mary chapman

"All of us are called to be “new evangelists” who transform by our words and actions the worn-out..."

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:34:03 -0500

“All of us are called to be “new evangelists” who transform by our words and actions the worn-out ideas and rust-filled practices of those whose Catholic faith is just a dim memory. We can help bring the joy of full surrender to Christ to those who do not know Him or who do not remember what a joy it is to be in full communion with Him.”

- Archbishop Robert J. Carlson (St. Louis)

karlitay: imaginesisters: Blessed Chiara Luce Badano “I have...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:20:52 -0500

karlitay:

imaginesisters:

Blessed Chiara Luce Badano

“I have nothing left, but I still have my heart, and with that I can always love.”

Beautiful young woman.

She’s so awesome.

"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable,..."

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:16:50 -0500

“We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”

- e.e. cummings

I love you, let me heal you.I love you, let me eat with you.I...

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 21:27:00 -0500

I love you, let me heal you.
I love you, let me eat with you.
I love you, let me teach you.
I love you, let me feed you.
I love you, let me pray for you.
I love you, let me wash your feet.
I love you, let me suffer for you.
I love you, let me die for you.

I love you. Let me.

—Jesus

Thank you, Jesus. Help me let You love me.

interminomaris: Covering a window facing the square, the “Mater...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:44:22 -0500

interminomaris:

Covering a window facing the square, the “Mater Ecclesiae” mosaic was commissioned by Pope John Paul II in thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary after the assassination attempt.

Photo

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 01:33:06 -0600

Love.

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 02:24:29 -0600

How incredible is a love that is greater than anything you could ever hope for?

It surprises you,
it thrills you,
it drives you, and
it strengthens you.

It outlives death.
It’s the reason to live.

It’s everything,
it’s all there is.

And it’s big.
It’s unending,
unknowable,
permeating,
perfect, and
it’s for you and me.

Amazing Love.

"We should make haste to find the Lord. To find the light that leads to grace and truth, which no..."

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 10:21:25 -0600

“We should make haste to find the Lord. To find the light that leads to grace and truth, which no darkness can overcome. At the claim that God has become man, we should drop everything to pursue him—to find Christ, and, like the shepherds, to worship him.”

- Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila (Denver)

Photo

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:32:27 -0600

Photo

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 21:37:13 -0600

"Dear young friends, Christ does not distance you from the world. He sends you out there where His..."

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 21:07:51 -0600

““Dear young friends, Christ does not distance you from the world. He sends you out there where His light is missing, so you may bring it to others.””

- Pope Benedict XVI (via catholicgeek)

Lucy: This is our last time here, isn't it?

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 02:00:52 -0600

Lucy: This is our last time here, isn't it?
Aslan: Yes. You have grown up, my dear one.
Lucy: Will you visit us in our world?
Aslan: I shall be watching you always.
Lucy: How?
Aslan: In your world, I have another name. You must learn to know me by it. That was the very reason you were brought to Narnia. That by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.
Lucy: Will we meet again?
Aslan: Yes, dear one. One day.

Sketches of Guy Denning via This is just too beautiful not to...

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 08:57:10 -0600

Sketches of Guy Denning

via

This is just too beautiful not to share.

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can..."

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:01:21 -0600

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

- C.S. Lewis

Patronness of the Americas

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:24:31 -0600

Hail, Mary, Visual Evangelizer! Teach us how to communicate like you!

WHY SUCH CONVERSIONS?

It is a message in viva voce and in glyph.

The Aztecs were a culture of the image and relied upon memory and images to pass on their knowledge.

The two-dimensional gold designs over her tunic don’t follow the folds of the tunic and resemble glyphs in old Indian codices.

Clouds: something supernatural, from above

The winged child: wings (brings sacrifices to the gods), bald (wisdom), child (innocence) = Our Lady brings the sacrifice of Christ to God

Stars: same constellations that appeared on the morning of Dec. 12, 1531 (through the view of someone from on the other side of the stars looking through them to earth)

Blue-green color of mantle: worn only by the emperor, symbolic of the heavens

Pink color of tunic: symbolizes the earth; worn in harmony with the color of the heavens (ultimate goal of Aztec sacrifice was to appease the gods so the world and the heavens would stay in balance)

Brooch: the gold-encircled cross brooch under the neck of her robe symbolizes sanctity; jade oval was symbolic for gods who gave life

Loose hair: symbolizes she was a virgin maiden; married women braided their hair

Sun: she eclipses the sun, not in a menacing way, but to bring attention to her womb (the sun was seen as a god); Dec. 12, 1531 was the winter solstice, beginning the time of year when the days are longer and the sun “increasingly conquers the darkness”

Moon: she stands on the moon, showing that it is under her governance (the moon was seen as a god); “Mexico” comes from words that mean “in the center of the moon” (she presents a new concept of the universe)

Her posture: A Queen praying to someone greater than herself; clasped hands (prayer), weight on one foot and bent knee (solemn dance of prayer), tilt of head (looking down as sign of respect), sideways gaze (caring about those whom she looks upon).

Skin color: not white like Spaniards or dark like Indians — a mestiza, a combination of the two

Flowers: symbol of truth; rooted in a foundation (do not follow fold of fabric — meant to give a message)

Girdle: the bow around her waist is a sign of virginity; appears as a four-petaled jasmine flower. The girdle is positioned unusually high, signifying pregnancy (the pregnancy is obviously far along, with the child in vertical position and close to birth). Its black color symbolizes nobility; noble indigenous women tied black bands around their waist when pregnant.

Jasmine flower: only appears once; four petals with centerpoint for the ambivalent god Ometeotl of heaven and earth; shown in motion (appears over the womb of Mary, symbolizing the God of heaven and earth is alive and in motion and is accessible to the people through the Virgin) — symbol known as the nahui ollin, the flower of the sun and symbol of plenitude

Eight-petaled flower: appears 8 times; promise of birth in pregnancy; symbolizes Venus (the morning star or evening star); was relevant to the Aztec calendars and concepts of time

Flower clusters: appear 9 times; similar to other codices — depicts hill and river joined together to signify a civilization of physical and spiritual sustenance and life that is connected to God.

Flower clusters (from another angle): when turned over (like other codices), it resembles a heart and its arteries as depicted in images of Indian human sacrifices; the arteries are connected to heaven (given by God, we are sustained by His blood); flowers are also rooted in the heart from heaven (truth that is rooted in God)

Flower cluster (as a face): symbols of the heart and face together = a mature, enlightened person with a pure heart

Flower cluster (over her hands): the only one that appears above her hands, symbolizes offering our hearts to God (parallels the sacrifice of the Aztecs). 1) she offers her heart to God for the people, and 2) asks the people to give her their hearts in prayer so that she can offer them to God. (And calls for an end to the violence of literally tearing human hearts out as a sacrifice to the gods.)

The power of this image almost immediately stopped the sacrifice of 20,000 human lives a day and converted 9 MILLION people to Christianity.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

"(D)eep down inside, cradled in the soul, where no one but the One who counts can detect, is again an..."

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 00:35:14 -0600

“(D)eep down inside, cradled in the soul, where no one but the One who counts can detect, is again an empty manger where the Son of God wants to be re-born. Christmas can do that.”

- Cardinal Timothy Dolan (New York)

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Wed, 05 Dec 2012 11:30:05 -0600

Every Little Prison- Matt Maher

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 09:50:03 -0600

From wanting to be loved
From wanting to be praised by all
From needing to be first,
From finding all my worth in this world.
From wanting to be seen
From constant worrying about myself.
Deliver me.

“When you see It (the Body of Christ) exposed, say to yourself:...

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 19:26:57 -0600

“When you see It (the Body of Christ) exposed, say to yourself: thanks to this Body, I am no longer dust and ashes, I am no more a captive but a freeman: hence I hope to obtain Heaven and the good things that are there in store for me, eternal life, the heritage of the Angels, companionship with Christ”

— St. John Chrysostom

"The God we meet in Jesus Christ is not like a boy pulling the wings off flies. He doesn’t cripple..."

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:06:57 -0600

“The God we meet in Jesus Christ is not like a boy pulling the wings off flies. He doesn’t cripple us, demand the impossible and then laugh when we fail. No, God is ambitious for us and so wills that we be all that we can be, with His help; but God is benign and so requires no more than this.”

- Bishop Anthony Fischer (Parramatta)