Free Republic

Is the title of this piece apocalyptic hyperbole? I wish it were. But everyone in the country and most of the people in the wide world know that Donald Trump has not actually been indicted for the crime of giving hush money to a prostitute. He has been indicted for the crime of opposing the Leftist elites and challenging their control over the political system. For the first time in American history, a politician – indeed, a front-running presidential candidate – has been indicted in order to destroy his political chances. Americans used to take pride in the fact that...

A nurse who spent 28 days in a Covid coma fighting for her life has been saved after medics gave her Viagra. Mother-of-two Monica Almeida, 37, from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, was just three days away from having her ventilator turned off. Mrs Almeida was given the erectile dysfunction drug by her colleagues at Lincoln County Hospital. The ‘miracle’ drug caused her condition to improve in just a week and the level of oxygen she needed to drop by half as it opened up her airwaves. 'I had a little joke with the consultant after I came round because I knew him....

Cardinal Cupich has commanded one of his priests in Libertyville, IL to cease praying the Hail Mary and prayer to St. Michael the Archangel publicly after Mass. The laity may pray it silently on their own, but they may not (according to Cardinal Cupich) pray it aloud as a group. ...

As the Republican National Convention wrapped up last night, an amazing thing happened. Schubert's Ave Maria was sung in Latin by opera singer, Christopher Macchio. It was a beautiful moment. This was a master-stroke by Trump, likely suggested by Melania. I have posted it on some Catholic F-Book groups and it is being shared like wildfire. If you missed it, have a listen. Ave Maria Sung at White House

.....But that's exactly what churchgoers in Sri Lanka saw in booklets at a carol service on December 11. What they expected was the words to the Hail Mary, a common Christian prayer. What they got instead was the profanity-laced lyrics to rap legend Tupac Shakur's Hail Mary. Andrew Choksy, who attended the Joy to the World service where the lyrics were distributed, said he recognized the Tupac song straight away. Father Da Silva said the printer had been a "young boy" who had simply downloaded the wrong version of the song. WARNING LANGUAGE

STILLWATER — On the corner of Knoblock and Mathews, the southeast exterior of Gallagher-Iba Arena had turned into an impromptu Central Michigan pep rally Saturday. Players, parents and fans partying in the golden Oklahoma afternoon. Chippewas coach John Bonamego, smoking a victory cigar that seemed bigger than the football Corey Willis carried across the goal line on the play that shouldn't have existed, smiled from ear to ear. The coach who beat cancer last year had now beaten the 22nd-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys, 30-27. The Chippewas' first victory over a ranked team in a quarter century. Maybe the greatest Central...

On Saturday, astronomers discovered a new asteroid, just a few hours before it almost hit us. The asteroid is called 2016 QA2, and it missed the Earth by less than a quarter of the distance to the moon. That puts it about three times as far away from Earth as our farthest satellites. And we never saw it coming. So how did 2016 QA2 sneak up on us like that? For this particular asteroid, the answer seems to be that it has a very peculiar orbit. It's highly elliptical, which means it can usually be found hanging out by either...

U.S. Olympian Katie Ledecky is the world record holder in the 400-, 800- and 1500-meter freestyles, and the American record holder in the 500-, 1000- and 1650-yard freestyles.In the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, she will compete in the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyle. She has won Gold medals in the 2012 London Olympics and again in the 2016 Rio Olympics.But before every race Ledecky, a faithful Catholic, offers a Hail Mary. “I do say a prayer – or two – before any race. The Hail Mary is a beautiful prayer and I find that it calms me.” she said.In an interview with...

Rome, Italy, Dec 8, 2011 / 04:28 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the biblical description of a “woman clothed with the sun” in his remarks at Rome's Spanish Steps on the 2011 Feast of the Immaculate Conception. “What is the meaning of this image? It represents the Church and Our Lady at the same time,” the Pope told the crowd assembled before the nearby statue commemorating the 1854 definition of Mary's Immaculate Conception. “Before all, the 'woman' of the apocalypse is Mary herself.” The 12th chapter of the Biblical Apocalypse – also known as the Book of...

Full text of Michele Bachmann’s remarks, as provided by her office, in response to President Obama’s speech tonight: Unfortunately, it seems, every time the President speaks, his policies have cost the American people jobs and future prosperity. Tonight the President under the veil of one of the most sacred deliberative forums, a joint session of Congress, delivered another political speech where he doubled down on more of the same policies that are killing the economy. Mr. President, what among your proposals was new? What here hasn’t already been tried and failed before? While the President’s speech comes on the heels...

Surprised by the Joyful Mysteries They taught me how to say yes. By: Beth Dotson Brown For years I fingered my rosary at night when I couldn’t sleep, repeating my childhood prayers without thinking much about their meaning. I wasn’t even fully aware of the “mysteries” I was supposed to be meditating on; I just wanted the mantra to lull me into slumber.Then Mary started becoming more apparent in my life. There was no one spectacular “sighting” of the Blessed Mother; she just started showing up in prayers from friends, artwork I admired, and the new rosary my husband...

Original title of story running on wide-circulation daily Mainichi Shimbun today here in Tokyo is: "米中間選挙：大統領支持率低迷で民主苦戦　ミシェル夫人「好感度」頼み" My summary translation follows (of the main points):

Abwoon D'Bashmaya - The Lords Prayer in Aramaic - YouTube Shlom Lech Maryam-Ave Maria in syriac/aramaic ماجدة الرومي - YouTube Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that Jesus, His Blessed Mother and the Apostles were born and lived in the Holy Land. The common parlance of their days was Syriac-Aramaic. Hebrew was the liturgical language of the Temple. I recently attended a Hafli - a Lebanese feast, much like a wedding but without the bride and groom. The organizing committee brought in a band that played Middle Eastern (contemporary) songs and the highlight of the evening was a belly...

In an action that spoke far louder than words, Pope Benedict yesterday walked out of an interfaith meeting in Jerusalem after the chief Islamic judge of the Palestinian Authority launched into an anti-Israeli diatribe. The pontiff, on his first day in Jerusalem, did not realize at first that Sheikh Taysir al-Tamimi, speaking in Arabic, was condemning the "crimes of the Jewish state" and accusing Israel of having "slaughtered women, children and senior citizens." But as soon as he was told the nature of the sheikh's tirade, he stood and left the meeting, which took place at Notre Dame church, before...

NEW YORK - Republican Rudy Giuliani challenged political convention in shrugging off early primaries while staking his presidential candidacy on delegate-rich, later-voting states, a strategy that could be a colossal failure or a masterful calculation. The former New York mayor is suffering from money woes and hasn't won a single primary. Other Republicans have been gobbling up delegates and national media attention, but Giuliani has won one key bet he placed long ago: Even after the first few contests, there would no clear front-runner in the GOP field. As his opponents spent time, money and energy battling in Iowa, New...

A little six-year-old Protestant boy had often heard his Catholic companions reciting the prayer "Hail Mary." He liked it so much that he copied it, memorized it and would recite it every day. "Look, Mommy, what a beautiful prayer," he said to his mother one day. "Never again say it," answered the mother. "It is a superstitious prayer of Catholics who adore idols and think Mary a goddess. After all, she is a woman like any other. Come on, take this Bible and read it. It contains everything that we are bound to do and have to do." From that...

“WOW -- coming from RC tradition I thought I’d never return to the Rosary. But here it is and here SHE IS. Blessed be, Mairly.” The “here” in this message, found on herchurch.org, is Ebenezer Lutheran Church in San Francisco. But the SHE is not the Mother of God. SHE is “God/dess.” On Wednesdays at 7 p.m., Ebenezer opens its sanctuary for the “Christian Goddess Rosary.” The church says it offers “Goddess Rosary Beads” and that “prayers and suggested meditations will be on hand as well as incense, candles and bells.” “The Goddess rosary is grounded in traditions of...

Folks, recently I was perusing some publications stored in the Association of Hebrew Catholic's website, when I stumbled upon the Hail Mary in Hebrew. As I read through the transliteration I was struck by its inner rhythm and coherence. It's poetic and beautiful. It is, in fact, probably as close as we are going to get to what the Archangel Gabriel actually said to the Blessed Mother – provided he didn't speak to her in Aramaic, which he probably did. Here's the prayer in Hebrew: Here's the transliteration:Shalom lakh Miryam habtulah hakdoshah m'leah khesed. Elohim imekh. At m'vorekhet beyn kol...

SACRAMENTO -- A judge Tuesday rejected a request by Republican activists for a preelection hearing on their bid to bar Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown from becoming attorney general if the Democrat wins Nov. 7. Brown supporters declared victory and predicted that the lawsuit, which they called a "political stunt," would evaporate after his election day showdown with state Sen. Chuck Poochigian (R-Fresno). Republican officials say they will continue to press for a hearing after the election to get a fair airing of their challenge to Brown's qualifications to hold office. The activists focused their challenge on Brown's eligibility under a...

  THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY Feast: March 25 This great festival takes its name from the happy tidings brought by the angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary, concerning the incarnation of the Son of God. It commemorates the most important embassy that was ever known: an embassy sent by the King of kings, performed by one of the chief princes of his heavenly court; directed, not to the kings or emperors of the earth, but to a poor, unknown, retired virgin, who, being endowed with the most angelic purity of soul and body, being withal...