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The Perfect Revival? By Julio Severo Brazil has experienced an explosive growth of Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal (neo-charismatic) churches. Large crowds of poor people have been attending these churches looking for answers for their physical, material and spiritual needs. The Brazilian Catholic Church, plagued by the Liberation Theology, has been worried about this growth. And even mainline Brazilian Protestant churches, similarly plagued by Protestant versions of the Liberation Theology, have been worried. International onlookers see such growth as a phenomenon or even evidence of “revival.” Yet, Brazilian Calvinist critics question that if it were genuine, Brazil would not have now...

Featured Term (selected at random:DRY MASS A shortened form of the Mass, customary in the Middle Ages, in which the Offertory, Canon, and Communion were omitted. It was used on a variety of occasions, such as when a second Mass on the same day was forbidden; at a pilgrimage; when a priest who was still fasting was not available; on board ship in stormy weather, then called a "naval Mass"; and during hunting expeditions, called a hunter's Mass. It survives among certain priest-monks who say a Dry Mass of Our Lady, and in the ceremony for the blessing of Palms...

After having the Declaration of Independence read to his troops, General George Washington issued the order, July 9, 1776: "Commanding officers of each regiment are directed to procure Chaplains...persons of good Characters and exemplary lives - To see that all inferior officers and soldiers pay them a suitable respect and attend carefully upon religious exercises. The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger. The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier, defending the...

Featured Term (selected at random:ACACIANS Heretical sect named after Acacius of Caesarea (d. 366), who refused to accept the Nicene term homoousios (one in being with) the Father in reference to Christ. They claimed that Christ was merely homoios (like) the Father. Also called Semi-Arians and Homoeans. According to St. Jerome the leader of the Acacians was nominated Felix, the antipope, in 358. In the next century another Acacius, who was Patriarch of Constantinople (471-89), provoked the Acacian Schism with Rome by his compromise with the monophysites. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary,...

Courage and Encourage FR. JOHN HARVEYCourage is the Catholic Church's only pontifically approved ministry which is specifically committed to providing spiritual support for persons with same-sex attraction who are striving to live chastely, offering help to grow in understanding with others toward living more fully the Church's teachings. Notice to Reader: "The Boards of both CERC Canada and CERC USA are aware that the topic of homosexuality is a controversial one that deeply affects the personal lives of many North Americans. Both Boards strongly reiterate the Catechism's teaching that people who self-identify as gays and lesbians must be treated...

Featured Term (selected at random:VICAR CAPITLAR A cleric appointed by the cathedral chapter to administer a vacant episcopal diocese. The bishop's ordinary spiritual and temporal jurisdiction becomes the responsibility of the chapter when a vacancy occurs. But the chapter in turn must elect a vicar to assume this authority within a specified short period of time. when a diocese has no chapter, the board of consulters or its equivalent elects an administrator. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission. 

Given the length of this article, I have condensed it down to the more salient aspects. I would encourage you to read it through in its entirety at the above link. (snip) I am going to do this in the greatest economy of words possible, synthesizing books, interviews, and numerous articles so that you can understand the prophetic nature of what is happening, and about to happen in the United States, and indeed, the whole world, as central to the Storm that is now hereÂ… (snip) COMMUNISM IS NOT DEADIndeed, the harlot is merely being used by the beast to...

Featured Term (selected at random:MATERIALLY EVIL Something that is objectively a moral evil, and therefore sinful, but a person does it either without knowing it is wrong, or under duress and without internal consent to the evil. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Featured Term (selected at random:GLEBE  A land permanently assigned for maintaining a parish. A glebe house is a parsonage or manse.All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Featured Term (selected at random:JUS JURANDUM A sworn oath. Any one of the oaths that the Church at times requires of the faithful, and especially of her priests. Such was the Oath Against Modernism, required of those teaching in seminaries, prescribed by Pope St. Pius X. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission. 

The Age of the Universe The '6' Days of Creation For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Hashem as the waters cover the seabed.Habakkuk 2, 14 & Isaiah 11, 9 In the six hundredth year of the sixth [millennium], the gateways of heavenly wisdom and the fountains of lower wisdom will be opened, and the world will be uplifted to prepare for the ascension of the seventh [millennium]...Zohar I, 117a The formula for calculating the age of the universe was written by Moses and it's recorded in Tehillim 90. Tehillim Chapter 90 JPS 90:1...

Featured Term (selected at random:BULLARIUM  Various private collections of papal bulls and other pontifical documents. The authority of bullaria is simply that of the individual documents. The best known are those published by Cherubini in 1586; the "Luxembourg Bullarium," said to have been printed at Geneva (1527-30); the "Roman Bullarium," published by Mainardi (1733-62); and the "Turin Bullarium" (1857-85). (Etym. Latin bulla, seal.) All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

I have a brilliant idea. Let’s sell the White House to help pay off the debt. It’s valued at more than $300 million and that would make a significant contribution. The Obamas could move into a nice townhouse, probably in the $300,000 range, within commuting distance of Washington, D.C. I suppose some complications would arise from this plan. For security purposes, they would probably have to buy the surrounding houses or even the whole block. The president’s entourage would likely back up traffic as he is commuting downtown every day. They would also have to purchase new office space for...

'I was reminded of all this recently, when I read the edition by Professor Theodore Khoury (Münster) of part of the dialogue carried on - perhaps in 1391 in the winter barracks near Ankara - by the erudite Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and Islam, and the truth of both.[1] It was presumably the emperor himself who set down this dialogue, during the siege of Constantinople between 1394 and 1402; and this would explain why his arguments are given in greater detail than those of his Persian interlocutor.[2] The dialogue...

Lord Byron’s poem The Destruction of Sennacherib begins with the line, “The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold.” My friend Paul Thigpen makes the link between the warlords of the Islamic State (IS) and their historic predecessors, the warlike Assyrians.

The man speaking here is the Coptic-Orthodox (Oriental Orthodox) "General Bishop" (Generalbischof) for Germany, Anba Damian, a native of Cairo, in an interview recorded a couple of years ago. Since grievous attacks such as those perpetrated by ISIS usually bring with them in the media a kind of guilt-induced backlash (such as, "no, no, Islam is absolutely harmless, and indeed very beneficial to social harmony and very respectful of minorities when they are a majority"), we consider it useful to recall the voice that comes from experience. A 1,400-year-long experience. VIDEO Egyptian Coptic Bishop Warns Europe About The Dangers...

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), which includes representation from more than 80% of American nuns, is set to hold its annual assembly next week in Nashville. The meeting comes as the organization continues to draw scrutiny from the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, and also at a time when there has been a steep decline in the number of nuns.The Vatican first began taking a hard look at some organizations of U.S. nuns about five years ago, eventually ordering an investigation and a “doctrinal assessment” of the LCWR – and a plan for organizational reform.While the church’s...

It is simply astonishing how much our daily lives are still so closely linked to the First World War -- and even more so those of our dear Christian brethren in the Middle East. In 1915, during the war, Muslims in Anatolia would join hands to effect the first major genocide of the 20th century, as over 1 million Armenians, Assyrians, and Hellenic Pontic Christians were killed, and a good number were expelled to make room for the 99%-Muslim Turkish Republic we know today. As it can be seen above, Aleppo, Mosul, Deir Ezzor, once again today brutalized by...

St. John Vianney, Priests, and God’s Armor Kathleen Beckman “When people want to destroy religion they begin by attacking the priest; for when there is no priest, there is no sacrifice: and when there is no sacrifice, there is no religion.”— St. John VianneySt. John Vianney exemplifies a life of sacrificial love, holy boldness and courageous perseverance. His example is absolutely relevant to our day and age. Twenty years ago on pilgrimage to Catholic shrines in France, our group visited the famous village of Ars. Our priest celebrated holy Mass in the same crypt that St. John Vianney offered Mass...

Featured Term (selected at random:WINGED OX A symbol of St. Luke the Evangelist, anticipated by Ezekiel. The ox, recognized as the animal of sacrifice, was applied to St. Luke because his Gospel emphasizes the atonement made by Christ's sacrifice of himself on the Cross. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.