OUR LADY OF LOURDES

OUR LADY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

+ The visionary Bernadette Soubirous (7 January 1844 – 16 April 1879) who was 14 years old at the time of the Apparitions, passed away 21 years later at the age of 35. She was canonized by the Catholic Church on December 8, 1933. 

+ The feast day of the Immaculate Conception is 8 December.

+ Saint Bernadette of Lourdes was born on Orthodox Christmas Day, January 7, and her feast day is observed on 16 April, the date of her rest.

1. The First Meeting 

Thursday, February 11, 1858

Accompanied by her sister and a friend, Bernadette went to Massabielle on the banks of the Gave to collect bones and dead wood. Removing her socks in order to cross the stream, she heard a noise like a gust of wind, she looked up towards the Grotto : “I saw a lady dressed in white, she wore a white dress, and equally white veils, a blue belt and a yellow rose on each foot.” Bernadette made the Sign of the Cross and said the Rosary with the lady. When the prayer ended the Lady suddenly vanished.

2. Holy Water 

Sunday, February 14, 1858

Bernadette felt an inner force drawing her to the Grotto in spite of the fact that she was forbidden to go there by her parents. At her insistence, her mother allowed her; after the first decade of the Rosary, she saw the same lady appearing. She sprinkled holy water at her. The lady smiled and bent her head. When the Rosary ended she disappeared.

3. The Lady Speaks

Thursday, February 18, 1858

For the first time, the Lady spoke. Bernadette held out a pen and paper asking her to write her name. She replied; “It is not necessary” and she added: “I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the other. Would you be kind enough to come here for a fortnight?”

4. The First Candle

Friday, February 19, 1858

Bernadette came to the Grotto with a lighted blessed candle. This is the origin of carrying candles and lighting them in front of the Grotto.

5. In Silence

Saturday, February 20, 1858

The Lady taught her a personal prayer. At the end of the vision Bernadette is overcome with a great sadness.

6. “Aquero”

Sunday, February 21, 1858

The Lady appeared to Bernadette very early in the morning. About one hundred people were present. Afterwards the Police Commissioner, Jacomet, questioned her. He wanted Bernadette to tell what she saw. Bernadette would only speak of “AQUÉRO” (“that thing” in Occitan, the local dialect).

7. The Secret

Tuesday, February 23, 1858

Surrounded by 150 persons, Bernadette arrived at the Grotto. The Apparition reveals to her a secret “only for her alone”.

8. «Penance!»

Wednesday, February 24, 1858

 

The message of the Lady: “Penance! Penance! Penance! Pray to God for sinners. Kiss the ground as an act of penance for sinners!”

9. The Spring

Thursday, February 25, 1858

Three hundred people were present. Bernadette relates; “She told me to go, drink of the spring (….) I only found a little muddy water. At the fourth attempt I was able to drink. She also made me eat the bitter herbs that were found near the spring, and then the vision left and went away.” In front of the crowd that was asking “Do you think that she is mad doing things like that?” she replied; “It is for sinners.”

10. Silence

Saturday February 27, 1858

Eight hundred people were present. The Apparition was silent. Bernadette drank the water from the spring and carried out her usual acts of penance.

11. The Ecstasy

Sunday, February 28, 1858

Over one thousand people were present at the ecstasy. Bernadette prayed, kissed the ground and moved on her knees as a sign of penance. She was then taken to the house of Judge Ribes who threatened to put her in prison.

12. The First Miracle

Monday, March 1, 1858

Over one thousand five hundred people assembled and among them, for the first time, a priest. In the night, Catherine Latapie, a woman from Loubajac, 7 kilometres away , went to the Grotto, she plunged her dislocated arm into the water of the spring: her arm and her hand regained their movement.

13. Message To The Priests

Tuesday, March 2, 1858

The crowd becomes larger and larger. The Lady asked her: “Go and tell the priests that people are to come here in procession and to build a chapel here.” Bernadette spoke of this to Fr. Peyramale, the Parish Priest of Lourdes. He wanted to know only one thing: the Lady’s name. He demanded another test; to see the wild rose bush flower at the Grotto in the middle of winter.

14. A Smile

Wednesday, March 3, 1858

From 7 o’clock in the morning, in the presence of three thousand people, Bernadette arrived at the Grotto, but the vision did not appear! After school, she heard the inner invitation of the Lady. She went to the Grotto and asked her again for her name. The response was a smile. The Parish Priest told her again: “If the Lady really wishes that a chapel be built, then she must tell us her name and make the rose bush bloom at the Grotto.”

15. The Day All Were Waiting For!

Thursday, March 4, 1858

The ever-greater crowd (about eight thousand people) waited for a miracle at the end of the fortnight. The vision was silent. Fr. Peyramale stuck to his position. For twenty days Bernadette did not go to the Grotto, she no longer felt the irresistible invitation.

16. The Name They Waited For!

Thursday, March 25, 1858

On the 21st day, the vision finally revealed her name. Bernadette recounted : “She extended her arms towards the ground, then joined them as though in prayer and said Que soy era Immaculada Concepciou (I am the Immaculate Conception)”. The young visionary left and, running all the way, repeated continuously the words that she did not understand. These words troubled the brave Parish Priest. Bernadette was ignorant of the fact that this theological expression was assigned to the Blessed Virgin. 

17. The Miracle Of The Candle

Wednesday, April 7, 1858

During this apparition, Bernadette had to keep her candle alight. The flame licked along her hand without burning it. A medical doctor, Dr. Douzous, immediately witnessed this fact.

18. The Final Apparition

Friday, July 16, 1858

Bernadette received the mysterious call to the Grotto, but her way was blocked and closed off by a barrier. She thus arrived across from the Grotto to the other side of the Gave. “I felt that I was in front of the Grotto, at the same distance as before, I saw only the Blessed Virgin, and she was more beautiful than ever!”

https://www.lourdes-france.org/en/apparitions/

Sanctuaire Notre-Dame de Lourdes 

1 Avenue Mgr Théas

65108 Lourdes FRANCE

+33 (0)5 62 42 78 78

ቅዱስ ገብርኤል ደጉ መልአክ

9-11-2014

"እኔ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት የምቆመው ገብርኤል ነኝ" --- ሉቃስ ፩፥፲፱

And the angel answering, said to him: I am Gabriel, who stand before God: and am sent to speak to thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. --- Luke 1:19

ኃያል ነህ አንተ

ትንቢተ ዳንኤል፤ ምዕራፍ ፫፥፩-፻

Daniel 3:1-100

ኃያል ነህ አንተ ኃያል 

ደጉ መልአክ ገብርኤል (፪)

ይውደቅ ይሸነፍ ጠላት 

አንተ ተራዳን በእውነት (፪)

በዱራ ሜዳ ላይ - - - ገብርኤል

ጣኦት ተዘጋጅቶ - - - ገብርኤል

ሊያመልኩት ወደዱ - - - ገብርኤል

አዲስ አዋጅ ወጥቶ - - - ገብርኤል

ሲድራቅና ሚሳቅ አብደናጎም ጸኑ

ጣዖቱን ረግጠው በእግዚአብሔር አመኑ

ተቆጣ ንጉሡ - - - ገብርኤል

በሦስቱ ሕጻናት - - - ገብርኤል

ጨምሯቸው አለ - - - ገብርኤል

ወደ እቶን እሳት - - - ገብርኤል

ከሰማይ ተልኮ ደረሰ መልአኩ

ከሞት አዳናቸው በእሳት ሳይነኩ

ከእቶኑ ስር ሆነው - - - ገብርኤል

ዝማሬ ተሞሉ - - - ገብርኤል

ገፍተው የጣሏቸው - - - ገብርኤል

በእሳቱ ሲበሉ - - - ገብርኤል

አልተቃጠለችም የራሳቸው ፀጉር

አዩ መኳንንቱ የእግዚአብሔርን ክብር

ናቡከደነፆር - - - ገብርኤል

እጁን በአፉ ጫነ - - - ገብርኤል

ሠለስቱ ደቂቅን - - - ገብርኤል

ከእሳት ስላዳነ - - - ገብርኤል

ይክበር ጌታ አለ የላከ መልአኩን

ሊያመልከው ወደደ ስላየ ማዳኑን።

ሊቀ መዘምራን ዲያቆን ቴዎድሮስ ዮሴፍ

https://youtu.be/_0leJgcZ9dM

+++   +++   +++

ሰላም ለኪ እያለ

የሉቃስ ወንጌል፤ ምዕራፍ ፩፥፳፮-፴፰

Luke 1:26-38

ሰላም ለኪ እያለ (፪)

ሐርና ወርቁን ስታስማማ

የገብርኤል ድምፅ ተሰማ

ተሰማ የመልአኩ ድምፅ ተሰማ

ተሰማ የገብርኤል ድምፅ ተሰማ

ውኃ ስትቀጂ ክንፉን እያማታ

ሊያበሥርሽ የመጣው በታላቅ ደስታ

ከሞገስሽ ብዛት (፪) ሲታጠቅ ሲፈታ

አቅርቦልሽ ነበር የክብር ሰላምታ።

የምሥራቹን ቃል ምሥጢር ተሸክሞ

ገብርኤል ተላከ ሊያረጋጋት ደግሞ

እርጋታ ተሞልታ (፪) ነገሩን መርምራ

የመልአኩን ብሥራት ሰማችው በተራ።

ይደሰታል እንጂ መንፈሴ በአምላኬ

በምስጋና ሳድር ዘወትር ተንበርክኬ

ሐሳቤ ለቅፅበት (፪) ሌላ መች ያስባል

ለእኔ ልጅን መውለድ እንዴት ይቻለኛል?

ከአንቺ የሚወለደው ልዑል ነው ክቡር

የተመሰገነ በሰማይ በምድር

ምሥጢሩ ኃያል ነው (፪) ይረቃል ይሰፋል

ከአንቺ በቀር ይኽን ማን ይሸከመዋል?

ዕፁብ ነው ድንቅ ነው አንቺን የፈጠረ

አንቺን በመውደዱ ሰውን አከበረ

ዓለም ይባረካል (፪) በማሕፀንሽ ፍሬ

ክብርሽን አልዘልቅም ዘርዝሬ ዘርዝሬ።

ሊቀ መዘምራን ይልማ ኃይሉ

https://youtu.be/AASHYqcWxcM

ቅዱስ ያሬድ ማኅሌታይ፥ ዋይ ዜማ!

https://youtu.be/LcBZDUwesK8

GENESIS 19

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place! 13 For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

24 Then the Lord rained brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

Isaiah 30

A Rebellious People

8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet,

And note it on a scroll,

That it may be for time to come,

Forever and ever:

9 That this is a rebellious people,

Lying children,

Children who will not hear the law of the Lord;

10 Who say to the seers, “Do not see,”

And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;

Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.

11 Get out of the way,

Turn aside from the path,

Cause the Holy One of Israel

To cease from before us.”

12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:

“Because you despise this word,

And trust in oppression and perversity,

And rely on them,

13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you

Like a breach ready to fall,

A bulge in a high wall,

Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.

14 And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel,

Which is broken in pieces;

He shall not spare.

So there shall not be found among its fragments

A shard to take fire from the hearth,

Or to take water from the cistern.”

15 For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

“In returning and rest you shall be saved;

In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”

But you would not,

16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—

Therefore you shall flee!

And, “We will ride on swift horses”—

Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!

17 One thousand shall flee at the threat of one,

At the threat of five you shall flee,

Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain

And as a banner on a hill.

25 There will be on every high mountain

And on every high hill

Rivers and streams of waters,

In the day of the great slaughter,

When the towers fall.

9/11: The Mother of All Coincidences

by Eric Margolis

... In 1993, I was hijacked over Germany on a Lufthansa flight bound for Cairo. The Ethiopian hijacker took us all the way back to New York City. The hijacker was threatening to crash our A310 jumbo jet into Wall Street. ...

One thing is certain: the attacks were planned and mounted from Germany, not Afghanistan. Of the 19 hijackers, 15 were Saudis, two from the United Arab Emirates, one an Egyptian and a Lebanese. ...

slguardian.org

The Banality Of Evil

33 years old Egyptian terrorist Mohammed Atta (1968-2001) was the leader of the nineteen Sept. 11 hijackers. After a last-minute change of plans, Atta arrived in Afghanistan just as Osama bin Laden had approved the plot.

'A Remarkable Coincidence'

It almost didn't happen. As the millennium approached, after long nights of debate, Atta and his friends made a decision. They would fight in Chechnya, against the Russians. By chance they met another Muslim on a train, who basically said, "How are a bunch of amateurs like you going to get to Chechnya?"

He suggested they go to Afghanistan instead and get training first.

"Coincidences just pile on top of each other," McDermott says. "It couldn't have been more than a month after bin Laden approved that plot that these guys stumbled into Kandahar. It's a remarkable coincidence."

Bin Laden had just given the OK to the plot — something he called "The Planes Operation." It required men who were willing to die, but also smart enough to fly a plane. They had to know the West and be able to get a U.S. visa. Then Atta showed up in Afghanistan. ...

Atta picked the date, Sept. 11. He bought plane tickets.

"It is truly the banality of evil. It isn't made up of high thoughts; it's made up of logistics," McDermott says.

Atta, the rule-follower, even had the guts to contradict his boss. Bin Laden wanted one of the planes to strike the White House. Atta argued that the Capitol building would be easier. ...

It's unknown if Atta followed the detailed instructions — if he sharpened his knife or said a prayer as he packed on the morning of Sept. 11.

It is known that at 5:33 a.m., Atta checked out of room 233 of the Comfort Inn and headed to the airport.

npr.org/2011/09/09/140321495/the-banality-of-evil-following-the-steps-to-sept-11

16th President of the U.S.A.

Abraham Lincoln 

(February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865)

Second Inaugural Address

Washington, D.C.

March 4, 1865

One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!" If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether"

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/inaug2.htm

__________________________________________

Q & A - Steven Spielberg Talks with TIME About President Lincoln

Oct. 25, 2012

*RICK STENGEL: Abraham Lincoln is in many ways the most compelling figure in U.S. history ...

You use a fascinating framing device for the movie: the passage of the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery.

STEVEN SPIELBERG:

The 13th Amendment was critical to Lincoln, because he knew that if the war ended, this would never get through. The South couldn’t live without slavery. They might cease hostilities, but Lincoln always believed that unless we abolish slavery before this war ends, the end of this war will just be a momentary pause between this war and the next war. So he knew he had to get this thing done, but he didn’t have the votes. That’s at the heart of our movie, this fight to get the votes, to do the right thing.

There’s an English expression, “Cometh the moment, cometh the man.” How much of it was Lincoln at that moment, or did the moment make him?

STEVEN SPIELBERG:

Lincoln had the ambition. He had a beautiful vision for America. But I don’t know what kind of progress he would have made without the crisis that fell into his lap. I also don’t know what kind of a President FDR would have become without the Great Depression and World War II or what Kennedy would ultimately have been remembered for without all of us standing on the brink of nuclear holocaust during the Cuban missile crisis.

Let’s talk about his temperament. His leadership style in many ways seems so alien to what we value today.

STEVEN SPIELBERG:

Taking all of his traits—of long, deep thought, of staring deeply into the future, taking the broad view, respecting the past, exploring deep into the cold depths of himself while his entire Cabinet sat around waiting for him to make a decision about anything—I’m not sure there’s a mayoral position that would be suitable for him in this kind of adrenaline-fueled era that we all exist in. Even then, the newspapers were going after him.

One of the things that come through in the movie is Lincoln’s relationship with his wife, his relationship with his youngest son. He would get down on the ground all the time. It showed that he wasn’t that statue that was standing up there 20 feet high.

STEVEN SPIELBERG:

He certainly did everything that he needed to do to hold his family together, not just this country. He had lost [his 11-year-old son] Willie two years ago to typhoid fever. Mary spent years mourning the loss of Willie. In [Doris Kearns Goodwin’s] book Team of Rivals, what precedes our story is two years of Mary shunning the whole family and spending time holding séances and trying to reach out and communicate across the thin veil to Willie. Lincoln had that burden on his shoulders. He was really carrying a lot of weight during that time.

* Richard Stengel was Time magazine's 16th managing editor from 2006 to 2013. From 1992 through 1994, he collaborated with Nelson Mandela on the South African leader’s autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom.” Stengel later wrote “Mandela’s Way,” a New York Times best-seller, on his experience working with Mandela.

https://entertainment.time.com/2012/10/25/steven-spielberg-talks-with-times-rick-stengel-about-ambition-compromise-and-what-to-wear-while-filming-a-president/

FROM ONE BLOOD

ACTS 17 : 16 - 33

The Philosophers at Athens

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. 17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. 18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?”

Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.

19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” 21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

Addressing the Areopagus

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” 33 So Paul departed from among them.

MIKHAIL + МИХАИЛ

Mikhail Gorbachev of Russia

The eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union

(2 March 1931- 30 Aug. 2022)

Starting reforms in the Soviet Union was only possible from above, only from above. Any attempt to go from below was suppressed, suppressed in a most resolute way. And therefore a reformist leadership was necessary, and that leadership came in 1985 when we started to lay down our plans for our country, perestroika and new thinking for the International Community. The new thinking postulated [that] we are one planet regardless of confrontations, ideological and physiological struggles; we are one planet, one human civilization. There are others living in the world, so why should we act in a way that could blow up our planet, our spaceship Earth? Writers, intellectuals, and others as a result of glasnost could speak out freely and openly, could call a spade a spade. This entire mechanism was set in motion, and as a result, in February 1986, less than a year after my coming to power in our country, at the 27th Congress of the Communist Party, we said as a result of summing up our thinking, our analysis, our conclusions, we stated that the world, even though there were many conflicts and contradictions, is interrelated, interdependent, and that the world is becoming increasingly a single whole. And if we are one, if we're all a single whole, if we are all mutually interdependent, then we must act differently. That was one of the most important points of departure in thinking about the future. It was very important for developing our plans, for developing domestic policies and particularly foreign policy.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitextlo/int_mikhailgorbachev.html

Titanic - 1912

15 April 1912

The sinking of the world’s most famous ship generated three waves of Titanic mania. The first hit popular consciousness immediately after the disaster ...

The First World War, and then the Second quieted the Titanic storm; the loss of hundreds of thousands of men on the battlefields of Europe, the whole-scale destruction of cities and communities around the world, and Hitler’s single-minded plan to wipe out an entire race of people, together with other “undesirables,” placed the sinking of the ship, with its death toll of 1,500, toward the bottom end of the league of global tragedies.

The mid-1950s is generally considered to represent the second wave of Titanic fever. In the midst of the cold war—when there was a perceived threat that, at any moment, the world could end in nuclear Armageddon—the Titanic represented a containable, understandable tragedy. A mist of nostalgia hung over the disaster—nostalgia for a society that maintained fixed roles, in which each man and woman knew his or her place; for a certain gentility, or at least an imagined gentility, by which people behaved according to a strict set of rules; for a tragedy that gave its participants time to consider their fates.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-the-titanic-still-fascinates-us-98137822/