A long-venerated icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help turned 150 this year, and many Filipinos’ Marian devotion has never been stronger. “There is one clear reason for the thousands of devotees who flock to Baclaran: the special Marian piety of the Filipino people,” Fr. Joseph Echano, CSsR, rector of the National Shrine of Our Read more
The night I first saw the film Full of Grace is one I won’t soon forget. It was a night of extreme paradox. We were invited to the premiere by my parents, who had purchased tickets for me and my 14-year-old daughter. It being a school night, I wrestled with the decision to bring her, Read more
It’s apparition time: 5:40 p.m. In a small Roman Catholic chapel in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the village of Medjugorje, Ivan Dragicevic walks down the aisle, kneels in front of the altar, bows his head for a moment, and then, smiling, lifts his gaze heavenward. He begins to whisper, listens intently, whispers again, and doesn’t Read more
A Sicilian priest has been ordered not to celebrate Mass at a centre after he told people to drink ‘sacred’ water from a spring revealed by the Virgin Mary. Fr Alessandro Minutella from Carini has been leading his congregation in prayer at the water source and has wanted to distribute water. Fr Minutella believes the Read more
An Irish priest has challenged the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a life-long virgin. Writing on his blog, suspended Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery mentioned a Scripture passage that refers to Jesus’ brothers and sisters. “We are told that Jesus had four brothers, and an indefinite number of sisters,” Flannery wrote. “This does Read more
Pope Francis has warned against listening to the daily messages of seers as a way of renewing one’s Christian identity. Speaking during Mass at the Sancta Martha Guesthouse on June 9, the Pope’s words came only days after he said a ruling on the Medjugorje apparitions will be coming soon. On June 9, Francis preached Read more
The prefect of the Congregation for Saint’s Causes has dismissed claims that there is more to the secrets of Fatima than has been made public. Cardinal Angelo Amato told a Rome conference: ““There is no fourth secret and there are no other hidden secrets.” Cardinal Amato said he had “the privilege” of reading the original Read more
The National Museum of Women in the Arts is currently hosting an exhibit of artwork depicting the Virgin Mary from several famous Renaissance and Baroque artists. The exhibit is called Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea, and runs from Dec. 5, 2014 to Apr. 12, 2015. If you are in the Washington, D.C. area, this might Read more
Millions of Muslims make pilgrimages to Marian shrines every year — not only to the major shrines such as Fatima in Portugal or Harissa in Lebanon, but also to shrines in Egypt, Syria and Iran. Devotion to the Virgin Mary is quite strong in Islam, writes Vatican expert Father Samir Khalil Samir in an analysis Read more
Heavy flooding in southwest France has forced the closure of the Marian shrine at Lourdes, for the second time in a year. As hundreds of pilgrims were evacuated from nearby hotels, officials used sandbags and other barriers to minimise damage to the grotto where the Virgin Mary appeared to St Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. About Read more