CATHOLIC BELLATOR

Miraculous Medal Source: GLORIA TV Here's Fr. James Kelleher, describing how powerful the Miraculous Medal is and shared  amazing stories about how the medal performed miracles to people in different situations from conversion to healing power, and saving lives.   If you don't have one, get one!  If you already have one, go get more medals and share the miracles. One good way to evangelize! Fr. James Kelleher talks about the Miraculous Medal, the vision to Catherine Labouré (1806-1876), the famous conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne (1814–1884) and two miracles he has experienced in his own life. Miraculous Medal Novena +In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy  Spirit. Amen.+ Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your  faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send  forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created. And You  shall renew the face of the earth. Let us pray. O God, who did...

SHUNNING OVER-FAMILIARITY DO NOT open your heart to every man, but discuss your affairs with one who is wise and who fears God. Do not keep company with young people and strangers. Do not fawn upon the rich, and do not be fond of mingling with the great. Associate with the humble and the simple, with the devout and virtuous, and with them speak of edifying things. Be not intimate with any woman, but generally commend all good women to God. Seek only the intimacy of God and of His angels, and avoid the notice of men. We ought to have charity for all men but familiarity with all is not expedient. Sometimes it happens that a person enjoys a good reputation among those who do not know him, but at the same time is held in slight regard by those who do. Frequently we think we are pleasing others by our presence and we begin rather to displease them by the faults they find in us.

"They think I'm a Saint..." "They think I'm a saint... When I'm dead, they'll come and touch holy pictures and rosaries to me, and all the while I'll be getting broiled on a grill in purgatory. At least promise me you'll pray a lot for the repose of my soul." ~St. Bernadette Soubirous Promise me you will pray a lot for me and I'll pray for you too!

AVOIDING FALSE HOPE AND PRIDE VAIN is the man who puts his trust in men, in created things. Do not be ashamed to serve others for the love of Jesus Christ and to seem poor in this world. Do not be self-sufficient but place your trust in God. Do what lies in your power and God will aid your good will. Put no trust in your own learning nor in the cunning of any man, but rather in the grace of God Who helps the humble and humbles the proud. If you have wealth, do not glory in it, nor in friends because they are powerful, but in God Who gives all things and Who desires above all to give Himself. Do not boast of personal stature or of physical beauty, qualities which are marred and destroyed by a little sickness. Do not take pride in your talent or ability, lest you displease God to Whom belongs all the natural gifts that you have. Do not think yourself better than others lest, perhaps, you be accounted worse before God Who knows what is in man. Do not take pride in your good deed...

PRUDENCE IN ACTION DO NOT yield to every impulse and suggestion but consider things carefully and patiently in the light of God's will. For very often, sad to say, we are so weak that we believe and speak evil of others rather than good. Perfect men, however, do not readily believe every talebearer, because they know that human frailty is prone to evil and is likely to appear in speech. Not to act rashly or to cling obstinately to one's opinion, not to believe everything people say or to spread abroad the gossip one has heard, is great wisdom. Take counsel with a wise and conscientious man. Seek the advice of your betters in preference to following your own inclinations. A good life makes a man wise according to God and gives him experience in many things, for the more humble he is and the more subject to God, the wiser and the more at peace he will be in all things. (The Imitation of Christ; Book 1; Ch 4)

Legitimate Defense In the midst of this crazy violence lurking in our society, especially school shootings, there has been debate about banning guns or proposing 'Gun Control'.  Should we ban guns? Should we have gun control? Would it really solve the problem?  NOT  having gun in school to protect students cost lives of 17 people and other school shooting incidents since Columbine.  It should have been a learning lesson ever since.   Instead of advocating for gun control, they should advocate on arming every school knowing that these school shootings has been trending.  They have to be prepared. Let's learn from the book of Nehemiah when the enemy planned on attacking and killing the jews.  They have responded with urgency to protect their kingdom. When I saw  their fear , I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and...

THE DOCTRINE OF TRUTH HAPPY  is he to whom truth manifests itself, not in signs and words that fade, but as it actually is. Our opinions, our senses often deceive us and we discern very little. What good is much discussion of involved and obscure matters when our ignorance of them will not be held against us on Judgment Day? Neglect of things which are profitable and necessary and undue concern with those which are irrelevant and harmful, are great folly. We have eyes and do not see. What, therefore, have we to do with questions of philosophy? He to whom the Eternal Word speaks is free from theorizing. For from this Word are all things and of Him all things speak -- the Beginning Who also speaks to us. Without this Word no man understands or judges aright. He to whom it becomes everything, who traces all things to it and who sees all things in it, may ease his heart and remain at peace with God. O God, You Who are the truth, make me one with You in love everl...

HAVING A HUMBLE OPINION OF SELF EVERY man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge without fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars. He who knows himself well becomes mean in his own eyes and is not happy when praised by men. If I knew all things in the world and had not charity, what would it profit me before God Who will judge me by my deeds? Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and delusion. Intellectuals like to appear learned and to be called wise. Yet there are many things the knowledge of which does little or no good to the soul, and he who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise. Many words do not satisfy the soul; but a good life eases the mind and a clean conscience inspires great trust in God. The more you know and the better you understand, the more severel...

IMITATING CHRIST AND DESPISING ALL VANITIES ON EARTH The Imitation of Christ HE WHO follows Me, walks not in darkness," says the Lord. By these words of Christ we are advised to imitate His life and habits, if we wish to be truly enlightened and free from all blindness of heart. Let our chief effort, therefore, be to study the life of Jesus Christ. The teaching of Christ is more excellent than all the advice of the saints, and he who has His spirit will find in it a hidden manna. Now, there are many who hear the Gospel often but care little for it because they have not the spirit of Christ. Yet whoever wishes to understand fully the words of Christ must try to pattern his whole life on that of Christ. What good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if, lacking humility, you displease the Trinity? Indeed it is not learning that makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life makes him pleasing to God. I would rather feel contrition than know how to define ...

“Ordinary” Christians will not survive these times.   "They must be extraordinary families. They must be, what I do not hesitate to call, heroic Catholic families. Ordinary Catholic families are no match for the devil as he uses the media of communication to secularize and de-sacralize modern society. No less than ordinary individual Catholics can survive, so ordinary Catholic families cannot survive. They have no choice. They must either be holy—which means sanctified—or they will disappear. The only Catholic families that will remain alive and thriving in the twenty-first century are the  families of  martyrs . Father, mother and children must be willing to die for their God-given convictions… What the world most needs today is families of martyrs, who will reproduce themselves in spirit in spite of the diabolical hatred against family life by the enemies of Christ and His Church in our day."  —Servant of God, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.,  The Blessed...

"Light Your Lamps" It’s been said that the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. In a similar vein, the greatest trick the anti-Christ will pull will be to convince men he is the savior of the world instead of its destroyer, according to a powerful radio sermon given by Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen in 1947 that was dug up out of a digital archive and published on YouTube last week. Like the devil, whose trademark signature is to twist the truth to sell sin, so the anti-Christ, according to Sheen, will twist the minds of men to make them believe he is the “Great Humanitarian” who will “talk peace, prosperity and plenty.” While Sheen’s description of the anti-Christ was given almost 70 years ago, his words may be more pertinent in our own times than they were in his. His prophetic message is absolutely crucial for every sincere Christian who seeks to be faithful to Christ to the end. He st...

YOU MAY KISS THE 'CROSS' According to social media (twitter) Feb. 7-14 is  #NationalMarriageWeek .  One thing I can share about this celebration is an article I've read years ago that was quite amazing and admirable, and is very fitting for this celebration. It's about this wedding tradition from a Town called Siroki-Brijeg in Bosnia-Herzegovina where there haven’t been any documented divorces or broken homes for centuries? Perhaps it has something do with an ancient marriage tradition called the  “ marriage crucifix .“    YES, you read it right! marriage is intact! No separation.  Children are not torn apart.  Zero divorces.  They take  'Til death do us apart!'   seriously!   Posted on September 24, 2012 by  kathleen Imagine a world without divorce. Imagine families without separation. Imagine no children or hearts torn apart. Marriage is the most challenging vocation there i...