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Featured Term (selected at random:NATURAL VIRTUE A good moral habit whose principles, object, and purpose are natural to the human person. This means any virtue whose existence in knowable by the light of natural reason and whose practice is possible (at least for a time) without the help of supernatural grace. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Catholic apologists keep very busy clearing up common misconceptions about the Faith: explaining how the Church’s teaching, practice, and history are misunderstood—or willfully misrepresented—by its opponents.Islam, too, has its apologists. They also claim that many critiques of the Muslim religion are based on ignorance or animus, and insist that the record must be set straight.One such apologist is Princeton University Muslim chaplain Sohaib Sultan, whose recent piece in Time, “ISIS Is Ignoring Islam’s Teachings on Yazidis and Christians,” would seem to be something that every Catholic, and indeed every free person, should welcome. Sultan condemns the Islamic State (formerly...

Featured Term (selected at random:CANONICAL LIFE A rule of life drawn up in ancient times for the clergy, mainly the cathedral assistants. Intermediate between the monastic life and secular priesthood, they lived in community. Many later become canons regular of St. Augustine (354-430), who introduced this mode of life into his own episcopal household. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Featured Term (selected at random:TRANSITIONAL DIACONATE The temporary state of men who intend to go on for the priesthood. Before their ordination as deacons they must indicate whether they wish to enter the permanent or the transitional diaconate. They must also decide whether to marry or remain celibate. Once they are ordained deacons, they cannot marry and continue in the Church's ministry. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Featured Term (selected at random:DEGRADATION A penalty by which a cleric is reduced to the lay state; a deprivation, an abasement. Its effects may be deposition and privation of a religious habit. It is permanent unless remitted by a superior after completion of conditions required as penance. It can only be imposed for things labeled criminal by law or if one continues giving scandal after deposition. It is real if accompanied by formalities prescribed by the Roman Pontifical, and verbal when inflicted by a person authorized to sentence. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic...

Featured Term (selected at random:OPERATING GRACE Similar to preventing or prevenient grace, it precedes the free consent of the will or accompanies it in the performance of an act. The thought of doing a good act suggests itself with no effort on the part of the human being, as an indeliberate impulse. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Featured Term (selected at random:UNITATIS REDINTEGRATIO Decree on Ecumenism of the Second Vatican Council. It deals with the Catholic principles on ecumenism, the practice of ecumenism, and the churches and ecclesiastical communities separated from the Roman Apostolic See. A careful distinction is made between spiritual ecumenism, mainly through prayer and the practice of virtue, and practical ecumenism, which actively fosters the reunification of Christianity. Also the faithful are told to recognize various levels of nearness to the Catholic Church, in descending order, the Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Protestants (November 21, 1964). All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John...

Let's see what the Father of Protestantism thought about the Blessed Mother..... Despite the radicalism of early Protestantism toward many ancient Catholic "distinctives," such as the Communion of the Saints, Penance, Purgatory, Infused Justification, the Papacy, the priesthood, sacramental marriage, etc., it may surprise many to discover that Martin Luther was rather conservative in some of his doctrinal views, such as on baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist, and particularly the Blessed Virgin Mary. Luther indeed was quite devoted to Our Lady, and retained most of the traditional Marian doctrines which were held then and now by the Catholic Church. This is...

Priest on Road to Canonization Given Highest US Military Honor Editor of Biography Reflects on What Fr. Kapaun Has to Teach Us Washington, D.C., April 12, 2013 (Zenit.org) Kathleen Naab | Thursday in the White House, President Barack Obama bestowed on Fr. Emil Kapaun the nation's highest military recognition, the Medal of Honor.The priest, who died in a prisoner of war camp during the Korean war, is also being considered for canonization.The life that won Fr. Kapaun not only such high military praise, but also possible recognition as a canonized saint, is the subject of a biography called "The...

What a beautiful salutation to call upon Our Most Blessed Mother! One may be tempted to think that these words are an exaggerated expression of piety as they apply also to her Son, whose sacrifice on the Cross obtained our Redemption. However, God’s Redemption began not with an imposition upon an unworthy humanity, but through the free gift of a woman’s fiat that first opened the door of heaven to bring down the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. This is why St. Bernard, and the Church throughout the ages echoing his words, refers to Mary as the “cause...

A story which happened in Buenos Aires eight years ago helps us to understand the position adopted by Pope Francis regarding the ISIS, the “Islamic State” which has embarked on a merciless hunt against Christians. Avoiding, as always, naming Islam and fanatic Muslims, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, invited “stopping the unjust aggressors” without “any bombing” or “starting a war”. A choice which does not seem to leave escape for the victims and for this judged sterile by many: believers (including Antonio Socci from these columns) and non-believers (the case of Massimo Cacciari). In reality this intervention is perfectly in line with...

The Second Vatican Council was not evil: no Council of the Church ever is. But because it was dominated by Modernist experts, periti, the considerations of its bishops reflected their influence. Thus, the Council served as a catalyst for the resurgence of the heresy within the Church.

“Behold this heart which has so loved men.” – Jesus Christ “Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, of its very nature, is a worship of the love with which God, through Jesus, loved us, and at the same time, an exercise of our own love by which we are related to God and to other men.” - Pope Pius XII At the very center of Christianity is love. Love is the whole message, the whole law. Now, I don’t mean love in the sense of quickly passing infatuation or sexual attraction, two mistaken definitions of our confused culture, but...

Featured Term (selected at random:VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES Repository of confidential documents of the Holy See, going back to the early centuries. Deterioration of the original papyri, transfers, and political upheavals caused the almost complete loss of the collections earlier than Pope Innocent III. In the fifteenth century the Archives were kept in Castel Sant'Angelo. In 1810, Napoleon ordered the Archives of the Holy See to be transferred to Paris, and though later returned to Rome many documents were lost. The Archives are now housed in a special building off the Piazza of St. Peter's. to the Archives is attached the...

Yes we will be shunned and scorned for bringing up these important problems with Vatican II documents. But, all the prophets were shunned and killed for criticizing the leaders of the people of God, the Israelites. We are so blessed to be traditional Catholics and to know there was a Catholic Church and many councils before 1963.

Featured Term (selected at random:KIDDUSHIN Literally "sanctification," the Jewish marriage service and state of matrimony. Essential to the wedding is the ring ceremony, in which the groom places the ring on the forefinger of the bride's right hand and says, "Behold thou art consecrated unto me, according to the law of Moses and of Israel." The ceremony takes place under a Huppah or (canopy), symbolizing the new home to which the groom is taking the bride. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Featured Term (selected at random:OMNIPRESENCE God being simultaneously wherever he is, since he is present everywhere. The divine omnipresence is twofold, by nature and by grace. By nature God is present in all things by essence, knowledge, and power. This is the presence of a cause in the things that share in God's goodness. By his essence, he is substantially in all things, including the created spiritual essences (angels, demons, human souls) as the immediate origin of their existence. by his knowledge, he exercises his wisdom directly in all creation down to the least details. By his power, he operates...

Time for another ELCA "conversation," this time regarding "who is welcome" to Holy Communion. An innocuous-sounding invitation to participate came out a few weeks ago, and and similar notice appears again in the Summer 2014 Seeds for the Parish, now appearing in snail boxes across the ELCA but not yet on its website. Resources for the conversation will be available at www.elca.org/worship "by mid-August," but so far not yet. Over at lutheranforum.org, Paul Hinlicky will have none of this innocuousness in yesterday's post The Truth about "Radical Hospitality". At its conclusion, he invites readers (I would presume ELCA clergy and...

Featured Term (selected at random:IMITATION OF SAINTS The practice of striving to put into practice in one's own life the virtues that the saints practiced in theirs. This is one of the reasons why the Church canonizes saints, to give the faithful secure patterns of holiness in every period of Christian history and on every level of human society. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

This coming August 22, the Feast of Mary, Queen of Heaven will be celebrated throughout the world. Deepertruth will focus this Tuesday on this most important topic. The Marian teaching “Queen of Heaven” is steeped in Old Testament tradition. There are those who misunderstand this teaching and will even claim it is Pagan. Nothing can be furthest from the truth. Some will surely want to raise the scripture coming from Jeremiah 7:16-18, “You, now, do not intercede for this people; raise not in their behalf a pleading prayer! Do not urge me, for I will not listen to you. Do...