Washington D.C., May 20, 2012 / 05:45 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Various initiatives are planned throughout the country in response to the U.S. bishops’ call for a “Fortnight for Freedom” June 21-July 4 to encourage prayer, education and public action about religious freedom.

The initiative was created in response to several moves by the Obama administration that are threatening the Church’s religious freedom. The most well-known action is the Health and Human Services mandate that requires employers to cover birth control and other services that Catholics and other believers find morally objectionable.

At Baltimore’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Archbishop William E. Lori will offer a special June 21 Mass at 7 p.m. to open the fortnight. June 21 is the vigil Mass for the feast of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More.

The close of the two-week observance will feature a July 4 Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which will be concelebrated by Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington and Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia. Archbishop Chaput will serve as the homilist at the 12:10 p.m. liturgy.

Bishop Richard Malone of Portland, Maine will celebrate a July 2 Mass at Portland’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

“Religious liberty is not only about our ability to go to Mass on Sunday or to pray the Rosary at home. It is about whether we can continue to make our contribution to the common good of all Americans without violating our deeply-held moral beliefs,” Bishop Malone said. “This issue affects all Americans — it is not a Catholic issue, a Jewish issue, an Orthodox, Mormon, or Muslim issue. It is an American issue.”

In Arlington, Va. Bishop Paul S. Loverde will celebrate a Holy Hour for Religious Freedom at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More on June 21 at 7:30 p.m.

“In many ways, this struggle is more a marathon than a sprint. I ask you to join me and prayerfully embrace this challenge not only as a vital struggle over Catholics’ right to full citizenship in this great country but as a teaching moment for us all,” Bishop Loverde said in a May 2 letter to his diocese’s priests.

Bishop Loverde has encouraged Arlington priests to host talks on religious freedom, educate the faithful on the issues at stake, and urge them to pray a Novena for religious freedom.

Priests should provide a “tangible focal point” for the faithful to learn about religious freedom, he said. He advised a place near the sanctuary entrance where parishioners can obtain prayer cards and educational materials.

“With God’s grace, much good will come of this,” the bishop said.

In the Archdiocese of Denver, archdiocesan administrator Bishop James D. Conley will ask Catholics to fast and pray on each of the fortnight’s two Fridays. Parishes have been invited to hold Holy Hours for religious liberty.

“The most important thing is the invitation to Catholics to pray and fast for religious liberty,” archdiocesan chancellor J.D. Flynn told CNA May 18.

The archdiocese has invited political science professor Robert Kraynak of Colgate University to speak about religious liberty on June 21 and 22.

An essay contest on religious liberty for high school students, with a scholarship as a prize, is also in the works.

Other events in the Denver archdiocese include gatherings for college-age students at St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish in Boulder and Bl. John XXIII Parish in Fort Collins, and an event for Hispanic Catholics at the archdiocese’s Centro Juan Diego.

The Archdiocese of Louisville has encouraged parishes to incorporate a prayer for religious liberty at “liturgically appropriate” times on the weekends of the fortnight. The archdiocese is planning a package of electronic resources for parishes to publish on their websites.

In an April 12 statement, the U.S. bishops’ ad hoc committee for religious liberty called for a “fortnight of freedom” from June 21 to July 4. The period includes a series of feasts of “great martyrs” who faced political oppression.

Their statement was an “urgent summons” to U.S. Catholics, stressing the need for prayer, fasting, and public action for religious freedom.

Phoenix, Ariz., May 20, 2012 / 01:06 pm (CNA).- As Manny Yrique prayed before the Blessed Sacrament, his heart was burdened with concerns about the United States and the level of animosity in American discourse.

“I knelt down to pray and I was overwhelmed by the feeling that Our Lord wanted me to pray a rosary,” Yrique said. “I felt Him telling me, ‘Take it to My Mother.’”

He pulled out his rosary beads and as he began to pray, was struck by the realization that the 50 Hail Mary prayers of the rosary could each be offered for one of the 50 United States.

Yrique said he’s always had a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He remembers being 8 years old, kneeling with his 6-year-old sister to pray the rosary while their mother was undergoing surgery.

“We didn’t know if our mom was coming back home, so we took out our plastic rosaries, knelt down at the Virgin of Guadalupe statue that was over my mom’s bed and we prayed a rosary,” Yrique said. “It was like, ‘Nothing’s going to happen as long as Mary’s with you.’”

That conviction about the love of the Mother of God is something that Yrique said can partly be explained by his own mother’s unshakeable devotion to her children.

“I believe that a mother has tremendous impact on her family — I saw that in my mother,” Yrique said. “We knew that nothing would happen to us as children as long as Mom was there.”

“I believe the Blessed Virgin Mary is the same way — she’s always been my Mother and I believe she has the ear of God at her command.”

Yrique said he designed the Rosary for the United States of America through prayer, often waking in the middle of the night to compose the intentions. Each of the five decades has a designated intention.

The first three decades are prayed for the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. The fourth decade is dedicated to state and local governments as well as police and fire fighters. The fifth decade is devoted to U.S. military personnel.

The Rosary for the USA is not a political statement, Yrique said. He’s not praying for a particular candidate to win the upcoming election or for any political party’s success. He’s simply praying for the United States — its leaders and populace.

“At the time I started praying for my country, I was really concerned with how divisive we became over the SB 1070 (immigration) issue,” Yrique said. “So when I saw things happening on the news — when I saw people being angry at one another, shouting at one another, I thought, ‘This is not the way I was brought up.’”

Fr. Johnrita Adegboyega, parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish in Chandler, Ariz. said the Virgin Mary is always ready to listen and intercede for her children.

“In the midst of every evil, only prayer can make us safe — only  prayer can bring about the truth,” Fr. Adegboyega said. “The Mother of God is there to find solutions to every problem, regardless of the challenges … She is the perfect means to approach the throne of grace through Christ Jesus Our Lord.”

Davonna Serrano, parishioner at St. Mary Magdalene Parish in Gilbert, Ariz. said the Rosary for the USA should be prayed to defend the nation.

“The only way that we have to fight is through prayer — that’s our first and foremost defense in any kind of battle,” Serrano said. “And right now the battle is for the souls of our children and the future of our country.”

Praying the Rosary for the USA, she said, could also help bring people back to the Catholic Church.

“Whether you’re a grandmother or a parent or just a family member, and you’ve lost family from the Church, all you have to do is pray,” Serrano said. “Pray the rosary, pray for the intercession of the saints and pray for the Blessed Mother to open their eyes, and they will return to the faith.”

Yrique said it’s important for the 30 million Catholics in the United States to pray for their leaders, regardless of political persuasion.

“I really believe that it doesn’t matter who we elect if the power of God is not working through our elected officials,” Yrique said. “I’d like people to get off their soapboxes and get on their knees and pray. God will bless America when Americans remember to bless God.”

Yrique has already given away or sold 3,000 of the red, white and blue rosary beads and has ordered another 2,000. Along with the rosary, people can order a prayer booklet or prayer card that lists all the intentions as well as the names of the 50 states.

The booklet also lists other intentions for the rosary, depending on the time of day in which it is prayed.  From midnight to 3 a.m. for example, the rosary could be offered for those who work at night, such as truck drivers and railroad workers.

For more information on the USA Rosary, visit http://www.magnalitecatholic.com/usa_rosary.html or call (602) 269-0009

Posted with permission from The Catholic Sun, official newspaper for the Diocese of Phoenix, Ariz.

St. Bernardine was born in Siena, September 8, 1380, the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and died May 20, 1444 in Aquila.St. Bernardine, known as ‘The Apostle of Italy’ was the greatest Italian missionary and preacher of the fifteenth century. He was the reformer and popularizer of the Order of Friars Minor of the Strict Observance (the order grew from 300 members when he joined them to over 4000 at the time of his death), and  the Apostle of the Holy Name of Jesus, the feast of which was instituted in the universal Church in 1722 due to his efforts at encouraging the devotion.Bernardine was orphaned at the age of 6 and brought up by pious aunts. At 17 he joined the Confraternity of Our Lady, which was joined to a hospital, but he lived a life of seclusion and prayer until the plague broke out three years later when he felt called to minister to the sick.Bernardine received the habit of the Friars Minor at San Francesco in Siena, September 8, 1402, entered the Observantine convent of Columbaio and was professed September 8, 1403 and ordained September 8, 1404. The Feast of the Nativity of Mary was the date for many of the great events of his life, including his birth, and his devotion to the Blessed Virgin was undoubtedly profound – he wrote several treatises on Her (as well as on St. Joseph), and She was the school in which he learned to be humble and obedient to the will of God.In 1417, at the age of 37, Bernardine began preaching in Milan and the fiery, and often playful eloquence he demonstrated was soon attracting crowds in the tens of thousands. His mission was to preach to all of Italy, a mission which had been predicted 12 years earlier by the great orator St. Vincent Ferrer who claimed during one of his sermons that one listening to him (Bernardine was present that day) would continue his mission.A biographer of his day stated that Bernardine "cleansed all Italy from sins of every kind in which she abounded".  He was so successful in his preaching that people went to confession in droves “like antsâ€� and whole cities changed laws in accordance with what he preached.  He attacked all kinds of corruption among those with power and wealth without any fear of reprisal.He persuaded cities to replace coats of arms and names of warring families from Church and government buildings and to replace them with the letters I.H.S., the initials of the Holy Name of Jesus. Devotion to the Name was greatly increased through Bernardine’s preaching in which he would often hold a tablet with the initials up for all to venerate.He declined three appointments to the episopacy, including the see of his native Siena, insisting on following his calling to preach to all of Italy.Bernardine died of a fever on his way to preach in Naples in 1444, on the eve of the Ascension of Our Lord, May 20.  He was canonized six years later on account of the numerous miracles that occurred through his intercession after his death, and his evident holiness during his life.In 1956, Pope Pius XII named St. Bernardine the patron saint of advertisers and advertising due to his ability to use simple language and powerful symbols to preach the faith.

1The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, of all things which Jesus began to do and to teach, 2Until the day on which, giving commandments by the Holy Ghost to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up. 3To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion, by many proofs, for forty days appearing to them, and speaking of the kingdom of God. 4And eating together with them, he commanded them, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (saith he) by my mouth. 5For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. 6They therefore who were come together, asked him, saying: Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?7But he said to them: It is not for you to know the times or moments, which the Father hath put in his own power: 8But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth. 9And when he had said these things, while they looked on, he was raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10And while they were beholding him going up to heaven, behold two men stood by them in white garments. 11Who also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as you have seen him going into heaven.