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WEDNESDAY February 2, 2000 vol. 11, no. 23 SECTION ONESee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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In honor of the upcoming feast of Our Lady of Lourdes next Friday we bring you a special three-part installation on the events that transpired there with the first installment today, the second next Wednesday and the third on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes - February 11th which is also World Day of Prayer for the Sick. In addition, we begin today the special Nine Day Novena of Our Lady of Lourdes and Saint Bernadette that will run daily from the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord to the vigil of the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. We will resume our regular rotation of the 2000 YEAR VOYAGE ON THE BARQUE OF PETER on Wednesday, February 16th. For the first installment, see LOURDES
Lourdes was the site Our Lady chose to verify the teaching of the Immaculate Conception as well as provide the healing waters of Lourdes near the rock cave of Massabielle where Mary first appeared on February 11, 1858.
It was a time of sorrow and poverty for the people of that region of France. Particularly hard hit was the tiny village of Lourdes, with a population of approximately 4,000 people. Among these inhabitants were the Soubirous family. Francois and his wife Louise knew the meaning of poverty, in a manner we today cannot imagine. Their oldest child was a daughter, Bernadette, born on January 7, 1844. Francois was a miller by trade, but not a particularly clever businessman. He was extremely generous with his spending, which far exceeded his income. To pay for his debts he was forced to plead with the local authorities to allow his family a mall room in an old prison that they could occupy. A place, perhaps, much like the impoverished cave where our Blessed Savior Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem.
This cramped quarter where the Soubirous family lived was a narrow, cramped, foul-smelling room which no one else in the village would approach, much less live in. But Francois moved his family in, and with stout hearts they made the best of what they had. They did not complain, they merely went on together as family with the little they had. But further humiliation was theirs, for Francois' own cousin owned this former prison called Le Cachot (the Dungeon), and the entire village of Lourdes knew Francois was bankrupt when he begged to live there. Bernadette was never a healthy child. She suffered dreadfully from asthma, and overall her health had been delicate since she'd suffered from cholera at the age of ten.
On the morning of February 11, 1858, Bernadette, accompanied by her younger sister Toinette and her cousin Jeanne Abadie left Le Cachot, their errand to gather firewood to warm the damp, cold room and to cook the meager food their mother managed to scrape together. The weather was foul...cold, damp, penetrating to the very bone. Bernadette lagged behind for she was not as strong, as robust as her sister or cousin. Finally Bernadette reached the area called Massabielle just beyond the city limits. Here there was a large rock grotto formed from centuries of water erosion. It stood at the bottom of a mountain. Toniette and Jeanne had already stripped off their shoes and stockings to wade across a shallow portion of the canal to collect driftwood. But Bernadette hesitated, looking at the icy water. She felt ill, and called out to Jeanne to come and carry her across the stream. Both girls laughed at her request. Resigned that they weren't going to help her, Bernadette sat down to remove her shoes and stockings.
It was then that Bernadette heard the sound of the wind. Startled, she looked up, expecting see the nearby poplars blowing. But they were still motionless. Unsure, she looked back again toward the grotto. Now she could see that the niche in the grotto was lighted; a light like the sun's reflection glowing off water on a brilliant day. But it was a cloud day, a miserable day. As she stared, Bernadette could see a woman standing in the midst of this glowing light. The Lady was smiling at Bernadette and she wore white with a blue sash around her dress. Instantly Bernadette reached for the Rosary beads she had in her pocket, intending to make the Sign of the Cross with them. Yet movement was impossible. It was as if she was frozen! It was the smiling Lady who, instead, made the Sign of the Cross with the Rosary she held in her hand. Only then was Bernadette able to do the same. Later, when questioned, the visionary would say: "As soon as I had made the Sign of the Cross, the great fear that had seized me vanished. I knelt down and I said my Rosary in the presence of the beautiful Lady." When the Rosary was finished the Lady motioned Bernadette to come closer. But Bernadette, a shy girl, was still too timid. The Lady, amidst the sunburst of light, vanished at that moment. Everything around Bernadette returned to normal. She became aware of her sister and cousin gathering driftwood, and immediately bounded across the stream, her socks only half off. To her astonishment, the water seemed warm, not icy. All the while Bernadette kept glancing back to the grotto, while the other girls cavorted playfully around the woodpiles they had gathered.
This made Bernadette uncomfortable. Should shuch frivolties be going on here where something wonderful had just happened? She asked Toinette and Jeanne if they'd seen anything. They hadn't, but they had noticed Bernadette kneeling and so asked her what she had seen. A trepidatious Bernadette replied she'd seen nothing and quickly changed the subject. But the urge to share got the best of her and on the way back to Lourdes, Bernadette confided to her younger sister about the beautiful Lady in white with the Rosary. Toinette scoffed at first, but seeing the serious look on her older sister's face, promised not to talk about it. Yet they'd hardly entered the doorway of the damp home at Le Cachot when Toinette began to spew forth the tale of Bernadette's story to their mother. Tired, worn out and weary, Louise spanked both girls, and Francois spoke harshly to Bernadette, warning her not to bring any more shame to the Soubirous name.
Little did he know that rather than bringing shame the Soubirous name would be immortalized in the halls of Heaven for his daughter would not only go on to become a saint whose body remains incorrupt today, but the apparitions that were given to her would make Lourdes one of the most famous Marian Shrines in the world where millions would come to attend Mass and pray...and yes, be healed physically and spiritually.
Today Dr. Frank Joseph takes the president to task for his State of the Union Address this past week, exposing the number of lies and cover-ups, chief among them how he sugar-coated the surface of America while beneath in the underbelly decay has set in and the body is rotting within, infested with immorality and denial - especially over the blatant murders of over eleven million innocent preborns during Clinton's time in the White House as Dr. Joseph points out in his column today, Clinton's not-so-hidden agenda. For his column today, see Pro-Life Prescriptions: LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!
Clinton said, "We are fortunate to be alive at this moment in history."
Clinton said, "Never before has our nation enjoyed, at once, so much prosperity and social progress."
Clinton said: "This is the largest economic expansion in the history of our country."
Clinton said: "Every classroom should be connected to the Internet."
Clinton said: "We will make America the safest big country in the world."
Clinton said: "The Pope has asked us to help the poor and save the lives of people dying of AIDS and other diseases."
Clinton said: "Never before have we had such a blessed opportunity -- and therefore, such a profound obligation -- to build the more perfect union of our founders' dreams."
Clinton said: "We should get over our racial hatred, that all the people in terms of genetic make-up, scientifically, are 99.9% the same."
At one time Clinton made a Freudian Slip -- instead of saying, "make American communities more livable," he said. 'make American communities more liberal." He's so ingrained in the socialistic philosophy that he repeated the same mistake 10 seconds later. Very strange.
We won the Cold War -- communism was defeated in Russia and their trend is now towards capitalism and now Clinton and the rest of the liberal Democrats are trying to bring communism to our country...very subtlely and insidiously.
In 10 years there will be a 2 trillion dollar federal surplus. Instead of the liberals giving us a tax cut, so we can do what we want with our own money, since we were overcharged in the first place, the Clinton-Gore administration feel they know better, what to do with our money. Sounds like the failed communistic philosophy, doesn't it?
Maybe, if we had more of our money, both parents wouldn't have to work to make a decent living, thus ensuring more control of our children in their formative years.
May God help our country, if Gore or Bradley are elected president. Both take pride in their pro-abortion stand, even while a baby is being born -- the barbaric partial-birth abortion. Many of you know the procedure, but many don't, so I will repeat it until I'm blue in the face -- until every person in our country, knows it by heart.
HOWEVER, there was an exception in the Bill that it could be done to save the life of the mother. But this was not good enough for Clinton and the liberal Democrats -- they wanted a health clause. This would have made the Ban completely useless. It would have been a joke. Doctors could have gotten around it, if the woman, just says, "Doctor, I can't have this baby, It will make me a nervous wreck," or some other lame brain excuse.
The truth of the matter is that Clinton has to pay back the feminists and the other groups, who got him, and the other pro-aborts in Congress elected. These people, just want this option open, in case a woman changes her mind late in her pregnancy, and wants to have her baby killed and they want to make sure it's a "legal killing." This is sick.
Clinton, the President of the United States of America, with one one stroke of the pen, condemned to death thousands of babies yearly, who otherwise would have lived. He has reverted our supposedly civilized society back to barbarism. There are no words to describe the awesome barbarity of this procedure. It's enough to make you cry. The millions of unborn innocents surely have!
There's no doubt about it -- the defining moment of our country's civility is only 10 months away. How we vote in the polls will determine our future. Will we be a civilized nation under GOD with compassion, love and decency, and believe God when He says: "Thou Shalt Not Kill."
Will we believe in the Holy Scriptures, which say: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." ?
Or will we be a barbaric nation of degeneracy, which embraces the ideology that one of our freedoms should be TO KILL, if we so choose. It's not a private issue concerning a woman's decision. It's like slavery -- when human beings were not considered persons and had no rights and were subject to the will of their owners.
You MUST vote for pro-life candidates across the board (Presidency, Senate, and House) and get the truth out, so that others will do the same. There is no more important issue that faces our country today -- not tax reform; not balancing the budget; not health bills; not welfare reform; not foreign aid; not health care, -- you name it. They're all a distant second. Even, if you lump them all together, the sum would still pale in the level of significance.
We are talking about the killing of 1.4 million unborn babies every year. About 4,000 daily. How in the world, could a civilized society be a party to this? Even, if they didn't believe in God, just out of common decency, how could anyone condone these atrocities? While we decry Hitler we imitate him tenfold worse!
YOU, THE VOTERS HAVE OUR NATIONS HEART AND SOUL IN YOUR HANDS AND AS CATHOLICS, YOU HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE!
God bless,
On this date seventeen year ago Pope John Paul II conducted his second Consistory, elevating eighteen prelates to the College of Cardinals, most notable among American bishops was the late Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin, then Archbishop of Chicago. There is much speculation the Holy Father will conduct his eighth Consistory sometime during this Jubilee Year and promote the same number of bishops to the cardinalate. For other time capsule events that happened in Church history on this date, see MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES
304 A.D.
Death of Saint Apronian, who was a Roman executioner until he saw the fervent courage of those whose heads he was decapitating. As he accompanied Saint Sisinnius to the court, he dropped to his knees and wept, asking to become a Christian and was immediately put to death.
880 A.D.
Death of Saint Bruno, Duke, Saint Marquard, Bishop and the Martyrs of Ebsdorf who were slaughtered while leading the troops of King Louis III against the Viking heathens.
1119 A.D.
Cardinal Guido di Borgogna becomes Pope Callixtus II, 162nd successor of Peter. This Burgundy-born pontiff would serve five years, during which an agreement would be reached at Worms which would recognize the Pope's right to nominate bishops in the great Concordat of Worms that cleared up the Investiture issue. He would also call the Ninth Ecumenical Council at the Lateran in 1123 as well as call for the 2nd Crusade.
1769 A.D.
Death of Pope Clement XIII, 248th successor of Peter. The one-year pontificate of this Venetian Pope was taken up with facing the problems created by the spread of Rationalism. He was of a rather rigid nature who tended to be faithful to conservative ideas and therefore was not very popular in some Catholic countries, especially France, where Rationalism was taking a strong hold. He died mysteriously on this date 230 years ago.
1854 A.D.
Pope Pius IX publishes his tenth encyclical Neminem vestrum dealing with the persecution of the Armenians, aimed at the clergy and faithful of Constantinople.
1861 A.D.
Death of Saint Theophane Venard, a French missionary priest who was killed in Tonkin, Vietnam after being tortured for a year in a compact bamboo cage with very little food and drink and terrible sanitary conditions.
1906 A.D.
Pope Saint Pius X releases his second of many encyclicals he would write on the Blessed Mother. His first on this date was Ad diem illum laetissiumum on the Immaculate Conception.
1983 A.D.
Pope John Paul II holds his second Consistory, elevating eighteen to the Cardinalate.
Historical Events in Church Annals for February 2:
1 A.D.
Presentation of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the temple as was prescsribed by Jewish Law on the thirty-third day after a child's birth. For more, see DAILY LITURGY .
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".
"What if God placed a precious diamond in the hands of parents and told them to inscribe on it a sentence which would be read on the Last Day, and shown as an index of their thoughts and ideals? What caution they would exercise in their selection! And yet the example parents give their children will be that by which they will be judged on the Last Day."
NOTE: We respectfully recognize and accept the final authority regarding apparitions, locutions and prophecies presently being reported around the world rests with the Holy See of Rome and the Magisterium of Holy Mother Church to whose judjment we humbly and obediently submit.
"Dear children! I call you, little children, to pray without ceasing. If you pray, you
are closer to God and He will lead you on the way of peace and salvation. That is why I call you today to give
peace to others. Only in God is there true peace. Open your hearts and become those who give a gift of peace
and others will discover peace in you and through you and in this way you will witness God's peace and love
which He gives you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
