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Veronica Hears of the Condemnation

The three women covered themselves carefully, as the March air was still cold with a penetrating damp. Each brought along a basket, for this was the day to purchase necessary foods and wine for the solemn Passover feast. There was the customary anticipation in them, as they planned their celebration in the traditional way, recalling and reliving the truths they had been taught since they were children. At the same time they talked in awed tones of the new movement spreading throughout their community and the larger part of their world was a movement they believed in, but did not know was destined to change everything.

The women set off towards the teeming markets, across the cobbled stones in their sandals, headgear covering their faces. As they walked quickly to shield themselves from the chilling wind, the three began to experience feelings of unusual uneasiness as they proceeded through the crowded streets. The air, always pervaded by unpleasant odors, seemed today to be particularly heavy, almost suffocating. As they endeavored to approach the market stalls, they found themselves impeded by a steadily enlarging body of shoving, raucous people. Now, with considerable consternation, one asked the other, “What do you suppose is happening here today?” The other shook her head and shuddered, “I fear something terrible is going on.” In their world it was not unusual for altercations to break out between the various religious and political sects, though unsettling. The three women slipped in one of the wider doorways to catch their breath and there encountered another shopper. The woman had overheard their wondering remarks and asked them quietly, “Do you not know what has happened? Pilate has condemned the one they call Jesus to death. He is on his way to Calvary for crucifixion.” (more…)

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Prayer Honoring Christ The King

Jesus, you are my highest Authority.
Jesus, you are my most beloved King.
Jesus, you are my most holy and just Judge.
Jesus, you are my merciful Savior.
Jesus, you are my most worthy Priest.
Jesus, you are my risen and blessed Lord. (more…)

This article is being presented in three parts over three consecutive days.

Part 3 – The Miraculous Image Appears

Before anyone knew what she was doing, Veronica ripped off the veil that covered her own head. She acted so quickly no one could exercise any effort to stop her. They were indeed shocked at the sight of this young, beautiful woman, who had removed the customary veil, unheard of — and thus revealed herself and masses of her long, dark curls. She extended her arms to Him. (more…)

This article is being presented in three parts over three consecutive days.

Part 2 – Veronica Wipes the Face of Our Lord

The three women, no longer conscious or caring about their planned errands, thanked her, and began the retreat back to their homes, when one of them, the youngest, ever impetuous, stopped and asserted, “I must go and see for myself if this terrible story is true.” “You cannot go to that cruel road. You will be crushed by the crazed hordes, those who thrive on these brutal methods of killing.” “Even so,” she asserted, “I am going.” (more…)

This article will be presented in three parts in three consecutive days.

Part 1 – Veronica Hears of the Condemnation

The three women covered themselves carefully, as the March air was still cold with a penetrating damp. Each brought along a basket, for this was the day to purchase necessary foods and wine for the solemn Passover feast. There was the customary anticipation in them, as they planned their celebration in the traditional way, recalling and reliving the truths they had been taught since they were children. At the same time they talked in awed tones of the new movement spreading throughout their community and the larger part of their world was a movement they believed in, but did not know was destined to change everything. (more…)

This prayer was from my mother’s family, taught to her by her father, and other antecedents, I feel sure.

- Hilda

Prayer to St. Joseph

March 19, 2009

Glorious St. Joseph,
Beloved foster father of Jesus,
Beloved spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Holy Patron of the universal church,
I choose thee this day to be my special patron,
Master and conductor of my honor and property,
my life and my death.
Please grant to me the inestimable privilege of
living and dying, like thee,
In the love of Jesus and Mary. Amen.

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IVF:? Part Three

(Part Two here)

“The Lord called me from birth:
from my mother’s womb
he gave me my name.”? (Isaiah 49: 1-6)

What’s the big deal? Have we not advanced to the point of making babies in lab dishes, so everyone can be a proud parent? I recall reading one woman’s indignation, demanding to know why the Pope did not want her to have a baby. You know some alert theologian could have jumped in at that time and presented the rock-bottom truth of our faith that, evil may not be done, even to secure some perceived good. (more…)

IVF – Part Two

(Part One here)

“Do not be afraid
of those who kill the body
but cannot kill the soul…“? (Matthew: 10, 26-33)

It was in driving my car one day when I heard from the radio for the first time the words “fetal reduction.”? Wait a minute, what was that, that new phrase?? What did that mean?? I learned that it was designed in order to present lethal consequences to excess human embryos cultivated in vitro (which means, literally, in glass).? The process of IVF frequently results in making one multiply pregnant.? This is one of the most egregiously bad (and anticipated) consequences of the process. (more…)

IVF Part 1: “We are the offspring of God..” (Acts: 17:29)

Fyodor Dostoevsky, as I recall, once wrote people are secretly gladdened at news of tragedies which take large numbers of human lives.? Such a thought would be shocking to contemplate were it not for the almost universal, preoccupation by population planners in our world to systematically control the numbers being born, by any method of prevention, no matter how repugnant.? The success of this objective has been positively mind-numbing. In the United States alone we are responsible for over 50 million, surgically dispatched babies.? (This does not include countless babies erased by various methods of contraception.)? To pro-life people such statistics are detestable — bald, horrifying abortion numbers–numbers ever so carefully tallied. To us, each singular abortion is a tragedy. ?This mental framework emanates from a society that boasts of what civilized progress we have made over earlier generations.? (The dimensions of birth reduction, worldwide, are factually reported in Mark Steyn’s excellent book, “America Alone.”) (more…)

The Need for Bridal Reins

?Modesty inspires a way of life which makes it
possible to resist the allurements of fashion and
the pressures of prevailing ideologies.?
(Catechism of the Catholic Church: 2523)

Not very long ago I was in attendance at a family wedding, with a nuptial mass. This was good, as many contemporary couples simply choose not to have a mass. I have been to those ?exchanges of vows? (of sorts) in the past ? no more. In this case, the day before the ceremony, I tagged along to the bridal shop where the gowns were to be collected. As we entered the shop I was just about to drop my usual sardonic comment about ?robot? brides ? when the sales clerk came out with the dresses. (more…)

THE OTHER SIDE

The culture, now beginning to evidence the signs
Of age, ebbs and tides, bobs indiscriminately.
The good, the bad, the indifferent, the lazy
Flow together unwittingly, often unwillingly.
Now slowly, now faster, events are shaping lives,
Or lives are shaping events. Moving, not holding.

(more…)

This article is being presented in three parts over three consecutive days.

Part 3 – The Miraculous Image Appears

Before anyone knew what she was doing, Veronica ripped off the veil that covered her own head. She acted so quickly no one could exercise any effort to stop her. They were indeed shocked at the sight of this young, beautiful woman, who had removed the customary veil, unheard of — and thus revealed herself and masses of her long, dark curls. She extended her arms to Him. (more…)

This article is being presented in three parts over three consecutive days.

Part 2 – Veronica Wipes the Face of Our Lord

The three women, no longer conscious or caring about their planned errands, thanked her, and began the retreat back to their homes, when one of them, the youngest, ever impetuous, stopped and asserted, “I must go and see for myself if this terrible story is true.” “You cannot go to that cruel road. You will be crushed by the crazed hordes, those who thrive on these brutal methods of killing.” “Even so,” she asserted, “I am going.” (more…)

This article will be presented in three parts in three consecutive days.

Part 1 – Veronica Hears of the Condemnation

The three women covered themselves carefully, as the March air was still cold with a penetrating damp. Each brought along a basket, for this was the day to purchase necessary foods and wine for the solemn Passover feast. There was the customary anticipation in them, as they planned their celebration in the traditional way, recalling and reliving the truths they had been taught since they were children. At the same time they talked in awed tones of the new movement spreading throughout their community and the larger part of their world was a movement they believed in, but did not know was destined to change everything. (more…)

Ave Maria!

With great joy we announce the debut of Hilda Nicolosi’s new column The Dry Wood on AirMaria. Hilda has many years of experience on the forefront of such issues as the ERA and Abortion. As a housewife and mother she has experienced the full range of what is most precious about womanhood and has a burning zeal for preserving the God-given treasure of family life. We are looking forward to her contributions.

-Fra Roderic Mary

The Eighth Sorrow of Mary:

The Death of St. Joseph

by Hilda C. Nicolosi

A most treasured devotion for generations of Catholics is the honoring of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Each of these prayerful recollections is followed by a Hail Mary:

The prophecy of Simeon
The flight into Egypt
The loss of Jesus in the Temple
The meeting of Jesus and Mary on Calvary
The Crucifixion
The taking down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross
The burial of Jesus

Many blessings and graces are assured to those who will pause each day to recall Mary’s sorrows. We draw near to her in a direct and personal way by this devotion because we realize how truly human she was and is. (more…)