St. Catherine of Siena, Laguna Beach

12 hours ago

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Peace and all good❤
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St. Catherine of Siena, Laguna Beach

12 hours ago

✝️THE ANCIENT GESTURE CATHOLICS LOST… BUT THE SAINTS BEG US TO RECOVER 😳🤔
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Long ago, Catholics understood a gesture that spoke louder than any words.
A gesture so simple… yet so full of faith:

Genuflection.
Bending one knee before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Today, many people rush into church and forget it.
Some bow quickly, some walk past the tabernacle, some don’t notice at all.

But the saints kept saying the same thing:

“Do not lose this holy gesture.”

✝️ Why is genuflection so important?

Because it is the body saying what the heart believes:

“Jesus, You are really here.”
“You are my Lord.”
“Ikneel because You are God, not because I am forced.”

In the ancient Church, people knelt before kings.
How much more before the King of Kings?

✝️What the saints taught

The saints said that one sincere genuflection shakes the devil
because the devil refuses to kneel before God.
When you bend your knee, you do what he will not do.

They also said that a true genuflection is like a tiny prayer that goes straight to Heaven:

- It humbles the proud heart
- It awakens love in the soul
- It reminds the body of who Jesus is

✝️ What happens when you genuflect?

You are not just touching your knee to the ground.
You are:

- making an act of faith
- offering a small sacrifice
- showing God that you remember Him
- giving honor with your whole body, not only your mind

This simple gesture protects your faith,
teaches children the presence of God,
and brings grace to the soul.

✝️ A gentle invitation

When you enter a church, don’t just walk past the tabernacle.
Pause.
Bend your knee slowly.
Look at Jesus.
And say in your heart:

“My Lord and my God.”

The saints tell us:
If we bring back this humble gesture, we will bring back reverence.

#catholicsonlineclass
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St. Catherine of Siena, Laguna Beach

12 hours ago

HOW CAN MARY BE A MOTHER AND A VIRGIN AT THE SAME TIME? 😲🤔

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Most of our brethren from other denominations wonder, and some even laugh at us, when we say:
“Mary is a virgin, even after giving birth to Jesus.”
To them, it sounds impossible… even foolish.

“How can a woman give birth and still remain a virgin?” they ask.
But here is the truth: what is impossible for man is not only possible for God, it is the very sign of His saving plan.

✝️ Virgin Before, During, and After Birth

The Catholic Church proclaims what the earliest Christians, the Fathers, and the Scriptures affirm:

👉Before birth: Mary conceived without knowing man. She asked the angel:

“How shall this be, since I know not a man?”
And the angel replied:
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” (Luke 1:34–35)

👉During birth: The prophet Isaiah foretold:

“The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
Matthew confirms this prophecy at Jesus’ birth (Matthew 1:22–23), showing that she is the same virgin both in conceiving and in giving birth.

👉After birth: She had no other children and remained wholly consecrated to God (CCC 499–501).

✝️ Virginity and Motherhood United

Humanly, virginity and motherhood exclude each other. That is, humanly speaking, they can't work together. It's either you are a virgin or a mother.

But in Mary, by God’s power, they meet without conflict.

This mirrors the mystery of Christ Himself:

Jesus became what He was not, fully human, without ceasing to be what He always was, fully divine.
In the same way, Mary became what she was not, a mother, without ceasing to be what she always was, a virgin.

✝️ How Can This Be?

If the Son of God could enter her womb without a man’s seed, purely by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, then He could also leave her womb without breaking what God Himself had sealed.

The prophet Ezekiel saw it in vision:

“This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut.” (Ezekiel 44:2)
The Fathers recognized in this “shut gate” the image of Mary’s womb, the divine King entered, and it remained forever closed.

The Gospels give us another image after resurrection, when the disciples were gathered in the upper room in fear:

“Jesus came and stood among them, though the doors were locked.” (John 20:19)
If the Risen Lord could pass through closed doors, He could also be born without opening the “door” of His Mother’s virginity.

✝️ Without Pain, Without Bloodshed

In Jewish law, childbirth brought ritual impurity because of pain and the shedding of blood (Leviticus 12:2–4).
But Mary’s childbirth was different:

👉She bore the Holy One of God, who came to take away our sins, not to cause impurity.
👉She gave birth without pain, because the curse of Eve (“you shall bring forth children in pain”, Genesis 3:16) did not touch the New Eve.
👉She gave birth without bloodshed, because the Son she bore came not to take blood from others, but to shed His own on the Cross.

Her painless, pure birth was a prophecy:
The day would come when this same Son would endure the crown of thorns, the nails, and the spear, taking all pain upon Himself and pouring out His blood for our salvation.

Mary’s blood was never shed in giving Him life,
because His mission was to shed His blood to give us life.

✝️ Why This Matters

Mary’s perpetual virginity is not just about her, it is about Christ.

Her womb remained sealed before, during, and after birth as a living sign:

👉Jesus is truly the Son of God.
👉Salvation is entirely God’s work, untouched by human corruption.
👉The One who entered the world in purity would save it in purity.

So, yes, Mary is both Virgin and Mother.
She bore God in her body without losing the treasure of her virginity,
just as Christ rose from the tomb leaving it sealed.

The real question is not, “How can this be?”
The real question is:

“Do you believe that nothing is impossible for God?” (Luke 1:37)

Blessed be God for giving us such a Mother,
and blessed be Mary for saying yes to the impossible.

God bless you 🫵
#catholicsonlineclass
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