South Africa Needs Our Lady

South Africa Needs Our Lady

Winning the heart and soul of South Africa for Mary by spreading the Fatima Message

Winning the heart and soul of South Africa for Mary by spreading the Fatima Message

NEWS
STORIES
ROSARY RALLIES
PRAYERS

SANOL

Morongwa wa Morena / Angelus (Sepedi)

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Morongwa wa Morena a tsebiša Maria

Gomme a imišwa ka Moya wo Mokgethwa

Dumela Maria…..

 

Bona, ke modiredi wa Morena.

A go direge go nna ka lentšu la gago

Dumela Maria….

 

Gomme lentšu la ba nama.

Gomme la dula gare ga rena.

Dumela Maria……

 

O re rapelele , Motswadi yo mokgethwa wa Modimo

Re tle re swanele dikholofetšo tša Kriste.

 

A re rapelengǃ

Re a go kgopela , Morena , tšhela grasia ya gago dipelong tša rena. Re tseba ka lentšu  la Morongwa gore Kriste , Morwa wa gago , o ile a ba motho. Ka mahloko le sefapano sa gagwe dira gore re fihlele bogošing bja tsogo ya gagwe. Ka Kriste yena yo, Morena wa rena. Amen.

Tumelo ya Baapostola / Apostles Creed (Sepedi)

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Ke dumela go Modimo, Tate, Ramaatla ka moka,

Mohlodi wa legodimo le lefase.

Le go Jesu Kriste, Morwa wa gagwe, a nnoši, Morena wa rena, e a amogetšwego ka Moya Mokgethwa, a belegwa ke Maria, Kgarebe.

A tshwenywa ka fase ga Pontsio Pilato, a bapolwa sefapong, a hwa, a bolokwa lebitleng.

A fologela go baletela phološo, a tsoga bahung ka letšatši la boraro.

A rotogela legodimong.

O dutše ka letsogong le letona la Modimo Tate yo maatla ka moka

Go tlogela fao o tlo tla go ahlola ba ba phelago le ba ba hwilego.

Ke dumela go Moya wo Mokgethwa,

Kereke ye kgethwa ye Katolike,

Kopano ya ba bakgethwa, tshwarelo ya dibe, tsogo ya bahu,

le bophelo bjo bo sa felego. Amen .

Thapelo ya Morena Tata Rena / Our Father (Sepedi)

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Tata rena wa magodimong

Leina la gago a le kgethwe

Mmušo wa gago  a o tle

Thato ya gago a e dirwe mo lefaseng

Bjalo ka ka ge e dirwa legodimong

O re fe lehono bogobe bja rena

Bja tšatši le lengwe le le lengwe

O re swarele dibe tša rena, bjalo ka ge le rena re swarela bao ba re fošeditšego

O se re iše molekong

Eupša o re phološe bobeng. Amen

Our Lady of the Forest

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Our Lady of the Forest

Feast Day 17 June

 

Brittany is a land noted for its pilgrimages, and that of Folgoet is one of the foremost of them. In the year 1419 a church took the place of a small chapel of Our Lady in the Forest of Lesneven, and it became the centre of a big ecclesiastical establishment, with a famous pilgrim-shrine.

In 1380 there lived near Lesneven a good old man named Salaun or Solomon. He had no one to care for him, lived alone, and did not associate with any person; he walked with his eyes to the ground, but his heart in Heaven.

As the years went by, old and crippled as he was, he might be seen every evening hobbling toward the chapel of the Blessed Virgin where he spent most of the night in prayer after the villagers had returned to the warmth and security of their own homes. He was a simple man of the woods, and here where the chapel of Our Lady of the Forest was later built he slept in the open under an oak tree near a fountain.

Solomon loved to swing from the branches of a tree that hung over the fountain, all the while singing his praises to “Ave Maria!” at the top of his lungs. He begged for bread each day to obtain his meals, and in doing so he was often laughed at, jeered at and otherwise mistreated by the small boys. He was commonly known to one and all as “The Fool of the Wood.”

One day, while the villagers were on their way to the chapel, they found the old man in the snow dying of exposure. They tried to help him, but it was too late for their kindness, as the old man soon died with the words “Ave Maria” on his lips. The fool of the wood had finally gone to his Queen in Heaven. Legend further relates that he was buried in an out-of-the-way place in Lesneven, for he had no family to mourn him.

When spring came, a snow-white lily rose from the outcast’s grave, and on the delicate petals of the lily, in letters of gold, the words “Ave Maria!” could be seen. The grave was opened, and it was soon discovered that the lily had taken root in the mouth of the penniless old hermit. News of the miracle drew crowds to the scene, and a church was built to honour Our Lady of the Forest. The gravesite of the simple hermit can still be seen nearby, and visited even in our day. It is marked by four simple stones.

After a chequered history, the shrine fell into decay and was destroyed by fire during the French Revolution. It was restored by the people in 1818 and the venerated image of Our Lady was brought back and crowned in 1888. The pilgrimage has grown in popularity ever since.

*from The Woman in Orbit and other sources as seen on https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/our-lady-of-the-forest.html

St. Aloysius Gonzaga

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Patron Saint of Catholic Youth

Feast June 21

Aloysius was born in the Italian province of Lombardy in 1568, the first-born son of a Marquis and the lady of honour to the Queen of Spain.

When he was seven, he experienced a spiritual awakening: he made a vow of perpetual virginity, keeping his eyes downcast in the presence of women to safeguard himself from possible temptation, and dedicated most of his time to prayer, especially the Office of Our Lady.

When he was just eleven years old he fasted in the manner of a monk, eating only bread and water three days a week, practiced austerities and taught poor children the catechism. The next year, he received his First Holy Communion from the hands of the great saint and cardinal, Charles Borromeo.

By age fourteen, Aloysius had resolved to join the Society of Jesus and become a missionary. He was to suffer much from his family’s strenuous opposition to this decision, particularly from his father, who hoped Aloysius would join the military. However, he persevered, and his father finally relented.

In 1585, the seventeen-year-old Aloysius was admitted into the Jesuit novitiate in Rome where he took the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience two years later.

While the young Gonzaga was ordained a deacon at twenty, he was never to realize his dream of becoming a priest and missionary in this life.

As had been foretold to him in a vision, Aloysius died on the octave of Corpus Christi in 1591 after contracting the plague while caring for the sick in the Jesuit hospital. He was twenty-three years old.

He was canonized in 1726 and his relics remain under the altar dedicated to the Jesuit founder in the Church of St. Ignatius in Rome.

The virtue that had so marked him in his youth – purity – and which he preached and practiced to a heroic degree during his short life, became the spiritual crown by which he will be forever known.

Prayer of St Alphonsus Liguori to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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O Adorable Heart of my Jesus, Heart created expressly for the love of mankind!

Until now I have shown towards Thee only ingratitude. Pardon me, O my Jesus.

Heart of my Jesus, abyss of love and mercy, how is it possible that I do not die of sorrow when I reflect on Thy goodness to me and my ingratitude to Thee?

Thou, my Creator,having created me, has given Thy Blood and Thy life for me; and,
not content with this, Thou has invented a means of offering Thyself every day for me in the Holy Eucharist, exposing Thyself to a thousand insults and outrages.

Ah! Jesus, do Thou wound my heart with a great contrition for my sins, and a tender love for Thee.
Through Thy Tears, Thy Blood give me the grace of perseverance in Thy fervent love until I breathe my last sigh. Amen.

My Loving Jesus, in order to show the grateful love I bear Thee, and to make reparation for my unfaithfulness to grace, I [N] give Thee my heart, and I consecrate myself wholly to Thee, and with Thy help I shall try never to sin again.

(100 days indul. Pius VII, 26 June 1770)

Our Lady of Marienthal

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FEAST DAY JUNE 7

Our Lady of Marienthal, Germany (13th Century)

Marienthal is located perhaps an hour from the city of Hagenau, and is one of the many famous places of pilgrimage in the Alsace region of France. Our Lady of Marienthal has been visited by pilgrims for many centuries, and an old chronicle tells of wonderful miracles that were granted on behalf of many of the believers who visited the ancient church. The benevolent Virgin Mary obtained grace there for all of the afflicted, and when sinners called upon her for assistance they would inevitably find comfort and mercy. There was no pain which was not relieved, no accident that was not mended, not a hope that was disappointed. The crippled and lame could pray there in that time and return home healed, leaving their crutches behind in the church. The blind were illuminated and regained their sight, and the deaf heard again. Mothers obtained the health of their children; young people who had lost their peace of mind through sin found forgiveness and regained their peace of mind; sailors in the dangers of the sea and the soldiers in the bloody battle called upon the assistance of the loving mother of Marienthal, and never in vain.

The church remained open day and night so that the pilgrims at any hour could have access to grace through Our Lady of Marienthal, but this practice also provided an opportunity for robbery attempts. Mary protected her home, and left no thief of church property free to run. As an example, it happened once that a thief was alone in the church shortly before daybreak, and beholding a beautiful jewel upon the altar that had been left as a gift, stretched forth his hand to steal it. As he did so, a supernatural force held him in place until the monks from the monastery, which stood near the church, came and found him later in the morning. He was promptly delivered to the courts in Hagenau for punishment.

When the heresy of Martin Luther penetrated the Alsace, anything that was sacred to Catholics was ridiculed and persecuted as a consequence. Pilgrims were set upon, and Marienthal was threatened with destruction. In many places the altars of Catholic churches were already smashed, and the images of the saints cast down; the same fate seemed about to befall the church at Marienthal.

The devout Catholics decided to hide two miraculous paintings, as well as the statue of the Sorrowful Mother with the child Jesus in her arms, from the predatory hands of the new iconoclasts. They were taken in secret to the monastery for safekeeping. A concurrent document states that the statue of the Sorrowful Virgin shed copious tears while on the way, which was seen by all those present. The statue and paintings were returned to the church once the initial threat had passed, but the pilgrims to Marienthal were much less numerous, as they were often derided by the Protestants, and mistreated as godless blasphemers.

A new persecution broke out in 1569 as enemy soldiers roamed the Alsace and devastated it. Marienthal was also exposed to their devastations to a great extent. At that time a woman named Hochstatter wanted to prevent the desecration of the Holy images, and decided once again to transport them to Hagenau.

“With this intent,” tells the Chronicle, “she came into the church of the Blessed Virgin, ascended a ladder and took the statue of the Sorrowful Virgin on her shoulders and went on her way.” She had acted out of zeal, but the statue of the Mother of God was far too heavy, and her knees staggered as she inevitably sank to the ground beneath her burden. Following a momentary inspiration, the woman knelt next to the image and pleaded with a trusting heart to Mary:

“O, my Heavenly Mother! Please ask thy Divine Son to increase my strength, or else decrease the severity of this precious load so that I may take it to safety.”

After finishing her prayer, the woman took up the image again on her shoulder and easily carried it the rest of the way to Hagenau.

From this time on the church at Marienthal was closed and abandoned. Soon, it was no longer possible even to kneel down next to the degraded walls, as the heretics who roved around in the neighbouring woods mistreated all the Catholics that they could get their hands on. These conditions continued until the end of the sixteenth century when the Jesuits came and awakened the old beliefs and reopened the church at Marienthal. Not only did they return the church to its former glory, but they exterminated the heresy in considerable parts of the Alsace.

But a new storm broke out because of the French Revolution. Two priests and some pious women, working together at the risk of their lives, took the wonderful images from the church, as well as the consecrated vessels and other ornaments of the church, to Ottersweier, a village on the right bank of the Rhine. They remained there until the restoration of Catholic worship. Meanwhile, Marienthal was occupied by German troops who had invaded Alsace. The soldiers used the church as a barracks.

The sacred images were finally restored in 1803 via a triumphal procession from Ottersweier to Marienthal. The clergy were followed by the entire population of Hagenau who were flying colourful flags and burning candles in the solemn procession. The Bishop of Strasbourg celebrated a Pontifical High Mass, inaugurating a day of celebration that is still continued annually on the first Sunday of June.

Since that time, Marienthal is once again visited as frequently as ever, especially on the feast days of Our Lady. The pious crowd rushes to the enlarged and embellished church, whose choir walls are entirely covered with votive offerings. Most young Alsatian and Lorraine soldiers go to the church at Marienthal before they begin their service to implore the protection of the Blessed Virgin. Even today you can see the parents of those who miraculously escaped death in battles and engagements kneeling before the altar to thank God and to read their thanks aloud. Even many Protestants, sensible to the example of the faithful and the reports of miracles that are worked at the site, send their names in secret in the hands of pious persons to Marienthal, asking them to pray and offer gifts for them.

James Fitzhenry, roman-catholic-saints.com, Marian Calendar