Showing results by narrator "Luz Elena Sandoval-Lord" in All Categories

Twelve days after our lady with the golden heart said “goodbye” to the five children in Beauraing, Belgium, she made her presence felt again in Banneux, Belgium, some 50 miles to the northeast. Mariette Beco, an 11-year-old girl, saw a beautiful young lady, dressed in white, standing above the ground outside her house. It begins again. Or does it continue?

Bob and I have traveled all over the world, everywhere from the Shrines of the Holy Land to the Shrines of Europe, Mexico, and Canada. But although we had pilgrimaged to Italy many times, we had never visited the land of my ancestors. I think, in all of us, there is an unquenchable thirst to visit the land of our ancestors. For me, that is Sicily. My father was born there and came to this country at age three, and my maternal grandparents' roots were also in Sicily. One year, we decided to pack up our daughter and grandson and find Sicily!

Bob and Penny Lord have amassed volumes of first-hand information on visions of saints who experienced visions of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, whose testimonies are to be believed and whose teachings are accepted by Mother Church. Heaven is real and beyond your wildest dreams. It is eternity with Our Lord Jesus in the beatific vision, our Mother Mary, and the heavenly family of angels and saints.

March 25 is the Feast of the Annunciation. On this particular year 1945, it fell on Palm Sunday. This is such an important season in our church. But in those times, during the final days of the war, thoughts were not focused on Palm Sunday, or the Feast of the Annunciation, or even Easter, for that matter. Ida Peerdeman, the woman to whom the virgin Mary chose to come, called it a "hunger winter". Priests would visit private homes, rather than take a chance on Nazi retaliation for trying to perform religious ceremonies, like Mass, especially not in public places, like churches.

Small pox struck and it accomplished what no conqueror was able to bring about. Nine out of every ten members of a family were struck down by this deadly plague. Everyone was helpless! Their trusted medicine men were not familiar with this sickness that threatened to annihilate 90 percent of the population. Consequently, they were helpless to stem the whirlwind kiss of death that was striking everyone in its path. The natives plunged their feverish bodies into the rivers, believing the water could heal them.

The tradition of the image of Our Lady of the Gate goes way back, to before the time it was placed in the Chapel above the gate. There are legends supporting that it came to Lithuania by way of Poland in the late Fourteenth Century, when a Polish princess married into a royal Lithuanian family. Her name was Jadwiga. Tradition tells that she was the first one to introduce Roman Catholic practices into what was then primarily an Orthodox country. The Lithuanians welcomed the great love that was projected by the princess for the Mother of God.

Mary’s appearance to five children in Beauraing, Belgium, in November and December of 1932 has always fascinated us. There are so many aspects of the visit from Our Heavenly Lady that we don’t quite understand. But we know there was a need for Mary to come to our aid in this place at this time. Nothing is by coincidence with her. Every time she comes to us in an apparition, she has to upset the balance of nature and break through the dimension separating heaven and earth just to make contact with us.

Lourdes is such a tribute to, and affirmation of, the love and care, the concern, patience, and attention that is showered on us by our Heavenly Family. It is also a magnificent prayer of faith the world has been given in the the desire of Our Sweet Mary, Bernadette’s Aquero (Dear One), to take care of our physical and spiritual needs. The natural question we are asked after we have visited Lourdes is, "Did you see any miracles, any cures in Lourdes?" The account of the apparitions at Lourdes, France 1858.

The Lord has given the church many heroes down through the centuries, and each person he gives us is for a specific reason for a specific time, but not only for that time. The 19th century is a perfect example of that. The church suffered greatly during that century, but the Lord knew we needed him to be at our sides to assure us that he would keep his promise that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church.

Martyr of communism. One of the truly great modern heroes of Poland of the Communist era - a prophet, a man who gave up his life for his brothers, and whose execution brought about the downfall of Communism in Poland. Fr. Jerzy was born on the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross. He would prove to be a super-strong catalyst in bringing about the Triumph of the Cross in Poland, six years after his martyrdom.

One of the most fascinating gifts the Lord has given us is His own burial cloth. How His image was projected onto that cloth, and how it has survived these 2,000 years is nothing short of miraculous. We have always had a great love for and devotion to this gift of Our Lord. Let us share with you the history and the journey of the Shroud.

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. A faithful daughter, a loving wife and mother, an obedient nun, a lover of the eucharist and mother Mary - a role model for today.

Our Lord Jesus loves us so much, he made detailed preparations for our well-being, right up to the end of his life. He wanted to have a last supper with his disciples. He had instructions for them. He wanted to be sure they understood their role in Salvation History, and how they were to conduct themselves. He wanted to leave them and his Church ammunition for the days ahead.

The story of Oscar Romero is one of transformation, from one born of poverty, to one living comfortably within the system, to one determined to change the system. The story of Oscar Romero is one of conversion, of Paul on the road to Damascus, of a man who was blinded, and whose eyes were opened by the Lord, to see his brothers and sisters in agony and misery. The story of Oscar Romero is one of a man who committed his life to right wrongs to his flock, or die trying. The story of Oscar Romero is one of a Martyr for Christ.

Ireland is a magical land, famous for its shamrocks and harps, leprechauns, shillelaghs, and green-eyed colleens with skin as white as milk. It is called the Emerald Isle, and the national color is green; Ireland is lush green, almost tropical in certain areas. The national drink is Guinness, although he’s a “damned Protestant”. Ireland is not only a country; it’s a state of mind, a way of life. We think of the Irish people as being quite fanciful, partly because of Barry Fitzgerald, who gave us our unofficial description of what an Irishman should be.

St. Paul of the Cross was born Paul Francis Danei, on the January 3, 1694, the second of 16 children. One of his brothers John Baptist would be very instrumental in the work Our Lord had chosen for St. Paul. His parents, although of nobility, were neither affluent nor privileged. Even though the town hall at Castellazzo had once been the family palace, St. Paul's father, a cloth merchant, was always in serious debt.

Learn about the life of Saint Martin De Porres.

When we talk of saints who have been maligned, misunderstood, and mistreated, no one deserves more a place in this book than venerable Pope Pius XII. We have learned late in life that the history passed down depends on the authors, not necessarily on the facts. We can remember in our lifetime, the escalator of our emotions and intellect, as a country ascended from enemy to friend and then descended, back again, from friend to enemy.

One of the most powerful Sacramentals is the Brown Scapular. On July 16, 1251, Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, accompanied by her Heavenly Army of Angels and made the following promise: "Whoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire." Now, it was not our Lady's intention that the Scapular should replace the living out of a holy and virtuous Christian life. Instead, she meant it to remind us of the life she led, one of obedience to the Will of the Father, of humility, of fidelity, a willing vessel bringing the Savior to us.

"In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." We say it, but do we know what we're saying; are we really aware of the awesome truth we're proclaiming? Many of our newer, more traditional priests, before they begin to pray the Mass, preface it with, "As we should begin all things, let us begin in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."