Extremely Urgent Prayer Request For Ashley Silver

Ashley Silver

Ashley Silver is the daughter of a friend of mine. Ashley has been in ICU (intensive care unit) for several weeks now. Her body has been compromised by the use of intravenous drugs. She has MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), the antibiotic resistant strain of staph. It attached itself to the main artery of her heart. Some of it flaked off and went to her brain and kidneys.

She has had a massive stroke, and several mini-strokes that have affected the left side of her body, and she is blind in her left eye. The doctors planned to do open heart surgery to repair the artery and damaged heart valve, but were forced to postpone it, as Ashley began to run a fever which as of today, spiked to 105°F (40.5°C).

She also now has staph infected blood clots in both her brain and her lungs.

Please join me in praying the following prayers to Saint Jude the Apostle, Saint Rita of Cascia, Saint Anthony of Padua, and Saint Raphael the Archangel for Ashley and her family.

Thank you.

PRAYER TO SAINT JUDE FOR A SICK CHILD

Saint Jude, the glorious apostle, faithful servant and friend of Jesus,

the patron of hopeless cases, of things despaired of,

pray for this child who is sick and so miserable.

Make use we implore you of this particular privilege accorded to you,

to bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of.

Come to our assistance in this great time of need,

that we may receive the consolations and succor of Heaven

in all our necessities, tribulations and sufferings,

particularly to help this child to get better from her illness

and to give her good health

and to guide her path,

and that we may bless God with you

and all the elect forever.

I promise you, O Blessed St. Jude,

to be ever mindful of this great favor,

and we will never cease to honor you

as our special and powerful patron

and to do all in our power to encourage devotion to you.

Amen.

PRAYER TO SAINT RITA OF CASCIA

Dear Rita, model Wife and Widow,

you yourself suffered in a long illness

showing patience out of love for God.

Teach us to pray as you did.

Many invoke you for help,

full of confidence in your intercession.

Deign to come now to our aid for

the relief and cure of Ashley.

To God, all things are possible;

may this healing give glory to the Lord.

Amen.

PRAYER TO SAINT ANTHONY FOR HEALING

Compassionate Saint Anthony,

you are called the “Miracle Worker”

by those who have been blessed by your special friendship.

I ask you to look with favor on Ashley

who is weak and failing.

Great Saint Anthony, come to the assistance of Ashley.

Obtain for her health in mind and body,

and the strength to accept all suffering in union with Christ, our Savor.

Loving St. Anthony,

console all those who are afflicted,

and guide them to the heart of the Divine Physician,

where they will obtain compassion, mercy and hope.

Amen.

PRAYER TO SAINT RAPHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

Glorious Archangel Saint Raphael, great prince of the heavenly court, you are illustrious for your gifts of wisdom and grace. You are a guide of those who journey by land or sea or air, consoler of the afflicted, and refuge of sinners.I beg you, assist me in all my needs and in all the sufferings of this life, as once you helped the young Tobias on his travels. Because you are the “medicine of God” I humbly pray you to heal the many infirmities of my soul and the ills that afflict my body. I especially ask of you the favor for the relief and cure of Ashley, and the great grace of purity to prepare us to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

O Raphael, lead us towards those we are waiting for, those who are

waiting for us! Raphael, Angel of Happy Meetings, lead us by the hand

towards those we are looking for! May all our movements, all their

movements, be guided by your Light and transfigured by your joy.

Angel guide of Tobias, lay the request we now address to you at the feet

of Him on whose unveiled Face you are privileged to gaze. Lonely and

tired, crushed by the separations and sorrows of earth, we feel the need

of calling to you and of pleading for the protection of your wings, so

that we may not be as strangers in the Province of Joy, all ignorant of

the concerns of our country.

Remember the weak, you who are strong–you whose home lies beyond the

region of thunder, in a land that is always peaceful, always serene, and

bright with the resplendent glory of God.

Amen.

Obama’s Lawyer: Religious Institutions May Lose Tax-Exempt Status If Court Rules for Gay Marriage | National Review Online

The following excerpts are from National Review:

Religious institutions could be at risk of losing their tax-exempt status due to their beliefs about marriage if the Supreme Court holds that gay couples have a constitutional right to wed, President Obama’s attorney acknowledged to the Supreme Court today.

“It’s certainly going to be an issue,” Solicitor General Donald Verrilli replied when Justice Samuel Alito asked if schools that support the traditional definition of marriage would have to be treated like schools that once opposed interracial marriage. “I don’t deny that.”

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Obama’s Lawyer: Religious Institutions May Lose Tax-Exempt Status If Court Rules for Gay Marriage | National Review Online

After vision of Christ, Nigerian bishop says rosary will bring down Boko Haram :: EWTN News

The following excerpts are from EWTN News:

A Nigerian bishop says that he has seen Christ in a vision and now knows that the rosary is the key to ridding the country of the Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram.

Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme says he is being driven by a God-given mandate to lead others in praying the rosary until the extremist group disappears.

“Towards the end of last year I was in my chapel before the Blessed Sacrament… praying the rosary, and then suddenly the Lord appeared,” Bishop Dashe told EWTN News April 18.

In the vision, the prelate said, Jesus didn’t say anything at first, but extended a sword toward him, and he in turn reached out for it.

“As soon as I received the sword, it turned into a rosary,” the bishop said, adding that Jesus then told him three times: “Boko Haram is gone.”

“I didn’t need any prophet to give me the explanation,” he said. “It was clear that with the rosary we would be able to expel Boko Haram.”

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After vision of Christ, Nigerian bishop says rosary will bring down Boko Haram :: EWTN News

The Pope offers Mass in the Sanctae Marthae Chapel for the Copts killed in Libya

Pope Francis (AP)

Vatican City, 17 February 2015 (VIS) – Pope Francis offered this morning's Mass in the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae for the 21 Egyptian Copts murdered yesterday in Libya, whose funerals will be held today.

“Let us offer this Mass for our 21 brother Copts, beheaded for the simple fact of being Christians. Let us pray for them, so that the Lord may welcome them as martyrs, for their families, and for my brother Tawadros, who suffers deeply”.

He went on to pronounce the antiphon from Psalm 31: “For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me”.

Yesterday afternoon the Holy Father telephoned the Patriarch, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, to express his participation in the profound sorrow of the Orthodox Coptic Church for the recent barbaric massacre of Egyptian Copts at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists. He assured him of his prayers and today, the day of the victims' funerals, joined spiritually in the prayers and the suffering of the Coptic Church, in the morning Eucharistic celebration.

You can find more information at: www.visnews.org

The news items contained in the Vatican Information Service may be used, in part or in their entirety, by quoting the source:

V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.

Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City

Obama Claims Islamic State Murder of Christians Unrelated to Christianity | FrontPage Magazine

The following excerpts are from Frontoage Mag:

Obama’s condemnations of terror look a whole lot like alibis. Take his response to the brutal Islamic State beheadings of Coptic Christians in Libya, after his disastrous regime change war there.

The title of the ISIS video is “A Message Signed With Blood to the Nation of the Cross.”

The Islamic State Jihadists call Christians “Crusaders” and threaten to conquer Rome. They swear in the name of Allah. And they make assorted threats aimed at Christians.

“Oh people, recently you’ve seen us on the hills of Al-Sham [Greater Syria] and on Dabeq’s Plain, chopping off the heads that had been carrying the cross delusion for a long time, filled with spite against Islam and Muslims, and today we… are sending another message: oh crusaders, safety for you will be only wishes.”

“Especially when you’re fighting us all together, therefore we will fight you all together until the war lays down its burdens and Jesus peace be upon him will descend, breaking the cross, killing the swine,” the speaker continues.

(When Muslims say that they believe in Jesus, this is what they mean.)

That’s all rather straightforward. The White House press release, far less personal than Obama’s own claim that the Chapel Hill shootings over a parking dispute were Islamophobic, however issued a formal condemnation followed by the usual alibi.

The condemnation not only fails to mention Islamic terrorism, but makes no mention of the fact that Christians were murdered for being Christians.

“ISIL’s barbarity knows no bounds. It is unconstrained by faith, sect, or ethnicity,” the White House press release says.

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Obama Claims Islamic State Murder of Christians Unrelated to Christianity | FrontPage Magazine

No Room in America for Christian Refugees

The following excerpts are from AINA.org. All emphases are mine:

At the end of World War II, the Jewish survivors of Europe's Holocaust found that nearly every door was closed to them. "Tell Me Where Can I Go?" was a popular Yiddish song at the time. Decades later, the Christians of the Middle East face the same problem, and the Obama administration is keeping the door shut.

America is about to accept 9000 Syrian Muslims, refugees of the brutal war between the Assad regime and its Sunni opposition, which includes ISIS, Al Qaeda, and various other militias. That number is predicted to increase each year. There are no Christian refugees that will be admitted.

Why? Because the Department of State is adhering with all the rigidity of a Soviet era bureaucracy to the rule that only people at risk from massacres launched by the regime qualify for refugee status. The rapes of Christian women and the butchery of Christian children do not count. No matter how moved Americans were this Christmas season by the plight of their fellow Christ followers in Syria and Iraq, no matter how horrific the visuals of beheadings, enslavement, and mass murder, the Christians fleeing death do not engender the compassion of this president. The Christians are being raped, tortured, and murdered by militias, not by the Syrian government. This technicality condemns them to continue to be victims without hope. And this technicality is being adhered to with all the tenacity with which President Franklin D. Roosevelt's State Department manipulated quotas and created subterfuges to keep out the Jews fleeing the oppression of Nazi Germany. Obama no more wants the Middle East's Christian refugees than Roosevelt wanted Europe's Jewish refugees.

We have seen in the last several weeks that President Obama has no difficulty using his "phone and his pen," as he dramatically boasts, to circumvent the law. When it comes to immigration, he had no difficulty enacting an amnesty that a federal judge subsequently ruled unconstitutional. He has had no problem circumventing Congress to change the relationship with Cuba. This president has shown that he will push back on the constraints of law when he wants to get something done.

But there are not even such constraints when it comes to the Middle East's Christians fleeing the brutality of ISIS and Al Qaeda. The Department of State chooses to adhere to a definition of refugees as people persecuted by their own government. What difference does it make which army imperils the lives of innocent Christians? Christians are still be slaughtered for being Christian, and their government is incapable of protecting them. Does some group have to come along--as Jewish groups did during the Holocaust--and sardonically guarantee that these are real human beings?

The Christians would barely have to be vetted for ties to terror organizations, which by their very nature do not take Christians. Meanwhile, there is the uncomfortable issue that among the Sunni refugees there are some in league with the Sunni terror militias. And beyond that there is the equally uncomfortable question of the acculturation of segments of the Muslim community.

...it is time for all people of good will to say to the Obama administration that telling Christians awaiting death that there is no room for them in the inn is not only unacceptable, it is also, to use President Obama's own words, "not who we are." This season, Christians need to make their voice heard. They should not act as the Jews did, waiting for a president who had no intention of doing anything, to do something.

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No Room in America for Christian Refugees

Tens of Thousands of Assyrian and Yazidi Children At Risk in North Iraq

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

(AINA) -- 200,00 Assyrians and 150,000 Yazidis who were driven from their villages by ISIS are now facing the dangers of cold weather as winter approaches. Already temperatures in north Iraq are very low at night, requiring extra blankets and space heaters for warmth.

...In an interview on the MidPoint program on Newsmax TV, the president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, Julianna Taimoorazy, is warning that up to 200,000 children are at risk from exposure to cold weather.

Note: Assyrians are also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs.

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Tens of Thousands of Assyrian and Yazidi Children At Risk in North Iraq

Vatican's doctrinal official gives blunt warning to LCWR : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic World News:

• At a meeting with representatives of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith rebuked the group for giving a top award to a dissident theologian, and pointedly reminded the American women religious that the LCWR is “a canonical entity dependent on the Holy See,” and must comply with Vatican-mandated plans for reform.
• Cardinal Gerhard Müller said that the decision by the LCWR to confer its Outstanding Leadership Award on Sister Elizabeth Johnson, whose writings have drawn a caution from the US bishops’ committee on doctrine, can be “seen as a rather open provocation” in light of the Vatican’s call for reform of the American group.
• Under the terms of the reform ordered by the Vatican in 2012, Cardinal Müller reminded the LCWR, the speakers at LCWR meetings should be cleared by the Vatican’s delegate supervising the reform process, Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle. But Archbishop Sartain was informed about the award for Sister Johnson “only after the decision had been made,” the cardinal observed, in an apparent violation of the Vatican’s directives.

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Vatican's doctrinal official gives blunt warning to LCWR : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

From The Dignitatis Humanae Institute: The abandoned Christians of Wenzhou: the Chinese Government steps up the intimidation

Note:The following is a press release from The Dignitatis Humanae Institute

Rome, 28 April 2014

Thousands of Chinese Christians have united in the city of Wenzhou to form a 24-hour human shield around the Sanjiang Christian Church, amidst threats from the Communist authorities to demolish the building. The three-story Church is one of ten places of worship to have been listed for demolition in the Zhejiang province, considered China's most Christian region. This is the second time in two weeks the Christians of Zhejiang have flocked to protect their Church from the machinations of the local Communist party.

Though attempts to close down Christian Churches are nothing new in China, the Sanjiang Church stands as an officially-sanctioned place of worship by the Communist government, and is, in theory, entitled to the legal protection of Article 36 of the Chinese constitution:

"Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. The state protects normal religious activities."

In spite of a mounting campaign of intimidation and suppression, China's thriving Christian community is growing at an exuberant rate, with research from the University of Purdue foreseeing an estimated 247 million Christians living in China by 2030. Under the rule of Mao Zedong, China was declared an atheist state, and a campaign of violence was waged against the mere one million Christians that then lived in China. When the Cultural Revolution was brought to an end in 1976, a degree of tolerance began to take form. Nevertheless, heavy restrictions remain on Christian worship. Only the state-approved, state-monitored, state-restricted 'Three Self Patriotic Movement' is considered a legal form of Christianity, with non-conformist congregations and underground 'house Churches' subjected to brutal recriminations.

Speaking in support of the Christians defending Sanjiang Church, Luca Volontè, Chairman of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute said:

"All the lessons of history demonstrate to China the futility of forcing Christians to choose between faith and country. The Christian awakening of millions of Chinese citizens is not a form of political process but rather the peaceful desire to learn and to worship Our Lord. After bold statements from Western leaders - including David Cameron and Angela Merkel - on the duty to defend Christians from persecution, the international community cannot abandon the Christians of Whenzou to this very public campaign of coercion and suppression."

The Dignitatis Humanae Instituteaims to uphold human dignity based on the anthropological truth that man is born in the image and likeness of God and therefore has an innate human dignity of infinite worth to be upheld. The Institute promotes this understanding by supporting Christians in public life, assisting them to present effective and coherent responses to increasing efforts to silence the Christian voice in the public square.

Student Denied Admission for His Faith | School Prayer, American Center for Law and Justice ACLJ

The following excerpts are from ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice):

• Late yesterday afternoon, ACLJ filed a lawsuit on behalf of Brandon Jenkins against officials of The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) in Maryland for denying Brandon admission to its Radiation Therapy Program in part due to his expression of religious beliefs. As one faculty member explained to Brandon, on behalf of CCBC, the “field [of radiation therapy] is not the place for religion."  
• Brandon first applied for admission to the Radiation Therapy Program in April 2013. He met the standards of a competitive candidate and scored the maximum points allowed during his observation. During the interview process, college officials asked Brandon, “What is the most important thing to you.” Brandon answered simply, “My God.”
• Brandon was denied entry into the program. After Brandon inquired why he was denied, the Program Director, Adrienne Dougherty, told him:
• I understand that religion is a major part of your life and that was evident in your recommendation letters, however, this field is not the place for religion. We have many patients who come to us for treatment from many different religions and some who believe in nothing at all. If you interview in the future, you may want to leave your thoughts and beliefs out of the interview process.

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Student Denied Admission for His Faith | School Prayer, American Center for Law and Justice ACLJ

We must stand up for Middle East's persecuted Christians | Fox News

The following excerpts are from the Opinion section of FoxNews.com:

• Christianity began in the East, not the West, yet today Christians in the East are enduring an all-out-assault by Islamic terrorists, while Christians in the West live their lives largely oblivious to it all. This has to change.
• This is no imaginary persecution; in Syria alone there have been reports of kidnappings, Christian communities intentionally displaced by militants and, worst of all, shootings and beheadings of Christians who refused to convert to Islam. 
• In Egypt radicals have recently destroyed dozens of churches, and the once vibrant Christian population in Iraq has been decimated.
• Christians in the West should stand up for those in the East out of regard for all they have given us over these thousands of years, if for no other reason.

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We must stand up for Middle East's persecuted Christians | Fox News

Warmer Rome-Moscow relations produce new talk of Pope- Patriarch 'summit meeting' : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

• Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill expressed high hopes for the future of relations between Moscow and Rome after a November 12 meeting with Milan’s Cardinal Angelo Scola.
• The Russian primate expressed his admiration for Pope Francis, and said that “never before have our churches had so many things in common.” He looked forward to a time when ‘our historical disagreements cease to play a critical role.”
• In Rome, meanwhile, after meeting with Pope Francis, Metropolitan Hilarion, the top ecumenical officer of the Moscow Patriarchate disclosed that negotiations have begun to arrange a meeting between the Pope and Patriarch Kirill “in a neutral country.”

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Warmer Rome-Moscow relations produce new talk of Pope- Patriarch 'summit meeting' : News Headlines - Catholic Culture

Assyrian Christian Leader Welcomes Chaldean Catholic Patriarch's Overture

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

• Mar Dinkha IV, the head of the Assyrian Church of the East since 1976, has responded positively to an ecumenical overture by Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako, the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church since February.
• The Assyrian Church of the East, now headquartered in Illinois, ceased to be in full communion with the Holy See following the Council of Ephesus in 431. The Chaldean Catholic Church, headquartered in Baghdad, arose in the sixteenth century when some Assyrian bishops sought the restoration of full communion with the Roman Pontiff. Each Eastern church has approximately 400,000 members.

Read more by clicking below:
Assyrian Christian Leader Welcomes Chaldean Catholic Patriarch's Overture

Disappointed In Some Catholics

Catholics Looking Down Their Noses At Catholics In Poor Countries

As some of you may or may not know, I am on Facebook, and have a page on Facebook (423 "Likes" currently) called "Faith of the Fathers" (surprise) that relates to these blogs and shares the blog posts there. I also have joined some other Catholic groups including one called "Catholic Church".

It is a good group, and shares lots of information, and it posts photographs of different Catholic parishes from around the world. Late last night, a photo of a parish in Malaysia was posted. That is the photo of the parish at the top of this post.

I was appalled at the number of so-called "good Catholics" who went out of their way to belittle and malign this parish, and maybe (I will give a slight benefit of the doubt) without realizing it, also belittled the people and even questioned their faith in so doing.

Here are just a few of the samplings of what was said. I removed the commenters names as a matter of courtesy :

*This looks like Baptist Church.

*what in the world is this? Masonic temple?

*What a horrible Modernistic "church". It could be used for generic Protestants without a hipccus...

*My comments always get deleted when I tell it like it is. Buildings like these are so disrespectful towards our Lord in the Eucharist.

*A perfect example of the tragedy in architecture in churches since Vatican 2. Just awful.

And the worst one, IMHO:

*Wait a minute - This is a Catholic Church?!? It looks significantly more Protestant to me. Where are the pews - where is the Tabernacle? Why are the seats for the priest and altar servers behind the altar where the Tabernacle should be? Seriously. Abomination of desolation. This is an ugly warehouse with a painting of Jesus in it.

Some of the people from Malaysia felt the need to defend their parish because of what was said. Here are some of their replies:

*That kinda hurts (name removed), since its from my state. Mind you its a muslim majority country, and according to the national gross, its one of the poorest states in the country (Malaysia). This ugly warehouse is where hundreds of devoted Christians pray.

Learn to accept the fact of life that not everyone can afford million dollar building with gold carvings on the ceiling.

*To all, please understand that Malaysia government has double standard law of treating non-moslem followers, they say about liberation but no-liberation of embracing religion, it is still better in my country, Indonesia in case of embracing a religion, but still we have problem to some kind jihadis extremists since our government is soft to them.

*To all my brothers and sisters in Christ I lived in Ranau for 10 years. Their faith are stronger than those, some so call westerners. This place is in the interior and most of the people their were converted to Islam. Yes, this is a catholic church.

*The physical things/appearance of a church do not define what's within... you have beautiful church buildings does not mean your faith is stronger right? Some churches in Interior Sabah (one of the poorest state in M'sia, mind you) may look like a "warehouse"... BUT the most important thing is that our Catholic community grows stronger each year!

*I feel sad for the people of his own Christianity condemned the Catholic church ... for your knowledge ... In Malaysia we do not have a lot of provisions for construction of the church ... they build the church through donations and contribution from the Catholic Christian community only .. they just doing what affordable only .. even though the church is not as beautiful as any other church in the world ... but God will always hear the prayer of his people ...

That's right. Defend it from other Catholics! Catholics primarily from the United States and Canada, who in the safety and security of their country felt it absolutely necessary to disparage a Catholic parish in a country that is predominantly Islamic, and where Christians constitute less than 10% of the population.

Apparently the Malaysian state of Sabah is a poor state where farmers make up the majority of the population there. For a church to be built there donations must be collected from the local Christian population.

What is wrong with you people? Does it make you feel superior in your Catholicity to go out of your way to attempt to make people from a poor country feel that they are not as Catholic as you? Did you sleep better last night, feeling that you told them just exactly what God thinks of them and their parish?

Get off your high horse, and try to at least appear you have a little understanding, a little bit of charity deep down in your heart.

Those people have worked, and worked hard to build a parish where they could worship Our Lord together in unity. They built the very best that they could afford to build in order to worship and honor God. Being in a predominantly Islamic country, they may have to remove the tabernacle and the crucifix to protect them from profanation as is sometimes necessary in other Islamic dominated countries where the Christians are a significant minority.

Try to get yourselves a little educated on the plight of the Church in other countries. Learn what is happening to Christians and their churches in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Read the Asia News here.

Try not buying that pastry or extra coffee for a month and donate that money to some of your brothers and sisters in Christ around the world so that they can build the parishes they so desperately want and need.

Try to help and not be so critical, and go back and try to learn once more what it is to have charity.

And one more thing. This church is beautiful, as is any church where the faithful find Christ Jesus.