pondělí 3. října 2016

A Gift from Heaven (2016)

 
A Gift from Heaven (2016)
Fr. Martin Fuchs´s sermon on 2nd October 2016, Prague, Czech republic
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Dear brethren!
In 1572 there was a great storm at the seashore of Portugal which destroyed many ships including a ship sailing to Seville. There was a young Portuguese called Peter Mendy on this ship. When he noticed the great danger for the ship, he took his blessed Rosary, fastened it around his neck and asked the holy Virgin Mary to save his life. A few moments later the ship sank. All passengers lost their lives. Only Peter could save his life. Peter Mendy was on the sea shore – the Rosary around his neck – when he regained his consciousness. He immediately went to a church to give thanks to God.
All people were surprised by the miraculous rescue and the local Bishop ordered to make an investigation of this case. He confirmed that Peter Mendy was saved by a miracle.
Dear faithful!
The month of October is especially dedicated to Our Lady of the holy Rosary. That is why the Church wanted us to celebrate this feast on the first Sunday of October.
The Rosary is a great gift from heaven. Our Lady gave it to saint Dominic as a weapon against the Cathars in the South of France. And indeed he could destroy this heresy. And when the Muslims came to Europe, they were defeated by the holy Rosary in Lepanto (Greek) and Vienna (Austria).
Let us think about the great value of the holy Rosary!
The Rosary is a sacramental. This means it is an object blessed by the Catholic Church. If we carry it, it will be a protection against any kind of danger as we have seen in Peter Mendy´s life.
The Rosary is an important weapon especially in danger of losing the eternal goal. Heresy, error, and sin come from the devil. From Mary come faith, truth, and virtue. In several visions as in Lourdes and in Fatima Our Lady reminded the faithful to pray the Rosary.
As a sacramental, the Rosary chain must be buried or burned when it cannot be used any more.
The Rosary consists of prayers of Our Lord, of the Holy Scripture, and of the Church. That is why it is certainly a prayer that pleases God. The Holy Church has even granted a plenary indulgence for this prayer when it is prayed in a community, in a public church, in a chapel or in the family. The mysteries of our faith must be added and they should be meditated.
The Rosary is the most recommended prayer by the popes. Again and again they spoke about this precious prayer because it keeps us in the Catholic faith. It shows us where we must look for the real joys, in the coming of our Redeemer. In the sorrowful mysteries it shows us why we have to suffer and how we have to suffer. It is because of our sins. All sins are the cause of his sufferings, our sins committed before and after his death.
And in the glorious mysteries it teaches us what is coming after this life when we follow Our Lord on his way to the Calvary mountain.
It is remarkable that in 1986, when John Paul II organized the scandalous Assisi meeting, a group of Catholics asked for carrying a statue of Our Lady in the procession. The answer was: “Our Lady is not ecumenical.“
And such a scandalous meeting was organized in September of this year again. Our joy is in Jesus Christ, our real Redeemer. “For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.“ (Acts of the Apostles 4:12)
All other religions are devil´s inventions as we can read in psalm 95:5: “For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils.“
We are not allowed to invite other religions to pray together with us or to let them pray because we know exactly that they worship a false god, an idol. We would become guilty of the sin of idolatry.
The holy Rosary is an exorcism. The devil does not want this prayer. Our Lady always firmly stood against the devil. After the original sin, God predicted the Saviour born by a woman: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed.“ (Genesis 3:15)
All exorcists call for Our Lady to crush the Satan’s head, to expel the devil from an obsessed person.
Father Gabriele Amorth, the famous exorcist of the diocese of Rome, who has died recently, described her great influence in his books. He could help a lot of people although I cannot agree with his statements about the charismatic movement and Medjugorje.
The holy Rosary is a confession of the Catholic Religion. No other religion has this prayer. Years ago, a doctor was called to an accident. He found a Rosary chain in the trousers of an injured man and so he sent for a Catholic priest.
When a person dies, we give two objects in the coffin, the holy cross and the holy Rosary. These are the most precious objects of a Catholic.
Let us pray the Rosary daily with the family!         
Let us take every occasion to spread the important and precious prayer!
Amen.