Memorial Day the Weather and Our Lady of Fatima rolled into one!

This week of unbelievable turmoil politically, has been made even drearier by the rain and unusual cold in Eaton. 

Our little group of workers have continued toward our goal of getting things together for our upcoming 22^nd “Eaton Day” on Memorial Day Monday.  The old Auction Barn on Front Street (Rt.26) next to the Post Office is being painted for the occasion, (thanks for its use Jim Monahan) and the bakers, seamstresses, and even this writer has been getting things together.

In the midst of this I picked up the calendar and realized that today was May 13^th..2017.  Now to some this is just another day, but to me from good old Solvay… it brought back a small vision of the church I attended as a child… The basement the church had a “Grotto” of rocks dedicated to Mary…who I always believed was Our Lady of Fatima.

The story was one I knew from childhood, by coincidence or by reality, the Secrets of Fatima seemed more relevant to me today, than any time in the past especially with news of this

week..

The story started on a hillside in Portugal in 1917 where three children tending sheep belonging to their family were greeted one day by an apparition… many call it the “Angel of Fatima”. The Angel appeared to them to foretell that the Blessed Mary would appears to them on a specific date...  which the children said she did.

The children were at one point examined by the authorities that of course thought they were making it up or seeing things.  As their stories of the apparitions and the Lady words that they were told reached the public… it caused 20,000 people to take a pilgrimage to the hillside in Fatima on the day specified for the “Lady” to appear again.

That day after a dark stormy interval, an unearthly sun danced in the sky above them, the sphere looked like a disc in rainbow colors as it zigzagged across the sky… miracle cures occurred some claimed.

Two of the children who became resolute followers died very young during the outbreak of the horrible flu epidemic of 1918.  One… Lucia, the eldest lived, to be 95 and wrote books on what she saw and what the Blessed Lady told her.

This year Pope Francis was in Fatima for its 100-year celebration and to declare the children Saints.  The trip was much like the other Popes before him had done in different capacities. Of interest…Pope John Paul who was shot on a May 13^th brought the bullet to Fatima, and placed it in the crown of the statue of the “Lady”… he believed Mary had saved his life.

The three secrets told to the children were predictions of what awaited the world unless it changed.  Written down by the third child, Lucia, who became a nun, the third secret continued to be sealed and tucked away from the World until opened by Pope John Paul.

The first two were predictions of the coming if World War II, noting the rise of Fascism even predicting Kristallnacht—the "Night of Broken Glass.  in Austria as the start.

I personally believe the vision of “Hell” given to the children was the dropping of the nuclear bombs on Japan… scenes that still haunt the world today, with their visuals as the vision of “Hell”..…

The third secret or prediction…released on 2000 I copied verbatim here….”

 [Russia] will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated' (13-VII-1917)”….

The Lady basically said we needed to stop our hatred... our persecution of religions... to act as one and to come together..for there to be peace on earth.... Much to think about in today’s world huh!

On  a lighter note…. please come out to our event on May 29^th, Memorial Day Monday…. celebrate community and take a pie or gift home as a way to support history and goodwill among neighbors and men.

Mother's Day, Memorial Day Monday, White Roses & Pope Francis!

Its been a busy week here in Eaton as we are finalizing plans for our upcoming “History Day” on Memorial Day Monday…now called Eaton Day.  As an added side to the event we have decided to hold a “White Elephant” type of sale with new and used items in an attempt to bolster the sales on the day that raises money for the upkeep of the Old Town of Eaton Museum.  We decided to call it a “White Sale" of sorts.

With that in my mind, this morning while looking through Facebook, I saw a white rose picture put up by someone to honor their mother on “Mother’s Day!”  It reminded me of a very interesting history story on Pope Francis. 

Pope Francis has a special devotion to Saint Therese who said that when she got to heaven she would shower white rose petals down as a sign of her intercession when prayed to.  So the white rose is a sign to him, a sign from heaven.

When he was in Buenos Aries he had to solve a number of important problems and says he would pray to Saint Therese. “Whenever I have a problem,” Bergoglio explained  “I ask the saint not to solve it, but to take it into her hands and to help me accept it and I almost always receive a white rose as a sign.”

Saint Therese... who is one of the most popular of the Saints of the Catholic Church, is often referred to as the “Little Flower.” Her approach to having a spiritual life was both simple and practical.  Pope Pius the X called her "the greatest saint of modern times”.

The Pope’s belief in the saint is pulled from a quote of hers before her untimely death at the age of 24, Saint Therese said,  “A soul inflamed with love can not remain inactive...  If only you knew what I plan to do when I’m in heaven … I will spend my days in heaven by doing good on earth.”  

Most recently it was reported that before World Youth Day the Pope prayed to her for her intercession…. and that randomly, while taking a walk through the Vatican garden he was handed a white rose by a gardener working there.  Pope Francs took this rose to be a sign that she was interceding on his behalf... especially since in 1927 Pope Pius the XI had made Saint Therese the Patroness of the Gardens of Vatican City.

So in 2014 to honor both the Saint and Pope Francis, Croix Dominique and Jacques Ranchon, horticulturists from Bourg-Argenal in the Loire region, developed the new white rose and asked permission to name it Pope Francis.  They also donated 50 of the plants to the Vatican garden, one bloom of which was given to the Pope in his walk.

Isn’t history fun! 

Be sure to join us for our special White Elephant Sale on Memorial Day Monday and for all you Mother’s….Happy Mother’s Day!

Here is a the story of the Saint!

Peace, Pope Frances, removing hatred, and Simple Gifts!

This week’s trip to New York City by Pope Francis has been a rare opportunity for many of us to see the man and listen to his wise concerns.  I myself admire him for stepping out of traditional ways to bring a message of hope to the poor, concern for mankind to the world, and humility to a station in life that has had few champions.

We say that we do not have the class system like India and other foreign countries… but in truth… do!  It is becoming increasingly evident that we have two classes emerging…the rich and poor, as these income levels are becoming farther apart daily. His remarks at the United Nations certainly sounded a cord with the hearts of many who understand the suffering that is present in the World today!

Of particular importance I feel was the ceremony at the World Trade Center Memorial…here all the leaders of NYC’s religious communities were able to interact in a service that few in other more secular countries would believe possible.  The service was opened and closed with the anthem of another religion that I have become fond of…Shakers and the song Simple Gifts.

Another aspect of the ceremony was a number of interactive prayers from religion to religion.  My favorite quote from the bible…

Mathew 5:3 … Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven…Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted…Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth…Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled…Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy…Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God…Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God…. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

We must learn to view ourselves as part of the whole and understand that we are all brothers and sisters related from the start …black, white, red, etc.  That the life we have as humankind is all the same… that everyone feels the same emotions at one time or another... that we all love our children, families, friends, communities and personal religions the same, and that we each and everyone live in a world that is getting smaller, with hatred at our doorsteps waiting to be let in… there will be no peace and no end to humankind’s suffering.

From the Pope’s words…

(Peace ) This can only happen if we uproot from our hearts all feelings of hatred, vengeance and resentment. We know that that is only possible as a gift from heaven. Here, in this place of remembrance, I would ask everyone together, each in his or her own way, to spend a moment in silence and prayer. Let us implore from on high the gift of commitment to the cause of peace. Peace in our homes, our families, our schools and our communities. Peace in all those places where war never seems to end. Peace for those faces, which have known nothing but pain. Peace throughout this world, which God has given us as the home of all and a home for all. Simply PEACE.

Simple Gifts..the Shaker Anthem...

New Years thoughts, Museum, WWI, Pope Francis and the Maria Dolens

History is a mystifying seductress to some of us.  Everywhere we look we find a piece of history that we are curious about.  Myself  I am continually looking into the history of everything and many times finding that I know very little of the history of things at all..

For New Years we all set goals for the new year and tonight we had a museum dinner meeting to celebrate New Year and also to talk about what to do about the museum for 2015.  This little band of helpers and myself have struggled, poured much energy and money into keeping the museum open. The question that came to my mind was, ”should I continue after 20 years?” 

After all left I thought about the New Year as most of us do and I tried to find something that would guide me.  I asked myself if you didn’t work on the museum what would you do?  The answers were pretty simple since I try to do them now… 1. Help wipe out poverty!  2. Work to end all Wars.

I am adamant that we are in a terrible time of class separation, I remember a line from a song…”The hands of the have not’s have fallen out of reach!”  They have and are becoming more so everyday. We are also in a time of world wars and skirmishes that are killing thousands of innocent people...and for what?

So I went on line and tried to find out what that great guy Pope Francis...who signs everything just Francis…said in his New Year message.  His message fittingly came on January 1st and the 48th anniversary of the Day of World Peace, and the Maria Dolens bell was shown ringing in the background.  The Maria Dolens? And so I was off on my newest history quest.

The Maria Dolens is the name of a bell that was cast from the bronze of many of the cannons - 19, one from each countries that participated in WWI.  It sits in Roverto, in today’s northern Italy and it rings 100 times each day in the evening to honor the fallen and to many to act  as a symbol for peace and an end to war.

The Bell was the idea of Don Antonio Rossaro,  called the Bell of the Fallen.  It was given the name Maria Dolens and placed on the Malipiero tower of Castello di Rovereto.  It has been recast many times because of fractures from ringing 100 times a day no doubt... but it has always been recast and returned to the tower where is nightly reminds the world of the price of war.  The latest recast was blessed by Pope Paul VI and on November 4^th, 1965 was placed on the Colle di Miravalle where it today rest above the city of Roverto.

On the bell, which is the second largest swinging bell in the world, were added at its recasting the statements of the Pontiff Pius XII "With peace nothing is lost. Everything is to be lost through war." John XXIII: "In pace hominum ordinata concordia et tranquilla libertas."

Today it rang 100 times at midday and was shown on the large screen in St. Peter’s square.

It is said that it tolls in the hope that Man, in the memory of the Fallen of every war and every nation in the world, may find the path that leads to Peace….

I say AMEN to that… Happy New Year!