Monday thru Friday at www.DailyCatholic.org See why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!" e-mail: DailyCatholic@dailycatholic.org

141 years after Our Lady appeared near the sewers along the Gave River, Lourdes has become a global cleansing center for healing

      Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the 141st anniversary of the first apparition in this city in southern France where the Mother of God appeared to Saint Bernadette and confirmed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Tomorrow is the Fifth Friday in Ordinary Time. For the readings, liturgies, meditations and vignette on this feast, click on DAILY LITURGY.

Thursday February 11:
Fifth Thursday in Ordinary Time and
Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
World Day of Prayer for the Sick

Green or White vestments

First Reading: Genesis 2: 18-25
Psalms: Psalm 128: 1-5
Gospel Reading: Mark 7: 24-30

      The Commemoration of Our Lady's first of 18 apparitions at Lourdes, France on February 11, 1844 is pivotal in advancing the Blessed Mother's plans toward the Triumph of her Immaculate Heart which will usher in the glorious Reign of her Divine Son's Sacred Heart. This feast is one of the favorite feasts of Our Blessed Mother for it was in her appearances to visionary Saint Bernadette Soubirous at the grotto of Massabielle that signaled the resurgence of Marian devotion to her Immaculate Heart for she confirmed to Bernadette that she was truly the Immaculate Conception. Since that time there have been countless miracles at the healing waters of Lourdes. Probably the most miraculous is the fact that those who bathe there are, in a sense, returning to the font of their baptism to wash away their old sins and put on the pure robe of grace and a new life in God. Lourdes was approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1890 and Pope Saint Pius X made it an official feast in 1908.

Friday February 12:
Fifth Friday in Ordinary Time

Green vestments

First Reading: Genesis 3: 1-9
Psalms: Psalm 32: 1-2, 5-7
Gospel Reading: Mark 7: 31-37

      Today's prayer is the Collect for today's Mass celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes:

God of mercy, we celebrate the feast of Mary, the sinless Mother of God. May her prayers help us to rise above our human weakness.

Daily Dose of curious contents of the Church: Holy Water

      Today, being the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, we feature the sacramental most renowned from this site - the healing, holy water of Lourdes. It is not that this water has any secret scientific or medicinal powers but that it has spiritual powers that God allows healing through the use of these healing waters. Water cannot be "holy" unless it is blessed and must be blessed by a priest or higher. He will add a pinch of blessed salt and mix it with the water saying more prayers. The water represents purity of the soul; the salt stands for prudence. Together they are a symbol of purity and immortality. When we bless ourselves with Holy Water we are invoking God's blessings and can gain a 100 day partial indulgence everytime we bless ourselves with the right intentions. Holy Water is one of the principal sacramentals of the Church. There are four different types of Holy Water which, by their use, differentiate its importance. First, we have the ordinary Holy Water mentioned above, used in fonts and the Asperges sprinkler for special liturgical functions as well as small vials or bottles for home use; then there is the water for the baptismal font which includes the ingredients of a small amount of chrism (mixture of pure olive oil and balm blessed by the Bishop on Holy Thursday) and the oil of catechumens. This is used for Baptism, Holy Orders and in ordaining Bishops. The third is water of consecration consisting of salt, wine and ashes mixed with the water. This is also called Gregorian water and used for consecrating a church. The fourth is Easter water which is blessed on Holy Saturday and used in the homes and to bless religious items during the Paschal Season. Every time we bless ourselves, others or something with Holy Water, we help drive the evil spirits away and beckon God's angels to gather. (source: My Catholic Faith, My Mission House; Catholic Almanac, Our Sunday Visitor, Publisher).

    Dear children! I again invite you to prayer. You have no excuse to work more because nature still lies in deep sleep. Open yourselves in prayer. Renew prayer in your families. Put Holy Scripture in a visible place in your families, read it, reflect on it and learn how God loves His people. His love shows itself also in present times because He sends me to call you upon the path of salvation. Thank you for having responded to my call.

For more on Medjugorje, click on MEDJUGORJE AND MORE

HEADLINES:

Holy Father dedicates his Wednesday Audience to reinforcing purpose for his Papal Visit to the Americas

      The Pope, attending his first regular Wednesday Papal Audience at Paul VI Hall in three weeks, spent much of his time reaffirming to all the intent of his recent trip. That was to remind all of the necessity to cultivate the culture of life throughout the fabric of society in the Americas. It is the only way to overcome the stifling and satanic culture of death. For more, click on Papal Audience.

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II used his regular Wednesday public audience on February 10 to reflect on his recent trip to Mexico and the United States.

      Speaking in a raspy voice-- the only visible after-effect of a bout with the flu-- the Holy Father said that the trip "was in a certain sense a great appeal to America-- to welcome the Gospel of life and of the family, to reject all forms of violence against the human person, of whatever kind, from conception until natural death."

      The Pope said that his goal was to help establish a culture of life which could "unite freedom and truth" in fight against the culture of death. He listed a number of the particular struggles in that overall battle: the fight against abortion, euthanasia, "the useless resort to the death penalty," racism, child abuse, drug abuse, the traffic in arms, and environmental destruction.

Despite pleas of the Vatican, Guatamalan judge remains stubborn in refusing to release scapegoat priest

      Despite the fact the Vatican as well as human rights groups have provided evidence that Father Mario Orantes Najera is being set up as a scapegoat for the murder of human rights auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera last April, the Guatamalan judge Henry Monroy has denied bail. Human Rights groups claim they have overwhelming proof that the murder of the bishop was committed by Guatamala military men in retaliation for the Bishop's criticism of the government's sad human rights policy and the government has been involved in a cover-up of the murder ever since, casting out red herrings to take attention away from their devious deed. For more, click on Guatamala Guile.

      GUATEMALA CITY (CWNews.com) - A priest accused of killing a Guatemalan bishop in 1998 was denied bail by the judge presiding over the investigation on Tuesday.

      Prosecutors in the case had requested the bail for Father Mario Orantes Najera, following calls by the Catholic Church and human rights campaigners for his release. Critics contend that Father Orantes was charged in the murder of Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera on flimsy evidence, and that not enough attention has been paid to possibility that the murder was politically motivated.

      Bishop Gerardi was murdered at the home he shared with Father Orantes on April 26, 1988 -- two days after he released a report that blamed most of the deaths in the country's 36-year civil war on the military. Prosecutor Adolfo Rosales Rodas said the Church had promised that Father Orantes would show up for trial, but Judge Henry Monroy said bail was not available to homicide suspects. His trial is set to begin next week.

Ukraine gets the jump on Romania by formally extending invitation for Pope to visit

      It's official. Following up within 24 hours of the religious affairs chairman's invitation, the President of the Ukraine Leonid Kuchma announced he has already presented a formal invitation to the Holy Father via his Prime Minister. No date has been set but the Pope is tentatively planning on late this year although it could coincide with a visit to Romania if that can be worked out. Currently both countries are vying to be the first predominantly Orthodox country the Vicar of Christ visits, although, because the Romanian Patriarch is dragging his feet, the Ukraine now has the inside track. For more, click on Ukraine invite

      KIEV (CWNews.com) - The president of Ukraine on Wednesday formally issued an invitation to Pope John Paul II to visit the former Soviet republic, following reports that a visit was planned for late this year.

      "The Ukrainian president has invited the Pope to visit Ukraine," presidential spokesman Olexander Martynenko said. "All other issues regarding the visit will be discussed together with services of the Vatican." The invitation by President Leonid Kuchma was personally handed to the Holy Father by Prime Minister Valery Pustovoitenko on a recent visit to the Vatican, he said.

      On Monday, the chairman of the government's religious affairs committee had said he expected the Holy Father would visit the mainly Orthodox country in November or December of this year. Depending on the timing of a proposed visit to Romania, the papal visit to Ukraine would be the first visit by a pontiff to a primarily Orthodox country.

Vatican gives UN failing marks for its dogged determination to push culture of death despite rejection of its policies in Cairo

     It is in a country which has plummetted in its faith - Holland, that the UN is meeting this week in the city known as the Hague. Here Monsignor Frank Dewane representing the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum", called the UN on the carpet for failing to further the agendas passed at the Cairo conference and, instead, blatantly promoting their own stubborn contraceptive agenda that cries out culture of death. He lashed out at the leaders for funneling funding to a subversive agenda of forced sterilization and family planning that promotes contraception instead of what the funds were intended for: reducing poverty and promoting education. For more, click on Abortion Agenda.

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Speaking at a special UN conference on world population being held this week at the Hague, the head of a Vatican delegation strongly protested efforts to abandon the set agenda and launch aggressive new family-planning efforts.

      Msgr. Frank Dewane, an official of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, spoke on February 10 on behalf of the Holy See. The meeting at the Hague is intended to follow up on the results of the UN's special conference on world population, held in Cairo in 1994.

      Msgr. Dewane complained that in appraising the results of that Cairo conference, UN officials had placed very little importance on the themes of education and the reduction of poverty-- efforts which had won universal approval from the delegates in Cairo. The Vatican delegate also pointed out that educational efforts had received little funding, while efforts to secure "reproductive health" were lavishly subsidized.

      The Vatican insists that efforts to promote "reproductive health" should emphasize education. But UN efforts, Msgr. Dewane noted, had included promotion of contraception-- including the abortifacient "morning-after" pill-- and abortion. He charged that some UN delegates are still seeking to establish an international "right" to legalized abortion-- an effort which was rejected by the Cairo conference.

      Msgr. Dewane also deplored the use of forced sterilization as a method of population control. He pointed out that the Cairo conference flatly condemned all forms of coercion in government family-planning programs.

For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site at the CWN home page and Church News at Noticias Eclesiales. Both CWN and NE are not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provides this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.

     In honor of today's Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes we feature the official site for Lourdes at the OFFICIAL SITE FOR OUR LADY OF LOURDES jointly operated by the city of Lourdes and the good folks at the Sanctuary of Lourdes. It also contains information on the visionary Saint Bernadette Soubirous.

Click here to return to SECTION ONE or click here to return to the graphics front page of this issue.

February 11, 1999 volume 10, no. 29   DAILY CATHOLIC