"In prayer you shall perceive ... the way out of every situation that has no exit."                                                                                                             - Medjugorje March 28, 1985 "Do novenas of fasting and renunciation so that satan be far from you and grace be around you"                                                                                                             -  Medjugorje July 25, 2005 ____________________________________________________________________________ Thank you to Isabella and Daniella who took their parents on a vacation this summer and wrote in to tell us about the incredible sign and wonder that we had never heard of before this year! Centuries old, visible today to anyone who journeys to the site and totally unexplainable to science. A story that rivals Guadalupe in its wonder – We hope you enjoy … This summer our mom and dad took us to the Pacific coast of Colombia for whale watching.  We got to see the entire whale family (mom, dad and baby) swim next to our boat and it was absolutely amazing. The male whale swam underneath our boat while the mom swam between the  baby whale and our boat. We could clearly hear all 3 whales communicate with each other. It sounded like they were singing to each other. It was beautiful!  And just when we thought our vacation couldn’t get any better, our parents took us to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Las Lajas located in the southwestern region of Colombia bordering Ecuador. The Sanctuary sits high and deep in the lush Andes mountains along the Guaitara river.  We were amazed to hear the story of how in the year 1754 Our Lady of the Rosary appeared to Maria Meneses de Quinines, an indigenous woman, and her daughter Rosa who was deaf-mute from birth while they took refuge from a storm in a cave on their way home from work. Maria experienced the first miracle when she heard her deaf-mute daughter shout to her, “Mama, mama look at the woman carrying her baby and two men side by side”. Her mom could not see what her daughter saw but was thrilled to hear her speak for the first time. Days later, while walking home from work, and passing the cave, Rosa shouts to her mom, “Mama the Lady is calling for me!” Maria did not pay attention to her daughter (parents!) and continued walking home. After arriving home, Rosa went missing until her mother found her in the cave talking with the beautiful Lady and playing with the Child. After the apparition, Maria told people in her hometown what had happened but nobody believed her until Rosa became ill and died. At the funeral on September 15, 1754, Maria picked up the lifeless body of Rosa and ran carrying her to the cave. She begged Our Lady of the Rosary to intercede for Rosa and bring her back to life. When Rosa miraculously came back to life, Maria ran to the town and gathered everyone including the priest and they all walked back to the cave to find for the first time the image of Our Lady of Las Lajas as it is seen today. Once news spread of this miraculous image, it became a popular pilgrimage destination and many miraculous healings began to be reported.   “Las Lajas" means slab of rock and the image is of Our Lady of the Rosary holding a rosary in one hand, the Child Jesus in the other, and with St. Francis and St. Dominic de Guzman at her feet. The Divine Painter used a fade-proof method. Geologists have since taken core samples from several places in the rock and discovered there is no paint, no dye, or any other pigment on the surface of the rock. The colors are the colors of the rock itself, and they penetrate into the rock evenly for several feet. The image is part of the rock itself. Similar to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the image was left exposed for many years, however, the image continues to look as new as when it was first seen. Over 7,000 miracles have been attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Las Lajas. Many wheelchairs and crutches have been left behind at the Sanctuary following the miraculous healings.  The construction of the sanctuary was a miracle of its own as well.  One of the largest donors was a blind man by the name of Rivera who traveled throughout towns begging for money to built a proper temple for Our Lady.  Four temples were built on top of each other and yet the structure of the present temple looks clean and unified. I hope you enjoyed hearing the story of our vacation and if you have a chance to visit, 10 out of 10 would recommend.  :) .................   Thank you for fasting with us tomorrow – You will be glad you made the effort for all of eternity. Here is the image of Las Lajas in stone, visible to this day... Click Here & Join Us - Receive Our Free Fasting Reminders __________________________________________________________________________ Why We Fast – Our Core Fasting Intentions 1) We add the new fasting intention of taking back the church from evil. We submit the three-step process to achieve this victory is 1-Repent, 2-Prayer & Fasting and, 3-Imitate our Savior by throwing the evil leadership from the church. We will seek to emulate the Savior in our effort to End The USCCB, an organization that has been devastating to the church.  (“You shall know the spirit by the fruits” - Matt. 7:16) 2) For the Holy Spirit to reign down upon America, renewing our land as the Christian, capitalist meritocracy we were founded to be. 3) For the protection of our police, firefighters, military and their families from harm and that the Lord bless their courageous generosity on our behalf. 4) For the protection of the families who fast with us, and for God’s blessings of abundance upon them and that true to His word, we will be able to witness that He prospered us in famine. Would you like to learn more about fasting? We maintain a repository of ideas and information we have learned over the last decade while fasting weekly for America. From scientific studies on the benefits of fasting, to the differences between intermittent dieting vs intermittent fasting, to scriptural references regarding the power of fasting to the history of first century Christians who stated believers are obligated to fast weekly, we hope you will find numerous insights with our free resource located here. Together let us also implore Heaven while fasting for intentions you have highlighted: 4) For all patriots who put themselves on the front lines in combatting evil and for all of the warriors who are stepping up around the nation to fight for the gospel – May The Father cover them in the blood of our savior,  protect them and their families from evil and bring victory to their endeavors. 5) For priests, ministers and all who aspire to lead others to the Lord, that the Holy Spirit will reign down upon them as at Pentecost filling them to overflowing.  6) For the Americans jailed after January 6th who were admitted to the Capitol building by the police, and who were not found to have destroyed any property at the capitol yet who have been held captive ever since on our own soil - That God's Spirit will move quickly to bring justice back to this land and free them. Who We Are St. Joseph Partners is a for-profit business that has funded Fast for America for over ten years. To the extent you support our work to renew America and if you understand why gold and silver protect believers' wealth in this world, please consider us or recommend us when you or someone you know buys or sells gold and silver. From our website www.StJosephPartners.com you can buy and sell dozens of types of precious metals. We close on Sundays to honor the Sabbath. Click here for a link where you can view a brief video about our firm and a brief video about why all investors and families should have some gold and silver in their portfolios. Copyright © 2023 St. Joseph Partners, All rights reserved.