From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   My words shall not pass away   
      
   "Nothing of this world is more durable than the heavens and the earth,   
   and nothing in the order of nature passes away more quickly than   
   speech. Words, as long as they are incomplete, are not yet words. Once   
   completed they cease utterly to be. In fact they cannot be perfected   
   except by their own passing away. Therefore he says: “Heaven and earth   
   shall pass away, but my words shall not pass.” As if he were openly to   
   say: all that seems to you enduring and unchangeable is not enduring   
   and without change in eternity. And everything of mine that seems to   
   pass away is enduring and without change. My speech, that seems to   
   pass away, utters thoughts (sententiae manentes) which endure   
   forever."   
    by Gregory the Great (excerpt from  HOMILIES 1   
      
   ===============   
   January 15th - Our Lady of Banneux, Virgin of the Poor   
      
   Today marks the anniversary of the first apparition of Our Blessed   
   Mother at Banneux, Belgium. On January 15, 1933, eleven year old   
   Mariette Beco, the eldest of seven children born to a poor Belgian   
   family, was reportedly looking for her younger brother Julien, who was   
   late to arrive home. At around seven o’clock in the evening, while   
   staring out her kitchen window, Mariette was surprised to see the   
   luminous figure of a beautiful young woman. Mariette described this   
   woman as “made of light.” She was dressed in white, with a light blue   
   sash, and a golden Rosary over her arms which were joined in prayer.   
      
   While the Beco family was Catholic, they neither went to church nor   
   prayed. Mariette had years earlier found a Rosary on the street, and   
   always carried it with her, although she did not know how to pray with   
   it. Upon spotting the woman through her window, Mariette called out to   
   her mother, “Our Blessed Lady is smiling at me.” Mariette removed her   
   Rosary from her pocket and began to pray while watching the   
   apparition. The Blessed Virgin’s lips were moving, but Mariette could   
   not understand her, and felt called outside to be closer to the   
   apparition. Her mother, however, unable to discern the figure her   
   daughter saw, forbade her to leave the house out of fear.   
      
   Mariette told her father, friends, and the local priest the following   
   morning what she had seen, but was greeted with disbelief.   
      
   Our Lady of Banneux, the Virgin of the Poor, would appear to Mariette   
   seven more times over the course of the next month. Her message each   
   time was to pray for the poor, the sick, for sinners.   
      
      
   Bible Quote:   
   18 But the path of the just is like shining light,   
   that grows in brilliance till perfect day.*   
   19The way of the wicked is like darkness;   
   they do not know on what they stumble.  (Proverbs 4:18-19)   
      
      
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   From the official site of Our Lady of Banneux, a prayer for intercession:   
      
   Blessed Virgin of the Poor, lead us to Jesus, Source of grace.   
   Blessed Virgin of the Poor, save all nations.   
   Blessed Virgin of the Poor, relieve the sick.   
   Blessed Virgin of the Poor, alleviate suffering.   
   Blessed Virgin of the Poor, pray for each one of us.   
   Blessed Virgin of the Poor, we believe in you.   
   Blessed Virgin of the Poor, believe in us.   
   Blessed Virgin of the Poor, we will pray hard.   
   Blessed Virgin of the Poor, bless us.   
   Blessed Virgin of the Poor, Mother of the Saviour Mother of God, we thank You.   
      
   Mary, Virgin of the Poor,   
   You lead us to Jesus, source of grace, and you come to alleviate our suffering.   
   We implore you with confidence: Help us to follow your Son with   
   generosity, and to belong to Him unreservedly.   
   Help us to welcome the Holy Spirit Who guides and sanctifies us.   
   Obtain us the grace to look like Jesus everyday more, so that our life   
   will glorify the Father and contribute to the salvation of our   
   Brothers. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)