I will have to stay friends with you Adoremus sounds like a good place to go. Yes it certainly sounds like a refuge. I think there may be quite a few out there... I hope so anyway.
While traveling in Ukraine I was given information regarding three 'main' sites of places of Refuge there. There are many 'small' places or secondary places. Some are underground. Ukraine has been chosen by God to be a huge part of Our Lady's plan. There are over a MILLION shrines to Jesus and Mary and the Saints there! Every corner, every town, every field. Miraculous springs all over the place. When talking about WWII they speak about staying alive by drinking the miraculous spring water that dot the countryside. One is for healing the eyes, one is for healing brain tumors etc. They constantly make the sign of the cross while driving past these shrines and the Churches. Half the country is communist/socialist and the other half suffering souls who are trying to live the faith. 40% of the country lives outside of Ukraine and sends money home because the people cannot get jobs and are so poor. Russia already has concentration camps ready for the Catholic/Christians in Ukraine. I saw the telephone poles in the fields in a vision waiting to crucify the priests...HUNDREDS OF THEM.... I also saw the troops coming down the streets of Lviv, which is a larger city there. All this will be repeated all over the world. BUT--- this time NOW is a time of grace, to prepare ourselves and to pray for those stubborn loved ones, those enemies of ours, those fallen pagans and those who are so in need of God's mercy. The time of the illumination will bring SO MANY, MANY back to God. We MUST take this responsibility seriously! I traveled across the U.S. with my mother. We went as far as Missouri one time, and I went alone as far as Ohio another time. My mother and I went to visit relatives and gravestones and do some genealogy hunting and were taken completely off course by some events along the way. I have to say I can give overall vague accounts of places, but I am not disclosing anything on the internet. Many, Many people have been called to 'set up a place of prayer or refuge' for others to come. Some are in the city, some in the country. Some have farms, some have city homes. Kinda like an underground railroad. Our Lord led me through the Holy Spirit to ask certain questions to specific people. LITERALLY. At breakfast one morning He said, "Ask the young man who is pouring the coffee where the most conservative Catholic Church is in town." So I did--and the young man said, "Are you Catholic? Me too! I just got back from the most wonderful retreat...blah..blah...blah...and the most conservative Church would be...*******." So I went upstairs after breakfast, looked up the Church and the Holy Spirit said, "Ask who the head of their rosary group is." So I did. They gave me her number and I called. The Holy Spirit said, "Ask who the person who knows the most about Medjugorje in their group is." I did. And got her number. I called and the Holy Spirit said," Ask if she has a place of refuge." I took a deep breath and said, "Hi there, I'm from out of town and I have been to Medjugorje also. I have been led here to call you and ask you a question which I hope doesn't sound to crazy. Have you ever heard of our Lady's places, or places of refuge? She said, "Yes, I have. I have one. Would you like to come see it?" And I spent the rest of the afternoon at this wonderful place that this woman and her family had created. In the middle of a 300 acre corn field and pig farm. There had been seven generations of family that had lived there and some of the homested was still there. People from miles around came on first Sat. for prayer, Mass and Rosary and devotions and a pot luck. Seminarians came and repaired the place and cut grass. It was like heaven on earth to me. St. Michael the Archangel had appeared to her years ago and told her that priests would be coming. To start NOW to spiritually and physically prepare. So she has. My mother and I were amazed. Hidden from the world and given in secret and so quiet and peaceful. The little town is a nothing little town, but protected by St. Joseph. These are all over. For different purposes and the evil one tries very hard to make these people outcasts and the battle with family is fierce! They need lots of prayer. God WILL provide. He always has. I try my best to be obedient to the Holy Spirit. It all happens differently every time!
wow...so many amazing stories!! It certainly sounds like there will be places of refuge. I always visualized some place undetectable in the woods where you had to hike in to get to. but they could be anywhere...God's plan covers everything! I'll have to pray about this more and read chapt 30 as well.
I have a feeling Still River Ma. may be a place of refuge,..where they have all the Churches and housing for the retreats..The St. Benedict Abbey,..St. Anns Chapel and the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart there is also a stone Chapel in the woods that was built by the monks and dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe
My son is ASKED us if he could go to camp there this summer! We said, "You betcha!" He even saved up the money for the cost of the camp!
I just thought of Betania II, Medway, Ma. http://www.betania2.org It's odd, if you start thinking about it, things start to be shown to you
In Ireland there is a long tradition of Holy places, places set aside by God and holy. I remember the Passionists in county down had a monastery beside one in Crossgar County Down. . The monastery there was named after it, Tobar Mhuire, Mary's Well. It was a tiny little spring in the middle of the woods but as soon as you went there you just felt the holiness. Why were they holy ? Well perhaps a saint lived there. But sometimes I think the angels just take a fancy to a place keep visiting it and make it holy. The loveliest angel story I ever heard heard came from the USA in the 1920's. It was Fall in Ivy League country and a Professor and his wife were out walking in the woods enjoying the colours. Suddenly above them a group of angels walked quite naturally overhead. They were a group of women, walking quite naturally above the height of the trees talking quite naturally to each other. They appeared to be paying special attention to the Lady in the centre of the group who appeared to be their leader. They were asking her questions and paying great attention to her answers. They paid no attention to the two below but walked on overhead until they dissappeared over the trees into the distance. The husband and wife stared ,awestruck from below. They said the women/angels wore gorgeous robes. That story has always stuck with me.It is such an Irish kind of story. Anyhow I think the refuges will be natural holy places. If not holy before they start...well holy before they are finished. Certainly they will need the angels to protect them.
There will be caves built by the angels. Many, many miracles. Its not something to worry about. UNLESS YOU ARE CALLED TO DO SO, don't try 'creating' a refuge. Its a lost cause. Just prepare spiritually and physically as if you were preparing for a storm and you were going to help others etc. I was thinking tonight that we HAVE to want UNION WITH GOD so much we are willing to die for it. Not like Jihad, or anything like that. But a holy UNION.... I was praying in Adoration today and praying like I always do and all that kept coming to my heart is 'DO WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO DO TO ME LORD....JUST GET ME TO HEAVEN TO BE WITH YOU...." That is what our prayer needs to be...Jesus Christ, son of David, Have mercy on me a sinner!
I think places where our Lady appeared will also have a special protection. I sensed this very strongly at 'Our Lady of the Hill' grotto in Leitrim, Castlewellan, County Down where our Lady is supposed to have appeared to a local boy in the Marian year of 1954. This is an apparition that few people know about in Ireland but the place has a special resonance with me and I only live about ten miles from the grotto. People will pray there in thousands when the Warning happens and take refuge when chastisements come: Interesting that someone has now put out a short video on Youtube on this apparition - Padraig - you can see right down to Belfast from the hills of Dromara where this little grotto has been made - have you beent there?
I'll have to go there myself, as I've never heard of Still River! sounds like a great place for a mini-self retreat!
yeah Hope, I had this place in mind too. if you listen to the clip on the history of it (I've pasted it below), you'll see how the seer Maria Esperanza was instrumental in it's founding and exact location. And the founder Sr Margaret Catherine thinks it will be an important location in the future...part of God's plan. They have finished very nice housing for groups of people. There is also a Fatima Shrine just down the street in Holliston. I went to both places for a mini self-retreat and it was wonderful!! http://shop.betania2.org/betania-ii-history/
All these different prophesies around who do you believe? One says there will be safe houses, another says our houses will be invisible when the time comes, another says we will be able to see our guardian angels, another says get special oils to put on door etc and will be safe.. Another says children will be sick and only a specific plant will save them, that there will be a plague that will affect children and babies and there will be no cure.. Another says we will be able to recognize each other by this sign on the forehead etc.. Another says there will be many martyred. Many contradict each other, it is exhausting trying to tie them all in with one another. I can't even remember who said what any more, and even when i think of Fatima etc, I get so confused with all these other messages that they cloud Fatima and I constantly have to re-read, this is why I think many prophesies aren't good, they cloud and cause confusion and the apparitions that have been approved and that carry serious messages are simply forgotten.
Was just thinking how many people over the years have come up to me and asked me to pray for them, asked where a good holy Catholic Church was etc... all because I wear a small brown scapular with a crucifix attached to it. It is a visable sign to others, and maybe if we all wear a crucifix we will know each other....
wow mc, you seem to have read a lot of prophecies...I've never really read much of what you say above!! I don't even think there are any prophecies mentioned in this thread at all until your post above. I am personally taking in all of the thoughts and intuitions of the people of this forum. I'm taking them to my heart and praying over it. That I think is a prudent exercise. I think that is what most of us are doing. I'd have to say the posts on this thread are not linked to specific prophecies.
I hear what you are saying, oh gosh, I have been around prayer groups (ran when I didn't see God's love displayed in action) and Mass etc all my life really, so have heard many prophecies etc, and all different flavors of the month. Some were not good for me at all and scared the life out of me, compounded my fear of God (thought he was a tyrant God the Father that is ) rather than brought me true release. Even scarred me. That is what concerns me so much about all these prophesies and why I feel so strongly about them. They don't bring freedom for the abused/ the downtrodden/the oppressed.. they just bring them more imprisonment and fear.. So I am very watchful. I am also a catechist, I have to be aware in so far as is possible as to what is going on around, and the ones that I protect my candidates from the most are those with judgmental attitudes. Many say they don't have them, but they do. I have had a number that have had to reconcile their past to their present in light of God's love for them. As they are becoming aware of this love and the lies and misconceptions that they had about God are beginning to fall away, some smart alec tells them about this that or the other, or places a judgement on them, and tearing down the work that has been done in a session. (sorry going off topic) There are many prophecies and things flying around in the air, and even though you may not remember specific prophecies anymore, they have still entered your mind and are there in the subconscious somewhere. It concerns me very much. I also think that fear spreads more quickly than love. It is like a cancer, a fear, a virus.. When we talk about our fears etc, or even bring them about on a place like this, a tiny concern can turn into a big event that we are all waiting to happen, does that make sense? I am not saying that things won't happen. We can all see the turn of events, the tide, the attitudes of Governments/Countries/Peoples towards religion but especially towards Roman Catholics, we can all see that slowly but surely as the world turns on it's head Roman Catholics are actually becoming the outlaws. But with all the different hiding places etc. I don't know. I never thought about it, except to say that if ever the time arises I pray that I will have the courage to open my doors to priests etc for Masses to be said in my home, and if I die in the process well, I could never get to Heaven a minute too soon, because I shall be with Jesus. Maybe it is because I have come through so much I can see the danger in things, or maybe it is because I have learnt to trust so much because I have been brought through so much, I don't know? I do know however, that not one of us will get to Heaven a moment too soon.
We worry about prophecies and this prayer and that prayer and we haven't even got the basics right. I have seen people throw homeless people out of Church in winter when they are there to keep warm saying it isn't the place for them. I see much like this, truly, it breaks my heart. Are we any better than those outside of the Church? Oh PS If we were focusing on things like this, there would be no such thing as a chastisement and the world would indeed be a better place. That is what is so heartbreaking in all of this.. Can you imagine someone saying, "Oh, she must be a Catholic the way she helps, you can always tell one of those." What a different world.. and we would have people knocking down the doors to join us. This world is fasting.. America is on a fast, as is Europe.. A fast from love, a fast from compassion, a fast from the Word of God. We are the third world in a spiritual sense and we have no idea .. Truly heartbreaking.. You know, we could be using this site to encourage each other to live that word, to help each other to break open the Gospel and for it to flow from our hearts in all that we say and do.. Then, it would be truly God's will on earth as it is in Heaven. Do we really have to wait for all the bad to pass before we begin to live that reality here and now?
There is a silent retreat there this summer in July,..I plan on going as I did last year. The landscape is beautiful. The teachings are based on St. Ignatius
I can agree with some that you have said...but I bolded the lines I don't agree with. I think this site is tremendous for encouraging each other to live out our faith in everyday life...to open our hearts to Jesus and Mary now and fast, pray, make sacrifices, etc. If you aren't seeing this, maybe you are spending too much time analyzing posts for a perceived "agenda" instead of taking them at face value. I think most of us are truly trying to live God's will for us in our lives right now and we are not waiting for bad events to pass. I may not be saving homeless people from the streets, but God's will for me is to carry my cross with the help of Jesus and set a good christian example for my family (who are all pretty far away from God). I believe His will for me at this very moment is that simple. And I must be doing something right, because my family calls me "holy Potatosack" behind my back...well, not really potatosack, but you know what I mean. so, please don't make assumptions about other people's spiritual life based on their posts. It sounds like this is what you do, and it's very unfair. Remember how blown away people were when we posted our pictures? According to people's perceptions of me based on my posts, I was Irish, Spanish, a man, an older gentleman, etc. It just shows our perception of people and what they are doing in their spiritual lives based on their posts could be way off base. It is a shame that this forum seems to fall short of your expectations. But all we are doing is living out our spiritual lives at the stage we are in and discerning and talking about the signs of the times as we continue to climb the mountain of holiness. I'm thankful for this forum and consider it a blessing.
