Photo was taken at Gormanston Castle and Franciscan College, Co.Meath (Irl)

The castle to the left is now unoccupied but the main school is to the right. In keeping with the centuries old tradition of education not only by means of formal education, Franciscan College Gormanstom seeks to create an ambience within which the students live, study, pray and socialise in close proximity to the Franciscan community. The college is situated east of Co. Meath and is approximately 32 kilometres (20 miles) north of Dublin City.

Thought on Tuesday – August – 20/08/2013

‘I prayed to Pope John Paul II because God has always been next to him.’ ~Floribeth Mora D√≠az

The proposed canonisation of Blessed John Paul II was due to take place this December. It may now be pushed back to April of next year, as our new pope Francis, felt that it would not be fair for Polish pilgrims to be travelling on icy roads in the depth of winter to get to Rome for the special day. Floribeth Mora Díaz is a name we will hear more about as the event approaches. She was taken to hospital back in May 2011 in Costa Rica, with persistent headaches. She was devastated to be told it was the result of an aneurysm in her brain, that there was no hope for her and that her days were numbered. The mother of four, in her 50s, returned to her small whitewashed home in the town of Tres Rios, not far from the capital, San Jose. There in front of their candlelit shrine to Pope John Paul II, surrounded by brightly-coloured plastic flowers, rosaries and homemade crucifixes, her husband Edwin told her she should pray.

The Vatican recently announced that those prayers were answered in a miraculous fashion. This lady was “cured” by praying to Pope John Paul II and this “miracle” has now led to his being made a saint. It will be the fastest time in modern history that someone has been declared a saint. He will be canonised with another hugely popular pope, Pope John 23rd on the same date.