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Featured Term (selected at random):REVIVFICATION Belief that all the sacraments, except the Eucharist and penance, confer the grace originally available, once the obstacle preventing the grace is removed. It is assumed that a person wants to receive the sacrament but lackes the proper dispositions, mainly the state of grace for sacraments of the living and adequate contrition for sacraments of the dead. When one attains the state of grace or arrives at sufficient contrition, the grace of the sacraments is "revived" without repeating the sacramental rite. The validity of baptism, confirmation, matrimony, and orders is always certain in these circumstances....

IntroductionROY WENZL & TRAVIS HEYING What soldiers say Kapaun did is so heroic that it defies believability. Some people regard the meek man as one who will not put up a fight for anything but will let others run over him .... In fact from human experience we know that to accomplish anything good a person must make an effort; and making an effort is putting up a fight against the obstacles. - Father Emil Kapaun Emil Kapaun — priest, soldier and Korean War hero — is a rare man. He has been awarded the Medal of Honor, the...

The Baltimore Catechism Revised Edition (1941) Part Three: The Sacraments and Prayer Prayer Lesson 37 from the Baltimore Cathechism475. What is prayer? Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God.Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens. (Lamentations 3:41)476. Why do we pray? We pray: to adore God, expressing to Him our love and loyalty; to thank Him for His favors; to obtain from Him the pardon of our sins and the remission of their punishment; to ask for graces and blessings for ourselves and others. Watch and pray,...

This past week we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. (And, given my mention of Fatima, you may wonder why I have Our Lady of Guadalupe pictured here, but more on that in a moment). But as for Fatima, with all the emphasis on the magnificent teaching and prophetic fulfillment of that apparition, something that has always intrigued me is that she would appear of all places in a town called Fatima. Why Fatima, a town that recalls the daughter of Mohammed?Indeed, I have often heard that Muslims hold our Blessed Mother Mary in high regard. This reverence...

Featured Term (selected at random):INTELLECTUAL VISION Supernatural knowledge in which the mind receives an extraordinary grasp of some revealed truth without the aid of sensible impressions. Thus St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) wrote of his seeing "the humanity of Christ with the eyes of the soul." These visions take place either through ideas that are already acquired and that are then co-ordinated and interpreted by God, or through infused ideas, representing divine things, that are thus better perceived than a person would otherwise perceive them. At times the visions are obscure and their object is only dimly understood; at other times...

Suppose, one day, you’re reading a historical account of life in Alaska in the 1920s and one of the main characters in the account is named Sting.“That’s surprising,� you think.Suppose that Sting is portrayed as married to a woman named Oprah.“That’s improbable,� you recognize.Then you read that Sting has a brother named Spock.You say to yourself: “Okay. Something is wrong here.�What is it? And what does all this have to do with the gospels?You might be surprised, but the names of the figures mentioned in the gospels actually provide evidence that they’re true.Here’s the story . . . The basic problem...

Featured Term (selected at random):FAMILY ROSARY International movement promoting recitation of the Rosary by the members of a family at home. Encouraged by the popes, the practice was singled out for special recommendation by Pope Paul VI in his Apostolic Exhortation in 1974 on devotion to the Blessed Virgin. "There is no doubt," he declared, "that after the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, the high point which family prayer can reach, the Rosary, should be considered as one of the best and most efficacious prayers in common that the Christian family is invited to recite" (Marialis Cultus, 54)....

St. Petersburg, May 14, Interfax - A monument to the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna has been unveiled next to the Church of the Resurrection near Varshavsky Railway Terminal in St. Petersburg. Sculptor Mikhail Pereyaslavets' creation, the monument is dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the House of Romanov and the 120th anniversary of Nicholas and Alexandra's royal wedding. The sculpture was built with donations from the parish and was sanctified by Archbishop Markell of Tsarskoye Selo. The dedication ceremony, held next to the Church of the Resurrection on Obvdnoi Kanal, was attended by the church...

May 15, 2013 Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter   Reading 1 Acts 20:28-38 At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus:“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flockof which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers,in which you tend the Church of Godthat he acquired with his own Blood.I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you,and they will not spare the flock.And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truthto draw the disciples away after them.So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night...

The Controversy Over the Third Secret: Objections and Responses | Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R. | Appendix D from Fatima For Today: The Urgent Marian Message of Hope The Third Secret has been dealt with in two chapters in this book. Chapter 8 presented the content of the Third Secret as Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta saw it revealed to them. Chapter 16 presented how Sister Lucia wrote the Third Secret on a separate manuscript and then placed it in a sealed envelope. The chapter also traces what popes John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II did after reading it. The...

Featured Term (selected at random):MYSTICI CORPORIS CHRISTI Encyclical of Pope Pius XII, published in 1943, on the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ. The Church is a body because she is a visible, living, and growing organism, animated by the Spirit of God. She is a mystical body because her essential nature is a mystery, and all her teachings, laws, and rites are sacramental sources of grace. And she is the mystical body of Christ because he founded the Church. He remains her invisible Head and through him all blessings are communicated to her members, and through them to...

Pope Francis set a record by canonizing 800 15th Century laymen that refused to convert to Islam and brutally died because of it. It is a story of faith and strength in the face of death, death from a brutal and barbaric people. But NBC is worried for poor Pope Francis. They are worried that acknowledging that these 800 heroes died true martyrs death and thus are assured of heaven, that the Pope may have hurt Islam's feelings. But no worries, there is someone more evil than the Pope to blame. But the choice to highlight their sacrifice may put...

WATERVLIET -- Parts of the bell tower of Saint Patrick's church in Watervliet came crashing down late Friday morning. But most of the structure remained standing. Moments later, a few more columns were ripped out. The bell tower itself didn't go anywhere. Then all eyes were fixated on the structure when several cranes started pulling on steel cables hooked up to the top corners of the tower. Some residents who fought to stop the demolition, prayed for the cables to snap. Their prayers were answered. The steel cables and cranes were no match. The bell tower remains. "It doesn't...

In 640 AD Christianity is spread over all of North Africa. Egypt, Syria are centers of Christianity. Iraq is nearly completely Christian, there are Christians all over the Persian Empire. Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan etc. are Christian, 100% Christian. Egypt is a font of Christian knowledge as is Edessa, as is SyriaEurope is missionary terriroty with the Picts, Germanics etc. either pagan or Arians...the Pentarchy, the 5 Churches: Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople and Rome --> only 1 is in EuropeLoss 1: Then Chalcedon occurs and Egypt, Syria etc. has most of the people alienated from the Chalcedonian government. Net result, when...

Featured Term (selected at random):ANDREW A fisherman and follower of John the Baptist. He was in John's company when he saw Jesus for the first time and stayed with him for the rest of the day. Convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, he took his brother, Simon Peter, to meet him the next day. This was the occasion on which Jesus told Andrew's brother that from being called Simon his name would be changed to Cephas, meaning the Rock (John 1:35-42). The two brothers were the first apostles chosen by Jesus; they accepted his summons to become fishers of men and...

Today is the anniversary of the Dedication of the Roman church Santa Maria “ad Martyres“, which took place in 609. This church is also called the Pantheon.Since on upcoming Pentecost, Roman firefighters will be dropping red rose petals through the oculus of the mighty building, I figured we could review what I have posted in the past.In Rome on Pentecost, in the Pantheon, now a minor basilica called S. Maria ad martyres there is a beautiful custom.Rose petals are dropped through the circular oculus opening at the top of the dome, which is the widest is all of Rome, for...

Full Question Until recently, I always thought Catholics worshiped on the Sabbath, and that the early Church moved the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Is this true? Answer This is a common misunderstanding. Catholics do not worship on the Sabbath, which according to Jewish law is the last day of the week (Saturday), when God rested from all the work he had done in creation (Gen. 2:2-3). Catholics worship on the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week (Sunday, the eighth day); the day when God said "Let there be light" (Gen. 1:3); the day when Christ rose from...

EXPLAINING THE IDEA OF INFALLIBILITY Father William Saunders Time magazine made Pope John Paul II "Man of the Year." In the article, a survey was included which asked about infallibility. I think the survey questions and other statements were confused. Would you please explain the idea of infallibility?—A reader in Woodbridge Before delving into the question of infallibility, we must be certain as to how we understand truth. As Catholics, we believe in an absolute, immutable truth rooted in God. This truth has been perfectly revealed in Christ, for He is the Word who became flesh (Jn 1:14), and...

(Vatican Radio) On Sunday 12 May, Pope Francis will preside at a Mass for the Canonization of Blessed Antonio Primaldo and Companions; Blessed Laura di Santa Caterina da Siena Montoya y Upegui, virgin and foundress of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Mary Immaculate and St Catherine of Siena; Blessed Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, co-foundress of the Congregation of the Handmaids of St Margaret Mary (Alacoque) and the Poor. The announcement of the canonization was made at a consistory on 11 February – a consistory made historic by Benedict XVI’s announcement that he would resign the papacy. Among those being...

Featured Term (selected at random):REUBEN The oldest of Jacob's twelve sons (Genesis 29:32). The first incident recorded in Genesis involving Reuben was his immoral conduct with his father's concubine (Genesis 35:22). Even in his old age Jacob did not forgive this, for in the series of prophecies he made concerning his sons he described Reuben as "foremost in pride, foremost in strength, uncontrolled as a flood, you shall not be foremost, for you mounted your father's bed, and so defiled my couch to my hurt" (Genesis 49:3-4). But Reuben manifested redeeming qualities. When his jealous brothers proposed killing Joseph, it...

Featured Term (selected at random):MASS OF THE PRESANCTIFIED The concluding service on Good Friday. The priest returns the Host consecrated on Holy Thursday from the repository to the main altar. After the recitation of several prayers, including the Our Father, the priest consumes the Host. He then gives Communion to the faithful. All the hosts received have been consecrated before, since there really is no Mass on Good Friday. The liturgy terminates abruptly after Holy Communion. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Last week I maintained that the patriarch Abraham is in certain key ways a paradigmatic figure for today’s Israel. A paradigm, though, would be expected to show some consistency in his conduct. In at least one important regard, Abraham seems to engage in behaviors that radically contradict each other. When God prepares to leave Abraham’s tent encampment for Sodom, having heard that “sin is very grievous” there and in Gomorrah, Abraham rightly infers that—should the rumors turn out to be true—God intends to do away with these dens of depravity. Yet, at that point, Abraham seems to show incredible...

Featured Term (selected at random):   ANALOGY OF FAITH The Catholic doctrine that every individual statement of belief must be understood in the light of the Church's whole objective body of faith. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Gregorian Chant. Credit: Carl Bunderson/CNA. Denver, Colo., May 9, 2013 / 04:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Gregorian chant is freely available and a music of the people – not the domain of a stuffy, Catholic elite as it is often perceived, says a music scholar from Alabama. “You can listen to it, download perfect editions, you can make your own editions, it's freely shared with the world,� said Jeffrey Tucker, managing editor of “Sacred Music� and founder of “The Chant Café� blog. Chant is “distributed on an open source platform� and “available to everybody – just like the Gospel, and...

The Baltimore Catechism Revised Edition (1941) Part Three: The Sacraments and Prayer The Sacramentals Lesson 36 from the Baltimore Cathechism469. What are sacramentals? Sacramentals are holy things or actions of which the Church makes use to obtain for us from God, through her intercession, spiritual and temporal favors.And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. (John 3:14-15)470. How do the sacramentals obtain favors from God? The sacramentals obtain favors from God through the prayers...

The autobiography of Mother Dolores Hart (written with her long-time friend, Richard DeNeut), The Ear of the Heart: An Actress' Journey from Hollywood to Holy Vows, is now available from Ignatius Press. Here is some of the descriptive copy, from the Ignatius Press site: Dolores Hart stunned Hollywood in 1963, when after ten highly successful feature films, she chose to enter a contemplative monastery. ... Dolores was a bright and beautiful college student when she made her film debut with Elvis Presley in Paramount's 1957 Loving You. She acted in nine more movies with other big stars such as...

Featured Term (selected at random):SIN AGAINST FAITH The deliberate withholding of assent to what God has revealed. As commonly understood, there are five principal sins against faith: profession of a false religion, willful doubt, disbelief, or denial of an article of faith, and culpable ignorance of the doctrines of the Catholic Church. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Beer is another one of those testimonies to how the Catholic Church built European civilization. It is true that brewing was widely practiced in the ancient world, but the process was very primitive, even as simple as soaking a loaf of bread in water. Modern brewing practices grew up within Benedictine monasteries, where beer provided good sustenance, sanitary drink, and probably some mirth (at least for the pilgrims). The monks even created a special brew to sustain Lenten fasts, the double bock, classically seen in Paulaner’s Salvator (“The Savior”; look for St. Francis Paola on the Paulener label). The French...

The Baltimore Catechism Revised Edition (1941) Part Three: The Sacraments and Prayer Matrimony Lesson 35 from the Baltimore Cathechism457. What is the sacrament of Matrimony? Matrimony is the sacrament by which a baptized man and a baptized woman bind themselves for life in a lawful marriage and receive the grace to discharge their duties.And God created man to his own image; to the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them. And God blessed them, saying "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth." (Genesis 1:27-28)458. What are the chief duties of husband and wife in...

Featured Term (selected at random):   FREEDOM OF GOD The liberty of God relative to creatures. God loves himself of necessity, but he loves and wills outside himself with freedom. This divine liberty is the freedom to act or not to act (liberty of contradiction), for example, to create the world. And it is the freedom to choose various goods or indifferent actions (liberty of specification), for example, to create this or that world. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

...Bruce R. McConkie was a boy growing up in Monticello, Utah... ...the son grew to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve from 1972 until his death in 1985, well respected and remembered for his written and spoken discourses in which he taught the doctrines of the gospel with clarity and power. The above...was recounted by Elder McConkie’s son Joseph Fielding McConkie on April 11 in an address in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square in Salt Lake City for the monthly Men and Women of Faith Lecture Series sponsored by the Church History Library. His topic was...

Beer is another one of those testimonies to how the Catholic Church built European civilization. It is true that brewing was widely practiced in the ancient world, but the process was very primitive, even as simple as soaking a loaf of bread in water. Modern brewing practices grew up within Benedictine monasteries, where beer provided good sustenance, sanitary drink, and probably some mirth (at least for the pilgrims). The monks even created a special brew to sustain Lenten fasts, the double bock, classically seen in Paulaner’s Salvator (“The Savior”; look for St. Francis Paola on the Paulener label).The French Revolution...

Featured Term (selected at random):SUPERNATURAL ORDER The sum total of heavenly destiny and all the divinely established means of reaching that destiny, which surpass the mere powers and capacities of human nature. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

At the heart of several cities in Belgium lies an unexpected treasure. A gate in a high brick wall creaks open, to reveal a cluster of small, whitewashed, steep-roofed houses round a church. Cobbled alleyways run between them and tiny lawns, thickly planted with flowers, grow in front of them. The cosiness, the neatness and the quiet suggest a hortus conclusus, a medieval metaphor both for virginal women and the walled garden of paradise. Any veiled women seen there now, however, processing to Mass or tying up hollyhocks in their dark habits and white wimples, are ghosts. Marcella Pattyn...

POLL BELOWThe Holy Father is, as I type, at Santa Maria Maggiore for recitation of the Most Holy Rosary.Do you say the Rosary?Some shots from the live feed.In Italy it is customary to end the Rosary with recitation of the Litany of Loreto.Some will prefer that Francis use a stole or a cope. But in the past Popes have some times used them, sometimes not.Now for the poll. Anyone can use the poll, but only those who have registered (and whom I have approved) can comment. I cannot tell who you are or how individuals “vote�. I say part or...

The Baltimore Catechism Revised Edition (1941) Part Three: The Sacraments and Prayer Extreme Unction and Holy Orders Lesson 34 from the Baltimore Cathechism443. What is Extreme Unction? Extreme Unction is the sacrament which, through the anointing with blessed oil by the priest, and through his prayer, gives health and strength to the soul and sometimes to the body when we are in danger of death from sickness, accident, or old age.Is any one among you sick? Let him bring in the presbyters of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the...

Featured Term (selected at random):CLAIRVOYANCE Seeing or knowing events occurring at a distance without the use of sensibly perceptible means of communication. As with telepathy, the available evidence indicates that this is a rare but natural phenomenon. Its exercise and evaluation should therefore be based on the same principles as other human actions. Clairvoyance is one of the familiar physical phenomena of mysticism. But the Church's custom is to be very circumspect about admitting anything more than natural psychic powers and cautious in warning the faithful about the possibility of demonic intervention. (Etym. French clairvoyant, clear seeing.) All items in...

Dr. James Hitchcock was a guest recently on EWTN's "Bookmark" to talk with host Doug Keck about his book, History of the Catholic Church: From the Apostolic Age to the Third Millennium (Ignatius Press, 2013). Here is the video of that interview, in which Dr. Hitchcock discusses several different eras of history, some ancient and modern heresies, and common misunderstandings about the Church and her history: EWTN Bookmark - 2013-04-21 - James Hitchcock - YouTube Video The Catholic Church is the longest-enduring institution in the world. Beginning with the first Christians and continuing in our present day, the Church has...

Candida Moss, a professor of early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame and a practicing Catholic, wants to shatter what she calls the “myth” of martyrdom in the Christian faith. Sunday school tales of early Christians being rounded up at their secret catacomb meetings and thrown to the lions by evil Romans are mere fairy tales, Moss writes in a new book. In fact, in the first 250 years of Christianity, Romans mostly regarded the religion's practitioners as meddlesome members of a superstitious cult. The government actively persecuted Christians for only about 10 years, Moss suggests, and even then...

The Otranto Cathedral was consecrated in 1088. In August 1480, clergy and survivors of the Ottoman siege of Otranto took refuge in the cathedral – the Ottoman force eventually broke in and killed those inside, turning the church into a stable or a mosque and destroying its 13th century frescoes. After Otranto was retaken in 1481 by a force under Alfonso V of Aragon it was turned back into a church and heavily rebuilt to house the relics of the Martyrs of Otranto, who had been executed after the 1480 siege. Behind the chapel’s altar is the ‘stone of martyrdom’,...

I am often asked, “What is an Anabaptist?” and “Who are the Anabaptists?” If one listened to everyone who claimed an Anabaptist connection, it would be easy to be confused. For many today a progressive politics is Anabaptist; for others it means being either Yoderian (John Howard Yoder) or Hauerwasian (Stanley Hauerwas). Fair enough, but neither of them is the full representation of Anabaptism. So today I want to sketch the view of the one description of Anabaptism that shaped the 20th century the most. I refer to Harold S. Bender‘s classic essay called “The Anabaptist Vision.� No, it is not...

I’m continuing a series on things that are destroying American Catholicism. They all begin with the letter ‘C’–as does the solution to the problem. You can use the ‘Categories’ tool to pull up the whole series as they are written. Here is a link to the first article in the series on Cultural CatholicismIf you would like to copy these articles for publication in parish newsletters or bulletins or to re-publish elsewhere you are welcome. Please just email me to discuss the best way to do this.Cultural Catholicism which blends a particular culture with the Catholic faith is destroying...

The Baltimore Catechism Revised Edition (1941) Part Three: The Sacraments and Prayer   Temporal Punishment and Indulgences Lesson 33 from the Baltimore Cathechism435. What is an indulgence? An indulgence is the remission granted by the Church of the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.Receive the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. (John 20:22-23)436. How many kinds of indulgences are there? There are two kinds of indulgences, plenary and partial. 437. What is a plenary indulgence? A plenary indulgence is the remission of all the...

Our government has been keeping track of Catholic leaders for decades. One of the leaders it closely tracked was Archbishop Fulton Sheen. For those of you who are too young to know who he was, Archbishop Sheen was the face of Catholicism for decades years in the USA. He had wildly popular weekly TV and radio shows that he hosted for a national audience for almost 40 years. He was also an author, columnist and considered one of the best preachers of the 20th Century. This meant that the FBI kept detailed notes on him. Many of these files...

Pope Francis is preparing to canonise an estimated 800 Italian laymen killed by Ottoman soldiers in the 15th century. The canonisation service will be on May 12 in St Peter’s Square and it will be the first carried out by the Pontiff since he was elected in early March. The killing of the martyrs by Ottoman troops, who launched a weeks-long siege of Otranto, a small port town at the most eastern tip of southern Italy, took place in 1480. When Otranto residents refused to surrender to the Ottoman army, the soldiers were ordered to massacre all males over the...

JERUSALEM – An ancient limestone tablet covered with a mysterious Hebrew text that features the archangel Gabriel is at the center of a new exhibit in Jerusalem, even as scholars continue to argue about what it means. The so-called Gabriel Stone, a meter (three-foot)-tall tablet said to have been found 13 years ago on the banks of the Dead Sea, features 87 lines of an unknown prophetic text dated as early as the first century BC, at the time of the Second Jewish Temple.

Is this the Franciscan message? On the final Monday of Lent, Mass at Thomas More College was celebrated by one of the monks from St Benedict’s Abbey in Still River. It is always a pleasure to have them here because they celebrate Mass and chant the Latin so beautifully. Beyond this, their homilies are always interesting and stimulating. The gospel passage on this occasion was about Martha and Mary: Martha tended to the guests and Mary washed Jesus feet with expensive nard, a fragrant ointment. Unusually, (in my experience at any rate), the homily spoke not so much to the...

It hasn’t drawn much attention yet, but the Vatican has quietly announced the discovery of what it believes is the first artistic representation of native Americans. A detail of a fresco by the Renaissance artist Pinturicchio, discovered during restoration work in the Vatican Museums, depicts men dressed only in feathered headdresses who appear to be dancing, and another on horseback. The painting was completed in 1494, shortly after Christopher Columbus returned from the New World with a detailed description of natives who painted themselves, danced and gave gifts of parrots. For hundreds of years, the frescoed figures were hiding in...

Featured Term (selected at random):DE NIHILO NIHIL From nothing, nothing. A phrase in philosophy that states the principle of cause and effect. Every effect must have a cause, since without a cause no finite being would exist. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.