The devil makes use of the past to cast down the soul, of the present to distract it,and of the future to fill it with fear. Resist him firmly by trusting entirely on God
St. Ignatius of Loyola
A message from someone who eventually offered his entire life in Auschwitz in place of another prisoner condemned to death by starvation,
St Maximilian Maria Kolbe.
Fr. Ripperger: “It’s not enough to go to Mass on Sundays & holy days, or to fulfill the Church’s precept to go to confession once a year if you’ve committed a mortal sin. If that’s all you’re doing, that’s pretty pathetic—you’re never going to amount to anything spiritually.”
The story of Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa is one of the most extraordinary Eucharistic miracles recorded in modern Church history.
She was born on March 30, 1904, in a small village in Balasar, into a poor but deeply Catholic family. As a young girl, Alexandrina loved prayer, especially devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and to the Virgin Mary.
But when she was 14 years old, a tragic event changed her life forever. To escape three men who tried to assault her, she jumped from a window in her home to protect her purity. The fall severely damaged her spine. At first she could still move a little, but over time her condition worsened until she became completely paralyzed and bedridden.
By the age of 21, Alexandrina was totally unable to move.
For the rest of her life she would remain in bed, suffering constant and intense pain. Yet instead of falling into despair, she offered her suffering to Jesus for the conversion of sinners and for peace in the world. She would often say that her mission was to be “a victim soul” united with Christ’s Passion.
From 1938 to 1942, she experienced mystical visions of the Passion of Christ every Friday, reliving the sufferings of Jesus in her own body. Witnesses testified that during these moments she would mystically participate in Christ’s agony.
Then something even more astonishing happened.
On October 13, 1942, Alexandrina stopped taking all food and drink completely. From that day forward, she lived only on the Holy Eucharist, receiving Holy Communion daily, for more than 13 years until her death on October 13, 1955.
Doctors and Church authorities closely observed her.
In 1943, she was admitted to the hospital in Foz do Douro for strict medical supervision for about 40 days. During this time, she was constantly monitored to determine whether she was secretly eating or drinking.
According to the medical reports, she consumed nothing and yet continued to live, without signs of dehydration or malnutrition that would normally lead to death.
Throughout these years, she promoted deep devotion to the Eucharist and called people to repentance, prayer, and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She repeatedly offered her suffering for the consecration of the world to Mary.
She died on October 13, 1955, the anniversary of the final apparition at Fátima, something she had prayed to live to see.
After a long investigation into her life and virtues, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 25, 2004.
Blessed Alexandrina’s life remains a powerful testimony to the Catholic belief that the Holy Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Christ, spiritual nourishment capable of sustaining not just the soul, but in extraordinary cases, even the body by God’s grace.
Blessed Alexandrina de Costa
Pray for us 🌹 🌹 🌹
St. John Bosco once saw the demon of lust in a dream.
It wasn't chasing anyone.
It was sitting perfectly still at the bottom of a pit, waiting for men to come to it.
That one detail is the reason most men never beat lust. 🧵
It is estimated that about four-to-five Masses begin each second, and that there are approximately 8-to-9,000 Masses going on at any moment around the world.
You fast, but Satan does not eat. You labor fervently, but Satan never sleeps. The only dimension with which you can outperform Satan is by acquiring humility, for Satan has no humility.
St. Moses the black
Saint Carlos Acutis died of leukemia on October 12, 2006, at age 15.
His most widely reported last words to his mother, Antonia Salzano, were:
“Mom, don’t be afraid. Since Jesus became a man, death has become the passage towards life, and we don’t need to flee it. Let us prepare ourselves to experience something extraordinary in the eternal life.”
Saint Carlos acutis pray for us
“Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”
~ St. Thomas Aquinas
Photo: Fr. Francesco Vera, executed immediately after saying Mass (which had been outlawed), Mexico, 1927.
I asked a Catholic exorcist to explain everything you need to know about yoga.
What he told me was unsettling.
But the demon he encountered in a yoga case is just bizarre. 🧵
Fr. Ripperger: “The only way you’re ever going to be really happy is by dealing with your own defects and imperfections head on, because the demons can use those against you. That’s why a consistent and habitual life of prayer is absolutely necessary.”
We would be wise to not forget Our Lady of Fatima’s warning that Russia would be the instrument by which the chastisement would come.
Sister Lucia said in 1957: “She [Our Lady] did tell me that Russia is the instrument of chastisement chosen by Heaven to punish the entire world, if we do not beforehand obtain the conversion of that poor nation.”