“There is no peace to be compared with that of the souls in purgatory, save that of the saints in paradise”
As far as I can see, the souls in purgatory can have no choice but to be there; this God has most justly ordained by his divine decree. ...They retain no memory of either good or evil respecting themselves or others which would increase their pain. They are so contented with the divine dispositions in their regard; and with doing all that is pleasing to God in that way which he chooses, that they cannot think of themselves, though they may strive to do so.
READ MORECatholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the Canadian Report on the residential schools for Indigenous people: There has been much recent discussion about the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. It found that 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their homes and forced to attend schools that would assimilate them into the dominant culture. It was the Canadian government that made the decision to suppress the culture of Indigenous persons, sending children to residential schools operated by the government, Catholic religious orders, and Protestant denominations.
READ MOREEvery question under discussion, every revolutionary idea and every conservative reaction—all boil down to the question, How should man be treated? and we can only answer this in the light of our view of what man is. No society can be united, if it is not united about this fundamental question… case. We will not forever go on agreeing in practical action when all agreement about the reality involved has vanished.
READ MOREREAD MORE“I rejoice to say, to one great mischief I have from the first opposed myself. For thirty, forty, fifty years I have resisted to the best of my powers the spirit of liberalism in religion. Never did Holy Church need champions against it more sorely than now, when, alas! it is an error overspreading, as a snare, the whole earth.”
Actor Jon Voight in a conversation was describing his life and his upbringing and he said that he did not have that connection that his mother had and he didn’t feel that sense of God. He had spiritual experience which he described which changed that but why didn’t he have that connection as he described it until then? He was raised Catholic, received the sacraments, instructed in the Catholic Faith. Easter season is an especially good time to think about the closeness of God to us.
READ MOREThere are those who say that little importance should be given to the frequent confession of venial sins. Far more important, they say, is that general confession which the Church, surrounded by her children in the Lord at Mass makes during the penitential rite of the Mass the “I confess” is offered and the “Lord have mercy.”
READ MOREWe are placed between the things of this world, and spiritual goods from which eternal happiness consists: so that the more we cleave to the one, the more we withdraw from the other, and vice versa. Wherefore whoever cleaves wholly to the things of this world, so as to make them his reason for living, and to look upon them as the reason and rule of all he does, falls away altogether from spiritual goods. Hence this disorder is removed by the commandments.
READ MOREPope 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
READ MOREConcise: 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.
READ MOREThere 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.
READ MORECatholic 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.
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