OLD MAN ON THE STREET PLAYING WALTZ MUSIC - BRUSSEL THE FUTURE CAPITAL OF SCHENGEN COUNTRIES

 

WINMOLEN AT VOLENDAM - NEDERLAND

 

VOLENDAM FISHERMAN VILLAGE - NEDERLAND

 

NOTRE DAME CHURCH - PARIS

 

CHURCH NOTRE DAME - PARIS

 

EIFFEL FROM SEINE RIVER

 

ASEMBLEE NATIONALE OF FRANCE

 

MUSOLEUM NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

 

SEINE RIVER - PARIS , EVERYTHING IS BEAUTY

 

PARIS OH MAMA MIA EVERYTHING IS ARTISTIC

 

THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN - TREVI FOUNTAIN ROME

 

PIETA INSIDE VATICAN BY MICHELEANGELO 1498 - 1500 ; MARBLE HEIGHTS 69 INCHES

 

MARY AS SEEN BY BERNADETTE ON 28 FEBRUARY 1858 WITH JEWISH PROFILE

 

CITY OF PARIS FROM 2ND FLOOR OF EIFFEL

 

TOUT PARIS SUR SEINE - PONT D'IENA

 

VOLENDAM - FISHERMAN VILLAGE AMSTERDAM

 

PARIS OH MAMA MIA EVERYTHING IS BEAUTY EVERYTHING IS PRETTY

 

LOUVRE EVERYTHING IS BEAUTY AND ARTISTIC

 

MONACO - MEDITERIAN SEA AND STONE HILL

 

BASILIQUE DE NOTRE DAME SANCTUARY LOURDES

 

PIETA INSIDE VATICAN

 

ON THE YARD OF BASILIQUE DE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AND ALSO AT TOP OF THE BASILIQUE DE NOTRE DAME OF SANCTUARY LOURDES

 

INSIDE CATHEDRALE DE MONTE CARLO MONACO

 

TAKE A BREAK NEAR SPANISH STEP ROME

 

PRAY WITH MARY FOR INTENTIONS AT GROTTO LOURDES SANCTUARY

Prayer to our Lady of Lourdes

O Holy Virgin, in the midst of our days of glory
do not forget the sorrows of this heart
cast a merciful glance upon those
who are suffering
struggling againts dificulties,
with their lips constantly pressed
against life's bitter cup.

Have pity on those who love each other
and are separated

Have pity on our rebellious hearts
Have pity on our weak hearts
Have pity onthose we love
Have pity on those who weep
on those who pray
on those who fear

Grant hope and peace to all

(Abbe Perreyve)


BUNDA PENOLONG ABADI DOAKANLAH KAMI Bunda Penolong Abadi, dengan penuh kepercayaan dan harapan, kami berlutut di hadapaMu. Belum pernah ada orang yang sia-sia mencari perlindunganMu.Semasa hidupMu sebagai Ibu, Engkau sering kali memberi pertolongan kepada Yesus PuteraMu. Dengan penuh kasih sayang Engkau melindungi dan membimbing-Nya selama masa muda-Nya. Selama hidup-Nya di muka umum Engkau menghibur¬Nya dan memberi dorongan pada-Nya. Pada saat Dia menderita, Engkau mendampingi dan menguatkan-Nya.Demikian juga, jadilah bagi kami seorang Ibu yang selalu menolong kami. Bunda Maria, kami ini juga anakMu. Dikayu salib, Putera IlahiMu telah memberikan Dikau sebagai Ibu kami dan Engkau telah menerima kami sebagai anakMu.Kami tahu engkau memberi anak-anakMu-khususnya mereka yang menghormatiMu sebagai Bunda Penolong Abadi-rahmat dan berkat yang tak terhitung banyaknya untuk jiwa-raga mereka. Dengan penuh syukur, kami mengucapkan terima kasih untuk segala perlindungan bagi kami dan bagi mereka semua. Bunda Penolong Abadi, jangan biarkan kami sekarang pergi tanpa hiburanMu; Kami selalu memerlukan bantuanMu, teristimewa dalam kesulitan yang sekarang ini kami alami.
Bunda Maria, pandanglah kami dengan penuh kebaikan, dan kasih sayang. Jadilah perantara kepada Putera IlahiMu, untuk memperoleh anugerah-anugerah..............,
Yang kami mohon dengan sangat dalam doa ini.
Kami berjanji akan berterima kasih kepadaMu selama hidup kami,
sampai kami datang bersyukur kepadaMu di surga.
Ibu yang kuasa, baik bagi kami,
Engkau dapat menolong kami,
Engkau pasti berkenan menolong kami,
Engkau bersedia menolongkami,
O Ibu,
Penolong Abadi yang setia,
Terimalah doa kami. Amin.

SETTING OUT FOR EMAUS - BY HOLY FATHER

"The Road That Leads There Is the Journey of Every Christian"
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 6, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the greeting Benedict XVI gave today before praying the Regina Caeli with several thousand people gathered in St. Peter's Square.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This Gospel for this Sunday -- the 3rd Sunday of Easter -- is the celebrated account of the disciples of Emmaus (cf. Luke 24:13-35). The story is told of two disciples of Christ who, on the day after the Sabbath, that is, the third day after Jesus’ death, sad and dejected, leave Jerusalem and set out for nearby village called, precisely, Emmaus.

Along the road, the risen Jesus comes and walks beside them but they do not recognize him. Seeing that they were disheartened, he explained, on the basis of the Scriptures, that the Messiah had to suffer and die to enter into his glory. Having entered into the house with them, he sat down at table with them, blessed the bread and broke it, and at that point they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight, leaving them full of wonder before the broken bread, new sign of his presence. And immediately the two returned to Jerusalem and told the other disciples what happened.

The location of Emmaus has not been identified with any certainty. There are different hypotheses, and this fact is not without its significance because it leaves us to think that in reality Emmaus represents every place: The road that leads there is the journey of every Christian, indeed, of every man. Along our roads the risen Jesus is our companion on the journey, to reignite in our hearts the warmth of faith and hope and the breaking of the bread of eternal life.

In the disciples' conversation with the unknown traveler the expression that the evangelist Luke puts in one of their mouths is striking: “We were hoping…” (24:21). This past tense verb says everything: We believed, we followed, we hoped …, but now it is all over. Even Jesus of Nazareth, who had shown himself to be a powerful prophet in deeds and words, failed, and we are disappointed.

This drama of the disciples of Emmaus is as a mirror of the situation of many Christians of our time. It seems that the hope of faith has failed. Faith itself enters into crisis because of negative experiences that make us feel like we are abandoned by the Lord. But this road to Emmaus on which we travel can become a way of purification and maturation of our believing in God.

Even today we can enter into conversation with Jesus listening to his word. Even today he breaks the bread for us and gives himself as our bread. And in this way the encounter with the risen Christ, which is possible even today, gives us a deeper and more authentic faith, tempered, so to speak, by the fire of the Easter event; a robust faith because it is nourished not by human ideas, but by the word of God and by his presence in the Eucharist.

This stupendous Gospel text already contains the structure of the Mass: in the first part the hearing of the word through the sacred Scriptures; in the second the Eucharistic liturgy and communion with Christ present in the sacrament of his Body and his Blood.

Nourished at this twofold table, the Church is unceasingly built up and renews itself day by day in faith, in hope and in charity. Through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, let us pray that every Christian and every community, reliving the experience of the disciples of Emmaus, rediscover the grace of the transforming encounter with the risen Lord.

[After the Regina Caeli the Pope said the following in Italian:]

The first International Congress on Divine Mercy concluded today with the Eucharistic celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica. I thank the organizers, especially the vicariate of Rome, and to all the participants I extend my cordial greeting, which now becomes an exhortation: Go and be witnesses of God’s mercy, source of hope for every man and for the whole world. May the risen Lord be with you always!

I greet the numerous members of the Focolare movement, working as catechists in parishes, who have come here from many countries throughout the world, and I wish you well in the service that you render to spreading and welcoming the word of God.

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

[After the Regina Caeli the Holy Father greeted the pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]

I am happy to greet all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Regina Caeli prayer. On this Third Sunday of Easter, Saint Luke relates how the Risen Christ walks with his disciples, makes their hearts burn within them by his words, and reveals himself in the breaking of the bread. Let us pray that our Easter journey will teach us to open our hearts with joy to the living Christ present in his Church. Upon all of you I invoke God’s abundant blessings!