MikeLigalig.com

Quote from: Lorenzo on November 27, 2012, 03:22:55 PM
Do you know when the human heart starts to beat?

The baby's heart is known to start beating by 22 days after conception. This is around the fifth week of the pregnancy.

Quote from: islander on November 27, 2012, 03:26:56 PM


When her body was exhumed in 1933, it was found as fresh as it was on the day it was buried. Although she had been in the grave for fifty-seven years, her eyes remained very blue and beautiful; and in death her arms and legs were as supple as if she were asleep. Her incorrupt body is encased in glass beneath the side altar at the chapel of the Daughters of Charity at 140 Rue du Bac in Paris, France, beneath one of the sites where our Lady appeared to her. (http://www.pilgrimcenterofhope.org/)

Amen !

How does an embryo "breath" ?

Do you know which parent provides you with mitochondrial genes?

Can a human embryo feel?

Do you know when the human heart starts to beat?

What tells your body cells to grow?

Quote from: hubag bohol on November 27, 2012, 10:40:01 AM

hahaha! cute.

kini pod, bai hubs:

Note that Mary’s joyful claim that “all generations shall call me blessed” in no way takes away from her humility. If she seems to boast here, it is much as St. Paul does later on in scripture when he says “whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord” (2 Cor 10:17), that is to say, in God’s work being done through us.

In this regard, the Magnificat is more than a prayer of praise. It also reminds us about the essential link between humility and holiness. Just as God has “regarded the lowliness of his handmaid” and “has done great things” for Mary in making her the Mother of his Son, so too “he has put down the mighty from their thrones (with his own might!) and has exalted the lowly.”

(Note also our Blessed Mother’s humility in referring to herself in this prayer, as she does in giving her consent to Gabriel mentioned earlier, as the Lord’s handmaid, his servant!)



Retrieved from:
http://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/magnificat.html

My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
Because he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid;
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;
Because he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
And his mercy is from generation to generation
on those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of his mercy
Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.

-Luke 1:46-55

The Magnificat, taken from Luke’s Gospel (1:46-55), is the Blessed Virgin Mary’s hymn of praise to the Lord. It is also known as the Canticle of Mary in the Liturgy of the Hours, a special collection of scripture readings, psalms, and hymns that constitute what is known as the prayer of the church. (Priests and other religious are required to pray sections from the Liturgy of the Hours each day.)

The Magnificat provides great material for meditation on the Visitation, the second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, pictured above. When the angel Gabriel informs Mary that she is to be the Mother of God, he also tells her of her Cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist.

After Mary gives her famous consent to becoming the Mother of God, -- “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38) -- she goes “with haste” (1:39) to help Elizabeth, who is delighted to see her. Our Lady then expresses her joy in the Magnificat.

Dear Mr. Daray,


Our Lady is referred as the ARK OF THE COVENANT.

In fact, there is a direct new testament verse that refers to her , found in the book of revelations:

18 The nations raged, but thy wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, for rewarding thy servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear thy name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth." 19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. 1 And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2 she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.

-Revelation 11:18-12-2


Our Blessed Mother, is referred to directly here as the Ark of His Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant is pure, unblemished, and spotless. This is the basis of the Doctrine of Immaculate Conception and Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mother Mary.

The thinking goes that if Mary is the fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant, then she must be "all holy". Remember that in the Old Covenant a man was killed for touching the ark. It was holy. If the box that held stone tablets was so restricted - so also would be the woman who actually carried God Himself. And so she is all pure and all holy, without the stain of sin.

Dear Mr. Daray,

The following written letter was the opinion of Reverend John Wesley, the founder of the United Methodist Church, had on the Perpetual Virginity of Mary. It shows to you, my friend, as well as illustrates to you that even the great Protestant Reformers maintained the veneration of Mary as well as supported the Roman Catholic Church's Doctrine of Perpetual Virginity of Mary.



Yours in Christ,
Bran Lorenzo

John Calvin.

But Calvin's fame in Geneva preceded him. Farel, a local reformer, invited him to stay in Geneva and threatened him with God's anger if he did not. Thus began a long, difficult, yet ultimately fruitful relationship with that city. He began as a lecturer and preacher, but by 1538 was asked to leave because of theological conflicts. He went to Strasbourg until 1541. His stay there as a pastor to French refugees was so peaceful and happy that when in 1541 the Council of Geneva requested that he return to Geneva, he was emotionally torn. He wanted to stay in Strasbourg but felt a responsibility to return to Geneva. He did so and remained in Geneva until his death May 27, 1564. Those years were filled with lecturing, preaching, and the writing of commentaries, treatises, and various editions of the Institutes of the Christian Religion.

By 1528 Calvin moved to Orleans to study civil law. The following years found Calvin studying in various places and under various scholars, as he received a humanist education. By 1532 Calvin finished his law studies and also published his first book, a commentary on De Clementia by the Roman philosopher, Seneca. The following year Calvin fled Paris because of contacts with individuals who through lectures and writings opposed the Roman Catholic Church. It is thought that in 1533 Calvin experienced the sudden and unexpected conversion that he writes about in his foreword to his commentary on the Psalms.

For the next three years, Calvin lived in various places outside of France under various names. He studied on his own, preached, and began work on his first edition of the Institutesâ€"an instant best seller. By 1536 Calvin had disengaged himself from the Roman Catholic Church and made plans to permanently leave France and go to Strasbourg. However, war had broken out between Francis I and Charles V, so Calvin decided to make a one-night detour to Geneva.

At the age of 14 Calvin went to Paris to study at the College de Marche in preparation for university study. His studies consisted of seven subjects: grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Toward the end of 1523 Calvin transferred to the more famous College Montaigu. While in Paris he changed his name to its Latin form, Ioannis Calvinus, which in French became Jean Calvin. During this time, Calvin's education was paid for in part by income from a couple of small parishes. So although the new theological teachings of individuals like Luther and Jacques Lefevre d'Etaples were spreading throughout Paris, Calvin was closely tied to the Roman Church. However, by 1527 Calvin had developed friendships with individuals who were reform-minded. These contacts set the stage for Calvin's eventual switch to the Reformed faith. Also, at this time Calvin's father advised him to study law rather than theology.

Born July 10, 1509 in Noyon, France, Jean Calvin was raised in a staunch Roman Catholic family. The local bishop employed Calvin's father as an administrator in the town's cathedral. The father, in turn, wanted John to become a priest. Because of close ties with the bishop and his noble family, John's playmates and classmates in Noyon (and later in Paris) were aristocratic and culturally influential in his early life.

Quote from: islander on November 27, 2012, 02:20:07 PM
i don't know why i'm smiling...

ha ha ha ha! ikaw gyod oy.

Quote from: islander on November 27, 2012, 02:15:44 PM
i was hoping archbishop jose palma of cebu will be included.  well, maybe he's next.

Let's pray for his ascendancy!

Martin Luther.

Martin Luther's Death


Martin Luther escaped martyrdom, and died of natural causes. His last written words were, "Know that no one can have indulged in the Holy Writers sufficiently, unless he has governed churches for a hundred years with the prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, John the Baptist, Christ and the apostles... We are beggars: this is true."




Reference:
http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/martin-luther.html

Martin Luther and Judaism



Luther initially preached tolerance towards the Jewish people, convinced that the reason they had never converted to Christianity was that they were discriminated against, or had never heard the Gospel of Christ. However, after his overtures to Jews failed to convince Jewish people to adopt Christianity, he began preaching that the Jews were set in evil, anti-Christian ways, and needed to be expelled from German politics. In his On the Jews and Their Lies, he repeatedly quotes the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:34, where Jesus called them "a brood of vipers and children of the devil"

Luther was zealous toward the Gospel, and he wanted to protect the people of his homeland from the Jews who he believed would be harmful influences since they did not recognize Jesus as their Saviour. In Luther's time, parents had a right and a duty to direct their children's marriage choices in respect to matters of faith. Likewise, Luther felt a duty to direct his German people to cling to the Jesus the Jews did not accept. It should be noted that church law was superior to civil law in Luther's day and that law said the penalty of blasphemy was death. When Luther called for the deaths of certain Jews, he was merely asking that the laws that were applied to all other Germans also be applied to the Jews. The Jews were exempt from the church laws that Christians were bound by, most notably the law against charging interest.

Luther's Writings


Luther's work contains a number of statements that modern readers would consider rather crude. For example, Luther was know to advise people that they should literally “Tell the Devil he may kiss my ass.” It should be remembered that Luther received many communications from throughout Europe from people who could write anonymously, that is, without the specter of mass media making their communications known. No public figure today could write in the manner of the correspondences Luther received or in the way Luther responded to them. Luther was certainly a theologian of the middle-ages. He was an earthy man who enjoyed his beer, and was bold and often totally without tact in the blunt truth he vehemently preached. While this offended many, it endeared him all the more to others.

He was open with his frustrations and emotions, as well. Once, when asked if he truly loved God, Luther replied “Love God? Sometimes I hate Him!” Luther was also frustrated by the works-emphasis of the book of James, calling it “the Epistle of Straw, and questioning its canonicity. Also irritated with the complex symbolism of the Book of Revelation, he once said that it too, was not canon, and that it should be thrown into the river! He later retracted these statements, of course. Luther was a man who was easily misquoted or taken out of context. While a brilliant theologian, and a bold reformer, he would not have made a good politician. But then, he never aspired to any career in politics.

Martin Luther's German Bible


Martin Luther was the first person to translate and publish the Bible in the commonly-spoken dialect of the German people. He used the recent 1516 critical Greek edition of Erasmus, a text which was later called textus receptus. The Luther German New Testament translation was first published in September of 1522. The translation of the Old Testament followed, yielding an entire German language Bible in 1534.

Luther is also know to have befriended William Tyndale, and given him safe haven and assistance in using the same 1516 Erasmus Greek-Latin Parallel New Testament that had been the source text for his German New Testament of 1522, as the trustworthy source text for Tyndale’s English New Testament of 1525-26.

Luther's struggle to find peace with God


Young Brother Martin fully dedicated himself to monastic life, the effort to do good works to please God and to serve others through prayer for their souls. Yet peace with God escaped him. He devoted himself to fasts, flagellations, long hours in prayer and pilgrimages, and constant confession. The more he tried to do for God, it seemed, the more aware he became of his sinfulness.

Johann von Staupitz, Luther's superior, concluded the young man needed more work to distract him from pondering himself. He ordered the monk to pursue an academic career. In 1507 Luther was ordained to the priesthood. In 1508 he began teaching theology at the University of Wittenberg. Luther earned his Bachelor's degree in Biblical Studies on 9 March 1508 and a Bachelor's degree in the Sentences by Peter Lombard, (the main textbook of theology in the Middle Ages) in 1509. On 19 October 1512, the University of Wittenberg conferred upon Martin Luther the degree of Doctor of Theology.

Early Life


Martin Luther’s father owned a copper mine in nearby Mansfeld. Having risen from the peasantry, his father was determined to see his son ascend to civil service and bring further honor to the family. To that end, Hans sent young Martin to schools in Mansfeld, Magdeburg and Eisenach. At the age of seventeen in 1501 he entered the University of Erfurt. The young student received his Bachelor's degree after just one year in 1502! Three years later, in 1505, he received a Master's degree. According to his father's wishes, Martin enrolled in the law school of that university. All that changed during a thunderstorm in the summer of 1505. A lightening bolt struck near to him as he was returning to school. Terrified, he cried out, "Help, St. Anne! I'll become a monk!" Spared of his life, but regretting his words, Luther kept his bargain, dropped out of law school and entered the monastery there.

Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 - February 18, 1546) was a Christian theologian and Augustinian monk whose teachings inspired the Protestant Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines of Protestant and other Christian traditions. Martin Luther was born to Hans and Margaretha Luder on 10 November 1483 in Eisleben, Germany and was baptised the next day on the feast of St. Martin of Tours, after whom he was named. Luther’s call to the Church to return to the teachings of the Bible resulted in the formation of new traditions within Christianity and the Counter-Reformation in the Roman Catholic Church, culminating at the Council of Trent.

His translation of the Bible also helped to develop a standard version of the German language and added several principles to the art of translation. Luther's hymns sparked the development of congregational singing in Christianity. His marriage, on June 13, 1525, to Katharina von Bora, a former nun, began the tradition of clerical marriage within several Christian traditions.

Even John Wesley, in 1749, wrote:

"I believe that He [Jesus] was made man, joining the human nature with the divine in one person; being conceived by the singular operation of the Holy Ghost, and born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought Him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin."

(Letter to a Roman Catholic)

http://youngevangelicalandcatholic.blogspot.com/2011/11/protestant-defense-of-marys-perpetual.html

"This passage afforded the pretext for great disturbances, which were introduced into the Church, at a former period, by Helvidius. The inference he drew from it was, that Mary remained a virgin no longer than till her first birth, and that afterwards she had other children by her husband. Jerome, on the other hand, earnestly and copiously defended Mary’s perpetual virginity. Let us rest satisfied with this, that no just and well-grounded inference can be drawn from these words of the Evangelist, as to what took place after the birth of Christ.
He is called first-born; but it is for the sole purpose of informing us that he was born of a virgin. It is said that Joseph knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son: but this is limited to that very time. What took place afterwards, the historian does not inform us. Such is well known to have been the practice of the inspired writers."

St Jerome
Who's this Helvidius that keeps getting mentioned? He was a 4th century theologian who taught that Mary was not a virgin after the birth Jesus and based this belief on the very same verses that we have brought up. Helvidius' view was immediately condemned in the Church as newly-invented blasphemy, with a famous defense of Mary's perpetual virginity given by St Jerome in his work The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary: "Pray tell me, who, before you appeared, was acquainted with this blasphemy? Who thought the theory worth two-pence?" (18)

The explanations quoted above in defense of the perpetual virginity of Mary, while accurate, are fairly poignant (and at times even a bit harsh). So who are they from?

None other than the great Protestant Reformer John Calvin.

Good! The Holy Mother Church has an important duty to remind these men of power to remember that they are, too, mortal!

The Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord, Lord Louis Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Tagle

Christo et Ecclesiae !!

It is but a manifestation of the culture of death in this world.

Mr Daray stated:

Palihog ipakita ang verse nga nag-ingon 'perpetual virginity' ni Mary.


Answer:

Our Lady is referred as the ARK OF THE COVENANT.

In fact, there is a direct new testament verse that refers to her , found in the book of revelations:

18 The nations raged, but thy wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, for rewarding thy servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear thy name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth." 19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. 1 And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; 2 she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.

-Revelation 11:18-12-2


Our Blessed Mother, is referred to directly here as the Ark of His Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant is pure, unblemished, and spotless. This is the basis of the Doctrine of Immaculate Conception and Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mother Mary.

The thinking goes that if Mary is the fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant, then she must be "all holy". Remember that in the Old Covenant a man was killed for touching the ark. It was holy. If the box that held stone tablets was so restricted - so also would be the woman who actually carried God Himself. And so she is all pure and all holy, without the stain of sin.



God Bless!

Mr. Daray stated:

Walay "Protestant Bible,". We used the KIng James VErsion.
Walay mabasa nga Immaculate Conception sa Bible kay mugna ra na sa tawo.It's a doctrine of Man, not Biblical.


There are many variants of the protestant bible, the most widely used by many protestant denominations is the King James Bible, which is based on the Textus Receptus, based on Erasmus' writings. The leaders of many major protestant churches such as John Calvin (father of Calvinism), Martin Luther (father of the Lutheran church), as well as John Wesley (father of the United Methodist Church) all maintain the theological notion of Mary's Perpetual Virginity.

Holy Mother Church, as the bride of Christ, is not of man, but of God. Christ Himself established Holy Mother Church and appointed Peter, Petros, as the Rock on which the Church stands. The Doctrine has been professed for over 2000 years. 1500 years before the Protestant Bibles, including the King James Version, even came to being, the Doctrine of Mary's Perpetual Virginity was already preached.

Even your brother protestants, namely the Calvinists, the Methodists and the Lutherans, hold the same veneration for Mary's Perpetual Virginity.


God Bless !

Under the word 'brethren' the Hebrews include all cousins and other relations, whatever may be the degree of affinity.


{Pringle, ibid., vol. I, p. 283 / Commentary on John, (7:3) }

ANSWER:




The Blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as when she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin.



Reference:
{"Letter to a Roman Catholic" / In This Rock, Nov. 1990, p.25}

What did John Wesley ( Father of Methodism) say about Mary's Perpetual Virginity?

[On Matt 1:25:] The inference he [Helvidius] drew from it was, that Mary remained a virgin no longer than till her first birth, and that afterwards she had other children by her husband . . . No just and well-grounded inference can be drawn from these words . . . as to what took place after the birth of Christ. He is called 'first-born'; but it is for the sole purpose of informing us that he was born of a virgin . . . What took place afterwards the historian does not inform us . . . No man will obstinately keep up the argument, except from an extreme fondness for disputation.


{Pringle, ibid., vol. I, p. 107}

Answer:

Helvidius displayed excessive ignorance in concluding that Mary must have had many sons, because Christ's 'brothers' are sometimes mentioned.


{Harmony of Matthew, Mark & Luke, sec. 39 (Geneva, 1562), vol. 2 / From Calvin's Commentaries, tr. William Pringle, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1949, p.215; on Matthew 13:55}

What did John Calvin say about Mary's Perpetual Virginity?

Scripture does not say or indicate that she later lost her virginity . . .
When Matthew [1:25] says that Joseph did not know Mary carnally until she had brought forth her son, it does not follow that he knew her subsequently; on the contrary, it means that he never did know her . . . This babble . . . is without justification . . . he has neither noticed nor paid any attention to either Scripture or the common idiom.


Reference:
{Pelikan, ibid., v.45:206,212-3 / That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew (1523) }

A new lie about me is being circulated. I am supposed to have preached and written that Mary, the mother of God, was not a virgin either before or after the birth of Christ . .


Reference:
{Pelikan, ibid.,v.45:199 / That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew (1523)}

Christ . . . was the only Son of Mary, and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . . I am inclined to agree with those who declare that 'brothers' really mean 'cousins' here, for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers.



Reference:
{Pelikan, ibid., v.22:214-15 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539)}

Answer:


Christ, our Savior, was the real and natural fruit of Mary's virginal womb . . . This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that.

Reference:
{Luther's Works, eds. Jaroslav Pelikan (vols. 1-30) & Helmut T. Lehmann (vols. 31-55), St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House (vols. 1-30); Philadelphia: Fortress Press (vols. 31-55), 1955, v.22:23 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539)}

What did Martin Luther say about Mary's Perpetual Virginity?

One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat. She praised God for his deeds. How then can we praise her? The true honor of Mary is the honor of God, the praise of God's grace . . . Mary is nothing for the sake of herself, but for the sake of Christ . . . Mary does not wish that we come to her, but through her to God.

(Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521)

No woman is like you. You are more than Eve or Sarah, blessed above all nobility, wisdom, and sanctity.

(Sermon, Feast of the Visitation, 1537)

[She is the] highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ . . . She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough. Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures.

(Sermon, Christmas, 1531)

The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart.

(Sermon, September 1, 1522)

There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven. How it happened we do not know. And since the Holy Spirit has told us nothing about it, we can make of it no article of faith . . . It is enough to know that she lives in Christ.


(Sermon of August 15, 1522, the last time Martin Luther preached on the Feast of the Assumption)

What did Martin Luther say about Mary?

Mr. Daray,

Please note that Martin Luther, the man who was responsible for removing the 7 books from the Holy Bible and renamed it the 'Protestant Holy Bible' , had the following views regarding Mary and the Immaculate Conception as well as the Perpetual Virginity of Mary. The bible that you read is the one that was a product of Luther's editing.

Even the editor of the Bible and the creator of the Protestant Holy Bible manifests veneration for the Immaculate Nature of Mary. Despite his heresy, he still maintains a sense of Marian veneration.



God Bless !

Luther yet again makes the following statement regarding the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady:


It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary’s soul was effected without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God’s gifts, receiving a pure soul infused by God; thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from all sin.

(Sermon: “On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God,” December 1527; from Hartmann Grisar, S.J., from the German Werke, Erlangen, 1826-1868, edited by J.G. Plochmann and J.A. Irmischer)



and,


[She is the] highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ . . . She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough. Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures.

(Sermon, Christmas, 1531)



Retrieved from:
http://bfhu.wordpress.com/2007/12/12/martin-luther-believed-in-marys-immaculate-conception/

What did Martin Luther, the father of protestantism, have to say about the Doctrine of Immaculate Conception?



When concentrating specifically on Mary herself as the Mother of God, Luther acknowledges God's singular action in bringing her into the world, but in making general comments about the universality of human sinfulness, he includes her among all the rest of humanity:

Mother Mary, like us, was born in sin of sinful parents, but the Holy Spirit covered her, sanctified and purified her so that this child was born of flesh and blood, but not with sinful flesh and blood. The Holy Spirit permitted the Virgin Mary to remain a true, natural human being of flesh and blood, just as we. However, he warded off sin from her flesh and blood so that she became the mother of a pure child, not poisoned by sin as we are. For in that moment when she conceived, she was a holy mother filled with the Holy Spirit and her fruit is a holy pure fruit, at once God and truly man, in one person."


Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheran_Marian_theology

What did Martin Luther, the father of protestantism, have to say about the Doctrine of Immaculate Conception? Perpetual Virginity?

Martin Luther said:

She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man's understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child.... Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God.... None can say of her nor announce to her greater things, even though he had as many tongues as the earth possesses flowers and blades of grass: the sky, stars; and the sea, grains of sand. It needs to be pondered in the heart what it means to be the Mother of God.

This belief was officially confessed by Lutherans in their Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, article VIII.24:

On account of this personal union and communion of the natures, Mary, the most blessed virgin, did not conceive a mere, ordinary human being, but a human being who is truly the Son of the most high God, as the angel testifies. He demonstrated his divine majesty even in his mother’s womb in that he was born of a virgin without violating her virginity. Therefore she is truly the mother of God and yet remained a virgin.


Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheran_Marian_theology

Quote from: hubag bohol on November 27, 2012, 11:42:10 AM
Luoy lang si Botoy kay for every up there are nine downs...

There there, Bai Hubs, okey ka lang dyan. Come, let's have some ginamos and mangoe. It always makes things better.

BUT I'VE BEEN TOLD THAT "FULL OF GRACE" IS A MISTRANSLATION. MY BIBLE SAYS "HIGHLY-FAVOURED".


I'm afraid that those who translate the angel's greeting as "highly-favoured" have been guilty, for whatever motive, of making a false and rather misleading distinction. The Greek word used by the angel is Kecharitomene. The root of this word is Charis, meaning Grace. The prefix Ke means that the grace was already perfectly present before the angel appeared. The suffix mene means that Mary was the recipient of this grace.

Now Charis can also be translated simply as favour. So Highly-favoured could be a conceivable translation - but this would only be acceptable if the word "favour" were used as a translation for "Charis" everywhere else in the New Testament. But THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. Even those bibles which translate "Charis" as Favour" when referring to Mary, translate it as "Grace" everywhere else. This is highly misleading because in the New Testament the word "Grace" has a particular meaning distinct from "Favour". In the New Testament "Grace" is a gift of God that saves from sin and its effects. So translating the word any differently is wrong. The correct translation is rightfully "Full of Grace".




Reference:
http://www.ourladyweb.com/mary-defended.html#5

The Immaculate Conception


WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS DOCTRINE?


It has to do with the Holiness of God. God cannot tolerate Sin. Mary as the God-bearer in Jesus had to be sinless in order to be in such close proximity to God Himself. The whole Bible teaches that God's presence demands and imparts holiness. (Ex 3:5; Deut 23:14; 1 Cor 3:17; 1 Jn 3:5-6; Rev 21:27). The Jewish high priest entered the Holy of Holies only once a year, under threat of death if God's instructions were violated (Lev 16:2-4,13). The Ark itself was so holy that only a few were allowed to touch it (Num 4:15; 2 Sam 6:2-7). Thus, Mary, due to her physical and spiritual relationship with God, necessarily had to be granted the grace of sinlessness.

In other words, since Jesus took flesh in and from Mary's body, and also obtained His Human Nature from Her, she had to be perfectly sinless. The only question that then arises is when and how Mary was made sinless.

Protestants are quite willing to admit that we are cleansed of our sins at baptism. Yet Mary could not have been baptised at the time of the Annunciation, or even Jesus's birth. For this reason her sinlessness had to come in a special and unique manner. To be pure and free from all sin as God required, she had not only to be free of sin at one point in time, (as one is immediately after baptism,) but to remain sinless throughout her life.

Quote from: Lollapalooza on November 27, 2012, 11:38:52 AM

he he he! asa man ang p-wave ug ang t-wave? murag abnormal ventricular rhythm man ni uy...

Quote from: fdaray on November 27, 2012, 09:00:05 AM
Yes, i confirm. THe Doctrine of Immaculate Conception that says Mary was virgin was formulated by man. Its not found in the Bible. Mary and Joseph lived a happy marriage life. It would be very impossible that they lived  a sexless life.

Si Kristo matuod nga Diyos og matuod nga tawo. Sa iyang pagka Diyos way labot si Mary. Sa iyang pagkatawhanon, she is the mother of Jesus.

The Doctrine of Immaculate Conception has been professed by Holy Mother Church for over 2 millenia. All scripture supports this. I would remind you, Mr. Daray, that the protestant bible is the incomplete and adulterated version of the Roman Catholic Bible. The former is devoid of 7 books that the heretic, Martin Luther, removed. Incidentally, the 7 books that were removed also supports the Sacramental Truths. I would invite you, Mr. Daray, to read the unblemished version of Holy Scripture, the Roman Catholic Bible.

God Bless.

#3: Mary as Ark of the Covenant

In the Old Covenant the Ark of the Covenant contained the Word of God on stone. In the New Covenant, the Word made Flesh was also contained - and that in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. The Catholic Church has therefore understood Mary as the mystical Ark of the New Covenant. This connection is made in the book of Revelation.

Rev 11:19-12:2 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child.


The Ark of the Covenant appears in Heaven and then in the next breath (and next verse) St John describes a pregnant woman appearing in Heaven. This Woman "contains" the Messiah.

The thinking goes that if Mary is the fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant, then she must be "all holy". Remember that in the Old Covenant a man was killed for touching the ark. It was holy. If the box that held stone tablets was so restricted - so also would be the woman who actually carried God Himself. And so she is all pure and all holy, without the stain of sin.


Reference:
Marshall, Taylor. (2009). The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity. St. John Press.
www.taylormarshall.com

#2: Mary as New Eve Having Enmity with Satan

Gen 3:15 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall crush your head, and you shall strike at His heel."

In this verse God addresses Satan. The Seed here is Christ. The Woman is His Mother, that is, Mary. Thus Satan has perfect enmity with Christ and with His Mother. The Catholic Church has interpreted this as indicating the sinlessness of Christ and Mary. If either actually committed sin, then they would not be at enmity with Satan but actually a cooperator with Satan at times.

Quote from: fdaray on November 27, 2012, 09:00:05 AM
Yes, i confirm. THe Doctrine of Immaculate Conception that says Mary was virgin was formulated by man. Its not found in the Bible. Mary and Joseph lived a happy marriage life. It would be very impossible that they lived  a sexless life.

Si Kristo matuod nga Diyos og matuod nga tawo. Sa iyang pagka Diyos way labot si Mary. Sa iyang pagkatawhanon, she is the mother of Jesus.

#1: Mary is Full of Grace


Luke 1:28 [RSV]: "And he came to her and said, 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!'"

The term traditionally translated "full of grace" or "highly favored" is κεχαριÏ,,ωμένη or kecharitomene. This perfect passive participle form denotes something that happened in the past and continues into the present. She was perfectly graced in the past and continues in that state. Luke 1:28 has served as the locus classicus for the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady.

Another good friend of mine is Ben, who is now a 4th year seminarian as well. He is currently studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Please pray for him as well, guys. These are my brothers whom I attended sunday retreats with in college days.

My very good friend, si JR. He is a 4th year seminarian at St. Paul's Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This year , he will be an ordained priest. I am so proud of him!!



http://stpaulsem.org/seminarians.html

Quote from: Votives on November 27, 2012, 07:55:32 AM
yes, tinuod gyud bai lorenz...Naka remember pa ko sa iyang name... Mao man cguro ni Fr. Moises Cantillan, he is 7 to 8 years ahead sa among batch during college days... Matud pa sa among mga ka brod nga iyang ka batch na mo visit sa among bench sa USC-TC na wala jud cla magdahum ma priest ni cya kay bagsik nya cge lang og pakatawa... mahadlok gud ang mga neophytes ani nya pero wala lang damha na pari diay... 

Bai Vots,

The saying really is true, "Never judge a book by its cover."

hahaha! the Lord does work in mysterious ways doesn't he?

During my college days, bai Vots, I attended Sunday retreats to the Diocesan seat at Erie, Pennsylvania with many other discerning young men. My good friend, JR, is so very handsome. I was surprised that he answered the call to priesthood so soundly and so firmly. Our Spiritual Advisor, Fr. Hoffman, used to joke around, "JR, are you sure you want to be a priest? You might attract a lot of women!" hahaha!

In all honesty baya, i never thought JR would answer. In fact, he was the first. Another friend of ours, si Mike, who was a Pre-Med major in college is now a Carmelite Brother. Michael discerned priesthood, but instead he entered the monastic life. He was a frat boy in college. But during his 3rd and 4th year, he was called to a life of holiness. In fact, it was Mike who would drive the van that brought us to the weekly retreats for Catholic men.

Hmmmm! Is this a senator or a croc?

tsk tsk tsk! mga buaya...

Quote from: jorgeanna on November 27, 2012, 07:43:54 AM
summer vacation is around 70 days unya winter vacation is around 50 days and what's great is tat its a paid vacation and the airfare is free.. i always consider myself lucky, thanks to God and Allah!

Wow! That's a very NICE vacation, Anna! Paid pod!

Kuyaw pod diay ning mga inchik eh? Very generous pod ilang package.

hahaha! gobble gobble! 

Quote from: jorgeanna on November 27, 2012, 07:30:28 AM
thankful that I am allowed to go home twice a year

How long is your vacation time, Anna?

he he he ! a little tid bit of information, did you know that Benjamin Franklin, one of the writers of the Constitution and a Founding Father of the United States, actually requested the Turkey to be the national bird?

Peter Baptizing the Centurion Cornelius, by Francesco Trevisani, 1709.

Cornelius was a centurion in the Cohors II Italica Civium Romanorum, mentioned as Cohors Italica in the Vulgate.

The Catholic Encyclopedia summarizes the importance of Cornelius' baptism as follows:

The baptism of Cornelius is an important event in the history of the Early Church. The gates of the Church, within which thus far only those who were circumcised and observed the Law of Moses had been admitted, were now thrown open to the uncircumcised Gentiles without the obligation of submitting to the Jewish ceremonial laws.


Reference:
http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/

Answer:

Cornelius (in Greek, ΚορνήλιοÏ,) was a Roman centurion who is considered by Christians to be the first Gentile to convert to the faith, as related in Acts of the Apostles.

Who was the Roman Centurion who converted to Christianity?

Answer:


(TITUS FLAVIUS DOMITIANUS)

Roman emperor and persecutor of the Church, son of Vespasian and younger brother and successor of the Emperor Titus; b. 24 Oct., A.D. 51, and reigned from 81 to 96. In spite of his private vices he set himself up as a reformer of morals and religion. He was the first of the emperors to deify himself during his lifetime by assuming the title of "Lord and God". After the revolt of Saturninus (93) he organized a series of bloodthirsty proscriptions against all the wealthy and noble families. A conspiracy, in which his wife joined, was formed against him, and he was murdered, 18 Sept., 96.


http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05114b.htm

Who was Domitian?

Importance of his conversion:


Prior to Constantine's conversion, all Emperors of the Roman Empire [Imperator Romanum] were considered living deity. All emperors were regarded as divine and it was proper custom for all citizens of the empire to offer worship to the divine Caesar.

Constantine broke this pagan custom by converting to Christianity and being baptized. He professed that it was Christ, not himself, as the Lord and Creator of the Universe.

Constantine also legalized the practice of Christianity and forbid the persecution of Christians by the pagan Romans.



Reference:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04295c.htm

Answer:


Flavius Valerius Constantinus Caesar was the first Roman Emperor to be baptized and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. He is popularly known as Constantine the Great.

Who was the first Roman Emperor to convert to the Christian Faith?

The Eagle of America

Answer:

The Eagle became the National emblem in 1782 when the great seal of the United States was adopted. The Great Seal shows a wide-spread eagle, faced front, having on his breast a shield with thirteen perpendicular red and white stripes, surmounted by a blue field with the same number of stars. In his right talon the eagle holds an olive branch, in his left a bundle of thirteen arrows, and in his beak he carries a scroll inscribed with the motto: "E Pluribus Unum."

The Eagle appears in the Seals of many of our States, on most of our gold and silver coinage, and is used a great deal for decorative patriotic purposes.

What is the importance of the Eagle of America?

AQUILA

An aquila was the standard of a Roman legion formed in the shape of an eagle, which was carried by a special grade legionary known as an Aquilifer (aquila-bearer). One eagle standard was carried by each legion.

The eagle standard was extremely important to the Roman military, beyond merely being a symbol of a legion. A lost standard was considered an extremely grave occurrence, and the Roman military often went to great lengths to both protect a standard and to recover it if lost.

History

The signa militaria were the Roman military ensigns or standards. The most ancient standard employed by the Romans is said to have been a handful (maniple) of straw fixed to the top of a spear or pole. Hence the company of soldiers belonging to it was called Manipulus. The bundle of hay or fern was soon succeeded by the figures of animals, of which Pliny the Elder (H.N. x.16) enumerates five: the eagle, the wolf, the minotaur (Festus, s.v. Minotaur.), the horse, and the boar. In the second consulship of Gaius Marius (104 BC) the four quadrupeds were laid aside as standards, the eagle (Aquila) being alone retained.





Reference:
Wikipedia

What is the importance of the Eagle of Rome?

The ministry and death of John the Baptist and of Jesus Christ occurred during the reign of Tiberius. According to St. Luke (iii, 1), St. John the Baptist was called by God, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, to prepare the way for Christ as His precursor. Shortly before his death Tiberius recalled the procurator Pontius Pilate from Judea. Tertullian (Apologeticum, v, xxi), from whom Eusebius and Orosius take the story, relates that Tiberius received a report concerning Christ and that he called upon the Senate to place Christ among the gods. The Senate rejected the request; Tiberius then threatened the accusers of the Christians with punishment. The narrative is not worthy of belief, still it is probable that Tertullian knew a document that professed to be a report of Pilate.


http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14717b.htm

Russian word for Caesar is Czar.

German word for Caesar is Kaiser.

Answer:

The title of all Roman emperors is Caesar.

What is Title assumed by all Roman emperors?

Caesar's share




    Still, one must render to Caesar what is Caesar's. Render to him not all that he wants or can seize, but only what belongs to him.

    So, what does belong to Caesar? We think it can be defined as follows: What is necessary to carry out his functions.

    This definition seems to be implicitly accepted by Caesar himself, by the government, since the government says to those who complain about the burden of taxes: "The more services people demand, the more means the government needs to provide these services."

    This is true. But in order to carry out his proper functions, Caesar must not have recourse to means that prevent people, families, from carrying out theirs.

    Besides, in order to increase his importance, Caesar is always tempted to take over functions that normally belong to the families, to lower organisms, and not to the State. Moreover, the citizens would not need so much the help of Caesar, if Caesar first removed an obstacle that only he can remove: the artificial obstacle created by a financial system that is not in keeping with the huge physical possibilities to satisfy the basic material needs of every individual, of every family of our country.

    Because Caesar does not correct this situation that only he can correct, Caesar then goes beyond his proper role and accumulates new functions, using them as a pretext for levying new taxes â€" sometimes ruinous ones â€" on citizens and families. Caesar thus becomes the tool of a financial dictatorship that he should destroy, and the oppressor of citizens and families that he should protect.

    The life of the individual does not belong to Caesar, but to God. This is something that belongs only to God, something that not even the individual can suppress or shorten deliberately. But when Caesar puts individuals in conditions that shorten their lives, then Caesar takes what does not belong to him; he takes what belongs to God.

    The human person and the family are a creation of God, that Caesar must neither destroy nor take over; that he must, on the contrary, protect against whoever wants to undermine their integrity and rights.

    To deprive a family of its home because it cannot pay the property taxes, is to act against the family, against God. Caesar does not have that right.

    How many other infringements on the rights and belongings of the individuals and of the families could be mentioned!


Reference:
http://www.prolognet.qc.ca/clyde/Caesar.html

Answer:


And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.

Mark 12:13-17