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Hello everyone, 

Today, Sunday 26th October we have 1477 people from all over the world and from many Christian and some non-Christian denominations joining together in prayer. The reflection at the bottom this week is a reply I sent to someone today who wrote about Catholics and Mary and Idolatry, appropriate as we end the Year of the Rosary and move away from October, traditionally devoted to Mary, and into the month of November. 

I'm back in base again, safe and sound, thanks be to God and to you all for your prayers. They carried us along strange highways and up and down mountains in Spain and France. This week I thought I'd share some of the thoughts from that week with you all. But before that, a quick note to let you know I'll be sending out the reflection on a Saturday for the month of November as I'm working with a small group promoting prayers for the Holy Souls. November is traditionally the month we, as Catholics, remember and pray especially for our dead. Next week we'll look at why in more detail.

Right then back to our travels. It was a Marian Pilgrimage of just me and my buddy, with an extra passenger gathered along the way, that turned out to be a complete focus on the Passion of Christ.
We'd found a few places on the internet to visit near our two destinations, so the Sunday saw us attending a Mass and a half in Laredo first. We arrived late Saturday night and stayed in Bilbao, then made our way westwards in our trusty 'little mechanical steed'. Heading for Limpias, a tiny village which has a Miraculous Cross, we stopped in Laredo first to get a drink. A wee nun was making her way down the street (thank God for a nun in a habit) and between us we managed to understand the word church to try and get Mass. We hadn't a word of Spanish just a phrase book that was seldom used as they would reply so fast we hadn't a clue!

Laredo, a port city, has the most amazing 8th century church up on a hill (most towns and villages in Northern Spain seem to be built on hills.) When we got there a children's Mass was half over and as we left at the end we noticed a big crown waiting for the next Mass at mid-day. There were soldiers, civil guards and policemen in all their finery so we reckoned this was something special and turned back in to join them. Turns out that day was a National day of celebration of Our Lady of somewhere or other, Patroness of Spain. What a Mass, what singing, what beauty!

Limpias next, about 50K south of Laredo. In the early years of the last century this magnificent cross caused a stir when the figure of Christ came alive! Many, many miracles have been attributed to it since. You can read more about it here: http://www.garabandaluk.com/limpias.htm

The first stop of our Pilgrimage was Garabandal, the 'forgotten' Marian Apparition site. Garabandal is located way up in the Cantabrian mountains and we arrived at 8pm, booked in to our guesthouse and went to phone home. No luck with the phone box so went went to the one and only hotel in the tiny village of just 70 houses. Not a word of English but plenty of mime! Up pops a gentleman when he heard the accents and it turned out he was from Derry, married with 5 children and had just booked out, intending to leave for Santander in the morning. He joined us for a drink and ended up joining us for the rest of the week - it's a long story!

The local Priest who serves the community is from Cosio, next village down the mountain, and as there was no Mass the following day we decided to make our way to the second location we had chosen - Santo Toribio, west of Garabandal. What a drive - hairpins up one side of the mountain and down the other! We stopped in a lovely market town called Potes for lunch than back into the mountains again to find the monastry which houses a relic of the True Cross. Saint Helena, Emperor Constantine's mother, had brought it to Jerusalem where it made its way to its final resting place in Santo Toribio de Liebana. Read more about it here: http://www.garabandaluk.com/toribio.htm

We got back to Garabandal with an hour or so of daylight left so made our first visit to the Pines, where Our Lady appeared to 4 schoolgirls from 1961 to 1965, leaving them two quite strong messages for the world to turn back to God, among other things She told them.

Next day was amazing! If someone had told me I'd spend 7 hours in prayer up a mountain I'd have said they were daft in the head, but that's how the day turned out. The rocky pathway up to the Pines is lined with the Stations of the Cross and along the mountain path rising above the Pines are the twenty decades of the four mysteries of the Rosary. Bread, ham and cheese with a bottle of water each and we were armed for the day! We had that whole mountain all to ourselves and the three of us prayed and sang our way right to the very top! Each step of the way a meditation on Christ - His Passion and Crucifixion up to the Pines and His complete Life through the Rosary up to the top. Brilliant, beautiful, peaceful, spiritual ... there aren't enough adjectives to decribe it. It rained slightly for half the climb then eased off, but did that bother or deter us - not a bit of it! We made it back down again in time to grab dinner and then off to evening Mass.

Following a beautiful Mass in Spanish said by a lovely young Spanish Priest I noticed a German or Swiss group waiting to have their own Mass. As I'd missed Holy Communion, having eaten within the hour's fast, I stayed on for their Mass so I could receive Communion. What an experience that turned out to be. Their Priest was in his sixties and seemed to have a muscular disorder, MS or something like it, and needed a bit of help to walk up to and away from the altar but boy could he sing! It looked as though this group was a church choir and friends. He'd tap a turning fork and off they'd go into the most beautiful harmonised hymns. Again - brilliant, beautiful, peaceful, spiritual ... there aren't enough adjectives to decribe it.

Mass and the Rosary in Spanish the next morning then saw us buying a few religious bits and pieces for the folk at home in a wee religious shop and on the road for Lourdes. We said our goodbyes to this tiny village with one hotel, one pub, one tiny grocery shop in a garage, two religious shops and the beautiful old church. Every house had been blessed by Our Lady during Her visits there and time has virtually stood still here for the last 40 years almost. We knew leaving that, if God and His Blessed Mother wills it, we'll be back!

Our drive to Lourdes saw us stopping in Laredo again to show our Derry friend the lovely old church and another stop in Loyola, home of Saint Ignatius. Now, this is the church in all its glory and splendour yet it wouldn't hold a candle to that tiny little church we had left behind in Garabandal. It was 10 pm by the time we landed in Lourdes leaving us just a day and a half to spend there. Mass in English next day to start us off then off up the mountain to 'do' the Stations of the Cross. These magnificent life-sized figures are fabulous. It struck the three of us when we reached the crucifixion station that we had seen a piece of the True Cross just a couple of days before. The sun shone for us during the stations and on our return we went as far as the Grotto. We decided to get Confession then go to bathe in the miraculous waters. 

Meeting our Derry friend at 6pm gave us an hour to spare so it was spent in Eucharistic Adoration. The heavens opened and it poured, the only rain we encountered on the whole trip. A quick dash for some dinner and back to the Sanctuary for the candlelight procession at 9pm. What a sight to behold - about 300 sick pilgrims and about 3000 well ones, all praying the Rosary in many different languages.

Mass the next morning was in French as we were too late for the English Mass, then on the road again, this time to drop our pal to Santander, where he and his family intend re-locating. Bilbao airport next morning and home in Ireland again by 11 pm that night.

So, what were our impressions? It was my second visit to Lourdes and Chris' first. We had a great day there. It was our first time in Grabandal and both of us hope it won't be our last. Our whole Pilgrimage focused on Jesus, unavoidable, inevitable and appropriate, hence the reflection on Mary below.

Our second impression is my request for prayer this week. We here in Europe are being landed with a European Constitution that will over-ride our own, eventually. The sad thing is that there is an almighty battle going on by many to try and have the word God included in the wording. Also, the heritages being acknowledged are that of the Greeks and Romans, then the Enlightenment of the Reformation period. Not one word of the role that Christianity has played for at least 1500 years in the formation of Europe. New Europe is being built on a lie - the lie of omission! 

All over Ireland is evidence of our Christian roots from the monastic period of the 5th century right up to today. Every corner in the road we turned in Spain has villages with their churches in the centre, and monastries all over the place. Every part of France has the same Christian heritage, once the most Christian of all nations. England has its own Christian heritage. How on earth can the bureaucrats of Europe deny it all as if it never existed? So please, pray that our Christian Heritage is acknowledged and that God is included in this new constitution. It really is important to us, in more ways than you may think.

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To Jesus Through Mary

The difficulty with the role of Mary is not unusual among the non-Catholic Churches. Catholics do not
worship Mary, rather we honour Her as the Mother of God and as a Heavenly Mother, with that role given to us all at the foot of the cross as Jesus took His last breath. Idolatry is the worship of graven images, for us statues are no different than a pocket or wallet full of family photographs.

Mary and the Saints were humans who have 'been round the block' and are now at heavenly peace and rest with God. They intercede for us in prayer from that exalted position. How much greater must their prayer be than those of us mere mortals here on earth. Have you never asked someone to say a prayer for you over various life situations? Our prayers through the Saints and Our Blessed Mother are no different.

Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, Mother of God, Mother of the Church, Mother of the Eucharist - Our Divine Lord Himself. As Mother of us all - all of humanity regardless of creed, She grieves to see the way we live our lives, walking away from Her Son every day instead of towards Him, denying God over and over again through sin. Is it really all that surprising that God would allow Her to appeal to
us here on earth to return to Him? She really is a great gift to us all to help us take stock and return our lives to God.

She is the woman of Genesis and Revelation and will be the one to defeat Satan, of that I have absolutely no doubt. By being with us here on earth She is building a massive army for Her Son through conversion of hearts, a return to the Sacraments, a love of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass - that daily participation at Calvary all over the world - and a huge return to a prayer life.

I suppose, because I grew up with the Rosary and great devotion to Our Lady, I have no difficulty at all with Her role in our salvation. Without Her fiat - positive response - when the Archangel Gabriel
brought the message from God that she was to be the Mother of His Son, where would we all be? Is it possible that God would have used Her for this one purpose only - a vehicle to carry and birth His Son? No, God had a great plan for this Woman - the second Eve. Where Eve was instrumental in the downfall of the human race, so Mary was instrumental in its salvation.

One of my favourite books to try and see the Catholic Faith through the eyes of a non-Catholic is 'Rome Sweet Home' by Scott Hahn, a convert from being a minister (in the Presbyterian Faith, I think). His conversion was based on his knowledge of the Bible as a Scriptural Scholar. The final step for him was the acceptance of Mary. It had been drummed into him right through his own learning years and college years that the Catholic beliefs on Mary were wrong. Was he ever to get a wake-up call!

For me it is a case of 'To Jesus Through Mary', and so it has been in a very real way for the past number of years. Mary leads us to Her Son, just as she told the stewards at the wedding feast at Cana - 'Do Whatever He Tells You'. I love Mary with my heart and soul - why - because She has taught me to love Her Divine Son with my heart and soul. She has brought me to Him in a gentle yet marvellous way. Mass for me now is a joy, spending time in Eucharist Adoration is a joy, meditating on the Passion of Christ is a joy, meditating on the life of Christ through the Mysteries of the Rosary is a joy, coming to know God through Holy Scriptures is a joy, opening myself up to the Holy
Spirit is a joy. In fact, I now find myself doing a degree in Divinity because of the road Mary is bringing me down.

I may never get you to understand what it means to me but I hope I have shared in just a little way the role of Mary in my life and that of millions of others.

May God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit bless you and yours and may Mary keep you in Her heavenly mother's care.

Mary Mullins in Galway, Ireland

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Prayer for Your Family

"O Dear Jesus, I humbly implore You to grant Your special graces to our family this day. In Your Divine Mercy make our home a shrine of peace, love and faith. I beg You, Dear Jesus, to protect and bless all of us and our families absent and present, living and dead. O Mary loving Mother of Jesus and our Mother, pray to Jesus the Divine Mercy for our family, and for all the families of the world. Ask Him to guard the tiny infant in the womb, the cradle of the newborn, the young in the schools and those about to start their vocations in life. Amen"

Prayer for Your Adult Children

"Heavenly Mother, keep us always in mind of Your Son's great mercy and understanding as we pray for our children. They are grown up now and have left us and are living their own lives according to their own ideals. We feel anxious and worried because they do not seem to feel the need for Christ. to understand the wisdom of His ways, or to be fully at ease with us or themselves. Intervene, dearest Mother, in their lives at the moment You know to be right and help them to understand the things that lead to their peace. Help them to see the need of Christ and to experience the greatness of His love, so that we may all proclaim as You did, that His mercy truly is from generation to generation. Amen"

Prayer for the World

"JESUS of NAZARETH has triumphed over Death. His Reign is Eternal. He is coming to conquer the
world and the time.

"Mercy, my God on those who blaspheme You,
Forgive them, they know not what they do.

"Mercy, my God, for the scandal in the world,
Deliver them from the spirit of Satan.

"Mercy, my God, on those who run away from You
Give them an appreciation for the Holy Eucharist.

"Mercy, my God, on those who come to repent at the foot of the Glorious Cross. May they find Peace and Joy in God our Saviour.

"Mercy, my God, so that Your Kingdom may come, but save souls, there is still time; for the time is near, behold, I am coming. Amen

Come, Lord Jesus."

Recite one decade of the Rosary

"Lord, pour out on the whole world the treasures of Your Infinite Mercy."

"Through the Mystery of Your Holy Incarnation,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Nativity,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Baptism and Holy Fasting,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Cross and Passion,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Death and Burial,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Holy Resurrection,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Admirable Ascension,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Him whose Name reigns eternal,
deliver us from all evil, Lord."

Prayer of Protection

Blessed Michael the Archangel, protect us in the hour of conflict. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God restrain him, we humbly pray, and do thou, Oh Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the Power of God, thrust satan down to hell and with him all the wicked spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen

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All of the Reflections to date are available to read in the Archives on the website for anyone who's interested.

The Weekly Intentions are available on a plain page to be able to print off and kept to hand for your own prayer time. The list has become too long now to include each week but please say the
two wee prayers below. The Loving Father knows the heart of each person requesting prayer.

"Father, bless all those who have requested prayers in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day! Father, we ask You to heal the broken bodies, broken minds, broken spirits, broken hearts and broken marriages and may all their lives be full of Your peace, prosperity, and power as they seek to have a close relationship with You. Amen."

"Thank You Jesus for answering our prayers because we know You hear every prayer and never refuse to answer. You are providing answers and healings from the prayers of all these wonderful people. Praise God!"

"Breathe in me O Holy Spirit that my thoughts may all be holy;
Act in me O Holy Spirit that my work, too, may be holy;
Strengthen me O Holy Spirit to defend all that is holy;
Guard me then O Holy Spirit that I always may be holy."

"O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me, tell me what I should do. Give me Your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to accept all that You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will. Amen"

May God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit bless and guide you and yours and may Mary keep you in Her heavenly mother's care.

Mary in Galway