Our Lady of All Nations

     “The Lady of All Nations” is a title used to describe a Marian apparition to Ida Peerdeman in Amsterdam, Netherlands on March 25, 1945. In this time she wants to be made known and loved by everyone under this title.

     In a prophetic way, she gives, above all, an impressive insight about the situation in the Church and in the world. In the messages, Mary gradually reveals a plan with which God wants to save the world and prepare it for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, she gives all peoples and nations an image and a prayer.

LORD JESUS CHRIST,
SON OF THE FATHER,
SEND NOW YOUR SPIRIT
OVER THE EARTH.
LET THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVE
IN THE HEARTS OF ALL NATIONS,
THAT THEY MAY BE PRESERVED
FROM DEGENERATION, DISASTER AND WAR.
MAY THE LADY OF ALL NATIONS,
THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY,
BE OUR ADVOCATE.

AMEN.

     "This prayer has been given to the world. Let this prayer accompany whatever you do in your daily life. This should be spread in the churches and through modern means of communication. I have taught you that simple prayer to the Father and the Son. See that it is made known through all the world, among all the Nations. They all have the right to it. Make sure that the prayer, which briefly and yet so urgently asks for the sending the True Holy Spirit, is spread as quickly as possible. Let everyone say this short and simple prayer everyday! This prayer is purposely kept short and simple, so that everyone may manage to say it, even in this modern and speed-mad world. It has been given so that the coming of the Spirit of Truth may be implored for the world. You do not know what the great value and power this prayer boasts before God. Our Lady promises, "by means of this prayer and title, She--The Lady of All Nations-- may save the world from universal calamity."
   
    Ida Peerdeman was born on August 13, 1905 in the city of Alkmaar, in Holland. She was forty years old when the Marian apparitions began. She was an average woman, working in a perfume factory, the youngest of five siblings, and God was the center of her life. On the feast day of the Annunciation, her confessor, Father Frehe, was visiting the family. This was the first time Mary appeared to Ida. Ida recalled seeing a light from the corner of the room and from it came a woman who revealed herself as the Lady of All Nations. The woman instructed her to repeat everything she was told. Ida did so, and Father Frehe ordered her sister to write down every word. Thus was recorded the first apparition of The Lady of All Nations.This all took place on March 25, 1945, when the Nazis still had occupation of Holland. Ida saw Our Lady as she was huddled by a stove with her sisters and priest chatting about the war and the possibilities of what may happen in the future. Ida suffered attack both from the Church and from demons for believing in the apparition of The Lady of All Nations until her death in 1996, at the age of ninety.

     Over the course of Ida’s life, Mary appeared to her fifty-six times. However, the visions did not end with Our Lady. After Mary stopped appearing to her on May 31, 1959, Peerdeman received what she called “Eucharistic Experiences” for twenty-six years, where she was given divine revelation most times during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. One hundred and fifty one Eucharistic apparitions were reported. All in all, two hundred and seven apparitions were experienced through her.

__________________________

 
     In 1951, the diocesan Bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam, and later on about 60 other bishops around the world, gave ecclesiastical permission to print the prayer.

     On May 31, 1996, the public veneration of the Mother of God under this title was officially authorized by the two Haarlem (NL).

     On May 31, 2002, Msgr. Dr. J.M. Punt, Bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam issued a statement, recognizing the supernatural origin of the apparitions of Amsterdam (Constat de Supernaturalitate Apparitionum)

     According to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the original phrase "who once was Mary", could lead to misunderstanding. After consultations between the CDF and the local bishops in 2006, the phrase was changed into "the Blessed Virgin Mary".

St. Pedro Calungsod

Another Filipino saint has been beatified very recently. He is no other than Saint Pedro Calungsod (1654 – April 2, 1672).

 A 17-year old Roman Catholic Filipino young migrant, sacristan, and missionary catechist who (along with Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores) suffered religious persecution and martyrdom in Guam for their missionary work in the Marianas Islands in 1672.

Through Calungsod's and San Vitores' missionary efforts, many native catechumens converted to the Roman Catholic Church through the Sacrament of Baptism. Calungsod was beatified on 5 March 2000 by Blessed Pope John Paul II and was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in October 21, 2012.

Pedro was born in Molo, a Chinese district of Iloilo City. He came to Cebu to preach Christianity using the missionary text (Doctrina Christiana) as propagated by the Dominican priests. He then studied at the Jesuit town of Loboc in Bohol before sailing on to Guam.

Calungsod travelled with Spanish Jesuit missionaries in 1668 to the Marianas Islands, named in honour of both the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Queen Regent of  Spain, María Ana of Austria, who funded their voyage. Calungsod and San Vitores went to Guam to catechise the native Chamorros.

While in Guam, a Chinese merchant named Choco began spreading rumours that the baptismal water used by missionaries was poisonous. As some sickly Chamorro infants who were baptized eventually died, many believed the rumour and held the missionaries responsible. Choco was readily supported by the macanjas (medicine men) and the urritaos (young males) who despised the missionaries.

On April 2, 1672, Calungsod and San Vitores came to the village of Tumon, Guam to baptise the infant daughter of Chief Mata'pang, who strongly refused. They proceeded with the rites anyway with the consent of the infant's mother. Native assassins, led by Mata'pang and Chief Hurao pursued Calungsod and San Vitores down to the beach and then captured them. They murdered Calungsod with a spear, while they killed San Vitores with a bolo. The killers then stripped and mutilated the bodies by a katana sword before tying them to rocks and throwing them into the sea.

 In the Roman Catholic Church, Calungsod's death and Christian martyrdom is also called In Odium Fidei or In Hatred of the Faith, signifying the religious persecution endured by the martyr in evangelizing his or her faith.

Blessed Pope John Paul II beatified Calungsod on 5 March 2000 at Saint Peter's Square in Rome. Calungsod's first alleged miracle was the healing of a man with bone cancer, which assisted his beatification process though not necessarily due to his martyrdom In Odium Fidei ("In Hatred of the Faith") in accordance to the canonisation reforms of 1983. Calungsod was beatified with other 43 individuals who were declared Servants of God.

Pope John Paul II declared:

“

...From his childhood, Pedro Calungsod declared himself unwaveringly for Christ and responded generously to his call. Young people today can draw encouragement and strength from the example of Pedro, whose love of Jesus inspired him to devote his teenage years to teaching the faith as a lay catechist. Leaving family and friends behind, Pedro willingly accepted the challenge put to him by Fr. Diego de San Vitores to join him on the Mission to the Chamorros. In a spirit of faith, marked by strong Eucharistic and Marian devotion, Pedro undertook the demanding work asked of him and bravely faced the many obstacles and difficulties he met. In the face of imminent danger, Pedro would not forsake Fr. Diego, but as a "good soldier of Christ" preferred to die at the missionary's side."  “Young friends, do not hesitate to follow the example of Pedro, who ‘pleased God and was loved by him’ and who, having come to perfection in so short a time, lived a full life.”   Canonization day of Blessed Pedro Calungsod October 21, 2012