Blogposts

Pope Benedict while Cardinal Ratzinger expressed himself on the title of this essay in a book called The Ratzinger Report. He said: It (the saying about Mary you can never say enough) 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.

Letter on the celebration of the liturgy during and after the COVID 19 pandemic to the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of the Catholic Church. (Edited)

The pandemic caused by the Covid 19 virus has produced upheavals not only in social, family, economic, educational, and work dynamics, but also in the life of the Christian community, including the liturgical dimension. To prevent the spread of the virus, rigid social distancing was necessary, which had repercussions on a fundamental trait of Christian life: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Mt 18:20); “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And all who believed were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:42-44).

There are so many great feast days in September.  There is the birthday of Our Lady on September 8 one of only three birthdays celebrated by the Church: Our Lord’s, Our Lady’s and St. John the Baptist.  The birthday according to the Faith is the re-birth of baptism and hence the importance of the name-day of the person and entering eternal life. There is the feast of the great doctor and father of the Church St. John Chrysostom on September 13.

Then there’s the great feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14 one of the oldest feasts in the Church.  A great book about the discovery of the Holy Cross of Christ is the story of St. Helena the mother of Constantine the Great.  British author Evelyn Waugh has written a short resume of St. Helena’s life. 

The former chaplain to Queen Elizabeth has decided to return to the Faith of his ancestors of England before Henry VIII. Click here to find out why.

By Jeff Z. Klein (Niagara Frontier Heritage Project)
Father Thomas Conway, Navy chaplain for the USS Indianapolis.

The sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis in the early morning hours of July 30, 1945, is the worst disaster to befall a single ship in the history of the US Navy. Some 300 men lost their lives when the heavy cruiser was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and went down, and almost 600 more died over the next four days, floating without food or water in the shark-infested Pacific, their distress signals unheard or ignored.

George Agamben is a philosopher in Europe sounding the alarm about the melding of health and political control. His remarks reflect Italy which was devastated by but it also by and large reflects the situation in the United States. Here are his remarks: