Saturday, October 31, 2009

Demonic possession and Exorcism

Two stories on Exorcism caught my attention these past few days. One is from Dailyillini (an independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois):

Exorcist shares past experiences with demonic possession

With Halloween around the corner and Hollywood releasing horror movies such as "Paranormal Activity" and "Saw VI," one cannot help but feel chills running down his or her spine. St. John's Catholic Newman Center had the timing right when it invited exorcist Father Vince Lampert to speak about his experiences Monday night at Foellinger Auditorium.

Lampert, the head priest at St. Francis and Clare parish in Greenwood, Ind., was ordained a priest in 1991. He was later asked by the archbishop of Indianapolis if he was willing to train as an exorcist, said Monsignor Gregory Ketcham, director and head chaplain at the Newman Center.

"Father Lampert was asked to take on the role of an exorcist because he is very prayerful and faithful, and he has a lot of integrity — he's a good man," Ketcham said.

Lampert is one of twelve exorcists in America today, Ketcham said. Lampert spent a whole summer in Rome training under Italy's head exorcist. This training included witnessing and assisting in about 60 exorcisms.

Now that Lampert has been a fully trained exorcist for several years, he said he receives five to six calls a week from people who believe they are possessed. Exorcisms are only performed as a last resort once the subject is determined to be truly possessed.

"For one to become possessed by the devil, one has to have a dedication to the devil, be cursed or lead a life that is full of sin; it is something more than just a struggle against temptation," Lampert said.

Performing an exorcism takes a lot of preparation by not only the subject, but by the exorcist too, Lampert said. Before each exorcism, Lampert has to go through a series of prayers and attend confession so the devil will not be able top reach him.

"In order for a person to be exorcised, they have to be fully committed to turning to Christ," Lampert said. "If they resist, the exorcism cannot be performed."

When determining if a person is in fact possessed, Lampert looks for several criteria.

"A person may be possessed if they have an ability to speak unknown languages, unhuman-like strength, the knowledge of the unknown, and an inexplicable aversion to holy places," Lampert said.

During an exorcism, Lampert goes through 10 steps, including prayers and blessings, he said.

"Sometimes the exorcism can be rather dull," Lampert said. "But I have seen a woman levitate and people's faces contort."

During his lecture, Lampert told several stories of extraordinary events that have occurred during his exorcisms. In one story, a person spoke in a childlike voice that was not his own, as it was the devil speaking.

People formed long lines before the microphone in order to ask Lampert questions about his unusual career. Many viewers were also listening attentively to his answers with gasping and awing. Many of the seats at Foellinger Auditorium were occupied throughout the event.

Erika Satterlee, freshman in LAS, said she went into the lecture not knowing much about exorcisms except for depictions in movies.

"The lecture was definitely interesting," Satterlee said. "It freaked me out too, which I knew it would."

This was Lampert's second time speaking at the University around Halloween, Ketcham said.

"Lampert's purpose of speaking is to share the Catholic view of evil and how it works in our lives," Ketcham said. "He is here to tell us the truth."

Here are the youtube videos of Fr. Lampert's talk:


Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Here is the other article, from the Philippine Daily Inquirer:
Exorcist’s tales: ‘Hair on my arms stood on end’

By Cathy C. Yamsuan
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Posted date: October 30, 2009


MANILA, Philippines — Walking toward the squat bungalow on a narrow street in Mandaluyong City, the priest wondered why his friend had requested “a lot of holy water” for the blessing.
“I thought I was going to bless a big house. It was only a bungalow surrounded by tall trees,” Fr. Armand Tangi said, remembering that rainy afternoon in 1984.

Tangi, then a freshman priest of the Society of St. Paul, saw nothing strange about the house that was inhabited only by his friend’s uncle.

But as soon as his friend (let’s call him Rey) opened the front door, “it was so cold even with all the windows closed,” Tangi said. “The hair on my arms stood on end.”

Tangi, Rey and their companions—two women, both office subordinates of the latter—walked in.

Looking around, the priest noted that there were no religious statues or objects to be seen—something he found odd in a house owned by a Catholic family.

Rey introduced him to the elderly uncle seated on a rocking chair. But the latter’s “thoughts seemed somewhere else,” the priest said.

Having arranged the holy water and the prayer cards brought by Rey, Tangi put on his stole and opened his book of prayers at the appropriate page.

Moaning

“I started the prayer and I could hear moaning, a male voice, as though in pain. It wouldn’t stop,” Tangi said.

He and the women exchanged glances anxiously.

Praying aloud, they walked around the house, with the moaning growing louder each time they entered a room.

Recalled Tangi: “It was loudest when we reached the kitchen. I realized it was coming from the refrigerator.

“I didn’t know whether to open the ref door or not. What if whatever was moaning leapt out? What if it were a spirit and entered me or one of my companions?”

Eyes closed but still praying, Tangi grasped the vial of holy water, swung the refrigerator door open, and wildly squirted the vial’s contents inside.

He opened his eyes and saw only food and bottles of drinking water.

“I could still hear moaning inside the ref but it was getting faint. When I posted a card bearing a prayer to the Holy Name of Jesus on the door, it stopped,” the priest said.

Rey then asked Tangi to pray over his uncle, who appeared indifferent to what had just transpired.

“I stood behind him and put my hands on his head. I blessed him but I felt that something was very wrong,” Tangi said.

No one spoke as he and the others left the house.

With horns and tail

Only after they had gone a considerable distance did Rey disclose why he wanted the house blessed, Tangi said.

Not one of the housemaids hired to look after his uncle stayed for more than a few days. The girls complained that the chairs, even slippers, moved by themselves.

The most disturbing detail came from the neighborhood kids who claimed to see “a man with horns and a tail” standing behind his uncle, as if watching TV with him.

Rey also said that as a younger man, his uncle used the house for occult sessions involving the use of an Ouija board.

The guests at these gatherings were well-off people, many of whom later suffered bankruptcy or tragic deaths, Rey said.

He said one of them was a well-known socialite whose mysterious murder made headlines in the mid-1980s.

In one session, the group called on the spirit of a peer who had committed suicide.

“They asked the spirit, ‘Where are you?’ And it answered, ‘Why are you mocking me?’” Tangi quoted Rey as saying.

Witnesses said the glass on the board suddenly flew and smashed into a nearby wall. The furniture moved, as if being shoved around.

Causes of haunting

In his book “Exorcism: Encounters with the Paranormal and the Occult,” Fr. Jose Francisco C. Syquia mentioned the “preternatural demonic causes” of a “haunted” house.

“Occult and sinful activities” may lead “evil spirits” to find “a spiritual opening,” said Syquia, the director of the Office of Exorcism of the Archdiocese of Manila.

Listed among the “magic sessions” that, according to Syquia, lead to the demonic possession of a place are “Ouija board, tarot cards, spell casting and the like.”

“Unless these activities are stopped, repeated sin and dealings with the occult can allow these spirits to have even more dominion within the home, as well as attract more evil spirits,” he warned.

Syquia said simple house blessings “do not suffice to drive … away” spirits who had attached themselves to houses used for occult activities.

He said a haunting could also have a spiritual cause: “Someone died, was killed, or committed suicide in the house and now needs prayers, sacrifices and Masses.”

In this case, family and friends can help by frequently offering prayers and Masses for the deceased, he said.

Protocol for exorcism

There is a protocol for the exorcism or deliverance of a house.

Tangi said a priest “has to fast, go to confession, and by the grace of God, try his best not to sin before the exorcism.”

Fr. Jude Rebaldo of the Diocese of Kalibo said that for an exorcism to succeed, the house owners must also be active participants.

“They need to exhibit the desire to put an end to the haunting. The initiative to clean the house must come from them,” he said.

Rebaldo said the house owners must also go to confession before the exorcism.

Vulnerable to retaliation

“The Holy Rosary is an effective protection. They must implore the help of Mama Mary and recite deliverance prayers addressed to the archangels, particularly St. Michael and St. Gabriel for protection,” he said, adding:

“This is because the owners who want to get rid of unholy spirits become vulnerable to retaliation.”

In the case of the Mandaluyong house, Tangi said he was not told beforehand. “I did not fast because I was thinking it was a simple house blessing.”

Asked what he thought saved him despite his unpreparedness, Tangi said: “I was newly ordained then, so perhaps I was very confident and still full of grace. Remember that I was armed only with a prayer book, my stole, holy water and the prayer cards brought by [Rey].”

Better prepared

In 2008, Tangi was better prepared for another exorcism, this time of a house built on a scenic mountain ridge that also served as a venue for Ouija sessions.

“When the host-owner died, he was buried in the property. That’s a no-no because Catholics are supposed to be buried in a sacred place,” Tangi said.

The heirs wanted the property converted into a retreat house.

“And for good reason,” Tangi said. “It is a beautiful, three-level property, with good architecture, overlooking the ridge, with a lawn and trees.”

An aunt of the heirs asked Tangi to bless the house.

“She admitted that there were spirits causing disturbances. The house was uninhabited for the longest time. Nobody wanted to stay. The caretakers felt that something unseen was always keeping watch, especially when they sleep,” Tangi said.

“Even visitors appreciated the house’s beauty and architectural design, but they felt ill at ease,” he said.

To prepare, the priest went to confession, fasted, and recited prayers of protection, particularly to St. Michael and Padre Pio, the Capuchin monk who also suffered demonic oppression.

3 p.m. prayers

Tangi chose to begin at 3 p.m., deemed the Hour of Great Mercy.

Everyone gathered around the dining table that stood at the center of the main floor.

“When I started with the prayers, we heard the sound of a door opening and closing,” he said.

Everything went well until Tangi reached the part of Pope Leo’s exorcism prayer to St. Michael that commands “unclean spirits, all satanic powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects” out of the house “in the Name and by the Power of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Suddenly, a dinner plate on the table shattered.

“The shards went flying!” Tangi said. “Nobody got hurt so I continued praying, but I was worried that another plate might explode and hurt someone. The atmosphere was ominous. I was scared.”

But Tangi went on to finish the prayers and the eerie feeling soon disappeared.

Invitation to the devil

He led everyone in a walk around the house, sprinkling holy water and urging them to sing prayers to boost their spirits.

Tangi made a follow-up visit after a week. The caretakers said they no longer felt uneasy.

But a priest who came with him advised the heirs to remove an abstract painting displayed in the living room.

“It was predominantly black and red. The other priest said the painting was actually an invitation to the devil,” Tangi said. The heirs immediately complied.

Blessed objects

Syquia warned against calling on “agents of superstition”—such as arbularyo, magtatawas, spiritista—to exorcise a home.

Quoting the Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, he said: “[I]f the [occupants of the home] should happen to make use of superstitious means condemned by the Church to rid themselves of the curse, they enter, though without knowing it perhaps, into communication with the powers of darkness, which then acquire fresh strength.”

Syquia prescribed “blessed objects, like crucifixes on the door of every room, and the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary at the front part of the house.”

“This manifests that the house belongs to God,” he said, adding that the family’s daily praying of the rosary would also keep an atmosphere of peace.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Support A Catholic Speaker of the Month: Fr. John Zuhlsdorf


Earlier this month, Matthew Warner of Fallible Blogma launched a very interesting project called "Support a Catholic Speaker Month". The goal was to raise awareness through the blogs about the many Catholic Speakers out there and to support them. At the same time, it helps to promote awareness as well to the diverse Catholic blogs out there that aren't known yet.


I chose Fr. John Zuhlsdorf (also known as Father Z!), of What Does The Prayer Really Say as the Catholic Speaker for this blog. I have been a big fan of Fr. Z for several months now, and I'm aware that some bloggers out there (like my friend, The Pinoy Catholic) got started with their own blogs thanks to his analytical commentaries on Catholic issues, but most specially, on the Catholic Liturgy! In his Introduction to the Series (Dec. 8, 2005), Fr. Z explains how his work on liturgical translations led to WDTPRS. By comparing what the Church’s official Latin prayers with the version given to use in parishes by International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), a lot of people discovered several differences between what the Church gave and what the ICEL gave.

Fr. Z is one of the few priests I know that really harnessed the power of the internet. One of my favorite features in his blog is his PODCAzT Page, where he would select a classical Catholic writing (The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis for instance) and give his thoughts on how it can be applied. Sometimes, he would select a hymn (for example, the Veni Sancte Spiritus) and then have his audience listen to the Latin text and then he would provide a good translation, followed by a reflection or two. At times, he would choose a timely topic instead, such as the Year of Priests.

While I haven't met him in person, I was lucky to catch him several times on his Radio Sabina / Z-Cam (another favorite feature!) where he occasionally takes time to chat online with some of his avid readers on various subjects. He plays a lot of interesting music on Radio Sabina, while providing a good webcam view of the birds he feeds (the bird food comes from generous readers!). On several occasions, he would say Mass in his Chapel with the Z-cam on.

Here's a repost from the Catholic Herald about Fr. Z:

Why everyone logs on to ‘Father Z’
He was once a long-haired Lutheran. But now, says Anna Arco, he is a legend in the conservative Catholic blogosphere
29 February 2008

The legendary Fr Z

Fr Z walks through the bitterly cold Oxford night with the firm, fast steps of a man who has relentless energy, determination and strong convictions. With his black trilby tilted at a raffish angle and his black scarf firmly tucked into his black coat, he looks like a character out The Matrix. With three mobile devices on him he certainly carries enough electronic kit to warrant the simile. One can easily imagine him being as adept at programming complex computer codes as he is at celebrating a Mass in the extraordinary form.

For those unfamiliar with the internet, the name Fr Z (the "Z" is pronounced "zee") may mean little, but to thousands of wired-up Catholics across the globe, Fr John Zuhlsdorf's well-informed opinions, translations and analyses of matters liturgical are a daily reading requirement. Rumoured to have direct sources in very high places, he is read by members of the Roman Curia, bishops, priests, seminarians and lay people around the world. His articles have made their way into Curial meetings and he says that several bishops have consulted him on documents relating to Summorum Pontificum, the Apostolic Letter with which the Pope Benedict XVI liberated the traditional Mass. Fr Z is a true phenomenon of the information age: a power blogger and a priest.

He tells the story of one seminary rector who said some unfavourable things about Summorum Pontificum. Students at the seminary e-mailed Fr Zuhlsdorf shortly after the meeting. He posted it on his blog and within hours the news had made its way across the world.

"It created quite a stir in that particular community," says Fr Zuhlsdorf. "I know now that people are being a lot more careful about what they say. They [the bishops] are realising that the blogosphere and the internet, with the way the media is today, they know that they are going to be called to account for what they say or do."

A confessed tech-geek, Fr Zuhlsdorf started his adventures with the internet in its early days, back in the 1990s. He effectively hotwired a Vatican telephone in order to access cyberspace with an analogue connection back when analogue was the only option and Compuserve almost the only service provider. In the days before proper websites, when forums were the in thing, Fr Zuhlsdorf quickly became the moderator for the Catholic Online Forum, which he still does today. His "What Does The Prayer Really Say?" column in the American weekly newspaper The Wanderer dealt with the inadequacies of ICEL translations by providing new translations which he made. It became the inspiration for his blog.

In the last two years, his blog, at www.wdtprs.com, has had over 2.1 million visitors. By the standards of today's blogosphere, which has well over 50 million blogs struggling to get noticed, this is not bad going at all. He receives over 500 e-mails a day and says he wishes that he could answer all of them. Traffic on his blog has been so heavy that it has caused the server to crash. More often than not, he has the first news on items concerning the Motu Proprio and whenever something new does develop relating to the extraordinary form, his blog is the rapidly becoming the first port of call.

"I feel that I have an obligation to comment now that I'm one of the bigger ones and people are starting to turn to me quickly," he says. "I'm one of the first blogs people go to when something happens and as long as I can have something useful to contribute I feel the responsibility to ante up." But he tries to limit himself from spending too much time at the computer so that he can live "a regular priestly life".

He feels his blog offers marginalised traditionalists a chance to vent their frustrations, discuss their needs and start the healing process that Pope Benedict XVI began with Summorum Pontificum.

As with many high-profile bloggers, Fr Zuhlsdorf's neatly formulated thoughts are only a mouse-click away, but finding the man behind the blog is a little more difficult.

It is apt that our interview in Oxford, where he has been taking part in a Newman Society colloquium on blogging, takes place in the Eagle and Child, the pub where the Inklings used to meet. He tells me that J R R Tolkien's books played a prominent part in his early life and he says that a childhood correspondence with "the Professor" shortly before Tolkien's death may have been one of things that made him more receptive to Catholicism later on in life. Born to Lutheran parents of German extraction in Minnesota, the man who coined the slogan "Save the Liturgy, Save the World" was turned off by the "ugliness" of the Lutheran mindset. Music and Shakespeare were the two passions of his childhood, nurtured by his grandmother, a former school teacher. While he was interested in religion, he had none himself.

Perhaps his love for the extraordinary form, his conviction that lex orandi is indeed lex credendi and his admiration for the beauties of the liturgy, have their roots in his conversion story. As a young drama major at the University of Minnesota, he was introduced to Latin and loved it. Long-haired and mustachioed, the now clean-shaven Fr Zuhlsdorf worked as a cook in a restaurant to support himself through his studies. "I was practically a pagan then," he says.

One Sunday, called in to work as the restaurant was short staffed, his car refused to start. So he borrowed his friend's battered jalopy and drove through the freezing Minnesotan morning, fiddling with the dial of the old AM radio desperately trying to find something decent to listen to. Chancing on some Gregorian chants, he was mesmerised. When he realised that the music was being broadcast live from a church in St Paul, Minnesota, he resolved to go. He was fascinated by what he saw at St Agnes, which is built in Austrian Baroque style and intrigued by the congregation. "I kept asking myself: 'Who are these people and what do they believe that they do this every Sunday?' " he says. "I wrote my name and phone number down on a piece of paper and handed it over to the guy on the other side of the Communion rail."

Mgr Richard Schuler, the parish priest, rang Zuhlsdorf up and invited him to come round and talk. After a year and a half of directly engaging with the liturgy in the church choir, which was complemented with a rigorous reading list, Zuhlsdorf found that he could answer his own objections to Catholicism and decided to convert. For a long time he resisted the vocation to the priesthood, but eventually came round to it and was ordained in May 1991 in Rome by Pope John Paul II. He was incardinated in the suburbicarian diocese of Velletri-Segni.

His work at the Ecclesia Dei commission, the Vatican body which deals with matters pertaining to the older form of the Mass, put him into the corridors of power and it was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), who suggested the topic for Fr Zuhlsdorf's licence thesis.

"One day, not long after the document came out on the ecclesial vocation of theologians, I met Cardinal Ratzinger in the hall and I said: 'Your Eminence, I read the new letter.' He said very politely: 'What did you think?' It was an astonishing thing that the Prefect of the CDF was asking me what I thought of the letter and I said: 'Well, Your Eminence, I didn't really like it very well.' And he was a little surprised and said: 'Why?' And I said: 'Well, you spend so many pages on talking about theologians but you don't say who a theologian is.' He looked at me a little quizzically and said: 'Why don't you tell us?' And I said 'How do I do this?' And he said: 'You're working in Patristics at the Augustinianum; why don't you ask St Augustine who a theologian was?' " Fr Zuhlsdorf is now working on his doctorate in Patristics at the Augustinianum in Rome, but divides his time between the Eternal City and the United States, where he has a rural hideaway in the Midwest which he calls the Sabine Farm, after Horace. In the meantime, with things changing as much as they are, he is blogging up a storm.

Please join me in wishing Fr. Z (who celebrates his birthday tomorrow, October 28!) all the best for this Year of the Priest! Let's continue praying for him, as well for all the other speakers that have been selected by the other blogs on this Catholic Speaker of the Month Project!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Solemn Act of Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Last Saturday (October 17, 2009), was a very special day. That day, being the Feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Solemn Act of Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary took place at our family home in Tracy, California, USA. We started the day with the 10AM Traditional Latin Mass (low mass) at St. Margaret Mary's Church (Oakland, California, USA) which concluded with the recitation of the Holy Rosary with the Blessed Sacrament exposed, followed by a Benediction. Later that day, at 3pm, the Enthronement Program at our home started with Canon Jean-Marie Moreau blessing the Statue of Our Lady of Lourdes and the Stations of the Cross at our backyard. Canon Moreau proceeded then to bless my wife's car, followed by the blessing of the home where Holy Water was sprinkled in each room. Then we prayed the Solemn Act of Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with a few friends (mostly the Young Adults Catechism Class) from St. Margaret Mary joining us. Lastly, the Enthronement Certificate was signed by us (Me and my wife, Agnes) and by Canon Moreau.

Our Lady of Lourdes with St. Bernadette
Stations of the Cross
Refreshments (Chinese food!)
Friends enjoying the food

My wife (Agnes), Canon Jean-Marie Moreau, Me
Sacred Heart of Jesus Enthroned
Abbe Eric Majewski, Agnes, Canon Moreau, Myself

Mom, Joe, Our Lady of Lourdes, Canon Moreau, Myself, and Agnes
Group picture

More pictures can be viewed here. The videos are down below:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Novena for the Feast of Christ the King (Oct. 16 - 24, 2009)


The Feast of Christ the King (traditionally celebrated on the last Sunday of October) is coming up. One can pray this novena prayer posted on the website of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest:

English: O Lord Jesus Christ, I acknowledge Thee King of the Universe. All that has been created has been made for Thee. Exercise upon me all Thy rights. I renew my baptismal promises, renouncing Satan and all his works and pomps. I promise to live a good Christian life and to do all in my power to procure the triumph of the rights of God and Thy Church. Divine Heart of Jesus, I offer Thee my poor actions in order to obtain that all hearts may acknowledge Thy sacred Royalty, and that thus the reign of Thy peace may be established throughout the universe. Amen. Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be...

Latin: Domine Jesu Christe, te confiteor Regem universalem. Omnia, quae facta sunt, pro te sunt creata. Omnia iura tua exerce in me. Renovo vota Baptismi abrenuntians satanae euisque pompis et operibus et promitto me victurum ut bonum Christianum. Ac potissimum me obligo operari quantum in me est, ut triumphent Dei iura tuaeque Ecclesiae. Divinum Cor Jesu, offero tibi actiones meas tenues ad obtinendum, ut corda omnia agnoscant tuam sacram Regalitatem et ita tuae pacis regnum stabiliatur in toto terrarum orbe. Amen. Pater Noster... Ave Maria... Gloria Patri...

Monday, October 12, 2009

Traditional Latin Mass at Mission San Rafael Arcangel (Oct. 24, 2009)


On the Feast of St. Raphael
Saturday, October 24, 2009 (11:00AM)
Canon Jean-Marie Moreau of the
Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest
will celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass at
Mission San Rafael Archangel
1104 Fifth Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901 (map)

Fr. Damien -- One Man Play on Oct. 21 (Wed)

In honor of the new canonization of St. Damien and the Year of the Priest, The Oakland Apostolate of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest invites you to a performance of

Damien

A one man play written by Aldyth Morris & Performed by Casey Groves

The true story of a heroic missionary priest who risked his life to care for the outcast of the Hawaiian island of Moloka'l. Come and discover the life of St. Damien, the Apostle of the lepers.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wine and Cheese Reception immediately following the 6pm Mass
Play starts at 7:30PM

St. Margaret Mary
Father Kozina Hall
1219 Excelsior Ave.
Oakland, CA 94610 (map)

Coffee and dessert will be served immediately following the performance

Special Guest: Msgr. R. Michael Schmitz
Vicar General & Provincial Superior for the United States
Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest

Contact Diana (dhenriksson@comcast.net) or
Jean (jmduenas@comcast.net) or Vicki (vfduenas@comcast.net)

Here's the interview with the High School teacher in Hawaii who was healed of cancer after praying to St. Damien:

Monday, October 5, 2009

Map of Ondoy (Ketsana) Flooding


Professor Mahar Lagmay and his team at the National Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of the Philippines is attempting to record the level of floodwaters experienced during Ondoy.

They have put up a Google Map online for people to pinpoint where the floods happened and how deep they got.

It is important that people immediately document their experiences before time makes them forget. If you have a google account or gmail, you can put placemarks on the map. Sign in, place your cursor on the map, right click, and choose "placemark".

Please pass this on... Thanks!

Rosary Rally in San Francisco (1961)

HISTORIC --- Father Patrick Peyton speaks at a 1961 Rosary Rally in San Francisco.
Got this in the mail from a friend (Thanks, Frances)... very interesting!
Yes, folks, San Francisco!
Servant of God, Father Patrick Peyton.
His dying words: "Mary my Queen, my Mother!"

Saturday, October 3, 2009

The 2009 Annual Benefit Dinner of the Seminary Society

Last Saturday (September 26), the Seminary Society held it's 3rd Annual Benefit Dinner at Thomas and Diana Henriksson's place in Castro Valley, CA.
Some chit-chat going around...



Some of the Young Adults Catechism Class
The bartenders...


Excellent dinner was served, followed by letters from Abbe Joel Estrada, Canon Michael Wiener and Msgr. Michael Schmitz (Vicar General in the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, United States Provincial) being read.




Afterwards, various items that came from the Institute Seminary at Gricigliano (near Florence, Italy) were auctioned off. It was a truly memorable evening for everyone.






The Blessed Mother, Agnes, Paul Benedict (inside Agnes) and Jay Balza


Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5