9.29.2009

Thanks and Welcome!

Lately I've had a lot of new followers that want to chat or learn more about our Catholic faith. Lola, Claudia (from Brazil!), Karen Louise, Agnes, Jean, Dawn, Becca, Cam, Heidi, SAHM, Jackie and Rachel are just a few of my new friends!
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What an honor and a blessing....each new person leads me to his/her blog and it goes on and on from there. What a community of faithful that continually help me and give me strength in my journey of learning more about this gift of the Church from our Heavenly Father and His Son on earth!
Here's what Lola said recently on her blog, "What Lola Wants"

"Adrienne, who has my attention daily, had a link to La Bella Vita, a fabulous Foodie Blog, and it really has some mouthwatering photos... Well by googling chance I found, it's blogger also has another blog Beautiful Catholic Faith that has the above video! And now I am a FOLLOWER! Why is it that when I google and find a wonderful blog, that it is no surprise that their blogroll also has some of my favorite blogger's listed?"

Lola's blog link is: http://lolawantsunsoclicited.blogspot.com/

Do stop by and learn more about current events and Catholicism from Lola and Adrienne (Adrienne's Catholic Corner..... the link is on my sidebar on the right)

Blessings to both of you for all that you write about for your readers,

~ bella

9.28.2009

Catholic Videos from "Real Catholic TV" -- Very Educational About Our Faith!

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Hello dear friends,
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I just want to give a big shout out of recognition to the web-site "RealCatholicTV.com" for developing so many, many, MANY helpful and informative videos about our beautiful Catholic faith AND current events that keep every Catholic and non-Catholic IN THE KNOW of current events!

Many of us learn better visually (especially our younger generations) and some of us don't have time to read every sound bite of every blog (like me!), so therefore, with credit given to where credit is due, I've embedded some videos from this awesome website.....please visit and donate if you can so that they can keep producing such valuable materials.
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I hope that your faith is increased by the videos' messages.
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Blessings,
~ bella

9.27.2009

More On How Catholics Differ From Protestants



Blessings,

~ bella

9.26.2009

More Protestant Errors by RealCatholic.TV



Blessings,

~ bella

9.25.2009

Catholocism: The One True Faith vs. Protestantism




Blessings,

~ bella

9.21.2009

Why I Am Catholic

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I found this wonderful video over on "Doing All Things Graciously" blog:



Blessings,

~ bella

9.19.2009

Blessing of My New Rosary


(Photos above and below were taken from my own camera in my home.)

This week I bought a new rosary, one that has a little bit of water from Lourdes contained in a glass centerpiece. It is simply so beautiful, with a lovely crucifix and clear, shimmery glass beads. So this evening I took it with me to have our pastor bless it after Mass.
You can see the bubble in the water from Lourdes in the rosary's centerpiece above.
So I decided that it would be a good thing to chat about regarding our Catholic faith. So I went to the Catholic Answers web-site and found the following information regarding the Catholic practice of blessing our rosaries:

"The Rosary, like a cross or Crucifix, Holy Water, Blessed Palm is a sacramental.

A sacramental stems from the Church's Sacraments, which are instruments of God's Grace. When you get a
sacramental blessed, this holy object now becomes an instrument of blessing.

As Fr. John Corapi says, the prayers said over a blessed object are applied to every situation where that object is used. So, when a priest blesses your Rosary, you receive the blessing of the Rosary, each time you pray with it. You should therefore get your scapula, Crucifixes and other objects blessed.

If you look up the link you will see how the Church has wisely given blessings to many objects of daily use.
http://www.catholicdoors.com/prayers/blessings.html

This is so that we live our lives in such a way that we are already living as we would in Heaven - because in Heaven everything we use and every corner of our Heavenly home will be blessed. I got my guitar blessed, so that I can praise God with my music. You can get some salt blessed, to remind you of how you have to be salt of the earth, use the salt to bless your food or add some to clean water and then bless your house with it.
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Sacramentals stem from the Sacraments, they need to be blessed before they are used so that the prayers of the Universal Church can be applied to the person using that Sacramental.

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From the Cathechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
Chapter 4: OTHER LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS ARTICLE
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1 SACRAMENTALS 1667 "Holy Mother Church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy."
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The characteristics of sacramentals1668 Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries of the Church, certain states of life, a great variety of circumstances in Christian life, and the use of many things helpful to man. In accordance with bishops' pastoral decisions, they can also respond to the needs, culture, and special history of the Christian people of a particular region or time. They always include a prayer, often accompanied by a specific sign, such as the laying on of hands, the sign of the cross, or the sprinkling of holy water (which recalls Baptism).
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1669 Sacramentals derive from the baptismal priesthood: every baptized person is called to be a "blessing," and to bless.
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Hence lay people may preside at certain blessings; the more a blessing concerns ecclesial and sacramental life, the more is its administration reserved to the ordained ministry (bishops, priests, or deacons).
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1670 Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church's prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. "For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. From this source all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God."
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Various forms of sacramentals
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1671 Among sacramentals blessings (of persons, meals, objects, and places) come first. Every blessing praises God and prays for his gifts. In Christ, Christians are blessed by God the Father "with every spiritual blessing."
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This is why the Church imparts blessings by invoking the name of Jesus, usually while making the holy sign of the cross of Christ.
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1672 Certain blessings have a lasting importance because they consecrate persons to God, or reserve objects and places for liturgical use. Among those blessings which are intended for persons - not to be confused with sacramental ordination - are the blessing of the abbot or abbess of a monastery, the consecration of virgins and widows, the rite of religious profession and the blessing of certain ministries of the Church (readers, acolytes, catechists, etc.). The dedication or blessing of a church or an altar, the blessing of holy oils, vessels, and vestments, bells, etc., can be mentioned as examples of blessings that concern objects.

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9.15.2009

Tony Blair, His Catholic Conversion, and Anti-Catholicism in England

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Who says Anti-Catholicism doesn't exist?

"Granny told me not to marry a Catholic, Tony Blair tells paper"
(from http://www.guardian.co.uk/)

Tony Blair has revealed that after ignoring a stern warning from his great-grandmother about marrying a Catholic, he now finds his new-found faith has become the driving force in his life as he seeks to clear up the world's religious conflicts.
Speaking to L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's daily newspaper, Blair said today he considers Pope Benedict's belief that God is central to politics, society, economics and culture "brilliant".
Weeks after a packed Catholic conference in Italy gave Blair an ovation for his words about the universality of Catholicism, the pope's newspaper was equally effusive, calling the convert "a gentleman, educated, smiley, courteous in a way few know how to be".
Letting slip the Vatican's possible ambition for Blair, the paper also described him as "a probable future president of the European Union".
With a double page spread at his disposal, Blair served up a mix of anecdotes about his conversion and strong indications of how faith is at the heart of every step he takes.
Starting with his childhood, he recalled how "in one of her rare moments of lucidity, during an illness, my great-grandmother – who was in many ways fantastic – told me,
'Do whatever you want but don't marry a Catholic.' Which is exactly what I did."
Despite ambitions to be a rock star or a footballer when he arrived at university,
Blair said he was soon taken by his future wife, Cherie Booth, who was already an active Catholic on campus.
During his recent speech, Blair said she had been the driving force behind his conversion shortly after leaving office two years ago. Today
he added that conversion was "a path I have followed for 25 years," helped, he added, by a crucial private mass held by Pope John Paul II in 2003.
"It was an episode which really struck me," he said.
Catholicism's universality was its appeal, he added.
"If you are Catholic you can go anywhere in the world and take part in mass in any country."
The last people to understand this, he complained, are British journalists, who are still unprepared for religious, let alone Catholic, politicians.
"It's a shame but that is how it is.
However, I can say that for normal people, as opposed to those who speak on TV or write in newspapers, it was never a problem."
Faith, he added, would help him tackle "the Christian responsibility" of fighting climate change, creating dialogue with China ("They are talking a lot about Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism"), understanding what makes a family strong, and even how to fight poverty.


Going beyond Mr. Blair's grandmother's anti-Catholocism, I highly recommend that you click on the news link above (under the title of the article) and search under 'politics', 'religion' and "Tony Blair' to read the ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC ANTI-CATHOLIC comments left by British commentors on this article. Ignorance.....sheer and utter ignorance about the Catholic Church prevail in England!

9.11.2009

In Memory of The 9/11 Tragedy

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9.08.2009

Catholics Against Obama Care -- Sept. 11 Day of Prayer & Fasting

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Thank you Esther, for posting this important notice on your blog; I am pleased to share it with my readers as well.
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Press Release: Catholics Against Obama Care set September 11 as Day of Prayer and Fasting for defeat of Health Care Reform
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For Immediate Release(September 8, 2009)
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Catholics Against Obama Care is calling Catholics as well as those of other denominations to participate in a day of prayer and fasting on September 11, 2009, for the special intention that Obama health care reform be defeated.Catholics Against Obama Care acknowledges that Catholic Church has always advocated health care reform; but Obamacare, as delineated in the

HR-3200 Bill, is not health care -- it is death care. Mandated abortion, health care rationing, and euthanasia are not health care. Obamacare is government control over people's lives and, as Jon Voight points out the removal of a person's free will. Voight said in an interview on Fox News with Mike Huckabee, "They're taking away God's first gift to man -- our free will and no man no matter what his title, even if he's president of the United States, has the consent of God to decide he's God."Jean M. Heimann, the founder of Catholics Against Obama Care, is a Catholic freelance writer and also the author and administrator of the award-winning weblog Catholic Fire.
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Catholics Against Obama Care, a grassroots movement, which began on August 22, the feast day of the Queenship of Mary, has selected the Mother of God to be the group’s special intercessor in their efforts to defeat this anti-Catholic, anti-life bill. Heimann explains how Catholics Against Obama Care began: “I had been praying for Obama's conversion at daily Mass and for the truth to be revealed about this administration's deceptive health care reform bill. One day, I felt that I needed to do more than just sign petitions and contact my congressmen. I felt that God was calling me to do something more to stop this evil bill which mandates abortion, rations health care to the disabled and the seriously ill, and encourages euthanasia for the elderly. So, I selected several talented pro-life Catholic writers/bloggers from different areas of the country -- CT, Idaho, Hawaii, Florida, Wisconsin, and Kansas -- who agreed to use their gifts to share the truth with others about this so-called health reform bill. In addition to educating and enlightening others about what the bill is really all about, we also want to encourage other Catholics to become pro-active by praying and fasting that this bill does not become law.”
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For more information, contact Jean M. Heimann at jean.heimann@gmail.com
Catholics Against Obama Weblog Site: Catholics Against ObamaCare
Twitter: http://twitter.com/NOBOCare
Catholic Fire Weblog Site: Jean M. Heimann
Catholic Fire
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Let us pray together,
Blessings,
~ bella

9.07.2009

What We Lose When We Don't Receive the Eucharist

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Holy card image from Holy Cards for Your Inspiration
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This was posted by Esther over on her "Catholic Mom in Hawaii" blog and I wanted to pass it along. I agree with her and the Church that it is so important to receive Our Lord through receiving His body in the Eucharist, especially in these times when many Americans fail to go to Mass, and then fail to go to Confession to confess the failure to attend Mass, and then they either don't go to Communion or they do go to Communion with sin on their souls for failing to make a good confession for missing Mass.
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It is well for you to consider what you lose every time that you pass up Holy Communion.


  • You miss a personal visit with Jesus, Author of all spiritual energy and of all holiness;
  • You lose a special increase of sanctifying grace, which makes your soul more pleasing to God;
  • You lose a quota of sacramental grace which entitles you to special help in times of temptation and in the discharge of your daily duties;
  • You lose a precious opportunity of having all of your venial sins wiped away;
  • You miss the special preserving influence which each Holy Communion confers against the fires of passion;
  • You miss the opportunity of having remitted a part, or all, of the temporal punishments due to your sins;
  • You lose the spiritual joy, the sweetness and particular comfort that comes from a fervent Holy Communion;
  • You lose a part of the glory that your body might enjoy at its resurrection on the Last Day;
  • You lose the greater degree of glory you would possess in Heaven for all eternity;
  • You may lose: a) complete victory over some fault or passion;b) some particular grace long prayed for;c) the conversion or salvation of some soul;d) deliverance of a relative or friend from Purgatory;e) many graces for others, both the living and the dead.

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Will a few extra minutes of sleep repay you for all these losses?
At the hour of death our greatest consolation will be the Masses we have heard and the Holy Communions received. What riches hundreds of thousands of Catholics deprive themselves daily by neglecting Mass.

.With Ecclesiastical ApprovalChicago, December 6, 1940

~ bella

9.06.2009

Google and Confession

Google and Jesus

9.04.2009

Remember to Pray to Our Blessed Mother

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Here is a beautiful poster from Resources from Catholic Educators web-site (you can download the larger poster from the site) that I wanted to share. It is so important that we, Catholics, continuously pray to our Blessed Mother for her intercession to her Son, Jesus. For those who don't know the Hail Mary, here are the words within the poster:
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Hail Mary, full of grace,
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of they womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God,
Pray for us sinners
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen
~ bella

9.03.2009

The 4 Marks of the Catholic Churh: How Jesus Said His One, True Church Was, Is, and Always Will Be

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Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, said that His true Church would be identified by the following 4 MARKS:

One (unified)
Holy
Catholic (universal)
Apostolic

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Truth is truth . . . and ONLY the Holy Roman Catholic Church possesses those 4 marks/qualities/characteristics.

As thoroughly explained in the video (below), this is not being arrogant, but TRUTHFUL!

Seek the Truth....and the Truth shall set you free!



http://www.tangle.com: search for "No Apologies"


Blessings,
~ bella

9.02.2009