33 Days To Merciful Love

"My power is made perfect in weakness." Jesus

Fr. Michael Gaitley has done is again. He has anticipated the movements of the Holy Spirit and given us means by which to suck the marrow out of this year of Mercy.  The year of mercy was declared by Pope Francis as "The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy" starting on December 8, 2015 till November 20, 2016 and is given to all as an occasion of focusing on the forgiveness and mercy of God.

For those of you that have not yet done the 33 Days to Morning Glory, I urge you to order a book and workbook (the workbook is anointed and will lead you through healing of religion wounds, mother wounds and other). Fr Michael has been, in my opinion, anointed & appointed by God to give the Church a means by which to heal wounds that block intimacy in faith and block relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as well as a process of which to enlist into Mary's Army as she prepares for the final confrontation.

Years ago, not realizing that there was such a thing as asking to consecrate oneself as a victim of holocaust to the merciful love of Jesus, I did exactly that. I was listening to the Lighthouse Catholic Media CD by ArchBishop Fulton Sheen in which he shared the story of the woman who married the atheist. The story goes that she prayed for his conversion and one day, realizing that l
ife is suffering and she could suffer on this earth for something great or suffer for all eternity for nothing, she chose to offer herself as a victim  holocaust. Those were not the words on the CD but it is as I understood it.

Her name was Elizabeth Leseur and her husband's name was Felix. She prayed a simple prayer. That Jesus might allow her to receive all the necessary suffering so that her husband might be saved and be with her in heaven. Her husband did not know this. They were deeply in love yet remained unchanged. She would never stop believing and he would never begin to believe in God.

“Every human being is an incalculable force, bearing within him something of the future. To the end of time, our daily words and actions will bear fruit, either good or bad; nothing that we have once given of ourselves will perish, but our words and works, handed on from one to another, will continue to do good or harm to remote generations. This is why life is a sacred thing, and we ought not to pass through it thoughtlessly, but to appreciate its value and use it so that, when we are gone, the sum total of good in the world may be greater.” 
― Elisabeth Leseur, Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur

She became ill with cancer. Her husband watched as she suffered terribly yet never once stopped praising God. In his anger he asked her how she could praise a God that would allow her to suffer when she was supposed to be his faithful servant. The man's wife smiled and said she offered herself and all suffering necessary for his salvation and that God has not only promised to convert her husband but that her husband would become a dominican priest. He laughed of course, thinking this to be ridiculous but in fact, this is a famous story and the man did become a priest.  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGTsi6zD3Zk&w=420&h=315]

She offered her suffering. She entered into the redemption of her husband, the saving of his soul by offering her suffering. This is co-redemptive suffering. She did not marry the wrong the man, she married the exact right man and her life was to be a prayer. Her true love of her husband, the love of his soul allowed her to see that she could offer her pain as  gift, a sacrifice to Jesus. She said suffering for souls is a powerful form of action. The most fruitful apostolate she said, was our lives. When we suffer and love others in our lives, we are embracing our apostolate.

I decided that night, after listening to this story that I would offer myself and all the suffering I had endured including the sexual abuse that began when I was only three years old and all of the abuse that occurred after as well as any future suffering as a offering of love so that Christ might pour out grace to my husband and children so that they might be saved. At that moment, in my mind's eye I imagined the devil screaming from hell realizing that his ability to torture me with my past had thus been taken from him. I was, at that exact moment, no longer a victim. 

I went to the mass the next day and wrote on a simple piece of paper "I offer you, almighty God, my sufferings and ask you to send me sufficient sufferings to purchase the souls of my husband and children. On the day that I die, that price will have been paid" and I put that piece of paper into the offering plate  so that I might offer this gift with the highest form of prayer possible, the mass.

If you have seen the movie Princess Bride then you know the famous quote "Life is pain highness, anyone telling you differently is selling something." It is this reality that I hold onto every single day. It is a lie to believe that the goal in life is to make money, be famous, to receive praise or even to accomplish something.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnVY2zpVTNg&w=560&h=315]

Embracing our greatness means we embrace the unique unrepeatable gift of life and person that we are we endure the tremendous sufferings of life with love and in doing this we enter into the redemption of the world with Jesus Christ. We allow our lives, our very bodies to become living tabernacles. We become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.  We can enter into co-redemptive suffering. It was God that deemed the salvation of man would come through the unselfish act of a woman and then through her son. We are all called into the redemption of the world, to birth souls into heaven but labor is painful.

Have you enlisted into Mary's Army? Have you given your yes? Are you willing to be a living tabernacles, offering Jesus Christ your hands, your feet, you very life to others so that they might be saved? If not, time is growing short.

We are in the age of mercy and grace is abounding all the more! We are the Church Militant and we have the Church Suffering (souls in purgatory) just waiting to be invited into the war that Satan has unleashed upon the earth. We have the Church Triumphant (Saints in Heaven) waiting to called upon! Come now, enter into work that will make all of your suffering beautiful.

ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY 

PRAYER OF CONSECRATION TO MERCIFUL LOVE

"Merciful Father, relying on the prayers and example of Abraham and Mary, my father and mother in faith, and of St. Therese, my sister in the way of humble confidence. I, ______, choose, this day, with the help of your grace, to strive with all my heart to follow the Little Way. And so,

I firmly intend to fight discouragement, do little things with great love, and be merciful to my neighbor in deed, word, and prayer.

I aim to keep before my eyes my poverty, weakness, brokenness, and sin, trusting that my littleness and contrite heart will attract your Merciful Love.

I choose to remain always little, not relying on my own merits but solely on yours, dear Lord, and those of the Blessed Mother.

Finally, I believe, my God, that you can and will make me into a saint, even if I won't see it, even if I have to struggle all my life against vice and sin, even if I have to wait until the very end. This blind hope in your mercy, O Lord, is my only treasure.

And now, to confirm my resolve and to console you for so much rejection of your mercy, I OFFER MYSELF, THROUGH THE HANDS OF MARY IMMACULATE, AS A VICTIM OF HOLOCAUST TO YOUR MERCIFUL LOVE, asking you to consume me incessantly, allowing the waves of infinite tenderness shut up within you to overflow into my soul, and that I may thus become a martyr of your Love, O my God, and a gift of mercy to so many others. I ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen

(PRAYER WRITTEN BY FR MICHAEL GAITLEY BASED ON ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX PRAYER OF OFFERING TO MERCIFUL LOVE) #33DaystoMercifulLove

"The Church must undergo a passion in unity with Jesus, each member of His Body, the Church, must in their own sense undergo a passion in order to merit eternal salvation. The story of St. Elizabeth Leseur and her husband Felix is told in order to drive home the point of each person's individual passion, and the necessary suffering one must endure if one is to save his own soul, and possibly the soul of another." Quote from The Passion of The Church Website

Why You Should Be Teaching Your Children To Argue

Should we be teaching our children to argue?  If we expect our children to be able to defend their beliefs, then we need to teach them how to state a premise, to give an explanation that defends that premise and then think through the reason as to why or why not their premise is right or wrong.  Wait, isn't that arguing?   According to the dictionary online it is.

My guest today on Embracing Your Greatness, my radio show on RADIO MARIA was Matt Fradd with Catholic Answers.  We discussed his DVD "How To Win An Argument Without Losing Your Soul".  It became clear within minutes that I picked a guest in which more conversion must be had.

Post by Matt Fradd.

We are called to evangelize but to do that it means we must understand what an argument is and what an argument isn't.  I must admit, when I think of the word  "Argument" I think of a heated debate with veins popping out of a person's forehead and pointing fingers and scowling faces, stiff body postures and definitely yelling.  But that is not what an argument is.  In fact, it is the opposite of an argument.

Arguing?

Arguing?

According to my online dictionary an argument is a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong.  A great example of this would be of a lawyer being asked by a judge to give his or her "closing arguments" to the jury.  Typically that would not include veins popping out of their heads, yelling and scowling and and the like.   Rather, the closing argument would be a summary statement of one's belief, a few statements to back that believe up and then restating the belief.

For example; "My client cannot be guilty of this crime.  Two eye witnesses place my client out of the country during the time the crime was committed.  The DNA evidence was contaminated because the police did not secure the crime scene and three forensic specialists agree that the results were inconclusive.   This proves that my client is not guilty of the crime he/she is being accused of."

Arguing?

So if an argument is laying a case for or against something then we need to be arguing more and teaching our kids to do the same.

It has become strangely apparent to me that people are having a very difficult time laying out an argument and then entering into a conversation to defend their position.  I think this is because we have forgotten how important it is for us to exercise our brains by using philosophy to broaden our understanding of things.  One reason might because of pride and a misunderstanding of justice.

When we are always right or "argue" a point from a position that we know everything and there is nothing to learn, we miss an opportunity to understand a world that may not use the same terms and definitions we do.  That is why the Socratic Method is a great tool in learning how to argue with people of different faiths or beliefs.  I love the example used on Wikihow.

Statement:  This table is blue.

This table is blue

Question: To a Blind Person is this table still blue?  If no: Proceed to Next Step

Is the table blue to a blind person?

If Yes: What makes it blue to a blind person and not green or pink?
            If someone can't see, what makes the table blue?  Is it their perception? Is it the rods and cones in our eyes that see the color? Is it the light that reflects the color? Is it the pigments or chemical composition that create a color?

This is the most fascinating aspect of using the Socrates Method to argue.  In asking these questions we teach our children the why's and a deeper understanding than just a right answer.  How can we effectively dialogue with someone who may have many different reasons for believing what they believe? We must know what OTHER people believe before we can share OUR beliefs.  To begin evangelizing before we know what the person in front of us believes and why would be like going to Mexico and speaking Chinese.  That would be stupid. Something stupid is something that does not make any sense.  Speaking a language that someone cannot understand would make communication impossible.  Desiring to communicate but choosing a method that is impossible does not make sense, therefore it is stupid.  See what I did there? I just stated a premise and then laid the foundation of belief for that premise.  That is the Socratic Method, well, it is the dumbed down version.  I work best with the dumbed down versions.

The next step for those who decide that table is blue only to those who can see it is to change the initial statement to take the exception into account.

Does a person need to see it for it to be blue? 

Now we challenge the new statement with another question.  "If the table is in the middle of an empty room, where no one can see it, is it still blue?".

What if there is no one to see it?

This reminds me of the question "If a tree falls in a forest but there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?"

This exercise is very important because it begins a discussion/argument on what is sound.  Two different arguments can in theory be very right.  Remember, the point is not to be right, it is to be humble enough to listen to the other persons point of view so as to better understand their logic, their reasoning, their beliefs and thus be more capable of communicating ideas effectively.

This is where I have failed miserably as a parent.  I plan on rectifying this today.  I have understood my children need to be better at defending their beliefs but I have been hard pressed as to how I can help them as 6 year olds, 10 years olds, 15 years olds and 20 somethings on the importance of being able to know why they believe something and then know how to effectively (the key word being effectively) communicate their beliefs to others.  This is evangelization folks.  Communicating their belief in Jesus Christ and their fullness of faith as Catholic Christians.

So where do we begin? According to Matt Fradd ask you child to tell you what a sandwich is.  One example he gave was asking his child "What is a bed?"  His son replied "It is a hard thing."  So he responded with "So it is a rock."  His son replied, "no, it is a big thing."  So Matt stated "It is big, like a truck?"  His small son got giddy and replied "No! " then looking down at his sheets with writing on it stated.."it has writing on it."  Matt laughingly stated "Ah, so it is like a book."  Some may think this is  a silly waste of time with a 6 year old.  I say it is exercising the mind of a future evangelist.  What makes something something.  Teaching ourselves to ask questions so as to allow someone to better communicate, thus not alienating them with us preaching our beliefs but also it teaches our kids to think about why they believe something and how to communicate it in a way someone can understand it.

Brilliant.   Who would have thought the most effective way to teach our kids to be evangelizers would mean to ask them questions and then teach them to argue with us about their answers.

Let me tell you that I have learned so much from people as I have traveled across the globe speaking. I remember meeting a woman on an airplane that was a practicing witch and believed that mother earth was the goddess that effected events in her life.  For the first hour she felt that I was arguing with her to be argumentative.  I was not.  I truly desired to know why she believed what she believed and what were her experiences and "truths" that brought her to her conclusions.  My first obstacle to overcome was the language barrier.  It became very clear to me that when I said "God" we were talking about two different things.  It took at least another 30 minutes of the socratic method for me to understand how to talk about God with her.  Terminology is very important.    The other obstacle was to get her to see that I was not trying to be right or change her mind, rather I wanted to get her to begin thinking about why she believed what she believed.

Too often we think we are supposed to throw people over the walls that separate them from God.  What would happen if we throw people over a wall? They would most probably become injured.  God does not force himself on anyone and neither should we.  The Holy Spirit is what opens peoples eyes to the truth.  Instead of desiring to throw people over the wall, lets bring them a ladder.  Then their progress over the wall can go as fast or slow as they need to go.  It will also be there when we leave.  Evangelization begins with humbling ourselves to know that God has a plan for each of our lives.  He is not dependent upon any ONE person to bring someone to Christ.

If we want to evangelize, we should begin with asking questions.  We should then define our terms.  We should be prepared to state a premise and then to argue it.  When we argue we should be listening to the person we are arguing with so we can better understand their objections with the hope of planting a seed of desire for truth in their hearts.   When people seek the truth, they more often than naught find God.  

So when Matt Fradd was asking his child to describe what a bed was,  he was actually teaching his son to one day become a great Crusader for Christ.  Way to go Matt.

A triple Portion of The Holy Spirit Comes Through Mary

COME HOLY SPIRIT, COME!

 Joan of Arc by Hermann Anton Stilke

We are headed towards a battle.  Can you feel it?

I don't care what denomination you are, if you love Jesus Christ you will take a few moments to see that this is not blasphemy, this is not idolatry, this is God's plan of redemption of the world and that Mary has something to offer us.  We do not worship her, we worship God alone.  We do not believe Mary has magical powers.  What we do believe is that God chose Mary to begin the plan of redemption in, with and through and so she offers us a way in which to follow so that we can be deeply permeated by the Holy Spirit, espoused and penetrated in a life giving way because Scripture says so.  Scripture tells us that Mary was cable of being so receptive, so open to the Holy Spirit, that she was espoused and thus conceived of the Holy Spirit.

We are called to beg for this receptivity.  We are called to open ourselves so completely that the Holy Spirit can find a dwelling place in which He can espouse Himself and conceive divine life within us.  We are called to bring life into the world, to make the incarnation known and visible by becoming the body of Christ.  Are you radiating Christ? Are you a Star of Bethlehem? 

What I love about the 33 Day To Morning Glory program is that it harnesses the power of receptivity to the Holy  Spirit in such a way that all of us can yoke ourselves to it.  Consecration to Mary has been said to be the fastest and most effective means to become like Christ.
St. Louis De Montfort said this;

"In this battle, those who follow God will conquer with one hand and build with the other. The saints of the end times will be formed by Mary in their devotion to her. She will shape them and teach them even as she formed the body of Our Lord in her womb."

The mother of God formed Him in her womb and so she is the perfect mold from which to pour ourselves into.  We could allow the hammer's to shape us, the knives to whittle us out to make room for Him, but to pour ourselves into the mold that shaped Christ is perhaps the quickest most effective means to do such a thing as this.

We are like a a field ready to be planted for a rich harvest.  St. Joseph is like the farmer that leads the horses, he makes ready, he makes the way clear.  St. Joseph, terror of demons binds up any obstacles, operational spirits or barriers that may prevent receptivity.  Mary is like the plow.  She is the grace of receptivity and fertility that opens our hearts like the plow does the earth.

Her son is the seed that will be planted deep inside of us so that it may burst forth new life within us and bear fruit.  Seeds can grow without first having the soil prepared but the harvest is not as abundant, the protection from the rains and the elements is not as great since the roots are more shallow and without the farmer to watch for the rocks or weeds (St. Joseph) there can be obstacles that threaten as well.

If Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and conceived by the Holy Spirit then we see that Mary has a gift of perfect receptivity to the Holy Spirit that we should all long for.  She was permeated, espoused and penetrated into the depths of her very soul which was Immaculately Conceived.

Mary herself was an icon of the trinity as St. Joachim gave himself as free, total, faithful and fruitful gift to St. Anne and she received his gift and then gave herself to St. Joachim in the same way.  The fire of the rightly ordered love between them was so great it was a third person, Mary.  The two became one flesh, they co-operated in bringing her into existence (matter) but God alone infused her spiritual soul.

But Immaculate Conception? How is that possible and why? For me her Immaculate Conception is further proof that God is indeed outside of time and space.  He is pure spirit so He is unaffected by time and space which exists in a physical world.  It is logical that God could take the graces of Calvary and apply it to Mary as her soul was infused into her at the moment she was conceived in St. Anne's womb. He created a perfect vessel, Christ makes all things new and she became the under of knots.

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, detail (Karlsbad 1745 - Rome 1829), Peter Wenzel, Vatican Museum

Eve was Immaculate, free from sin in the same way that Mary was.  That is why we call Mary the New Eve.  If Christ as the new Adam makes all things new then of course he would untie the knots tied by Eve's sin and make this new also.  Christ makes ALL things new.  God has a plan for the Redemption of the whole world and He began with Mary before He began with Jesus.  Why? Because it began with Eve before it began with Adam.

Sistine Chapel Michelangelo  

Eve was Immaculate as was Adam.  They began in a virginal garden of Eden.  They were not alone because love is a gift and must be given away.  The tree of Knowledge was in the garden because love must have a choice, without choice love cannot exist as it must be a free, total, faithful and fruitful gift.  Eve's no began when she took (of her own free will) the fruit of the tree of knowledge in that virginal garden of Eden, into her body and with it bore spiritual death to the world.

Mary was Immaculate as Eve was because Christ makes all things new.  Mary was free to chose as Eve was, to undo Original sin, all of the knots must have been untied and so they were.  It began in the virginal garden inside of her womb.  She too was given a choice to love.  Mary's yes began when she "let it be done unto her" and the fruit of all knowledge, the Alpha and Omega was given to her and in this garden of her womb, Jesus was the fruit of her womb and with her yes and with the hands and feet from which she would form in her body would come  spiritual life to the world.

Mary is the undoer of knots, she is our hope because she was mere creature.  She was no different than Eve.  She was completely capable of sinning and yet she did not, she is our proof that we can give our yes to God and be transformed, permeated and espoused by the Holy Spirit.

If you want to be more fully espoused and penetrated by the Holy Spirit then first call upon St. Joseph as terror of demons and ask him to remove the barriers and obstacles in yourself or a loved one that seems in capable of even opening themselves.  He will make way for Mary.  Then pray for Mary as undoer of knots to come and bestow a grace of receptivity into your heart or the heart of your loved one (heck you can and should do this for your enemies as well!) Finally, pray "Come Holy Spirit, Come!" so that the sower of the seed can come and plant Jesus deep, deep into the hearts of the world.

 Theotokos, the “Mother of God.

If you desire a double or triple portion of the Holy Spirit, then Consecrate yourself to Mary, she opens you wider than we can do on our own because she undoes the knots, she was what God chose to start with when He set into motion the plan of redemption for the world.  He could have dropped Christ naked in the street, He could have chosen to come in flesh in any way He desired, yet the plan He chose was to undo the knots of the fall way back in the beginning.  When Christ makes All Things New, He makes ALL THINGS NEW.

Mary, I ask that you intercede and show me how to open my heart to love like the Trinity and to help me to open myself in a bigger and more vulnerable way so that the Holy Spirit will find a home in my heart from which to bring life to the world in and through my yes to the Fathers plan.

Jennings 08

Come Holy Spirit Come!

Come 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.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

A Prayer For Grace; Updated 2/2012 Imprimatur GRANTED!

A PRAYER FOR GRACE

Father, you created us male and female and called us to a life-giving communion of love that would bring forth new life, a reminder of your presence among us. Through a misuse of modern technology, your plan to bring forth new life has been altered, causing embryonic human life to be created outside of the loving embrace of man and woman.  

> 

> Compassionate and loving Father, they remain in Your Hands. We pray for an end to this misuse and abuse of human life. We pray for a renewed awareness of the dignity of every human life, from the moment of conception to natural death.  Through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we wish to make reparation for this sin against the dignity of human life and pray for hearts to be ready to receive the gifts You wish to offer. May all, born and unborn, be united one day in the warmth of Your Embrace. We offer this prayer through the Sacred Heart of Jesus and The Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen. 

(Imprimatur Granted by The Most Reverend Bishop David L. Ricken DD, JLC 0Bishop of The Green Bay Diocese on January 5, 2012 Feast of St. John Neumann may he help us to educate peoples on the dignity of the human person).

There is a great need for reparation in our country for the thousands of “persons” who have been frozen in time. These persons are neither living nor dying. They are alive, yet they are not living their lives. They are not dying, but death seems to be a more likely certitude since they have no right to life in a country where the unborn are not given the status of “person”. If they are not recognized as a person, then there is little hope for them to be treated like one.

I am talking about the many hundreds of thousands of human embryos that are frozen in laboratories, research centers and fertility clinics in the United States. These are not “potential” people but are in fact persons. These embryos have been created after sperm and ovum have united and an immortal soul has been infused by God. This is not "genetic material" created by two genetic “donors” but one living person with their own biological and genetic material. In fact anyone who understand the way organ donation or bone marrow registry works knows that a parent and child match is extremely low. Why? One reason is because a child is a new creation. A child is not merely a genetic product.

So how many of these persons are frozen in a state of “limbo” neither living nor dying and what is being done with them? Well according to the research at the Rand Corporation there are almost half a million human embryos that are frozen. What is being done with them? Well, for those abandoned by their parents due to divorce, loss of contact with patient, death of parent(s), their fate includes being discarded as medical “waste”, being used in laboratories for experimentation or research.

“The RAND-SART team designed and implemented a survey to determine the number and current disposition of embryos frozen and stored since the mid-1980s at fertility clinics in the United States and the number of those embryos designated for research. The survey was sent to all 430 assisted reproductive technology facilities in the United States, 340 of which responded. Estimates for nonresponding clinics were developed using a statistical formula based on a clinic's size and other characteristics. The results show that as of April 11, 2002, a total of 396,526 embryos have been placed in storage in the United States. This number is higher than expected; previous estimates have ranged from 30,000 to 200,000.

Although the total number of frozen embryos is large, the RAND-SART survey found that only a small percentage of these embryos have been designated for research use. As the figure illustrates, the vast majority of stored embryos (88.2 percent) are being held for family building, with just 2.8 percent of the total (11,000) designated for research. Of the remaining embryos, 2.3 percent are awaiting donation to another patient, 2.2 percent are designated to be discarded, and 4.5 percent are held in storage for other reasons, including lost contact with a patient, patient death, abandonment, and divorce.” RB-9038 » RAND: How Many Frozen Human Embryos Are Available for Research?

This is our reality. It is disturbing to me that we live in a country that protects the rights of animals with much more fervor than it does the unborn. But do not despair, because I have decided to find a way in which I could make reparation for this great evil and injustice and I encourage you to do the same. We should all be looking at the places in which we as a society are broken and seek to find a means in which to bring healing or even a cure where possible.

Let me share with you how I came to learn about these abandoned persons and was inspired to find a way to effect some form of change to it.

This past week I spent at the Theology of The Body Institute studying “Sexual Ethics” with Dr. John Haas, President of the National Catholic BioEthics Center. I learned many things that week, one of which I will share with now.

In our country there are human embryo's by the hundreds of thousands. While the name "human embryo" sounds like a medical term, the reality is that these are “persons”. But they are not seen as persons in our world. Instead they are seen as "potential" persons. Some are boys and some are girls and these persons were created in a laboratory and placed in a petri dish then frozen for later “use”.

While this is a very complicated subject, it is a new reality in our world. A reality that includes the creation of life occurring in a laboratory rather than inside of the marital union. This new reality has introduced a new set of questions that must be addressed.

I am not a biophysicist nor am I a theologian so my observation is going to be that of a mother of 8 children as well as a daughter of Christ.

What is to be done in regard to these babies? After all, they are persons. Because of this, some will have red hair, some will have blond hair, some will have curls and some will not. Blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes, tall or short, great at math or really funny. For one child there will be a natural inclination towards math or science and for another it will be the arts. Perhaps one is the next Mozart. These proclivities are an inherent trait within each and every one of us at the time of our creation. Our environment then becomes the second affecting agent as to whether or not those inclinations are brought to fruition. After all, a fertilized ovum is a human embryo. A human embryo is a human being. A human being is a “person” and each “person” has being created in the image and likeness of God for a reason, for their own sake and should never be used as an object. This beautiful premise is elaborated upon in Blessed Pope John Paul II very clearly stated in Love and Responsibility.

However, we live in a world where these inherent truths are rejected and instead these persons are looked upon as biological material and nothing more. But what if we could for one moment operate from a place where everyone accepted that these are persons? If we did, we could no longer look upon any cryostasis facility as a laboratory of science but would instead have to see these facilities as the modern day orphanages of the 21st century. A facility housing many abandoned children of God. As Christians what is our responsibility towards these children? What is to be done with these persons?

There are organizations such as the “Snowflake Embryo and Adoption and Donation Program” in which families seeking to rescue these abandoned embryos are able to bring them into their own homes by first providing them the womb. This gives them the possibility of living out their lives, being baptized and giving their gifts to the world through the embracing of family life facilitated by their adopted parents. It must be said that this certainly reveals that the we have gone into uncharted territories with the advancements of medical science. Just as the laws have not caught up with the fast paced advancements on the internet, so too have we not contemplated the morality or the ethics behind medical treatments or procedures being used in our modern world.

As a Catholic, we look to Rome for clarifications on these sort of things, not because we are not intellegent enough to decide something for ourselves but because there are many aspects to every part of what is happening in these “laboratories” that must be considered so as to respect the dignity of life and the human person in every action. When we say we look to Rome, it is because there are experts like Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph. D. with a degree in Philosophy, biochemistry, molecular cell biology and chemistry, and did laboratory research on hormonal regulation of the immune response. He earned a Ph.D. In Neuroscience from Yale University, where he focused on cloning genes for neurotransmitter transporters which are expressed in the brain. He worked for several years as a molecular biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He then studied for 5 years in Rome where he did advanced work in dogmatic theology and in bioethics, examining the question of delayed ensoulment of the human embryo. He has spoken on ABC World News Tonight, NPR, CNN and more. The point is, he is an expert in both the biology as well as the theology and he is one of hundreds if not thousands of voices that Romes looks to for counsel before declaring anything. As a Catholic, I know that a declaration on whether or not I could adopt an embryo and bring it into my body as my child, would first take into careful consideration whether or not this further desecrates the body or speaks against the dignity of the person or if it in fact is a loving solution to this horrible atrocity going on in laboratories all over the world.

As I listened to this argumentation being discussed in class, my mother heart within in me ached for these poor souls, abandoned and in limbo. So until Rome makes a declaration what can be done? Well, some Catholic parents have in fact adopted these embryos and have become parents. Some are waiting for formal approval before doing so. This approval may not come so what happens now? What can be done? I was mortified by the prospect that nothing could be done until there was a great comment made by one of the students. It gave me so much peace and put things into prospective. It also led me to another line of thinking I would not have otherwise taken.

The comment was that these human embryos are under the care of God. There is no risk of mortal sin for these little ones and while they have not been baptized, I think we can all agree that these innocent little ones surely have a special place in God's heart. They are not at risk of going to hell, they are free mortal sin and under the care of their heavenly Father and this truth gives me great peace. Every day human beings are living out lives in great sin as they have fallen under the weight of their own weaknesses. In fact, many souls are going to hell everyday because of their rejection of their greatness, their great God given dignity, which came because of their rejection of God.

With this new thought I realized that I could and should do something for these little ones, but it should be done to make reparation to God for this great evil and in doing so, this reparation should be a means of which to convert hearts in the world so that no more of these persons are brought into being in this disordered way, no more should be abandoned to these Frozen Orphanages.

It is from this great love of these persons that my friend Becky and I talked of making a prayer card for these human embryos in reparation for this great wrong to our Lord. To console His caring and Merciful heart so as to inspire more souls to contemplate the meaning of life and that it begins at the moment of conception. This prayer card will have as it's picture, a human embryo by the name of Grace. Grace was adopted by a family, who answered the call of motherhood and fatherhood and rescued her from this modern day orphanage. Her adopted mother, gave her very body for this child and in doing so, received a great grace. Not only did she receive Grace the person, but the grace of motherhood and family to her marriage. We are all called to union and communion and that is why the greatest unit is that of family and not of individual.

Grace only lived 10 hours after being delivered. She had many medical conditions that attributed to her death. However, her mother was able to birth her into the world, Grace was baptized by her father and then she did something extraordinary in her very short life. She lived the life of the trinity. She gave of herself a gift to her mothers body. Her mother received that gift and the reciprocal union of these two persons was so great, that it created the very milk which became a source of life to her brother, a 4 month old newly adopted addition to the family. Grace passed away in a state of grace to her Father in heaven but before she did so, she gave a gift to her mother, her father and even her brother.

I have asked these parents to write the prayer for this card. Who better than those who understand tragedy of this modern day technological crisis? I pray that we all find a way to addresss the loss of dignity that continues to grow in our country. You and I can do something to bring reparation and healing to a world that has hardened their hearts. This was my answer. What will yours be?

If you would like to distribute these prayer cards please contact me at christinashawn@hotmail.com with the subject line “A Prayer For Grace”. All proceeds will go to the printing of more cards and anything extra will go to the continuing the cost of keeping these embryos frozen. It is their life support. If the facilities they are at no longer provide them a place to live, they will be discarded as medical waste, an attack on their very dignity. For now at least, it seems to be an act of mercy to allow them to live. In the meantime, we can all pray in reparation for this evil to console the heart of God our Father and the graces that will flow from our prayers can turn the hearts of the world toward once again recognizing the dignity inherent in every human being. After all, a person's a person no matter how small.

Our Lady of Guadalupe: Our Lady of Divine Mercy

Created For Love; Our Lady of Guadalupe; Mother of Divine Mercy


It seems that every one that I have met who feels called to evangelize has their own story involving Our Lady of Guadalupe. I do not believe it is mere coincidence but rather part of a special grace through the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. About a year ago, I had an encounter with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that changed the way I understood who and what Mary is, how God loves the world and what He desires to reveal to the world through this image about Himself and His relationship with every human person.

I am currently working on a project in which I believe the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has a message from God to the people of this particular time in history. There are two discoveries found in the image in the 20th century that were not part of God's plan for conversion of the Aztec people of Mexico so why would he have put them there unless the generation that would discover these things were to be evangelized by them. Truly the culture of death we live corresponds in many ways to the culture of death of the people of Mexico in 1531. Just as they worshipped false God's we worship the gods of materialism, narcissism, and all the other "ism's" out there.

We even offer ritualistic sacrifices of innocents on the altars of these false gods through abortion, euthanasia and the like. I contend that the enemy is up to his same old tricks and it is business as usual. Abigail Seidman was interviewed on LifeSiteNews.com saying that "The account according to Seidman, her mother’s descent into the abortion culture was not motivated by the usual social talking points - to save women from dangerous back-alley abortions, or to “help” women in difficult situations - or even for the money. It was a religion – literally. Seidman described her mother’s abortion clinic as “pervaded with occult imagery and practices.” The workers considered “abortion to be a form of sacrifice,” would perform the procedure as a sort of ritual, and worshipped deities embodying death, she said. Pro-lifers must acknowledge abortion’s connection with the occult - and recognize it as a key part of pulling out the abortion industry by the roots."

Seidman says that there was ritual drug use, “sacred prostitution,” and ritual abortions performed after-hours, involving clinic staff who had intentionally become pregnant.

“I always had a ‘feeling’ that there was something ‘wrong’ or ‘dangerous’ there - almost a feeling of a presence, which I now recognize as being the exact opposite of the Presence that I feel in a church,” she said. The workers worshipped a Goddess whose “truest form” was recognized as “the Great Dragon” - a name she was later surprised to discover in the Bible.
In satanic ritualistic practices developed by Aleister Crowley,included the murdering of infant's or sexual magick along with black masses. Truly, we have the makings of a death culture like that of the Aztec's to their demonic "gods" that they would kill for.

God has a reason for everything, why would he have put these images in the tilma unless they were meant to be discovered when the veil thinned enough so to as reveal another message in an age that is in desperate need for conversion.

The first discovery is that of the stars on the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe. They have been proven to be in the exact positions of the constellations of the morning sky of 1531 by astronomers. The second discovery is that within her eyes, there exists the images of a family, Juan Diego, Bishop Zummaraga, the interpreter and a few others who were present in the room at the time the tilma was presented to the Bishop, as if Our Lady of Guadalupe was present in the room. Her eyes also respond as if they had living cornea's, this has been confirmed by over 10 ophthalmologists.

It was this premise that convinced me to look at this icon, this codex, this pictorial catechism to see if there was a message for the generation that would discover these truths. I believe that I have found MANY other interesting coincidences that lead to the conclusion that this is an ongoing miraculous image. I hope after reading my research that the reader can see that this is not a subjective experience but is an objective truth demonstrated by using the published materials from some of the foremost scholars on Our Lady of Guadalupe. I will also tie in Church Doctrine, tradition, writings from the saints and works from several Popes including Venerable Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI. In fact, I believe that the Venerable Pope John Paul II is playing a large part in this message and perhaps through his intercession, the necessary graces will be given to world so that they can receive God's message of love, life and mercy as revealed through this image. The fact that he will become “Blessed” on the feast of Divine Mercy, has in my own mind, provided me affirmation that what I see and understand through this icon is indeed, inspired by God.

While this article does not provide all of my research, it has enough information so that those in which whom the Holy Spirit has touched already or are ready to see, will in fact see and perhaps do their own research to see what part God is asking them to play in what I believe is showing the way in the largest Evangelization is going to take place in the shortest amount of time since 9 million Aztec's were baptized within a 7 year period. That way is through Christ's Divine Mercy as revealed through this image and explained by the Ven. Pope John Paul II in his many writings. May Our Lady of Guadalupe give you the receptivity in your heart to hear and see how Christ's Divine Mercy desires to be revealed through your gifts, your apostolate and your life. 
Our Lady of Guadalupe; An Icon For Life, Love and the New Evangelization

On this universal level, if victory comes it will be brought by Mary. Christ will conquer through her because He wants the Church’s victories now and in the future to be linked to her… —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 221




I was in Philadelphia at the Theology of The Body Institute and was invited to dinner with a couple, Ryan and Lisa, who lived nearby. At dinner we visited and shared our journey as parents of large families, homeschooling and more. I liked them both instantly. All at once, Lisa asked me if I ever looked closely at the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I had to confess that I did not, after all I have always thought that this image was just a picture of the blessed mother as she appeared in Mexico, nothing more, nothing less. Boy was I in for a huge awakening.

She left the room and returned with a votive candle, you know the ones that have images on them? This one had an image pasted on the outside of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She proceeded tell me that one day when she was looking at the image, she discerned what looked like a line on the inner gown that was comparable to that found on a pregnant woman's belly called a linea nigra. This is darkening of the skin due to changes in hormones, that spans from the bellybutton to the pelvic area and is quite common to women who are expecting.

As I looked at the inner robe, I experienced a profound insight to the image that took my breath away. Not only did I see what she was seeing, but I saw even more. I saw how the entire inner robe looked like a torso, but not any torso. It looked to me that of the torso of Christ. Right down the center of the torso is the line which is in the very fabric of the Tilma itself. This is thought by many experts to be the exact center of the original image, as it has been cut to fit frames over the years, thus changing the shape.

If I followed the line, indeed, there is a dark area of where the bellybutton would be, the line going down, then leads to a shadowed area that looks like two thighs coming together in the pubic area. As I followed the darkened line up from the bellybutton, I saw that just to the right of it, where the heart shaped flower is (and where one would expect a heart to be inside of a body), I saw the punctured heart of Christ, there is even a curved line like that of the flow of water and blood coming from the the heart and curving into the the folds just under the 4 petaled Jasmine flower that is a glyph of truth and for the one true God.

I was flabbergasted. Right in front of me, I was seeing the torso of Christ, whose arms extended upwards and become her arms, as if symbolically they were conveying that they are united in purpose ending with her pinkies crossed in the St. Anthony cross. I also noticed how only four of her fingers show on each hand just like the shroud of Turin does of the crucified Christ, another Holy image said to be a miraculous image. I have since taken both images and overlapped them and discovered other beautiful coincidences.

Upon leaving the couples home that evening, they gave me a book about the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to read. I stayed up most of the night reading it. I am sure some of you are shaking your heads at me saying, “You didn't know that it was a codex or a language in picture form to the Nahuatl Indians?” Nope, but I did now and I was beginning to get a whole lot more. As I read through the Handbook of Our Lady of Guadalupe I began to decipher the codex with the lens of Theology of The Body. Something was happening, I started seeing a message related to our own times. I began to see a new purpose revealed within the image and it was a message to the world that we were created for love. This message was filled with divine mercy and it's grace that was literally emanating off of the picture as I gazed at Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The glyphs within the image, spoke a language in codex form to the Nahuatl Indians. This message signaled an end to human sacrifices and that a new civilization had arrived (the shape of the heart conveyed hill or mountain, the “stems” of the flower were a glyph for river or water and together they revealed civilization) for in this image was revealed that she was bringing the one true God, which was greater than any of their gods (she blotted out the sun, thus the rays coming from behind her).

The glyph of the face of the “wise man” which can be seen within the 9 large heart shaped flowers spoke another truth to me. Since I believed that the curved line emanating from the heart shaped flower glyph was that of the font of Divine Mercy, (after all it came from the heart just like the Divine Mercy image and it also originated from the belly of Our Lady where the incarnate Christ was inside of her womb). This caught my attention and I began to remember that many of the glyphs meanings to the Aztec people conveyed a christian truth so why could they not be conveying further meaning for the people of today? 

What if the face of the wise man was John Paul II who not only canonized St. Faustina, thus giving the message of divine mercy to the world, but what if this “new civilization” was about making our hearts right, untwisting them, putting a “person” or face into our own hearts so that we would not objectify others as he wrote about in Love and Responsibility and in Theology of The Body. 

Even her name, “Guadalupe” she shares with the name of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain, carved by St. Luke and is titled “The Queen Of Mercy” because she protected those who sought her intercession.

In the image from Spain, she is a mother, holding the Christ child. In the image in Mexico, she is a mother expectant with the God incarnate. The mercy of God, the reason for Him becoming man. Our Lady of Guadalupe spoke these words to Juan Diego on Tepeyac hill “Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am 1 not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more? Let nothing else worry you or disturb you.” She is the source of our joy. She also called herself our merciful mother. What is in the hallow of her mantle? Christ's mercy, God's love demonstrated in the incarnation. No wonder we are told to place ourselves within the hallow of her mantle because this is where the trinity is. 

More miraculous findings have been revealed within the past century. For instanct, in her eyes, using high powered microscopes and computers images of St. Juan Diego, the Bishop and others have been found in her eyes. It is an interesting side note that her eyes display a triple reflection (Samson-Purkinje effect) characteristic that is found in a living eye. In one of her eyes a discovery of a man and woman with several children are found, representing a family. I find the images of the family strangely reminiscent of the themes of JP2's pontiff. If the family is seen in Mary's eyes, this reveals much to us about the future of the “church” since Mary is the mother of our church and we are her church.

"The family is the domestic church". The meaning of this traditional Christian idea is that the home is the Church in miniature. The Church is the sacrament of God’s love. She is a communion of faith and life. She is a mother and teacher. She is at the service of the whole human family as it goes forward towards its ultimate destiny. In the same way the family is a community of life and love. It educates and leads its members to their full human maturity and it serves the good of all along the road of life The family is the "first and vital cell of society". In its own way it is a living image and historical representation of the mystery of the Church. The future of the world and of the Church, therefore, passes through the family.” Homily of Pope John Paul II November 30, 1986. 

John Paul II brought us these messages in Theology of The Body and Love and Responsibility. Within them, he desired to share with us the relationship of God, which is the trinity (father, son and Holy Spirit). The trinity reveals profound theological truths to us about who God is. We are called to “know” God. Just as scripture says “and Mary knew not man” this knowing is one of intimacy and relationship and is how God desires to “know” us (union and communion).

JP2 desired to reveal that each one of us are called to this union and communion. JP2 also worked tirelessly to share the dignity of all life and our call to love freely, fully, faithfully and fruitfully. This is how we would know, love and serve God so that we could enter into union and communion with God not only in Heaven but right now on earth. I believe all of these truths are revealed in this image. 

http://wcr.ab.ca/WCRThisWeek/Stories/tabid/61/entryid/357/Default.aspx


I have begun to read every book that I can on the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I have come to see many things in the glyphs, in the codex, in the icon like image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. What is the most important thing that I believe is revealed in the image? I would have to say the most important image I see is overwhelming symbols of the trinity. 

God the father (creator and giver of life, expressed in her receptivity of motherhood) so loved the world that He humbled Himself and became Man (incarnation of Christ in her womb). God the son, (revealed through sash signifying pregnancy as well as the torso of Christ seen in the inner robe)so loved the father that He gave Himself as a gift back to the Father(the flowing blood and water from the pierced “heart” comes out of the “mouth” of the glyph of the wise man found inside of the heart) the flow of blood and water cascades down the 3 folds (symbolic of the one true triune God?) just under the 4 petaled jasmine flower (truth, God) showing us that the Father received the gift of the son. This love was so complete and full that it became life-giving (the three folds as well as the fact that her pregnancy is a result of being overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit).

Identical twins result from the splitting of a single embryo, one flesh becomes two sharing the same DNA. In this image we see that Christ takes his humanity from Mary's flesh alone (no biological father) and in doing so, gains the hands and feet in which to give himself as a sacrifice to mankind. Archbishop Fulton Sheen says that “since a woman played so great a role in the fall of man, would not woman then play such a great role in the salvation of man?”

Interestingly, the constellation of Gemini, the twins, is located on his torso indicating this profound truth that God made the body that made His body. They are flesh of the same flesh, united in purpose conveying union of purpose and love as well as communion since not only does every participle of her DNA exist within Christ but she is also carrying his infant form within her womb, giving him the blood and water in which to give Him life. He then reciprocates by giving us his blood and water in which to bring us all, through his mercy into the next world. Interestingly, Caryll Houselander wrote “The Reed of God” during the time when the body was beginning to become the a source of so many bodily sins as pre-occupation with the body became a form of new religion. Cardinal John Wright said in one of his published sermons on Mary said “By the teaching of the faith on the madonna, the flesh is made the twin of the spirit-no longer it's rival.” Theology of the Body teaches us that the body and the soul are in need of redemption and we need both to enter into the mystery of love. 

This constellation just happens to be over the torso of the hanging Christ, in fact where the belly button is. Just as it is not random that the Corona Borealis, or the crown, is on Mary's head to convey her royalty as Queen, so to the Twin constellation is on the torso of Christ which is on the torso of Mary, twins in that Jesus split from her side sharing all of her DNA like an Identical twin would, but also revealing that their purpose is the same, that her Immaculate Conception was so that his flesh would be free from Sin since it came from her as it's biological source. Adam was also Immaculate and so Eve, was taken from his flesh and became like a twin. The immaculate conception was a gift to Mary in preparation of her becoming the flesh of Jesus, his body contained all of it's DNA and genetic material from Mary alone. Therefore it had to have been redeemed and free from sin so that His sacrifice would be pure and acceptable to the Father. She is sister, Mother and spouse. This brings new meaning to the song of songs when we hear the words “My sister, my bride”. This is a love that is revealed through Our Lady of Guadalupe and God desires for us to contemplate on how perfectly Mary loved as a sister and as a bride and as a mother.

I believe that anyone who contemplates Mary and her role in the salvation of mankind through her role as mother, sister and spouse, will come to a deeper appreciation of Mary as well as God's divine plan for the world through her. To understand that Mary's flesh (because Christ was given it in it's entirety, there is only one biological donor therefore it is entirely hers) hangs on the Cross they will see how she truly played a pivotal role in the redemption in man in that Christ had to have hands and feet in which to hang on the cross with. Christ needed a heart in which to pump His divine blood and Christ needed to have a body in which to make visible the invisible, for the redemption of man to occur. She not only fully cooperated in this, she played a unique role in that it was through her body and her soul that “the Word” was made flesh.

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1:1 The “Word” is God. The Word, is wrapped in the flesh of Mary and then is placed inside of her flesh to be nurtured and to grow through her flesh. Just as the Song of Songs speaks of drinking at the mothers milk, we see that Christ desires us to see that His mother plays a unique part in the redemption of man. If the Word is God and Jesus is the Word then for Jesus to be made in the image and likeness of God then His body had to reveal God despite the fact that His entire biological flesh came from one source and that of a woman. In Identical twins, they always are the same sex (noun) since they share the same flesh. But here, we see the taking of the flesh from Mary to form Jesus yet He is male. Just as Eve was taken from Adam, yet God made her female. This is a beautiful revelation to the world revealing a divine truth to us about God. Since we are made in His image and likeness, our sex (noun) and how we visibly communicate our purpose, which is union and communion through sex (verb), is revealed in Him making us masculine and feminine. We see Christ's masculinity as proof that The Holy Spirit did indeed overshadow Mary The Word was made flesh with her and within her This is Union and Communion revealed through Our Lady of Guadalupe. This is truth as shared in Theology of The Body shows us God is a relationship of three persons and they are in union and communion with each other and this is what He desires for us, to enter into union and communion with Him. He reveals the source of our ability to enter into Union and Communion with Him on earth into the first tabernacle ever created, Mary's womb contains the Eucharist. The fact that the image is shaped like a corn on the cob as well as the St. Juan Diego declared upon seeing her that he was in the land of the corn, the land of the flesh, the land of his people already associate her to being connected to the Eucharistic Lord (her womb carries Christ, God incarnate).

God could have saved the world any way He chose. Yet, He chose to do it through man. There is a profound mystery being revealed in this. Perhaps seeing Mary in this light will break down barriers for those who previously would have an problem with accepting the Catholic Faith because of their belief that undue honor is given to Mary.

It is interesting how the new Eve brings forth the New Adam, a reverse or a “making new” through this act. Let me show you how this act truly reveals that Christ makes all things new. In the beginning, Eve in her no, of her own free will, took, with her no to God and in doing so she brought the fruit (knowledge of Good and Evil) of death into her body and subsequently brought death to all of her offspring. All is made new when the New Eve, Mary, of her own free will, gives herself as a gift and in doings so brings into her body the fruit of life and of all knowledge, into her body and subsequently brought life to all mankind. Mary is the ark, she is the first tabernacle and we see her her standing on the moon as if it were a patent, suspended by an angel that venerates her. Even the entire image is shaped as if a cob of corn, which to the Aztec's symbolized the “land of the corn, the land of the flesh”. Their rituals included smearing corn meal on new babies. So we see this food is true food and will bring everlasting life.

I found many more objective truths within this codex, this ongoing miraculous image that I have not seen documented anywhere that I will be working on getting together to share with those interested. I am not sure if they are meant for my own faith or for others. I thought I would share these insights because to know that I am created for love and that God's mercy is so great that He would do anything necessary to bring this message to me, seems like too large a treasure to keep to myself. Indeed we are created for love. Have hope! We are in a time of Mercy! God is with us and He came to be with us physically in the flesh of mankind so that we might participate in the salvation of mankind. In the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, God reveals that there are no lengths in which He would not go to reveal His love to the world. 

My next series of Articles, after going to TOB2 is Our Lady of Guadalupe revealed with the Our Father and The Creed.  I will expound on this with the use of the Song of Songs.  I will tie in how the ancient Aztec codex truths reveal a message for us now in light of TOB and how it impacts our understanding of the Our Father and The Creed.  I will be using Caryll Houselanders book "The Reed Of God" as well as other pieces of the work to bring it to life.

Please pray for me as I enter into this new phase.  I have entrusted this work to Pope John Paul II because this is the message he knew it was the milk for these times, St. Faustina because she knew that Mercy was going to be the honey and honeycomb for these times, Caryll Houselander because she demonstrates the power of Art to evangelize (see "My Path To Heaven", Our Lady of Guadalupe because she is an icon of life, love and the new evangelization, St. Juan Diego because despite the fact that he was a nobody and no one seemed to believe or listen to him because he was no one special or accomplished (which is exactly how I feel) he succeeded in delivering the message meant for not just him, but for the world, St. Michael so he protects the work and myself and my family, St. Raphael so that he can bring the message of marriage for marriages and St. Gabriel to inspire me to know how to bring this message and do it effectively, ArchBishop Fulton Sheen so that I am enlighted on how to use the media's of today to accomplish this task, the new Saint Mary MacKillop because I believe great persecution has begun and is going to intensify so much so that people that are in favor with God will be under tremendous attack.  I pray she gives us the strength and courage to endure, St. Louis DeMontfort so that he helps us to understand and believe in secrets and that they can contain a message, St. Francis because the Fransciscans were the missionaries in Mexico during the time of the aztec conversions and I pray we enter into the understanding of the 5 wounds of Christ and the Cross to inspire us in our missionary work. St. Maximillian Kolbe and the Knights of the Immaculata, in whom I first dedicated all of my work so many years ago. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who shows us that lay people are called to give themselves to the New Evangelization. Finally, I pray that St. Ignatius teach us the power of Contemplative prayer because it will only be through this unique gift to receive inspirations from the Holy Spirit that we will be able to "hear" the secrets being shared in the veiled language of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Side note:
The axis of north south east west as an icon reveals God came down to us (incarnate) that He provides the means through the sacraments for us to bring us up to Himself."he knew that ... he himself would take the place of the sacrificial lambs by offering himself on the cross. ... The ultimate goal of his pilgrimage was the heights of God himself; to those heights he wanted to lift every human being".

"But", he asked, "how can we keep pace with this ascent? Isn't it beyond our ability? Certainly, it is beyond our own possibilities. From the beginning men and women have been filled - and this is as true today as ever - with a desire to 'be like God', to attain the heights of God ... And yet the force of gravity which draws us down is powerful. With the increase of our abilities there has been an increase not only of good. Our possibilities for evil have increased and appear like menacing storms above history. Our limitations have also remained: we need but think of the disasters which have caused so much suffering for humanity in recent months".

Benedict XVI highlighted that "man finds himself betwixt this twofold gravitational force; everything depends on our escaping the gravitational field of evil and becoming free to be attracted completely by the gravitational force of God, which makes us authentic, elevates us, and grants us true freedom".

"God himself must draw us up, and this is what Christ began to do on the cross. He descended to the depths of our human existence in order to draw us up to himself, to the living God. ... Only in this way could our pride be vanquished: God's humility is the extreme form of his love, and this humble love draws us upwards".

The Pope placed special emphasis on the need we have of God. "he draws us upwards; letting ourselves be upheld by his hands - by faith, in other words - sets us aright and gives us the inner strength that raises us on high. We need the humility of a faith which seeks the face of God and trusts in the truth of his love. The question of how man can attain the heights, becoming completely himself and completely like God, has always engaged mankind".

"We are on pilgrimage with the Lord to the heights. We are striving for pure hearts and clean hands, we are seeking truth, we are seeking the face of God. Let us show the Lord that we desire to be righteous, and let us ask him: Draw us upwards! Make us pure!" He concluded, "grant that the words which we sang in the processional psalm may also hold true for us; grant that we may be part of the generation which seeks God, 'which seeks your face, O God of Jacob'"