Monthly Messages from the Queen of Peace of Medjugorje: November 2017

Our Lady's Monthly Message to the World on November 25th:

   "Dear children! In this time of grace, I call you to prayer. Pray and seek peace, little children. He who came here on earth to give you His peace, regardless of who you are and what you are – He, my Son, your Brother – through me is calling you to conversion, because without God you do not have a future or eternal life. Therefore, believe and pray and live in grace and the expectation of your personal meeting with Him. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Our Lady's Special Message to Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo on November 2nd:

   "Dear children, As I am looking at you gathered around me, your mother, I see many pure souls, many of my children who are seeking love and consolation, but no one is offering it to them. I also see those who are doing evil, because they do not have good examples; they have not come to know my Son. The good which is silent and is spread through pure souls is the strength which sustains this world. There is much sin, but there is also love. My Son is sending me to you - the mother who is the same for everyone - that I may teach you to love, to comprehend that you are brothers. He desires to help you. Apostles of my love, a living desire of faith and love is sufficient, and my Son will accept it. But you must be worthy, you must have good will and open hearts. My Son enters into open hearts. I, as a mother, desire that you may all the better come to know my Son - God born of God - to come to know the greatness of His love which you need so much. He accepted your sins upon Himself and obtained redemption for you, and in return He asked that you love each other. My Son is love. He loves all people without difference, all people of all countries and of all nations. If you, my children, would live the love of my Son, His kingdom would already be on earth. Therefore, apostles of my love, pray, pray that my Son and His love may be all the closer to you; that you may be an example of love and may help all those who have not come to know my Son.  Never forget that my Son, one and triune, loves you.  Love your shepherds and pray for them.  Thank you."

Saints & Holy Relics Speaking Presentation & Visitations, 11/4/2017

What a busy and fruitful day it was - our dear Blessed Mother and a group of Saints touched many souls in Honolulu and Kailua today... all for the greater glory of God and our beautiful Catholic Faith!

+ Speaking Presentation & Holy Relics Visitation:

Pauline Bookstore, Honolulu

It started with this morning when I had the honor of sharing the lives and relics of several Blesseds and Saints as part of our local Pauline Bookstore's efforts to promote the Faith, via regularly scheduled seminars.  This month I was the invited guest speaker and presented on the topic of Saints and Sacred Relics since November is traditionally dedicated to the honor of the Saints.

A nice group of people attended the event and were given the opportunity to view and venerate genuine relics from the following holy individuals: Bl. Alberto Marvelli (bodily relic); St. Andre Bessette of Montreal (blood relic); Bl. Anne Marie Rivier (bone relic); St. Bernadette of Lourdes (bone relic); St. Damien de Veuster of Molokai (coffin wood relic); St. Margaret of Cortona (clothing relic); St. Maximilian Kolbe (hair & clothing relics); the Martyrs of Chimbote, Peru - Bl. Michal Tomaszek & Bl. Zbigniew Strzalkowski (clothing relics); St. Peregrine Laziosi (bone relic); St. Padre Pio (stigmata bandage relic); the soon-to-be beatified Ven. Solanus Casey (clothing relic); St. Therese the Little Flower (bone relic)... and extremely rare relics of good ol' St. Joseph (cloak relic) and Our Lady (veil relic).

15 relics of the Blessed Mother and

various Blesseds and Saints were exposed

for the edification of the participants.

Based on my observations and the feedback I received after, the audience appeared enthralled by the many stories and little anecdotes that I shared about each Blessed and Saint... and were very grateful for the relic exhibit.

   

Left:  Participants gathering and waiting

for the start of the presentation

Right:  Participants gathered around the

relic display altar after the talk.

What never fails to amaze me is when people approach me after to share that they have a particular affinity with a certain Saint and were pleasantly surprised and moved to discover the Saint's relic present.  This happened again today for several people and I find it remarkable because I bring different relics to each presentation.  One example stands out for me - today I included a 1st class relic of the French founder, Bl. Anne Marie Rivier, as a last minute addition and only after being strongly prompted by a persistent interior voice.  As it turned out, the Pauline Sister who invited me - Sr. Joanne - was excited to see her relic since Sr. Joanne grew up in the Philippines attending a parochial school run by Bl. Anne Marie's nuns - the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary!  These good Sisters had ingrained in her a respect for their holy founder so there was a soft spot in Sr. Joanne's heart for the beatified French nun.

A fun selfie with Sr. Joanne, friends, and some

audience members after the presentation.

I don't believe in coincidences, but rather, I believe things worked out the way they did with my selection of relics because Bl. Anne Marie and the other Saints simply wanted to visit and touch bases with the individuals who have befriended them!  It's a classic example of the Holy Spirit at work, bringing the inhabitants of the earth and Heaven into a closer union!

* * * TESTIMONY * * *

 "Hey Peter, I wanted to tell again what a good presentation you gave and to tell you how much I appreciate your ministry.....when I hear about how much the Saints loved God and others I feel inspired to try to be better. God bless you and keep you safe always!"

 ✝️ Your Sister in Christ, Monica

+ Pilgrim Statue & Holy Relic Visitation: 
First Saturday Rosary for Peace at St. Anthony of Padua Church

Being that it's also the first Saturday of the Month, later in the afternoon I drove to Kailua Town for our parish's monthly Rosary Prayer Meeting.  This time around the holy person I chose to feature before our prayer began was my blog's Saint of the Month - Bl. Pius [of St. Aloysius] Campidelli (read about him by clicking here).

I displayed a relic of the Blessed beside my Rosa Mystic pilgrim statue but there wasn't much I could really relate about his life, as far as specific details went... so I also shared some of my personal reflections on Bl. Pius' method of attaining sanctity; how he basically lived his day-to-day life and did the most ordinary chores with extraordinary love, which at the end made him a truly great soul.

After the Rosary Prayer ended, a woman who had recently started attending the First Saturday Devotion just a few months ago approached me to relay how her continued attendance has made a positive difference in her life and she always feels "close" to Our Lady during our group-prayer.  Furthermore, she was thoroughly impressed by Bl. Pius and testified that it made her happy to know that he was just an "ordinary guy" because she, herself, was just ordinary... but she felt much hope that she could perhaps follow the Blessed's example and make it to Heaven, too!  Again, much kudos to the Holy Spirit, as well as to Our Lady and Bl. Pius Campidelli, in leading another soul closer to God.

   

A painting of Bl. Pius of St. Aloysius

Campidelli and the 1st Class (bone) Relic

of his in my ministry's custody that was

displayed at this month's meeting.

For any locals out there looking for spiritual encouragement and inspiration, feel free to join us at our monthly Rosary.  The next First Saturday Rosary for Peace at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Kailua will be held on December 2nd, beginning at 4:25pm in the Day Chapel.  All are welcome!

Saint of the Month - November 2017: Blessed Pius of Saint Aloysius Campidelli

Bl. Pius of Saint Aloysius Campidelli

Another Light of the Little Way

Memorial: November 3rd

Literature in English is scarce about this youthful Italian Blessed and, I have to admit, when I first read whatever I could gather about him I wasn't completely impressed or inspired. There were no spiritual fireworks about him that wowed me, but rather, he just appeared too "ordinary", as far as I could personally evaluate... and I wondered to myself as to what made him sainthood-worthy.

Bl. Pius of Saint Aloysius was born Luigi Campidelli on April 29, 1868, to poor farmers from Poggio Berni (Forli); child number four to his parents. Biographies describe him as an excellent student and active in parish life, and generally known in his small community as a good kid.  There was also a budding attraction to spirituality from an early age.

Sadly, when he was about 6-years-old, Luigi's father, Giuseppe, died of typhoid, which left his family even more desperate. An uncle arrived to help support his mother and three siblings, but the uncle's bad behavior made home-life a trial for them.

The venerated painting of the
Madonna of Casale

At 12-years-old, Luigi came into contact with the Passionists for the first time and was immediately drawn to their manner of life. He began frequenting the Passionist house in Casale and its shrine dedicated to the Madonna, where he was eventually accepted as a novice at aged 14. Despite his youth, he wholly committed himself to the Passionist charism of intense devotion to Christ Crucified, as well as a deep filial devotion to Our Lady. A year later in 1883 he was given the Passionist habit and renamed Pius of Saint Aloysius; on April 30, 1884, the young religious professed his vows.  By all accounts he was a model religious.

Pius was training for the priesthood when he contracted tuberculosis before he could be ordained. During the course of his illness he never complained and maintained a cheerful disposition. He succumbed to the dreaded disease on November 2, 1889, being only 21-years-old and offering his life to God as a sacrifice for the spiritual good of his home region of Romagna.

The Church beatified Bl. Pius of Saint Aloysius on November 17, 1985 and his sacred relics are today enclosed in a beautiful glass-sided urn near the Shrine of the Madonna of Casale that the Blessed frequented in life.

As I mentioned earlier, I wasn't initially touched when I first learned Pius' life. I actually had to take about a day to reflect more about his spiritual relevance and to "pray" his life message. Then it all suddenly clicked for me - it didn't matter that his life seemed so ordinary and uneventful, but what mattered was that he consistently did the most ordinary things with extraordinary love!  I truly believe that this was Bl. Pius' plan all along and he effected it without any fanfare, via his conscientious practice of humility and obedience; the self-giving he exercised through the fulfillment of his daily duties that were all consciously offered to Jesus and Mary with the profound love he had in his heart for them.

I further recognized that, in essence, Bl. Pius was walking the little way, a method of spirituality later made popular by St. Therese the Little Flower (d. 1897)... and my early doubts about his sanctity vanished. I see why his companions must have been so impressed with him - they probably came to sense the powerful force of love that emanated from Pius' being despite his seemingly ordinary exterior.

The beautiful urn enclosing the relics

of Bl. Pius Campidelli in Casale.

I am now filled with admiration and respect for Bl. Pius Campidelli and see him as a bright light of the little way for the whole world, especially for our young people to emulate.  May God grant us, the Faithful, the joy of his speedy Canonization!

A Short Prayer

  O God, who reveal yourself in a marvelous way to the little ones and to the pure of heart, manifest yourself to us, we beseech you, as you did to Blessed Pius, and grant that we may follow you unceasingly, our one and true God, in purity and sincerity of life, loving you above all things and loving others with your love.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever.  Amen.