I came across this quote today which was attributed to St. Therese of Lisieux (though I can not find it translated directly this way). I guess it does not matter so much who wrote the words, what is beautiful ARE the words… “Virgin full of grace, I know that at Nazareth you lived modestly, without [...]

When did you last listen to some ‘Golden Oldies’? Just by way of an interesting exercise, try listening to some of the many songs that emerged from the days of the Musicals. If you do so, you’ll find that even some of the saddest songs still manage to have tunes that can be hummed or sung [...]

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Fr. John Baptist Ku, O.P., a Dominican Friar of the Eastern Province, USA, speaks about Humanae Vitae and approaches to preaching this encyclical in parish settings. Fr. Ku is a doctoral candidate in Theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. From a talk given at the Dominican House of Studies, Washington, D.C. on June 18, [...]

THY Kindgom come? Thy KINGDOM come? Thy Kingdom COME? Recall the meaning of each word. Share This

Act of Contrition PRAYER: My Sweet Jesus, as You rested among the lilies in your celestial garden, You turned Your eyes from Eternity to the most fragrant Lily of Quito. From the moment of her creation, you provided her with all of the sweet blessings that you bestow upon souls which are to be placed [...]

St. Bernardine of Siena (1380-1444) was a friar minor, missionary and reformer, Apostle of Italy. Born to nobility, he was orphaned at six and left to the care of aunts. At seventeen, he joined the Confraternity of Our Lady attached to Santa Maria della Scala and ministered to the plague-stricken, even managing the entire hospital [...]

Having lived through a relatively disadvantaged childhood (i.e. orphaned, lived in foster homes and orphanages, adopted as older child, several major surgeries to repair birth defects), I remember being struck by today’s gospel reading (Mark 9:30-37) the first time I heard it twenty-five years ago. After predicting his Passion for the second time, Christ tells his disciples [...]

343 In its mystical meaning, the mother of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin, is present in spiritual marriages as the one who arranges the marriage, because it is through her intercession that one is joined to Christ through grace: “In me is every hope of life and of strength” (Sir 24:25). Christ is present as the [...]

I live, yet no true life I know, And, living thus expectantly, I die because I do not die. Since this new death in life Estranged from self my life has been, For now I live a life unseen: The Lord has claimed me as His own. My heart I gave Him for His throne, Whereon He wrote indelibly: “I die because I do [...]

The apostle of the Holy Name of Jesus. The entire Gospel is contained in the Holy Name. The Holy Name of Jesus is all powerful against evil. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, Who said, “Ask and you shall receive, seek, and you shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Grant, we beseech you, [...]

A headline caught my attention the other day: “Canada’s worst neighbourhood”. I won’t link to the article, but it got me to thinking that as dangerous and heartwrenching as the location mentioned may be, the fact of the matter is that the magazine got it wrong. The most dangerous place in Canada to be living today is in the womb. As Ottawa [...]

Gotta love a bishop with the spine to say what the Church teaches without apologizing for it. And while we’re at it, may God bless Fr. Malloy too. Share This

HALLOWED be Thy Name. Hallowed BE Thy Name. Hallowed be THY Name. Hallowed be Thy NAME. ‘Hallowed’ and ‘be’ and ‘Thy’ and ‘Name’ meaning what? Share This

Does Prince Caspian contain Christian values? Is Barak Obama a Christian? These are some questions I have seen debated recently that made clear how confused people are about what it means to be Christian. Certainly it must include more than just saying some nice words about Jesus? It needs to involve the radical world-changing message [...]

During my time in Australia, I took several groups of Year 10 students to sit in during a Magistrate’s court session, giving them the chance to see justice in action. It was interesting and a bit frightening. One man, obviously guilty of growing cannabis in his yard, was released because he had a good lawyer and [...]

“And so we will stand up every time that human life is threatened. When the sacredness of life before birth is attacked, we will stand up and proclaim that no one ever has the authority to destroy unborn life. When a child is described as a burden or is looked upon only as a means [...]

After praying the Angelus yesterday in Genoa’s Piazza Matteotti, Benedict XVI went to the city’s cathedral of St. Lawrence where he met with the cathedral chapter and a group of consecrated people. On his arrival at the cathedral, he was welcomed by Bishop Luigi Ernesto Palletti, auxiliary of Genoa. Msgr. Mario Grone, dean of the cathedral, [...]

I’m a traitor. I’m a traitor because I had a jolly good time at JP Catholic on Friday. A part of me was kind of hoping something would go wrong, but I left loving the place, and would encourage all Catholics to look into this school. Since it’s a new school, currently they only [...]

Quoting Cardinal Siri on the importance of the Divine Office. “You, dear members of the Chapter of Canons of the Cathedral, taking care of the liturgical actions that take place here, remember that everything in us draws force from personal and liturgical prayer. It is still Cardinal Siri to stress that “the most venerable and most [...]

At 11 a.m. on Friday 23 May, at the altar of the Cathedra in the Vatican Basilica, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, accompanied by other members of the College, will celebrate Mass for the soul of Cardinal Bernardin Gantin. Cardinal Gantin died in Paris, France, on 13 May at the age of [...]

Here is a translation of the greeting Benedict XVI gave yesterday before praying the Angelus in Piazza Matteotti during his pastoral visit to Genoa. * * * Dear Brothers and Sisters! At the heart of my pastoral visit to Genoa, we have arrived at the customary moment for the Sunday Angelus and my thoughts naturally return to the [...]

Ah, Trinity Sunday is gone. Next up Corpus Christi, and the laments for the movement of the Solemnity from Thursday to Sunday will return afresh. The news Distressing article, vivid picture. Where is the conscience of a society that kills its own babies? This is certainly infanticide, there is no denying it. The NLM on Mary Berry’s Plainchant [...]

Featuring interviews with Chicagoans, this video explores the experience of growing up Catholic, with a focus on memories of Chicago Catholic schools. Share This

Act of Contrition PRAYER: My Sweet Jesus, as You rested among the lilies in your celestial garden, You turned Your eyes from Eternity to the most fragrant Lily of Quito. From the moment of her creation, you provided her with all of the sweet blessings that you bestow upon souls which are to be placed [...]

Warnings of Drastic Social and Economic Consequences By Father John Flynn, LC The disintegration of family life is costing taxpayers a bundle. A report released in April put the cost at an annual $112 billion, just in the United States alone. “The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Nation and All 50 States,” [...]

The afternoon of 17 May 2008, the Holy Father began his pastoral visit to the Italian cities of Savona and Genoa, departing from Rome’s Ciampino airport at 3.30 p.m. and landing at Christopher Columbus airport in Genoa at 4.20 p.m. From there he travelled by helicopter to Savona and thence to the nearby shrine of [...]

As mentioned in the last post I volunteered to help out at church during mass. Of course I thought maybe helping with the collection plate etc. No Father B asked me to run his big screen so that the congregation can see the hymns and announcements etc. With this they might pay more attention and [...]

Today’s gospel from Mark 9 is packed. It’s the story of when Jesus, Peter, James & John came down from the mountain after the Transfiguration. The disciples left at the bottom of the mountain had been unsuccessfully trying to rid a young boy of a demon. Of course, it didn’t take long for Christ to [...]

In the Holy See Press Office at midday today a press conference was held to present the Holy See’s Pavilion in “Expo Zaragoza 2008″, an international exposition due to be held in the Spanish city of Zaragoza from 14 June to 14 September on the theme: “Water and sustainable development”. Among those participating in the press [...]

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Wednesday, 15 February 2006 Magnificat “My soul glorifies the Lord’ Dear Brothers and Sisters, 1. We have now arrived at the final destination of the long journey begun exactly five years ago in Spring 2001, by my beloved Predecessor, the unforgettable Pope John Paul II. In his Catecheses, [...]

The patron saint of San Diego, California. St. Didacus, A simple lay brother of the Alcantarine Franciscans. He, like so many other saints, refused the sacrament of Holy Orders, claiming he was unworthy, just as our holy Father St. Francis refused ordination to the priesthood. Yet men and women, who rebel against Church discipline, demand ordination [...]

When I first met Pia online in the summer of 2006, it was over a discussion in some comboxes and later by email of Merton’s concept of ”le point vierge”. I had never heard of it until Pia brought it to my attention. In turn, I shared with her what I had read about Merton’s concept [...]

Psalm 99:8 O LORD, our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God, though you punished their offenses. “Child, my mercy is unimaginable to the human heart; yet my justice demands that the very great sins of humanity not go unpunished. That is why the great tribulation is coming. It is sin that [...]

Irony doesn’t get much better than this: The hour-long sermon focused on the sin of committing adultery -– as outlined in Mathew 5:27-32. Paul Fryman of the State Street United Methodist Church asked the congregation, “How is your commitment level in your marriage this morning?’ He spoke about lust and the sin of cheating on your partner. Clinton [...]

The following notes are from Bishop John MacEvilly’s Expostion of the Epistles of St Paul, Volume 2, a public domain work first published in 1891. I have added some of my own notes, indicating them as such by using boldface italics. Analysis: In this chapter, the Apostle, after the usual form of Apostolic salutation (vs [...]

The evangelizing mission of the Church remains “urgent and necessary,” Benedict XVI told members of the general assembly of the Pontifical Missionary Works. The Pope received in audience members of the assembly Saturday, during which he reaffirmed that “the whole Church is missionary by nature” and that “mission regards all Christians.” The Pontiff explained that the must [...]

I saw a post over on Mulier Fortis about a web game called Ikariam. It’s kind of fun, though a bit maddening at times. Basically it’s an empire-building game set in a world of ancient Greek islands. All sorts of good economic lessons, with much more fun than you get in your basic economics classes. [...]

time seems to pass more slowly when you’re eargerly looking forward to something. yup, this sat’s show is confirmed i only want my family and friends to catch it because of one particular segment. and then there’s tension between me time (devoted to studies) and other activities, like time with people who make me [...]

Unity, but not solitude. In the very Heart of Absolute Being, community of mutual self-gift and fruitfulness. Father is only Father if there is Son. Son is only Son if there is Father. Father, looking at His Image, His Idea; Son beholding Father with love a self-communication bears Fruit which is also the Breath of the Son, breathed on friends. The [...]