OUR LADY OF GOOD HELP, GREEN BAY/CHAMPION, WISCONSIN
"Surrounded by dairy farms and fields of corn, oats and soybeans, The Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help stands humbly, yet majestically, in a quiet and beautiful spot of rural Northeast Wisconsin. The Shrine’s Chapel was the first house of worship in the Belgian settlement…and it all began when Adele Brise’s father erected a 10-foot-by-12-foot oratory near the spot of Adele’s vision of Our Blessed Mother. A small picture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, given to Adele by Father William Verhoef, was the only adornment of this makeshift chapel. As news of the apparitions spread, pilgrims arrived almost daily to the oratory, making it apparent that the structure was too small to accommodate the faithful. In 1861, the settlers—with the help of Adele’s father, Lambert Brise, and a donation from Mrs. Isabella Doyen of five acres of land around the holy knoll—built a 24-foot-by-40-foot Chapel. According to a description of the Chapel reported in the Kewaskum Enterprise, the building was capable of seating about 100 people, and the inscription over the entrance of the Chapel read “Notre Dame de bon Secours, priez pour nous.” The description continues:
“In the auditorium, low, unpainted benches without backs answered the purpose of pews, but the chancel and the altar were richly and expensively decorated with paintings, images and silver plate. On one of the walls of the chancel were hung eight crutches, said to have been left by cripples who had been cured of their lameness through the instrumentality of Our Lady, and which are regarded as ever present witnesses of her power.”
"Despite the lack of official diocesan recognition of the apparition, and due to the increased demands on the original Chapel, pastoral sanction was given in 1880 for the building of a new, larger Chapel, school and convent. The new brick Chapel was built directly over the trees on the site where the Blessed Virgin had appeared to Sister Adele. The new Chapel was formally dedicated with a blessing from Bishop Krautbauer, in October of 1880. Recalling Sister Adele and the building of the 1880 Chapel, a student at the Chapel, Soeur Marie du Sacré Coeur once stated:
“I remember well, when I was about eight years old, we would pray and sing hymns around the trees where the Virgin Mother had appeared to Sister Adele. I also remember when the brick Chapel was built, and the precious trees were cut down to build the Chapel, and the altar placed on the spot.”
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Green Bay bishop approves Marian apparitions
(Slides with narration):
http://www.pccmonroe.org/Updates/newsletter.htm, reprinted in full below
unedited:
A Witness for Christ in Front of the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help
“We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners:
There are many Roman Catholic Marian shrines in America, and the number is growing; but as I have mentioned in the past, thus far, the only shrine which is officially recognized as an apparition site is near Green Bay, Wisconsin—in fact, a little over a mile from the hamlet of Champion. It was here that the Roman Catholic goddess supposedly appeared three times in 1859 to a Belgian immigrant named Adele Brise. Supposedly, since then, many miracles have taken place at this shrine, including many healings. The number of pilgrims visiting the Our Lady of Good Help Shrine is rapidly multiplying. While a great number of special Roman Catholic events take place at the shrine every year, the biggest event of all is the “Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” held every year on August 15 to commemorate the day when Rome’s goddess, which popery blasphemously calls “the Mother of God,” was assumed, as the popish lie goes, uncorrupted body and sinless soul into heaven.
This year, we again traveled to the shrine near Champion to be a witness for Christ and His gospel to the pope’s spiritual slaves and, at the same time, a biblical witness against Romish blasphemy and idolatry. At 3:45 AM on a Thursday, five of us from Pilgrims Covenant Church along with our brothers Mark and Pete from Omaha, Nebraska set out for the shrine near Champion, where we were also joined by Renée, a Christian sister from a church in east central Wisconsin who joins us in open-air ministry as she is able.
Our intent in heading out that early in the morning was to have our witness in place when the first Roman Catholic pilgrims began arriving at the shrine, long before the 10:00 AM start of the mass which is followed by a parading of both the monstrance with a “consecrated, transubstantiated wafer” by a bishop and the Mary idol on the shoulders of young girls dressed in white, escorted by Knights of Columbus in their full regalia. Both of these idols are paraded in order that the Roman Catholic people on hand can fall on their knees and worship the idol of their goddess as well as the “real presence” of Christ—supposedly Christ Himself, His deity and humanity, His body and His soul—in the consecrated wafer.
This year’s Feast of the Assumption at the shrine had an additional draw to Roman Catholics since a cardinal was the chief celebrant of the mass with the area bishop the co-celebrant. The cardinal was Francis Cardinal George, archbishop of Chicago. The bishop was David Ricken, who usually is the chief celebrant; but the cardinal was on hand; and so Ricken played second fiddle in the blasphemous rite this year, although he did have the so-called honor of parading before the people the consecrated host in an ornate monstrance with four attendants holding a fancy awning over his head and the people, including poor little children, bowing on all sides to worship. Do such things not stir your heart with a righteous jealousy for the Lord Jesus Christ, for His blood and righteousness and His honor and glory? Do they not stir up your heart with a desire to see the Roman Catholic people brought out of darkness and into the wonderful light of gospel liberty—that is, by free grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone?
The mass, the parading of the monstrance, and then the parading of the idol of the goddess all take place out of our view and, other than some singing, out of our hearing on the shrine grounds. But we are able by our Scripture signs, tracts, and preaching to be a witness to all those arriving at the shrine grounds. Now, these are a people sitting in darkness that must needs be shown a great light—the light of evangelical truth, the light of the doctrines of the gospel—if they are to be made free of the grievous, soul-damning errors of popery and made free indeed in Christ. As usual, this year, we set up our witness on the strip of public land, the road right-of-way along the front of the shrine property. All cars and buses going into the shrine must go past us. We were in place two and one-half hours before the event began, and Roman Catholics were just starting to arrive. By a little less an hour before the mass, cars were lined up as far as we could see and standing still, then creeping forward, then stopping, then creeping forward. Here is what those Romanists arriving at the shrine saw on our two-sided signs and had plenty of time to read:
Flee from idolatry. 1 Corinthians 10:14
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found. Isaiah 55:6
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Luke 1:47 ONE mediator between God and men: Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. Acts 3:19 Christ was ONCE offered to bear the sins of many. Hebrews 9:28
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found. Isaiah 55:6
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Luke 1:47
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. Acts 3:19
By the way, the Roman Catholic newspaper the Compass included two pictures of some of our signs on its Flickr photostream. So even more Roman Catholics read the Scriptures I mentioned earlier. The Green Bay Press-Gazette and the Door County Advocate also ran stories on the Feast of the Assumption event at the shrine and included quotes from me. I would just as soon avoid the press, but there are times when it is worthwhile to do an interview. This was one of those times, and I do believe it was good for the public to hear a Christian pastor witness against Roman Catholic heresy and idolatry.
We were able to get out a good number of our From Death unto Life booklets to individuals in cars as well as individuals who walked off the shrine grounds to engage us, including rank-and-file Roman Catholics, including shrine public relations officials, including pilgrims and even a priest. In addition to our booklet, we put in each of them a letter I wrote titled “Dear Roman Catholic.”
I have never seen so many priests and seminary students at the Our Lady of Good Help Shrine or at any other shrine. This was no doubt due to the presence of the cardinal this year. I was able to preach to a number of priests sitting in cars filled with seminary students. What generally happened is the priest would roll down his window and shout out some derogatory remark to one of our people holding one of our large signs. Then I would go over from where I was and begin preaching to the priest and his charges as the car was sitting still and also as it was creeping forward in the line. On each occasion, the priest was too proud to close his window, or perhaps it is more that he was restrained by the Lord.
We also had interaction with a couple of priests on foot. We had no more than set up our large signs when one priest came howling out and got in my face. For just under fifteen minutes, it was a no-holds-barred verbal confrontation with the priest even making a little physical contact several times. This man mocked; lied; perverted the Scriptures; accused me of being a deceiver, a heretic, etc.; and at one time, got very close and informed me that I would call him “Father.” In fact, he did that twice. I obviously let him know in no uncertain terms that will never happen.
This priest mocked and ridiculed true, biblical Christianity. He grossly misquoted the Bible a number of times, making it obvious that he both held the Scriptures in contempt and did not even have much knowledge of them. At one point, he bluntly said, “The Bible is not true”; and at another time, he called the Scriptures “baloney.” When Mark confronted the priest with the scriptural fact that Peter was married, the priest proudly declared that Peter deserted his wife to be the first pope! Obviously, I preached pretty intensely to this man and, yes, in the process, also indicted him as a ravening wolf, his pope as antichrist, and popery as the murderer of millions of our brethren, naming for instance the Waldenses, the Huguenots, the Bohemians, and so forth.
Now, toward the end of our ministry time at the Our Lady of Good Help Shrine, another priest and two seminary students arrived on foot. Our brother Pete, as he was handing out gospel booklets to occupants of cars backed up from the shrine entrance, spent some time witnessing to this young priest; and then I spent a good deal of time as well, in each case the seminary students listening intently. This young, earnest man was a brand new priest. He may well have never been witnessed to or heard Roman Catholic error exposed. He was very humble, asking many questions. I explained that the first and central issue was, How are sinners saved? As I was explaining the differences between the true way of salvation and popery, I eventually began to speak of regeneration. At that point, the priest quietly said to me, “What is regeneration? I have never heard of that.” And so it went until I had need to attend to something else. At that point, the priest asked if we could pray together as brothers. When I explained why I could not join with him in that way as he was not a Christian, he very humbly said that he understood.
I am of the firm conviction, the longer a priest is a priest and certainly the higher he goes in the Catholic clergy hierarchy, the less likely it is that he will be saved. For instance, have you ever heard of a cardinal who was saved and renounced Romanism? Certainly, we do not ever look for antichrist, any of the popes, to be saved; but we can have much hope for a priest, such as the young man I told you about, that the Lord would be pleased to make him a trophy of grace. And by the way, that priest did willingly accept our bookletFrom Death unto Life.
By way of encouragement, I should alsomention that I had opportunity to preach a bit to a group of teenagers, including the girls dressed in white who had been given the so-called honor of carrying the statue on their shoulders—that is, the platform on which the statue stood. It was a blessing to tell them of the fully sufficient Saviour; of the full, free, and forever salvation they could have by free grace alone, by faith alone in His blood and righteousness and person alone.
There is so much more I could say about our witness at the Our Lady of Good Help Shrine this year. I certainly cannot say enough about the brothers and sisters in Christ with whom I was privileged to labor in front of the shrine. They all undertook that labor with a sincere heart of love for the Lord Jesus Christ first and then a great concern for the Roman Catholic people. All were content to suffer a little reproach for Christ. All took every opportunity to witness one-on-one with the Roman Catholics.
SOME PHOTOS THAT ACCOMPANY THE REPORT ABOVE:
BISHOP RICKEN PARADES THE EUCHARIST MONSTRANCE
ONE OF THEIR SO-CALLED
"HARD-HEARTED CATHOLIC BASHING BIGOTS"
PASTOR RALPH OVADAL TRIES IN VAIN
TO TALK TO A MOCKING CATHOLIC PRIEST
OVADAL ON THE LEFT
PRIEST ON THE RIGHT
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Dear Roman Catholic
A letter from Pastor Ralph Ovadal, Pilgrims Covenant Church
We count it a privilege to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ to you today. We are not here because we hate Roman Catholics—quite the contrary. We are here because we are deeply concerned for the glory of our Lord and also for your souls. I would like to briefly share some things with those of you who have come to the Lady of Good Help shrine.
You have been taught that the “Virgin Mary” is the Queen of Heaven, crowned so by Christ Himself. If such an eternally significant coronation, with such enormous spiritual implications, has taken place in heaven, why do we not read one word of it in the Word of God? Would not this total silence be demeaning to the “Queen of Heaven” and harmful to mankind? Have you not considered the blasphemous inconsistency of this claim: that a human being reigns over heaven—and so earth and all things—alongside the eternal God? Psalm 93:1: “The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.” Revelation 19:6: “. . . Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” The plain truth is the only “Queen of Heaven” mentioned in the Bible is a heathen goddess. Jeremiah 7:18:“The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.” Heathen religions venerate goddesses; the true followers of Jesus Christ most certainly do not.
You have been taught that Mary was a perpetual virgin, but the Scriptures never make that claim about her—quite the opposite. For instance, Matthew chapter one, verse twenty-five says of Mary’s husband, Joseph, that he “knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” Now, many apologists for homosexuality claim Genesis nineteen, verse five, proves that the men of Sodom only wanted to make the acquaintance of Lot’s guests, not have carnal relations with them. “And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.” Unfortunately, your church must pervert the Word of God in a similar fashion in order to convince you that Mary never was a true wife to her husband. The Word of God says that Mary’s husband “knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn.” In other words, after Jesus was born, Joseph did “know” Mary, and obviously the Word of God is not speaking of Joseph making Mary’s acquaintance. Of course, other passages make it very clear that Jesus had brothers and sisters, the children of Joseph and Mary.
Your church teaches you that Mary is the mother of God: for instance, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, para 495: “. . . the Church confesses that Mary is truly ‘Mother of God’ (Theotokos).” Para 966 blasphemously states that Mary “conceived the living God.” Every true Christian knows that Jesus, as to His humanity, was “conceived . . . of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 1:20) and made of the substance of Mary—that is, He was “made of a woman, made under the law” (Galatians 4:4). Every true Christian also knows that the Scriptures clearly teach that Christ Jesus is “God . . . manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). Christ, the one and only Mediator between God and men, is both true God and true man, two entirely distinct natures inseparably joined in one Person. Now, while Mary is indisputably the mother of Jesus with regard to His humanity, she is most definitely not the mother of His deity! God by definition is eternally self-existent. He certainly was not “made of a woman” and was not “conceived by Mary”! Psalm 90:2: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” To claim Mary is the Mother of God is to declare that Jesus Christ is not God manifest in the flesh but only a man.John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”Hebrews 1:8:“But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.”
You have been taught that Mary (CCC, para 411) “was preserved from all stain of original sin and by a special grace of God committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly life.” This claim is a brazen contradiction of the Word of God. Ecclesiastes 7:20: “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Psalm 14:3: “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 5:12: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” There is not even a hint in the Word of God to suggest that Mary was born with an original, perfect righteousness and throughout her life lived in perfect conformity to the righteousness of God in thought, word, deed, and intent of the heart. Mary, unlike Jesus, was a fallen child of Adam and certainly was not “God . . . manifest in the flesh.” Because she was a sinner, Mary herself testified “my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (Luke 1:47).
Given just these examples of many gross errors which the Roman Catholic Church teaches about Mary, it is no wonder that your church also teaches you to pray to Mary as if she were God, or perhaps a goddess. CCC, para 2679: “Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er), a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. . . . We can pray with and to her. . . .” Have you ever considered that the only way Mary would be able to hear the prayers of millions, all around the world, at any given time, is for Mary to be omnipresent and have the ability to hear and discern millions of voices all speaking to her at once? Only God is omnipresent and all-knowing. The Scriptures are clear that we are to pray to God alone, and to pray to human beings who have died is forbidden as necromancy.
The Roman Catholic Church, by her clergy, also teaches you that Mary is a mediator between God and men. CCC, para 969: “. . . the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.” Those titles are wrongly given to Mary and would make her a usurper of Christ’s glory and His mediatorial ministry by which He executes the offices of the church’s Prophet, Priest, and King. 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Now, in closing, please allow me to address one more aspect of the idolatry of what can only be called “Mariolatry.” The Scriptures are most abundantly clear that, first, we are not to make any images of God—Father, Son, or Holy Spirit—whatsoever for any purpose. Secondly, we are not to make any images of any man, woman, child, or created thing for use in worship or prayer.
Those are just two of many passages of the Word of God which forbid and condemn the very thing you are doing today—not only using a graven image in your worship service but also blasphemously bowing down before that image.
I must warn you that the Scriptures repeatedly warn that idolaters will not enter the kingdom of God. For just one example, I would urge you to read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 which begins with “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, noridolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind.” That passage ends with good news for those who have repented of their sins and trusted in Christ Jesus alone for the remission of sins and everlasting life: “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
Please read the gospel booklet titled From Death unto Life which accompanies this letter. Our prayer is that the Spirit of the Lord will use that faithful and true gospel message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone to save your soul and make you a “new creature” in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Dear Roman Catholic friend, out of Christian love, we urge you to flee from the idolatry and blasphemy of the Roman Catholic Church. Flee from the wrath to come. Seek the Lord while He may be found. By the free grace and tender mercy of God, take hold on Christ alone and take hold on the everlasting life which is in Him alone. John 3:36: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
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From Proclaiming the Gospel of Mike Gendron: http://proclaimingthegospel.org/equip/articles/26-apparitions-exposed
This article was submitted by a former
Director for a "Mary, Queen of Peace Center"
Apparitions Exposed
Can a born again Christian be a member of a cult and be involved in idol worship? I once thought this was an impossibility until it happened to me. Now I understand why Jesus warned us that, in the end times, there would be an appearance of great signs and miracles that would deceive even the elect, if possible. I confess I have been seduced by signs and miracles associated with apparitions of Mary, and I offer my testimony so others may be warned and delivered.
Until recently I was serving as Director of Public Relations for the Queen of Peace Center in Dallas, Texas. This non-profit organization disseminates information and messages from Marian apparitions in Medjugorje and around the world. I co-authored a full page ad that was published in the June 25, 1993, Dallas Morning News at a cost of $10,000. This add announced "Mary's" prescription for peace and listed locations of her recent appearances. It also listed phone numbers to call for up-to-day recorded messages of Mary's latest apparitions, such as the one in Dallas (214) 233-MARY. I once thought it was special to be the only non-Catholic on the Queen of Peace board . . . that is, until I met Mike Gendron and his wife, Jane.
A Divine Appointment
Neighbors and close friends of mine knew I was seriously contemplating becoming Roman Catholic. They told me that Mike had been a Roman Catholic for 37 years and was now a pastor at a non-denominational church in the Dallas area. They said he understood many of the issues involved in being Roman Catholic and could help me with my decision. I looked forward to meeting both Mike and his wife, not for my sake, but for theirs. I felt certain the information I had collected about "Our Lady's apparitions" in Medjugorje would surely lead them back home to the "true" (Roman Catholic) church. Providentially it appeared, I attended a Queen of Peace board meeting the night before we met and asked the board to pray for this lost pastor and his wife, who had fallen away. When I arrived at their door the next morning, I first introduced myself, before returning to my car for the large stack of books and newspapers I had brought to persuade them. The materials would help explain what was happening in Medjugorje and how the Virgin Mary would help change their lives.
Confronted by Contradictions
After we met, they showed me a film titled Catholicism: Crisis of Faith. This film lovingly and objectively contrasted how the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church contradicts the teachings of the Sacred Scriptures. Mike would stop the film after each segment for my questions and comments. Initially, I was argumentative and felt uneasy and rather adamant about what I was witnessing. Mike realized he had forgotten to pray before starting the film and asked if we could ask God to make His truth clear, and that all deception would be exposed. After the prayer my whole countenance changed.
Each question I asked, Mike validated his answers using Vatican II documents and an official Roman Catholic catechism. It was amazing to me how Roman Catholic teaching contradicts the very Word of God. Question after question, he would bring the Bible over to me and knell to show me verses in context. His servant's demeanor and patient, understanding heart helped in unraveling falsehood after falsehood. There wasn't a question I could have asked him that would have provoked anger. As a reflection of our Lord, this man allowed Jesus to pull the scales away from my eyes.
There were three things in the film and our discussion that were most alarming to me. First, a church in South America has Mary placed on a crucifix rather than Christ. It reminded me of my visit to Our Lady of Guadeloupe Cathedral in downtown Dallas where Mary is positioned as the focal point at the alter and the crucifix is placed in another part of the church. These two scenes made me realize idolatry is practiced within the church.
Second, the Roman Catholic Catechism by Rev. William Cogan, now in its 44th year of print, has altered the 10 commandments of God. The 2nd commandment given to Moses reads, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or in the earth beneath or in the water under the earth" (Exodus 20:4). The Roman Catholics have deleted this commandment but still came up with ten by splitting the 10th one into two separate commands. "You shall not covet your neighbor's good; and you shall not covet your neighbor's wife" (Exodus 20:17). I was reminded of the scriptural warnings for those who add to or subtract from the Bible.
Third, Mike told me the only place in the Bible in which the queen of heaven was referred to was in the Book of Jeremiah. He encouraged me to study the passage and it would expose another false doctrine concerning Mary. Anyone who is familiar with the prayers and meditations of the rosary can tell you that in one of the mysteries Christ supposedly crowned Mary the queen of heaven after she was assumed into heaven. Neither of these events have scriptural validity, but I had decided to blindly accept these doctrines because all of the other meditations on the life of Christ were verified by Scripture.
The Queen of Heaven
After returning home, I looked in the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible for the passage in Jeremiah 44. Here, the Lord was angered by the wickedness of the people choosing to serve other gods. The people refused to listen to the Lord. Instead, they would "burn sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pour out libations to her." The woman "made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out libations to her?" (Jeremiah 44:17, 19).
In Hebrew the word for queen has reference to "the heavenly handiwork" or "the stars of heaven." The reference might be to Ishtar, the goddess of love and fertility, who is identified with the Venus Star and is actually entitled "Mistress of Heaven." (The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, p. 975)
My head was spinning and filled with questions after reading this. Doesn't Mary usually appear with stars for her crown? Who then is the woman in Revelation 12:3-6? And most importantly, why would the Roman Catholic Church give the mother of Jesus the title of a pagan goddess? Had I been promoting the ministry of a pagan goddess whose messages were inconsistent with the Bible? Indeed her messages do contradict the Bible. In fact, she speaks of another gospel, another plan of salvation that nullifies and opposes the all sufficient sacrifice of Jesus. The apparition of Fatima said, "You have seen Hell where the souls of poor sinners go, so save them, God wishes to establish in the world, devotion to my Immaculate Heart." The apostle Paul condemned anyone, even an angel from heaven, who would dare preach a different way to be saved other than through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ (Galatians 1:6-10).
As for the woman described in Revelation, she is not Mary, the mother of Jesus, but God's chosen people, the Jews. When the passage in chapter 12 is read in context with the rest of the book, and Genesis 37:9-10, this clearly refers to the nation Israel. God fulfills His promise to the Jews, by protecting them in the desert during 3 1/2 years of tribulation.
I later realized my prayers to Mary and the saints, the reciting of rosaries and chaplets of divine mercy, and the wearing of Marian medals and scapulars had taken my focus off of Jesus. I had allowed doctrines of the Roman Catholic church to do the very thing Saint Paul warned against, "But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." (2 Cor. 11:3).
An Angel of Light
Recently, a person whom I love dearly, and who has a "Marian devotion" asked me, "Why are you bothering the people who are already good people instead of worrying about those who are lost?" The answer came to me the other evening as the Lord continues to guide me through His sacred Word. Saint Paul wrote that "Satan masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). We know the mother of Jesus would never oppose her Son, and since the apparitions do just that, they could very well be Satan masquerading as Mary. Saint Paul also wrote, "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them . . . everything exposed by the light becomes visible" (Ephesians 5:11-14). Therefore, I feel called to expose these attempts by the evil one to divert people's devotion away from Jesus. The most authoritative way to do this is with the light of God's Holy Word. My new test for truthfulness is -- if it does not agree with the Scriptures then it must be rejected.
Freedom in the Truth
Now that I have torn down the altar in my bedroom, where I knelt and prayed to St. Anthony of Padua each night, and now that I have placed my rosaries, scapular and medals away, I have found a new freedom. The truth really does set people free! I have found special peace in knowing Jesus alone is my Savior, and not co-redemptrix with His mother. The Holy Spirit continues to lead me into all truth and is now the only teacher I need (1 John 2:27).
To all my precious friends who I have encouraged to seek Mary and to obey the misleading messages of her apparitions, I pray these Scriptures would minister to you -- "And it came about while He said these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which you nursed.' But He said, 'On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and observe it." (Luke 11:27-28)
This article was submitted by a former Director for a "Mary, Queen of Peace Center."
____________________________________________________ Also from Proclaiming the Gospel of Mike Gendron http://proclaimingthegospel.org/equip/blog/217-the-counterfeit-mary-of-catholicism: The Counterfeit Mary of Catholicism
Just as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, many are being led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ by a counterfeit Mary (2 Cor. 11:3). The blasphemies that Roman Catholicism teaches about Mary are deplorable and need to be exposed. According to Rome it was Mary who made atonement for sin and will crush the head of the serpent. She was sinless and continues to bring us the gifts of salvation. The Catholic perversion of Mary was the cause of salvation for the whole human race and she will deliver souls from death because she is the mediatrix of all grace.
The Catholic Douay-Reims Bible states in Genesis 3:15 that the woman herself will win the victory over Satan. It reads, "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; "she" shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." This is a deliberate attempt to deceive because the Hebrew text clearly reads "He" (referring to Jesus) will crush the serpent's head.
There are many more blasphemies in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). It teaches "Mary did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation" (CCC, para. 969). "The Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things. In giving birth you kept your virginity. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death" (CCC, para. 966). She is to be praised with special devotion (CCC, para, 971). Mary, "by special grace of God, committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly life" (CCC, para.411). She was the cause of salvation for herself and the whole human race (CCC, para. 494). The Catholic Church promises that all those who seek Mary's protection will be saved for all eternity. These doctrines have robbed God of His glory and have resulted in Catholics showing greater devotion to Mary than to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Dr. Ludwig Ott states, "In the power of the grace of Redemption merited by Christ, Mary, by her spiritual entering into the sacrifice of her Divine Son for men, made atonement for the sins of men, and ... merited the application of the redemptive grace of Christ. In this manner she co-operates in the subjective redemption of mankind" (page 213). Here the Catholic Church is claiming that Mary, not Jesus, made atonement for the sins of men! This is pure blasphemy!
In 1854, Pope Pius IX established the immaculate conception of Mary as an infallible dogma, which states Mary was preserved from inheriting original sin. The dogma encourages Catholics: "to venerate, invoke and pray to the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, conceived without original sin. And since she has been appointed by God to be the Queen of heaven and earth, and is exalted above all the choirs of angels and saints, and even stands at the right hand of her only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, she presents our petitions in a most efficacious manner. What she asks, she obtains. Her pleas can never be unheard."
This heretical dogma has established Mary as a co-redeemer with Christ and co-mediator with Him in heaven, which makes her an another way to approach God. She replaces the Holy Spirit in bestowing aid and comfort to believers. In effect, she becomes an additional member of the Trinity. Mary is no more the mother of God than Joseph is the father of Jesus. Scripture has very little to say about Mary. When she appears with the other believers on the day of Pentecost, she's not an object of worship or even a leader in the early church. There are no occasions of anyone ever praying to her, honoring her, or venerating her. She is never mentioned in any presentation of the Gospel. Jesus Christ alone is our Redeemer, Deliverer, Mediator and Advocate. He alone is to be worshiped, adored, honored and praised now and throughout all eternity! May Catholics comes to their senses through repentance and faith in the only sinless Mediator!
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