Pray with Mary for the gits of the Holy Spirit.

We are told in scripture that after the Ascension the disciples went to pray in the upper room with Mary the Mother of Jesus. It seemed important to the disciples that Mary was there. Yet this often gets little mention. Now that Jesus had ascended the disiples would pray , yes, but there were still many things they had not fully understood. But Mary was there to guide them since she already was filled with the Holy Spirit and had the gifts of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortutude, Knowledge Pietey, and Fear of the Lord. She would have insights
into the teachings and would be able to guide them in their searching until they too were filled with the Holy Spirit. If there is one thing that infuriates me in the Church today it is the total ignorance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Great preachers are ready to talk about the Fruits of the Spirit but unfortunately you cannot have the fruits unless you first have the gifts. The reason for this is of course that we are not totally committed these days to the Catholic Church. We are not committed to the truths of the Catholic Church. So we are not ready to go out and bring people to Christ and the Truths of the Church, we just hide behind ecumenism to justify our own shallowness. What are these gifts that Mary had and we should have. Wisdom - I remember once visiting a husband and wife and the husband was a non catholic although he often came to Church with her. I had come to ask him to become a catholic. I was only 24 but I am still working out what happened. I showed a wisdom in the situation beyond my years. When my partner afterwards said I was marvellous I honestly replied that was not me. Understanding is being able to read into the human heart in situations like I described and know immedately what the person is feeling and be able to reach them at a spiritual level. Counsel is being able to say the right things in a way that people understand and feel comforted by. Fortitude is persevering whatever the difficulties and staying in love with God and people. Knowledge is being aware in any situation that someone is hurting and helping him or her to express themselves. I remember at a small meeting being aware that someone had a problem and I knew what the problem was and that she wanted to speak about it. I facilitated her. Piety is the gift of hoiness and Fear of the Lord is about the respect we have for God. Mary had all these before Pentecost and she must have been a blessing to the apostles. So Confirmation is not just a Sacrament we should receive whether we want it or not. These gifts to be used in the service of the Church and if a young adult or older peson is not practicing the faith then these gifts are pointless. The more holy the Church is the more these gifts will be in evidence and alas vice versa. Most Confirmation programmes are bult around having fun. But to return to Mary. She can help parents realise the gifts of the Holy Spirit they received. They can help them show wisdom and understanding to their teenager friends. We just have to awaken the gifts marked on our soul.     Mary of England, Pray for us.

The Smiling Jesus.

I was speaking to a mother last week about the images of Jesus. She said her 3 year old did not like Jesus very much since he never smiled and was always sad. True, the smiling Jesus is rare since artists are pre-occupied ususally by stories from the Gospels and Jesus in teaching mode. I love the smiling Jesus in the above picture. How he loves little children and he once warned those who would hurt them that it would be better that a halter would be put around their neck and they were thrown into the sea I never was artistic but if I was what beautiful paintings are in my mind. Jesus dancing and singing at the Marriage Feast of Cana, for example. But more than this I would want to paint a picture of Our Mother Mary surrounded by her chldren. What a wonderful painting it would be.

Let us dedicate England to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Catholics in America have asked the Archbishop os Chicago to take steps to have America consecrated to The Immaculate Heart of Our Lady of Guadelupe. What a wonderful idea! In the history of Judaeo-Christianity it has always been the `stone that was rejected` that has become the `corner stone` The falsification of the teachings of Vatican II into the `Spirit of Vatican II` led to a great diminishing in the West of Our Lady`s role. Praising Mary was thought to be damaging to the Ecumenical movement so she had to go. As Cardinal Heenan once told his priests after Vaticzn II, the removal of Mary meant a diminishing in respect for the Blessed Sacrament. Just loook at the preparation programmes now called Eucharistic programmes which are given to our children. All ideas of devotion have been cast aside. This also means that all ideas of the love of God have been cast aside and children are bored to death with talk about their gifts. But it is time England too was dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Mary is one of us, yes. At Lourdes when she announced she was the `Immaculate Conception` she camde down to be on a level with the people and raised her hands to heaven. It was not her doing she was saying but a beautiful gift from God. She is truly human like us that is why we love her so much. She was raised to a level that no creation of God was ever lifted to. She became the Mother of God Incarnate and had a real son in Jesus Christ who esteemed her not just as a friend but as a mother. And such was his love for us that he told us she was so wonderful that she could be our mother also. So there is the idea. An England dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pray that this will be.

Mary Stuart - the forgotten martyr.

There is no peson in history who has been more subject to lies than Mary Stuart, the former Queen of Scotland. At the Reformation when religious tolerance was absent from most of Europe she, having witnessed the cruelty of her uncle the Bishop of Lorraine and his followers towards the Protestants of France, their slaughter and murder, decided that she would never persecute or attack the faith of anyone. On his death bed her husband Francis,the Dauphin, yet only 18, asked openly for forgiveness for the `crimes that had been committed in his name`. On returning to Scotland she refused an army from the Earl of Huntley to restore the Catholic Faith there. She believed that everyone held sincere beliefs. Unfortunately the Lords of the Congreagation of Scotland were not Protestant from conviction but because they were greedy, avaricious, and intolerant men who saw the Reformation as a means to steal Church land and Property. Her half brother the Earl of Moray was the worst of them and yet Mary was so trusting of him. She was the type of person who only saw good in people. When she married Darnley, a very pompous and disliked young man, it was Moray who with Bothwell arranged for his murder. What happened on that night at Kirk O`Fields is to be found in documents in France a place few historians bothered to search in their investigations. A Frenchman called Nicholas Hubert for example tells us exactly what happened at Kirk O`Fields since he was valet to Bothwell and tried to persuade him not to do the killing. He pointed out to Bothwell that he could not trust the other Lords who were a part of what he was doing" But the bloody deed took place. Bothwell later captured the Queen and forced her into a marriage showing her a document called the Ainslie Bond which tht nobles had signed and was proof that they wanted him as King. Mary was forced into a marriage. She wrote this letter to her envoy in France which he was to show to the Pope. "Tell to his holiness the grief we suffered when we were made prisoner by one of our subjects, the Earl of Bothwell, and led us prisoner with the Earl of Huntley, the chancellor, and our secretary, together, to the Castle of Dunbar, and afterwards to the Castle of Edinburgh where we were detained against our will in the hands of the said Earl of Bothwell until such time as he had procured a pretended divorce between himself and the sister of the said Lord of Huntley, his wife and our near relative; and we were constrained to yield our consent, yet against our will, to him. Therefore your Holines is suppicated to take order on this, that we are made quit of the said indignity, by means of a process of Rome, and commission sent to Scotland, to the bishops and other catholic judges,as to your holiness seemeth best as will be more particularly understood at length by the memorial which will be given in by the Bishop of Ross". Nicholas Hubert had given Bothwell good advice for his band of rogues turned on him eager to escape any responsiblity for the deed. Two armies faced each other ar Carberry Hill, but Mary preferred surrender to the nobles than staying with Bothwell. These vile creatures had promised to treat her as a Queen again but when she was in their power they mocked and sneered at her and made her their prisoner. She was forced to walk through the streets of Edinburgh through a hostile crowd which had swallowed the lie that she had murdered her husband Darnley. A great shadow towered over all of this, the shadow of Queen Elizabeth, who had been informed of all that had happened, and indeed she also wanted Darnley to be removed. Yet when Mary was in her power she had her tried for the murder she knew Mary had not committed. A few months ago I visited that Museum of Dead Bodies, Westminster Cathedral, and saw the coffin of Mary beside that of Elizabeth. It came to me that Mary was still a prisoner. It infuriated me. Meanwhile there was a call from a Scottish MP that the body of Mary should be returned to Scotland. I beleive she should she put in the Chapel of St Andrew in Westminser Cathedral. Had Mary changed her faith she would never have been a `problem` to Elizabeth. The thought of a Catholic inheriting the throne after he haunted Elizabeth. Mary was put to death in case Elizabeth was the first to die for then Mary would succeed to the English throne. She died a martyr for the Catholic Faith.

The dog calls us to prayer.

One of the great teachings of the Church is that work and prayer go together. Many catholic organisations and indeed religious orders have disappeared over the past forty years because they suddenly considered that prayer was somehow less important than action. Catholic organisations have suffered and only those which kept true to their founders have remained and flourished. I joined the Knights of St Columba recently and was overjoyed that the devoition to Mary in that organisation has not diminished and at several parts of the meeting we interrupt business to pray. It remains truly catholic and loyal to the Holy Father. Prayer must become something routine in our lives if we are to grow spiritually. It cannot be put off for this reason or that reason for where there is a routine of prayer there is a spiritual growth. Strangely enough I was reminded of this today by of all things my dog. At 2.45pm it began to bark furiously and at first there seemed to be no reason. It was an unusual day in our home. My wife had decided to move about the furniture in our bedroom and I had come downstairs to carry out some task. The dog barked furiously. Then I caught on. It was at this time of the day that my wife and I invariably say the Divine Mercy, it was the routine she expected and she seemed a little upset that it was not being carried out. We accepted this message from heaven, stopped what we were doing, and began the Divine Mercy ending with the 3 o`clock prayer. Jesus and Mary look forward to our prayers so much. The dog prays in his way lying on the carpet comfortably while we pray. As children of Mary that is the best way to set up the day. Have definite times for prayer and do not cancel them except to deal with the family. Our mother Mary will always want us to look after our families first.

But now for the Good News - yes, good things still happen

At Portsmouth Cathedral on the 14th May there is to be a Rosary Rally starting at 12.15. This will be a great occasion for us to turn to Mother Mary and ask her to bless the Portsmouth Diocese and especially our children and their need to be taught the Catholic Faith. Also in September the relics of St Teresa will be in Portmouth Cathedral for veneration. Two great Catholic occasions in one year - am I dreaming? I do not know how it is in your part of the world but since I started this blog there have been some very sure signs of a Marian revival. Keep praying.

FEAST OF THE FORTY MARTYRS

Today is the feat of the forty martyrs of England and Wales. Many of them died under Queen Elizabeth whose fear of the Catholic Church was rooted in watching the killing of Catholics by her father Henry and Protestants by her half sister Mary. She decided to be Protestant and that meant there was to be no threat to her from Catholics whom she bitterly tried to exterminate. Priests came from the Continent not to threaten her but to simply say Mass and they were hidden in the homes of ordinary catholic people. Both paid the price by suffering cruel deaths. It is srange that schoolchildren are taught about Bloody Mary but nobody will face up to Bloodthirsty Henry or Elizabeth. When we look at what the Bisops have done to the Catholic Church in England in the past forty years and the number of catholics who as a result of poor catechesis do not take the teachings of the Church on Papal Supremacy and other doctrines too seriously you may be forgiven for wondering why they died. But they bore witness to the truth that the Catholic Church is the One True Faith, not popular among modernists.

For `tis the month of Mary.

The sun is shining brightly, the trees are gold and green.
A beauteous bloom of flowers on every side is seen
The fields are gold and emerald and all the world is gay
For `tis the month of Mary, the lovely month of May.

There`s music in the hevens, thebirds are singing there
And natures songs and praises are sounding through the air
And we with hearts rejoicing, with joy we sing today
For `tis the month of Mary, the lovely month of May

Mary dear mother, we sings our humn to thee
Thou art the Queen of heaven, and you our Queen shall be
O rule us and guide us unto eternity.

Those of you who attended primary school at the same time as I did wil probably have started singing this old hymn as you read the words. It was a beautiful day for the 1st of May. I woke up composing the words for a hymn I am writing I have a melody but puting the words to it was difficult but on this blessed morning I think Mary inspired me. Unfortuanately I did not have a great deal of time since I had an appointment at Day Services concerning my son Kevin. Una and I went to town where she did some shopping while I made my way to the Church to say the Rosary. After praying I made my way around St Michaels and found so many catholic things there. A beautiful painting of Mary looking down on Jesus who lying on a sofa affair is looking up a her. There were paintings of course of St Michael the patron of Basingstoke. I touched the ancient stone pillars as many cahtolics had probably done prior to the Reformation and indeed I felt their presence. "It is good to be here" I told myself and praised God for the beauty of the place. Our Lady of Basngstoke, pray for us.