Five Dollar (Anti) Contraception Kit from Real Catholic TV

From the 01/28/2011 “Vortex”:

Quite frankly .. we have been blown away by the number and intensity of the responses that we’ve received this week regarding our Vortex episodes on Contraception.  No doubt about it .. this is THE issue.

So what we’ve done is compile a resource set for you to watch and study and learn from and pass around to family and friends and fellow Catholics and non-Catholics who are open to learning about why the Church always has and always will condemn
contraception.

If you click this link you can order for 5 dollars
a number of Vortex episodes contained on one DVD
as well as a second disc containing various
Church documents … plus a number of fine homilies
from priests and deacons who have
shared their relevant homilies with us.

That second disc is free to you for your five dollars.  As you might imagine .. we don’t make a ton of money on this, but we want to give you the resources to learn more and educate yourself so you can talk to family members, your children and friends and explain to them the wisdom of the Church.

In addition .. if you want to get something for free .. we are making Dr. Martin Brenner’s Biblical Sexuality class available for free on the realcatholictv.com site. Remember if you’re watching on You Tube .. go to realcatholictv.com .. sign up for free account and click on the link for the Biblical sexuality class.  You can also purchase this excellent class on DVD from us if you’d like to have a home copy or something to had to friends and family.  It’s six hours long and is an excellent laying out of the Church’s teaching on sexual morality with reference to Sacred Scripture.  Suitable for Protestants.

We’re calling the whole package
“The Catholic Contraception Kit”.

Contraception is THE evil snake coiled up under the table today.  The contraceptive mentality has led to acceptance of not only contraception, but abortion, adultery, and homosexuality, as well as embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, cohabitation, and pre-marital sex.

These moral degradations have torn at the very heart of the faith, weakening and destroying Catholics’ belief in The Real Presence of Our Blessed Lord in the Eucharist, the need for sacramental confession, the awareness and admitting of personal sin and on and on.

It’s time for faithful Catholics to get up and start to take back the Church from a culture of permissiveness and sin that destroys the very concept of family .. and ultimately leads to death of the body as well as the soul.

Monday (1/31) is “Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day” (No Kidding!)

Visit the “Bubble Wrap”site

Yee, Chu, and Hu: Gang of three (and AP) don’t like Limbaugh’s Chinese!

During a Jan. 19 radio program, Limbaugh said there was no translation of the Chinese president’s speech during a visit to the White House.

“He was speaking and they weren’t translating,” Limbaugh said. “They normally translate every couple of words. Hu Jintao was just going ching chong, ching chong cha.”

He then launched into a 20-second-long imitation of the Chinese leader’s dialect.

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Survey Says: On a given Sunday only about 15.6% of American Catholics attend Mass.

Shery Weddell at the St Catherine of Siena Institute reports that 32% of Americans raised Catholic abandon the identity altogether by their mid twenties. An additional 38% retain the identity but rarely practice their faith. 30% of those who call themselves Catholic attend Mass only once a month. On a given Sunday only about 15.6% of American Catholics attend Mass.

Editor’s note: Looking back to my own “fallen away Catholic” days … not attempting to make excuses … but only observations:

When I was coming of age in the late ’60’s and early ’70’s the Catholic Church was in a state of revolution and flux. So great was the revolution that it was virtually impossible to get a straight answer from anyone in authority. And things are not that much better today!

It seems to me that, in the aftermath of the 2nd Vatican Council, the Catholic Church took a decided turn to the left. And along with that sharp left turn came all of the “sins” of modernism and liberalism: Soft, relativistic, revisionary teachings (if any); Change for the sake of change (derision and/or abandonment of virtually all that came before); Political correctness (a commitment to politics and ideology, even above holiness and traditional Catholic dogma).

And while this was especially noticeable in large, urban centers … it certainly was not limited to those venues.

In short … the Catholic Church made a totally unannounced and unexpected, sharp, left turn. Meanwhile, many otherwise faithful, traditional Catholics … continued going straight ahead!

By the time we took the time to look around, what we once knew as “the Church” had become almost unrecognizable … and now seemed (at least in it’s latest iteration) almost totally irrelevant!

For many, it would take quite a few years of “wandering in the desert” before we could even begin getting back together again. Millions upon millions of others are still “lost”.

The continuing, sad state of many Catholic seminaries, universities, and women’s religious orders … along with the recent, virtually world-wide, clerical abuse scandals … coupled with the apparent large number of weak and/or incompetent Catholic priests and bishops … all serve to further undermine the chances for any real progress.

But fortunately … since all things are possible, with God … hope remains. It’s not the first time the Church has been in crisis. Nor is it likely to be the last!

Then Jesus said to the twelve: Will you also go away?
And Simon Peter answered him:
Lord, to whom shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life. (John 6:67-68)

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What the Popes Really Say About Socialism

“Hideous”, “destructive”, “wicked”, and “perverted” are only some of the adjectives used by the Popes to describe socialism.  From Pius IX to Benedict XVI, the popes have thoroughly and consistently condemned socialism.  Given the advance of socialism in America, TFP Student Action is glad to offer its readers a brief selection of thought-provoking quotes from the Popes on the topic.

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Obama Administration Following Jimmy Carter’s Lead: Destabilizing the Middle East.

Hillary’s Yemen “Fall” Was “Prophetic”

President Jimmy Carter originally made the geopolitical mess that is the present day middle east, twiddling his thumbs while Iran fell to the Muslims, getting Egyptian President Anwar Sadat killed, then installing and financing the current, elected dictator, Hosni Mubarek … the guy who “miraculously” survived Sadat’s assassination attack … courageously suffering only a cute, little arm wound … just like in the movies!

Now, President Barack Obama, with his weak, toadying, totally unfocused middle east foreign policy … aided and abetted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton … is taking things to a whole new level.

Obama has done everything in his power to destabilize Israel, but has only succeeded in shaking Iran, and causing widespread unrest in Tunisia, Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan and Egypt.

Look for the annual $1.5 billion in aide that the U.S. provides to Egypt to (at least temporarily) double or triple.

The next targets: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia!

Look for much more … coming soon … to the mainstream media outlet near you!

People are funny … even (or especially) at Mass!

Dad demonstrating “fatherly love” to his kids: “When we get to the car I’m testing all of you on what the gospel was. And if you get it wrong you’re dead.”

Read the article

Big Pro Life Rally and Conference this Saturday (1/29) in Fort Wayne, Indiana

The ArchAngel Institute is presenting a community discussion of the Manhattan Declaration in the basement theater of the Allen County Public Library at 3 pm on Saturday, January 29, 2011.

Panelists include Father David Mary, Father Glenn Kohrman and theologian Dr. John Bequette.

This event follows the 37th Annual March for Life, which begins with a rally at the Scottish Rite Cathedral at 12 noon on the same day.

March for Life kicks off at noon.

Conference begins at 3.

Complete details here.

 

This Week’s Ask Alice: Is There A Link Between Faith and Prosperity and A Question About the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Send A Question To Alice

She’ll answer as many questions as possible,
right here, every Thursday.

Email responses will also be provided, as time permits.

Heather writes: Why do you say God is going to make my life better if I believe? It doesn’t say that anywhere in the bible.

Alice Answers: Accounts of God’s punishments are rampant in the Old Testament from the moment Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden to the Great Flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. And all of those chastisements occur in Genesis, the first book of the Bible.

For the Israelites, 215 years of Egyptian enslavement culminated with the ten plagues. Basically, God was punishing the sinful, disobedient people of ancient times. However, the Old Testament also contains countless examples of God’s protection. Many righteous people such as Noah (with his Ark afloat), Joseph (whose dreamy gift saved him from slavery) and Moses (the Jewish baby rescued by Pharaoh’s own daughter) were recipients of God’s Mercy.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

In the New Testament we see God’s deep, abiding love manifested through His Son, Jesus. Examples of Jesus’ divine mercy and love are evident when our Lord dined with Zacchaeus, the tiny tax collector, cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene, fed thousands of people with five loaves of bread and two fishes, saved an adultress from stoning, and forgave the woman who washed His feet with her hair.

Sadly, ours is a sinful world where both good and evil people suffer. “For his sun rises on the bad and the good, he rains on the just and the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45) God doesn’t cause all of the sickness and suffering in the world. Many societal and personal wounds are the result of people’s cruelty and indifference toward one another.

God doesn’t promise earthly pleasures and treasures, but he does promise joy, peace, comfort, love and a heavenly banquet to those who those believe in him. Both the Old and New Testaments are overflowing with God’s wonderful promises. “You believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” (1Peter 1:8)

“Present your needs to God in every form of prayer and and in petitions full of gratitude. Then God’s own peace, which surpasses all understanding, will stand guard over your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus.” (Phillippians 4:6).

When we are going through tough times the Lord invites us to, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will refresh you.” (Matthew 11:28) “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will grant you the desires of your heart…” (Psalm 37:4)

In addition to the countless gifts bestowed upon believers, God is saving the best gift for last.

“Eye has not seen, ear has not heard… what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1Corinthians 2:9)

No husband, wife, sibling, parent, friend, lawyer, philanthropist, psychologist or physician could make and keep such perfect promises!

In Christ’s Love,

Alice

****

Nancy writes: The priest at a local church I know will hear confessions and tell the penitent to say their Act of Contrition outside of the confessional, in the church, and then he will give them absolution! Is this a valid confession?

Alice Answers: We Catholics tend to appreciate ritual, especially when it comes to important things. And what could be more important than the peace of mind that comes from having all of our sins totally and absolutely forgiven?

For that reason, it’s best for all concerned to always try to do everything “by the book” … but sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned.

I don’t know your priest or your parish, but my guess is that the time frame available for hearing confessions is limited, the number of priests available is small, and the lines are long.

Under such conditions, asking people to make their Act of Contrition in advance would not be considered an abuse, and it would also not be likely to affect the validity of the sacrament, in any way.

Here’s why:

In order to receive absolution for sins, the Sacrament of Penance typically requires three things of the penitent: 1) Genuine contrition (sorrow) for committing the sins; 2) Repentance. The existence of a firm purpose of amendment, including both a sincere intention and a real, practical possibility of turning away from sin; 3) Verbal confession of all known mortal sins, to the priest.

Assuming that everyone involved is acting in good faith, and that all three of the above mentioned things are present, the confession is considered to be good, the priest may absolve, sins are forgiven, sanctifying grace is restored to the soul, and all is well.

With these essential conditions fully satisfied, the power of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is also more than sufficient to overcome most other variations in formula or follow through.

Changing the order of some things, omitting the Act of Contrition, and/or even failing to perform the assigned penance would not (typically) serve to invalidate an otherwise good confession. And of course, in times of emergency, war, or imminent peril, certain other expediences might also become necessary or prudent, in order to save souls.

Governments continue to “wink” as Muslims persecute and murder Christians.

Christian converts risk judicial murder in Afghanistan. Pakistan is threatening to execute a Christian “blasphemer” in Pakistan. Iran recently initiated a campaign against Christians. Even in relatively liberal Muslim states, like Kuwait, where Christians can worship openly, proselytism is forbidden.

Egypt is a particularly apt case since the number of Christians is relatively large, constituting as much as 15 percent of a population of more than 80 million.

Violence is common. In mid-November an off-duty police officer boarded a train and opened fire, murdering a 71-year-old Copt and injuring five other Christians. Last November Muslim mobs destroyed a score of homes and shops in Qena Province. Earlier in the year six Copts along with a Muslim guard were killed and another nine Copts wounded in a drive-by shooting in the town of Nag Hammadi. Kathryn Cameron Porter of the Council for Human Rights observed afterwards: “Copts in Egypt continuously face ongoing discrimination and outright persecution, either by the Egyptian government or through its tacit approval.”

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Seen on the web: Even a 5 year-old can see that abortion is totally wrong.

A reader comment:

This morning I was watching a video from the March for Life, sparked by the posts on you blog, and my daughter asked “what’s that.” She is about to turn 5, and so I knew it was the perfect time to start to form her conscious in terms of abortion (of course she is already positively aware of the value of life in our home).

It was both the hardest and most powerful morning of my parenting life. I felt so ashamed as I told her (with tears in my eyes) that it was legal in our country for a mother to murder a baby in her womb.

Her response was chilling…

“Daddy, we have to move.”

Read more at Taylor Marshall’s blog

40,000-strong Paris March for Life an ‘unprecedented’ success

PARIS, France, January 24, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – About 40,000 people joined the Paris March for Life on Sunday afternoon: an unprecedented success.

For its 7th edition the pro-life rally was for the first time honored with a papal endorsement. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s letter bearing Pope Benedict’s personal blessing and encouragements reached the organizers on the Friday preceding the March, a development that led to mainstream media coverage announcing the venue.

No less than four bishops joined the March’s 2011 edition: Mgr Dominique Lebrun, of Saint-Etienne, was back after having been the first-ever French bishop to join last year. Mgr. Guy Bagnard, of Bellay-Ars, participated in the pre-March press conference before walking along with the crowd through the wide boulevards from the Place de la République to the heart of the city, the Place de l’Opéra, which proved almost too small to host all the participants.

Link

The Barbaric Vision of ‘Progressive’ (Socialist) Heroes

Thinkers such as the famous science fiction writer H.G. Wells, who between 1905 and 1940, was one of the most admired and influential men in the world. In describing his fellow socialist and some-time friend, George Bernard Shaw wrote of Wells, “Multiply the total by ten; square the result. Raise it again to the millionth power and square it again; and you will still fall short of the truth about Wells – yet the worse he behaved the more he was indulged; and the more he was indulged the worse he behaved.” Shaw, by the way, lied about what he had seen in Stalin’s Russia and when questioned by a Western journalist about the forced starvations in Ukraine threw a can of Russian meat at him. Wells, though, was worse.

At heart he was a social engineer. In massively best-selling books such as Anticipations and A Modern Utopia Wells wrote that he believed the world would collapse; from this collapse a new order should and would emerge. “People throughout the world whose minds were adapted to the big-scale conditions of the new time,” he wrote. “A naturally and informally organized educated class, an unprecedented sort of people.” A strict social order would be formed. At the bottom of it was the base.

These were “people who had given evidence of a strong anti-social disposition,” including “the black, the brown, the swarthy, the yellow.” Christians would also “have to go,” as well as the handicapped. Wells devoted entire pamphlets to the need of “preventing the birth, preventing the procreation or preventing the existence” of the mentally and physically handicapped. “This thing, this euthanasia of the weak and the sensual is possible. I have little or no doubt that in the future it will be planned and achieved.”

Read more from Michael Coren

Deacon Turner reflects on the Mass for Life: The future of the Catholic Church is brighter than you might think.

Imagine 25,000 young Catholics cheering for their bishops, priests, religious and deacons! Imagine a standing ovation at the mere mention of the Holy Father. Then imagine a moment in the Mass when those same 25,000 young people come together in a perfect silence while praying for the safety of the unborn.

That was the scene at the Mass for Life in Washington’s Verizon Center. Here is the really neat part. About four miles away the same thing was happening with another 10,000 young Catholics in the DC Armory building. Now, add the rest of us older folks attending Mass in dozens of parishes throughout the city and you had a pretty exciting day to be Catholic.

I have been to several hockey and basketball games in the Verizon Center but no professional athletic team could excite me more than that many teens worshiping Christ and resolving themselves to fight for the rights of the unborn.

Link

The Catholic Church Is ISRAEL

The Church, particularly the Catholic Church, is Israel. There is no other Israel today, in a Biblical sense, than the Church. The Church is also Zion. There is no other Zion, in a spiritual sense, than the Church. The Church is also the New Jerusalem.  There is no other “Jerusalem,” in a spiritual sense than the Church.  This is a fundamental teaching of the New Testament. Without this understanding, everything becomes convoluted. If you read Israel and the Church as being two separate entities than you’ve missed the boat, and one of the most fundamental teachings of the New Testament just went right over your head.

In the eleventh chapter of St. Paul’s epistle to the Romans he uses the illustration of an olive tree to make his point. He compares the Church to a tree that has it’s roots in the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), and it’s trunk representing the Law and Prophets in the Old Testament. No tree trunk grows upward into infinity. At some point it must sprout branches, and so St. Paul’s “olive tree” does the same. These branches make up the modern Church in Jesus Christ.

Some branches are Jewish Christians. Many branches are Gentile Christians. Both are precious in the eyes of God.  This is the “Israel of God.”

What about those Jews who refused to believe in Jesus Christ? St. Paul himself tells us those are the branches that were cut off from the tree – at least for the time being. These branches can however be grafted back in at any time, and indeed he assures us that someday they all will be, in the fullness of time. As far as we’re concerned anyway, Christianity (neither Judaism nor some piece of real estate in the Middle East) makes up the new “Israel of God,” and it’s been this way ever since Christ initiated the New Covenant some 2,000 years ago.

This is how we Christians are to understand ourselves, and the Church, in the context of Israel and the Old Testament. I cannot stress how incredibly important this is, because if it is not understood, the errors that will arise from it will be nothing short of monumental!

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Spiritual Warfare: A Catholic Perspective

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A chance encounter with a Jehovah’s Witness

By Doug Lawrence

Recently, I was at the local shopping mall, helping my 90 year-old mom handle some last minute Christmas gift exchanges, when a nicely dressed older gentlemen stepped up and inquired whether we knew that Jesus was going to return soon, and that he (Jesus) would (among other things) bring an end to all pain and suffering.

Sensing we might be a while, I asked my mom to take a nearby seat.

“Yes,” I said. “When Jesus comes again, our mortal bodies will be instantly transformed into glory, there will be judgment, and for those who pass muster, there will indeed be no more suffering, no more tears, and no more death.”

“As for the time frame: Almost 2000 years ago, on the first Christian Pentecost, St. Peter announced the beginning of “these last days” … but he never gave us a date for the end.”

“Jesus didn’t even know when that would be,” said my friend.

He went on: “And when Jesus comes again, he will bind Satan, rule and reign on Earth for a thousand years, and after that, he’ll let Satan loose again for a little while, just to see what happens. You know … to see if we learned anything … just like in the Garden of Eden, with Adam and Eve.”

“Wait just a minute,” I said. “You don’t really believe that after all that, Jesus is going to let Satan loose again, do you?”

“That’s what the Bible says … and we have to take the Bible literally.” (Rattling off a chapter and verse from the Book of Revelation).

“Your rules,” I said.

“But allow me to suggest a different, yet still quite literal interpretation: No authentic Catholic saints or scholars (including St. John, the writer of the Book of Revelation) ever believed or taught that the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ was anything but a long, symbolic period of time. And the idea that Satan would once again be allowed to roam free again, after Jesus comes again in glory, has also always been a total non-starter.”

“But what about taking the Bible literally?”

“I’m not done yet.”

“If you really need a literal thousand year period, here’s one for you: We can count one thousand years between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Throughout that time, the Catholic Church alone, according to the power and authority given to it by Jesus himself … was busy rebuilding all of modern western civilization, in the image of Heaven.”

“And throughout that thousand year period, there’s absolutely no doubt that Jesus Christ was enthroned as King of Kings and Lord of Lords … ruling and reigning in Heaven  … and reigning on Earth, through his Church … the only Church that he ever personally founded, for the sake of our salvation. And of course, it had to be the Catholic Church, since there was no other Christian church in existence, at that time.”

“After that gracious and divine thousand year ‘head start’ … the now mature one, holy, apostolic and universal Church of Jesus Christ … would have been plenty strong enough to take on all comers … whether it be Satan and his minions, or the newly minted Protestant reformers. But it certainly was not all sweetness and light. In fact, it’s pretty clear that things have trended significantly downward, from there. Don’t you agree?”

No answer from my friend.

Instead, he asked, “Who did Jesus pray to?”

“To his Father, in Heaven,” I replied.

“If Jesus was God, why did he need to pray to anyone?”

“Simple communication,” I said. And when you’re deliberately making do on this Earth, in an ordinary flesh body, by yourself, on a long, dangerous mission, in enemy territory, you need all the help you can get. Even if you’re God.”

“How can both Jesus and his Father be God? Isn’t that impossible?”

“God can do just about anything he wants. He’s God. In fact, I’m pretty sure the Bible confirms that all things are possible with God. I can even give you a formula that serves to mathematically ‘model’ the Holy Trinity: 1 x 1 x 1 = 1. See how simple that is?”

“But God has many sons.”

“Sure. In a natural sense, as with us humans, and even in a limited, supernatural sense, as with the angels. But there’s only one ‘son’ who is divinely begotten … not created … from the very same eternal, godly ‘stock’ as his Father. God from God. Light from Light. True God from true God. And that’s Jesus Christ.”

“Are you a minister or something?”

“No. I’m just another faithful Catholic. How about you?”

“I was going to become a Baptist, but I decided to become a Jehovah’s Witness, instead.”

“I see,” I replied.

I continued to explain, “For years, my mom used to get the “Watchtower” and “Awake” (Jehovah’s Witness) magazines sent to her house, by a family friend. I read all of them from cover to cover. Lots of interesting stuff in them, too. But it’s their conclusions that (as a Catholic) never made sense to me. And (I have to tell you) they still don’t.”

“I much prefer (in spite of the internal and external corruption, with which the Church has always contended) to rely on 2,000 years worth of the world’s finest Catholic scholarship, systematic theology, divine revelation, and practical philosophy … which I’ve taken the time to personally research, thoroughly validate, and humbly attempt to live … rather than the contrary opinions of a few anonymous JW fellows from Brooklyn … who have … time and again … proved to be wrong.”

“Do Jehovah’s Witnesses still believe that Jesus Christ is really just Michael the Archangel?”

“I have to be going,” said my friend.

Gathering up our packages and heading out, my mom was beaming. “That was an interesting conversation. I enjoyed listening,” she said.

“He was a nice fellow.” I said. “We should pray for him!”

Read more about Jehovah’s Witnesses

“Thank you Father” website: Tell us a special story about your favorite priest and what makes him special.

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A voice from heaven: Miraculous voice of St. Clelia Barbieri (1847-1870) is still heard (on earth) today.

Clelia died of tuberculosis on July 13, 1870 when she was only 23 years old.

Her last words were prophetic: “Be brave because I am going to Paradise; but I shall always remain with you, too; I shall never abandon you!”

This prophecy was also realized, since she soon proved her presence by the sounding of her voice. The miraculous phenomenon of her voice first took place during the evening of July 13, 1871, exactly one year after Clelia’s death, while the sisters were at prayer in the chapel. The Sisters declared that:

“Suddenly there was the sound of a high-pitched, harmonious and heavenly voice that accompanied the singing in the choir; at times it sang solo, at other times it harmonized with us in the choir, moving across from right to left; sometimes it passed close by the ears of one or other of the sisters. The joy which it brought filled our hearts with a happiness impossible to put into words. This wasn’t of this world. We lived that day in paradise. From time to time, one had to leave the room … The emotion that we experienced was so strong that it left you breathless until one had to call out: “Enough, dear Lord, enough!”

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A Saint Anthony Story

The most humorous story I ever heard regarding Saint Anthony was told by my mother. She had an aunt who prayed to Saint Anthony for many years. Every night she knelt before her statue of Saint Anthony and asked him to find her a husband. She prayed and prayed faithfully, but her prayers just weren’t being answered.

Finally one day, feeling discouraged and angry that Saint Anthony wasn’t answering her prayers, she took the statue and threw it out the window. It flew out of her apartment window and bonked an pedestrian on the head. The man saw which window the statue had come from, and returned it to her.

They married shortly after. I’m sure the bump had healed by then.

Read more at Domestic-Church.com