Note: I first want to mention that Cathy's dad is in the hospital - so please pray for him and Cathy, whose birthday it is today. Thanks.
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How bad was it in 1917?
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Since it is the First Saturday of Our Lady in the month of May, just days before the anniversary of the apparition and feast of Our Lady of Fatima, I was wondering this morning; 'how much worse was the world in 1917 than it is today?'
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Think about it. How much worse could it have been that as Our Lady said, "war is a punishment for sin"? There were two world wars in fact. Yet in 1917 there was no such thing as legalized contraception or abortion. Divorce was a huge shame and quite rare. Homosexuality, a psychological term developed in the previous century, was rarely even mentioned, let alone tolerated. Fashions remained modest - to a degree - even after Coco Chanel. Of course there were prostitutes and men who used them, and Vaudeville was the racy entertainment of the day, but nearly fully clothed women were the dirty pictures of the day - not even coming close to the soft porn of Victoria's Secret models. It all seems fairly innocent compared to today's standards - or lack thereof.
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Marxism was taking hold of course, and those 'degenerate moderns' of the arts were emerging, along with the occult, yet these influences and their effects never took hold on a global scale - until now. Now days - without any doubt - things are so much worse than they have ever been in history. Amazing, isn't it.
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So pray your rosary. Every day. Make everything you do a sacrifice. Take the Immaculate Heart of Mary for your refuge - and she will lead you to God.
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You don't have to join a group of fanatics or wear blue berets, strange costumes, nor avoid modern life. (Wearing the brown scapular under your clothing may be the only exception.) You don't have to pray in Latin or attend the Extraordinary Form of Mass: The message of Fatima is ordinary spirituality, ordinary Catholicism. Ordinary, ordinary, ordinary. The penance Our Lord asked is to renounce all that is contrary to the teachings of the Church, to fulfill the duties of your state in life - your daily duty, fidelity to prayer and the Church joined to the daily recitation of the rosary, and of course, the First Saturday devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
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"If you know how to accept the trials, worries, sufferings, and fatigue arranged by God throughout the days and hours of life, you will practice a lot of asceticism, and you will not have to look for more of it." - Pere Eugene-Marie, OCD
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Art: Mosaic from new basilica at Fatima.
"You don't have to pray in Latin or attend the Extraordinary Form of Mass: The message of Fatima is ordinary spirituality, ordinary Catholicism. Ordinary, ordinary, ordinary."
ReplyDeleteVery true, but Her promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation is extraordinary! What a tremendouse promise from the Blessed Virgin. Thanks for the reminder! I completely forgot it was First Saturday, so I appreciate your pose. Also, we don't have to pray in Latin or attend the Traditional Latin Mass, but it would be wonderful if more of the faithful did, and were more aware of our rich tradition and the reverence and beauty that abounds in the Tridentine Mass. It is truly extraordinary as well!
Andrew
I was first put off by the new Basilica at Fatima...seemed very minimalist/modernist.But the more I studied the iconic imagery, I began to understand and appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteYes, Rosary every day.
The most hardened sinner can be saved by even reciting an "Ave" every day.Isn't God so good??
Thre Hail Marys for Cathy of Alex as she drives to her daddy.
ReplyDeleteA decade of the Rosary for her daddy tommorrow at Mass.
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"You don't have to pray in Latin or attend the Extraordinary Form of Mass: The message of Fatima is ordinary spirituality, ordinary Catholicism. Ordinary, ordinary, ordinary. The penance Our Lord asked is to renounce all that is contrary to the teachings of the Church, to fulfill the duties of your state in life - your daily duty, fidelity to prayer and the Church joined to the daily recitation of the rosary, and of course, the First Saturday devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary."
ReplyDeleteAmen -- everything else outside of the 'ordinary' seems to me like a burden and a distraction. I just want to be love and be humble, be a saint.
I came back to the church after 25 years by saying the rosary.
ReplyDelete(I had to look up the words to the Hail Mary!) I said the words to the prayers not knowing whether I believed them or not, but because they were a comforting remembrance of my childhood.
They were an SOS signal.
Our mother will always come and find us and bring us home.
"not even coming close to the soft porn of Victoria's Secret models."
ReplyDeleteI know a young mother who asked for a place to nurse her baby while at Victoria secret and as she sat on a couch under a huge poster of breasts, my young friend endured ridicule from the management and patrons.
I agree with your post. We are screwed up to the core - totally saturated in sin and in ways we no longer think about.
Thanks for the prayer request, hon!
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