A Catholic Marriage

Hail Mary saves student from Hell

Consider the following instance of the great mercy of Mary.

In the year 1604, in a city in Belgium, there were two young students who gave themselves up to a life of debauchery instead of following their studies.

One night they were at the house of an evil woman; but one of the two, who was named Richard, stayed only a short time and then returned home. While he was preparing to retire, he remembered that he had not yet said the few Hail Marys that were his daily practice.

He was very tired and half inclined to omit them; nevertheless, he forced himself through the routine, saying the words half asleep and with no particular devotion. Then he lay down and fell asleep.

Suddenly he was wakened by a violent knocking at the door. The door was closed, but the figure of a young man, hideously deformed, passed through it and stood before him.

"Who are you?" Richard cried. "You do not know me?" asked the other. "Ah yes, now I do," said Richard; "but how changed, with all the appearance of a devil!"

"Alas, unhappy creature that I am," said his companion, "I am damned! When I was leaving that house of sin, a devil came and strangled me. My body lies in the street; my soul is in Hell.

"And know this — the same fate awaited you, except that the Blessed Virgin spared you for that little act of homage of the Hail Marys. If you are not a fool, profit by this warning which the Mother of God has sent." He then opened his mantle, showing the flames and serpents by which he was tormented, and disappeared.

Breaking into a flood of sobs and tears, Richard went down on his knees to give thanks to Mary his protectress. Then as he pondered how to change his life he heard the bell of the Franciscan monastery ringing for matins. "It is there," he said, "that God calls me to do penance."

He went immediately to the monastery and begged the Fathers to admit him. Since they knew his wicked life, they were hardly willing to do so. But sobbing bitterly, he told them all that had happened. And when two Fathers had been sent to the street and had found the strangled body, which was charred and blackened, they admitted him.

From that time on he led an exemplary life and at length went to preach the Gospel in India, and thence to Japan. There he had the happiness of giving his life for Jesus Christ, being burnt alive for the faith at Nagasaki on September 10, 1622.

Source = HERE

Talent

10 yr old Catholic opera singer - singing Bach's Ave Maria.

Beautiful, amazing - please watch!

Perfect & Imperfect

There are two types of contrition:

- Perfect: out of love of God;

- Imperfect: out of fear of Hell.

"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of Heaven, and the pains of Hell; but most of all because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen."

How to avoid distractions during the Rosary

You cannot say your Rosary without having a few involuntary distractions; it is even difficult to say a Hail Mary without your imagination troubling you a little, for it is never still; but you can say it without voluntary distractions, and you must take all sorts of precautions to lessen involuntary distractions and to control your imagination.

To do this:

1) Put yourself in the presence of God and imagine that God and his Blessed Mother are watching you.

2) Imagine that your guardian angel is at your right hand, taking your Hail Marys, if they are well said, and using them like roses to make crowns for Jesus and Mary.

3) Remember that at your left hand is the devil, ready to pounce on every Hail Mary that comes his way and to write it down in his book of death, if they are not said with attention, devotion, and reverence.

4) Do not fail to offer up each decade in honor of one of the mysteries, and try to form a picture in your mind of Jesus and Mary in connection with that mystery.

Source = HERE.

Woman saves babies

Love is a Decision

Many people do not see why a person would have to make the decision to love since they made that decision many years ago when they said yes to one another on their wedding day.

It is normal in married life to have periods of romance and disillusionment. This cycle is often repeated – sometimes over days, weeks, even months.

Breaking out of Disillusionment by Making the Decision to Love
One way to break out of disillusionment is by deciding to love. Feelings change and aren not easily controlled. Love is not only a feeling, it is more than a feeling. Love is a decision.

* Love is a decision to be open and to share when you don’t feel like it.
* Love is a decision when you don't think your spouse deserves your love.
* Love is a decision means that you are open to honest communication with your spouse. That's not only talking, but also listening.
* It is also a decision to be loved.

Making the decision to love includes the everyday, little things that you often do for one another, especially when you’re not feeling loving.
From the action of deciding to love, often the feeling of love will follow.

What Love is a Decision Means in an Abusive Situation
Making the decision to love doesn't mean you love and accept negative or abusive behavior.

If your spouse is abusing you, either emotionally or physically, making the decision to love is getting out of the abusive situation.
Often times, making the decision to love is getting help for both you and your spouse.

Source = HERE.

A letter from an unborn baby