contentsthose days there were no florists in our little town, each family grew its own flowers, some...

March 2014 2 Don Bosco's Madonna

From The Editor's Desk:Catching the Faith........................3

Friends are God's Way of Taking Care of Us- Fr. Erasto Fernandez. SSS.....4

Youth to Youth: Standing Up to PeerPressure and Choosing your Allegiance

- Melanie D'Souza.....................7

Walking with the Church: Transfiguration,the Use of Incense.............................9

Eusebia Palomino(1899-1935)......10

Thank You Dear Fr Carreno- Fr. M. J. Mathew,sdb............11

Witnesses In And For Our Times:St. Henry Morse (Mar 1)- Singapore Jesuits.................12

Lectio Divina:That None May Be Lost- Marco Rossetti......................17

Quietspaces: A Secret Hidden in theDaughter of Israel's Heart- Pope Francis........................18

Fish For Me- Fr. Ian Doulton's Collection...20

A Legacy of Love: What is Spirituality?Fr. Elias Diaz, SDB.................24

Reflecting on Mary: Mary: Masterpiece of the Holy Spirit Roberto Spataro......................28

NewsBits.......................................30

DON BOSCO'S MADONNA Mumbai MARCH 2014 vol.15 No. 11

In a Cheerful Mood.........................15Loving Children to their

Loving Mother...........................32The Devotion of

the Three Hail Marys................33They Are Grateful to

Our Lady & Don Bosco.............34Thanks to Dear

St. Dominic Savio.....................35

Cover:St. Joseph, the fosterfather of Jesus

(a detail)

CONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTS

O God, who willed,that when your Son

was lifted highon the Cross,his Mother

should stand close byand share

his suffering,grant that your Church,

participatingwith the Virgin Mary

in the Passion of Christ,may merit a share

in his Resurrection.Opening prayer of the15th September, feast

of the Sorrows of Our Lady


Fr. Ian Doulton sdb

Catching the FaithWhen I was a small boy, I often accompanied my grandfather in the

mornings and on Saturdays in the evenings, to devotions at ourlocal church. I was particularly fond of my grandfather. Spending timewith him was always an enriching experience. We walked down theshady road and through the little forest taking a short cut to the church. Allthe while he would tell me amusing stories, or we would plan our nextproject to surprise my grandmother. They were lovely and memorablewalks. Even as I walk the same route these days some fifty years later Ican almost hear him whistling some part of a piece he would bepreparing for Easter or Christmas. He was a small lively gentleman,with a great sense of determination and commitment. He had apropensity for hard work in which he took great pride, I don’t think Iever hesitated to accompany him to evening devotions: not only wouldI enjoy spending time in his company, but he might allow me to makesome purchase on his behalf which, for me, was quite a privilege!

I remember being fascinated by those devotions. To this day, I cansee the altar at our little parish church, glowing with several candlesand covered in flowers, many of which came from our garden. Inthose days there were no florists in our little town, each family grewits own flowers, some to beautify their homes but certainly to taketo church each Saturday as well. I can still see the richly embroideredcope which our dear ‘Father Pat’ wore and the solemn sign of thecross that he made with the monstrance over our bowed heads.Even now, I can smell the burning incense as it made its lazy waydown through the church from the thurible, and hear someone in thecongregation begin the hymn Hail Queen of Heaven at the top of hisvoice. Benediction was an impressive ceremony for this small boy.

But the more lasting impression was made by something else: theinner devotion I sensed in my grandfather as I knelt beside himafter Benediction was over. While the sacristan cleared away thecandles, I would glance at his lined face as his lips moved in silentprayer. Unknown to him, I would look at his fingers, hardenedfrom years of hard work, as they rolled his rosary beads throughthe Our Fathers and Hail Marys. I would watch as he turned thepages of his prayer book – its binding coming apart and its edgesfrayed from years of use – and made his way through his eveningprayers. As I waited for him to finish, I caught a glimpse of thedepths that lay beneath the surface of my grandfather’s life and theease of his relationship with God. In those moments of quietdevotion, I think I learned more about faith than I have from all thesermons and lectures I have heard since.

And then it was time to go, and we would chat and laugh as wemade our way home after stopping for a cup of ‘Irani Chai’ justoutside the church in the market square…it was a treat to bedevoutly sought.


CEL SERIES

FRIENDS ARE GOD'S WAYFRIENDS ARE GOD'S WAYFRIENDS ARE GOD'S WAYFRIENDS ARE GOD'S WAYFRIENDS ARE GOD'S WAYOF TAKING CARE OF USOF TAKING CARE OF USOF TAKING CARE OF USOF TAKING CARE OF USOF TAKING CARE OF US

Fr. Erasto Fernandez, sss

Psalm 55:22 ‘Cast your burdenupon the Lord, and He shall sustainyou. He shall never suffer therighteous to be moved.’

A physician was driving homefrom a meeting one evening,

crawling in heavy traffic when hiscar began to choke and splutterand soon went dead. Withdifficulty he coasted into a nearbygas station, glad that he wasn’tblocking any traffic and that hehad found a safe warm spot towait while the tow truck arrived.It wouldn’t even turn over. As hehelplessly looked around, he sawa woman walking out of thebuilding, and the next momentshe seemed to have slipped onsome ice and fell into a Gas pump,so he got out of his car to check ifshe was okay.

When he reached the spot henoticed that the young womanlooked really haggard with darkcircles under her eyes. She haddropped something as he helpedher up, so he chivalrously pickedit up to give it to her... It was anickel. In a flash, everything cameinto focus as he sized up thesituation. He asked her if she wasokay and if she needed help, andshe just kept saying ‘I don’t wantmy kids to see me crying.’ Shesaid she was driving to Californiaand that things were very hard forher right then.

Suffused with waves of genuinekindness and compassion, thephysician took out his card andswiped it through the reader on

the pump so she could fill up hercar completely, and while it wasfueling, walked to the next doorMcDonald’s and bought 2 bigbags of food, some gift certifi-cates for more, and a big cup ofcoffee. She immediately gave thefood to the kids in the car, whoattacked it like wolves, while thetwo adults stood by the pumpeating fries and sharing a bite.She hesitantly told him her story:Her boyfriend left two monthsago and she had not been able tomake ends meet. Finally indesperation she had called herparents living in California, withwhom she had not spoken inabout 5 years. She was goingacross for Christmas, but shehoped to pick up her life fromthere on and struggle alongindependently.

Realizing her desperate plightthe kind-hearted doctor gave herhis gloves, a little hug and bothsaid a quick prayer together forsafety on the road. As he movedtowards his car, she shyly calledout, ‘So, are you like an angel orsomething?’ Light-heartedly heresponded, ‘My dear, at this timeof the year angels are really busy,so sometimes God uses regularpeople.’

It was so incredible to be anintegral part of someone else’sreal life-size miracle. And, ofcourse, needless to say, when hegot into his car it started rightaway and got him home with no


further problems. He had astrong suspicion that the next daythe mechanic wouldn’t findanything wrong with it, after all.Sometimes the angels fly closeenough to you that you can hearthe flutter of their wings... Haveyou ever in your life been soclosely associated with someoneelse’s miracle? How did it feel?

God’s Ever-present LoveIt might seem trite to remark in

a case like this that God does carefor His beloved children instrange ways even today, espe-cially when they are desperatelydown and out. And the patternseems to be always the same. Godrarely intervenes directly – Heusually uses a human instrument.But whom is He more likely tochoose? Maybe it appears veryclearly in the couple of scripturalexamples found in the Acts of theApostles!

Desperately confused andbewildered, Saul lay helpless andblind on the road leading toDamascus. While this washappening, The Risen Christ wasbusy contacting a person calledAnanias, a resident of Damascus,commissioning him to go toStraight Street and reach out tothe beleaguered Saul. Reluctantat first because of Saul’s reputa-tion as a trouble-maker, Ananiaseventually accepted, and withoutwasting any further time inremonstrations, he set out to findSaul, accosting him as “BrotherSaul, the Lord Jesus, who appear-ed to you on your way here, hassent me so that you may regainyour sight and be filled with theHoly Spirit.” And immediatelysomething like scales fell from his

eyes, and his sight was restored.Then he got up and was baptized,and after taking some food, heregained his strength. For severaldays he was with the disciples inDamascus…” (Acts 9:17-19).

Similarly, Philip was pressedinto helping the Ethiopiandiscover the treasures of God’sWord and receive the gift ofBaptism. “Then the Spirit said toPhilip, ‘Go over to this chariotand join it.’ So Philip ran up to itand heard him reading theprophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do youunderstand what you arereading?’ He replied, ‘How canI, unless someone guides me?’And he invited Philip to get inand sit beside him… The eunuchasked Philip, ‘About whom, mayI ask you, does the prophet saythis, about himself or aboutsomeone else?’ Then Philip beganto speak, and starting with thisscripture, he proclaimed to himthe good news about Jesus…(Later), both of them, Philip andthe eunuch, went down into thewater, and Philip baptized him.When they came up out of thewater, the Spirit of the Lordsnatched Philip away; the eunuchsaw him no more, and went onhis way rejoicing. But Philipfound himself at Azotus, and ashe was passing through theregion, he proclaimed the goodnews to all the towns until hecame to Caesarea” (Acts 8:29-40).

Can You be a Ananias/Philip?All stories like these sound

tremendously inspiring as long asthe call is given to someone otherthan oneself!The moment theLord calls on us, a host ofobjections and difficulties come


crowding to our miserly mindsand we seek to wriggle out ofthe assignment. But when wedo muster enough courageand volunteer for the task, wefind that it was indeed no bigdeal – “And they went out andproclaimed the good newsevery-where, while the Lordworked with them andconfirmed the message by thesigns that accompanied it”(Mk 16:20). The lesson is clear– when the Lord sends us outon some errand, He neverleaves us alone. In fact, He is themain agent, while we are only hismouth-piece, or limbs. And whata marvelous job does he notaccomplish every single time –the more we faithfully carry outHis wishes, the better is the finalresult! Like the servants at thewedding feast of Cana, all weneed do is ‘whatever he tells you’without butting in with our ownpuny suggestions and recom-mendations, or worse, criticisms.When last can you recall that theLord used you in this way - toreach out to a needy person,lending some of your precioustime, or money or energy orwhatever? But one thing is for sure:the feeling at the end of it all isfabulous – not only the recipientbut also the instrument, both goaway rejoicing at havingexperienced the touch of the RisenLord.

Further AssignmentsOne more observation would

be in place. If we resist and refuseto collaborate with the Lord onsuch errands of mercy, he is notlikely to engage us ever again inthe future – unless of course wegenuinely repent and make a 180°

turnaround! But when we will-ingly and effectively cooperate inHis salvific plans, we notice thatHe has some more, even tougherassignments lined up for us. Andif we can rise to the occasion andgive Him our all, nothing willever stop the constant flow ofurgent and herculean tasks,which nevertheless will warmour hearts and bring us ever closeto Him. “As they left the council,they rejoiced that they wereconsidered worthy to sufferdishonour for the sake of thename. And every day in the templeand at home they did not cease toteach and proclaim Jesus as theMessiah” (Acts 5:41-42).

And once we reach this level,there can be no gainsaying thefact that we truly enjoy theassignments the Lord grants us,no matter how tough and deman-ding they be for He always workswith us…”And they went outand proclaimed the good newseverywhere, while the Lordworked with them and confirm-ed the message by the signs thataccompanied it” (Mk 16:20). Andwhat is more, our names arewritten down in heaven!


NewsSTANDING UP TO PEER PRESSURE

AND CHOOSING YOUR ALLEGIANCE

by Melanie D'Souza

Don't let the crowd pressure you, stand up for somethingor you'll fall for anything

“If only you will obey me , you willeat of the good things of the land” - Isaiah 1:19

Standing up to authority hasnever been easy. Even to

divine authority, for that matter.But it so happens that, with thegrace of God, just about anythingis possible.

A couple of days ago, while Iattended the First Holy Comm-union service, I couldn’t help butnotice a bunch of immaculatelydressed eight-nine year olds alleager to receive Jesus in theirhearts for the very first time. Atthis auspicious moment, athought-provoking questionpopped into my head: It’s beenquite some time since the day weclaimed the safe receipt of Jesusin our hearts, but actually accept-ing Him into our hearts? That issomething that clearly didn’thappen overnight.

It is indeed a daily renewal, alifetime commitment- acceptingJesus’ undeniable yet unfath-omable presence in ourlives, shouldn’t, there-fore,be misconstruedas succumbing tothe tenets of areligion, butrather under-stood as thesurrendering toHis will.

Needless to say,we youth oftoday, face larger and far more

serious issues of peer pressurethan our ancestors ever did. Andhence we are right to assume thatthey can never fully understandthe weight of our issues.

Peer pressure, in my opinion,occurs when we fail to live uptoGod’s standards and look forlower “human” standards tosatisfy ourselves. True enough,God’s standards are so high thathe equates hatred to murder andlust to adultery! Yet in Romans12:2 Paul instructs us not to beconformed to this world. Inaddition to this 1 John 2:15-17also tells us to “Not love ourFather over worldly things,because the latter shall pass awaybut those who submit to God,shall live forever.“

The saddest part is that theworst form of peer pressure iswhen we are not ready to acceptthat we are victims of the same.It so happens that we realize the

seriousness of it, onlywhen we are lookingat it in the face. Allsorts of addictions arelinked to peer press-

ure -we succumb tothese only becausewe seek greatercomfort in humanintentions ratherthan in divineauthority. Trueenough, our cult-


ure presents itselftoday, as a powerfulnarcotic, but strongerare the youth wholearn how to stayprincipled. It all justdepends on who weare ready to pledgeour allegiance to, andhow we do so!

The Old Testamentis a wonderfulwitness to cases whenman favoured humanwill to God’sauthority. Such as when Adamate the forbidden fruit, Jonahrefused to prophesize to thepeople of Nineveh; and when theIsraelites brought out of slaveryfrom Egypt, were denied entry tothe Promised Land. God has infact,promised us in 2 Peter 2: 9-10 that,”He shall rescue Hispeople from trials and punish thewicked, for the Day of Judgmentespecially those who follow theirfilthy bodily lusts and despiseGod’s authority”. This is indeedwhy the Ten Commandmentsgiven to Moses are still verymuch relevant to us even today.

So with sheer faith, we canchoose what to let peer pressuredo to us. We can turn these nega-tive influences around or simplyrun away from them (1 Cor 5:11).After all, the first step to winningthe battle is to recognize theenemy. The more you’re wornout, the more Satan tempts you.Temptation to give in to peerpressure can happen to anyoneand everyone—even the mostlevel-headed of us, and that too,in the least expected form.

But when we keep Christ incontrol, rather than surrender topresent adolescent traditions, welearn to think for ourselves innewer and more complete ways.In other words, we learn how toprioritize our actions and displayraw courage that we had pre-viously assumed, we weren’tcapable of.

Peer pressure comes in the wayof our call to Christ; and hence itis imperative to not let it masterus; and seek only His approval.Our earthly life is too short to beravaged by such influences! Theycan stain us like ink does to whitepaper. The only way —is to keepon guard and pray it out - aprayer to God to keep us strongwhile we are in moments ofweakness; or when we havealready fallen. A prayer to keephim first place, so that everythingelse falls in place. And a prayerto transform ourselves fromfawning yes-men to dedicatedfruit -bearing disciples.

“The stone rejected by the buildershas become the cornerstone “.

-Acts 4:12


The Transfiguration,the use of incense

in church

from St. Martin's Messenger,Ireland

Q. Why did Jesus tell the threeapostles to tell nobody about thetransfiguration until after hisresurrection? Surely it would havehelped people to believe if they heardof this vision.A. Perhaps it is because it wouldhave generated excitement andfalse hope. The people expectedand were waiting for the Messiahbut their idea of the Messiah wasone who would overthrow theRomans and set himself up as apowerful kind of revolutionaryleader or king. This was contraryto God’s plan for saving his peoplewhich was the way of loving andhumble service. The glory of theresurrection lay in the future, onlyafter Jesus, the Suffering Servant,had gone through a lifetime ofobedience to his Fatherculminating in his passion anddeath. Like Jesus, we too will haveto suffer the crosses and strugglesof this life before we receive thecrown of eternal glory. Yet thishope enables us to keep going.

Q. Would you explain why the priestuses incense at Benediction of theBlessed Sacrament and otherceremonies?A. The use of incense is fairlycommon in Catholic ritual. It hasa liturgical and symbolicmeaning. It is to be found in theBible. For example, we read inExodus 30: “You shall make analtar to burn incense upon… AndAaron shall burn fragrant incenseon it; every morning when he

dresses the lamps he shall burn it… and when Aaron sets up thelamps in the evening, he shall burnit, a perpetual incense before theLord, throughout yourgenerations.” In the followingverses it gives a description how itshould be made. And in the Bookof Revelation or Apocalypsechapter 8: 3-4: And another angelcame and stood at the altar with agolden censer; and he was givenmuch incense to mingle with theprayers of all the saints upon thegolden altar before the throne; andthe smoke of the incense rose withthe prayers of the saints from thehand of the angel before God.”

We recall that the Wise Men(Magi) who visited Jesus broughtgifts, one of which was incense. Inthe Bible, it is clear that incense wasused for God alone, a symbol ofadoration. At a funeral the corpseis incensed. This is a sign that thedeceased was a temple of the HolySpirit and deserves our reverenceand respect.

The Book of the Gospel isincensed during Mass as a sign ofreverence for the word of Godand for Christ who speaks hisword to us in the Gospels. Thealtar is incensed because itrepresents the sacrifice of Christwhich is made present andoffered on it. Priests and peopleare incensed at Mass to show thatthey are the temples of the HolySpirit and that they are offeringus sacrifice and prayer to theFather in heaven.


SALESIAN SAINTOF THE MONTH

EUSEBIAPALOMINO1899 - 1935

Eusebia Palomino Yeñes wasborn in Cantalpino in the

province of Salamanca, in the westof Spain on 15th December 1899.Her father, Augustine Palominowas very poor but had immensefaith. At certain times of the yearEusebia and her father had to gobegging in nearby villages, but theydid so with joy and singular faith.

On those long journeysAugustine taught his daughter herFaith and she was keen to learn themysteries of Our Lord. Eusebiawas loved by her family in whichshe prayed fervently and workedhard. The day of her FirstCommunion was a day of intensefervour. Even as an adolescent sheput her friendship with Jesus aboveall else.

One day, while hoeing, shefound a medal of Mary Help ofChristians. Soon afterwards amysterious friend led her to theSisters’ Oratory. They invited herto stay with them as a helper.Oddly enough the kitchen becameher place for educating, and theywould often trot along to thekitchen to get a kind word from thisignorant young kitchen lass.

Eusebia made her novitiate atBarcelona, edifying her compan-ions by her humility and with hersmile. She began to carry out herordinary service extraordinarilylike Don Bosco had wanted, somuch so that the Lord filled herwith his gifts.

The girls always wanted to benear her, attracted by her spirit-uality. She began to work in theOratory. Seminarians, adults andpriests asked her advice, encou-raged by her spirit of prayer andconvinced and convincing faith.

Like Don Bosco she had receivedthe gift of prophecy from the Lord.She predicted the Spanish civil warand offered herself as a victim forSpain. Then she began to feelunwell. Her Director, Sr CarmenMoreno, who became a Martyr andBlessed, looked after her, while shegave some thought to her situation.Sister Eusebia prophesied hermartyrdom.

Before she herself died she hadvisions and ecstasies. She went tothe Lord on the 10th February 1933.John Paul II declared her Blessedon the 25th April 2004. Her bodyis laid to rest at Valverde.

Declared Venerable 17December 1996; beatified 25 April2004 by John Paul II


Thank you dear Fr. Carreño!Rev. Fr. M.J. Mathew, Confessor & Spiritual Director

Kristu Jyoti College, Bengaluru

VOCATION PROMOTION

MMMMMy vocation is an exceptionalgrace from Mary my mother.

After I finished my SSLC, I wasdetermined to go to the“missions.”I had no intention ofbecoming a diocesan priest andworking in my village.

I shared my desire with myeldest brother who was like amentor to me. My brother verywisely pointed out to my father:“If you are not willing to send him,we can stop him; but if you allowhim - you must do so willingly andjoyfully.” As he bid me goodbyewhen I left for the aspirantate atTirupattur, he told me “Gojoyfully, I am very happy foryou...”

At the aspirantate at Tirupattur,I felt quite at home from the firstmoment. Problems cropped uppretty soon. I had a little problemwith my right knee Thoughnothing was done, the doctor’sopinion was that I could go ahead,since the defect on the knee wasnot too serious. I was unanimouslynot admitted because of what thedoctor wrote in his report:“...laterit may give trouble”.

I wanted to return home at oncebut Fr. Carreño, the thenprovincial came to the aspirantate.Fr. Med said “Go and see him, Ihave spoken to him.” I went. Fr.Carreño on seeing me, said:“Would you like to become aCoadjutor Brother?” I said “Iwould like to become a Priest.” Hethen said that he would arrange itwith the Bishop in the BangaloreDiocese and I could become aDiocesan Priest. “I would like to

become a Salesian priest,” was myhumble response. A rather longsilence followed, at the end ofwhich he said, “You shall be aSalesian Priest!” with this hedismissed me.

Today I have been a priest forabout 52 years.

Yet another fact is, God in hisProvidence sent Fr. Carreño to bepresent at my ordination whichtook place at Turin in the Shrine ofMary Help of Christians.

I am eternally grateful to Fr.Carreño through whom Godrealized his plan for me.

My dear young friends don’tget discouraged with anything inlife. Live with hope and trust. Adream that will drive you togreatness, to happiness. TheReligious life and priesthood isone such dream. If the Lord callsyou to it; no matter how difficultit gets - He will see you throughit. May our Blessed Mother blessyour dreams!


PROFILES

ST.HENRY MORSE1595-1645 (MARCH 1)

With assistance of The Jesuits of Singapore

Henry Morse was born ofProtestant parents in Suffolk,

England. He began his studies atCorpus Christie College,Cambridge but left at the age ofseventeen to study law atBarnard’s Inn, London. Duringthis time he became increasinglydissatisfied with the establishedreligion and more convinced ofthe truth of the Catholic faith. In1614, he went to the EnglishCollege at Douai, Flanders andwas received into the CatholicChurch. His older brother,William had become a Catholicthe year before and was at thattime a seminarian at Douai.

Shortly after his conversion,Henry returned to England toprepare to enter the seminary thatautumn. Upon arrival, he wasasked by the English portauthorities to take the oath ofallegiance acknowledging theking’s supremacy in religiousmatters. The recent convertresolutely refused and wasarrested and imprisoned for fouryears and was released in 1618when the king decided to get rid

of hundreds of religiousdissenters by banishing them toFrance. Henry made his way toDouai again but was sent toRome as the English Collegethere had too many students. Hewas ordained in 1623.

Fr Morse returned to Englandbut before leaving Rome hevisited the Jesuit General andrequested to be admitted into the


Society of Jesus. The Generalagreed and told him that hewould be admitted after hisreturn to England and wrote tothe Jesuit superior in England toaccept Fr Morse upon his arrival.Fr Morse probably entered theSociety in 1624 and spent hisnovitiate period doing pastoralwork in the Newcastle area innorthern England. After 18months of travelling from stationto station, he was due to concludehis novitiate by making the 30-day retreat in Flanders, but theship he was sailing in wasunexpectedly halted at the mouthof the Tyne River by soldierssearching for a priest disguised asa foreign merchant. Theydiscovered Fr Morse instead.Thus Fr Morse was arrested andimprisoned a second time andsent to Newcastle prison. Shortly,another Jesuit was alsoimprisoned. He was Fr JohnRobinson, a classmate fromRome, who was on his way totake Fr Morse’s place. Both endedup at York castle where FrRobinson directed Fr Morse in theretreat which completed hisnovitiate.

Fr Morse was banned fromEngland after serving 3 years inprison and returned to Flanderswhere he served as chaplain tothe English soldiers serving in theSpanish army then in Flanders.Later he served as assistant to thenovice master until 1633 when hishealth broke. He returned toEngland to replace Fr AndrewWhite, who had accompanied thefirst Catholic settlers to southernMaryland.

Fr Morse was assigned to work

at the parish of St Giles in a poordistrict outside London. While hewas there, the city and suburbswere ravaged by a plague. FrMorse threw himself into caringfor the plague-stricken; hearingconfessions, securing medicinefor the sick, took viaticum to thedying and prepared the dead forburial. His reward for his selflessservice was to be arrested a thirdtime and imprisoned at Newgateprison. He ably defended himselfat the trial, but was convictednevertheless although sentencewas never passed. He wasreleased two months laterbecause of Queen HenriettaMarie’s intervention inrecognition of his service toplague victims. After his release,Fr Morse returned to thecontinent and again becamechaplain to the soldiers as hecould no longer move aboutsafely in England.

In 1643, he was again assignedto England and was sent toCumberland where he was lesswell-known. He worked for 18months until he accidentallywalked into a group of soldierslate one night who suspected hewas a priest. He was arrested andheld overnight in the home of alocal official. Fortunately, theofficial’s wife was a Catholic andhelped him escape. He enjoyedfreedom for 6 weeks but one dayhe and his guide lost their way inthe countryside and innocentlyknocked on the door of a houseto ask for directions. The manwho answered was one of thesoldiers who had recentlyapprehended him andremembered him well and therewould be no fifth escape.


Fr Morse was moved from localjails to London’s Newgate inJanuary 1645 and tried at OldBailey; his very presence inEngland proved him guilty ofviolating the law by coming backafter he had been banished. Hewas found guilty of high treasonand condemned to death. Duringthe 4 days between sentencingand execution, many visitorscame to his cell seeking hisprayers or asking for a keepsake.Among them were ambassadorsfrom the Catholic countries whowished to show their solidaritywith the Catholics in England.

At 4 am on February 1, Fr Morsecelebrated his last Mass. At 9 amFr Morse was dragged to Tyburn,the place of execution outsideLondon. He mounted the cartbeneath the gallows. When theyplaced the noose round his neck, headdressed the people: “I am comehither to die for my religion, for thatreligion which is professed by theCatholic Roman Church, foundedby Christ, established by theApostles, propagated through allages by a hierarchy always visibleto this day, grounded on thetestimonies of Holy Scriptures,upheld by the authority of Fathersand Councils, out of which in fine,there can be no hopes of salvation.Time was when I was a Protestantbeing then a student of the law inthe Inns and Court in town, till,being suspicious of the truth ofmy religion, I went abroad intoFlanders, and upon full

conviction renounced my formererrors, and was reconciled to theChurch of Rome, the mistress ofall Churches. Upon my return toEngland I was committed toprison for refusing to take theOath of Supremacy, andbanished. After seven years Ireturned to England as a priest,and devoted myself to the poorand the plague-stricken.”

“No self glorification here,”interrupted the Sheriff.

“I will glory only in God,”continued the martyr, “who haspleased to allow me to seal theCatholic faith with my blood, andI pray that my death may atonefor the sins of this nation, forwhich end and in testimony ofthe one true Catholic Faithconfirmed by miracles now asever, I willingly die.” Then hesaid his prayers and asked thatthe cap be pulled over his eyes;beat his breast 3 times, giving thesignal to a priest in the crowd toimpart absolution. He then said:“Into your hands, O Lord, Icommend my spirit.” After hewas dead his body was tornopen, his heart removed, hisentrails burned and bodyquartered. In accordance withthe custom that followedexecutions, his head was exposedon London Bridge and hisquartered body was mounted onthe city’s four gates.

Fr Morse was 50 years old atthe time of his martyrdom andhad been a Jesuit for 20 years.

The Ways of GodRemember the story of a man trapped on his roof while flood waters rose?Three times a fisherman came by in a rowboat and offered to carry him tosafety. Each time he refused, saying “I am a man of faith – God will provide.”The rising waters eventually carried him away. Now beyond this earthly life,he stood confused and forlorn before his Maker. “I had faith in you, Lord.Why didn’t you save me?” he whined. “I tried to” said God. “I sent the boatthree times!”


IN A CHEERFUL MOODJonah Test

A little girl was observed by herpastor standing outside the pre-school Sunday School classroombetween Sunday School andworship, waiting for her parentsto come and pick her up for “bigchurch.” The pastor noticed thatshe clutched a big storybookunder her arms with the obvioustitle, “Jonah and the Whale.”

Feeling a little pernicious, heknelt down beside the little girland began a conversation.“What’s that you have in yourhand?”, he asked.

“This is my storybook aboutJonah and the Whale,” sheanswered.

“Tell me something, little girl,”he continued, “do you believethat story about Jonah and thatwhale to be the truth?”

The little girl implored, “Whyof course I believe this story to bethe truth!”

He inquired further, “Youreally believe that a man can beswallowed up by a big whale,stay inside him all that time, andcome out of there still alive andOK? You really believe all thatcan be true?”

She declared, “Absolutely, thisstory is in the Bible and westudied about it in Sunday Schooltoday!”

Then the pastor asked, “Well,little girl, can you prove to methat this story is the truth?”

She thought for a moment andthen said, “Well, when I get toHeaven, I’ll ask Jonah.”

The pastor then asked, “Well,what if Jonah’s not in Heaven?”

She then put her hands on her

little hips and sternly declared,“Then YOU can ask him!”

Read CarefullyMy family physician told me of

an incident that actuallyhappened to him back in the earlydays of his practice.

He said a woman brought herbaby to see him, and hedetermined right away that thebaby had an ear ache. He wrote aprescription for ear drops. In thedirections he wrote, “Put twodrops in the right ear every fourhours” and he abbreviated“right” as an R with a circlearound it.

Several days passed, and thewoman returned with her baby,complaining that the baby stillhad an ear ache, and his littlebehind was getting really greasywith all those drops of oil.

The doctor looked at the bottleof ear drops and sure enough, thepharmacist had typed thefollowing instructions on thelabel:

“Put two drops in R ear everyfour hours.”

What Am I?Miss Jones had been giving her

second-grade students a lessonon science.

She had explained aboutmagnets and showed how theywould pick up nails and otherbits of iron.

Now it was question time, andshe asked, “My name begins withthe letter ‘M’ and I pick up things.What am I?”

A little boy on the front rowproudly said, “You’re a mother!”


THAT NONEMAY BE LOST

by Marco Rossetti

Forgive us our debts as weforgive our debtors” (Matthew

6:12). That was how the Lordtaught us to pray the ‘Our father,’offering us the highest and mostdemanding measure of forgive-ness, the one he received from hisFather as the yardstick that wemust use with others. Knowingus well, but feeling the need todefine his first teaching onforgiveness more precisely, headded it to his “discourse on theChurch.” Who of us, in fact, doesnot need to be helped to love thosewho, in one way or another, havelived differently from what theWord of God and the teaching ofthe Church prescribes? Howshould we behave towards them?And again, how would we like tobe treated were we to break theharmony of the community? Donot scandalize “little ones” (Mt18.6 - 9) so that the “little ones” takethe road to sin and are lost. On thecontrary, we must seek out andfind them as we would the lost

sheep (Mt. 10 -14). Do not allow abrother to be easily lost to error butcorrect and readmit him to thecommunity (Mt 15-18). That wasthe Word of Christ and it is thepattern we, his disciples mustfollow.

Be committed to lose noneWe now deepen our reading of

that short text in the verses Mt18:15-18. It recounts Jesus’ teach-ing on the theme of unity andfraternal harmony. The impress-ion one gets is that of being facedwith a cold disciplinary norm. Itcan detract from the next teachingon effective prayer (vs. 19-20). Infact, the latter actually has theability to motivate the reader toread that norm in a new spirit. Inthus composing this little sectionof his Gospel, Matthew shows usthat he understands perfectly thatwhat interests Jesus is not theprescriptions of the law concerningthe brother who infringes the lawbut rather he calls us to serious


commitment to restore fraternalharmony at all costs. This isimperative – Jesus goes on - if wewant our Christian communities tobe places where He is present andin which prayer is heard. Withoutunity and harmony, the Fatherwill not give us whatever we askfor (see 19)!

Reading vs. 15-16 we learn howmuch and what kind of careshould be bestowed on a personwho has not behaved appropria-tely. Note also the purpose of thisteaching: “to win back one’s ownbrother;” it is an expression thatspeaks of the joy that comes whenfraternal correction achieves itsgoal (cf. Mt 18:13). Correctionshould always aim at rekindlingone’s desire for change in orderthat everyone everywhere lives inlove. This is an expression ofauthentic concern for one anotherand it is the manifestation of one’sdesire to give him the possibilityof renewal.

The words of Jesus then reach

a dramatic point when it speaksof the failure to restore harmony(v. 17). In this bitter case one hasto declare that the brother has sethimself outside the communitybecause of not wanting to listenand welcome the repeatedattempts of help that are beingoffered. This is clearly an extremesituation, which will hopefullynot be reached.

“Guardians” of each otherWe are helped to grow in love

and harmony so that none maybe lost: this is the point! But howis this to be done? We aresupported by other passages andwe are taught by Jesus that truefraternal correction only exists ina spirit of reconciliation(Matthew 5:23), forgiveness (Mt6:14), not judgment (Mt 7:15) ortolerance (Mt 13, 24). In short, weneed to learn to grow in harmonywithout ever breaking thecommandment of love! Harmonyis a difficult goal to achieve: wemust learn to save one another bybecoming “guardians” to eachother (Ez. 33.1 to 9). It would benice if we become people whoreach out to others to assist themin living better lives of Christianholiness. If we did this daily, eachin his own way, we could reallybuild up a reconciled community,because my life and yours wouldcome together in a continuousdesire for harmony.

Only if every person becomesthe focus of my personal concernand care, will harmony bepreserved; a true communitywhose prayer will be morefervent is one that will beenlivened by the presence of Christand on it the Father will give hisblessing.

It was essential for Jesus that beingreconciled with his brothers wasneecssary "to win him over." "Which ofyou who has a hundred sheep and onewas lost, would he not leave theninetynine in the desert and go afterthe lost one till he found it?"


A SECRET HIDDEN IN THE DAOn Friday 23rd October 2013 Pope

as the model of faith aThe following is taken from the Pope's

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!Let us begin with the first aspect, Mary as the model of faith. In

what sense does Mary represent a model for the Church’s faith? Letus think about who the Virgin Mary was: a Jewish girl who waswaiting with all her heart for the redemption of her people. But inthe heart of the young daughter of Israel there was a secret thateven she herself did not yet know: in God’s loving plan she wasdestined to become the Mother of the Redeemer. At the Annunciation,the Messenger of God calls her “full of grace” and reveals this planto her. Mary answers “yes” and from that moment Mary’s faithreceives new light: it is concentrated on Jesus, the Son of God, whofrom her took flesh and in whom all the promises of salvationhistory are fulfilled. She is the model of the Church’s faith, whichhas Christ, the incarnation of God’s infinite love, as its centre.

How did Mary live this faith? She lived it out in the simplicity ofthe thousand daily tasks and worries of every mother, such asproviding food, clothing, caring for the house.... It was preciselyOur Lady’s normal life which served as the basis for the uniquerelationship and profound dialogue which unfolded between herand God, between her and her Son. Mary’s “yes”, already perfectfrom the start, grew until the hour of the Cross. There hermotherhood opened to embrace every one of us, our lives, so as toguide us to her Son. Mary lived perpetually immersed in themystery of God-made-man, as his first and perfect disciple,by contemplating all things in her heart in the light of theHoly Spirit, in order to understand and live out the will ofGod.

We can ask ourselves a question: do we allow ourselvesto be illumined by the faith of Mary, who is our Mother? Ordo we think of her as distant, as someone too different fromus? In moments of difficulty, of trial, of darkness, do welook to her as a model of trust in God who always and onlydesires our good?

We come to the second aspect: Mary as the model of charity.In what way is Mary a living example of love for theChurch? Let us think the readiness she showed toward hercousin Elizabeth. In visiting her, the Virgin Mary broughtnot only material help — she brought this too — but shealso brought Jesus, who was already alive in her womb.Bringing Jesus into that house meant bringing joy, the


AUGHTER OF ISRAEL'S HEART Francis spoke about the life of Maryt the general audience.s catechesis which was given in Italian.

fullness of joy. Elizabeth and Zachariah were rejoicing at apregnancy that had seemed impossible at their age, but it was theyoung Mary who brought them the fullness of joy, the joy whichcomes from Jesus and from the Holy Spirit, and is expressed bygratuitous charity, by sharing with, helping, and understandingothers.

Our Lady also wants to bring the great gift of Jesus to us, to us all;and with him she brings us his love, his peace, and his joy. TheChurch carries Jesus and should be like Mary when she went tovisit Elizabeth. What did Mary take to her? Jesus. The Churchbrings Jesus: this is the centre of the Church, to carry Jesus! If, as ahypothesis, the Church were not to bring Jesus, she would be adead Church. The Church must bring Jesus, the love of Jesus, thecharity of Jesus.

We have spoken about Mary, about Jesus. What about us? Wewho are the Church? What kind of love do we bring to others? Is itthe love of Jesus that shares, that forgives, that accompanies, or is ita watered-down love, like wine so diluted that it seems like water?Is it a strong love, or a love so weak that it follows the emotions,that it seeks a return, an interested love? Or do we care for oneanother? These are the questions of charity!

And briefly, one last aspect: Mary as the model of union with Christ.The life of the Holy Virgin was the life of a woman of her people:

Mary prayed, she worked, she went to the synagogue... Butevery action was carried out in perfect union with Jesus.This union finds its culmination on Calvary: here Mary isunited to the Son in the martyrdom of her heart and in theoffering of his life to the Father for the salvation of humanity.Our Lady shared in the pain of the Son and accepted withhim the will of the Father, in that obedience that bears fruit,that grants the true victory over evil and death.

The reality Mary teaches us is very beautiful: to always beunited with Jesus. We can ask ourselves: do we rememberJesus only when something goes wrong and we are in need,or is ours a constant relation, a deep friendship, even whenit means following him on the way of the Cross?

Let us ask the Lord to grant us his grace, his strength, sothat the model of Mary, Mother of the Church, may bereflected in our lives and in the life of every ecclesialcommunity. So be it!


FISH FOR MEFrom Fr. Ian Doulton's collection of stories

If you are a practicing Catholicwhat happened to Jim could

happen to you either like this orin a somewhat similar way.

There’s one sure way to stay atpeace with everyone: that is, notto have any principles. Butsometimes you make it hard forpeople to understand yourprinciples, because, maybe, youcarry them like a chip on yourshoulder. I’ll tell you what Imean.

A while back they organizedthe downtown ‘GoodfellowsClub’. I joined and it turned outthat I was the only Catholic in thebunch. Well, it fitted all right withme.

They hold a luncheon meetingevery other Friday in a privatedining room of a pretty nicerestaurant. Well the first meetingand I’m getting organized withthe gang. I am getting my teethall set for lunch and suddenly itstrikes me: “This is Friday!” Thethought races though my mindlike a shot. I don’t want to looklike a freak to embarass thechairman or something. Then Iget a grip on myself. I’m aCatholic, and this is Friday.

So, when the waiter begins toslip me my prime rib, the onethat’s supposed to be mine, Ishake my head.

“No gravy, sir?” asks thewaiter.

“No, not for me,” I answer.“Can I have a lemon steak?” Iplead and the waiter says it’s noton the menu. Then I try asking forshrimp, but not even that’savailable today. Then the waiter

suggests a coffee and a tunasalad.

By this time fifty eyes arelooking sideways at me. Thefellow on my right seems to begetting a particular joy out of it.He begins to smile; and now heis fitting his face with a grin. Thewaiter finally comes back withwhat looks like a washtub filledwith lawn clippings. The fellowwith the big grin asks whether Ido not like ribs. I tell him I like itvery much. Then he persists. Hethinks I like fish and so I’mhaving fish. I tell him I likesalmon steak very much.

“But you ordered tuna salad, Iheard.”

“Today’s Friday,” I say. Heasks if I am a Catholic and I say Iam.

“So this is what you have to doto get to heaven, eat fish onFriday?”

“That’s not the idea. That’s notthe idea at all!”

He carries on joking saying thatwhile I was going to be ‘up’ there,he was going to be ‘down’ herebarbecuing with the rest of myfriends.

My neighbour laughs andlaughs till I think he is going tofall off his chair. - What’s so funnyabout a guy eating fish on Friday?I decide that he just doesn’t likeCatholics. He could at least bepolite like the other fellows.Before he gets to asking all thosequestions he ought to find out thereason.

I recall my mother saying:“Tomorrow’s Friday: fish, eggs,cheese day,” and everybody is


making faces. But as I go home Ilook for something to refresh mymind on the answers and findsome pretty good ones. Like: Weall owe God something and makeup for the wrongs we have doneby giving up something we like.It also is a kind of training. Likean athlete giving up things tokeep himself in condition so wetoo get ourselves in betterspiritual shape by makingsacrifices. Any Christian knowsthat even Christ did it and saidit. Unless we do some penancewe will all perish. The reason theChurch picked Friday as the dayof penance is the simplest of all:it’s the day Christ suffered anddied. So a good way to rememberthat day is to make somesacrifice. Going withoutsomething we enjoy, like meat.

Now I get the reasons straightI think. But this character, I foundhis name is Charlie Meadow,isn’t looking for information. Ihave a hunch that he’s selectedme as a man for his gag.

The next Friday meeting I lookfor a different place at the table.The rest of the gang has spreadout around the table but oldCharlie has spotted me. He takesone look at my plate and his eyeslight up like neon. He wants toknow what that is, on my plate. Iexplain that it is mackerel.

All in the fish family,” helaughs.

Then I suggest that he orderoysters, but he says that hedoesn’t like oysters, and hedoesn’t like fish. Then I tell himthat I do not really like fish exceptsalmon steak…”

I find that they never havesalmon here at this restaurant.

Charlie suggests that I orderfrogs’ legs. He says they lived inwater like fish and smelled like ittoo.

This guy knows the whole jokebook, at least all the gags aboutFridays and fish.

“Jim, did you hear about theIrishman who went to arestaurant on Friday and askedfor some fried octopus on Friday.He was told there was no friedoctopus and the Irishmanretorted: “The Lord knows I tried!Then, get me some beef steak.”

“Jim, I understand that youCatholics don’t eat any meatduring Lent. I heard of a guy whoate so much fish that his stomachused to rise and fall with the tide.”

I try sitting on every differentside of the table but he’s after melike a bloodhound on my trail. ButI can’t shut him out completelyand I find myself dreaming up allkinds of mayhem.

In my dream, I interrupt: “Shutup, I am fed up to the ears withyour wise jokes. This is a freecountry. To eat fish on Friday ispart of my religion. So I’ve got aright to eat my tuna salad andsmoked salmon without any ofyour cornball humour on the side.If I was on a diet implying nomeat you would not crack jokes.You’d think it is bad manners.

“You said a couple of times thatyou wouldn’t let anybody tell youto go to Church on Sunday, orwhat to eat on Friday. Well, listen,brother, every time you turnaround someone is telling youwhat to do and you’re taking it:the traffic cop, your boss, yourwife, and the shoeshine boy. Hesays, “Put up the right, put up theleft,’ and you put them up. God’s


the only one who’s got the rightto tell you what to do, and to helpyou remember, I am going to letyou have a left.” ... But that is alldaydreaming while dinner is goingon.

“Hey Jim, Jim, you feel all right?”Charlie asks.

“Yes, why?” I answer.He thinks I am sitting there with

my eyes fixed and glassy, and hasa good laugh. This character is inthe wrong business. He couldmake a million writing lines or TVcomics, he never runs out of wit.

It’s the time for the annualbarbecue at the club; well, just myluck. This barbecue which theyare going to have has charcoalbroiled steaks and is set for -Friday! I dream up twenty goodexcuses for not showing up. ThenI decide I can’t back down now.

I show up at the barbecue andI enjoy myself until it’s time to eat.Oh, it’s smelling good; the aromaof the charcoal broiled steaks!And as I move closer I see hugebig juicy sizzled steaks. I alsoknow what I’m going to end upwith - “leaves!” (lettuce salad).

Well, ...Then I see somethingthat chases my appetite and Imove to the next counter. Andwho should be handing out thesteaks, but my old pal CharlieMeadows.

All I want to do now is find ahole in the ground and covermyself quick with leaves becauseI can already hear what thischaracter is going to say in front

of all the other guys. Just thethought of it, sets me offimagining… I take a deep breath.This is it! Here comes the laughof the century. I try to lookCharlie squarely in the eye. Hegives me a great big smile. Thenhe reaches under the counter andhe holds out to me a plate with agreat big beautiful salmon steak!

“Jim, I remembered you can’teat meat today, so I went out onthe wharf this morning, got this.I’ve been keeping it warm foryou. Here you are.”

At the next meeting of theGoodfellows Club, I get Charlieaside. I thank him for the favourhe did. I ask him how come hewasn’t so honourable before. Hesays he was just having a little funand maybe he wasn’t too brightabout showing it, but underneathhe thinks I’m a great guy. He saysthat a guy who sticks to hisprinciples is the only kind hethinks is worth having for afriend.

It made me sure of two things.I was glad I had stuck out forwhat I believe in, but also, you’vegot to watch out for putting thewrong interpretation on whatanother person does or says.

Charlie Meadows and I havelunch together every Friday evenwhen we don’t have to go to theGoodfellows Club. And Charliealways sees to it that we go to aplace which has good salmonsteaks.

TO HONOUR THE PASTWhen the going gets tough those of us who are older often harken

back to the 'good old days.' Of course, there never was such a time. Thereis no doubt that we can at times, find comfort in the past, but there is alsoa danger that if we cling to the past we will fail to live in the present, losinghalf experience of the present. That is no way to honour the past. Tohonour the past we must absorb its lessons and live them in the present.


Form IV

Statement of ownership and other particulars about the newspaper:Don Bosco's Madonna

1. Place of Publication: St. Paul Press, 58/23rd Rd.,TPS III ,Bandra, Mumbai - 400 050.

2. Periodicity of Publication: 1 & 2 of every month3. Printer's name and nationality: For Bombay Salesian Society,

Fr. Edwin D'Souza sdb (trustee)IndianDon Bosco Shrine OfficeMatunga, Mumbai 400 019

4. Publisher's name: - do -5. Editor's name: Fr. Ian Doulton sdb6. Name & address of individuals who own the newspaper and partners or shareholders holding more than 1% of capital.

The magazine is a non-profit publication

I, Fr. Ian Doulton, hereby declare that the particulars given above aretrue to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Dated: March 1, 2014

Sd/- Fr. Ian Doulton sdb


WHAT ISSPIRITUALITY?

1by Fr. Elias Dias sdb

In order to understand well thespirituality of Don Bosco we

need to know what spiritualitymeans and how it developeddown the centuries in theCatholic Church.

God has called us all to holinessand various people use variousways to fulfil this missionaccording to their abilities andthe circumstances in which theylive. The way we achieve this goalis called Spirituality. It is ourendeavour to perceive realitymore and more with the mindand heart of Jesus and thiscolours our whole life. Spiritual-ity is our human response in faithto God’s revelation in a givensituation in an effort to transformour lives and those of others.

A brief history of Christianspirituality: The history ofspirituality is the history ofChristian spiritual life thatevolved and adapted itself to thechanging times. The Old Testa-ment spirituality was essentiallybased on the experience of the“Divine” which encounteredman and radically transformedhim. In the New Testament, Jesus,conscious of presence of God,preached the Good News of theReign of God. He revealed thatGod is love and He offers to everyindividual the grace of being achild of God. He expressed hislove with total dedication andself-giving through his death andresurrection and invited his

followers to do the same – to dieto self and so to rise to a new life.

Spirituality of the PrimitiveChurch: Christian spirituality isa participation in the mystery ofChrist. The spirituality of theprimitive Church was a) Christo-centric: One's life was not centredon the person of the historicalJesus but on the Risen Lord whowas in their midst in the Eucha-rist, in the Word, in the comm-unity prayers. b) Communitarian.The early Christians began to livetogether in community andshared with each other all theyhad so that no one was in need.The breaking of the EucharisticBread became the centre of theirunity. c) Early Christian spiritual-ity was eschatological, their liveswere coloured by eschatology orParousia (the second coming ofJesus). They believed that theywere just pilgrims in this worldeagerly waiting for Christ to comefor the last judgement. d) Their


spirituality wasoriented towardsm a r t y r d o m .They longed tobe with Christand this influen-ced their spirit-uality. This exp-lains their atti-tude towardsmartyrdom. Theearly Christianlived christo-centric and com-munitarian life.They lived to-gether in comm-unity and sharedwith each otherall they had sothat no one wasin need. The braking of theEucharistic bread became thecentre of their unity. They livedthe “Vita Apostolica” eagerlywaiting for second coming ofChrist and were ready to suffermartyrdom for the sake of Christand his kingdom.

Spirituality in ancient Church:After the Edict of Milan whenChristianity became the Statereligion, some holy people fledto the desert and lived a life ofpenance and prayer as a way toholiness.

Around eight century Monasticlife came to being. The monaster-ies were places of work andprayer. Christians attainedholiness by living the monsasticlife. In the twelfth century theMendicant Friars went out intothe midst of the people in thecities and towns preaching gospeland witnessing to Christianliving by their fraternal comm-unities. More Modern religious

communities had also beenapostolic, rendering wonderfulservice to the whole people ofGod through their educational,charismatic works of love andmercy.

Modern Spirituality: The lastdecade of the eighteenth centuryushered in the French Revolution.Pope Pius IX called the VaticanCouncil I in 1869. The Councildeclared the Infallibility of thePope. Catholics were tornbetween the State and theChurch. Pope Leo XIII publishedan important encyclical letter onwork: “Rerum Novarum”.

During this time many saintsinfluenced the modern Churchand among them were St. Thérèseof Lisieux also known as the LittleFlower and St John Bosco who liveda spirituality of involvement.

Spirituality of VaticanCouncil II: The two World Warsof 1914 and 1939 brought aremarkable change in the philo-

"With his great zeal to win souls for God and hispassionate love for the young he foresaw the need of

a spirituality suited to the modern generation."


sophy, mentality and the way oflife. The most striking effort of theChurch in the twentieth centurywas the holding of the Ecumeni-cal Council of Vatican II on 25January 1959. The Council wasconvoked by Pope John XXIII. Hewanted to adapt and update(aggiornamento) the Church to theworld that was changing rapidly.The most important aims of theCouncil were to increase vigourin the Christian life of the faithful,to adapt the institutions that weremore suitable to the needs of thetime and to foster whateverhelped to promote unity amongthe believers of Christ.

Modern psychology, scientificand technological progress hadproduced a new vision of manand the world. Vatican Council II,reading the signs of time, adaptedthe spirituality according to thechanging times.

1. From the psychological pointof view, our contemporariesdisliked conservative methodsand favoured spontaneity. Theysought authenticity and discar-ded formalism. They devotedtheir attention to the individualand his needs.

2. They tend to link theobligation of love to service. Theyopted for what is social andcommunitarian. They believed infraternal communion and relation-ships, team spirit and solidarity,and avoided individualisticmethods.

3. This spirituality emphasizesapostolic tendencies because it isa spirituality of action andcontemplation allowing the laityto live this spirituality that

brought God to men and tookmen to God.

4. It emphasizes involvementrather than withdrawal; it isincarnational rather than escha-tological; secular rather thanmonastic. We live in this worldand so we have to work to buildup the city of man, sanctify andperfect it.

5. This perspective cuts throughseveral concepts of Christianity:the liturgy, the incarnation, themystical body of Christ. Thisspirituality is Christ-centred.Christ is studied, witnessed toand made present. The study andliving of the Bible is given greatimportance.

6. Formally great stress was laidon the evil inclinations of peopleand offered several ways toeradicate these weaknesses.Today stress is laid on thegoodness of man and that his giftsare to be used for his sanctifi-cation and that of others.

Spirituality of Don Bosco: DonBosco lived long before VaticanII. With his great zeal to win soulsfor God and his passionate lovefor the young he foresaw the needof a spirituality suited to themodern generation. In his dreamat the age of nine, the great“Personage” called him by nameand sent him on a mission. Hewas to transform the wild ani-mals into mild lambs. In order tofulfil this mission, the greatpersonage gave him a method“not with blows but withkindness and gentleness and tomake them good Christians andhonest citizens.


The Educational method of DonBosco is called the PreventiveSystem. It is based on Reason: ForDon Bosco reason meant enteringin dialogue with an attitude ofcommunication and collabora-tion; not forcing, but motivatingthe individual. This motivation isnot something external, butsomething that touches the coreand strengthens conviction fromwithin. It also demands reason-ableness in all things, viz. reli-gion, kindness, discipline, stud-ies, games, leisure etc.

In Don Bosco’s system, religionis not meant to lead pupils topious religious practices butrather, it meant helping them tobecome mature individuals. Sincehe was a Catholic, he knew noother religion except Catholicismand its practices. Hence hefollowed what he knew and whatworked effectively in his time –Prayers, Eucharist, Confession,Devotion to Mary and many otherCatholic practices as means toachieve his mission.

Kindness or Love has manydefinitions. Don Bosco’s educa-tion does not consist merely infilling students with ideas, or justtraining them in skills to earn theirlivelihood but he instils in themholistic values by developing theirphysical intellectual and spiritualcapacities so that they maybecome “Good Christians andHonest citizens.” For thispurpose, he started catechismclasses, evening classes, boardingschools, technical schools andcolleges. He wrote books,engaged in social activities andmany other endeavours.

The method of Don Bosco isbased on the love of the Good

Shepherd. Like the GoodShepherd Don Bosco knew, lovedand lead his boys to God. Hisboys loved, obeyed and allowedhim to make them a beautifulgarment for the Lord. The systemcan be summarized in the wordsof St Paul (1 Cor.1:4-7) “Love ispatient and kind, it is not jealousor conceited or proud, love is notill mannered or selfish orirritable. Love does not keeprecords of wrongs, love is nothappy with evil, but happy withtruth. Love never gives up and itsfaith, hope and patience neverfail.” All these principles areembodied in the PreventiveSystem of Don Bosco.

Don Bosco used his educativesystem not only in his educationbut also experienced and lived itin his life as a spirituality to fulfilhis mission. He dedicated hisentire life, works and duties forGod and his mission. He madehimself completely available toall with joy and great sacrificeand by following this human,simple approach, one has acomplete spirituality. Don Boscobecame a saint and led manyothers to sanctity. When youngDominic Savio asked him how hecould become a saint Don Boscotold him “Be cheerful, do yourduties and be an apostle.” TheChurch recognizes this spirit-uality by adding the names ofDon Bosco and some of his foll-owers in the great roster of saints.The world recognizes DonBosco’s spirituality for themodern man of nineteen century.In the following articles we shallsee in detail the spirituality ofDon Bosco.


MARY: MASTERPIECEOF THE HOLY SPIRIT

by Roberto Spataro sdb

A thirteenth century documentwritten by Cono, a canon of

the Cathedral of Lausanne,Switzerland reveals a beautifulinsight. Bishop Amadeus wholived a hundred years earlier hadwritten eight homilies in honourof the Blessed Virgin Mary. Hesent them to his sister, a nun, whoafter reading them returned themin a woolen sleeve. It was aprecious relic. It was a gift to theVirgin Mary and it expressed herappreciation for the homilies ofAmadeus. This legendary episodeaffirms the high esteem withwhich the Swiss Bishop’s homilieswere regarded. They were read inthe Cathedral during the liturgicaloffice recited on Saturdays, theday of the week dedicated toMary. After the first one whichserves as an introduction the otherseven dwelt on the gifts of theHoly Spirit in relation to Mary,demonstrating how she possessedthem (those gifts) in an excellentdegree. Amadeus lists them inreverse order from the way weknow them: Fear of God, Piety,

Knowledge, Strength, Counsel,Intelligence and Wisdom. In thefifth homily, for example, theauthor explains that at the foot ofthe Cross, Our Lady demonstra-ted her strength by enduring themartyrdom of the heart. This alsoplaces in relief a theologicalprinciple: the Madonna and theHoly Spirit have a special rela-tionship. The Gifts and Virtues ofthe Holy Spirit enriched her soulto the point that - as would beexplained centuries later by theSalesian theologian, DominicBertetto – assume that the ThirdPerson of the Trinity and theVirgin of Nazareth are in a per-fect “synergy” and always oper-ate only in perfect harmony. TheMadonna is the masterpiece ofthe Holy Spirit and we, gazingat Mary’s incomparable holiness,begin to fathom the gifts andperfections that He bestows onher.So many implore the Virgin as Mediatrix

Before becoming a bishop,


Amadeus was a Cistercian monk,a disciple of St. Bernard, who, toinculcate devotion to Mary begana school for this. Amadeus learneda lot from him. Already the greatabbot of Clairvaux had said:“There was need of a mediatrix inorder to approach this Mediator,Christ himself. None other wasmore worthy than Mary.” Andspeaking of Mary the Mediatrix,Amadeus exclaimed with genuinelyrical inspiration: “Prostrate at herfeet are even those who areembittered in spirit, the grief-stricken, the poor, the afflicted, thedesolate, debtors, and even thosewho live in disgrace. She gladlytakes the prayers of all those whoin their tribulation plead with herand she beseeches her Son,mercifully to protect them from allevil.” This mediating function isextended also to the Jewish people.In the twelfth century, relationsbetween Christiansand Jews were of-ten tense and eachaccused the otherof ungodliness.Amadeus avoidedthis controversyand he underlinedanother consolingtruth: the Mad-onna, who wasJewish by birth,beneath the Crossprayed for her peo-ple. He wrote in thefifth homily: “See-ing them, in fact onthe threshold ofeternal death, shedid not think theywere worthy ofcontempt butrather of great lovethrough her abun-

dant tears of deep devotion.Therefore, united to the greatlove of Jesus as he hung on theCross, she prayed for them.”Would the pleas and supplica-tions of the Mother of God gounheeded? This original insightof Amadeus of Lausanne couldnot but enlighten the currentinterreligious dialogue betweenthe Jews and the CatholicChurch. Jews themselves wouldbe happy to read the homiliesof this bishop, among thewritings of this Blessed bishop,because he cherished thewritings of the Old Testamentin which he saw the BlessedVirgin Mary pre-figured. Forexample, consider the goldenurn kept in the ancient Templein Jerusalem which held therelics of the manna that Godgave to the Jews in the wilder-ness. To Amadeus it was a

symbol of Mary: “This urn (refer-ring to Mary) contained theHidden Manna, because she borein her most holy womb the Breadof Angels that comes down fromheaven and gives life to theworld.”

Venerated in heaven and loved in the world

Our Lady fulfills her mission asmediatrix in heaven where shewas fully assumed body and soul.Amadeus of Lausanne is one of theauthors who testifies to this con-viction that would progressivelybe embraced by the Church. In1950, Pope Pius XII, in the bullMunificentissimus Deus, proclaim-ed this dogma and, among theeminent doctors who were quotedwas Amadeus of Lausanne him-self. According to him this Marianprivilege was accorded to her byvirtue of her sublime holiness and

her perpetual corporeal virginity.Pope Pius XII always wanted toestablish the liturgical feast of theQueenship of Mary, whichcaptures in essence another aspectof her glorification in heaven. Andit was always Amadeus ofLausanne, who explained how theQueenship of Mary came about:“Besides being glorified with herSon she was installed as Queen ofheaven and mercifully as Queenof earth too and she conqueredhell. Therefore, all creaturesrespond each in their own way:angels with honour; humanitywith love and demons with fear.”This is a teaching we shouldalways remember when recitingthe Fifth Glorious Mystery of theRosary where we meditate onMary as the Universal Queen:“in heaven you are venerated, inthe world you are loved and inhell you are feared.”

When we think of St. Joseph we normally think of a grey-bearded old manas depicted in many medieval paintings. The Gospels say very little aboutJoseph, only that he was a ‘just’ man. Joseph himself never speaks in theGospel stories and so our knowledge of Joseph is somewhat shrouded insilence. Yet, it is this silence that gives the greatest witness to the type ofman that St. Joseph was. He was a humble carpenter who didn’t drawattention to himself but fulfilled his daily duties to the best of his ability withtremendous faith in God -a faith which required him to believe that his wifehad conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and to take her into his home!

Declared Patron of the Universal Church (by Pope Pius IX in 1870), St. Josephhas a universal importance that no other saint (except Our Lady) has. The Churchlooks to St. Joseph to help her in all her necessities. These needs are reflectedby the titles which Joseph has been given by the Church. He is Patron of Families,of the dying, of the Sick, of Workers, and of Marriages.

How many of us have parents, children or loved ones who need help insome of the above areas? God has chosen St. Joseph to be a specialintercessor for these most fundamental of human needs.

St. Therese of Avila says this of St. Joseph: “To other Saints the Lordseems to have given grace to help us in one or other of our necessities, butof this glorious saint my experience is that he succours us in them all andthat the Lord wishes to teach us that as He was Himself subject to him onearth, in like manner in Heaven, He still does all he asks”. As Jesus hasgiven us His mother to be our mother, so also He has given us St. Joseph tobe our Guardian, Helper and Protector in all things.

ST. JOSEPH

NEWSBITSFrance

“In a reversal of the traditionaldirection of flow, African priests arecoming to Europe in increasingnumbers to combat the decline inpriestly vocations there. Bishops inthe developed world have beenreaching out to their counterpartsin the developing world to bringpriests from Africa, Asia and LatinAmerica, where the priesthood isstill appealing and vocationsbooming,” The Sydney MorningHerald reports. The decline of thepriesthood as a vocation isparticularly pronounced in France,where the average age of the 14,000priests is 72. At 16,000 the numberof Foreign priests has nearly tripledover the past eight years, withmany being recruited for parishesin urban areas and the Parisiansuburbs.

To church officials, this is notnecessarily a bad thing. “They bringfreshness, youth and another wayto consider the pastoral,” says FrPierre-Yves Pecqueux, who headsthe international recruitment at theconference des eveques de France,the church’s bishops’ committee.“They have their own way to speakabout faith, and a joy to believe inGod,” he says.

Most foreign priests are sent toFrance for three, six or nine yearsaccording to an agreement betweenbishops. They settle here on thebasis of the Fidei Donum (Gift ofFaith), the 1957 encyclical thatencourage bishops to openthemselves “to the universal needsof the Church.” Some also serve aspart-time priests, having gone thereprimarily to study theology inFrench universities.

The church organisessessions to welcome foreignpriest and train them for thereligious realities of France.The newcomers are giveninformation about the historyof Catholicism in France, thespecifics of state secularismand the use of social media. Formany priests, the fundamentalproblem is the Church’sstruggle to define itself for anew generation in a secularcountry and amid a de-christianizing trend in WesternEurope. Source: www.cathnews.com

BrazilLast year, during the World

Youth DayNathan de Britobrought Pope Francis to tearsduring one of his motorcadesthrough the streets of Rio deJaneiro when he broke pastbarriers to deliver an importantmessage to the Pontiff.

“Your Holiness, I want to bea priest of Christ, a represent-ative of Christ”, de Britowhispered in the ear of PopeFrancis July 26, 2013 afterjumping hurdles and makinghis way to the Popemobile inhis Brazilian national soccerteam jersey.

“I am going to pray for you,but I ask you to pray for me,”Pope Francis responded,moved to tears and embracinghim. “As of today, yourvocation is set.”

Onlookers noticed that deBrito did not want to leave theHoly Father. It was only afterseveral attempts that the Pope’


.

security entourage was able to takehim off the Popemobile. Once onthe street, Nathan walkedalongside the Popemobile, wavingto the Pontiff and blowing himkisses. One of the security guardsstopped to console the boy beforebringing him back to his waitingfamily. CAN 07/30/2013

EthiopiaAddis Ababa

“We are a small reality but ourcontribution to the social andspiritual life of the Country isappreciated by all,” says Fr.Hagos Hayish, Secretary Generalof the Episcopal Conference ofEthiopia.

“Catholics in Ethiopia repre-sent about 1% of the population,most of who adhere to theEthiopian Orthodox Church or tothe Islamic religion,” explains Fr.Hayish. “The Catholic Church,however, is well regarded by boththe population and the authoritiesfor its social activities and itsattitude of openness to all,Christians and Muslims.”

“We have, for example, morethan 360 schools attended bystudents from all walks of life andsocial background, regardless oftheir religion. The same can besaid about the 82 health centresrun by the Catholic Church,scattered throughout the terri-tory, some of which operate inremote areas of the country,which provide medical care toeverybody,” said Fr. Hayish.

“Another factor which is greatlyappreciated is the neutral attitudeof the Catholic Church withrespect to the religious divisionsthat are present in the country.This is why we are called to carryout work of mediation, especiallyin this moment in which also inour country the growth ofreligious fundamental-ism is felt,”said the Secretary General of theEpiscopal Conference of Ethiopia.

To promote interfaith dialoguethe Interfaith Council of Ethiopiahas been created, in which theCatholic Church has been calledto play an important role, a signof respect and trust. Agenzia Fides

Example of PrayerDuring his captivity while tending the

flocks St. Patrick prayed many times in theday: In his ‘confessio’ he writes “love of Godand His fear increased in me more and more,and the faith grew in me, and the spirit wasroused, so that, in a single day, I have saidas many as a hundred prayers, and in thenight nearly the same, so that whilst in thewoods and on the mountain, even before thedawn, I was roused to prayer and felt no hurtfrom it, whether there was snow or ice orrain; nor was there any slothfulness in me,such as I see now, because the spirit was thenfervent within me.”

ST. PATRICK - 17TH MARCH


THE DEVOTION OF THE THREE HAIL MARYS

The devotion of the THREE HAIL MARYS isa very simple yet most efficacious devotion.Everyday, recite Three Hail Marys, adding theinvocation: "O Mary, My Mother, keep me frommortal sin." Many people recite the Three HailMarys as part of their morning and night prayers.To practise this devotion in time of danger, stress,special need or temptation, is a sure means toobtain Our Lady's help.I was in Bombay on 30th July 2013 and while

attempting to board a suburban train which was just starting to moveand pick up speed, I managed to catch hold of the door handle and asI was about to place my foot on the footboard when I slipped as it wasraining heavily. I missed my foothold and fell off the train. I wentsprawling on the platform. It could have been fatal. Mary the Mother ofGod protected and saved me and i escaped with not as much as ascratch. All my personal belongings were safe too.I always say the 3Hail Mary’s to honour mama Mary. Rodney B. Laporte, ChennaiI am very grateful to Mother Mary for saving me from a fatal accidentbecause of a fall in a hotel bathroom when I was in Velankanni. Irecovered with a few stitches above my right eye. I always pray thethree Hail Marys in the morning and in the evening. Thank you Jesusand Mother Mary for all the favours and blessings that my family and Ihave received. C. F. D'Souza, MumbaiMy sincere thanks for the complete cure of my husband after fall and ahead injury. Linda Simon, CanadaI have received numerous favours by faithfully praying the Three HailMarys in my day to day life and also because of my devotion to St.John Bosco, Dominic Savio and St. Anthony. Agnello Torres, MumbaiMy daughter Dionne Saviola Marie completed her MBA with good resultsand was blessed with a job and my family has received several favoursand graces through praying the three Hail Marys. D. Almeida, GoaDear Mother Mary I am most grateful for the several blessings andfavours received. Lawrence, Angeline and Family, MumbaiOur sincere thanks to Sweet Jesus and dearest Mother Mary, for oursuccessful migration to Canada and a great settlement with regards toour jobs and house. Dear Jesus and Mother Mary, do continue to protectand bless us. Praise you Jesus and Mary. Christelle and Valentino Pereira, CanadaA few months back I suffered from severe pain and a burning sensationin both my legs. I spent many sleepless nights and had to find recoursein sleeping medication. I had other urinary problems too. In my desperatecondition I prayed to Mary Help of Christians and the Three Hail Marys.My sincere prayer was rewarded. I am most grateful. Agnes Mary, Joseph, Kerala


LOVING CHILDREN TOTHEIR LOVING MOTHER

THEY ARE GRATEFUL TOOUR LADY AND DON BOSCO

Our sincere thanks to Jesus, Mother Mary and all the saints towhom I prayed when I was in desperate need and was goingthrough hard times. I am grateful for the graces received. Benedict PereiraMy 2 year old son was not well and he was vomiting and haddiarrhoea and I prayed to Mother Mary and Don Bosco and he wassoon better. I thank you mother and St. Dominic Savio too. B. Rodrigues, GoaOur sincere thanks to Mother Mary, Don Bosco and Dominic Saviofor the many favours received, we pray to you to shower yourblessings and protect our family. Cheryl and Ashok Vaz, KuwaitThank you Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mother Mary, Don Boscoand St. Dominic Savio for a safe delivery and the gift of a baby boyto us after 13 years. Mother Mary thank you for interceding for myfamily and showering us with so many favours. Crimseanna and Bosco Pereira, MumbaiOur sincere gratitude and heart felt thanks to Our Lady Help ofChristians, Don Bosco and St. Dominic Savio for a safe and normaldelivery of a beautiful and normal baby girl. Please continue toshower your blessings on our family . Lloyd and Seema Zalki and Family, MumbaiWe are grateful to St. John Bosco for the gift of a healthy baby girl(Faith) after 13 years. Mrs. K. Agnes , the grandmother

My sincere thanks to the Almighty Father, Jesus and Mamma Mary, forthe favours received. D. Monis, MangaloreWhile returning from a family picnic I fell into a 5ft ditch. Miraculouslynothing happened to me. I make it a point to pray for Our Lady's protection.I sincere thank Our Lord and Our Blessed Lady for their protection.

Betty D'Mello, MumbaiAs I walked home one afternoon I was knocked down by a vehicle. Inspite of suffering from osteoporosis I did not suffer from any bone injury.I firmly believe that I was saved by the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thank youMother Mary for being there to save me. Lourdes Gomes, GoaMy son Benedict (11yrs) was knocked down by a vehicle and had a cutnear his left eye. He lost a lot of blood. I was helpless when a kindstranger offered to take us to a hospital (2kms away) where he wastreated and given some medication. He has recovered and even thevision in his eye has returned to normal. We believe it was the protectionof Our Lady. Marina EdwinMany thanks to Mary Help of Christians for giving my son a good lifepartner and for many other favours received. Sally Fernandes, MumbaiThank you dear Mother Mary for providing me with the financial help Ineeded in a very critical situation. C. PereiraFor the gift of my parents, for the marriage of my elder daughter Cheryl andfor the success of my younger daughter and her admission into college on ascholarship. We are grateful to the Lord and Our Lady. Mrs. M.Pinto, Goa

APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYERMARCH 2014

Holy Father's General Intention: That all cultures may respect therights and dignity of women.Missionary Intention: That many young people may accept the Lord'sinvitation to consecrate their lives to proclaiming the Gospel.

THANKS TO DEARST. DOMINIC SAVIO

While we were on vacation in Goa in July2013 I took our Maruti Van from the garageready to leave.The van was on anincline.My younger daughter was alreadyseated at the back, waiting for my wife andelder daughter to join us. I had forgottenan important document in the house so Ileft the van with the handbrake and gearintact, and hurried to the house. In themeantime my elder daughter and my wifeclosely followed entering the van when toour utmost shock the van started movingbackwards down the steep slope. Wefeared the worst. In a split second thevehicle took a sharp left turn and crashedinto the opposite yard with its four wheels

resting on the edge of two boundary walls. In all the panic and commotionmy elder daughter jumped out of the moving van as she found the dooropen and landed in the gutter full of glass pieces and stones. My youngerdaughter was thrown to the other side inside and had gone blank. As werushed towards the van the first thing that caught my eye was a medal ofSt. Domnic Savio which was fallen near the door of the van and thecrucifix that had been thrown out of the van, both the medal and thecrucifix were earlier fixed to the dashboard. It was truly a miracle, ourchildren were saved unscathed and our van too did not have a singledent. Our sincere thanks to our Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Domnic Savio.

Peter Mendes and familyOur grateful thaks to Our Lady and St. Dominic Savio for the safedelivery of my daughter and the gift of healthy and beautiful twins: aboy and a girl. Mother Mary, guide and protect them always. St. DominicSavio keep them safe from bad company and from bad habits.

Nelly D'Souza, GoaWe thank the Divine Mercy, Our Lady and St. Dominic Savio for thesuccessful operation and we request your intercession for the receoveryof baby Shreyas back to good health. Savio and Palmeera, DubaiThank you dear Mother Mary, Don Bosco and St. Dominic Savio for thethe assistance I received during my delivery of a healthy baby boy. Meeta


Regd RNI no.9360/57;Postal Regn. MH/MR/North East/089/2012-2014

posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office on 1st & 2nd of every month:

Date of Publication: 1st of every monthSubs: (One copy Rs. 20/-); Inland: Rs. 200 p.a; Airmail: Rs.500 p.a

Don Bosco's Madonna, has developed to its present form from a folder published in 1937,by late Fr Aurelius Maschio, on behalf of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Bombay.

The magazine is sent to all who ask for it, even though there is a fixed subscription(Rs 200/- India & Rs 400/- Airmail)). We trust in the generosity of our readers/benefactors.Whatever you send us will help cover the expenses of printing and mailing; the surplus ifany, is devoted to the support of orphans and poor boys in our schools and apostolic

centres.To help a poor lad to reach the priesthood, is a privilege

You can help by establishing a Perpetual Burse with:Rs 5000/-, 10,000/-, 15,000/- for a boy studying for the priesthood;

But any amount, however small, will be gratefully received.Send your offerings by Payee cheque or Draft on Mumbai banks;MO/PO/INTL MO/BPO/Bequests, Wills, Perpetual Burses, all favouring Don Bosco'sMadonna or Bombay Salesian Society or Rev. Fr. Edwin D'Souza, (Trustee).Please address all correspondence to:

Rev. Fr. Edwin D'Souza, sdb.,SHRINE OF DON BOSCO'S MADONNA,

Matunga - MUMBAI - 400 019 - INDIAPhone/Fax: 91-22- 2414 6320, email: [email protected]

http://www.donboscosmadonna.org/www.dbmshrine.org

MARY WAS THEREMy daughter was hospitalized and toinvestigate her illness an MRI scan had to bedone. Being alone and immobilized andscared of the MRI scan she began to cry, whena lady came and pulled open the curtains andasked her why she was crying. My daughtertold her of her fears and the woman consoledher and told her to say the rosary while insidethe MRI machine and that if she did not doit, how would she give testimony that theBlessed Mother was helping her? She spoketo my daughter for about 10 minutes andthen was nowhere to be seen. My daughterdescribed her experience of being inside themachine ‘as lying inside a coffin’ for 45minutes while she recited the rosary. Afterthe MRI scan was done the doctors were ableto diagnose her and treat her accordingly. Webelieve Mother Mary, through the recitationof the Rosary came to encourage her. Todayshe has recovered and is a post-graduate,planning to go for further studies. We oweher entire recovery and strength to ourBlessed Mother. T. Mathai, Kerala

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