‘Ave Maria’ caps Republican National Convention: ‘Most Catholic moment in American history’

Life News Aug 28, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 28, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The Republican National Convention concluded with what one commentator has called “the most Catholic moment in American history”: the performance of “Ave Maria” – the “Hail Mary” prayer, put to music. 

Opera singer Christopher Macchio offered a beautiful rendition of the song, cherished by Catholics, from the Blue Room balcony of the White House after President Donald Trump’s speech officially accepting his party’s nomination to run for reelection. 

After the sung prayer to Our Lady, Macchio invited the Trump family and guests gathered on the south lawn of the White House to join in singing “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful.”

“God will honor those who honor Him (and those who honor the Mother of God the Son),” proclaimed Dr. Taylor Marshall, Catholic author and a member of Catholics for Trump advisory board.  “Ave Maria!!!!”

“This is the most Catholic moment in American history,” declared conservative Catholic commentator John Zmirak. “Thank New York City, a once great Catholic city, for making potus possible.”

“By all means let's invoke the help of Jesus' mother in protecting our nation & our descendants from those who consider abortion ‘sacred’ and our physical, sexual natures as the tools of fetishists, quack doctors, and pornographers,” continued Zmirak in a subsequent Tweet. 

“The stakes could not be clearer this election,” he added.

Can Mary be a bridge between Muslims and Christianity?

June 21, 2019  CT

Mohammed, a pious PhD student from Egypt, sat guardedly in the “Community of Reconciliation.” Invited by David Vidmar, director of coaching for Peace Catalysts International, the middle-aged Muslim seemed soured on the idea of interfaith exchange at his northern California university.

Vidmar suspected Mohammed came to the jointly led Muslim-Christian dinners because he felt obligated to do da’wah, the Arabic word for spreading Islam. But over a shared meal and discussion about Mary, the Egyptian’s attitude shifted. “The deeper we got into the life of Mary and how Christians understand the virgin birth of Jesus, he became very enthused,” Vidmar said. “There are so many misunderstandings . . . it was wonderful to observe him see the similarities and be able to relax.”

Peace Catalysts is a Jesus-centered peacemaking effort, focused primarily on Christians and Muslims. Vidmar and his family worked for eight years with Uighurs in Kazakhstan and still wish Muslims would experience the love and forgiveness God reveals through Jesus. But now he works to help both sides experience heart transformation through deep and genuine friendship—and Mary proved a fruitful bridge.

“Since so many Muslims use the term ‘Jesus, Son of Mary,’ it would be helpful for evangelicals to think more deeply about this,” Vidmar said. “Muslims often excitedly tell me their favorite chapter in the Qur’an is Maryam, and women especially express appreciation for it.”

Mary is mentioned 34 times in the Qur’an—more than in the New Testament—and its only named woman.

A Virgin Mary statue appears to be crying.

US News 

HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — A Virgin Mary statue at a Hispanic Catholic church in southeastern New Mexico is drawing visitors from around the region because believers say it appears tears are flowing from the statue's face.

Visitors of the bronze statue located inside the auxiliary building of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church said Tuesday the statue wept, like it did for several hours last Sunday, the Hobbs News-Sun reported .

"There were tears coming down her face again," said church manager Judy Ronquillo, who was in the building on Tuesday when it took place.

Ronquillo said the statue began crying as the group inside the church finished a Rosary.

"It's beautiful," she said. "The tears aren't watery, they are an oil-like substance and the tears smell like roses."

What is the connection between Roman Catholicism and Islam?

Seek God through his Mother, Pope encourages faithful

By Kerri Lenartowick

Cagliari, Italy, Sep 22, 2013 / 02:51 pm (EWTN News/CNA)

Pope Francis lays flowers at the foot of the statue of Our Lady of Lujan on May 8, 2013. Credit: Stephen Driscoll/ CNA.

During his Sunday homily in Sardinia, the Pope explained how we should seek Christ through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, whose life was an example of faithful prayer and trust in God.“Let us not grow tired of knocking at God’s door,” he told crowds Sept. 22 in Cagliari, Sardinia. “Let us go to the heart of God through Mary, our whole life, every day, knocking at the door of God’s heart!”
“Mary prays – prays together with the community of disciples, and teaches us to have full faith in God, in his mercy. This is the power of prayer!” he told the faithful.
The Pope recounted how Mary stood with the “beloved disciple” John at the foot of the Cross.
Jesus entrusted them to one another, the Pope said, and in that moment, “we are all there in John.”
It is “loving gaze of Jesus that entrusts us to the maternal custody of his Mother.”
However, her time at the foot of the Cross was not the first time Mary experienced the Divine “loving gaze” Pope Francis explained.
“Mary will have remembered another gaze of love, when she was a young woman, the gaze of God the Father, that saw her humility, her littleness.”
Mary’s relationship with God serves as a model for every Christian.
She “teaches us that God does not abandon us, he can do great things even with our weakness,” explained Pope Francis. “Let us have faith in Him! Let us knock at the door of his heart!”
With the love she has received from God, Mary turns to love her children that Jesus put in her care before he died on the Cross.
In the tender gaze of Mary, said the Pontiff, we find “reflection of the gaze of the Father, which has made her the Mother of God, and the gaze of the Son from the Cross, that has made her our Mother.”
“And with that look today Mary is watching us. We need her tender gaze, her maternal gaze that knows us better than anyone else, her gaze full of compassion and care.”
As the Pope preached, the traditional Sardinian statue of Our Lady of Bonaria stood nearby.
“Bonaria” means “good air” or “fair wind.” In Spanish, it is “Buenos Aires,” the name of Pope Francis’ hometown.
It is said that the Argentinian city received its name from a Sardinian sailor who arrived with early explorers in 1536. He insisted upon naming the land after his ancestral patroness.
After Mass, the Holy Father greeted local authorities as well as the ill and infirmed who had been brought to the cathedral to meet him. He blessed those who were suffering and prayed with those who sought healing.
Pope Francis stopped to greet a large group of nuns in various habits that welcomed him enthusiastically.
He thanked them for their “sustaining” lives of sacrifice and asked for their prayers.
He then continued on to meet with local bishops before returning to the cathedral to speak to the poor and prisoners.
EWTN