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A fascinating image of the Virgin Mary in the Holy Water font of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.

The 60 votes are there for ObamaCare to pass in the Senate. The only thing preventing a vote is a blizzard in Connecticut, where Joe Lieberman went home for Sabbath. So you might say that God is the reason, both for sending Joe home and for sending the snow storm. I'm beginning to think that it will take a miracle to stop this massive take-over of the health care industry. So I propose an ongoing Rosary vigil. How it works is that I begin by saying a Rosary. When I finish, I reply to this thread. Hopefully, someone else will...

Reported by Interfax of Russia in Moscow On November 25, an unusual sacred procession took place when the Virgin Mary Icon known as the "Sign" (see below) flew around the Earth 176 times. On September 30 the spaceship Soyuz TMA 16 which had a mission to bring the icon to the International Space Station was driven from the Baikonur cosmodrome, the representative of the Galaxy studying centre initiated the project told Interfax-Religion on Wednesday. The sacred procession was finished on October 11. The icon, after circling the earth for over a week,  was delivered back on the "Soyz TMA 14 spaceship. The icon of the Virgin Mary "The...

In the various Christian traditions Marian doctrine and devotion take shape in manifold and diverse ways. Since the Second Vatican Council the Church has striven to promote a new and more careful study of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the mystery of Christ and of the Church; to encourage theological faculties in the pursuit of knowledge, research, and piety with regard to Mary of Nazareth. The Mother of the Lord is understood as a "datum of revelation" and a "maternal presence" always operative in the life of the Church. [1] The history of theological reflection witnesses...

Nobody can say why the Virgin of Guadalupe would appear on a hunk of rock formed millions of years before the birth of Jesus. But David Nunez says the image is unmistakable — a bluish-black stain on the football-sized rock outlines what looks like the Holy Mother. Nunez's father found the partially buried boulder while looking for landscaping rocks in an Oakdale orchard. Nunez and his father, Jesus — both Catholics from Merced — insist that it's hard to dispute that the image resembles the famous image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Merced resident David Nunez holds a rock with...

A vision on the Blessed Virgin Mary has appeared on the wall of a building in downtown Apia, the capital of Samoa. This just weeks after a huge convention of Catholics filled the streets of Apia for a conference and march. Followed by prayers for the "road switch" which occurred on Sept 7th when they switched from driving on the Right Hand side to the Left.

<p>A Nebraska man who stole a painting of the Virgin Mary to finance an abortion for a teen he raped has been convicted of first-degree sexual assault and felony theft.</p>

"OMAHA, Neb. » A Nebraska man who stole a painting of the Virgin Mary to finance an abortion for a teen he raped has been convicted of first-degree sexual assault and felony theft. Aurelio Vallerillo-Sanchez, 39, of Omaha pleaded no contest to the charges Friday and faces up to 70 years in prison when sentenced in October, Douglas County prosecutor Brenda Beadle said Saturday. A call to the county public defender representing Vallerillo-Sanchez wasn't answered Saturday. Beadle said Vallerillo-Sanchez fled to Mexico with the 300-year-old painting worth $100,000 and the pregnant teen in March 2007. "The plan was that when...

An Omaha man had less-than-divine designs for the centuries-old Virgin Mary painting he stole from St. Cecilia Cathedral. Aurelio Vallecillo-Sanchez planned to use money from selling the sacred painting to pay for an abortion for the 14-year-old girl he raped, prosecutors say. That wasn't the only detail revealed Friday as Vallecillo-Sanchez, 39, pleaded no contest to sexual assault and theft. Prosecutors say he threatened to kill the girl and her family if she went to police about the sexual assault. Advertising And, prosecutors say, they believe Vallecillo-Sanchez was responsible for the thefts of dozens of pieces of religious artwork from...

The Allure of Lourdes Written by John Horvat    Friday, July 31, 2009 A Place of Violent ContrastMy first impression of Lourdes was that it is a place of dramatic contrast, born of violence and extremes. I found it unexpectedly dramatic. The rocky foothills of the Pyrenees are filled with abrupt cliffs, mysterious caves and scraggly brush. The River Gave rapidly flows with violent intensity. While praying at the Grotto, it was not uncommon to feel sudden gusts of strong winds that added to the sense that something different and important was happening there. The intensely hot sun of...

Mary 759. Let us turn from your dogma of Christ to those dogmas concerning your goddess Mary. It would be mortal sin for any Catholic to regard Mary as a goddess. If a Catholic expressed such a belief to a Priest in confession he would be refused absolution unless he promised to renounce such an absurd idea. If you wish to attack Catholic doctrine, at least find out what Catholics do believe before you begin. 760. If you call her Queen of Heaven do you not do her an injustice in refusing to her the title of goddess? It would...

EDE, Netherlands (ABP) -- A Latina theologian says overreaction to Catholic veneration of the Virgin Mary has caused Baptists to miss important biblical teaching associated with the mother of Jesus. Nora Lozano Nora Lozano, associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Baptist University of the Americas, found potential liberation for women -- both Protestant and Catholic -- in Latin America and elsewhere by taking another look at the biblical story of Mary, Jesus' mother. Lozano, a participant in theological conversations between the Baptist World Alliance and the Vatican, made the remarks in a presentation to the BWA Commission on...

David Lassman / The Post-StandardThis sculpture of Virgin Mary by artist Geri Keil and displayed at the Marcellus Free Library has drawn controversy. A sculpture that meshes religion and pop culture is at the root of a controversy at the Marcellus Free Library. Trumansburg artist Geri Keil created the piece -- "Bebe Coca" -- as part of a library exhibit on Mexican culture, but a group from a Syracuse church signed a petition demanding the library remove it. The group says the papier-mache sculpture, which depicts the Virgin of Guadalupe (a Mexican version of the Virgin Mary) with a...

Even before Sonia Maria Sotoymayor becomes a Supreme Court justice, liberals are canonizing the woman. Actually, that’s not quite accurate. Sotomayor is being pushed above and beyond saint status. In truth, liberals want to enshrine her as The Virgin Maria Sotomayor! To do it, National Hispanic Foundation of the Arts Chair Felix Sanchez has concocted a blasphemous image. It’s circulating ‘round the Internet. Given the speed that pictures, video clips and notes go viral on the Web these days, the illustration has probably made its way to Vatican City by now. Maybe it even landed at the remote chalet where...

Thousands of Irish Catholics have flocked this week to a County Limerick church to pray at the stump of a recently cut willow that many observers say, has the silhouette of the Virgin Mary. > The workman who made the cut, Anthony Reddin, said he doesn't see the Virgin Mary. "I see it as the grain of a tree myself," he said. >

While receiving an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Notre Dame yesterday, President Barack Obama wore the school’s traditional doctoral robe that is inscribed with a prayer to the Virgin Mary as a reminder that all of the school’s activities are dedicated to the Mother of God. The robe is inscribed with two copies—one on each breast--of Notre Dame’s coat of arms, which includes the words “Vita, Dulcedo, Spes,” which are part of the traditional Roman Catholic prayer the Salve Regina—or Hail Holy Queen. “The phrase ‘Vita, Dulcedo, Spes,’ taken from the ancient prayer to the Virgin, the...

April 30, 2009 Obama to wear robe with cross and Virgin Mary prayer at Notre Dame commencement Per CNSNews.com, April 28: President Barack Obama is expected to wear the traditional doctoral robe featuring the cross and prayer of the Virgin Mary when he speaks at... Notre Dame next month, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told CNSNews.com White House Correspondent Fred Lucas on Monday.... nd doctoral.jpg "I honestly don't know what the dress code is for that day. I can assume that the president would wear what one traditionally wears at that commencement," Gibbs told Lucas during Monday's White House...

Hours before Easter services were to commence, a vandal or vandals decapitated a statue of the Blessed Virgin outside Santa Monica’s Catholic Church in Santa Monica, the parish where Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, are members. “As many of you know or may have noticed, our statue of the Blessed Mother at the corner of 7th and California was vandalized, and is currently covered,” the church’s pastor, Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson, said in a message to parishioners posted on the parish’s web site. “It was an unfortunate and sad occurrence, and questions remain as to why someone would...

Virgin Mary Statue Beheaded at Santa Monica Church April 14, 2009 SANTA MONICA -- Police in Santa Monica are investigating the beheading of a statue of the Virgin Mary at a church there on Easter Sunday. The vandalism happened shortly before Easter services commenced at St. Monica Catholic Church. A priest at the church found the 55-year-old marble statue headless around 5:45 a.m. The head was laying on the ground just a few feet away. The statue stands in front of the church, on the corner of Seventh Street and California Avenue. The top of the statue was covered with...

CALIFORNIA AVE. — Santa Monica Police are investigating an alleged hate crime after officials with St. Monica Catholic Church discovered a statue of the Virgin Mary beheaded shortly before Easter services commenced. A priest found the 55-year-old marble statue, which stands on the corner of Seventh Street and California Avenue, decapitated around 5:45 a.m. on Sunday, spotting the head on the ground just a few feet away. The top of the statue was covered with a white plastic bag before service began. “Even though it was a sad event, it didn’t take away from the joy of Easter and celebrating...