Blogposts

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

12-29-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

The Church teaches that the Mass is the same sacrifice as the sacrifice of the Cross. Click here to help deepen your understanding of this foundational teaching of the Church.

The early Church summed up Mary’s Maternity in a single Greek word.

12-27-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

In the year 431 there was a fierce debate raging in the Catholic Church regarding a specific title of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The debate required a rare Ecumenical Council at the city of Ephesus to resolve the issue. Two different arguments were presented, one by Bishop Nestorius of Constantinople and the other by St. Cyril of Alexandria. Nestorius firmly believed that Mary should be called Christotokos, “Birth-giver of Christ” (also translated as “Christ-bearer”).

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Go to St. Joseph

12-11-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

To commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the proclamation of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, Pope Francis has declared the Year of St. Joseph which began December 8, 2020 and will go to December 2021. Read his Apostolic Letter about this here. Many plenary indulgences* are available to the faithful during this here. You can read about them here.

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The Last Things We All Will Encounter: Teachings from the Catechism

11-15-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

The Particular Judgement

1021 Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ.592 The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith…

1022 Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death ....

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Purgatory

11-08-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

Purgatory is the purification of the person’s love for God after death. It is a very consoling teaching and part of the Catholic Faith. St.Catherine of Genoa can help us appreciate more this great sign of God’s love and mercy. Prayer for the souls in purgatory is an act of love neighbor and a work of mercy. Click here to find out more about purification after death.

VOTE LIFE 2020

10-28-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

13 Things every Catholic Voter Should Know Before the November Election. Read Voter Guide from LifeSiteNews here.

Special Notice for the Month of November

10-28-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

This year due to the pandemic, you can gain a plenary indulgence for the faithful departed on any eight days during the month of November by devoutly visit a cemetery and, even if only mentally, pray for the faithful departed; [Note: one plenary indulgence for each day, if the usual conditions are met listed below. The eight days chosen do not have to be consecutive. This indulgence is exclusively for the benefit of souls in purgatory. You can also gain a plenary indulgence for the faithful departed on November 2, All Souls Day by piously visiting a church or oratory and prayer the Our Father and the Apostles Creed. May you have a blessed November praying for your departed kin and friends.

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From the Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of New York

10-27-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

Join us in praying the Divine Mercy Novena in these nine days leading up to the election. Tune in live on Facebook to pray with us on the last day, Nov. 3rd, at 3:00PM.

Other Ways to Pray

  1. Liturgy suggestions leading up to an election
  2. Nine Ways to Pray as a Faithful Citizen
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The Great Feasts of October

10-12-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

The theme for October is honoring our Lady and her Rosary; hence in October we have the great feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary originally Our Lady of Victory established to celebrate our Lady’s intervention in the victory at Lepanto over the Ottoman Empire, seeking to overrun Europe and supplant Christianity.  Prior to that there are the feast days of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus and St. Francis of Assisi two very beloved saints.  Not as well-known and popular is St. Bruno the founder of the Carthusian monks on October 6.  He has the famous saying: The Cross stands while the world changes. 

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How do I avoid an addiction to social media? I am more of a geek, can I serve God on my computer?

10-11-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

Attention techies, computer geeks, and all users of technology: your patron saint, a fifteen-year old!

Many saints would have jumped at the chance to have an instant way to communicate God’s Truth with millions of people. Today we are privileged to have that sort of communication at our finger tips via the internet, so how can Catholics take advantage of it? One young computer geek who is now on his way to canonization illuminates the way ahead for us, with the wonderful example of his life. Carlo Acutis may have only been 15 when he died, but he lived a life of holiness and took advantage of his skills with computers to tell people about God, by creating a comprehensive catalogue of Eucharistic miracles.

Learn more at www.ctsbooks.org/carlo-acutis-saint-digital-age/.

The Mystery of Halloween: How It Reverted Back to Paganism

10-08-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

There are mysteries about Halloween. Why is it like it is? Is there really an occult underpinning? Does it have any supernatural ramifications? One little-known fact is that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses -- his rejection of Catholic teaching -- on the door of the Wittenberg church on October 31, 1517. Those theses led of course to breaking away from the Catholic Church as Protestantism was born, soon itself to splinter into dozens of Protestant denominations. A former monk and priest, Luther preached not only against the sale of indulgences and corruption in the Church (which were real), but also against the Mass, the meaning of Holy Communion, the Pope, and saints as intercessors with Jesus.

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The Closing of the Regional School and the Empty School Building

10-01-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

The closing of the St. Paul the Apostle Regional Catholic School has caused much pain, sorrow, anger to the administration, teachers, and staff of the school and the parish families including the clergy of the parish which is very understandable. A number of things need to be pointed out:

  • In the autumn of 2013 St. Paul the Apostle School ceased to be a parish-school and became a regional school. This means that the parish no longer ran the school. This was taken over by the regional school system run by the Archdiocese.
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