Your Health And Tech Friend

"The five new "Mysteries of Light" proposed by the Holy Father in Rosarium Virginis Mariae include the: 1) Baptism in the Jordan; 2) Wedding Feast at Cana; 3) Proclamation of the Kingdom of God; 4) Transfiguration; and 5) Institution of the Eucharist. This issue of Soul (page 14) reflects upon the new Luminous Mysteries as seen in the light of Fatima...

... see this below ..."

The Year of the Rosary... The Era of Fatima...

The Role of the Blue Army

In a historic Apostolic Letter by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, issued on October 16, 2002, the beginning of the twenty-fifth year of his pontificate, the Holy Father proclaimed October 2002 to October 2003 as the "Year of the Rosary" and proposed five new "Mysteries of Light" to add to the Holy Rosary. The blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima received this news with great joy.

Our Lady of the Rosary

At Fatima, the Mother of God identified herself as "The Lady of the Rosary." Our Lady of Fatima came to earth to give us a Message of peace and hope for the world, which included the directive: "Pray the Rosary every day." As a part of our Blue Army Pledge to Our Lady of Fatima, we promise to pray five decades of the Rosary each day.

Year of the Rosary

At the Blue Army, we have been at the forefront of promoting the Holy Rosary with National Rosary Novenas, National Rosary Congresses and programs such as the "National Rosary Crusade for America" and the "Little shepherds Program." During this special "Year of the Rosary" we intend to increase our efforts and distribute more rosaries than we ever have before.

Era of Fatima

The Vicar of Christ on earth has made it abundantly clear that the Message of Fatima is a message for our times. During the Jubilee Year, the Holy Father entrusted the Third Millennium to Mary Most Holy before the image of Our Lady of Fatima flown in from the site of the apparitions in Portugal. He could have chosen any other representation of Our Blessed Mother from around the world, but he chose to draw attention to Our Lady of Fatima in reference to the next one thousand years. The Message of Fatima is an urgent message for our times and for the generations yet to come. The new Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II is further evidence of the importance of the Message of Our Lady of the Rosary. Fatima is more relevant now than it ever has been before.

The Rosary is the Weapon

Canonized on Father's Day of this past year, the Spiritual Father of the Blue Army, Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, was known to have said, "The Rosary is the weapon!" During the "Year of the Rosary" we will celebrate the 120th Anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's Encyclical, Supremi Apostolatus Officio, in which Pope John Paul II noted that this "Pope of the Rosary" proposed the Rosary as "an effective spiritual weapon against the evils afflicting society." In the official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, the frontpage headline of the year's October 2' edition was: "Pray the Rosary as a Weapon of Peace."

The paragraph above talks about the rosary being

'The Weapon.'

At this time in my life I certainly will attest to that. A Saturday noon rosary has been in my life for about a half of a year; another rosary, on wednesdays, was added about 3 months ago. This past two weeks I've said a rosary each morning. My life changed in a drastic way since I've had the rosary in my life. On a daily basis, the practice of the rosary has brought a deep peace to me. If you see other pages in this magazine - I talk about my life, the emotional disorder(s) that I live with; as well as the alcoholism and food addiction I have lived with. That being said, I can tell you the rosary has brought more peace to me, it has been a large source of help, and has given me a deep sense of calm.
Nancy Koncilja Gurish
Your Health And Tech Friend

Mysteries of Light

The five new "Mysteries of Light" proposed by the Holy Father in Rosarium Virginis Mariae include the:
1) Baptism in the Jordan;

2) Wedding Feast at Cana;

3) Proclamation of the Kingdom of God;

4) Transfiguration;

and 5) Institution of the Eucharist. This issue of Soul (page 14) reflects upon the new Luminous Mysteries as seen in the light of Fatima.

Bishop Serafim of Fatima Closely allied with the Pope in the promotion and safeguarding of the Fatima Message is the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, the Most Reverend Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva. The Blue Army USA was pleased to have had Bishop Serafim come to the Nation Blue Army Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 2002. In addition, we accompanied Bishop Serafim, along with a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, to "Ground Zero" and to the Vatican Mission to the United States in New York City. The full account of this historic visit is on page 4, of Soul Magazine, November-December 2002 issue.

Role of the Blue Army

Each and every member of the Blue Army must answer this call and "set out into the deep" to get others to pray the Rosary. We at the National Office, the volunteers, staff, Handmaids of Mary Immaculate and priests, stand by to assist you in your efforts and to pray for your success.

Written by Father Ladis J. Cizik Executive Director and Editor of Soul Magazine

(Please click on the heading to this full text and source)

"...in the year 1214, however, that Holy Mother Church received the Rosary in its present form and according to the method we use today. It was given to the Church by Saint Dominic who had received it from the Blessed Virgin as a powerful means of converting the Albigensians and other sinners.
I will tell you the story of how he received it, which is found in the very well-known book "De Dignitate Psalterii" by Blessed Alan de la Roche [1]. Saint Dominic, seeing that the gravity of people's sins was hindering the conversion of the Albigensians, withdrew into a forest near Toulouse where he prayed unceasingly for three days and three nights. During this time he did nothing but weep and do harsh penances in order to appease the anger of Almighty God. He used his discipline so much that his body was lacerated, and finally he fell into a coma. At this point Our Lady appeared to him, accompanied by three angels, and she said:
"Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?"
"Oh, my Lady,"

answered Saint Dominic, "you know far better than I do ..."

" ... to this page ....

The Blue Army

About the Blue Army

As late as 1947 the message of Our Lady at Fatima was hardly known in the United States. The Blue Army spread quickly and soon

became an international apostolate, the World Apostolate of Fatima,

with millions of members and national centers in many countries around the world.
In the United States, the Blue Army developed a beautiful National Center and Shrine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Washington, New Jersey. It also built a beautiful pilgrim center, Domus Pacis (House of Peace)* in Fatima, to welcome English-speaking pilgrims. It has an excellent publication, SOUL Magazine, and active prayer cells and Diocesan Divisions throughout the country to promote Our Lady's message.
Now, more than fifty years after its founding, The Blue Army looks out on a world that has yet to respond adequately to our Lady's requests. At Fatima Our Blessed Lady foretold that God would punish the world for its offenses against Him by wars, hunger, the spread of Communism, persecution of the Church, even the annihilation of various nations. Through the praying of the Holy Rosary and the prayers of many faithful souls, Communism was overthrown in Russia following the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope John Paul II in 1984. But we must acknowledge that the world has not stopped offending God; if anything, the world is worse by far than it was when Our Lady came in 1917. War, hunger, terrorism, outrageous crimes, and the annual slaughter of millions of innocent babies in their mother's wombs all over the world is the consequence.

Our Lady gave the means to change the world, to turn the hearts of men and women back to God,

to end the wars and strife, to end the horror of abortion. We must renew our commitment to fulfilling the requests Our Lady made at Fatima. We must spread her message throughout the world and assist men and women of good will to respond to her requests. You can support us through your prayers and sacrifices for the success of our work. You can become a member of the Blue Army.

(Please click through the heading to this full text and source)