the physical prostration the angel imposed, our Lady brought a feeling of expansion and freedom; and instead of this annihilation in the divine presence, we wished only to exult in our joy. There was no difficulty of speech when our Lady appeared; there was rather on my part a desire to communicate."
***Click on any of the images to enlarge them.
Window seat - scary and beautiful at the same time.
Flying over London - almost to Paris!
Paris Airport - on our way to catch another plane to Toulouse.
Took a picture of the shadow of our plane on the cloud and caught a rainbow around the plane.
On a bus to Lourdes.
Pyranees Mountains
Shops on almost every street.
Our bus fit through these tight streets.
The front of our hotel - the Grand Hotel Moderne Lourdes
View from out hotel room.
We are on the 5th floor.
St. Joseph holding Jesus at the entry of the Sanctuary
In the sanctuary!
My first time seeing something like this - the basilica - and was amazed by the beauty of it.
Our Lady of Lourdes
The spring that St. Bernadette dug.
Behind the grotto - candles for intentions.
Path behind the grotto.
View of the candles from the path.
Lourdes! View from a path behind the basilica.
First night praying at the grotto.
Father Pfiefer with our guide.
Mass at the grotto.
Thanks be to God.
Fragment of the soutane worn by Pope John Paul II on the 13th may 1981 and marked with his blood.
Carrying the cross.
Death of Jesus on the cross.
Going to check out the shops.
Candle for the procession - second night in Lourdes.
Our Lady to Bernadette on the third apparition:
"I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the other."
We are ready for the procession.
Father Pfeifer with the rosary that I made him as a gift for the 4th anniversary of his vows of priesthood.
The beginning of the procession on the second night.
I used my phone to record and my battery wasn't fully charged.
Immaculate Mary!
On our way to the home of Bernadette in Bartres.
The Church of Bartres: John the Baptist and Bernadette
In her personal notes, written during the years of her religious life at the convent of Nevers, Bernadette shares with us a meditation on John the Baptist at the River Jordan: "How austere and how stern he is!... How he announces Jesus!... How he leads to Jesus!... How he steps aside before Jesus!... He only gives way through humility, through obedience... That He may increase, while I must decrease. And I myself must do so as there is too much of my old ways... like John the Baptist I am not docile enough... I must decrease... if not, I hinder Jesus from increasing... may I therefore become humble and humiliate myself so that Jesus may grow."
Venerated a relic of St. Bernadette.
Sink in cachot.
Inside the Parish Church in Lourdes.
St. Michael the Archangel
Cruising through Lourdes.
St. Peter
Way of the Cross!!!
We're getting there.
The 1st Station - Jesus is condemned to death.
The 4th Station - Jesus meets his mother.
The 6th Station - Veronica wipes Jesus' face.
The 9th Station - Jesus falls for the third time.
The 10th Station - Jesus is stripped of his clothes.
The 11th Station - Jesus is nailed to the cross.
The 14th Station - Jesus is laid in the tomb.
There were so many rosaries around the empty tomb - it was beautiful.
Hills and trees - kind of reminded me of home.
Just a cross.
Looked so beautiful and peaceful.
Atlantic Ocean.
On our way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain
Ready to go visit a cathedral.
The holy door of Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela - last opened in 2010.
Is now open during the Holy Year of Mercy.
of St. James are.
"the tomb of the glorious Saint James"
Ready to check it out and find some lunch.
Spain was so beautiful.
Fatima, Portugal
Statues of the three shepherd children.
On our way to the museum.
Candles shaped as body parts for offering.
Francisco's hat.
Our guide in Fatima, Portugal - in the center with white shirt.
In the sanctuary - basilica under maintenance.
Basilica of Fatima.
The tomb of Francisco.
Tombs of Jacinta and Lucia
On our way to the homes of the three shepherd children!
The home of Francisco and Jacinta.
"When I am alone, I go down off the bed to pray the prayers of the Angel;
but now not anymore I am able to come with my head to the floor because I fall.
I only pray of knees. Blessed Francisco"
(Best translation I could get.)
With Sr. Lucia's niece - Sr. Maria
Father Pfeifer's book signed by Sr. Maria
On our way to where the Angel appeared to the three shepherd children.
"Do not be afraid. I am the angel of peace. Pray with me.
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you.
I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You.
Pray in this way. The hearts of Jesus and Mary are ready to listen to you." EWTN - Angel of Peace
Rosary and procession in the chapel.
Lighting candles.
Our Lady of Fatima - Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Fatima
Last night in Fatima.
On our way to Lisbon.
The longest bridge in Europe.
The Ponte Vasco da Gama Bridge spans over Tagus River - 17km (about 10.5 miles)
We didn't drive on it at all but I didn't mind - I always have dreams of bridges and water that scare me.
Cruise ships waiting to go.
Streets are small and I liked the way this looked.
Waiting for our lunch.
Lisbon Cathedral
Baptismal font used in 1195 to baptize Saint Anthony, who was born nearby.
Remains of St. Vincent - the official patron saint of Lisbon.
Walking down to St. Anthony Church.
Birth place of St. Anthony.
The 25th of April Bridge - made by same company as San Francisco Bridge.
Christ the King statue behind the bridge in Lisbon.
Outside Jeronimos Monastery - St. Jerome
Entering the monastery.
Belem Tower on the Tagus River
Tower of St. Vincent
Bus cruising the river.
Me, Father Pfiefer, and Kayla.
Behind us: the 25th of April Bridge, cruise ship, and Christ the King statue farther back.
I've seen the most amazing things while on the Marian Pilgrimage with an amazing group of pilgrims.
I still can't believe where we have all been and what we have all seen.
Both Kayla and I had so much to pray for and offer while we were on our pilgrimage.
I really missed my son and called him as much as I could. The night that I made it home, he opened the door for me and his eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw me. He said, "MOM!" and jumped over my luggage to give me the tightest and longest hug - and it felt awesome!!
I'm so thankful to have been able make the pilgrimage. Glory to God!
Amen
Dearest Mother, Queen of the Holy Rosary, who came to Fatima to reveal
to all mankind the Divine plan for true Christian peace, of prayer,
penance, and consecration, grant an abundance of grace, strength, and
guidance to the members of Thy Fatima Crusade, here present and
throughout the world. Inspire us to great zeal, oh great Mediatrix of
All Graces, that we may be effective instruments in spreading devotion
to Thy Rosary; that we may be faithful in wearing Thy scapular; that we
may inspire our brothers in Christ to a life of sacrifice, penance, and
modesty, and finally, that we may help to bring about that wonderful day
when all men, through consecration to Thy Immaculate Heart, shall be
one in Christ. Amen.
Gracious and loving God, we thank You for the gift of our priests.
Through them, we experience your presence in the sacraments.
Help our priests to be strong in their vocation.
Set their souls on fire with love for your people.
Grant them the wisdom, understanding, and strength they need to
follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Inspire them with the vision of your Kingdom.
Give them the words they need to spread the Gospel.
Allow them to experience joy in their ministry.
Help them to become instruments of your divine grace.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns as our Eternal Priest.
Amen.
Through them, we experience your presence in the sacraments.
Help our priests to be strong in their vocation.
Set their souls on fire with love for your people.
Grant them the wisdom, understanding, and strength they need to
follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Inspire them with the vision of your Kingdom.
Give them the words they need to spread the Gospel.
Allow them to experience joy in their ministry.
Help them to become instruments of your divine grace.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns as our Eternal Priest.
Amen.
Thank you and God bless you!!!
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil.May God rebuke him, we humbly pray: and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits,
who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
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