Ronaldo makes sign of the cross during soccer game in Iraq

ristiano Ronaldo is a world-famous soccer player from Portugal who has won dozens of awards and trophies throughout his 31-year career. He has played for clubs in Portugal, England, Spain, and Italy. Earlier this year, he moved to Al-Nassr, a club from Saudi Arabia. In his last match, in the semifinals of the Arab Club Champions Cup, the player scored the goal that gave the club promotion to the finals of this Arab equivalent of the Champions League. After scoring the goal, the Portuguese player made the sign of the cross. This isn’t a surprise per se, because he declares himself a believer and has shared his faith more than once. There would be nothing spectacular about it, if it weren’t for the fact that he did it in Iraq. The Saudi Al-Nassr club he plays for was facing off against Iraq’s Al Shorta. According to Open Doors, an organization that deals with religious persecution, Iraq ranks 18th on the list of countries that persecute Christians. Although the pope’s visit to the country in 2021 was a positive development with lasting effects, problems continue. Moreover, Saudi Arabia, where Ronaldo plays, ranks 13th on that list. Read more on Aleteia

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AMAZING Rosary Testimony| Power of Entire Rosary

The ROSARY is an intimate spiritual conversation you are having with the Blessed Virgin Mary and GOD to present your fears, your needs and desires. The Rosary gives YOU Spiritual Power to accomplish anything you want in life and overcome the impossible. This meditative spiritual conversation can be done at anytime and anywhere you go. You can do it in a group setting or by yourself. You can pray the Rosary with your kids, with your spouse or the person you are dating, and with your friends. You can make it a family affair. You can also recite the Rosary while cooking, driving, taking public transport, waiting in line, or taking a shower. There are no limits to where you can pray the Rosary. Every time you pray the Rosary, you become more spiritually empowered, you gain more healing, more confidence, more inspiration, more miraculous changes in your life, more spiritual awareness and more divine graces in your life. YES…the Rosary carries MIRACULOUS POWER! Read more at https://shalomtidings.org/miraculous-power-of-the-rosary/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFyRwJBExMk

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Miracle at Fátima? World Youth Day pilgrim receives her sight after Communion at Mass!

“I opened my eyes and I could see perfectly,” said Jimena, a 16-year-old Spanish World Youth Day pilgrim who said she miraculously recovered her sight after receiving the Eucharist at Fátima, Portugal, during a Mass there. This possible miracle has moved hearts and filled with hope all those who have been following the events at WYD, which brought together more than a million young people in the Portuguese capital last week. Jimena traveled to Lisbon from Madrid with a group from Opus Dei. During the days prior, relatives and acquaintances of the young woman organized a novena to pray to Our Lady of the Snows, whose feast day is commemorated Aug. 5, the same day she recovered her sight. For two and a half years, Jimena has suffered a loss of sight due to a myopia problem that left her with a 95% vision loss. On the morning of Aug. 5, when the Holy Father was also praying the rosary at the Fátima shrine, Jimena received what she herself describes as a “great gift” from the Virgin Mary. Not long after having recovered her sight, Jimena told the Spanish radio station COPE that she woke up that morning “as I have been getting up for two and a half years, seeing super blurry, very badly.” She explained that she had gone to Mass with her friends “because we are at WYD and after receiving Communion I began to cry a lot, because it was the last day of the novena and I wanted to be cured and I had very much asked God please [cure me].” “When I opened my eyes, I could see perfectly,” the young woman continued, “it was overwhelming; very many thanks must be given for the miracle, because I saw the altar, the tabernacle, my girlfriends were there, and I could see them perfectly.” In addition, she said that she was able to read the novena prayer that she was praying and that she still reads “quite well” — she hadn’t forgotten at all how to read. The young woman said she is “super happy” and thanked all those who were part of the prayer group. “This has been a test of faith; the Virgin has given me a great gift that I will not forget,” she said. In an Aug. 6 statement to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Cardinal Juan José Omella, the archbishop of Barcelona and president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, referred to the possible miracle as “a grace from God” during the press conference at the end of WYD held at Eduardo VII park in Lisbon.   The cardinal said he was able to speak with Jimena on a video call and that she explained what happened in a natural and unaffected manner. “The girl was very excited; she had been blind for a while and she had been learning the Braille method for two or three years,” he said. The prelate also noted that Jimena “had to read the prayer of thanksgiving at Mass that day with the Madrid group” and that, after receiving Communion, she was able to read it without any problem. The young woman also told the cardinal that they had been praying for “nine days asking the Virgin for her healing.” Read more…

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Use this prayer if you’re widowed and feeling lonely

By Aleteia Did Jesus not say, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Mt 5:4)? This promise gives those who have lost a loved one the right to hope. They can hope for a new encounter with God, hope that Christ will come to live and fill their hearts, hope to live in communion with their deceased loved ones, hope to find new meaning and purpose… Vatican II, in Gaudium et Spes, notes that widowhood is part of the vocation to marriage: Widowhood, accepted bravely as a continuation of the marriage vocation, should be esteemed by all.(8) There are many different paths that can lead to joy and consolation for those who remain in this life after the loss of a spouse or any loved one. Here’s one example of a prayer a widowed person can pray when they feel lonely and need to encounter the risen Jesus: Lord Jesus, You know the sorrow and pain I endured when my spouse went to our Father’s house.I beg you to give me the support and comfort I need so much today.Fill my loneliness with joy and hope and ease my fears for the future. Like the Virgin Mary who was widowed when Joseph died,keep my heart pure and give me a clear vision of God’s plan for me. If it is not good for me to be alone (see Gen 2:18),grant me the grace of finding again those who will be my helpers here below,while living in communion with my deceased spouse in the hope of being reunited in eternity. You, who were compassionate to the widow of Naim (Lk 7:11-16),have mercy on me and intercede with God the Fatherthat joy may spring up again in my wounded heart. Amen.

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Be careful of Satan when he’s sweet and polite, warns pope.

By Aleteia The devil is out to seduce us, and he comes into our lives “so sweetly and politely” to take possession of our attitudes, Pope Francis warned. The pope said this today in his morning homily, drawing from today’s Gospel reading about the unclean spirit who goes out of a person but then decides to return, and brings with him seven other spirits “more wicked than itself.” Vatican Radio reported Pope Francis’ emphasis that the passage reflects how demons enter quietly, progressively becoming more and more part of a person’s life. The devil slowly changes our attitudes, camouflaging himself to lead us to what’s called worldliness, Francis explained. This attitude brings us to look at things in ways contrary to the spirit of the Gospel. When the devil enters “so sweetly, politely and takes possession of our attitudes,” the pope said, our values pass from the service of God to worldliness. Thus we become “lukewarm Christians, worldly Christians.” Francis described this as being like a fruit salad — a bit of the spirit of the world and a bit of God’s spirit. PreventionNevertheless, the Holy Father also said there is a method for preventing this progressive progression of the devil’s seduction: “stopping for a while to examine my life, whether I am a Christian, whether I educate my children, whether my life is Christian or worldly.” The daily examination of conscience is one of the spiritual practices most promoted by the Society of Jesus, the religious order to which the pope belongs. It involves taking a few minutes at the end of the day to look over one’s day — to see the graces that God offered, and to thank him for them, and to see the moments when we refused his grace and chose to act in a way contrary to the Gospel. The examen concludes with a specific resolution to work on the next day. Read more…

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The Seven Princes of Hell (and their 7 deadly sins)

You will have likely heard of the seven deadly sins, a famed classification of vices or behavioural traits commonly perceived as the most negative. But did you know that according to some scholars, these seven sins are each personified by a particular demon, a prince of hell to be more precise. So, who were these lords of sin, and what did they represent? Let’s find out together… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvUpa7wJRVY

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Titanic priest a ‘saint’

TERMED the “Titanic priest”, Fr Thomas Byles – who rather than save his life stayed on the sinking ship to pray with passengers – could be made saint. According to survivors, the priest refused a lifeboat seat two times, and instead prayed with second and third-class passengers on the sinking ship, reported Metro.co.uk Sunday. As the passengers realised the boat was sinking, he prayed with passengers, heard confessions, and held a service. Fr Thomas Byles had been rector of St Helens’ in Chipping Ongar, Essex for eight years, before meeting his death. He had been educated in Fleetwood, Lancashire and at Oxford. On April 15, 1912, the priest died onboard the Titanic along with 1500 others when it sank off the Atlantic Coast. He had been travelling to America to officiate at his brother’s wedding and to attend his younger brother’s funeral in New York. At least two “miracles” attributed to a person are required for sainthood. Pope Pius X praised Father Byles’ actions. St Helens’, where Fr Byles was rector, has launched a campaign to advance his cause for sainthood.  

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A Prayer in Suffering| Your Sorrow Shall Be Turned to Joy

O LORD JESUS CHRIST, accept my sufferings which I desire to unite with Thine. Sanctify this affliction, so that every pang I feel may purify my soul and bring it nearer to Thee, to be made more one with Thee; grant that I may welcome the sufferings which will make me more like to Thee. O my Lord, stand Thou by me with Thy supporting grace; sanctify each pang, sustain my weakness. And then order for me what Thou pleasest. Come now to my help, O Lord, and so purify my soul that I may be spared the last, the eternal suffering; let me fly to the embrace of Thy love forever. Amen

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Daily Prayer To Become A Saint

by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori from ‘The Great Means of Salvation and Perfection’ O my God! reject me not, as I deserve, for I will amend. I know well that so negligent a life as mine cannot satisfy Thee. I know that I have myself, by my lukewarmness, shut the door against the graces which Thou didst desire to bestow upon me. O Lord! do not yet abandon me, continue to be merciful towards me; I will rise from this miserable state. I will for the future be more careful to overcome my passions, to follow Thy inspirations, and never will I through slothfulness omit my duties, but I will fulfil them with greater diligence. In short, I will, from this time forward, do all I can to please Thee, and I will neglect nothing which I may know to be pleasing to Thee. Since thou, O my Jesus! hast been so liberal with Thy graces towards me, and hast deigned to give Thy blood and Thy life for me, there is no reason I should act with such reserve towards Thee. Thou art worthy of all honor, all love, and to please Thee one ought gladly to undergo every labor, every pain. But, O my Redeemer! Thou knowest my weakness, help me with Thy powerful grace; in Thee I confide. O Immaculate Virgin Mary! thou who hast helped me to leave the world, help me to overcome myself and to become a Saint. Amen

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