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She was born with a crippled and paralyzed right arm and a disease commonly called in those days “Scrofula”, which is a form of tuberculosis that affects the neck. In her case, it also made her neck and cheeks malformed and not at all pleasant to look at. At times, she suffered from swelling and open, puss-filled sores. No one knew for sure who her parents were. Laurent Cousin may have been her father, but that was never determined for sure.

St. Thomas Aquinas is so outstanding. The Lord has given him the ability to take very complex matters, such as the differences between animal, human, and angel, and break them down into logical, extremely understandable terms. He was particularly enraptured by angels, as are we. He made a study of them. I have to believe he got a lot of help in his research from the angels themselves, in the form of angelic inspiration, or possibly by a direct line. We pray they will be as kind to us, as we try to explain their culture, and their role in salvation history in general, and in our lives.

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.

Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to History of the Cross and learn about the origin and history of the true cross.

Our Lord has given us such unforgettable gifts in the churches, basilicas, and the cathedrals of Rome. For the purpose of this great Miracle of the Cross, we want to focus in on the magnificent Basilica of St. Paul outside the walls. As you approach the grounds from a distance, you are in awe!

We must give you at least a short version of what happened because everything about the shrine is miraculous. It is truly an extraordinary place to visit. But don't let us forget to tell you about the miracle of the Cross which took place here. It's as remarkable as the account of the translation of the image of Our Lady which came here.

When Our Lord wants a message to get out to his church, he raises up a powerful saint to do the task. Such a saint was Gertrude the Great! She was the one to plant the seed which would bloom through the hands of another powerful saint and visionary St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, four centuries later, and subsequently through Saint Faustina Kowalska in the 20th century, through the Mission of Divine Mercy.

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.

As we research the lives of saints and other powerful men and women in the church, we sometimes wonder if they were ever given a job description of what was expected of them in their positions and if they had been given the opportunity to say “aye” or “nay”. Did they and do we really have a choice to say “aye” or “nay” to the Lord when he calls us into ministry?

When did we stop singing this love song to our country? It was so subtle; did it just sort of disappear with many of the other patriotic traditions that our country stood for? How many of us still remember this song, reminding us of the price paid by our fathers - the hopes and dreams of our ancestors, as they struggled in filthy disease-ridden holds of ships bringing them to a new land of promise and freedom for all? Writing about Mother Cabrini and the reason she came to our country, we became aware of the struggle, the crosses our families bore to give us a land of promise.

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.

There was a large crucifix on the back wall of the church. Many in the parish had a great devotion to Our Crucified Lord and paid homage to him on this crucifix. But on this particular evening, they were coming to the close of the mission, and so the attention was not on the crucifix, but on the priests, who were giving their last teachings.

Bob and Penny Lord travel to Lithuania, to a hill where crosses have miraculously appeared over a period of centuries of enslavement and harsh treatment at the hands of foreign dictators. Witness the apparition of Our Lady at the hill. This is a tribute as well, to a brave people who were undaunted in the face of the enemy. Learn of the miracle of the cross on a hill high above the capital city of Vilnius, which would not go away.

To study the history of the world, especially Europe, is to discover the history of the Church. For, the Church has always played an integral part in the annals of history, as she continues to follow her master Jesus Christ, who told the apostles, “I will be with you till the end of the world.” For, since the children of God are living in the world, then so must the happenings of the world be intertwined with Mother Church as her children are affected by the world they live in.

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.

When we wrote on the life of St. Teresa in our book Saints and other Powerful Women in the Church, little did we think that we would, some day, be using her visions of heaven, hell, and purgatory to affirm these important truths of our Catholic faith.

According to tradition, Our Lady of Perpetual Help is considered the oldest icon in the Church. It is believed that the first icon of the Virgin of the Passion (or Our Lady of Perpetual Help) was in fact painted by St. Luke. And who better than he to paint this sorrowful image of Mother and Son? For, St. Luke, of all the Gospel writers, wrote most personally of the Lord in his infancy up to his death on the Cross.

We sometimes believe that the only reason she is not weeping all the time is because she has the Beatific Vision of her Magnificent Son to comfort her. There’s an expression, “You can’t get hurt if you don’t stick your chin out”. She always sticks her chin out. She is always being hurt. If we study the history of the world, in particular the 16th through the 19th centuries, we become alarmingly aware that we’ve hurt Mary very deeply. However, very seldom do we ever hear her complain about the outrages committed against her.

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.

A rainbow is a promise. God our father reaffirmed the promise he made about our redemption in the Garden of Eden when Noah landed on the rock after having spent 40 days and 40 nights in the ark during the flood. The Lord stopped the rain, and gave us a double rainbow. We believe that when we die, when we shake off this mortal coil, we go to the next step in our eternal existence, from a physical, bodily life, to a new life, a new beginning.