Part 17- It was up to the Ukrainian’s that originally came to the USA to keep their religion alive during those times when their churches were undergoing a battle for survival back in their beloved Ukraine.
I’ve read the entire book from cover to cover (Installments 93-110)
Each installment runs 15 minutes in length.
Constant Procession tells of key apparitions of the Virgin Mary since she
passed on from the world and how she serves humanity through Christianity.
The origin of these podcasts began with my book; Constant Procession.
(An e-book copy of the book can be found here on the website.)
Installments since Podcast 50 are an extended series of additional stories
about the history of the Virgin Mary that are not found in the book.
Constant Procession; the podcast; is published here every Tuesday morning.
I value feedback through the comments section on my website or better via
email at NikosSteves@gmail.com
Continues from my book Constant Procession with the breaking apart of the USSR’s satellite country once known as “Yugoslavia” before moving onto Chapter 28- “Immigrants: Safe Harbor for the Motherland.” The chapter goes into the results following the final apparition in 1998 by Nancy Fowler near Atlanta, Georgia.
I’ve read the entire book from cover to cover (Installments 93-110)
Each installment runs 15 minutes in length.
Tourism industry travelogues typically feature romantic
locations, historic sites as well as get-away destinations. When considering
where to go in the world of travel, Medjugorje, a village located in Bosnia and
Herzegovina typically does not come to mind.
Yet Medjugorje is the
spot where a contemporary visit by the Virgin Mary occurred and some of the
seers report she still visits them there.
Why did the Madonna come to Medjugorje? In this podcast
installment taken from my book Constant
Procession, I explore possible answers.
For young people, who have not lived more that thirty years,
this area of the world is typically not on their radar. For those who have
lived a bit longer, there remains a dark mental imprint. A remembrance that
recalls brutality inflicted on people within this region as they experienced
civil war in the 1990’s. Fighting caused by the breaking up of Yugoslavia.
For me, the news reporting during that period of the civil
war did little to help explain the confusing jumble of puzzling information
that ominously included atrocities, genocide and war crimes.
Yet this area is where the Madonna appeared. She offered to
the world a surprising counterpoint to humanities struggling. It’s amazing to
me that even during the civil war violence, pilgrims from around the world
continued to converge on Medjugorje, which seemed to be located in the middle
of the warfare.
And today on the world stage, Medjugorje increasingly
continues to finds itself in the center of humanities continued need for help
in our modern world.
At one point during the Virgin Mary’s early apparitions, the
seers mentioned that she would provide a dramatic sign for all. This sign is
intended for those who believe in apparitions as well as non-believers.
Since that time, efforts to document this sign, when it does
happen have matured. Thanks to inter-net technology, people from across the
globe can view a live camera feed at the spot where she first appeared, keeping
watch for this sign!
And also a recent development occurred when in May of 2018, Pope
Francis installed a retired archbishop to Medjugorje in order to help guide the
daily pastoral care for the millions of pilgrims who go to Medjugorje annually.
While putting this update together, as I was re-checking my
sources, I discovered to my pleasant surprise a double-bonus! I found the live
eye camera up and running and in addition also saw on the same internet channel
(MaryTV) a live view of this archbishop, Henryk Hoser, offering the Sunday
morning mass to a huge gathering of pilgrims right there in Medjugorje!
Also found in this podcast of my book Constant Procession, are observations about how the early pilgrims spilled out from Medjugorje and brought back to their own communities renewed spiritual energies and in doing so they too benefit humanity on local scale.
And the constant procession continues…
Constant Procession tells of key apparitions
of the Virgin Mary since she passed on from the world and how she serves
humanity through Christianity.
Installments since Podcast 50 are an extended series of additional stories about the history of the Virgin Mary that are not found in the book.
Constant Procession; the podcast; is published here every Tuesday morning.
I value feedback through the comments section on my website or better via email at NikosSteves@gmail.com
Part 15- The Madonna offers concrete ways to help people that she shares with the Medjugorje seers during the first days of her appearances. Meanwhile a Pope and a President find renewed clarity of purpose as they recover from the attempts on their lives.
I’ve read the entire book from cover to cover (Installments 93-110)
Each installment runs 15 minutes in length.
I am often asked; “What did the Virgin Mary say?” In this 15th episode covering Chapter 26, we find her actual words as attested by the teenage seers.
The apparition identifies herself as the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Queen of Peace. During her first contact with the young teenagers in Medjugorje, Mary shares very specific things that are on her mind.
Mary tells the visionaries she has an urgent message for mankind to return to God, saying “I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is fullness of life, and to enjoy the fullness and obtain peace, you must return to God.”
During the apparitions, the visionaries do not react to light or sound; they do not react to being touched. They feel apart from time and space.
Our Lady presents herself as a servant messenger from God. The visionaries relate the words of the Madonna.
PEACE. On the third day, Our Lady stresses peace as the first of her messages: “Peace, peace, peace and only peace!” Then she says twice, “Peace must reign between God and man and between people.”
FAITH is her second message, and she repeats this message many times. Without faith we cannot arrive at peace!
Another frequent message is to PURIFY or cleanse the heart, because a corrupt or ‘deteriorated’ heart is the root of bad relations, social disorder and unjust laws. Without a radical change of heart—without the conversion of the heart—there is no peace.
PRAYER. Mary encourages us to pray every day. She asks everyone to “pray without ceasing,” just as Christ himself taught. Pray, and give Him thanks for His gifts to us. Prayer aids us in our “ordered relationship with God.” Without prayer, it is impossible to maintain peace either with God or with our neighbor.
FASTING. On the sixth day of the apparitions, the Madonna recommends fasting because it helps faith. The practice of fasting aids and ensures control over oneself. “Only the person who can dominate the self is truly free.”
These first messages she brings do not convey new teachings. They simply reinforce the Gospels and teachings of the traditional Churches. These messages begin to appear around the world, reaching millions of people.
This episode also includes Chapter 27, entitled “The Pointy Edge of the Sword.” This military term used by the Marines accurately conveys the curious surroundings and circumstances that are frequently overlooked when this apparition at Medjugorje comes to mind.
The apparition in the early 1980s takes place at yet another remote location in the world, where the area is preparing for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. It is a time of great excitement and pride for the communist country of Yugoslavia.
In 1981, the Madonna chose this spot to appear during those heady times, and remained through the horrific challenges that followed.
Constant Procession tells of key apparitions of the Virgin Mary since she passed on from the world and how she serves humanity through Christianity.
Installments since Podcast 50 are an extended series of additional stories about the history of the Virgin Mary that are not found in the book.
Constant Procession; the podcast; is published here every Tuesday morning.
An e-book copy of the book can be found here on the website.
I value feedback through the comments section on my website or better via email at NikosSteves@gmail.com
Let’s examine the period from Time Magazine’s announcement that “God is Dead,” to eye-witness accounts of an apparition of the Virgin Mary that continue today. Installment 106 is the 14th part of a summer re-release of my book Constant Procession.
I’ve read the entire book from cover to cover (Installments 93-110)
Each installment runs 15 minutes in length.
The news magazine makes this assertion about God when the world is in great social upheaval. In 1963, John F. Kennedy, the sitting American president, is assassinated. Three days later millions witness the assassination of his alleged killer on live TV.
Four years later, the Six Day War” between Israel and Egypt shatters the uneasy peace between the USA and USSR in yet another outburst of the Cold War. These acts of violence become high-water marks of an epoch that shakes the foundations of Western society to its core.
In Chapter 25, entitled “Apparition for All,” more than one-quarter of a million people from many different religious and non-religious backgrounds behold an on-going appearance by the Virgin Mary high atop a Christian church in Egypt over a four-year period. Acknowledged by the president of the country and witnessed by non-believers as well, these apparitions took place between the years 1968 through 1971.
In Chapter 26, “Keepers of the Light,” newly inaugurated Pope John Paul II makes a landmark return to Poland, the country of his birth. This trip ignites the desires of the Polish people in their early efforts to retake control of their country from the repressive Communist regime.
At the same time, a secret memorandum is sent to teachers across the empire by the USSR secret police (KGB) proclaiming that this pope is their enemy. Meanwhile in the US, the new president is a man who makes no bones about his belief in God and, to the horror of the established Washington DC elite, takes a decidedly different tack from the mainstream’s way of running governmental policies.
One result of their efforts is dramatic changes in the Soviet Communists’ hold on Eastern Europe. Rewards for these efforts for both leaders are the same; each suffers an assassination attempt on his life.
As both men recover from their wounds, a new appearance takes place in a remote part of the Eastern Bloc. A rag-tag collection of teenagers gives dramatic eye witness accounts of a new appearance of the Virgin Mary. The first seers spot her while sneaking off to smoke cigarettes. Three thousand people return to the spot on the third day to see what those teenagers saw.
About the same time, the second secret of the Fatima apparition comes true for Pope John Paul. However, he believes it was the Virgin Mary who saved him from death.
Constant Procession tells of key apparitions of the Virgin Mary since she passed on from the world and how she serves humanity through Christianity.
Installments since Podcast 50 are an extended series of additional stories about the history of the Virgin Mary that are not found in the book.
Constant Procession- the podcast; is published here every Tuesday morning.
An e-book copy of the book can be found on this website also.
I value feedback through the comments section on my website or better via email at NikosSteves@gmail.com
The origin of these podcasts began with my book; Constant Procession.
This installment, the 13th part of my book Constant Procession, finds a post-war world even more at odds with itself. The allied victors quickly became enemies.
I’ve read the entire book from cover to cover (Installments 93-110)
Each installment runs 15 minutes in length.
Concerns by the victors about rebuilding the defeated countries in terms of physical destruction and governing systems mounted quickly—a result of diverging philosophical approaches to replace the Nazi Party’s political control of the lands it had conquered in Europe.
In Chapter 22, entitled “Unheeded Prayers,” the remaining Fatima Seer, Sister Lucia, brings the Pope requests made to her by the Virgin Mary during the apparition she experienced in Portugal in 1917. Recalling what the Madonna told Sister Lucia: “If you pay heed to my requests, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, Russia will spread her errors through the world, causing wars and persecutions against the Church. Many will suffer martyrdom, and the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and several nations will disappear.”
Unfortunately, little action was taken to honor this prayer request, and the possibility for peace became a lost opportunity. Consequently, Stalin and his Communist Party became the new power on the ground in Europe.
These armed victors moved quickly into the political vacuum across the war-torn lands. Their efforts gained ground, especially in Eastern Europe, as they aggressively encouraged civil wars, after which they installed puppet governments under the shadow of Communist influence.
Before long, fear and intimidation overcame peaceful transitions, and the liberties found in more open societies vanished.
Chapter 23, A Society Without God, reflects on the environment in the sphere of Soviet influence, where people lived in a world without social liberty and Bibles were banished. The experience of a Seventh-Day Adventist reveals the level of suppression people of faith endured in those times.
Chapter 24, Hot Pursuit in a Cold War, explains how the Communists, with increasing confidence, took down religion. With huge armies still deployed in Europe and the newly acquired power of atomic weapons, the victors squared off using new battle techniques. The “Great Return” found fierce resistance in France as the communists gained control of the political machine. In Hungary, however, the procession yielded fruit until it, too, was run aground.
Constant Procession tells of key apparitions of the Virgin Mary since she passed on from the world and how she serves humanity through Christianity.
Installments 50-92 are an extended series of additional stories about the history of the Virgin Mary that are not found in the book.
The origin of these podcasts is my book Constant Procession. Constant Procession: The Podcast is published on this site every Tuesday morning, along with an electronic version of the book.
I value feedback. Please send me your thoughts in the Comments section on this website or, preferably, via email at NikosSteves@gmail.com.
ALSO:
I have been following this team of bikers who have spent the last month traveling on a course following in the pattern of the letter “M” (for the Virgin Mary) through France. They have just completed the final leg of their trip ending at the La Salette apparition site. The Virgin Mary appeared to Melanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud there in 1846.
Part 12-A confluence of events -Including the forgotten history of the Lady of the Sea’s role in WW II plus:
The results of loosing the best and brightest of humanity who died in WW I, the remaining Fatima seer’s request to the Pope and the “Route of the Great Return” the forgotten procession in a world without prayer.
I’ve read the entire book from cover to cover (Installments 93-110)
Each installment runs 15 minutes in length.
NOTE: Just so you know, this “March of the Great Return” has a contemporary aspect relevant to this summer. There are those in France who are keeping the spirit of such “walks of faith” today.
I have been following the blog of these young bikers who are touring across France; following a path in the pattern of the letter “M” for the Virgin Mary.
Each point of the “M” is a site where the Virgin Mary has appeared.
Below are photos of their stops last week.
Bravo to these intrepid young men and women on their mission to retrace apparitions of Mary in France and in keeping the beliefs of the Virgin’s efforts to keep the faith in God alive on the Continent.
Day 19 pausing at a roadside memorial
Day 20 – Pausing above a cityscape on their route.
Day 21 pausing at another memorial on their bike path
Day 23 – Miraculous Metal section of the tour…unsure which shrine location this is on their path
Day 25 – A look at their progress on the M for Mary map
Constant Procession tells of key apparitions of the Virgin Mary since she passed on from the world and how she serves humanity through Christianity.
Installments since Podcast 50 are an extended series of additional stories about the history of the Virgin Mary that are not found in the book.
Constant Procession; the podcast; is published here every Tuesday morning.
An e-book copy of the book can be found here also.
I value feedback through the comments section on my website or better via email at NikosSteves@gmail.com
Part 11-This podcast follows the Fatima apparitions of the Virgin Mary as witnessed by 3 children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917 and the secrets she told. (Note: 2 of the children were acknowledged as saints by the Pope in Fatima on May 17, 2017.)
I’ve read the entire book from cover to cover (Installments 93-110)
Each installment runs 15 minutes in length.
NOTE: I have been following the blog of a group of young folks who are biking across France following a path in the pattern of the letter “M” for the Virgin Mary. Each point in this M is an site where the Virgin Mary has appeared. Below are photos of their stops last week. I wish these young believers
The route the young bikers are taking from apparition site to apparition site in France…
This group of young cyclists are following a course across France this summer in the form of an M for Mary and stopping at apparition site on each point of the “M”
Day 16- Orleans, where our young cyclists were on their course across France this summer; in the form of an M for Mary and stopping at apparition site on each point of the “M”
Day 15 – Our cyclists spending time in contemplation as they travel along the form of an M, with each point along the M an apparitions site of the Virgin Mary
Day 17- Orleans, where our young cyclists were on their course across France this summer; in the form of an M for Mary and stopping at apparition site on each point of the “M”
Day 18 – Our cyclists back on bikes pausing at a grotto of the Virgin Mary
“God’s Speed” on their wonderful endeavor….
Constant Procession tells of key apparitions of the Virgin Mary since she passed on from the world and how she serves humanity through Christianity.
Installments since Podcast 50 are an extended series of additional stories about the history of the Virgin Mary that are not found in the book.
Constant Procession; the podcast; is published every Tuesday morning here.
An e-book copy of the book can be found here on this website.
I value feedback through the comments section on my website or better via email at NikosSteves@gmail.com
Part 10- The apparition of Bernadette Soubirous. It is this apparition of the Virgin Mary that is often heard as a name for churches and schools called “Our Lady of Lourdes.”
I’ve read the entire book from cover to cover (Installments 93-110)
Each installment runs 15 minutes in length.
The spot in the grotto where the Virgin Mary appeared
Looking at the very bottom-middle of this photo you can see how the Basilica is built over the grotto where the Virgin Mary appeared. (notice the stack of candles..and compare with other photo provided here.)
A Lourdes Candlight Procession
The candlelight processions start at dusk and are a very personal time, though you are with so many other seekers.
UPDATE FROM JOSEE ON THE FRENCH BIKERS as they bike in the shape of the letter”M” on their apparition to apparition tour in France during their MOTHER MARY summer tour:
“No picture posted for yesterday 7/22 or today, but I have signed onto their daily reports.” Josee.
Thank you Josee!, Photos and contacting the bikers as they travel along the “M” this summer is something I will post as they arrive! Niko.
Constant Procession tells of key apparitions of the Virgin Mary since she passed on from the world and how she serves humanity through Christianity.
Installments since Podcast 50 are an extended series of additional stories about the history of the Virgin Mary that are not found in the book.
Constant Procession; the podcast; is published every Tuesday morning here.
An e-book copy of the book can be found here on the website.
I value feedback through the comments section on my website or better via email at NikosSteves@gmail.com
Part 9- From her apparition during the social confusion and intolerance in Paris, next we travel to the apparition of hope in La Salette. It seems the Madonna traveled through mistrust and pain in revolutionary France.
I’ve read the entire book from cover to cover (Installments 93-110)
Each installment runs 15 minutes in length.
And as all roads lead to the Virgin Mary…A wonderful event going on this summer in France that came to my attention from Constant Procession friend and supporter Josée:
“A group of young people are bicycling through France, following a track that has the shape of the letter M & stopping at various 19th-century apparition sites, praying, meeting people…”
The route the young bikers are taking from apparition site to apparition site in France…
The young bikers in France at La Salette as they ride in an “M” for the Virgin Mary during the summer of 2018
Constant Procession tells of key apparitions of the Virgin Mary since she passed on from the world and how she serves humanity through Christianity.
The origin of these podcasts began with my book; Constant Procession.
Installments since Podcast 50 are an extended series of additional stories about the history of the Virgin Mary that are not found in the book.
Constant Procession; the podcast; is published here every Tuesday morning.
An e-book copy of the book can be found here on the website also.
I value feedback through the comments section on my website or better via email at NikosSteves@gmail.com
Part 8- This 100th Installment covers key apparitions during the early 1800’s in France and Greece at the time when the tides of change during the French Revolution spills into Ottoman controlled Greece as the “All Holy Lady of Good Tidings” makes an appearance on the Grecian island of Tinos which becomes a key inspiration for the men and women of Greece to fight on for their independence.
The next part of this 100th installment takes you to the streets of Paris when politics failed as the guillotine continued (aka “national razor”) in full swing and so “Our Lady of the Miraculous Medals” also appeared there.
I’ve read the entire book from cover to cover (Installments 93-110)
Each installment runs 15 minutes in length.
Benoit Rencurel and the first apparition of Notre Dame du Laus
The New French Republic calendar 10 days of the week (no Sunday) 3 weeks in the month. (Day 1, Year 1= September 22, 1792)
The Tinos icon that had been buried was found at the spot under the Our Lady of Tinos church here.
The Icon found on the Island of Tinos in a procession on the island.
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (aka Rue de Bac) the name of the street where the apparitions took place in Paris.
Photo of the entire chapel complex where Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal occured in Paris
Constant Procession tells of key apparitions of the Virgin Mary since she passed on from the world and how she serves humanity through Christianity.
Installments since Podcast 50 are an extended series of additional stories about the history of the Virgin Mary that are not found in the book.
Constant Procession; the podcast; is published every Tuesday morning here.
An e-book copy of the book can be found here on the website.
I value feedback through the comments section on my website or better via email at NikosSteves@gmail.com
The origin of these podcasts began with my book; Constant Procession.
Bernadette’s credibility is in question until she reveals a specific thing the Madonna said. Next stop on my journey is to a local apparition site near Atlanta, Georgia.
I’ve read the entire book from cover to cover (Installments 93-110)
Each installment runs 15 minutes in length.
Bernadette- photo taken most likely sometime after the apparition, photo is in the Lourdes Museum at the apparition site in France.
Bernadette’s Family photo, (she is in white, may have been her first communion celebration)
Candlelight processions sometimes proceed the candlelight vigil- Lourdes, France
The Farm; Conyers, Georgia USA… Apparition site (October 16, 2017 – The Conyers apparition is not currently sanctioned )
Pilgrims at “The Farm” in Conyers, Georgia USA Apparition site (October 16, 2017)
Constant Procession tells of key apparitions of the Virgin Mary since she passed on from the world and how she serves humanity through Christianity.
Installments since Podcast 50 are an extended series of additional stories about the history of the Virgin Mary that are not found in the book.
Constant Procession; the podcast; is published every Tuesday morning here.
An e-book copy of the book can be found on this site also.
I value feedback through the comments section on my website or better via email at NikosSteves@gmail.com
