Icon of the Mother of God “Tinos”

Icon of the Mother of God “Tinos” http://christopherklitou.com/23_july_pelagia_of_tino.jpg

Commemorated on January 30

This highly-venerated icon was discovered in the ruins of the ancient church of St. John the Baptist on January 30, 1823.

An elderly man, Michael Polyzoes, had a dream shortly before the Feast of the Annunciation in 1821, in which the Mother of God appeared to him in shining white garments. She instructed him to dig in the field of Anthony Doxaras outside the city, where he would find her icon. She also told him to build a church on the site, since there had once been one there. The Queen of Heaven also promised to help him accomplish these tasks.

Upon awakening, he crossed himself and tried to go back to sleep, believing that his dream had been a temptation from the devil. Before falling asleep, Michael saw the Theotokos once again, and noticed that the room was flooded by a gentle white light. Her head was surrounded by divine light, and her face displayed ineffable grace and sweetness. Speaking to the old man she said, “Why are you afraid? Your fear comes from unbelief. Listen! I am Panagia (the all-holy one). I want you to dig in the field of Anthony Doxaras where my icon is buried. I ask you to do this as a favor, old man. You will build a church there, and I will help you.” Then she disappeared.

The next morning, Michael went into the village and told the priest what had happened to him during the night. The priest also thought the dream was a temptation, so he urged Michael to come for Confession and Communion. The old man, however, was not convinced that his visions were mere dreams or demonic temptations. He told the inhabitants of the village of his experiences. Some laughed at him, but only two believed his words.

The two men who believed went with him to the field one night and dug in many places, but they found nothing. They then dug in another place and found the remains of an old wall. Finding nothing but bricks, they had to give up their search in the morning so the Turks would not find out what they were doing.

Anthony Doxaras, the owner of the field, found the bricks and tried to use them to build an oven. The mortar would not adhere to the bricks, so whenever he tried to build one section of the oven, it collapsed. The workers were convinced that God was showing them that the bricks from the ancient church were not to be used for an oven.

St. Pelagia, an eighty-year-old nun, had several dreams in June of 1822 in which the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to her. St. Pelagia was living in the women’s monastery of the Dormition on Mt. Kechrovounios, about an hour’s journey from the village. She had lived there from a young age, and was known for her great virtue and piety.

The Theotokos appeared to her in a dream and ordered her to go to Stamatelos Kangades (a prominent man of the village), and tell him to uncover the church of St. John the Baptist in the field of Anthony Doxaras.

Terrified by the vision, Pelagia attributed the dream to her imagination, and she began to pray. She was afraid to tell anyone about her dream, but the following week, the Theotokos appeared to her again, reminding her of her instructions. Still, the nun remained silent and told no one of her vision. The Theotokos appeared a third time, this time with a severe manner. She chastised the nun for her unbelief, saying, “Go and do as I told you. Be obedient.”

St. Pelagia woke up in fear. As she opened her eyes, she saw the same mysterious Woman she had seen while asleep. With great effort she asked, “Who are you, Lady? Why are you angry with me, and why do you order me to do these things?” The Woman raised her hand and said, “Proclaim, O earth, glad tidings of great joy” (Megalynarion of the Ninth Ode of the Canon for Matins of the Annunciation).

Understanding at last, the aged nun joyfully exclaimed, “Praise, O heavens, the glory of God” (which is the next line of the Megalynarion).

At once, she informed the Abbess of her visions, and she also told Stamatelos Kangades. Mr. Kangades, who had been designated by the Theotokos to carry out the excavation of the church, informed Bishop Gabriel of these events. The bishop had already heard of the dream of Michael Polyzoes, and realized that the account of the nun Pelagia agreed with his vision. Bishop Gabriel wrote to all the churches on the island of Tinos, urging them to cooperate in finding the church and the icon.

Excavations began in September of 1822 under the supervision of Mr. Kangades. The foundations of the church of St. John, destroyed by Muslims in 1200, were uncovered. An old well was found near the church, but not the holy icon. The funding for the excavation eventually ran out, so the effort was abandoned.

Once again the Mother of God appeared to St. Pelagia, urging that the excavations continue. Bishop Gabriel sent out an appeal for donations to build a new church on the foundations of the old church of St. John the Baptist. The new church was built, and was dedicated to St. John and to the Life-Giving Fountain.

On January 30, 1823, workers were leveling the ground inside the church in preparation for laying a new stone floor. Around noon, one of the workers, Emmanuel Matsos, struck a piece of wood with his pickax, splitting it down the middle. He looked at one piece of the board and saw that it was burned on one side, while the other side showed traces of paint. As he brushed off the dirt with his hands, he saw that it was an icon. Joining the two pieces of wood together, he crossed himself and venerated the icon.

He called the other workers, who also came and venerated the icon. When the icon was cleaned, it was shown to be an icon of the Annunciation. The split was in the middle of the icon, between the Theotokos and the Archangel Gabriel. Neither figure was damaged, and this was regarded as a miracle.

That same day, the icon was given to Bishop Gabriel, who kissed it and cried out, “Great art Thou, O Lord, and wondrous are Thy works.”

After the finding of the icon, the inhabitants of Tinos were filled with zeal to build a magnificent church in honor of the Theotokos. People offered their money and their own labor to help build the Church of the Evangelistria (“She who received the Good News”).

The new church was completed in 1823, and was consecrated by Bishop Gabriel. St. Pelagia of Tinos fell asleep in the Lord on April 28, 1834.

The Tinos Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos continues to be venerated as one of Greece’s holiest treasures. Innumerable miracles of healing and deliverance from danger have not ceased since the time the icon was found.

By permission of the Orthodox Church in America (www.oca.org)

‹ Icon of the Mother of God “The Word Made Flesh”up http://christopherklitou.com/icon_23_july_pelagia_of_tino.htm

Jan. 15: OUR LADY OF BANNEUX

Mariette Beco, waiting for her brother to come home, pressed her face against the window while darkness fell; it was seven o’clock in Banneux. Mrs. Beco was working in a back room; the rest of the family had retired – none of them had attended Mass that Sunday morning – the father was a lapsed Catholic. Suddenly Marietta called, “Mother, there is a lady in the garden. It is the Holy Virgin.” Mrs. Beco scoffed at this. Taking a rosary Marietta had found on the road, she began to pray it. When Julien came home and heard what had happened, he said there was nothing in the garden’ perhaps the icicles reflected weirdly and confused Marietta.
The pastor was informed, but he did not put much stock in the story, thinking the vision of Beauraing and Lourdes was resulting in an epidemic of visions. He sent word to Marietta to forget about it and not spread stories. The next morning, Wednesday, the priest was surprised to see Marietta at Holy Mass – she had quit school because she failed in her First Holy Communion examination three times, and after that had not gone to church any more. That day Marietta went to school and for the first time in her life knew her lessons well. The next evening she went into the garden, knelt and said the rosary; her father followed her with a coat which he threw around her shoulders. He tried to get the pastor who was out, then called a neighbor, a practicing Catholic, and together they followed. The child was being beckoned on to the highway by the lady, till they reached a spring, into which Marietta plunged her hands at the command of the lady, who said, “This spring is set aside for me. Good night!” Then she vanished. When they reached home, the Abbé was waiting for them. Marietta described the lady: “Her robe was long and white; she wore a blue belt and rays of light shone from her head. She was a little more than five feet tall; her right foot was bare and under it a golden rose. Her hands were raised to her breast on which was a golden heart. A rosary hung from her right arm” – all similar to the Lourdes apparition.
There were six or seven more apparitions; at one of these Marietta, at the advice of the pastor asked the lady her name, to which Mary replied, “I am the Virgin of the poor”, and leading the girl to a spring, said, “This spring is for all nations…for the sick…I would like a chapel built. I come to relieve suffering. Have faith in me and pray much. My dear child, pray hard…” At the end of each visit Mary would say “Au revoir”, which means, “until we meet”, but at the last visit she said, “Adieu”, which means, “good-bye”. She blessed Marietta then at which the girl fainted. Marietta did not see the lady depart.
The Beco family and many others became model Catholics. The chapel was built, and the spring became the site of numberless cures. During the German occupation of Belgium in 1942, the bishop encouraged the cult of Our Lady of Banneux, Our Lady of the Poor.
In 1947, the bishop approved the devotion. In 1948 the cornerstone of a new basilica was laid; this was to supplant the small chapel. During the war, Marietta married a Dutch salesman. During the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, an American chaplain found them and their fifteen month old baby living in a cellar of a small home occupied by American troops.
Belgium is one more reminder in these days when communism seems to be sweeping everything before it that our great hope – our only hope – lies in our carrying out the requests Our Lady made at Fatima and other places. Mary prays for us without ceasing, but we, too, must pray, must sacrifice. We must do our part, if we expect Mary to help us.
http://www.ourladysrosarymakers.com/MarysfeastsJAN.html

2nd Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima

But as time went by, Lucia became more and more serious and apprehensive . Soon she said to Jacinta , who was still playing, «Quiet. Our Lady is coming.»
It was near noon. Maria da Capelinha was feeling weak. «Will it be long before Our Lady comes?» she asked.
«No, Senhora,» Lucia unhesitatingly res- ponded. They all began the Rosary, and as they finished, one girl began the Litany. But Lucia stopped her, «There’s no time for it now.» Then she got up and shouted, «Jacinta, Jacin- ta, here comes Our Lady. I Just saw the flash.»
The three of them ran over to the smaller holmoak. Everyone followed and knelt upon · the brush and furze. Lucia raised her eves towards the skies, as if in prayer, and was heard to say, «You told me to come here today. What do you want me to do?»
The others heard something that sounded like a very gentle voice did not understand what was said. «It is like the gentle humming of a bee,» Maria da Capelinha whispered.
Lucia in later years tells us as follows: «l want yoo to come here on the thir-
teenth of the next month. Say the Rosary? inserting between the mysterie$ the fol- lowing ejaculation – ‘0 My Jesus, forgive us. Sa.ve us from the fire of Hell. Bring all ·soul to Heaven, especially those in most need.’ I want you to learn to read and write and later I will tell you what else I want.»
Then Lilcia asked Our Lady to·cure a sick person who was recommended to her. Our Lady answered.
«lf he is converted, he will be cured within the yr~ar.»
«I would like to ask you also to take us to Heaven!»
«Yes,» Our Lady answered; «l will take Jacinta and Francisco soon. . You, how- ever, are to stay here a longer time. Jesus wants to use you to make me know a,nd loved. He wants to establish-the Devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the World. I promise salvation to those who embrace it and their souls will be loved by God as flowers placed by myself to adorn His throne. »
«Am I going to stay here alone?» Lucia asked; full of sadness at the though of losing her beloved cousins.
«No My Daughter.» Lucia’s eyes filled with tears. «Does this cause you to suffer a great
deal? I will never leave you, my Immacu-
.late Heart will be your refuge and the .Wf1IJJ that will lead you to God.»
«As she said these last words,» Lucia tells, ~(the Blessed Virgin opened her hands and communicated to us for the second time the reflex of the immense light that enveloped her. We saW ourselves in it, as if submerged in God. Jacinta and Francisco seemed to be on the side that was ascending to Heaven, and I was on the side that was spreading over the earth. There was a Heart before the palm of the right hand of Our Lady, with thorns pierc- ing it. We understood that this was the Immac- ulate Heart of Mary, so offended by the sins of mankind, desiring reparation.»
The crowd now saw Lucia ·rise quickly to her feet. Stretching out her arm she cried, «Look, there she goes; there she goes!»
Maria da Capelinha reports that when Our Lady left the tree, it was like the his~ing of a distant rocket. She continues: «As for us, we saw nothing but a slight cloud, just a few inches away from the foliage, rising slowly to- wards the East.»
The children remained silent, their eyes fas- . tened in that direction, until a few minutes later, Lucia cried out, «There now!’ It’s all over. She has entered Heaven. The doors have closed.»
The people turned their eyes back to the blessed holmoak and were surprised to see the highest branches, which before were standi1tg upright, now inclined towards the east, as if
they had been tread upon. The onlookers then began to break of the branches and leaves from the. holmoak. Lucia asked that they take only the lower branches, as they had not been touched by Our Lady. Someone suggested that everybody say the Rosary before leaving, but because some had come such a long way, they said only the Litany at the Cova; then depar- ting in a group, they recited the Rosary toge- ther on their way home.
https://repository.library.nd.edu/view/344/832654.pdf

Would-be papal assassin Mehmet Ali Agca expelled from Italy

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/12/29/papal-assassin-mehmet-ali-agca-expelled-italy/

(RNS) Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish man who tried to assassinate St. John Paul II in 1981, was expelled from Italy on Monday (Dec. 29) after paying a visit to the tomb of the Polish pontiff.

An Italian judge on Monday approved the expulsion of the former terrorist; he was scheduled to be sent back to Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight from Rome Monday night, police sources told the Italian news agency, ANSA.

Agca’s expulsion came two days after he placed flowers on the late pope’s tomb in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday.

Agca, 56, served 19 years for his crime in Italy, where John Paul famously visited him in prison. He was then deported to his native Turkey, where he served further time for the murder of left-wing journalist Abdi Ipekci, who was killed in 1979.

“I would like to go to the tomb of John Paul II, who visited me in prison,” Agca told ANSA earlier this month. “I couldn’t go to his funeral so I would like to pay my respects to a spiritual brother.”

Gunman who shot Pope John Paul II asks for a meeting with Francis during tour of Turkey… Many pics at link.

Mehmet Ali Agca sent letter to Vatican requesting meeting with the Pope
Turk jailed for 19 years for attempted assassination of John Paul II in 1981
Also served ten years in Turkish prison for murdering prominent journalist
The Pope is set to visit Turkey this week for crisis talks regarding ISIS

 

During the shocking 1981 attack, Pope John Paul II suffered severe blood loss after being shot four times.
A SECOND OF SILENCE… FOLLOWED BY CRIES OF HORROR
On Wednesday May 13 1981 John Paul II was on his way to his regular weekly public audience – being driven in his white – and then unarmoured popemobile, through a crowd of 20,000 worshippers.
The Polish pontiff had been elected as Pope less than three years earlier.
At 5.17pm, shots rang out and John Paul II slumped back in his seat after being struck by four bullets – two of which hit him in the stomach.
After a second of silence, people in the square began to scream: ‘Hanno sparato il Papa! Hanno sparato il Papa!’ (They’ve shot the Pope).
A minute or so later, police grabbed a man running from the scene – Mehmet Ali Agca.
A letter found in Agca’s pocket read: ‘I, Agca, have killed the Pope so that the world may know of the thousands of victims of imperialism.’
Following a five-hour operation, John Paul II went on to make a full recovery.
Two bullets struck his left hand and right arm while another two lodged in his lower intestine, narrowly missing his heart and other vital organs. Two bystanders were also hit by stray bullets.
The motive for the attack remains a mystery but at the time the 23-year-old was a militant of the notorious far-right Grey Wolves movement.
When police seized him, they found a letter in his pocket which read: ‘I have killed the Pope so that the world may know of the thousands of victims of imperialism.’
A number of theories have been put forward about who was behind the assassination attempt.
An official inquiry blamed Soviet-sponsored assassins – who wanted the Pope dead because of his support for the democracy movement Solidarity.
But in 2011 Polish communist leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski, who died this year aged 90, claimed that Islamic fanatics sponsored the would-be assassination.
‘Radical Islam detested the pope and saw in him a leader of crusades,’ he told Poland’s ‘Jezus’ Catholic magazine.
In 1983, John Paul II famously pardoned Agca and even visited him in his cell in Rome.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2852301/Gunman-shot-John-Paul-II-asks-meeting-Francis-tour-Turkey-Pope-isn-t-keen.html#ixzz3N9dRfoLW
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John Paul II gunman lays flowers at Vatican tomb

John Paul, who forgave his attacker, visited Agca in a Rome prison on Dec. 27, 1983, and later intervened to gain Agca’s release in 2000. Agca was extradited to Turkey For the 1979 killing of a Turkish journalist and he completed a 10-year sentence there in 2010.

When Agca was apprehended after shooting the pontiff in St. Peter’s Square during a public audience, the Turk said he acted alone. Later he suggested Bulgaria and the Soviet secret services masterminded the attack on the Polish-born pontiff, whose championing of the Polish Solidarity labor movement alarmed Moscow.

Twice, Italian juries acquitted three Bulgarians and three Turks of alleged roles in the shooting. Agca has often given contradictory accounts and has claimed to be a Messiah.

http://news.yahoo.com/agca-leaves-flowers-john-pauls-tomb-vatican-151130639.html

Italian TV ran a brief video of the tomb visit, apparently filmed by an Italian journalist accompanying Agca in the basilica. The Turk is heard to mumble, “A thousand thanks, saint,” and “Long live Jesus Christ.”

He also said: “Today I have come because on Dec. 27, 1983, I met the pope.”

Hutch woman says deaf ear cured at Fátima shrine

“At Fátima there are people from all over the world and they pray to Mary as they crawl to the shrine about a block and a half,” Inskeep said. “They are crawling and crying. It’s so emotional.”
On the morning that Inskeep, her daughter and cousin headed to Mass at the basilica in Fátima, Inskeep was handed a headphone piece that was for her left ear. She was deaf in that ear because of chronic ringing that had become so severe she lost her hearing. Along with the ringing she also had Meniere’s disease, which includes vertigo as a symptom.
But when Inskeep placed the headphone piece to the deaf ear, she discovered she miraculously could hear naturally. Immediately she began crying.
“I can hear,” she told her daughter.
“That’s Grandma,” said Godar, immediately thinking of Inskeep’s mother, who died in 2012. She had been devoted to the Virgin Mary, because she had been born on Dec. 8 – the feast of the Immaculate Conception – and had prayed to Mary under the title of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Tears flowed as Inskeep savored the miracle. Every so often, Godar asked her mother if she could still hear.
Something extraordinary happened to her at Fátima.
Although a member of Hutchinson’s Holy Cross Catholic Church, Inskeep was traveling with Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas. While there were 90 people in their group on two buses, the archbishop heard of Inskeep’s miracle and asked her about it.
“I asked him, ‘Why me?’ “ Inskeep said. “And he said, ‘Why not you?’ “
The tour included a trip to Lourdes, France – the site of another international Marian shrine – and the Vatican in Rome, where they saw Pope Francis in the crowded St. Peter’s Square. Through it all, Inskeep could hear everything from subtle conversations to the soft drizzle of the rain.
In gratitude she plans to pray the rosary every day. She returned home with a special locket from Fátima and five rosaries as gifts.
Back in Hutchinson she went to her family physician, who told her that if she could hear there was no reason to see an audiologist.
Before Fátima, her husband, David Inskeep, would sit at her left side and be her “ear” when they were out in public. Now she can hear plainly in that ear.
He’s happy his wife has her hearing back, and with a smile he calls her “our lady of Hutchinson.”

http://www.hutchnews.com/lifestyle/religion/hutch-woman-says-deaf-ear-cured-at-f-tima-shrine/article_b707901d-9664-50fb-8c8d-c09352fa3d57.html

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