Airbournemillennial

The  historic Christian practice  of asking our departed brothers and sisters in Christ—the saints—for their intercession has come under attack in the last few hundred years. Though the practice dates to the earliest days of Christianity and is shared by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, the other Eastern Christians, and even some Anglicans—meaning that all-told it is shared by more than three quarters of the Christians on earth—it still comes under heavy attack from many within the Protestant movement that started in the sixteenth century. Can They Hear Us? One charge made against it is that the saints in heaven cannot even hear our prayers, making it useless to ask for their intercession. However, this is not true. As Scripture indicates, those in heaven are aware of the prayers of those on earth. This can be seen, for example, in Revelation 5:8, where John depicts the saints in heaven offering our prayers to God under the form of “golden bowls full of incense, which are ...

Because of the Unusual Abilities Padre Pio was Claimed to Possess. The Holy See instituted Investigations of the Related Accounts. The Local Bishop, P. Gagliardi, did Not Believe Padre Pio’s alleged Miracles, Suggesting that His Capuchin Brothers were Making a Display out of the Monk to Gain Financial Advantage. When Pi us XI Became Pope in 1922, the Vatican became Extremely Doubtful. Padre Pio was Subject to Numerous Investigations.  The Vatican Imposed Severe Sanctions on Padre Pio to Reduce Publicity about him: It Forbade Him from Saying Mass in Public, Blessing People, Answering Letters, Showing His Stigmata Publicly, and Communicating with Padre Benedetto, His Spiritual Director. Padre Pio was to be Relocated to Another Convent in Northern Italy. The Local People Threatened to Riot, and The Vatican Left Padre Pio Where he was. Fearing these Local Riots, the Vatican Dropped a Plan to Transfer Padre Pio to Another Friary, and a Second Plan for Removal was Also Changed. Fro...

It is indeed a remarkable fact that, as the devil made use of Luther, an apostate monk, to abolish the Mass and deny the Real Presence; in like manner, God made use of His arch-enemy, the devil, to prove the Real Presence. He repeatedly forced him publicly to profess his firm belief in it, to confound the heretics for their disbelief, and acknowledge himself vanquished by Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. For this purpose, God allowed a certain Mme. Nicola Aubrey, an innocent person, to become possessed by Beelzebub and twenty-nine other evil spirits. The possession took place on the eighth of November, 1565, and lasted until the eighth of February, 1566. Her parents took her to Father de Motta, a pious priest of Vervins, in order that he might expel the demon by exorcisms of the Church. Father de Motta tried several times to expel the evil spirit by applying the sacred relics of the holy cross, but he could not succeed; Satan would not depart. At last, inspired by the Holy Gh...

HOW KING RATBOD PUT OFF HIS BAPTISM TILL IT WAS TO LATE Ratbod, King of the Frisons, who is mentioned in ecclesiastical history in the eighth century, at one time was ready to get Baptised and even met Saint Wolfrand at the Baptism waters. But the king refused to be baptised at the last minute after discovering he would be unable to find any of his ancestors in Heaven and even proudly boasted St. Wolfrand that he was not afraid of hell; that he wished to be there with the k ings, his ancestors, and most illustrious personages. “Moreover,” he added, “later on, I shall be always able to receive baptism.” “Lord,” answered the Saint, “do not neglect the grace that is offered to thee. The God who offers the sinner pardon, does not promise him tomorrow.” The King did not heed this advice, and put off his conversion. A year after, learning the arrival of St. Willibrord, he dispatched an officer to him, to invite him to come to the court and confer baptism on him. The officer having travel...

CREATION OF THE ANGELS AND THE FALL OF LUCIFER From The Mystical City of God By Venerable MARY AGREDA The Cause of all causes is God, who created all things that have being. His powerful arm gave existence to all his wonderful works ad extra when and how He chose. The beginning and succession of the work of Creation is described by Moses in the opening chapter of Genesis. Since the Lord has given me an understanding thereof, I will mention what I think useful for elucidating the mysterious origin of the Incarnation of the Word and of our Redemption. The words of the first chapter of Genesis are as follows: 1."In the beginning God created heaven and earth. 2."And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters. 3."And God said: Be light made. And light was made. 4."And God saw the light that it was good; and be divided the light from the darkness. 5. "And he called the light...

HOW THE HOLY SOULS REPAY US FOR OUR HELP . “It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” (2 Mac 12:46) . St. Thomas of Aquinas, the Prince of Theologians, says that the fire of Purgatory is equal in intensity of the fire of Hell, and that the slightest contact with it is more dreadful than all the possible sufferings of this Earth. . St. Augustine, the greatest of the Holy Doctors, teaches that to be purified of their faults prior to being admitted to Heaven, souls after death are subjected to a fire more penetrating, more dreadful than anything we can see, or feel, or conceive in this life. “Though this fire is destined to cleanse and purify the souls”, adds the Holy Doctor, “still it is more acute than anything we can possibly endure on Earth.” . St. Cyril of Alexandria does not hesitate to say: “that it would be preferable to suffer all the possible formats of Earth until Judgment day, than pass one day in Purgatory.”...

Prayer of St. Vincent Ferrer to be Sinless at the Hour of Death Lord Jesus Christ, who wiliest that no man should perish, and to whom supplication is never made without the hope of mercy, for Thou saidst with Thine own holy and blessed lips: "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, shall be done unto you"; I ask of Thee, O Lord, for Thy holy name's sake, to grant me at the hour of my death full consciousness and the power of speech, sincere contrition for my sins, true faith, firm hope and perfect charity, that I may be able to say unto Thee with a clean heart: Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O God of truth, who art blessed forever and ever. Amen. (Indulgence of 3 years once a day.) Seven Petitions to St. Vincent Ferrer (May be said every Friday.) First Prayer: Most faithful St. Vincent, Thou who with so much zeal extended the faith of Jesus Christ, grant, I pray Thee, that uniting my works to my faith, I may have, like ...