Posted on 11/25/2011 6:55:10 AM PST by marshmallow
Tens of thousands wait for hours in freezing temperatures to kiss belt that Christians believe was worn by Jesus' mother
MOSCOW — Braving freezing cold temperatures and ice-covered sidewalks, tens of thousands of Russians stood in line Wednesday to see and kiss a newly arrived relic of the Virgin Mary in Russia's largest Orthodox cathedral.
The Virgin Mary's Cincture, a belt that Christians believe was worn by Jesus' mother, was brought to Russia last month from Mount Athos, a monastic community in Greece.
Kissing the relic, which is encased in an ornamental box, is believed to help barren women conceive and heal other ailments.
The line of people, mostly women, waiting to enter the golden-domed Christ the Savior Cathedral stretched for 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) along the Moscow River despite temperatures that dropped to below minus 5 Celsius (23 Fahrenheit).
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
The good news from Russia on Miracles God granted in association with the relic.
Several dozens miracles registered in Russia after venerating the Belt of the Mother of God
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8906
excerpt..
Meanwhile, a staff-member of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior where the Belt stayed on November 19-28 told an Interfax-Religion correspondent that a man who suffered from cancer recovered after his pilgrimage to the Belt of the Holy Virgin.
“It happened several days ago when the Belt was placed on the arc under which believers passed. I accompanied a man, he had cancer at the last stage and doctors even refused to have him operated,” he said.
According to him, the next day the man was to be examined. “After examination he called me and said that no cancer was detected,” the interviewee of the agency added.
Relic leaves Russia after ‘blessing three million’
http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/World/Story/A1Story20111128-313178.html
excerpt...
“Nearly three million people came to the relic over this time, according to the most modest estimates,” Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill said after a brief service at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport
“Such forceful pull of people towards the holy cannot be explained with any human arguments,” the patriarch said.
“So many people were cured! I constantly hear about the wonderful miracles that occurred on our land at this time.”
Holy belt to cement faith-Patriarch Kirill
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/11/28/61153556.html
excerpts...
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is sure that the Belt of the Virgin Mary’s tour of Russia demonstrated the tenacity of Orthodox faith in Russia and the strength of holy Russia:
“The trials of the 20th century drained Orthodox faith of its vigor and deprived the society of an important part of its everyday life. The tragedies of the past century diminished individual talent to an extent that many thought that Russia would never scramble back to its feet again. The arrival of the Belt of the Virgin Mary inspired people with genuine faith. As long as this faith is living in our hearts, Russia will live on too.”
According to Father Kurayev, the main result of the belt’s stay in Russia is a flare-up of public interest in the country’s religious life. Enhanced by religious education, this interest will soon guarantee that Orthodox belief is no longer seen as something unusual but becomes part of everyday life.
So many of the posts and subjects have become recycled “arguments” that it’s getting tedious.
And there are the usual genre of posts:
—the scolding, reprimanding, “play nice” posts
—the long-winded scholarly posts
—the red and blue and bold type posts
—the same old position-posts that have been put up time after repetitious time
—the “I am the Bible scholar and know better than you” posts
—the gotcha posts
It’s Advent.
Come Lord, Jesus
“Do you people not realize that Christianity is under attack from all sides?”
Indeed it is.
“Where we are linked by the power of prayer, we..as it were..hold each others hand as we walk side by side along a slippery path; and thus by the bounteous disposition of charity, it comes about that the harder each one leans on the other, the more firmly we are riveted together in brotherly love.” St. Gregory the Great
Good post.
The “same ole same ole gets” recycled so much on anti -Catholicism that one could spend a lifetime refuting it over and over.
I am convinced that there are times when the demonic uses anti Catholic’s to try and get us to waste time responding to the same stuff that will take us away from prayer and other things we should be doing.
“”Come Lord, Jesus””
I agree,please come SOON!
THROUGH her? How on earth do you do THAT? Doesn't the rosary contain something like, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death." -- loose paraphrase; apologies if it is wrong -- so, how exactly is this not TO her? She is named by name, right? You're not asking St. So-and-So to go over and have her pray this or that....
Only God has the power to do much of anything
It edifies me that you see that God can do a little something since He is sovereign. :)
For you to determine that Mary is not onmipresent nor omnicient is to challenge God's ability to use angels, saints and other heavenly bodies, to represent Him if He so desires.
It is in no way such a challenge. But since Scripture is silent on this, the Roman Catholic Church cannot declare that it IS so; that IS a challenge to God's authority. And that is exactly what the RCC has done.
The Catholic Church is , by far, the most biblically oriented church on the face of the earth, no-one else is even close!!
I'm sorry, terycarl, but that statement made me laugh out loud. Considering the non-Biblical doctrine that is taught by the Roman Catholic Church about Mary ALONE is sufficient to show that statement as misinformed at best.
Looks like we'll agree to disagree.
Hoss
Miracles are meaningless in determining if something is from God.
Satan can counterfeit miracles. People can claim what they want.
I don’t take any more stock in reports of miracles from this incident than I do from reports about healing from Benny Hinn.
After all, you are Hossus NetPopius I
Usually, I will always have the Creamcheesius staff as well as the pointy hat on all the time -- that way, whatever I utter (or even belch, if I'm gassy) is ex interwebzia and I expect it to be followed to the letter.
You're not trying to correct me are you? I might have to pronounce you An Asthma.
Hossus NetPopius I
If you look it up there are at least two distinct meanings. One is toward God in asking. The other is asking of anyone. A beseeching. When I read these threads at times it is all in the misunderstanding of what the word is used at a given time on many occasions.
Semantics of the same language or word. Different meanings multi leveled. Just look in the Dictionary you can see a numbering 1, 2,and 3 at times on the same word. Different shades or completely different from the other example.
Here is a Dictionary definition.
pray (pr) v. prayed, pray·ing, prays
1. To utter or say a prayer or prayers to; address by prayer.
2. To ask (someone) imploringly; beseech. Now often used elliptically for I pray you to introduce a request or entreaty: Pray be careful.
3. To make a devout or earnest request for: I pray your permission to speak.
4. To move or bring by prayer or entreaty.
Because as time went on through the centuries the word pray is thought to mean one meaning. The modern vernacular of people today do not use it much thus this grave misunderstanding.
By their fruits shall you know them. How many times must our Lord have said, “Your Faith made you whole.” Go and sin no more. It is Holy lives that are the proof of a miracle. It has been said many times that Bernardette was the true miracle of Lourdes.
Fine. Then when the broo-ha-ha is over and all the miracles have taken place, let me know about the state of holiness of the church.
Take care of your own. How many of the Bill Graham crusade people have lived the lives they promised? The Lord’s parable about the seed on the path, etc. is still the best guide as to probable outcomes, whether pilgrimages of open field preaching.
the Jews did a wonderful job with old testament scriptures...However, the Catholic church took their scriptures, added the books of the new testament, combined them into what you now call the bible.....they have been the protector of our bible for about 2,000 years....thanks Catholics, without you all we'd have would be the torah and such....no Paul, James, Peter, Christ....just Moses and the boys....oh well
Sorry but I’m not Roman Catholic.
You got the first sentence wrong and went downhill from there.
I guess there’s never a question about consistency with YOPIS. You’re just correct and ever single other person isn’t.
Yes, that looks like YOPIS in action.
See the error was made when they started to change what the Church had been teaching for centuries.
An authentic miracle can only come from God
Satan can counterfeit miracles.
Correct ,he can only counterfit-he can only perform signs ,wonders and illusions ,not perform an authentic miracle.
The late FR John Hardon explains authentic miracles very well
In general a miracle is any effect perceptible by the senses, produced by God which surpasses the powers of nature. Immediately we must explain that there are three levels of natural laws that God can surpass and thus perform a miracle. There are the physical laws of visible nature. Thus the sudden healing of a fatal disease surpasses needless to say the powers of human physical nature. Indeed surpasses the powers of all physical nature. Walking on water is naturally impossible. The raising of a dead human being back to life exceeds all created power, and no one but God with His omnipotence can raise a dead person back to life. And just for the record, physical miracles are the lowest level of miraculous phenomena.
On a higher level than physical miracles is the performance of what the Church calls moral miracles. A moral miracle exceeds the powers of the human will in the practice of superhuman moral virtue. For which the Church has coined the term "heroic moral virtue". This in fact is one of the norms used by the Church in her assessment of authentic sanctity. The lives of saints like Francis of Assisi and Thomas More. The deaths of martyrs like St. Agnes and Maria Goretti. These are witnesses to the miraculous power that Christ has given to His most beloved followers over the centuries. In other words, every canonized saint is a moral miracle. And today's world needs (what a safe statement) men and women and even children who are practicing what the Church calls heroic virtue.
Finally, still on the different levels of miraculous phenomena there are intellectual miracles in which God enlightens the human mind beyond all natural capacity for acquiring knowledge. The most obvious witnesses to this highest level in the time of Christ were (Shall I say it?) the dense thick-headed Apostles. God had to enlighten them, and this is part of our faith - miraculously. However, over the centuries Christ has continued performing these miracles of the intellect. In a St. Augustine of Hippo, and in a St. Therese of Avila, or in a Catherine of Siena. These testify to the power of Christ, the Incarnate Truth, can produce among human beings who believe that He is indeed the Living God in human form.
*****The NT does contain the ENTIRETY of the new churches history from an INFALLIBLE source..*****
We disagree. The Church as led by the Holy Spirit is infallible which is not the same as saying all the men and women in it are.
But, there is much history not contained in the Bible and much theology which was later clarified and defined. Questions and heresies are a part of that history and the development of doctrine.
The Bible is a trustworthy basis for faith and doctrine, but it cannot possibly contain everything. Just like with Jesus, all the world could not contain it all.
That’s just a fact. I trust Jesus and His promises.
*****unlike the other writings that often disagreed with each other and the Roman church*****
Why is it that Catholics are not allowed to disagree with each other? Protestants do all the time. The difference is that when there is disagreement among them, Catholics have the Holy Spirit to guide them to truth.
Individual Catholics are free to think what they want and in all those we consider fathers or doctors of the faith, there are profound truths which the Church accepts out of their writings. There are also errors which the Church rejects.
Jesus knew what He was doing.
I understand Paul very well.
I don’t believe you do.
It’s that simple.
Ha! Exactly right. I love how so many who claim it’s plain idiocy to take instruction form another person are in turn told about how Catholics supposedly think about Paul and willingly swallow it hook, line & sinker.
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