The CatholiCity Message

Volume XIII, Number 1 – January 29, 2009

Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas

Dear CatholiCity Citizen,

Welcome to the thirteenth year of the original, most successful, and longest running Catholic email message in the world! Five items today... including five excellent quotations from St. Thomas Aquinas and our usual group prayer.

1. AN AMAZING EMAIL FROM A SURVIVOR OF FLIGHT 1549
To kick off 2009 we're featuring an absolutely *amazing* email from one of the survivors of Flight 1549--the airliner that went down in the Hudson River on January 15. Fred Berretta was on the plane and sent the email below to our longtime friend, Vinny Flynn (who is the speaker on our free "Seven Secrets of the Eucharist" and "Healing and Holiness" CDs). Fred gave us special permission through Vinny to publish his inspiring witness to God's mercy (below). We are sure you will want to forward it to everyone you know.

2. BEST CHRISTMAS APPEAL EVER!
Before Fred's email, though, we would be remiss if we did not share the wonderful news that your generosity helped us "come from behind" and have our best annual Christmas appeal ever. We're just a tad bit short of our goal, but we know from previous years that some of you are planning to contribute in February in order to fit us into your budgets. And we still have a limited supply of those gorgeous Shroud of Turin magnets, lapel pins, and stunning arthouse prints as tokens of our gratitude if you still want to help us reach souls in 2009:

http://www.catholicity.com/support/donation.html

As always, we will show our gratitude with hard work, dedication to excellence, and daily prayers for every CatholiCity Citizen family, especially at daily Mass. The Saint Thomas Aquinas quotes and the group prayer follow Fred's email...

3. WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU, FRED BERRETTA'S EMAIL TO VINNY FLYNN:

Saturday, January 24, 2009
Subject: Passenger of Flight 1549

Vinny,

I sincerely hope this email finds its way to you. I was a passenger on flight 1549 and my name is Fred Berretta. You might have caught a glimpse of me or heard me on CNN or Fox the night of the crash. I interviewed with Lou Dobbs, Wolf Blitzer and Bill O'Reilly and discussed the crash that night.

I had been on a one day business trip to NY and sat in seat 16A just behind the left engine. My trip was a last minute decision the day before. I finished my meetings early on Thursday and realized I had time to attend the 12 noon mass at St. Patrick Cathedral. It was unusual for me to have the extra time, but that day I did. After Mass, I stopped by the gift shop just across from the cathedral and purchased your book, "7 Secrets of the Eucharist." As I waited to board flight 1549 bound for Charlotte, where I live, I began reading your book. I continued reading while we taxied until just after take off.

I think I got through about half of it and then decided to close my eyes and reflect on the incredible insights your book gave me regarding the Eucharist. We were climbing out and just a minute or so into the flight I heard the impact of the bird strikes and then the explosion in the left engine. I could see it on fire and the cabin began to smell like jet fuel. As a private pilot, once I realized the second engine was also not functioning, things became quite tense.

While I had known about and prayed the Divine Mercy chaplet years before, I had not really focused on it in quite a long time. Ironically, I had prayed the chaplet the day before at 3 pm. I had forgotten that in my briefcase I had long kept a copy of a booklet of the Divine Mercy chaplet which had excerpts from St. Faustina's diary. When I arrived in NY, I had some time at my hotel and decided to clean out my briefcase, something long overdue. I found the Divine Mercy booklet, prayed the chaplet, and read some of the words of Jesus to Faustina.

Before we hit the water, I thought about the words Jesus said, that nothing would be refused if asked for during the hour of mercy.* I really thought there was a good chance myself and others would die that day, but I asked God to be merciful to us, I prayed the Lord' prayer and a Hail Mary. I then prayed to St. Michael, and we impacted the water. The odds were not with us that day, but God clearly was. I believe it is the only jet airliner to successfully ditch in the water without fatalities in the history of aviation.

I just want you to know that your book gave me comfort as we were going down, and for that I am grateful. I know a lot of people prayed on that plane, and I believe the Miracle on the Hudson was a testament to the mercy of God, and a sign of hope.

Take care and may God continue to bless your ministry and all you do to spread the message of Divine Mercy and the wonders of Holy Communion.

Best regards,

Fred Berretta

*Flight 1549 crashed into the Hudson River during the 3 o'clock hour (at about 3:30 pm), which Christ told St. Faustina is "the hour of great mercy." It was during this hour that His heart was pierced by a lance, and blood and water gushed forth as a fountain of mercy for the world. "In this hour," He told her, "I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion." (Diary of Saint Faustina, #1182, 1320.)

4. WHAT WAS FRED BERRETTA READING AND PRAYING?
You can get a free CD containing the Divine Mercy Chaplet (and the Rosary), as well as free CDs of Vinny Flynn's "Seven Secrets of the Eucharist" and "Healing and Holiness" from the Mary Foundation here:

https://secure.catholicity.com/order.html

You can order Vinny Flynn's bestselling book (including a new audio book), "7 Secrets of the Eucharist," from MercySong Ministries, here:

http://mercysong.bigcartel.com/category/7-secrets-of-the-eucharist

4. FIVE QUOTATIONS FROM SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS

"Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do."

"Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine."

"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible."

"The things that we love tell us what we are."

"A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational."

5. PLEASE PRAY WITH 60,000 CATHOLICITY CITIZENS
What else can we pray, but the three main prayers of the Divine Mercy Chaplet? Let's begin in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...

"Eternal Father, I offer you the body and blood, soul and divinity, of your dearly beloved son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Holy God, Holy Might One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Amen."

Whew--now that was quite a start to the 2009 CatholiCity Message! Thank you for being such a faithful part of our work. Until next month, we remain...

Yours in Christ,

Your Friends at CatholiCity