2014 Christmas Appeal
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
December 8, 2014
Dear CatholiCity Citizen,
I think you know me pretty well by now. CatholiCity needs your help.
We need every person reading this message to participate in our annual Christmas Appeal or CatholiCity will cease to exist. I'm okay with that because your decision to participate is the concrete way God shows us He wants us to keep going.
Please don't leave it up to "everybody else." You are everybody else. As always, I'm matching every gift with a dollar, so the Macfarlanes will be happily sacrificing along with your family. (So go ahead and make it hurt! After all, it's my favorite charity!)
https://www.catholicity.com/support/donation.html
I promise you this: no apostolate in America reaches more fallen away Catholics per dollar. Except for my monthly Message, which I write for dedicated Catholics like you, everything we give away is designed to appeal to the lukewarm and fallen away.
In fact, together we reached nearly 40% more people over the last two years than ever before, which, combined with years of recession, is part of the reason why we're facing a big deficit. Your gift will go toward absolutely critical expenses like shipping packages, office rent, and manufacturing those powerful tools for evangelization.
I want you to know that I just prayed for you during a holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament. I asked Jesus to open your heart for the sake of the millions of souls who will surf into CatholiCity.com and receive our free CDs, booklets, and novels in 2015 and beyond.
Our Christmas Appeal has always been a happy Exchange of Gifts, and our gift to you this year is the Saint Benedict Medal, proven protection against demonic influences (read the super-cool reasons in my P.S. at the bottom).
As you can see, it's quite beautiful. I want you to have the art-house print and medal in your home and on your person. They also make great Christmas gifts for someone you care about.
So, will you take a few minutes to make an online donation today?
https://www.catholicity.com/support/donation.html
This year we are offering five wonderful gifts as heartfelt tokens of our gratitude:
Magnet with Every Donation
Every donor, regardless of amount, will receive a beautiful Saint Benedict Medal "fridge" magnet as a powerful daily reminder to pray every time your family members grab a snack or prepare a meal.
Art-House Print with Your $30 Gift
Along with your magnet, you will receive a one-of-a-kind 8"x10" art-house print of the powerful Saint Benedict Medal when you make a donation of only $30 or more. Ready for framing with integrated double matting on premium-grade stock, I know there is a special place for this image in your home. (See the image below.)
Saint Benedict Medal with Your $60 Gift
With your donation of $60 or more, we'll also send you this jeweler-quality tri-color enamel-inlay Saint Benedict Medal. Blessed by a priest at the Cathedral where I pray for you at daily Mass, I have personally touched each one to my Relic of the True Cross and first class relics (yeah!!!) of Saints Joseph, Anthony, Jude, Therese, Maximilian, and Francis Xavier:
Magnet Collection and Two Medals with Your $100 Gift
In addition to the magnet, art-house print and two medals, we'll send a complete set of five Jesus-themed fridge magnets when you make a donation of $100 or more, also touched to the True Cross and saints relics:
Framed Print & Autographed Novels with Your $500 Gift
And for the first time ever, we'll send you five medals, a wood-framed print, the magnet set, and personalized autographed copies of all three of my novels when you when you make a donation of $500 or more.
Make Your Tax-Deductible Christmas Gift Online or By Mail
https://www.catholicity.com/support/donation.html
24 Hour Conversion Tool for Millions
CatholiCity is always there for you, your family, friends, and most importantly, for anyone searching online for the truth -- every minute of every day since 1996. Twice as many people (four million) visited our website in 2013-2014 than in 2011-2012 and we expect a lot more in 2015. (They find us through excellent search-engine placement of over 18,000 individual webpages.)
Your generosity will ensure that huge numbers of potential converts and fallen-away Catholics will continue to have the opportunity to receive our free life-changing CDs, novels, booklets, audio downloads, newsletter, commentary, links, resources, and online prayers.
15 for '15: Becoming a Monthly Benefactor
Including overhead (such as rent for our shipping center) it costs around $2 to manufacture, process, package and ship a CD, book, or 10-pack of booklets. Because of our large volumes and unmatched operational efficiency, that is still only a fraction of what it costs other charities and even secular companies.
Can you sacrifice $15 or a multiple of $15 a month to form the "backbone" of our operation? Please consider becoming a monthly credit card donor:
https://www.catholicity.com/support/monthly.html
Should You Make a Donation and How Much?
Last year I asked: Does God even want you to make a donation? I certainly don't assume He does. I do know this: there is a tendency to assume that everybody else is making a donation. This is simply not true.
I also know some of you can make an especially large gift of hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Whether it's $500 or $5,000, whatever your individual situation is, I understand that giving a large gift will require a real sacrifice on your part. "The grace that saves souls never comes cheap," a holy nun once wrote to me. Every $100 lets us print 1,100 Returning to Confession booklets. Your gift will help a lot of real people come back to Confession next year.
So please pray and discuss it with your loved ones. In these four days between the Feasts of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe, please ask Mary if she wants you to make a particularly generous donation to help bring souls to our beloved Catholic Faith.
Of course even a modest gift of $5, $10, or $25 when combined with thousands of others will help us reach our goal.
If you cannot afford to help financially, I understand. I've been there. Please, pray one Rosary or make one Holy Hour and offer Communion for the success of this year's appeal and for the spiritual and temporal needs of your fellow CatholiCity Citizens, every unique visitor to our website, and for the salvation of every person who hears or reads our materials.
May you and your family have a blessed Advent, a holy Christmas, and a grace-filled 2015. All for Mary! All for souls!
With Saint Joseph,
Bud Macfarlane
Founder and Executive Director
P.S. Here's why the Saint Benedict Medal is such a potent excorcism tool:
Why the Devil Hates This Medal
Fifteen centuries ago, an enemy attempted to murder Saint Benedict using poisoned bread and wine. God sent a raven to carry away the bread and the cup shattered when Benedict made the Sign of the Cross over it. For centuries Christians have carried or displayed his medal to ward off demonic influences and here's why:
The reverse side depicts an ancient cross inscribed with the first letters of Latin words which form sentences of potent exorcism prayers, including: Begone Satan! Never tempt me with your vanities. What you offer is evil. Drink the poison yourself! Demons see the Holy Cross and "read" these prayers then flee. Your family needs this beautiful and powerful image on your wall, your fridge, and on your very person.
