WHY DO CATHOLICS MAKES THE SIGN OF THE CROSS?

I am a Christian who belongs to the Roman Catholic religion. I was surprised how making the sign of the cross is being questioned, teased and mocked by some anti-catholics. 
Let us admit the fact that there are also some catholics who were asking the same question about the sign of the cross. so why do catholics make sign of the cross on their foreheads? Why do catholic churches decorated with a cross? Why do catholics make this sign as they administer sacraments?

I would like to share with you what Officials of the church have to says about the sign of the Cross (signum crucis).
There are biblical basis referring as to why catholic are making the sign of the cross. We make this sign, we proclaim the message of salvation purchased by Jesus through the cross. The bible clearly states: " For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing , but to us who are being saved, is the power of God." (1 Cor. 1:18)
The bible also teaches us to be proud of it as the message of the cross is the power of God; read Galatians 6:14
Without which there is no crown for Christians. The cross symbolizes our day to day sufferings. When Peter tried to keep Jesus Christ away from the cross, He called Peter "Satan". So it is clear, Satan is afraid and keeps himself away from the Cross as it is through the Cross that Jesus destroyed the devil's kingdom and saved mankind from the slavery of sin and death.
Cyril of Jerusalem wrote in AD 386: " Let us therefore not be ashamed of the cross of Christ; but though another hide it, do thou openly zeal it upon thy forehead, that the devils may beheld the royal sign and flee trembling far away. Make then this sign at eating, drinking and sitting, at lying down, at rising up, at speaking, at walking: in a word, at every act."
Ephrem of Syria testifies in AD 373: " Make all your actions with the sign of the life giving Cross. Do not go out from the doors of your house till you have signed yourself with the cross. Do not neglect that sign whether in eating and drinking or going to sleep, or in the home or going on a journey. There is no habit to be compared with it. Let it be a protecting wall around all your conduct, and teach it to your children that they may earnestly learn the custom".




I have nothing personal with other sects but my point in posting this article is to share what
Catholics have been taught since early childhood and also share what the Church has to say to defend the Catholic faith.

A TOUCHING STORY OF LOYALTY

Just finished watching a nice and inspiring movie this afternoon. I was kinda bored and decided to borrow a DVD from my nephew Cris who was also fond of watching movies. He lend me a DVD which shows the title HACHIKO, a dog's story. I have no idea what the movie is all about as I cannot read the synopsis or the storyline because he said he can't find the original DVD case so all I know was it was a story about a dog as the title shows and I assumed this was a  Japanese movie. When the movie started it prove me wrong because it was an American movie who starred Richard Gere and Joan Allen. The story is about a puppy who was found on a train station by a Professor on his way home. Hachi (the dog's name) grew up with the professor and would accompany him everyday on his way to the train station where he took a ride for work and would wait for him at the train exit when it is time for him to go home. This scenario repeatedly happens everyday. One day the dog seems doesn't want the prof to go to work as if he knew something would happen. On that same afternoon, the dog waited for his master on the station's exit but the prof doesn't showed up,  Hachi was unaware that his master died while on his work. He waited for his master's return at the train station every single day. Hachi became too old with nothing on his mind but to be reunited with his master again until his last breath.

My whole family gets very emotional while watching the movie. Isn't it surprising to be touched by a dog on a movie who doesn't even speak. The movie was based on a true story that happened in Japan. I highly recommend this movie to all dog lovers out there.

Btw, as I am writing this article, my dog Saske had just died for unknown reason, he became sluggish for a day and wouldn't eat anything and the following day he vomit and passed a bloody stool and died a couple of minutes. I supposed it was a case of food poisoning as he managed to escaped and roam around the village just before he got sick.

 my dog saske

WHO IS NOSTRADAMUS?

MICHEL DE NOSTREDAME was a french physician and astrologer. His pseudonym, NOSTRADAMUS was his latin name. He was born in St. Remy de Provence, France on December 14, 1503. His parents were from Avignon, the papal enclave in Provence. Michel or Nostradamus was from Jewish ancestry. When King Louis XII ordered that all Jews be baptized, his family complied as it was the period of anti-semitism .
His first teacher was his grandfather Jean. At an early age, his ordinary intelligence already manifest. Jean taught him the essentials of Mathematics, Astrology, and other languages such as  Greek, Hebrew and Latin. He studied at University of Avignon where he studied liberal arts, this is where he first showed up great interest in Astrology. He then studied in a medical school which is the University of Montpellier.
He was first noted for developing the " Rose Pill" to prevent Bubonic plague. Rose pill was made from rose petals. He advised patients to keep the pill under their tongue without swallowing them. It is said that thousands of lives were saved because of the rose pill. When the deadly plague strucked again, it took his wife and childrens life and Nostradamus' reputation and fame as a good doctor was destroyed.

From being a Physician he became an Astrologer. Nostradamus wrote an Almanac like book which contains his predictions for the following year and a book which he called LES PROPETHIES or "The Prophecies" which contains 10 centuries and are written in a four lined rhymed verses which is called the quatrains. His book was first printed in 1555 in Lyons by Bonhomme. The second edition was the Ultrech edition in 1557. The  edition that follow was printed in 1557 in Lyons by Du Rosne and the fourth edition which contains the Centuries 7 to 10 was known as the Benoist Rigaud Edition.


The quatrains written by Nostradamus were intentionally obscured, he uses symbolism, metaphors, anagrams and omissions in names for the reason that he might be accused of heresy and persecuted.There are claims that aside from staring at  flames and waters to write his prophecies, Nostradamus sometimes uses herbal stimulants.


There are claims that among his famous prophecies includes:


THE ATOM BOMBS
THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON
THE BIRTH AND RISE TO POWER OF ADOLF HITLER
THE RISE OF NAPOLEON I OF FRANCE ( BONAPARTE)
THE SEPTEMBER 11, TERRORIST ATTACK
THE WORLD WAR
THE DEATH OF PRINCESS DIANA
THE FIRST LANDING ON THE MOON
THE ASSASINATION OF JOHN F. KENNEDY




Nostradamus have long suffered from gout. He died in Salon, on July 2, 1566 and was buried in a wall of a church known as the Church of the Cordeliers in Salon. It is said that he predicted his own death. On the evening of July 1, 1566 when his secretary wish him goodnight, he answered him "you will not find me alive at sunrise" and the next day he was found lying on the floor next to his bed. It was also claimed that in his almanac he already predicted his death, it is written that:
"On his return from the Embassy, the King's gift put in place,
He will do nothing more. He will be gone to God.
Close relatives, friends, brothers by blood (will find him)
Completely dead near the bed and the bench."


The translated inscription on the wall of the church where his body lies were:
"Here rest the bones of the illustrious Michel Nostradamus, alone of all mortals, judged worthy to record with his near divine pen, under the influence of the stars, the future events of the entire world. He lived sixty-two years, six months and seventeen days. He died at Salon the in year 1566. Let not posterity disturb his rest. Anne Posart Gemelle wishes her husband true happiness."


In 1700 his body was transferred to a prominent place in wall of the church of St. Laurents. His skeleton bears a necklace/medallion with "1700" in it.  A myth says that in 1791 during the french revolution, soldiers made their way into the church in search for anything to loot. One soldier opened his tomb and drink liquor using his skull and allegedly this soldiers on their way home to Marseilles were ambushed.  In century 9 quatrain 7 Nostradamus had written;
"The man who opens the tomb when it is found
And who does not close it immediately,
Evil will come to him
That no one will be able to prove."


Was he a prophet? Whether, this claims are true or not, it is up to the you my dear readers to decide to believe it or not but there were numerous claims in books and internet that he indeed sees the future as he was tagged as the MAN WHO SAW TOMORROW.

OH MY, WHAT A SURPRISE BY OPRAH!!!

Oprah, the show named after its host Oprah Winfrey which has became a household name in USA and been known to Filipinos through cable networks is now on its final season. A surprise to avid and loyal viewers who were gathered in the studio for the Oprah show, Oprah announced (September 13, 2010) that they will all join her in her 8 days 7 nights trip to Australia all expense paid. 
The announcement was made during the first episode of 25th and last series of the show.
According to BBC NEWS, several episodes will be filmed in Australia which has been in over a year of planning.
Before the announcement, Oprah had been teasing her audience, telling them that she might take them to L.A., New York or Philadelphia, then she said " So |I was thinking where would I most want to go" "Maybe I should take you all with me to the other side of the world." then she shouted " We're going to Australia"
Right after the announcement a Qantas Airlines model plane was shown as the stage opened and Actor John Travolta came out dressed up as Qantas Airline pilot. Oprah's audience jumped, hugged and cry with tears of joy.
The loyal audiences (300 people) will have their tour on December.
By the way, this is not the end for the Oprah show because on January 1, 2011 Oprah is set to launch her OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK or OWN on cable.


(sources: BBC News and Yahoo News)

LADY GAGA ROCKS THE WORLD!!

    photo taken from Getty images by Kevin Winter

Lady GAGA was again hitting the top of the trends after bagging 8 awards in the recent 2010 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS which was held at the Nokia Theather and wearing a dress made of meat from her head to foot with a matching bag.
Lady Gaga's dress catches the attention of those who watched the Video Music Awards. A lot of criticism was thrown towards Lady Gaga, there were a lot of appreciations because of her artistic dress but for those campaigners of animal rights it was a no-no.
Prior to the MTV awards, Lady Gaga posed partially naked in Japanese Vogue magazine with her only covering was meat which made PETA angry. By the way, after being nominated for 13 categories, Lady Gaga bagged 8 and mostly from her popular song "BAD ROMANCE"

Here are the awards given to Lady Gaga;
BEST EDITING - BAD ROMANCE
BEST DIRECTION - BAD ROMANCE
BEST FEMALE VIDEO - BAD ROMANCE
BEST POP VIDEO - BAD ROMANCE
BEST DANCE MUSIC VIDEO - BAD ROMANCE
VIDEO OF THE YEAR - BAD ROMANCE
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY - BAD ROMANCE
BEST COLLABORATION - TELEPHONE feat Beyonce Knowles


After taking her video of the year award, she announces that the title of her new album will be "BORN THIS WAY" and she even sing a part of the song for the audience.


Oh my I can still remember last year's MTV Video Music Award wherein Kanye West rushed to the stage grabbed the mic, while Taylor Swift was taking her award for best female video telling that the latter doesn't deserve to win.

DEJA VU???

Have you ever recall an instance when you were in a situation and you feel that it has already happened before and thinking you already know what will happen next? or ever been in a place you've just visited and you feel like you have knowledge of the place? This phenomena is called Deja Vu.

Deja Vu according to wikipedia.org is the experience of feeling sure that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously, although the exact circumstances of the previous encounter are uncertain.
Deja vu is a French word which literally means "already seen".

A Swiss scholar Arthur Funkhouser said that there are several Deja experiences. In a situation wherein you are go to a place for the very first time and suddenly you have the feeling that you've already been there in the exact place, same spot, that thing is called the DEJA VISITE or meaning already visited.  If you been into a party or somewhere else with family members or a group of friends and discussing on a topic and there is a feeling that this very thing had already happened, talking same topic,  with the same group, family member or a friend the phenomena is called DEJA VECU or already happened. If suddenly a person has felt something and that feeling is something that he already felt in the past or very similar to what he is feeling at present the mental phenomena is called DEJA SENTI.
Deja vu occurs to in individuals with or without medical conditions,. 
There are psychoanalyst who attribute deja vu to as simple fantasy or wish fulfillment while others claimed that it was a mismatch in the brain that causes it to mistake the present to the past and to many parapsychologist,  it said it is something related to past-life experiences but scientific researchers claimed that this mental phenomenon not a psychic thing, precognition or prophecy but merely just an anomaly of memory which gives the impression that an experience is being recalled.

Is this thing a psychic ability or is it just a mere case of CRYPTAMNESIA which is an occurence where an information learned is forgotten but somehow stored in the brain and an instance or occurences invoke the stored knowledge which leads to a feeling of being familiar to a situation or event?

THE SACRED ART OF MANDALA FOR MEDITATION, PROTECTION AND HEALING

                                              KALACHAKRA MANDALA

What is a mandala? It is described as a geometric pattern or a chart, usually circular in form to represent the universe and is used for meditation purposes. It is said to be the most admired symbol of Buddhist and Hindu religion.  They are meant to reveal the inner truth about you or the world around you. Carl Jung saw the mandala as a powerful tool towards personal understanding and growth and as a psychiatrist, Jung uses the mandala to his patients for them to make deeper connections to themselves.

There are many claims that this elegant, full of symbol with vibrant color mandala contains its own truth and wisdom. They said that to unlock its secret, look and appreciate every details of the pattern. Unlocking the secret will help us eventually change something within ourselves and will bring us peace.

 THE REGENERATING MANDALA CARD

Personally, when I first saw a mandala( the mandala regenerating card in Tierra Maria, Tagaytay), I was amazed by the way it is made and something in it has attracted me. The creativity catches my attention and somehow it feels like something touches my subconcious mind, with a feeling of peace and understanding, it indeed bring me to higher conciousness. Try this healing medium for the soul yourself...

(The picture shown above are taken from the internet and are properties of their rightful owner. The author does not claim ownership of the photos.)

MY NEW HEADER!

I've been very busy this past few days so I have less time to update my blog, sorry guys! but have you noticed my new blog header? I've been wanting to change my header but couldn't find time and can't decide what design I have to used, thanks to my friend and fellow blogger Jeffrey Serrano who unbeknown to me had the effort to make a simple yet beautiful header for me. If  i am not mistaken, Jep of  www.jep-s.blogspot.comwill be venturing soon on making art design business besides his busy schedule at UST being a Mechanical Engineering student and author of multiple blogs.
Regarding my blog being not updated, my apologies dear readers..I'm trying my best to give you more interesting and informative topics soon...thanks!

SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES: ARE THEY INTENTIONALLY MADE???

Have you been aware that most of the movies, musics, commercials, ads and logos have been embedded by subliminal images?

So what is a subliminal message? Wiktionary.org has defined subliminal messages as a signal or a message embedded in other object, designed to pass below the normal limits of perception.
The word is derived from latin word sub which means below and limen meaning threshold.

Subliminal messages as scientist says, leave a mark on the brain. They found out that humans record images that we are not even aware of having seen by the use of brain scanners.
Have you ever experience that suddenly it comes to you and your companion's mind  that you both crave for something while listening to a music or when watching your favorite television program that has been interrupted by a commercial advertisement? Unbeknown to you that the phenomena could be a result of subliminal messages.
It has been said that movies, musics, commercial, banner ads, logos, billboards, etc... has been using subliminal messages as it was discovered that the subconscious mind was very suggestible via subliminal messaging.
There are subliminal messages that are made to help individuals to become succesful, become goal oriented or help students excel in school others are meant to gain more consumers, and there are some that according to articles that i've read are embedded with satanic messages.
Here are some of the image and video results that I've found when I googled subliminal messages....

how about subliminal messages on backmasked musics?







 Is subliminal messages made for a purpose or are they results of imagination? Are they just coincidental?