Airbournemillennial

St.Louis de Montfort on the Saints of the End Times Saint Louis de Montfort penned these words in 1712 in La Rochelle, France, four years before his death. Towards the end of the world … Almighty God and His holy Mother are to raise up saints who will surpass in holiness most other saints as much as the cedars of Lebanon tower above little shrubs. These great souls filled with grace and zeal will be chosen to oppose the enemies of God who are raging on all sides. They will be exceptionally devoted to the Blessed Virgin. Illumined by her light, strengthened by her spirit, supported by her arms, sheltered under her protection, they will fight with one hand and build with the other. With one hand they will give battle, overthrowing and crushing heretics and their heresies, schismatics and their schisms, idolaters and their idolatries, sinners and their wickedness. With the other hand they will build the temple of the true Solomon and the mystical city of God, namely, the Bless...

Prior to this date there were serious threats to the Christian faith from the Ottoman invasion. In fact, on 1566, Pius V wrote the Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem to dissuade him from his idea of leaving the island of Malta in anticipation of the imminent victory of the Turks: “Let go of the idea of leaving the island. Your mere presence in Malta inflames the courage to Christians and imposes respect from the Ottomans. Know that he fears you and all your soldiers.” The Grand Master changed his mind and stayed on the island. By the end of 1566 Pius V alerted all Catholic nations encouraging them to form a League in defense of Christianity. However, due to their internal problems, the leaders of the Catholic nations did not heed his call. Three years elapsed when the Ottomans destroyed the Venetian arsenal and sent an ultimatum: either Venice give up Cyprus or war. A league was formed among Spain, Cyprus and the Papal States under the command of Don Juan o...

In his book Glories of Mary, Saint Alphonsus Liguori relates an impressive story about the power of one of the most beautiful prayers ever written, the Stabat Mater, a prayer to the Sorrowful Mother. In the city of Cesena, in beautiful Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, there were two men who were great friends. They were also great sinners, leading a life far from the precepts of the Gospel and the Ten Commandments. One of them, Bartholomew, despite his wickedness, had acquired (probably when younger), the habit of daily reciting the Stabat Mater in honor of Mary’s sorrows. One day, as he recited this prayer, he suddenly had a vision in which he and his friend were immersed in a lake of fire. Then, he saw the Blessed Mother, who, taking him by the hand, pulled him out of the fiery pit saying: “Because of the prayer you said daily to me, I have prayed to my Son for you. He is ready to forgive you, if you are ready to ask pardon of Him.” Then the vision vanished. Soon after,...

In her City of God, Venerable Maria of Agreda, a XVII Century Conceptionist nun and mystic, to whom the Blessed Mother dictated her life, writes of a marvelous event in the early Christian Church. After the first Pentecost, one of the five thousand first converts was a girl called Lillian. One day she fell gravely ill, and the devil, capitalizing on her bodily weakness, and the fact that she had given in to a few sins, took the form of a woman, and paid her sick-calls. Little by little, by slandering the disciples of Jesus and the Christian community, the fiend introduced doubts in Lillian’s mind about her new-found Faith. At first the sick girl resisted, speaking of the peace and kindness of the beautiful lady who was Jesus’ Mother. But the devil assured Lillian that she was the worst of all. In the end, Lillian gave up her Faith. One of the disciples of Jesus on visiting and finding Lillian’s attitude changed, tried to win the girl back to Christ, but to no avail. Deeply c...