Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad consultation of bishops, theologians and laity. There were few dissenting voices. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the Catholic Church.

We find homilies on the Assumption going back to the sixth century. In following centuries, the Eastern Churches held steadily to the doctrine, but some authors in the West were hesitant. However by the 13th century there was universal agreement. The feast was celebrated under various names–Commemoration, Dormition, Passing, Assumption–from at least the fifth or sixth century. Today it is celebrated as a solemnity.

Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s Assumption into heaven. Nevertheless, Revelation 12 speaks of a woman who is caught up in the battle between good and evil. Many see this woman as God’s people. Since Mary best embodies the people of both Old and New Testaments, her Assumption can be seen as an exemplification of the woman’s victory.
Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 15:20, Paul speaks of Christ’s resurrection as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Since Mary is closely associated with all the mysteries of Jesus’ life, it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit has led the Church to believe in Mary’s share in his glorification. So close was she to Jesus on earth, she must be with him body and soul in heaven.

Happy feast day to all children of Mary.

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St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894 - 1941)

He was born on 8 January 1894 in occupied Poland: he joined the Franciscans in Lwów in 1910, and was ordained eight years later, as his country became free and independent for the first time in over 120 years.
He believed that the world was passing through a time of intense spiritual crisis, and that Christians must fight for the world’s salvation with all the means of modern communication. He founded a newspaper, and a sodality called the Knights of Mary Immaculate, which spread widely both in Poland and abroad.

In 1927 he founded a community, a “city of Mary,” at Teresin: centred round the Franciscan friary, it attracted many lay people, and became self-supporting, publishing many periodicals and running its own radio station.
In 1930 he went to Japan, studied Buddhism and Shintoism, and through the Japanese edition of his newspaper spread the Christian message in a way that was in harmony with Japanese culture. In Nagasaki, he set up a “Garden of the Immaculate,” which survived the atomic bomb.
He also travelled to Malabar and to Moscow, but was recalled to Poland in 1936 for reasons of health.

When the Germans invaded in 1939, the community at Teresin sheltered thousands of refugees, most of them Jews.
In 1941 he was arrested and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz, where he helped and succoured the inmates. In August of that year a prisoner escaped, and in reprisal the authorities were choosing ten people to die by starvation. One of the men had a family, and Maximilian Kolbe offered to take his place. The offer was accepted, and he spent his last days comforting his fellow prisoners.
The man he saved was present at his canonization.

universalis.com

Thanking God for a successful National Centenary Grand Congress/Statue Installation

Thank God for the success of the Centenary National Congress of the Block Rosary Crusade & installation of the pilgrim statue, which has toured various parts of the country, at the permanent site of the National Secretariat of the Block Rosary Crusade located at St. Ambrose Catholic Church, Obgor Hill, Aba, by the Bishop of Minna, Most Rev. Martin Igwe Uzoukwu in an elaborate ceremony.

May Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima and Saints Francisco & Jacinta pray for us and obtain from God answers to our various prayers this Marian year. Amen.

Centenary National Congress of the Block Rosary Crusade in Nigeria

At last the Block Rosary Crusade in Nigeria will be holding her Centenary National Congress which is scheduled to commence today 10th of August and end on Sunday 13th of August 2017 @ St. Ambrose Catholic Church, Ogbor Hill, Aba, Abia State, which happens to be the headquaters of the Block Rosary Crusade in Nigeria.

The event is especially in commemoration of the centenary i.e. 100 years of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the 3 little seers at Fatima, Portugal from the 13th of May 1917 to the 13th of October 1917.

We wish the delegates coming from far and near safe journey and successful deliberations. Amen.

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for us.
Saints Francisco and Jacinta, Pray for us.

Ave Maria

Men should stop sinning against God as He is already very much offended. *The kingdom of God is nearer than we may think*. He that has ears let him hear.

St Jean-Baptiste Vianney, Curé of Ars (1786 - 1859)

He was the son of a peasant farmer, and a slow and unpromising candidate for the priesthood: he was eventually ordained on account of his devoutness rather than any achievement or promise.
  In 1818 he was sent to be the parish priest of Ars-en-Dombes, an isolated village some distance from Lyon, and remained there for the rest of his life because his parishioners would not let him leave. He was a noted preacher, and a celebrated confessor: such was his fame, and his reputation for insight into his penitents’ souls and their futures, that he had to spend up to eighteen hours a day in the confessional, so great was the demand. The tens of thousands of people who came to visit this obscure parish priest turned Ars into a place of pilgrimage.
  The French State recognised his eminence by awarding him the medal of the Légion d’Honneur in 1848, and he sold it and gave the money to the poor.

universalis.com

First Saturday Devotion

Let's remember that tomorrow Saturday is 1st Saturday Devotion.

1. Go for confession.
2. Attend Holy Mass & receive Holy Communion.
3. Pray at least 5 decades of the Rosary.
4. Keep company with Our Lady for at least 20 minutes while meditating on the 20 mysteries of the Rosary.

Let's endeavor to practise this at least during this Marian year. Remind others by sharing.

Ave Maria