Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Apology from March for Life to Covington students

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March for Life apologizes for ‘rush to judgement’ on Covington boys

abortion, covington catholic, march for life, march for life 2019, nick sandmann

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 28, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – More than a week after condemning the Covington Catholic High School students after reports claimed a video showed them harassing a Native American man, the March for Life has apologized for its “rush to judgment and initial statement based on incomplete and misleading information.”

March for Life President Jeanne Mancini initially called the boys’ alleged behavior “reprehensible” on January 19, but the March for Life deleted that statement the next day.

Extended video and firsthand accounts soon revealed the Native American man, Nathan Phillips, was the one who waded into the group waiting for its bus and decided to beat a drum inches from student Nick Sandmann’s face, and other adults who accompanied Phillips shouted racial taunts at the kids. The kids had been performing school cheers in an attempt to drown out the harassment, and did not respond to adults’ insults and abuse in kind.

As the original narrative began to fall apart, the March for Life released two tweets on January 20 saying, “Given recent developments regarding the incident on Friday evening, March for Life has deleted its original tweet and removed our statement on this matter from our website. It is clear from new footage and additional accounts that there is more to this story than the original video captured. We will refrain from commenting further until the truth is understood.”

READ: Covington bishop apologizes to pro-life students: ‘we…allowed ourselves to be bullied’

“For our rush to judgment and initial statement based on incomplete and misleading information, we apologize. The facts that have since come to light reveal that the boys from Covington Catholic experienced some real and inexcusable intimidation, insults, and harassment,” the March for Life’s statement Monday evening said. “We have tremendous respect for the schools, families and young people who travel long distances and make sacrifices to attend the March each year. In the future, when it comes to the accuracy of breaking news reports or social media coverage of the March, we will not trust, we will verify.”

The Covington students’ lives have been forever altered by the death threats, media attacks, and doxxing they endured. A lawyer representing about a dozen families and all of the classmates who were slandered has said his clients are pursuing monetary compensation for damages.

WATCH: Fr. Pavone defends Covington boys’ Trump hats, support of pro-life president

President Trump has come out in support of the boys, saying the media “smeared” them and made them “symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be.” A number of other pro-life politicians, such as Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie, and Sen. Ted Cruz have come to the students’ defense.

More information has also come to light about Nathan Phillips, including that he did not actually serve in Vietnam as he and multiple media outlets reported he did, has a violent criminal record, and attempted to lead protestors in disrupting Mass at the Basilica of National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception – where many pro-life events take place around the March for Life – just one day after he confronted Sandmann.

The March for Life’s full statement is below:

“After our peaceful rally and March on the afternoon of Friday, January 18, an unfortunate incident took place that evening at the Lincoln Memorial. The March for Life learned of this incident Saturday afternoon, January 19. Based upon incomplete information, we made a statement critical of the behavior of the students from Covington Catholic High School. As further information came, we retracted our initial statement on January 20 and indicated a further statement would follow once more facts came to light.

For our rush to judgment and initial statement based on incomplete and misleading information, we apologize. The facts that have since come to light reveal that the boys from Covington Catholic experienced some real and inexcusable intimidation, insults, and harassment. We have tremendous respect for the schools, families and young people who travel long distances and make sacrifices to attend the March each year. In the future, when it comes to the accuracy of breaking news reports or social media coverage of the March, we will not trust, we will verify.

For 46 years the March for Life has been a place where millions have enjoyed their First Amendment rights to freely speak and assemble. The young people who come to the March for Life each year stand up peacefully and joyfully in defense of the unborn, while also grieving for the 60 million lives lost to abortion since Roe v. Wade – sisters and brothers missing from their own generation whom they will never know. These young people should be encouraged and respected by adults in our society. While this incident has impacted many, it will not stop our work to build a culture of life. We will continue to exercise our first amendment rights in defense of the unborn, as we have done peacefully for so many years.”

Novena to Our Lady of Good Success - Day 7

Act of Repentance

I believe in Thee, O my God.
Strengthen, O Lord, my faith.
I hope in Thee, O my God.
Affirm, O Lord, my hope.
I love Thee, O my God.
Increase, O Lord, my love.
I repent of having offended Thee.
O my God, help me to have contrition,
So that I may, with the help of Thy grace
And the powerful patronage of
Holy Mary of Good Success,
Never sin again.
O Lord, have pity and mercy on me.
Amen.

Opening Prayer

O most Excellent and Immaculate Queen of Heaven,
Holy Mary of Good Success,
Most favored Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Most beloved Mother of the Divine Son,
Most cherished Spouse of the Holy Ghost,
Sublime throne of the Divine Majesty,
August Temple of the Holy Trinity,
In whom the Three Divine Persons
Have placed the treasures of
Their Power, Wisdom, and Love!

Remember, Virgin Mary of Good Success,
Whom God has made so great
So that thou canst give succor to miserable sinners;
Remember that thou has often promised to show thyself
A merciful Mother to those who have recourse to thee.
I come to thee then, Mother most merciful,
And I beg thee, for thy love of the Most High,
That thou shouldst obtain for me from God the Father
A lively Faith that never loses sight of the eternal truths;
From the Son, a firm Hope that always aspires to reach that glory
That He won for me with His Blood;
And from the Holy Ghost,
A charity so inflamed that I will always live
Loving the Supreme Goodness and thee,
Most Holy Virgin, until, through thy intervention,
I should love and enjoy thee eternally in glory.
Amen.

We salute thee Mary, as the Favored Daughter of God the Father.
Hail Mary...
We salute thee Mary, as the Chosen Mother of the Divine Son.
Hail Mary...
We salute thee Mary, as the Singular Spouse of the Holy Ghost.
Hail Mary...
Glory be to the Father...

Consider how the fortunate religious, in the fervor of her pleas and illuminated by that bright light that inundated her, fixed her eyes upon the source of that brilliance, finding before her a Lady of extraordinary beauty and kindness of face. As the light dissolved, she saw that the Lady was carrying in her left arm a Child, shining and bright like a morning star, full of grace and goodness, His features tender and kind. In her right hand she held a beautiful l scepter of shining gold and precious stones, and around her forehead was a magnificent crown with dazzling stones. She wore a garment similar to the that of the Statue (in Spain) of Mary of Good Success, whose miraculous discovery was recounted earlier and to whom the pious Conceptionist sister had been praying when she received the favor of this vision.

The good religious was at the same time transported with joy and confused to be thus visited by her Celestial Mother. Her soul was filled with a joy and gratitude without limit, and her heart flooded by holy sentiments. As thoughts of lively faith and valiant love and confidence overwhelmed her being, she asked: "Who art thou? And what dost thou desire?"

Then, O marvel of goodness! In a sweet and suave voice, the Lady responded:

"I am Mary of Good Success whom you invoked with such tender affection. Your prayer has pleased me very much. Your faith has brought me here. You love has invited me to visit you."

Ponder, O my soul, the singular privilege of this blessed sister, who merited by her faith, devotion, and fervor in prayer to attract the presence of Mary Most Holy and to thus contemplate her so lovely, so pure, and so beautiful, to be dazzled by her splendors, to enjoy her intimacies, and to hear her most amiable voice. Ah! Fortunate creature! How great your love for your Celestial Mother! How strong your inclination to humble yourself and bless her! How ardent your desire to be with her! How continuous, attentive, and devout your prayers!

This goodness of Mary should thus encourage us to invoke her with deep faith under the title of Good Success and to pray always with attention and confidence, considering that only a living faith and vigilant attention in prayer will make us deserve to be heard and favored by the Holy Virgin, who will respond not with privileged visions, but with other gifts of grace that will help us triumph over our passions and the enemies of religion.

Prayer

O God of goodness, Who doth deign to reward the faith and zealous sentiments of piety of Thy chosen souls with visits of Mary Most Holy, hear also our prayers that the presence of this Statue of Good Success might illuminate our faith and increase our confidence that she will benignly hear our prayers. Grant us a never increasing faith in Thy paternal goodness, make us ever more confident that we will receive what we ask for. Make us also ever more fervent in our prayers, so that, supported by the great valor of our powerful Patroness, we might be freed from the dangers that threaten us, serve Thee better, and win the honor of being in Thy company and that of Mary Most Holy in Heaven for all eternity.
Amen.

Act of Thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin

O Virgin blessed among all women! We lack the words to give thee thanks for the innumerable blessings that we have received from thy hand. The day of thy birth can be called the day of thanksgiving, happiness, and consolation. Thou art the honor of mankind, the joy of Paradise, the beloved gift of God, and the well being of our country. What merit do we have, Blessed Virgin of Good Success, to deserve to have thee as our Mother? May God be forever blessed Who has desired it so! Blessed also art thou, Virgin Mary, because, despite our ingratitude, thou showest us thy propitious favor.

Thus art thou, most clement Mother, our consolation on earth, our refuge, our help and our protection in both our public and private needs. Safeguard us from war, pestilence, hunger, storms, earthquakes and all the calamities, which we merit by our guilt.. Pray for the Holy Church and for her visible head. Hear the supplications of those who invoke thee. Be thou our Advocate, our Mother, for as thus do we place our confidence in thee. To thee do we have recourse, and through thy intercession we hope to achieve from thy Son pardon for our sins and perseverance in grace until death.
Amen.

Here, each one raising up his heart to God, should ask, through the intercession of Blessed Mary of Good Success, that grace or favor which he desires to receive.

Praises to the Holy Virgin

O Virgin Mary, our Mother preeminent above all on earth.
Response: Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.

Above all others, thou were attentive to the Word of the Father, who does great things in thy honor.
Response: Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.

Thou art the most worthy temple of the Most Holy Trinity.
Response: Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.

In thee is that same purity the Angels enjoy.
Response: Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.

The Christian world proclaims that thou doth reign on the right side of the King of Kings.
Response: Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.

O Mother of Grace! O our hope! Port for the shipwrecked and star of the sea.
Response: Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.

Gate of Heaven, health of the sick, light in the darkness.
Response: Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.

Through thee, we will find ourselves before God in the court of the Saints, where He lives and reigns.
Response: Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.

Guide our steps and help us, O sweet Mary, in our last hours.
Response: Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.

Receive this praise from our tender lips, which cannot express thy singular grandeur.
Response: Come to our assistance and show us mercy, because thou art our Mother.

Antiphon: Holy Mary save the miserable, help the weak, intercede for the afflicted, plead for the
people, intercede for the clergy, petition for the faithful. Permit all those who celebrate thy holy memory to experience thy favor and assistance.

V. Pray for us, O Virgin of Good Success!

R. So that we may be made worthy to receive the promises of Christ.

Final Prayer

We ask thee, Our Lord and God, that Thou grant us health of soul and body through the intercession of the glorious Virgin Mary. Through her merits and those of her sovereign Child Jesus, we hope to be freed from the present evils and to attain eternal happiness.
Amen

Novena to Our Lady of Good Success - Day 6

Act of Repentance

Opening Prayer

O most Excellent and Immaculate Queen of Heaven,
Holy Mary of Good Success,
Most favored Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Most beloved Mother of the Divine Son,
Most cherished Spouse of the Holy Ghost,
Sublime throne of the Divine Majesty,
August Temple of the Holy Trinity,
In whom the Three Divine Persons
Have placed the treasures of
Their Power, Wisdom, and Love!

Remember, Virgin Mary of Good Success,
Whom God has made so great
So that thou canst give succor to miserable sinners;
Remember that thou has often promised to show thyself
A merciful Mother to those who have recourse to thee.
I come to thee then, Mother most merciful,
And I beg thee, for thy love of the Most High,
That thou shouldst obtain for me from God the Father
A lively Faith that never loses sight of the eternal truths;
From the Son, a firm Hope that always aspires to reach that glory
That He won for me with His Blood;
And from the Holy Ghost,
A charity so inflamed that I will always live
Loving the Supreme Goodness and thee,
Most Holy Virgin, until, through thy intervention,
I should love and enjoy thee eternally in glory.
Amen.

We salute thee Mary, as the Favored Daughter of God the Father.
Hail Mary...
We salute thee Mary, as the Chosen Mother of the Divine Son.
Hail Mary...
We salute thee Mary, as the Singular Spouse of the Holy Ghost.
Hail Mary...
Glory be to the Father...

Consider how the city of Quito and its oldest Convent, the Convent of the Conceptionists, also experienced the special favor of the glorious Mother of Good Success, who appeared prodigiously to Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres, a Spaniard and one of the Founding Mothers of this Convent, in the year 1610, after the Convent had already been founded for 33 years. This fortunate and pious sister was praying alone with tender devotion, imploring the help of Mary under the avocation of Good Success for the needs of her own soul, for her sisters in the cloister, and for all mankind. In the fervor of her pleas, made with such profound faith and confidence, she raised her eager eyes to Heaven, calling on her Mother to come and save her and grant what she humbly asked with sincere interest for the good of her Convent and for all the Catholic Church.

Suddenly a refulgent light flooded the church, and the good sister fell into ecstasy. Her mind was overcome by a sudden astonishment and her heart was moved by an inexplicable joy. Her faith grew and her devotion increased as the light diffused itself before her astonished and dazzled gaze. A singular joy entered her heart, and she redoubled her pleas in an ecstasy of unlimited confidence.

Thus is the soul invited to leave the mean Earth and look to Heaven with the eyes of a lively and penetrating faith. Heaven opens for it a path to the light of divine clarity and inundates it with the splendors of divinity. "The just live by faith." So indeed do the Just make their Heaven here on the lowly earth, attracting by their faith the light that does nothing to diminish the morning stars.

Let us also strengthen our faith in the revealed mysteries. Let us see with the eyes of intelligence, following the example of true religious souls, all the actions of our lives, leaving aside all thoughts of this lowly material life and focusing our understanding with efforts of faith on the ways of Divine Providence. It is principally by prayer that we leave this earth and transfer our thinking to matters of Heaven, where the Omnipotent God and Mary, his Daughter, Mother, and Spouse, dwell, awaiting our humble entreaties as pilgrims who, prostrate at their feet, implore the graces that we need.

Prayer

O, inaccessible light of supernatural truth that illuminates our being with its celestial splendor and leads us to Thee, illuminate our minds with the light of the firm and living faith. It was such a faith that moved Our Mother of Good Success to show herself to the eyes of that blessed Conceptionist religious Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres.. Because we are anxious to enjoy the supernatural goods, help us to be less concerned about the things of this earth. With the protection of Holy Mary and a constant and sure faith in the revealed mysteries, help us to live contemplating the brilliance of our final end and anticipating the joy of seeing Thee and Mary Most Holy for all eternity.
Amen.

Act of Thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin

Praises to the Holy Virgin

Final Prayer

Monday, January 28, 2019

Novena to Our Lady of Good Success - Day 5

Act of Repentance

Opening Prayer

O most Excellent and Immaculate Queen of Heaven,
Holy Mary of Good Success,
Most favored Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Most beloved Mother of the Divine Son,
Most cherished Spouse of the Holy Ghost,
Sublime throne of the Divine Majesty,
August Temple of the Holy Trinity,
In whom the Three Divine Persons
Have placed the treasures of
Their Power, Wisdom, and Love!

Remember, Virgin Mary of Good Success,
Whom God has made so great
So that thou canst give succor to miserable sinners;
Remember that thou has often promised to show thyself
A merciful Mother to those who have recourse to thee.
I come to thee then, Mother most merciful,
And I beg thee, for thy love of the Most High,
That thou shouldst obtain for me from God the Father
A lively Faith that never loses sight of the eternal truths;
From the Son, a firm Hope that always aspires to reach that glory
That He won for me with His Blood;
And from the Holy Ghost,
A charity so inflamed that I will always live
Loving the Supreme Goodness and thee,
Most Holy Virgin, until, through thy intervention,
I should love and enjoy thee eternally in glory.
Amen.

We salute thee Mary, as the Favored Daughter of God the Father.
Hail Mary...
We salute thee Mary, as the Chosen Mother of the Divine Son.
Hail Mary...
We salute thee Mary, as the Singular Spouse of the Holy Ghost.
Hail Mary...
Glory be to the Father...

Consider how the holy travelers, now convinced that their precious discovery belonged to them, placed the Statue in a basket, and with this so amiable and powerful companion they continued easily and happily on their trip to Rome, where they were graciously received by His Holiness Paul V, a very chaste and pious man. They informed him of how they had found the Statue of the Virgin. Seeing her so precious and radiating with a supernatural presence, he prostrated himself before her and hung his precious gold and enamel pectoral around the neck of the Statue, granting graces and indulgences to all who venerated her.

He charged the fortunate religious who had found the image in such a marvelous way to honor the statue and zealously spread her devotion everywhere. They saw in this, and even in the name of Our Lady of Good Success that the Pope gave her, all the signs that this was a supernatural discovery. This prodigious gift soon became an inexhaustible source of graces and wonders which were experienced by the inhabitants of the city of Valencia where the religious brothers took her. Later the Statue was transferred with solemn splendor to the magnificent Church of Madrid, the capitol of Spain, where the venerated Statue continues to work wonders, her cult extending throughout Europe and even to the farthest regions of our America.

Animate yourself, my soul, in the presence of Mary, that this encounter might carry you through the most difficult junctures of life, consoling you with her sweet and smiling visage. See, then, the Holy Father of the faithful prostrate in her presence, offering you this most priceless treasure and charging you to be devout and faithful in the service of Mary. Be content with the state in which God has placed you, because you have Mary, who serves you as companion and protectress. Praise her, bless her, and present her with the pectoral of your love, placing at her feet your dominant passion, offering your efforts to overcome yourself with determination and constancy in order to obtain the exceptional favors that so many pious people have received from this Holy Statue of Good Success.

Prayer

O Sovereign God! Thou hath given us Thy highest counsel, the Most Holy Virgin of Good Success, as a companion to accompany us in our pilgrimage, so that she might serve us as guide, guard and protectress amid its conflicts. We go, then, to her, filled with confidence and finding the way easily on the journey to the dwelling place of our Eternal Father, where all that we desire will be granted. Enflame our hearts with love for the Most Holy Virgin of Good Success so that we might offer them to Our Holy Mother, with the gift of gratitude, a firm and constant love, and the conquering of our passions by means of the great graces received from Thy Merciful Hands. Thus might we always have her favor in this life and her sweet assistance at death, so that we might merit eternal salvation.
Amen.