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Beyond knowledge to wisdomI believe this is one of the crisis points for contemporary Christianity. Put bluntly, its representatives do not seem wise. Yes, those representatives can give you any amount of information, some of them can even speak knowledgeably of Christian teachings. Wisdom is another thing altogether. - Fr Michael Whelan [More] - Aquinas Academy
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FEATURED CATHOLIC WEBSITE
Catholic Education Diocese of ParramattaReturning to our education theme, we shine the spotlight on arguably the most innovative Catholic education website in the country. In addition to all the standard features of any CEO site, Parramatta's includes some interactive opinion polls and a competition for students to attempt to ''Become the Executive Director for the day''. The site is also well regarded for its RE and curriculum resources.
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Virgin tears spark boom in statue sales
The press is reporting today that the religious phenomenon that has engulfed a small Catholic church in southwest Brisbane has inspired a statue-buying frenzy.
It says the store that supplied the Vietnamese Catholic Community Centre at Inala with its weeping statue of Mary has been cleaned out of stock this week.
The Courier-Mail reports that Christian Supplies store in the Brisbane CBD has sold more than 120 statues of the Miraculous Our Lady and tens of kilograms of rosary prayer beads to Vietnamese Catholics.
Manager Damian Salvati said he sold the weeping statue of Mary to the Vietnamese Community Centre about four weeks ago, along with many of the crucifixes that have also been sweating the liquid.
The rush for religious ornaments comes after statues at the Inala church exuded a rose-scented oil a week ago. Many believers have left their statues in the church in the hope that they might become blessed.
Mr Salvati said four Vietnamese Australians from Melbourne bought 24 statues on Wednesday.
"I have easily sold 10 dozen statues of the Miraculous Our Lady in the last week, mainly to the Vietnamese community," Mr Salvati said.
The demand has been so intense that the store has had to order in a shipment of new stock from Perth, en route from Italy where the statues are made.
"We have 10kg of rosary beads coming in tomorrow and about 20 dozen more statues, but I don't expect them to last long," Mr Salvati said. "I would estimate that we have sold between $6000 and $10,000 worth of stock because of this," Mr Salvati said.
The Church is expected to conduct an investigation into the mystery within days following an announcement from Archbishop John Bathersby earlier this week.
Pictured: Vietnamese chaplain Fr Joseph Nguyen Thanh Liem (Catholic Leader 30/5/04)
SOURCE
Faithful flock to buy weeping Marys (The Courier Mail 28/5/04)
LINKS
Tears of Madonna (Catholic Leader 30/5/04)
Queensland church, site of modern-day day miracle? (ABC Radio AM 27/5/04)
28 May 2004
