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Pope Francis intends to consecrate Russia and the Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Some background: In the past it was claimed this consecration was already done by Pope John Paul II in 1984. Years ago, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, claimed that Sister Lucia told him in a letter and in an interview the consecration was done in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. The problem with this is that Pope John Paul did not specifically mention Russia. Moreover no one has seen the alleged letter of Sister Lucia. Others thought that the fall of communism in Russia in 1989 was a sign of the consecration yet the Virgin of Fatima asked for the consecration of Russia and communism was not mentioned, but simply that Russia would spread her errors and nations would be destroyed.

The devotion of the Five First Saturdays was revealed to Sr. Lucia by the Virgin Mary. It exists to make reparation for the blasphemies* and ingratitude wounding the Heart of the Lord’s Mother. One five consecutive first Saturdays of the month: (1) Confess and receive Communion (2) Recite five decades of the Rosary (3) Keep the Virgin Mary company fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary (4) With the intention of making reparation to her Immaculate Heart. Note: the Confession may take place eight days before or after the First Saturday. The meditation may be on all the mysteries of the Rosary as a whole or to a few mysteries or even one by thinking of them before or after reciting a decade of the Rosary. *Blasphemy consists in uttering against God - inwardly or outwardly - words of hatred, reproach, or defiance; in speaking ill of God; in failing in respect toward him in one's speech; in misusing God's name.

Thomas Babington Macaulay, unusual for an Evangelical Protestant , became fascinated by the Church of Rome in which he found many things to admire, and in his essay on Ranke's History of the Pope's in the 1840 Edinburgh Review he both argued that it had proved itself the most successful and long-lived of all Western institutions and it had done so because — and this would certainly have been a point particularly surprising to Victorian Protestants — it handled dissent far more positively than had those who broke away from it. — George P. Landow

Concise: Confession with few words, just the words needed to say humbly what we have done or have failed to do, without any unnecessary elaboration or adornment.

Concrete: Confession without digression, without generalities. The penitent should humbly indicate his/her situation and also the time elapsed since the last Confession and the difficulties he/she finds in leading a Christian life. He/she declares his/her sins and the surrounding circumstances that have a bearing on the sins so that the confessor may judge in the Person of Christ; absolve in the Person of Christ; and heal in the Person of Christ.

There is a great crisis of men and fathers in our country which is not being addressed. The number of fatherless-families and single mothers is ever increasing. An Anglican minister, Rev. Samuel Edwards, addressed this in a homily years ago. Here it is:

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue explains why Costco has offended Christians: In the December edition of Costco Connection, a publication of Costco Wholesale, the lead article, “A Festive Season,” compares Christmas to Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in a way that is downright insulting. Written by Tim Talevich, the editorial director of the magazine, he offers a 111-word account of Hanukkah, a 38-word statement about Christmas and a 43-word summary of Kwanzaa. This alone would not mean much, but when we read what he says about the three holidays, it takes on more significance.

For each day Fri, Dec 24 - Sat, Jan 1, please pray at least one decade the rosary, concluding with the prayer for persecuted Christians.

NOVENA PRAYER

From the homily of Cardinal Ivan Dias, legate of the Holy Father for the opening of the celebrations of the beginning of the Jubilee of the 150th anniversary of the Apparitions of Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes, delivered (December 8, 2007):

... After her apparitions at Lourdes, the Holy Virgin has not ceased to manifest her great maternal concerns for the fate of mankind in her several apparitions worldwide.

The life of the first Christians and their witness to the world make known to us their quality and their character. Their norm of conduct was not to take the easy way out, or opt for the more comfortable line or the more popular decision but rather did they seek to fulfill completely the will of God. They ignored the danger of death… they forgot how few they were, they never noticed how many were against them or the power or strength or wisdom of their enemies. Their power was greater than all of that: theirs was the power of him who had died on the Cross and risen again.[i] They had their gaze riveted on Christ, who gave his life for all men. They were not seeking their own personal glory, nor the applause of their fellow citizens. They always acted with a right intention, because they had their eyes fixed on the Lord. That is what allows St. Stephen to say at the moment of his martyrdom: Lord do not take their sin into account…[ii]

There was a recent article in Inside the Vatican September-October 2021 wherein the author John Byron Kuhner raises the question how does language operate in the liturgy? He then asks the provocative question: why wouldn’t we want our prayers and Mass in the mother tongue instead of Latin? In answering this question he raises the notion not simply of language but what’s called hieratic or sacred language. A couple of bullet points from his essay:

In the history of the Church there have been associations of the faithful called Purgatorial Societies. Purgatorial societies are Catholic associations or confraternities which aim to assist souls in purgatory to get to heaven. One of the crises following the Second Vatican Council was ceasing to preach and teach the doctrine of the Church about souls in Purgatory and clergy and people starting placing the deceased at funerals in heaven, which is really Protestant doctrine.

8. What was the grace which the angels possessed when they were created? It was sanctifying grace. It was a supernatural gift of God which gave them a share in the divine nature along with a title to inherit the Kingdom of God in the beatific vision. Associated with sanctifying grace, the angels also received the infused virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, together with a right to those actual graces which were necessary to preserve and increase the supernatural life.

Although human reason can reasonably speculate that angels exist, the existence of pure created spirits requires divine revelation to make the fact absolutely certain. Indeed a fair index of sound Christianity is the acceptance of angels as created by God and now living in two states of being: those in heaven who also minister to our needs, and those in hell, who are demons and bent on the destruction of the human race through estrangement from God. Why a catechism on the angels? Because we need one. There is such a preoccupation with human psychology and physiology as almost to exclude the whole world of reality which is at once intelligent and deeply involved in the affairs of men. Even in Christian circles, the complaint has been justly made that "the angels have taken flight from Catholic schools of thought," with only token attention from some professional theologians.