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"Now the world must drink the bitter chalice. Those of pure heart shall continue in the way of Divine Peace."

      Those alarming words in the Blessed Mother's 281st message on the Feast of the martyr Saint Agnes and followed up with messages 282 and 283 on the feast of another marytr Saint Vincent foretell of what has happened today in regard the terrible sin of abortion which Bill Clinton has promoted during his six plus years in office, just as Our Lady prophesized in January 1993 to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart. Clinton's inaugural address sounded the death knell for millions of unborns and, as the Blessed Virgin Mary predicted, many would go along with this atrocity before the Almighty. Reread these messages and see if everything Our Lady has not foretold is coming or has come to pass. She reminds us to be rooted in her Divine Son Jesus and His Holy Church, the one bright beacon in a world of tears in which all must "drink the bitter chalice." For messages number 281, 282 and 283, click on "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..."

Messages Two Hundred Eighty-one, Two Hundred Eighty-two and Two Hundred Eighty-three

(Feast of St. Agnes, virgin and martyr)

      Beloved Hidden Flower, I am with you. I say to all my little ones: Do you not feel the emptiness? Have you not yet perceived that joy - supernatural joy - is diminishing, leaving your hearts burdened with a deep sorrow?

      This, my little ones is like unto my Divine Son's sufferings at the Garden on the eve of His Sacred Passion when He, the Only-Begotten Son of God, knew as True Man the absence of God's Presence.

      The world has entered upon its agony. God's Justice cannot be held back. To prepare you I have come and I light the Way, which is my Son. Now the world must drink the bitter chalice. Those of pure heart shall continue in the way of Divine Peace. Yet all shall suffer, seeking God and finding Him not.

      I still beseech you, by means of prayer and fasting, to convert your hearts, that beneath my Immaculate Mantle you shall find refuge. The storm has gathered for many generations. The chalice is over-flowing. There will be many signs of the coming Divine Justice.

      Behold, this is the Year of Tears, the Time of Great Sorrow!

      Pray! Pray for strong faith to persevere, that you shall have Light even in the darkness. The world enters upon its Passion. Prepare well, my little ones, to carry your cross well, for beyond lies Eternal Glory.

      I love and bless you. Thank you for responding to my Call!

(Feast of St. Vincent, deacon and martyr)

      Beloved Hidden Flower, please describe to all my little ones that which you have seen in interior vision:

I saw Our Blessed Mother in the sky. She stood upon a cloud, high above our country - our nation's capitol. She was clothed very somberly. Her dress was of a deep gray, and there were many streaks of red interwoven in it. Her mantle was very black, lined in scarlet red. This time the top of the mantle formed a hood which concealed her face. Her hands were folded across her breast, and I knew that she, Our Mother, cried. At that moment Our Blessed Mother raised her head, and though the beauty cannot be marred, nonetheless, Our Heavenly Mother's eyes were red from weeping, her indescribable skin streaked by streams of tears. So much love - so great her sadness. And she said to me:

(Feast of St. Vincent, deacon and martyr) - Our Lady's words following the preceding interior vision)

      My hidden one, tell my children that I weep, for today marks a point in your country's history which has been written by satan. On this day he who leads your country, and thousands upon thousands who cheer and applaud his actions, has signed the death warrant of countless innocents - babies who shall be brutally murdered in their mothers' wombs.

      O! Abomination! O! This country, of which I am patroness, continues and expands the Slaughter Herod inflicted upon the children of Bethlehem. Already the cries of the murdered unborn reach to the Throne of God. God, Who seeks only to love His children by their obedience to His Laws, has withdrawn His Holy Protection. He, the Almighty One, has looked upon this godless nation and shall leave it now to suffer from its own false gods.

      I solemnly tell all of my children that in the Hour of God's Justice these slaughtered innocents shall descend from heaven to exact Divine Justice, and all who have remained unrepentant shall see clearly the cherished angels they have killed!

      I solemnly tell you, my dear children, it is only by your constant prayer, fasting, and penance, by your `fiat' to God and your consecration to my Immaculate Heart that Mercy shall still be given unto His faithful ones.

      Therefore, I proclaim that as never before all must pray in unity of mind and heart through the Grace of the Holy Spirit. The world shall be in tears this year. Sorrow will be its hallmark! Therefore, Pray! Pray! Pray!

      I love and bless you. Heed your Mother's words now!

      Today is the Feast of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, wife, mother and religious. Tomorrow, we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of Saints Peter and Paul Basilicas in Rome as well as the Feast of Saint Rose Phillippine Duchesne, religious missionary to the United States. For the readings, liturgies, meditations and vignettes of these saints, click on LITURGY FOR THE DAY.

Tuesday November 17:
Feast of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Wife, Mother and Religious

White vestments

First Reading: Revelation/Apocalpyse 3: 1-6, 14-22
Psalms: Psalm 15: 2-5 and Revelation/Apocalypse 3: 21
Gospel Reading: Luke 19: 1-10

      The daughter of Saint Hedwig and King Andrew II, Catholic ruler of Hungary, Saint Elizabeth was born in 1207. At the age of four she was promised in marriage to Louis IV from Thuringia. Ten years later she was married to him in an elaborate royal ceremony. Early in their marriage her husband, who had become King, rebuked her because she was always serving people. "That's no work for a queen" he reprimanded her, demanding to know what she was carrying in her cloak. He pulled open her cloak and instead of finding provisions for the poor as he expected, out cascaded lovely red and white roses. He knew then that she was indeed a holy woman and from that point on he dedicated his life to sharing in her ministry. They lived their vows above reproach, conceiving three children. While in labor with her third child, word reached her that her husband Louis had been killed in battle during the Cursade led by Holy Roman Emperor King Frederick II. At twenty years of age Elizabeth, now Queen and widow, went into mourning. Rather than accepting the offers of several suitors, she opted to remain a widow and turned her attention to the poor and ill, vacating the luxurious castle at Wartburg to dedicate the rest of her life to helping others. She founded a hospital at Marburg, dedicating it to Saint Francis who had just been canonized and took up the gray habit of the Francican tertiaries to work in the hospital she had established. Her charitable works became well-known and the fruits of that love and charity spread far and wide after her death at the tender age of 24. Falling ill from the plague that had claimed many of the hospital patients, Elizabeth herself, not one to rest, contracted the disease and died in the hospital on November 16, 1231. Almost immediately miracles were attributed to her by those who touched her tomb. Four years later the clamor and evidence was so solid that Pope Gregory IX canonized her, three years after making Francis a saint. Since the thirteenth century she, along with Saint Louis IX have been the patron saints of Franciscan tertiaries. She is also patron saint of bakers.

Wednesday November 18:
Thirty-third Wednesday in Ordinary Time and
Feast of Dedication of Saints Peter and Paul Basilicas in Rome and
Feast of Saint Rose Phillippine Duchesne, Virgin, Missionary and Religious

Green or white vestments

First Reading: Revelation/Apocalpyse 4: 1-11
Psalms: Psalm 150: 1-6 and Revelation/Apocalypse 4: 8
Gospel Reading: Luke 19: 11-28

      Like St. John Lateran Basilica, the dedication of the Basilica of St. Peter's and the Basilica of St. Paul's dates back to the time of the Emperor Constantine. He had begun the construction of this Basilica after building the Lateran Basilica. After Constantine's death his son's completed the work as well as the work of St. Paul's Basilica which is today Saint Paul Outside the Walls St. Peter's was built over a pagan cemetery which had become a burial place for Christians including Saint Peter himself which was confirmed in 1950 by Pope Pius XII when he announced they had discovered the tomb of St. Peter. This had been surmised since the year 200 when Caius a priest had related in documents that Peter's relics were on Vatican Hill and the remains of Saint Paul could be found buried along the Ostian Way. Today the Tomb of St. Peter lies in a glass-encased vault deep below the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica and can be viewed by visitors. It is a symbol of the oneness, universality, and apostolic succession of the Church. The present basilica was begun by Pope Nicholas V forty years before Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. The initial plan of the great basilica was a Greek cross, projected by master architect Donato Bramante but was finished in the configuration of a Latin cross by the great Italian artist Raphael Santi around the turn of the 16th Century. In 1568 Pope Saint Pius V decreed the dedication of both these basilicas be celebrated on November 9th throughout the universal Church. In the late 1580's Pope Sixtus V completed the magnificent dome of St. Peter's Basilica designed by the master of masters Michelangelo and installed in St. Peter's Square the Egyptian obelisk, originally brought to Rome from Africa by the Emperor Caligula.

     The Basilica of Saint Paul's Outside the Walls was consecrated in the year 390 by Pope Saint Siricus, the same pontiff who instituted the title "Pope" or "Papa" in Greek meaning "Father" which is also an anagram of the words "Petri Apostoli Potestatem Accipiens". Constantine had originally laid out the plans for the Basilica of St. Paul with a five-aisle scheme. St. Paul's fell into disrepair but was restored by Pope Saint Leo the Great around 450, resembling Constantine's basilica on Vatican Hill. The Benedictines were placed in charge of the Basilica in the 700's and have been there ever since. Over the years many frescoes, mosaics and marble masterpieces were added. In 1823 a violent fire damaged much of St. Paul's but it was restored by Pope Pius IX and reconsecrated in 1854, the same year he proclaimed the infallible dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Today the arcade consists of 146 white granite columns. The golden mosaics high on the exterior are by the Italian artist Vespignani and depict Christ giving His blessing flanked by St. Peter and St. Paul. Below that is the Lamb of God on the hill between Jerusalem and Bethlehem where four rivers pour forth and represent the Apostles, quenching the thirst of the flock which symbolizes mankind. Below that are the four standing figures of the Apostles. Like St. Peter's Basilica, the layout is configured to a Latin Cross with five aisles supported by 80 tall columns. Above the aisles are large mozaic portraits on medallions representing all 264 pontiffs from Peter to John Paul II.

      This saint, Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne was canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II. She was born on August 29, 1769 in Grenoble, France to a family whose father was a wealthy merchant. Educated by the Visitation nuns of Sainte Marie d'en Haut, a vocation was fostered to that order despite the protests of her parents who wanted her to marry. Rose had always had a desire to be a missionary, on fire with zeal for Jesus and wanting to share it with everyone. When the French Revolution broke out the Vistation nuns were forced to disperse and Rose was left alone. Her prayers to be reunited with a community of Visitation nuns were not answered, rather God chose a new order for Rose in 1804 - the Religious of the Sacred Heart which had been founded in 1800 by Mother Madeleine Sophie Barat. This was a missionary order of nuns which, through God's Providence, brought Sr. Rose to New Orleans in the southern United States in 1818. There, with four other nuns, Rose was sent up the Mississippi River by the bishop of New Orleans to St. Charles, Missouri where she founded the first American Sacred Heart house and began the first free school west of the Mississippi in a log cabin in Florissant just outside St. Louis. By 1828 there were six houses along the mighty Mississippi. It was here that she intervened with the Indians who had objected to the Jesuits and through her efforts and good will, preserved the Jesuit mission. At the age of 72, St. Rose resigned as head of the American branch of her Order to answer Jesuit missionary Father De Smet's call for her to pursue missionary work. With a handful of other hand-picked nuns she traveled farther west to Kansas where she opened a girls' school for the Cherokees and other Indian tribes in Sugar Creek, Kansas. Though she could not learn the Indians' dialect, she was able to communicate through her prayers and devout example. The Indians loved and admired this woman they called "The Woman Who Prays Always" that many conversions were manifested even though St. Rose was in Sugar Creek for only one year because ill health mandated that she return to the mother house in St. Charles where Rose died on October 18th, 1852. Her remains were enshrined at the mother house and her name is the first one listed on the Pioneer Roll of Fame in St. Louis' famed Jefferson Memorial Building. She played a major role in bringing the faith to the heartland of America where, in the gateway to the west, it has remained strong to this day. She was beatified in 1940 by Pope Pius XII before being canonized 48 years later.

      Today's prayer is taken from the Opening Prayer for today's Mass honoring Saint Elizabeth of Hungary:

Father, You helped Elizabeth of Hungary to recognize and honor Christ in the poor of this world. Let her prayers help us to serve our brothers and sisters in time of trouble and need.

Filipino Muslim guerrillas finally release kidnapped priest after two month ordeal

      The Italian missionary kidnapped over two months ago - Father Luciano Benedetti - has finally been released by his captors - the Islamic guerrillas who are holed up in the mountainous regions of the Phillipines. There have been numerous kidnappings and every time the kidnapped persons, including Fr. Benedetti, have been returned. It's the Muslim rebels' way of holding leverage with the government in their fight for rights. Fr. Benedetti had been held longer than any other hostage and for a while it looked like he would not make it, but he survived none the worse for wear except the pains of hunger and solitude took its toll physically and psychologically. He will return to Italy for a period of recuperation before resuming his missionary activities. For more, click on Free in the Phillipines.

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- An Italian missionary priest has been released to authorities in the Philippines, more than two months after he was kidnapped by Islamic rebels.

      Father Luciano Benedetti, a PIME missionary who was abducted on September 8 from the town of Dipolog in Mindanao, was reunited with his superior, Father Giulio Mariani, after the conclusion of successful negotiations between government officials and Islamic leaders. Government authorities said that no ransom had been paid, but some rebels involved in the kidnapping had been released from criminal charges.

      The kidnappers, connected with the Islamic group Abu Sayyaf, had originally taken 30 hostages during a night raid in Dipolog. Armed and masked, the Abu Sayyaf band originally took 11 hostages, but released all but Father Benedetti within a few days.

      Bishop Jose Manguiran of Dipolog had appealed from help from other Islamic groups in negotiating the release of the Italian missionary. Another Islamic separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) recently concluded a pact with Abu Sayyaf, in which each group agreed to stop kidnappings. (In 1997 there were 249 people kidnapped in the southern Philippines, where the Islamic groups are seeking autonomy; thus far in 1998 there have been another 146 people held for ransom.) It was MILF which first announced the liberation of Father Benedetti.

      Immediately after his release, Father Benedetti was taken to Manila to meet with President Joseph Estrada, who had promised to aggressive action against the Muslim guerrillas during his electoral campaign this summer.

      Interviewed by telephone, Father Mariani, the PIME superior, reported that Father Benedetti had been treated with respect throughout his imprisonment, but was suffering from the effects of hunger and isolation. The missionary priest is expected to return to Italy, to live with his family during a period of recovery.

Vatican calls on leaders to uphold rights of family

      Following up a conference with European legislators last month, the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family released a five-page report in which they sounded the alarm to all that the state of the family is in serious jeopardy due to the hostile atmosphere toward the family structure and values and legislation has reduced the stature of family with an increase in abortions, euthanasia, infanticide and the counter culture of pornography, homosexuality and promiscuity that has greatly devalued the sacred institution of Matrimony. The report included the call for parents to be able to steer their offspring to the schooling of their choice without interference from the state. For more, click on Faith in Family.

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The Pontifical Council for the Family today released a 5-page document containing the conclusions of an October meeting of European political leaders. The document lamented "a certain contempt for the rights of the family and of life," and new threats to human rights. It called upon political leaders to "recognize and help" the family.

      "The family is prior to the state, and more necessary," the document states unequivocally. Thus every government is obligated to respect the province of family life, and both justice and sound public policy require efforts to build strong families. However, the European legislators saw many government initiatives which are hostile to the family.

      Among the violations of the right to life, the document cited abortion, euthanasia, and the destruction of human embryos. The report also condemned the public campaigns of vilification which have been undertaken against pro-life leaders.

      The rights of the family are also being jeopardized, the group noted, by the "devaluation of the institution of marriage," as well as by public indifference to the evils of fornication, promiscuity, homosexuality, and pornography. The group also insisted on the right of parents to guide the education of their children, free from coercion by the state and with equal rights to choose religious schools.

Vatican privately getting jump on possible canonization procedures for present Pope

      Many consider Pope John Paul II a "living saint" and this moniker has been enhanced with the news that the Vatican has quietly been soliciting testimonies from those who believe healing miracles have occurred through the touching or presence of the Holy Father. It would be fitting that this great Vicar of Christ will one day be proclaimed a saint for no man has elevated more to sainthood than this 264th successor of Peter. While they cannot use these verifications while the Pope is still alive, they can be filed for the future in the cause for canonization just as they had accrued testimonies and documents on Mother Teresa while she was still alive. Meanwhile, the Vatican presses on in beatification procedures for another sovereign pontiff - Pope Pius XII despite opposition from some Jewish factions who claim he didn't do enough. Sadly, they do not know the whole story of this holy, caring Pope who sheltered and protected so many Jewish people during the terrible Nazi occupation of Rome. For more, click on Papal plaudits.

      LONDON (CWNews.com) - The Vatican is quietly collecting stories of miracles attributable to Pope John Paul II as evidence for an eventual cause for canonization, according to The Express Newspaper of London on Sunday.

      The newspaper claimed to have been told by a Vatican insider that the investigators have already collected dozens of cases for eventual examination. The newspaper documented one case of a five-year-old French boy with leukemia whose mother claimed he was healed after meeting the Pope at an audience nineteen years ago.

Plans for Jubilee in Jerusalem unveiled by Latin-rite Patriarch

      Christmas eve in Bethlehem will kick off the Jubilee celebration in the Holy Land in 1999 and conclude on the Feast of the Epiphany in 2001. Those dates, along with other events over a 54-week period during the Jubilee year 2000 were released by Latin-rite Patriarch Michel Sabbah, head of the Catholic Church in Jerusalem. He reiterated his great desire for Pope John Paul II to visit the Holy Land sometime during the year, but realizes this is contingent both on his health and the political climate of the mid-east. He also assured that all six Catholic rites in union with Rome will take part in the celebratory liturgies and events throughout the Holy Land during Jubilee 2000. For more, click on Holy Land 2000

      JERUSALEM (CWNews.com) - The Latin-rite Patriarch of Jerusalem unveiled plans by the Catholic Church in the Holy Land for millennial celebrations on Monday, but said political realities and Pope John Paul II's health made the prospects for a papal visit unclear.

      "The situation of confusion in the land is one main reason for which we cannot, or Rome cannot, decide the date," said Patriarch Michel Sabbah told a news conference. The Holy Father has repeatedly made known his desire to tour the Holy Land to celebrate the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ.

      The newly-released calendar of events covers 54 weeks of celebrations in Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem. Festivities will open on December 24, 1999 with midnight Mass in Palestinian-ruled Bethlehem and conclude in the same town on January 6, 2001. All six rites of the Catholic Church present in the Holy Land will participate in the events.

For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site. CWN is not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provides this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.

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November 17, 1998 volume 9, no. 225   DAILY CATHOLIC