Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Monday, April 9, 2007
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
History Part II: A Man's Dying Wish
Surving the storm at sea, our merchant returned to his home in the Eternal City but soon therafter he became perilously ill. His condition worsened and afraid perhaps to show himself before God with the stolen icon in his conscience, he decided to tell one of his friends about it. He then expressed his desire that the icon be enshrined in a church so that proper veneration be accorded it. Upon the merchant's death, his friend took custody of the icon.
He brought the icon home and related to his wife the merchant's wishes. The wife was delighted with the icon and decided to keep it for themselves. She rationaled that many Christian homes have pictures of the Madonna and Child and a church is not needed for it to be venerated. She decided to hung it in their home and was unwilling to part with it...
He brought the icon home and related to his wife the merchant's wishes. The wife was delighted with the icon and decided to keep it for themselves. She rationaled that many Christian homes have pictures of the Madonna and Child and a church is not needed for it to be venerated. She decided to hung it in their home and was unwilling to part with it...
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
How my devotion to Our Lady started...
When I was a kid, I wasn't particularly attracted to the icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. All I can remember is that her picture hung above the door of my grandmother's bedroom. This print was within a light box of some sort and it had piercings through it. So when you plug it on, the little light bulb from the back produced quite a scary sight for a child, at least for a child like me. Her eyes piercing, her gaze unwavering. Can you blame me? This type of religious folkcraft was very popular in the Philippines. You can purchase them outside Baclaran Church in one of the myriad of stalls that line its perimeter.
Baclaran Church, the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in the Philippines. A virtual mecca of Christendom wherein devotees from near and far converge every Wednesday to say the "perpetual" novena, who many attest does not fail to grant one's wishes. The very first of such novenas was celebrated on June 23, 1948. There were only a handful of people in attendance, 70 to be exact. A decade later, the church had to be expanded and what once sat only 300, now seats 2,000 with an additional 9,000 standing. Its open archways afforded people to squeeze into the church to catch a glimpse of the small icon aloft its aureole of angels in the main altar.
Declared to be the most visited church in Asia with an average of a 100,000 visitors on a regular Wednesday, rain or shine, Baclaran Church has never closed its doors since it was consecrated over half a century ago. I used to visit it in the middle of the night, when all was quiet with just the occasional alley cat to be my companion. I can still smell the burning candles that pilgrims have left behind to invoke in their stead their numerous pleas to our heavenly Queen...
Baclaran Church, the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in the Philippines. A virtual mecca of Christendom wherein devotees from near and far converge every Wednesday to say the "perpetual" novena, who many attest does not fail to grant one's wishes. The very first of such novenas was celebrated on June 23, 1948. There were only a handful of people in attendance, 70 to be exact. A decade later, the church had to be expanded and what once sat only 300, now seats 2,000 with an additional 9,000 standing. Its open archways afforded people to squeeze into the church to catch a glimpse of the small icon aloft its aureole of angels in the main altar.
Declared to be the most visited church in Asia with an average of a 100,000 visitors on a regular Wednesday, rain or shine, Baclaran Church has never closed its doors since it was consecrated over half a century ago. I used to visit it in the middle of the night, when all was quiet with just the occasional alley cat to be my companion. I can still smell the burning candles that pilgrims have left behind to invoke in their stead their numerous pleas to our heavenly Queen...
Monday, March 26, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
A History Part I: Our Lady arrives in Rome
The story of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is full of mystery, adventure and of course, of miracles. Much of what we know about her was taken from an old plaque in St. Matthew's in Rome dated March, 1499. It is in this church that she found her first home in the West.
The plaque begins to describe that she enjoyed veneration in the Island of Crete for several years. Crete is the largest of the Greek Islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. Even then, the icon had a reputation for being miraculous and it is perhaps this reputation that a merchant decided to steal it from the sanctuary. Some believe that he wanted to save the icon from profanation by the invading Turks, but the document simply stated the he stole it. He was scheduled to set sail for Rome and he hid the icon among his belongings. While out at sea, a great storm befell upon the ship and the crew thought their end was near. They begged for God's mercy to save them not knowing that a miraculous icon was in their midst. God heard their pleas and spared them from destruction. They finally landed in Rome with the icon carefully tucked away in the merchant's wares...
The plaque begins to describe that she enjoyed veneration in the Island of Crete for several years. Crete is the largest of the Greek Islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. Even then, the icon had a reputation for being miraculous and it is perhaps this reputation that a merchant decided to steal it from the sanctuary. Some believe that he wanted to save the icon from profanation by the invading Turks, but the document simply stated the he stole it. He was scheduled to set sail for Rome and he hid the icon among his belongings. While out at sea, a great storm befell upon the ship and the crew thought their end was near. They begged for God's mercy to save them not knowing that a miraculous icon was in their midst. God heard their pleas and spared them from destruction. They finally landed in Rome with the icon carefully tucked away in the merchant's wares...
Thursday, March 22, 2007
I created this blog...
Dear Fellow Devotees of Our Mother of Perpetual Help,
I created this blog specifically for all of us who are in dire need of Our Lady's help. I wanted a site where petition letters can be posted so that we may all pray for them together. Thanksgiving letters are also welcome because these will be a source of encouragement for us who are still coping with our respective problems and worries.
You may add your petitions or thanksgiving on the "COMMENTS" link found on each day. I will try to e-mail this blog to the Rector of her Shrine in Rome so that they will remember us in their masses and prayers.
Let us all turn to our Good Mother who we know always listens to us and presents our petitions to her Son.
I created this blog specifically for all of us who are in dire need of Our Lady's help. I wanted a site where petition letters can be posted so that we may all pray for them together. Thanksgiving letters are also welcome because these will be a source of encouragement for us who are still coping with our respective problems and worries.
You may add your petitions or thanksgiving on the "COMMENTS" link found on each day. I will try to e-mail this blog to the Rector of her Shrine in Rome so that they will remember us in their masses and prayers.
Let us all turn to our Good Mother who we know always listens to us and presents our petitions to her Son.
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