Updated links at the end of post: Aug. 13 2021
In March of 2010 I wrote a post about Holy Love Ministries in Ohio because a friend of mine gave me a “Rosary of the Unborn” from HLM and some printed material that concerned me enough to do a web search to learn more about it. What I found was that the bishop of Cleveland, Bishop Lennon, shared my concerns…and more. Links at the end of this post.
I’ve been trying to decide what to do with the rosary beads. I discussed this with a friend and she suggested that I use the beads and pray for Ms. Kyle. I’d like to pass along her request that all of us pray for the alleged visionary, that she may be reconciled with the bishop, that she may be faithful, that she may be humble, that she may be patient and accept the will of God, even if that will is not what she would like. These would be signs of the validity and veracity of her alleged apparitions or locutions. But those are not the signs that she has exhibited. In any case, I accept the bishop’s word and am not promoting Holy Love Ministries or anything associated with it unless and until the Church approves it.
To promote this organization, the alleged revelations, or anything associated with it, including the rosary beads they market, is to be disobedient to the bishop. I find it profoundly disturbing to see ads for this organization prominently displayed on pro-life websites run by people who should know better. I have tried to contact various ones about it but have never received a reply, which I find as disturbing as the ad placement itself.
Notes and Links
- Bishop’s decree and letters in:
- For an interesting article on Holy Love Ministries, Maureen Sweeney Kyle, the various activities of her organization, and the Bishop of Cleveland, along with some telling comments from HLM supporters, see this post on the Pro-Life Action League website.
Catholic Heart and Mind 
Comments are now closed on this post.
If I hear of any news or updates about HLM–if their irregular situation changes–I’ll write a post about it, and will try to remember to add an updated link to this post. I hope that happens sometime down the road.
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I have a question. I live in New Jersey and was told I had to wait 1 year before I could marry. I went to Pa and was told I only had to wait 6 months. I went to Pa and got married even though my bishop said I had to wait 1 year. Am I being disobient ?
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Hi, Tessa. This is not really a question that I can answer. It’s more a question for your bishop or priest, a spiritual director, someone familiar with canon law, particularly marriage law. Although it’s hard to see that disobeying your bishop could be anything other than, you know, disobedient. I hope you’ll take it up with someone in authority–and that certainly wouldn’t be me–and get it all settled soon. And better sooner than later. :)
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So much confusion. Have you ever heard of Fr. Maciel from Legionaires of Christ? His actions were very evil yet, the priests that joined this organization were, for the most part, very devout and Obedient.When it was revealed what Fr. Maciel had done, many of these priests had mental breakdowns because of his actions. My point is that God gives us an intellect. When a bishop makes a statement, we must pray for discernment. I don’t believe that all bishops follow the will of God. I have never been to Holy Love nor do I know who Maureen is. I do feel that if any organization is not abusing funds or saying things contrary to church teaching should have a warning by the bishop but not an absolute forbidden mandate not to follow. This is especially true if the Bishop has never evaluated the place or person of concern.
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The bishop has evaluated it and has issued the document to which I have linked in my post and also in the comment thread. The only confusion here is that of those who refuse to obey the bishop and seek to excuse their disobedience and that of others.
It’s really very simple: the bishop said don’t. So don’t.
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Looking at your previous blog, I do not find you very loving toward those who do see good works going on at HL.”There will always be WEEDS among the wheat,” you say. In any movement, there will always be over zealous types who you do question. I see this at pro life rallies. Never the less, their hearts are pure and they mean well. If Maureen has left the Catholic church, if she is making millions on vulnerable souls, if she is hypnotizing people or saying things contrary to church teaching then yes, one should be concerned. I’m just saying that lately, I have been concerned about some Bishops in certain dioceses that are allowing real problems to continue in the church. It is very difficult to respect them or be obedient to them.Certainly not all Bishops but it’s getting harder and harder to find a HOLY catholic church.Some of your responses to people appear sarcastic. I don’t understand you. And your comment about the Rosary for the unborn as though it was made by the devil himself. If someone is praying on it with a sincere heart for the unborn, well who cares where the Rosary came from? Our dear Blessed Mother would certainly welcome all the prayers. Bottom line. I guess, I will have to go see for myself for I to am always praying that I don’t fall into any cult like practices.
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Kathryn, bottom line, I am responsible for my soul and for the answers I give to people who ask me questions here on the blog or who say things that I feel can mislead others. If you want to be disobedient, that is up to you. If you have to go see for yourself instead of accepting and abiding by the bishop’s decision, that is up to you. The Blessed Mother would never welcome disobedience, she has never asked for disobedience in any approved apparition and I am not interested in any other kind.
The majority of people who are compelled to comment here about HLM are people seeking to rationalize their disobedient behavior, based on what they themselves say in their comments. I have no warm fuzzy feelings toward that, and I am under no obligation to pretend that I do. I have shared what I have found. I have shared what the Ordinary in his diocese found. I am more and more convinced that he is correct and that HLM is like a cancer growing and spreading its poison, no matter how attractive it appears to the unwary or the willfully deceived, and I want nothing to do with it. The more bluntly I say this, the more people argue with me about it.
So I have decided to do something I have never done on this blog: I am closing the comments on this post. The darkness at HLM has had enough exposure here and people can heed the warnings or ignore them. That is not up to me. The only other words I have in response to those who obstinately refuse to listen to the bishop are these:
Titus 3:10-11.
May the Lord watch over His faithful and bring them safely home. Amen.
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Dear Disciple, I came across your website and have read it with great interest and felt compelled to write and thank you for your efforts in debunking the dangerous Holy Love cult. That organization has begun to take a foothold in my parish through the efforts of some sadly misguided individuals, and I am searching for a means to combat it. My first resorurce is, of course, prayer. I am confident that, in His good time, the Lord will reveal to all involved that Maureen Sweeney is a false visionary who has been leading God’s people away from the true Faith. My own introduction to Holy Love Ministries came just this past summer: a couple of friends from my church invited me to go on retreat with them, and to further sweeten the pot, they informed me that an author that I admired very much would be speaking at the retreat that weekend. This married couple was widely perceived to be very devout and involved at our church, so I had no reason to believe that this was anything other than a wonderful opportunity and I agreed at once to go. I was so trusting of this couple that I did not even investigate the place where we were going; it was unthinkable that they would invite me to a retreat that was not fully sanctioned by the Church. We flew to Ohio and upon arrival at Holy Love Ministries, still knowing nothing of the nature of this place, I began to have serious misgiving about being there – the place just did not feel right. I became more and more uneasy and finally questioned my companions about the nature of this “retreat center” and it was then that they informed me that it was not approved by the local Bishop. They must have seen that I was shocked and dismayed because they then hastened to tell me that the Bishop was “just jealous of the visionary because the Church in Ohio is dying and he was envious of the money that Holy Love was taking from the Church’s offering plate.” That statement alone was enough to tell me that this place was clearly not from God, and what I saw as I walked around the property confirmed my worst fears. Everything on the place presents itself as fully Catholic, drawing the faithful into a false sense of security: chapels, statuary, bookstore, shrines, even an unused altar and tabernacle make you feel as though you are at a Catholic site….but it is all window dressing. Beneath the veneer is a thinly-veiled message of contempt for the Magisterium and the true practices of the Catholic Church. There are even signs posted that show clear disrespect for Bishop Lennon and his decree regarding Holy Love. There is also signage announcing “grave punishment” for anyone who dares to lead people away from the Holy Love mindset. I spent the rest of the weekend sitting in the car or in the hotel, refusing to participate in the so-called services that went on at the site and praying with all my might for God to protect me from this insidious evil and to enlighten the “pilgrims” that I met at that place, and since returning home to Florida I have never ceased praying for them. May God bless you in your efforts, Disciple, and save us all from organizations like Holy Love that threaten a schism in our beloved Mother Church.
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Thank you for your kind words, Sue. Wow, that’s quite an experience you had. I do not envy you. When a friend was handing out the HLM rosaries at a pro-life gathering, like everybody else I took one and I also took the booklet that came with it. Good thing! The moment I opened it I knew something was wrong. When I got home I ran a search for information about the rosary and found the bishop’s decree regarding HLM. That was all I needed to know. When I shared what I found with the woman handing these things out, she was unphased and continued to spread them around. Still does, as far as I know. Boggles the mind.
I was right to be disturbed by what was in that booklet and you were right to be disturbed by what you saw and felt at the center.
I am saddened but not surprised that so many people—who seem otherwise to be good, faithful, even intelligent Catholics—get caught up in what I can only think is a movement that is not of God at all. If it were from God, then it would not engender the rebellious spirit that seems to possess all those who fall within its grasp.
Thank you for commenting, Sue, and describing what you saw and experienced there. I will put your friends on the prayer list and the “pilgrims” you met there, also. God forgive them, they think they really are pilgrims, don’t they? But to whom are they paying their respect and honor and giving their devotion? Not to God, that’s for sure. Ah, well, there will always be weeds among the wheat, and always those who prefer to stray than to stay on the Way. And our ancient enemy is ever a master of deceit, preying upon those who have rather more pride than they care to admit or even realize.
God bless you, Sue. Peace be with you.
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Great website.
I need your help/advice.
I read that you were once into Holy Love ministries. Members of my family are involved and I am concerned. Please email me since I’d like to ask a question.
B
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Greetings, Mister T. I have NEVER “been into” Holy Love Ministries but was concerned about it from the moment I looked at the packet of information that came with the rosary a friend gave me. Everything I know about HLM is in the posts I have written on my blog–two or three, I think. I do not follow, nor have I ever followed, unapproved apparitions.
If you would like to email me with your question–not that I know any more than what I’ve already written–please use the contact form on the Contact page. Or you can ask here in the comment section. All comments are moderated and I can edit your name or other details before I let it post, if you like, or not post it at all if you prefer that.
Thanks for commenting, Mister T. I’ll keep you and your family members in my prayers. Peace be with you.
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Thank God we all,have a fee will. I pray for discernment every day. I pray for Bishop Lennon every day also.. How many more prayers would have been said if he did not condem this Holy Place of heavens choosing.I don’t know where else on earth there are thousands ( yes thousands) of people in the middle of the night in the pouring rain saying the rosary for the inborn and unconverted. Singing, praising and walking in processions in Honor of the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary. What a privilege this is This is a prayer site for all people and all nations. While on the property I asked a priest from Nigeria why there are so many priests coming here from all over the world to pray here. He told me ,”when our country was in trouble the priests from the USA came to help us. Now your country in in trouble, we have come to help us”. Why would anyone say not to pray here. Yes the Blessed Mother has always come when we need her the most. What a wonderful loving mother we have to give us the help we so desperately need. For me I would rather pray here and be wrong than not to pray here and be wrong. It is only growing stronger and larger everyday. I look forward to the day everyone will be free to come this Holy Place. God Bless You
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I pray for the day when all people, especially all Catholics, realize that they have free will and that they must use that free will rightly and that they will give account to God for the way they have used or abused that free will. I pray for the day when Catholics realize that to prefer their own opinions to the teachings and counsels of Holy Mother Church, custodian of the truth, is at best misguided and at worst error that can lead to mortal sin. I pray for the day when people do not mislead others and lie to themselves, following “visionaries” who reject the authority of the Church while looking down their noses at those who realize that we are all called to be faithful and obedient to Christ, to His Church, and to the successors to His Apostles who are our bishops. Pray for the unborn, yes, but why not allow that prayer to be effective by remaining in the state of grace by remaining obedient to Mother Church, not making your prayer conditional and bound up with those who have set their feet on a path that takes them further away from the Body of Christ with every passing unrepentant day.
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Dear Disciple, sometimes people accept title and authority as always right. We must realize that title and authority are human and subject to error . We are being told so many different things by those in authority.. Above allwe must hold an unfailing love for each other
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In this case, we are only being told one thing by the bishop, the one whose authority in this matter counts, the one who is a successor to the Apostles. Many seem to not like what the bishop is saying. That does not matter at all. What matters is that we obey who we are to obey as faithful Catholics. This is not complicated and not hard to understand. The bishop says no and it is no until such time as he says yes. Until that time, it is no.
Anyone who has a hard time understanding this simple little word, “No”, and the other simple words, “legitimate authority”, “bishop”, and “obey” would do well to read works by St. Teresa of Avila and St. Faustina. And then pray and go to confession. With this kind of lack of obedience to the bishop, there are a lot of people who should not be presenting themselves for Holy Communion at Mass and the lines at the confessionals should be long.
An unfailing love does not mean now and has never meant approving of or ignoring disobedience and lack of faithfulness. Anyone who does these things and anyone who approves of them is not showing love but the very opposite of love.
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I just found about this rosary in spanish and i was checking for an english version and this
Page came up. I have two questions: the catholic church had a rosary for the unborn before this one? If this rosary has the mistries of the traditional rosary and only includes changes in the meditations, aré we going to hell because we pray or because we abort? Just wondering what happened to the high preist.
Saludos
Judy from Venezuela
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Hi, Judy. The Catholic Church does not have a rosary for the unborn. The Catholic Church has a rosary. Period. There are various ways of meditating with rosary beads, and various ways of meditating on the Gospel. But the so-called “Rosary of the Unborn” is something that comes from someone who calls herself a “visionary” and who is in dissent and is disobedient to the bishop in her diocese. You can read what I’ve written, what her bishop said, and what others have written. I’ve included links all over this page. You can read them or ignore them. Up to you.
As to the rest of your comment, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
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I pray the Rosary of the Unborn everyday. Because of your website my boyfriend is very disturbed by my use of this Rosary. He feels responsible for my soul going to perdition because I read and disseminate the messages. I have gained so much grace from the prayers that Our Lady and Jesus and God himself revealing Truth in such immoral times in our country. I appreciate your obedience to the Church, but you are not a vowed religious and your website has caused so much disunity. Jesus says he gives Peace, so when you don’t have Peace, that is the enemy taking it from you. Did you ever think that they are jealous of Maureen? It is not for us to ask God why for
He is a mystery, but just pray. Blessed Mother gives abundant graces there. I can’t wait to go. She said you can pray anywhere and not need any approvals. We should only be concerned with the approvals of God. Be careful what fruit you bear, cuz you are creating rotting apples at my house, is that your endeavor, to be right or to get Catholic to pray? Thank you for listening.
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Greetings, Linda!
I’m glad you are praying for the unborn. The pro-life movement needs the voice and mind and heart and hands and prayers of every Christian and of every man, woman or child of good will. Praying for the lives of the innocent unborn is a good and worthy, noble and loving cause. The bishop who has admonished the faithful regarding HLM has acted out of love and concern for the sheep of the flock, both of his flock in his diocese and for sheep of the universal flock. He is the Ordinary in his diocese. I live far away and he is not the Ordinary here where I live, but he is still a shepherd in the Church, so I listen to him. No other bishop is required to say a word about HLM. The only one whose duty it is has already spoken. He issued his decree in November of 2009. That there are well-meaning Catholics who are still unaware of the bishop’s decree is unfortunate. That there are well-meaning Catholics who reject his decree is nothing short of scandalous and a cause for disunity and distress in the Church. I submit that there lies the source of the disunity and distress you are experiencing. Obedience and humility are the age-old pre-eminent signs of sanctity and of the validity of any true visionary or mystic. I have seen no evidence whatsoever of these in anything to do with HLM. None. At all.
I thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I hope you will listen to the bishop, the legitimate authority in this matter, successor to the Apostles, appointed by the Church founded by Christ to shepherd the flock. Any voice who would lead anyone away from the shepherd is not speaking for God or from God. The Blessed Virgin Mary would never lead one away from the Church or one of the Church’s bishops. She would certainly never tell anyone to disobey the bishop. That alone should set off a very loud and clear warning bell. I can hear it ringing all the way from here.
I will keep you and your boyfriend in my prayers, as I keep in prayer all who interact with me on the blog, on any social media, and those I meet in day-to-day life. May God bless you and protect you and draw you ever closer to Him. Amen.
And in answer to your question, I want to get Catholics to pray and to be right at the same time. Only if we are in a state of grace can our prayers be truly effective anyway. So that, of course, is what I would desire: Catholics being fully and well-catechised, deeply humble, truly spiritual, obedient and faithful. I want it all, and nothing less, for all.
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Holy Love in Elyria Ohio is that prayer site. It is a place for people go and pray
There are no sacraments on the site of Maranatha Springs
and there is no reason why the bishop would advise people not to go to any place where people go to pray
This Bishop has never step foot on the property nor has he come to Visit Holy Love.
I personally have been Holy love many times and receive many blessings there.
I think that anyone who condemns anything should have firsthand knowledge of the particular place.
This Bishop has not visited the property or spoken directly to Maureen Kyle.
Your rosaries are a precious sacramental. Since you are reluctant to use them may I suggest that you send them back to Holy Love to donate to someone who will use them,
or give them to someone you know who will pray the rosary of the unborn.
May God Bless you and continue to bring you deeper into your faith.
Marianne MSHL
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Greetings & thank you for visiting & commenting.
I will speak plainly as this keeps coming up. The sacraments are not (& shouldn’t be) celebrated on site because the Bishop, who is the Ordinary, who has authority over that, has forbidden it. And humility leads (or should lead) to obedience to him.
I gave my rosary away long ago to someone who said she would have a priest perform an exorcism over them. I hope she followed through on that. I pray devotions that the Church has approved & not ones the Church does not approve. And I have no dealings with places a Bishop has asked the faithful to stay away from.
I have a bad feeling about that place & this only confirms what I feel. If it were truly of the Holy Spirit, the fruit would show it. And one of those fruits is not rebellion. The Bishop’s word is all I need in any case. If he ok’s it in the future, I will accept that when the time comes.
Thank you again. I hope you will continue your journey into faith too.
Disciple
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Dear Disciple,
Thanks for your patient, peaceful, and loving responses to this controversy and the comments following – may God will reward your faith, trust, and obedience to the Church with His guidance and peace. ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled’
In Him,
Hannah
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Thank you for your kind words, Hannah. I’ve taken some heat here and elsewhere for obeying the bishop instead of preferring anyone’s opinions. But I’m okay with that. It is obedience to our shepherds that we are called to give. Saint Faustina can teach us much about this if only we will listen. Ah, well, by their fruits we shall know them.
God bless you, Hannah, and thank you again.
Your sister in Christ,
Disciple
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Hi, have you seen the video clips, (there are two on youtube) taken at the two Hearts field on October 7th last year 2012?
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Greetings, John. No, I have gone no further looking into that group until the bishop of their diocese gives them his approval and removes the warnings he issued concerning them. Peace be with you, John. God bless you. :)
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Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket regarding the “Decree” of the Cleveland Diocese Bishop. The Bishop’s attack on the closing of the Cleveland Churches is already being investigated and 13 of the many churches WILL REOPEN. Bishop Lennon was found to be IN ERROR regarding the CLOSING OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES IN CLEVELAND — HE DID NOT FOLLOW “THE RULES”! He will also be found in error regarding HOLY LOVE MINISTIRES AND THE ROSARY OF THE UNBORN. So don’t be surprised WHEN THE VEIL IS LIFTED and you find that you were wrong and your opinion about the authentification of Holy Love Ministries is meaningless…many more people will flock to Maranatha Spring and Shrine at that time. Ask yourself what kind of Bishop keeps people from praying, or thinks that a prayer away from HLM property is better? We should all be very careful who we support….Meanwhile, the world is in turmoil, millions of INNOCENT BABIES ARE DYING, and the messages about changing your SPIRITUAL PATH and the MOST POWERFUL TOOL TO STOP ABORTION (THE ROSARY OF THE UNBORN) are left to wither in the corner….We have only ourselves to blame when God’s Justice comes….Love your neighbor, not yourself…
Many true apparitions around the world were also challenged by Bishops’ opinions just like Holy Love MInistries. Just remember that Satan goes after REAL APPARITIONS to keep people from believing any way he can and using anyone he can….is it working?
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Greetings, Mary Grace. Welcome to Catholic Heart and Mind. :)
My eggs are in one basket: the Church. I follow my bishop even when I don’t agree with him. Even if he makes a mistake. Just the way Saint Faustina followed the instructions and counsel of her confessors. Even when they contradicted Christ Himself. And Christ praised her for her obedience. To her confessor. The vehemence I can hear in your words makes me think of Christ’s own words in the Gospel: to paraphrase, you will know the tree by the fruit which it bears. I’m seeing the fruit. It’s not a good sign for the tree.
We are not called to follow apparitions, we are called to follow Christ. Some apparitions (a very small percentage) have been approved by the Church and even they are not necessary and we are not obliged to follow them. We are, however, obliged to follow Christ and the successors to His apostles. I pray for all involved with Maureen Sweeney Kyle and HLM. If God wills that the apparritions be approved, then they will be. Until then, I remain faithful to Christ and His Church.
Peace be with you, Mary Grace. May your name be a sign of truth and bring you much blessing in your life, for yourself and for others.
Disciple :)
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We should certainly pray for the visionaries at Elyria, Garabandal, Medjugorje and others who are currently recieving private revelations as their ‘yes’ to God’s special call requires great personal sacrifice and they must endure ridicule and persecution just as did the children at Fatima. They know first hand what it was like when Jesus was crowned with thorns. The decree issued regarding HLM ministries only forbids priests from celebrating any Sacraments on the Holy Love property. Faithful are ‘admonished’ not to gather there for prayer but such gatherings are not forbidden and no prayers or sacramentals have been specifically forbidden. The Rosary of the Unborn is a Sacramental which is currently being propagated throughout the world for an end to the intrinsic evil of abortion. It could never be wrong to pray for an end to the Culture of Death in our world.
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Greetings, Janice, and peace be with you. I pray for everyone in the world daily. But I can’t ignore what the shepherd of the Cleveland diocese said in his decree, part of which you mentioned in your reply. He said that he has determined that these alleged locutions, etc, are not of supernatural origin. His decree goes further than your response would imply. I pray for the unborn and have been and will. However, I am still uncomfortable using the beads that HLM sells and can only use them by offering my prayer that those involved in any way with HLM will obey their shepherd.
Peace be with you, Janice. May your Lenten observance be blessed and draw you ever closer to our Lord.
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Just wanted to let you know that I am NO LONGER following the messages from Holy Love and I no longer promote or pray with the Rosary of the Unborn. It is important that we be always obedient to the direction of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. The Church designates authority to the local bishop to evaluate private revelations within his diocese. To disobey the decree of a Holy Bishop is to disobey Jesus Himself who appointed his Apostles and their successors as our shepherds. The devil is in the disobedience! (Janice Harper)
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God bless you, Janice! If my words had any part in your turning away form HLM, then you took my words in the spirit in which I meant them. I pray for the unborn but have nothing to do with HLM. You are so right & you put it so well when you spoke about our shepherds & the obedience we owe them.
Thank you for reading & commenting, Janice, and for your faithfulness. God bless you & yours, always. Peace be with you.
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I was following HL until about Easter of last year and at that time I was also being drawn into the MDM cult. I am now actively fighting against that cult via the internet on my own blog and on Facebook… http://jkhgadfly.wordpress.com/
I opened a very bad door with my disobedience with regard to Holy Love. But God has now set me straight. I prayed my Divine Mercy Novena this year for all the people still caught up in those cults for their return to the truth of the Catholic Faith. And thank you for your correct guidance even though at the time I was not very receptive :(
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We’ve most of us had to learn the hard way to listen to our Mother, The Church. I had to, too, regarding other matters. That’s what learning to be a disciple is about. (Our ancient enemy tries to convince us otherwise because he is a liar.)
God bless you! :)
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