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Mary Help of Christians is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with a feast day on May 24. St John Chrysostom was the first to describe this title, in AD 345. In more recent times, St. John Bosco and St. Vincent Pallotti promoted this devotion. It is associated with the defense of Christian Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from non-Christians especially militant Islam, for example, at the Battle of Lepanto when the attacking Turks were repelled by the Christian fleet.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller recently reflected on the meaning of blessings: On God's blessing and the fake blessing of this world

...(T)he Church teaches that Christ died on the cross for the sins of all people and that the Holy Spirit withholds God's grace from no one who turns to the Gospel so that they may lead a new and holy life in the footsteps of Christ.

Satisfaction is the final act which crowns the Sacrament of Confession. The sacramental sign is the absolution of our sins by Jesus through His priest. The act which the forgiven and absolved penitent agrees to perform after receiving absolution is precisely called his or her penance. Making satisfaction is the third act of the penitent, after contrition for sins and the confession of sins. Absolution does not take away all the disorder sin has caused: harm to self and to neighbor. This must be healed in this life or in the life to come.

In Rublev’s icon painting he depicts the three heavenly visitors to Abraham, reported in Genesis chapter 18, sitting at a table with a cup placed before them on the table. Rublev depicts the three as One Lord. Each holds a rod in his left hand, symbolizing their equality. Each wears a blue cloak, the color of divinity. And each face is the same, depicting their oneness.

The Compendium of the Social Teachings of the Church contains the following about communism:

With the Encyclical Letter Divini Redemptoris, on atheistic communism and Christian social doctrine, Pope Pius XI offered a systematic criticism of communism, describing it as “intrinsically perverse,” and indicated that the principal means for correcting the evils perpetrated by it could be found in the renewal of Christian life, the practice of evangelical charity, the fulfilment of the duties of justice at both the interpersonal and social levels in relation to the common good, and the institutionalization of professional and interprofessional groups.

We embrace prepackaged models, silently but forcefully “suggested” by a world that guides tastes, desires, and behaviors. Song lyrics enter everyday language, shaping the way we express ourselves and normalizing certain attitudes. Themes like easy success, money, instant pleasure, or superficial relationships are reiterated until they become familiar, almost inevitable. This isn't a direct imposition, but a slow habit that changes our mentality, especially among younger generations.

We have heard the passage from the Acts of the Apostles (20:17-38) in which Saint Paul speaks to the presbyters of Ephesus, intentionally recounted by Saint Luke as the testament of the apostle, as a discourse destined not only for the presbyters of Ephesus, but for the presbyters of all time. Saint Paul is speaking not only with those who were present in that place, he is really speaking with us, so let us try to understand a little of what he is saying to us, at this time. [...]

What is the role of the free market (private sector)? There are good reasons to hold that in many circumstances the free market is the most efficient instrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs. A truly competitive market is an effective instrument for attaining important objectives of justice: moderating the excessive profits of individual businesses, responding to consumers’ demands, bringing about a more efficient use and conservation of resources, rewarding entrepreneurship and innovation, making information available so that it is really possible to compare and purchase products in an atmosphere of healthy competition.

Transubstantiation: The Church makes use of this word in the Catechism to help us understand the meaning of the Holy Eucharist. A substance is what something is. Material substances have an outward appearance: color, weight, size, etc. In the Holy Eucharist bread stops being bread and wine stops being wine. The substance changes.

Father, accept this offering from your whole family. Grant us your peace in this life, save us from final damnation, and count us among those you have chosen. Canon of the Mass

But does Hell truly exist? The whole Gospel attests to the existence of Hell. Many a time does the merciful Saviour warn His disciples against it:

- “And if your right eye scandalizes you, pluck it out and cast it. from you. For it is expedient for you that one of your members should perish, rather than your whole body be cast into Hell. "(Matt5:29)

To live well is nothing other than to love God will all one’s heart, with all one’s soul and with all one’s efforts; from this it comes that love is kept whole and uncorrupted (through temperance). No misfortune can disturb it (and this is fortitude). It obeys only [God] (and this is justice), and is careful in discerning things, so as not to be surprised by deceit or trickery (and this is prudence)

St. Augustine De moribus ecclesiae 1,25,46
Catechism of the Catholic Church: #1809

Card. Gerhard Ludwig Muller, Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave a recent interview on March 3. Some edited highlights and observations: (see sabinopacciolla.com) The NOTES are NOT from the Cardinal’s interview.

About Pope Leo: With Pope Leo XIV, he states, the Church recovered a dimension that risked fading: the primacy of God. The new pontiff moves in the tradition of Saint Augustine, with Christ as central that emerges in every homily, in every text, in every public gesture.

Presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion should be a conscious decision, based on a reasoned judgment regarding one’s worthiness to do so, according to the Church’s objective criteria, asking such questions as: “Am I in full communion with the Catholic Church? Am I guilty of mortal sin? Have I incurred a penalty (e.g. excommunication, interdict) that forbids me to receive Holy Communion? Have I prepared myself by fasting for at least an hour?” The practice of indiscriminately presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion, merely because of being present at Mass, is an abuse that must be corrected (cf. Instruction “Redemptionis Sacramentum,” nos. 81, 83).

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."