2017: A Good Year to be in Poland and Portugal

The "Black Madonna"

In 2017 we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Our Lady appearing at Fatima in Portugal, but it is also the 300th anniversary in Poland of Our Blessed Mother's coronation in her image of Our Lady of Czestochowa. Expect great things this year and especially watch Poland whose parliament is wise enough to respect the holy Mother of God by naming her the nation's queen!

 The "Black Madonna" was first crowned on her birthday, September 8th, in 1717. What a testament to Poland that they continue to embrace the great Mother of God not only in their churches, but in their public life!

2017 embraces these important anniversaries. What a great year for Catholics and others wise enough to honor Jesus' Mother. Have you made the Five First Saturdays? This is the perfect year to do it! God is never outdone in generosity. If you honor His Mother He will reward you with many graces. Guaranteed!

Prepare a Gift for Our Lady of Fatima for her Anniversary

Today is First Saturday. If you make the five first Saturdays starting today, you can offer them as a gift to Mary on May 13th, the 100th anniversary of the first apparition at Fatima. Too late to go to morning Mass? Then go to the vigil Mass in honor of Our Lady.

What are the requirements for first Saturday devotion? Go to Confession and attend Mass with the specific intention of making reparation for sins against Our Lady. Pray the rosary and spend fifteen extra minutes meditating on one of the mysteries of the rosary. You can go to Confession about eight days before or after the first Saturday as long as you are in the state of grace when you receive Communion.

Caution, Not for Children: Make Reparation on First Saturday for this Evil Act

It is disturbing that satanists are now performing their rites in public. They used to hide and do their dirty deeds in secret. But satan is so bold these days he happily exposes himself. I hope everyone reading this will make the First Saturday of reparation on January 2nd.

National Geographic Calls Mary, "The Most Powerful Woman

Check it out!

How the Virgin Mary Became the World’s Most Powerful Woman

Are you listening to Mary's messages from Fatima? Do you pray the rosary every day? Do you honor her request to make the five first Saturdays? 

It's not that hard to listen to Mary and I guarantee the reward is great -- heaven itself! 

Of course, you don't have to listen, but if you knew you could win the greatest lottery on earth by following simple instructions wouldn't you do it? 

Pray the daily rosary.

Make the five first Saturdays.

Honor the Mother of Jesus Christ. He did!

Why We Need the Five First Saturdays Devotion...

...and devotion to Mary's seven sorrows.

It is hard to imagine how anyone could be more insulting to a person than to attack his mother. And yet, it seems attacks on the Virgin Mary are not only fashionable today, but the rage! A new play on Broadway described here:

Toibin's daring take on the life of Virgin Mary wows critics in US

is blasphemous to such a degree it takes one's breath away. To read about our Blessed Lady being portrayed as a cigarette-smoking, booze-guzzling pagan who mistrusts and dislikes the apostles and ends up stripping naked at the end of the play brought tears of rage and sorrow to my eyes. It also reminded me of the reason for the five first Saturdays devotion. 

In July 1917 during her apparition to the three little shepherd children at Fatima, Our Lady said, “I shall come to ask... that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.” 

In 1925 she again appeared to the only surviving seer, Lucia, with the baby Jesus

Tensions Escalating in the Middle East

While violence in Syria continues to escalate, the situation with Iran is also deteriorating.

U.S. Navy Opens Fire on Fishing Boat

The suicide assassination of top officials in Syria reminds me of the trigger point for World War I, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. God help us, people need to seriously pray and fast for peace. As the Blessed Mother so clearly pointed out at Fatima and, as Blessed Mother Teresa often said, war is a punishment for sin. If you kill the baby in the womb what is left for us to do to one another? The administration says they won't intervene until after the election.

Will Obama Intervene in Syria 

But who knows what will actually happen as the heat is turned up in the Middle East. If Iran tries to close the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping lane, tensions will rise even higher and Iran has warned us to stay out of it or else. We may think because we are so far away, these things don't affect us. Look at history. And see how closely connected we are to Israel. The neo-cons will agitate for action to support Israel in case of an Israel/Iran confrontation. If we are sucked into another major war you will see the draft restored overnight and our daughters and granddaughters will be drafted along with our sons. It they aren't there will be an instant lawsuit demanding "equal treatment.

I'm sure no expert on foreign affairs, but I can read the signs of the times and they are anything but encouraging. Pray the rosary daily for peace. Remember that when the bomb dropped on Hiroshima one of the only places left standing was a house eight blocks from the blast zone. Eight Jesuit missionaries were living the Fatima message there praying the rosary together daily. The house survived intact while the Church next door was demolished. The missionaries' survival and subsequent lives without any evidence of radiation sickness or other bomb-related illnesses is considered the "rosary miracle of Hiroshima." 

Please live Our Lady of Fatima's requests in your home. Pray the rosary daily for peace. Foster devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Make the First Saturday devotion perpetually in reparation for sins and outrages against Mary. Today's Mass readings remind us that God is faithful to His people. Psalm 94 assures us that "the Lord will not cast off his people, nor abandon his inheritance." Matthew's gospel urges us to be "childlike" in our trust. No matter how dark the night Jesus is the light of the world and His name means "God saves."

Our Lady of Fatima, intercede for us. Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Anti-Catholic Bigots Are At It Again -- Insulting the Mother of God

It's always open season on Catholic and our beliefs. Here's how TFP describes a display at the Oakland Museum of California: 

The Oakland Museum of California is hosting an art exhibit that includes a digital portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe wearing a bikini, held aloft by a topless woman-angel!

Lovely eh? The capacity for insulting Catholics by attacking everything we hold as holy is unlimited. Here's the letter I sent to protest this blasphemy:

I was shocked when I read about your deliberate insult to every Catholic in the country who honors the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of God. Would you display a bikini clad image of Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed? Or Abraham's wife Sarah? Or Martin Luther King's mother? Or your own mother?

This deliberate assault on the faith and beliefs of Catholics shows 1) that the "artist" is a bigot and 2) that you are bigot enablers. To consider such work "art" is like considering the garbage dinner.

Please remove this blasphemous work and apologize to the millions of Catholics you have insulted.

I hope you will send your own message to let these Catholic-haters know how you feel. Say the St. Michael the Archangel prayer and go here to let them know what you think about their bigotry. And resolve to make the five First Saturdays of Reparation to atone for the insults to Our Blessed Lady. How pleasing it must be to Jesus to see us consoling His beloved mother.