The Galveston Daily News from Galveston, Texas • Page 12

12-A THE GALVESTON DAILY NEWS THURSDAY MORNING, APRIL 8,1993 Standoff in Waco FBI disputes report of rift with other agencies WACO The FBI on Wednesday defended its working relationship with other law enforcement agencies involved in a standoff with a religious cult, and disputed a report that a rift has developed over evidence inside the Branch Davidian compound. "What we tried to do was a balance of our tactical needs with their needs to preserve evidence," FBI agent Bob Ricks said of the Texas Rangers' ongoing probe into a Feb. 28 raid of the cult's compound near Waco. The raid by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms exploded into a gunbattle that left four agents and at least two cult members dead. The Houston Chronicle reported in a copyright story Wednesday that cultists, acting on an inadvertent tip by FBI negotiators, destroyed evidence from their firefight with ATF agents.

The Chronicle, quoting anonymous sources, reported that the development has caused conflict among the FBI, the Texas Rangers, and the ATF. But Ricks said: "We've been assured by the Texas Ranger run- Ricks ning this investigation that he's satisfied." Laureen Chernow, a spokeswoman for Maurice Cook, head of the Texas Rangers' investigation, said Cook could not comment on the report. "The agency cannot comment on any aspects of a criminal investigation," Chernow said. Ricks said the so-called tip was a statement made by negotiators during a phone conversation with cult members. He said the comment was "to the effect that one of the first things we would do would be to collect shell casings on the outside" of the compound.

"So to make the quantum leap from the collection of shell casings on the outside would indicate that they should clean up their crime scene is a pretty big jump," he said. The Chronicle also reported that cult members who have left the compound told Texas Rangers that blood on inside walls of the com- plex had been washed away and that the shell casings had been swept up. The report also indicated that cult members told Rangers five cultists killed during the raid had been buried in an underground bus that reportedly served as a target range for the cultists. Ricks said some cult members who have left the compound have alluded to the burials, though he could not confirm five dead or that they indeed were buried in the bus. Cult member Livingston Fagan, who left the complex March 23, disputed reports that blood was cleaned off the walls.

"It does not necessarily follow that because a person experiences a bullet wound that it's going to cause a mess of blood all over the place," he said. Meanwhile, Ricks said Steve Schneider, a top leader in the cult, has reported the Branch Davidians began celebrating Passover Tuesday evening. Earlier, it had been thought that the cult's highest holy celebration would begin Wednesday night. Cult members have indicated the end of the standoff could coincide with the end of a weeklong Passover observance. AP David Mevis of Waco, with cigarette, talks with a customer at his makeshift T-shirt stand on a hill overlooking the Branch Davidian compound out- side Waco Tuesday.

A religious sect member told authorities the Branch Davidians began celebrating Passover Tuesday. The Message of Mercy The ABC's of Mercy The message of mercy can be called to mind simply by remembering ABC. sk for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly. Merciful.

God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. omplete trust. God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The soul that will venerate this image will not perish (Diary, 48). The Sacred Image The image that Our Lord asked Sister Faustina to have painted is a portrait of Jesus as King of Mercy.

The red and pale rays represent the blood and water that flowed from His pierced Heart as a fountain of mercy for us. The image is a reminder for us to come to Jesus with trust and be merciful to others, and it should always carry the signature, "Jesus, I trust in You!" Many different versions of this image have been painted, but Our Lord made it clear that the painting itself is not what is important: "Not in the beauty of the color, nor of the brush lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace" (Diary, 313). So, no matter which version you prefer, you can be assured that God's grace will flow through it. The Hour of Great Mercy Our Lord asked for special prayer at the hour that recalls His death: "At three o'clock implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion This is the hour of great mercy In this hour I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion" (1320). The Feast of Mercy Jesus also requested that the Sunday after Easter be officially established in the Church as the Feast of Mercy: "On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open.

I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy" (699). The Sacraments of Mercy The sacraments of Penance and Eucharist are special fountains of mercy which should be received frequently with great trust and love To emphasize the importance of these two great "miracles of mercy," Our Lord made their reception a condition for obtaining His promise for the Feast of Mercy: "The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment" (699). The Chaplet of Mercy In 1935 Our Lord taught Sister Faustina a special prayer for mercy: "Encourage souls to say the Chaplet Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy Through the Chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will" (1731). CHAPLET' OF MERCY Begin with: Our Father Hail Mary The Apostles' Creed. On the large bead before each decade: 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.

On the ten small beads of each decade: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Conclude with: Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us on the whole world. dThree A Brief History of The Divine Mercy Devotion On February 22,1931 a young Polish nun, Sr. Faustina Kowalska, saw a vision of Jesus with rays of mercy streaming from His Heart. He told her to have an image painted to represent this vision and to sign it, "Jesus, I Trust in You!" Calling her the Apostle and Secretary of His mercy, He ordered her to begin writing a diary so others would come to know and trust in Him.

In a series of revelations that followed between 1931 and 1938, He taught her that His mercy is unlimited and available even to the greatest sinners. He revealed special ways for people to respond to His mercy in their lives, and He gave her several promises for those who would trust in His mercy and show mercy to others. By the time of Sr. Faustina's death in 1939, Devotion to The Divine Mercy had already begun to spread throughout Eastern Europe. In July of 1940, Fr.

Joseph Jar- zabowski, a Polish Marian priest blacklisted by the Nazi SS, prayed to the merciful Savior to help him escape, vowing to spend the rest of his life spreading the Divine Mercy Devotion. He arrived safely on American soil in May, 1941, and Marian communities in Detroit and Washington, D.C. were soon distributing Mercy of God materials. In 1944, a group of Marians opened a new house and apostolate on Eden Hill in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and began spreading the Devotion on a large scale. By 1953, the Marian apostolate on Eden Hill had become the international center for the Divine Mercy Devotion, distributing more than 25 million pieces of mercy literature per year.

In 1960, with donations from all over the world, the Marians on Eden Hill completed construction of a shrine to the Mercy of God. The shrine has now become the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy spiritual home of the Association of Marian Helpers and the apostolate has become the Marian Helpers Center, a modern religious publishing house spreading devotion to the mercy of God and to Mary. In 1966, through the efforts of Karol Cardinal Wojtyla (now Pope John Paul II), the informative process for the beautification of Sr. Faustina was begun. The message of mercy is now being spread throughout the world, the process for Sr.

Faustina's beautification has begun, and her diary has become the handbook for the Devotion to The Divine Mercy. Works of Mercy God expects us to let His mercy flow through us to others: "I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere" (742). The Church teaches us to be merciful in various ways: The Corporal Works of Mercy 1. Feed the hungry.

2. Give drink to the thirsty. 3. Clothe the naked. 4.

Shelter the homeless. 5. Comfort the imprisoned. 6. Visit the sick.

7. Bury the dead. The Spiritual Works of Mercy 1. Admonish sinners. 2.

Instruct the uninformed. 3. Counsel the doubtful. 4. Comfort the sorrowful.

5. Be patient with those in error. 6. Forgive offenses. 7.

Pray for the living and the dead. FY DM 0-463 MATERIALS ON THE DIVINE MERCY DEVOTION DIARY OF SISTER FAUSTINA Divine Mercy in My Soul BK-MFD Engl. pbk 697p) $9.00 ea. PM-FD (Polish pbk 727p( $9.00 ea. BK-MFDC hardcover) BK-SFK BIOGRAPHY OF SISTER FAUSTINA, by Maria Tarnawska (F.ngl.

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SFB Beautificalion Prayer and Novena For graces through Sister Faustina. DOM Deeds of Mercy. PATL Hour of Mercy. COVENANT OF MERCY LEAFLET AND SIGNATURE PRAYER CARD PK-CM-SC SO of each for or 100 of each for (13.00. Krakow Image PH-DM5 5x7 print $6.00 ea.

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(DMPK-1) Marians of the Immaculate Conception IMAGES OF THE MERCIFUL SAVIOUS by Robert O. Skemp MP-6-6x10 ea. MP-9-9x14 MP-12- 12x20 print- $5.00 ea. MARIAN HELPERS MA 01261 To order on your credit card, or to request prayer: call: 1-800-462-7426 (USA) or 1-800-344-2836 (Canada).