PLAN YOUR END-OF-SUMMER
MARIAN PILGRIMAGE NOW!
Join us in Buffalo on AUGUST 24 under the big tent, rain or shine,
for a FREE, extraordinary Marian event of worship music and inspiring
talks!
End your summer perfectly, by paying homage to our
great Queen! BRING THE WHOLE FAMILY for our FREE
Second Annual Celebration of the Culture of Life and Civilization of
Love, in Buffalo's downtown LaSalle Park on the beautiful Niagara
River, on SUNDAY, AUGUST 24, starting at 12:00 Noon EST, and
ending approximately at 5:00 p.m., with Benediction of the Blessed
Sacrament. We will enjoy great worship music and song with Buffalo’s
Voices of Mercy, and Martin Doman (http://www.martindoman.com/), of
York, PA. Association Executive Director Larry Behr will discuss our
progress towards our great goal of building the world’s loftiest monument
as a tribute to Our Lady and the Triumph of her Immaculate Heart, and we
will listen to:
· Judge Daniel J. Lynch, National Guardian of the Missionary
Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe (http://www.ourladyofguadalupe.org/),
discussing the four Marian dogmas as embodied in the messages of Our Lady
of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego, the proposed Fifth Marian Dogma, and the
meaning of the Triumph and how we can work for it;
· Bryan Thatcher, M.D., founder of Eucharistic
Apostles of the Divine Mercy (http://www.thedivinemercy.org/),
on living the mercy of God in our homes and workplace, and Mary as our
role model for Divine Mercy as a Way of Life.
Your Marian Pilgrimage to Buffalo, “The
Queen City,” should include visits to the beautiful Basilica and
National Shrine of OUR LADY OF VICTORY (http://www.ourladyofvictory.org/)
in Lackawanna NY just 10 minutes from downtown Buffalo. Erected by “The
Apostle of Charity,” Father Nelson Baker, it was declared by
L'Osservatore Romano in 1925 to be "one of the most superb
shrines the American Church possesses." Also, the unique and beautiful
FATIMA SHRINE in nearby Lewiston (http://www.fatimashrine.com/),
just 30 minutes from downtown Buffalo, and a focus of pilgrims from all
over the world. A short sidetrip to awesome NIAGARA FALLS, on the
drive to or from Lewiston, will make your pilgrimage especially memorable
for every member of the family! DRIVING AND LODGING
INFORMATION BELOW.
MESSAGE FROM ASSOCIATION EXEC. DIRECTOR LAURENCE
D. BEHR:
June 28, 2003
Dear Friends,
On this Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, 2003, it is not easy
to see how Mary’s Immaculate Heart shall triumph, as she prophesied it
would at Fatima in 1917. Our Church seems more than ever misunderstood,
and the world appears to rejoice in the belief that it has triumphed. Some
Catholics, reacting to our current problems, advocate reshaping the Church
in ways that would destroy its special character and sacredness. Others,
losing heart, turn to other churches, as the media unfairly focuses only
on the Church’s difficulties, as if other churches do not suffer the same
problems.
All that we hold sacred, who know Jesus Christ, is threatened by
powerful forces, aided by a mass media incessantly broadcasting anti-God
attitudes and beliefs—seducing our children and destroying their
innocence, and polluting our homes with the idols of sensuality and
materialism. The holy institution of marriage is threatened, and—perhaps
worst of all—the innocent unborn still suffer slaughter
unabated.
In this bleak time, we must show the world that our faith is alive
and well! Mary’s glorious Arch of Triumph will be a great sign of our
faith, a gleaming beacon of truth and hope. It will proclaim to the whole
world the beauty of virtue, and of our holy Catholic faith, while also
spreading devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Heart. Surely it was with our own
dark times in view, that Mary revealed at Fatima in 1917, “Jesus wishes to
establish in the world, devotion to my Immaculate Heart.”
We hope, and we also believe—in Jesus, in Mary, and
in all that they have said. We therefore believe in the coming Triumph of
Love—of Mary’s Immaculate Heart, and of the Cross of her Divine Son! That
is our great goal—to help pave the way for the Triumph of Mary’s
Immaculate Heart, and for the New Springtime of the Church that our
beloved Pope John Paul II has ardently predicted.
To some who may say, “The money for this great shrine would be
better given to the poor,” we say with love: Our first duty is toward the
most wretched of the poor, whose poverty is ignorance of God, and the
Messiah Whom He sent to save us. Is not this why Christ reprimanded Judas,
when Judas complained that Mary the sister of Lazarus had used costly
ointment to anoint His feet, rather than selling it for alms? Jesus said,
“For the poor you have always with you; but me you have not always” (John
12:8)?
It is a greater poverty to be bereft of faith, and of the presence
of Our Lord, as our world is today, than to want for material things.
There is plenty of money in our society both to help the poor, and to
build a greatly needed shrine honoring Mary’s Immaculate Heart, if people
would honor God’s commandment to give generously first to God—a command
that carries the promise of abundance for those who observe it (Malachi
3:8-12).
Help make a difference in our world! Together, with
your prayers and support, and God’s help, the millions of children of
Jesus and Mary will make this glorious tribute to our Mother and Queen,
and to her Divine Son! Please visit us at www.archoftriumph.org, and “tour”
our beautiful online Virtual Arch of Triumph, where you may enroll your
name or the names of loved ones by donating for the Arch of Triumph
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and International Shrine of the Holy
Innocents. Donations may be made by charge or check online at www.archoftriumph.org/donate.html
, or by calling toll free 1 866 205 6512.
God bless you and your loved ones, and enjoy a blessed summer! I
hope to see you in Buffalo, on August 24!
For the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart,
Larry
Driving Directions: From the West, take
U.S. 90 to Exit 53, take U.S. 190 North to Peace Bridge Exit, go
right/south on Niagara St. to Porter Ave., and turn right. From the
East, take U.S. 90 to Exit 51, take Rte. 33 West to Rte. 198, take 198
to U.S. 190 South, take Peace Bridge/Porter Ave. Exit, turn right on
Porter. Follow Porter Ave. to stage area in LaSalle Park on the Niagara
River—ample parking around park loop.
WHERE TO STAY: These fine lodgings are just minutes from LaSalle
Park in Buffalo: Holiday Inn, 620 Delaware Ave., tel. 716-886-2121;
Hampton Inn, 220 Delaware Ave., tel. 716-855-2223; Radisson Suites
Downtown Buffalo, 716-854-5400.
ANY QUESTIONS? Call us toll-free,
1-866-205-6512.
HELP SPREAD THE WORD! E-mail us at LDBehr@archoftriumph.org, to be
sent flyers announcing this event, for sharing with friends, prayer
groups, Knights councils, other organizations, and fellow parishioners!
BE OUR LOCAL LIAISON FOR THE TRIUMPH! Just email us to get
started—it only requires a willingness to help spread the word in your
local community, with our guidance and support, and the prayers and
support of our many Local Liaisons around the world! (see www.archoftriumph.org/liaisons.html
)
Please join our Web site email group, at
http://www.archoftriumph.org/subscribe.html
