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The tradition of visiting different churches during Lent (and other seasons in which there are also station churches, such as Christmas) began with the practice of the pope to make pastoral visits to the different areas of the city, beginning even as far back as the time of the persecutions by the Roman Empire. The current list of station churches was essentially complete by the late fifth century, with a few changes in the following centuries before being finalized in the mid-1500s. So, this is a very ancient tradition in which we take part. The Collect for Ash Wednesday helps to provide the context for our practice of the station churches. We prayed to be "armed with weapons of self-restraint" as we begin "this campaign of Christian warfare."

What should be said immediately is the following: As the Church of God is by no means directly advocating any particular economic and social systems, but seeks “to construct modern civilization in accordance with standards of humanity and evangelical doctrine,” a spiritual struggle against atheistic communism, … must be carried out so that the Christian faithful might be strengthened, and more apt ways might be offered for the effective carrying out of apostolic activity, especially among laborers. Proposed Teaching on Communism for Vatican II, February 1962 (emphasis added)

Nihilism, (from the Latin nihil meaning nothing) is the philosophy that denies the existence of genuine moral truths and asserts the ultimate meaninglessness of life or of the universe.

According to the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 377, citing CCC 1803), a virtue is a firm, habitual, and stable disposition to do good. It enables a person to perform good acts, choose the good in concrete situations, and give the best of themselves, with the goal of becoming like God.

• Habitual Disposition: Virtues are not just one-time actions, but deeply ingrained habits that make doing good easy and consistent.

Fr. Francisco Vera, elderly priest, shot in Jalisco for celebrating Holy Mass 1927

An important centenary and a persecution that continues. The film For Greater Glory with Andy Garcia is a film about the persecution to destroy the Church and the Cristeros resistance. by Marco Invernizzi

In 1928 Pope Pius XI issued an encyclical letter on the love of Jesus Christ to counter those who portrayed God as a distant and unforgiving Judge. It emphasized this love, but also called on Catholics to make up for the rejection of the Lord and His love. This is called reparation: (making amends) for sins and ingratitude towards God. This idea of actively striving to atone for one's sins and those of others, with God's help, counters the notion that human efforts are essentially futile and that sin is almost inevitable. In the prayer at the end of the encyclical letter, it prayed the following:

Pope Benedict, before he was Pope, as Cardinal Ratzinger, commented on the title of this essay in a book called The Ratzinger Report pages 105-109. About this saying he said: It seemed exaggerated to me. So, it was difficult for me to understand the true meaning of another famous expression…the declaration that designated the Virgin Mary as the “conqueror of all heresies.” Now in this confused period where truly every type of heretical aberration seems to be pressing upon the doors of the authentic faith-now I understand that it was not a matter of pious exaggerations, but of truths that today are more valid than ever. Then Cardinal Ratzinger listed six things, which point to the importance of Mary, about the fullness of the Catholic Faith:

I give my life / For the Law of God above the Law of Man
Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliott

We just celebrated the remembrance of St. Thomas Becket this past December 29th. His witness reminds us that every Christian is obliged to lay down his life rather than deny any of the articles of our holy Faith: it was the debt we contracted with Jesus Christ when He adopted us in Baptism and received Confirmation as His Brethren and soldiers.

Stir up that fire of faith. Christ is not a figure that has passed. He is not a memory that is lost in history. He lives! The Way #584

Christ the center of our lives, there can be no compromises Blessed Rupert Mayer S.J.