What People are Commenting
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Open Temples, Symbolism & Suffering Souls
Your Site Is a Vast Treasure
What a gift you are to the faithful in these difficult times!
It was only 6 months ago that I found your website and first learned of Sr. Mariana and Our Lady of Good Success. Sixty years of spiritual confusion and doubt - sowed by the Conciliar Church - was at once gone. There are no words to express how grateful I am to God for all of it: for you and your work, for Sr. Mariana and her sacrifices, for Our Lady of Good Success, and for bringing me here.
Your site is a vast treasure for exploration, solace and learning. Today it was this gem of a story from recent times where in the face of evil the amazing dignity and power of Our Lady is on full display!
Ave Maria!
K.S.
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Love Seeker
Re: ‘Ought I to Marry?’
Thank you for this beautiful article.
I want to add few details.
I live in Turkey. I’m 34 years old and still single. Possibly I’ll be single throughout my life. Because most of the women in my age are Muslims and others want to marry an American or European men.
For this reason, even though I be the richest man in Turkey I can’t marry and am bound to single life.
This really makes me feel sad. Because I feel unloved.
My parents are Muslims and they don’t like me because I’m a convert.
So I’m hungry for love actually.
I don’t know what to do about it really…
Y.T., Turkey
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Floral Symbolism
I would like to ask if you have any resources on Catholic theology with virtues being discussed and explained through the symbolism of flowers and plants? Especially those with supposed legends attached to them. This would be a fantastic read and source of good inspiration.
I’ve heard about St. Francis de Sales’ book on Mystical Flora and some snippets of St. Hildegard’s Virtues and of other little sources from St. Gertrude. That’s about it.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
N.M.
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TIA responds:
Hello N.M.,
We do have a section of our website under the Religious Topics Page that contains multiple articles under the subheading of Religious Symbolism. The articles include symbolism of sacred art, the liturgy and of the natural world. It is by no far a complete selection on the vast world of Catholic flower symbolism, but the plants and flowers that are spoken of will be of help to you in your endeavor to see the natural world with a more transcendent view. To access these articles you can go to the Religious Symbolism Page.
Since you are interested in flowers, you will also find Vincenzina Krymow's book Mary’s Flowers: Gardens, Legends & Meditations to be helpful in your study. In Medieval times, many monasteries and castles had Mary Gardens that contained flowers that reminded the people of Our Lady, including some that were connected to legends of the time when Our Lady walked on this earth. This book describes the Catholic names of many of the flowers and narrates the legends connected with them.
There is an article on our website, "A Renewed Interest in Mary Gardens," that gives some of the symbolism and legends that are listed in the above mentioned book. There is also this article on Mary Gardens that is quite thorough.
We hope that these will give you ample material to peruse so that you can learn to contemplate nature in the manner in which God intended.
Cordially,
TIA correspondence desk
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Suffering in Reparation
Dear TIA,
Ave Maria Purissima!
The recently published article by Professor Plinio on the subject of suffering and victim Souls, brought to mind the many Preservates who died in the institution in Cork.
In the 1950s in Ireland TB was very much a killer and polio and pneumonia were prevalent also. Deaths among the Preservates were quite common. They died with the Last Rites of the Church surrounded by their peers praying the Rosary and singing hymns. The little ones took it in turns to mount the vigil so the poor dying Soul was never alone.
However there was much suffering involved at the end rather like the suffering Jacinta. It was not possible for the Sisters to provide relief from pain and indeed it was not thought to be appropriate. The Sisters never attempted to raise the Preservates above their station in life and in Ireland in those days, only the better off social classes could afford healthcare. However,like little Jacinta, our Preservates suffered gallantly and with great courage, offering up their sufferings in reparation to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts.
I was present at a number of deaths and on one occasion, a girl of ten years said "Oh my Mother Mary" as she looked up with the most radiant smile on her face. I have never forgotten that.
God bless you, TIA.
Yours sincerely,
C.P., Ireland
Ave Maria Purissima!
The recently published article by Professor Plinio on the subject of suffering and victim Souls, brought to mind the many Preservates who died in the institution in Cork.
In the 1950s in Ireland TB was very much a killer and polio and pneumonia were prevalent also. Deaths among the Preservates were quite common. They died with the Last Rites of the Church surrounded by their peers praying the Rosary and singing hymns. The little ones took it in turns to mount the vigil so the poor dying Soul was never alone.
However there was much suffering involved at the end rather like the suffering Jacinta. It was not possible for the Sisters to provide relief from pain and indeed it was not thought to be appropriate. The Sisters never attempted to raise the Preservates above their station in life and in Ireland in those days, only the better off social classes could afford healthcare. However,like little Jacinta, our Preservates suffered gallantly and with great courage, offering up their sufferings in reparation to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts.
I was present at a number of deaths and on one occasion, a girl of ten years said "Oh my Mother Mary" as she looked up with the most radiant smile on her face. I have never forgotten that.
God bless you, TIA.
Yours sincerely,
C.P., Ireland
Posted August 26, 2025
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The opinions expressed in this section - What People Are Commenting - do not necessarily express those of TIA
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May Our Lady of Good Success keep guiding your wonderful apostolate. There are moments in the Christian life that we must pull out the sword of truth to defend the rights of the Church; here in Panama we recently faced a moment when keeping silence would have been criminal and a clear display of complicity.
In short, last year on the feast of Our Lady's Assumption into Heaven, it was terribly brought down by a substitute celebration of an "Afternoon of Open Temples." We wrote a letter denouncing such a heinous event, which you so kindly posted on your website.
This year on August 18, 2025, we published a new letter to the Archdiocese of Panama, keeping up the good fight and being consistent with the example shown by a prime servant of Our Lady's army, Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira. Here I send you the link for the complete letter; it's in Spanish, but the automatic translator in Google does a good job at translating.
+ In Maria Regina,
Yousef Altaji Narbón, Esq., Panama