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WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- A Lithuanian archbishop who was murdered with a lethal injection after 16 years in prisons and labor camps was to become the first Catholic martyr from the country's communist era to be declared blessed. Archbishop Teofilius Matulionis is pictured in a 1943 photo. Archbishop Matulionis, who was murdered in 1962 with a lethal injection after 16 years in prisons and labor camps, was to become the first Catholic martyr from the country's communist era to be declared blessed June 25 in Vilnius. (CNS photo/courtesy Diocese Kaisiadorys)The beatification ceremony for Archbishop Teofilius Matulionis, who died in 1962,...

Some of the frescos are more than 1,600 years oldA detail of the restored fresco of "dei Fornai" (bakers) cubicle, is pictured during a visit after the restoration of the catacomb of Santa Domitilla, in central Rome (Getty images) Archaeologists have used lasers to burn away centuries of grime in the Roman catacombs to reveal “stunning” frescos, more than a millennium and a half old. The Catacombs of St. Domitilla are believed to be the world’s oldest existing Christian cemetery and are among the largest in Italy with a total of some 150,000 burial spots. The majority are small niches...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Saint Bernadine of Siena | Vincenzo Foppa Saint Bernardine of Siena Saint of the Day for May 20 (September 8, 1380 – May 20, 1444)  Saint Bernardine of Siena’s Story Most of the saints suffer great personal opposition, even persecution. Bernardine, by contrast, seems more like a human dynamo who simply took on the needs of the world.He was the greatest preacher of his time, journeying across Italy, calming strife-torn cities, attacking the paganism he found rampant, attracting crowds of 30,000, following St. Francis of Assisi’s admonition to preach about “vice and virtue, punishment...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Statue de Saint Théophile de Corte | photo by Pierre Bona Saint Theophilus of Corte Saint of the Day for May 19 (October 30, 1676 – June 17, 1740)  Saint Theophilus of Corte’s Story If we expect saints to do marvelous things continually and to leave us many memorable quotes, we are bound to be disappointed with Saint Theophilus. The mystery of God’s grace in a person’s life, however, has a beauty all its own.Theophilus was born in Corsica of rich and noble parents. As a young man, he entered the Franciscans and soon...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: U.S. Archives, Book Reader Images | UnknownSt. John I Saint of the Day for May 18 (c. 470 – May 18, 526)  Saint John I’s Story Pope John I inherited the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. Italy had been ruled for 30 years by an emperor who espoused the heresy, though he treated the empire’s Catholics with toleration. His policy changed at about the time the young John was elected pope.When the eastern emperor began imposing severe measures on the Arians of his area, the western emperor forced John to head...

Americans know that in 1492 Christopher Columbus "sailed the ocean blue," but how many know that in the same year the heroic Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella conquered the Moors in Grenada? Americans would also probably recognize 1588 as the year of the defeat of the Spanish Armada by Francis Drake and the rest of Queen Elizabeth’s pirates. It was a tragedy for the Catholic kingdom of Spain and a triumph for the Protestant British Empire, and the defeat determined the kind of history that would one day be taught in American schools: Protestant British history. As a result, 1571,...

The Octave of Pentecost: Missing in Action or Still Available? Msgr. Charles Pope • June 8, 2017 • This week I have been celebrating votive Masses of the Holy Spirit. Why? It is my way of recovering the Octave of Pentecost, lost in 1970.There are certain feasts so important that the Church celebrates them with an Octave. Currently we only have two: Christmas and Easter. Strangely, in 1970, the Octave of Pentecost was dropped. Not only was it dropped, but the very way of enumerating the year was altered as well: the weeks were no longer expressed in relation...

The little-known apparition of Our Lady of Good Success includes some dire prophecies—but its fundamental message is one of hope, says apologist Matthew Arnold.Southern California apologist Matthew Arnold, author and founder of the Catholic apologetics organization Pro Multis Media, has placed his apostolate under the patronage of Our Lady of Good Success, a little-known apparition of Mary to Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres in Quito, Ecuador in 1594. Arnold, who has hosted radio programs for EWTN and the Radio Maria Network and who is the author of a forthcoming book on traditionalism in the Catholic Church, believes he is called...

A Short Consideration of a Central Liturgical Principle Msgr. Charles Pope • June 7, 2017 • Some years ago, I was praying with a group of servers and other liturgical ministers just prior to going forth from the sacristy to celebrate a rather complex liturgy. I remember asking God in the prayer, “Please Lord, help us to serve you well, but above all, help us not forget to worship you.” For indeed, it is possible to be so focused on details that we forget the very Lord to whom the details are directed. A priest, server, lector, or musician...

An Image for the Kingdom and the Beauty of Inner Silence in a Tango Msgr. Charles Pope • June 6, 2017 • This past weekend our parish had a luncheon for our senior and older parishioners, hosted by the youth, the young adults, and the Parish Council. Part of the entertainment after the meal was a demonstration of different dance styles. One of our young adults, Lola, is a student of classical and ballroom dance. She, along with her dance partner, danced a modest tango in a most elegant way (Picture at right) .What was most fascinating to me...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Saint Paschal Baylon | Giovanni Battista TiepoloSaint Paschal Baylon Saint of the Day for May 17 (May 24, 1540 – May 15, 1592)  Saint Paschal Baylon’s story In Paschal’s lifetime the Spanish empire in the New World was at the height of its power, though France and England were soon to reduce its influence. The 16th century has been called the Golden Age of the Church in Spain, for it gave birth to Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Peter of Alcantara, Francis Solano and Salvator of Horta.Paschal’s...

. . . from displaced person to Ukrainian national patriarch.How does it happen that a child growing up in eastern Galicia among Ukrainians, Poles, Moldovans, Germans, Austrians, Jews, Roma, and Armenians dodges Nazi death squads and the Red Army, learns first-hand what it means to be a “displaced person” in occupied Austria, emigrates to the United States, completes university and seminary studies before being ordained a priest, writes a pioneering doctoral dissertation on ecumenism, joins a monastic order, is clandestinely ordained a bishop, has his episcopal ordination recognized by St. John Paul II, is created a cardinal by the same...

Overcoming Life’s Storms: A Teaching from St. Paul to Storm-weary Souls Msgr. Charles Pope • June 5, 2017 • This is the conclusion of a post that I began yesterday. In the midst of a great storm (described in Acts 27), St. Paul finds himself among desperate and defeated people. Though the storm comes from nature, their problems are of their own doing and are rooted in a foolish refusal to listen to either natural warnings or God. All of this foolishness was described in yesterday’s post. Is there a way out of their situation? With God there is,...

Remember Edgar Whisenant's 88 reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988?  Whenever a Christian starts talking about signs and evidence for the nearness of the rapture you can be sure there is someone just aching to bring up this book as the be-all and end-all of the conversation.  "People have always tried to predict when Jesus will come back and every time they were wrong."  They have a good point and it would be foolish not to address it.  You would think that if Whisenant found 88 reasons for the rapture to occur in September 1988, and his...

“And no small tempest lay on us …” - The Story of a Storm That St. Paul Endured and What It Has to Teach Us About Sin Msgr. Charles Pope • June 4, 2017 • With yesterday’s feast of Pentecost, our reading of Acts suddenly ends and hence we miss some important stories of Paul’s journey to Rome. This is perhaps another reason to restore the Pentecost Octave, which was dropped in 1970. Doing so would give us eight more days in which to savor the Acts of the Apostles. Among the stories we miss is that of the...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Saint Margret of Cortona | Giovanni Battista Piazzetta Saint Margaret of Cortona Saint of the Day for May 16 (1247 – February 22, 1297)  Saint Margaret of Cortona’s Story Margaret was born of farming parents in Laviano, Tuscany. Her mother died when Margaret was seven; life with her stepmother was so difficult that Margaret moved out. For nine years she lived with Arsenio, though they were not married, and she bore him a son. In those years, she had doubts about her situation. Somewhat like Saint Augustine, she prayed for purity—but not just yet.One...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: Statue at Saint Isidore Catholic Church, Bloomingdale, Illinois | photo by Nheyob Saint Isidore the Farmer Saint of the Day for May 15 (1070 – May 15, 1130)  Saint Isidore the Farmer’s Story Isidore has become the patron of farmers and rural communities. In particular, he is the patron of Madrid, Spain, and of the United States National Rural Life Conference.When he was barely old enough to wield a hoe, Isidore entered the service of John de Vergas, a wealthy landowner from Madrid, and worked faithfully on his estate outside the city for the...

Fr. Don Miller, OFM Image: “Saint Matthias” | Serra Brothers workshop Saint Matthias Saint of the Day for May 14 (? – ?)  Saint Matthias’ Story According to Acts 1:15-26, during the days after the Ascension Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers–about 120 of Jesus’s followers. Now that Judas had betrayed his ministry, it was necessary, Peter said, to fulfill the scriptural recommendation that another should take his office. “Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, beginning from the baptism...

“This is for Allah!” So shouted three Islamist jihadis as they drove a van across the London Bridge yesterday, mowing down pedestrians in their path. They then proceeded to the nearby Borough Market where they continued their rampage, stabbing some of those enjoying a night on the town and slashing the throats of others. By daybreak this morning in London, seven innocents had been killed and nearly 50 others injured in the Ramadan terror attack by the three devotees to the supposed “religion of peace.” British Prime Minister Theresa May stated today that there was no apparent connection between last...

The Spirit of the Lord Filled the Earth – A Homily for Pentecost Msgr. Charles Pope • June 3, 2017 • What a wondrous and challenging feast we celebrate at Pentecost! A feast like this challenges us because it puts to the lie a lazy, sleepy, hidden, and tepid Christian life. The Lord Jesus said to Apostles, and still says to us, I have come to cast a fire on the earth (Luke 12:49). This is a feast about fire, a transformative, refining, purifying fire that the Lord wants to kindle in us and in this world. It is...