Showing results by author "Bob Lord" in All Categories

Saint Paul was born in Tarsus, a port city in the southeastern part of Turkey. He was from a Jewish family who traced their roots back to the tribe of Benjamin. This Jewish community had been sent to Tarsus during the Diaspora. Pompey had made Tarsus the capital of the province of Cilicia. Mark Anthony gave the people of Tarsus freedom, immunity, and the right to become Roman citizens, which accounts for Paul's reference to, and pride in, his Roman citizenship. He invoked his rights as a Roman citizen many times during his ministry to get out of some serious scrapes with the Jews.

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.

When Saint Leopold Mandic had dreamed of the priesthood, his eyes traveled over the Adriatic Sea to far-off lands to bring the Gospel of Hope to brothers and sisters starving and thirsting for this Lord who died for them. He was not to even travel from village to village, like Father Francis and Saint Anthony (Saint of Padua), proclaiming the good news.

Possibly the only thing the nobility and merchants in Assisi agreed on was the anger that rose up in them when they heard the name of Francis di Bernardone. To their way of thinking, he had disgraced his family and stolen from his father to give to beggars and lepers. He must surely be crazy. To add to their indignation, many of the sons of the nobility of Assisi kept flocking to Francis, joining him in his insanity.

The name of Saint Maria Goretti has a special place for me. I would judge that most everyone in my generation has grown up having heard the story of the little crimson and white rose of Jesus, Saint Maria Goretti. Her story inspires such emotions in us, such a desire to bring ourselves to Jesus and his mother Mary as pure buds, ready to flower into whatever vocation they desire for us, whether it be religious, lay people, or as in the case of little Maria, saints who gave their lives as martyrs.

The funeral mass was celebrated on Sunday the 18th. The preacher, a Franciscan Priest from Bevagna, instead of giving the homily he had prepared, found himself delivering the most extraordinary eulogy, extolling Clare’s sanctity and selfless giving to all who came, never counting the cost. As the words poured from his lips, they became his, and he found himself realizing the gift the father had given him; he was eulogizing a saint.

Come with us to the little hamlet of Ars in France, where we trace the life of the this super saint, known as a saint of the eucharist, and perfect confessor. Discover his church in Ars, and venerate his incorrupt body; discover his confessional, the rectory he lived in, his bed the devil set afire, the shrine to his incorrupt heart, and the altar where our lady appeared to him and where he was healed through the intercession of St. Philomena.

Bob and Penny Lord track the life of Saint Joseph of Cupertino, the Flying Saint, and Patron of Students. They travel to Osimo, Italy, where the saint spent his last seven years, where he is buried, and where his shrine is located. They visited Assisi, where he spent much of his apostolate; Rome, where he had a special Audience with the Pope; and Loreto, where he flew to venerate Our Lady in the Holy House of Nazareth. See his chapel, his vestments, and learn about the wisdom and spirituality of Saint Joseph

Our story is not only about a saint, but about a land blessed by the blood of martyrs, its every mile named after the holy - Sacramento (after the Blessed Sacrament), San Francisco (St. Francis), San José (St. Joseph), Santa Ana (St. Ann, Mary’s mother), San Gabriel (St. Gabriel the Archangel), to mention just a few. History is history, and sometimes history can be offensive to certain peoples, but it does not make history less history. Our story is about Junípero Serra.

Saint Anthony of Padua was proclaimed a doctor of the church. There are 33 doctors of the church. In the 2,000 years since the church was instituted, out of its millions of holy people, and thousands of canonized Saints, only 33 have been given the honor of this title. We have written about 15 of them thus far. Saint Anthony of Padua, the saint we pray to for lost objects, is one of these honored people. But until the Lord decided to put St. Anthony into active ministry, he was a dish washer and confessor to Franciscan hermits.

We bring you the life of Saint Peregrine the Cancer Saint at Forli, Italy; incorrupt body. The Lord came down from the cross, and healed him of cancer of the leg the night before it was to be amputated. Room where the miracle took place. Ex-votos, for the miracles attributed to him. This saint has been credited with many miracles of healing.

When Saints like Saint Philomena were removed from the Church Calendar after Vatican Council II, many were hurt, thinking their favorite Saint had been deposed at best, and discredited at worst. But to alleviate any fears and correct any misconceptions, the Role Call of Pontiffs, beginning with Pope Gregory XVI, then Leo XII, Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius X, and Benedict XV, using the supreme authority passed down to them from Jesus, have declared, down through the centuries Philomena a saint, virgin, and Martyr.

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.

Saint Catherine of Siena - mystic, stigmatist, incorrupt. Travel with us to Siena and to St. Dominic's Church where she went into ecstasy. Walk through her home where she was mystically married to Jesus. Know more about the cross where she received the stigmata. Go to Avignon, France, where she convinced the pope to return to Rome. St. Catherine was an illiterate who was taught to read by Jesus.

It is popularly believed Arius was born in Libya in AD 270. He is credited with having started one of the most deadly heretical sects to attack the early church - that of Arianism. It has continued assaulting the church until today, under many titles. Our first encounter with Arius is somewhere between AD 300-311, when he joined up with a group of heretics called Meletians. Evidently, he did not find what he was searching for and left them. Explore more with the audiobook, Arianism and 4th Century Heresies.

The pope we’re bringing you now is Pope Benedict XV, who reigned from 1914-1922. There are so many facets to this pope of the First World War, who served only seven years, the bulk of his term having to do directly with the war or the aftermath of the war. Pope Benedict XV was ignored, ridiculed, and copied by the powers of Europe during the war and after it was over. His Papal Peace Note of 1917 was rejected and denigrated by our own President Woodrow Wilson and then ultimately copied and made his own by Wilson in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

This booklet explains the origin of the true cross of Jesus Christ.

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.

We are in the north of Italy, in a little village called Desenzano, east of "Brescia". The quiet little town lies peacefully on picturesque Lake Garda, on the outskirts of the "Lombardy" region. If your eye travels northward on the map, you will see the village of Trent where the Council of "Council of Trent" was held in the 16th century, in 1545, five years after our Saint Angela Merici died. We never know what our actions are going to bring about; but one thing we can be sure: They will either be life-giving or life-ending.

Your heart will burn as you discover what is really happening during the Mass. Walk with Jesus and Mary to Calvary. Trace the Old and New Testament roots of the Mass. For those who want a deeper relationship with Jesus, for those who have left the Church, listen! Who is Jesus? Who comes to us under the appearance of bread and wine? Listen! The Mass - the ongoing sacrifice of the cross. Hear how Jesus and the Mass fulfill the Old Law.