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As a prodigal son that is supporting the Catholic Religion, and have my daughter in a Catholic School I am trying to support the religion. Sometimes difficult with the state of the Catholic Church, which is why I separate the religion and church. Last year I discovered the Lent may end on Thursday instead of Easter Sunday, which leads to questions. When does Lent end? According to several websites it is April 3rd. Another site says Thursday April 1 in keeping with the Last Supper. Furthermore Lent as I was taught was 40 days, since Lent started Feb 17, and...

Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You! (Ps. 119:11) Years ago, I heard a statement from an American monk: “The contemplative need go no further than his own heart to find the source of all violence in the world.” It struck me as true then and has only seemed more so as the years have passed. At the time (not long after the Vietnam War) this monastic was remarking on the many young people whom they had visiting his monastery who were “so deeply angry about peace.” The statement echoed an experience...

Violet Simple THE STATION is in the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles; it is one of the grandest of the Churches of Rome, and is enriched by the Bodies of the two Apostles, St. Philip and St. James the Less. COLLECT Esto, Domine, propitius plebi tuæ: et quam tibi facis esse devotam, benigno refove miseratus auxilio. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. Amen. Be propitious, O Lord, to thy people and mercifully strengthen those by thy aid whom thou fillest with devotion to thee. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. EPISTLE LECTIO EZECHIELIS PROPHETÆ. LESSON from EZECHIEL the PROPHET. Cap....

Violet Simple THE FAST OF TODAY is prescribed by a double law: it is Lent, and it is Ember Wednesday. It is the same with the Friday and Saturday of this week. There are two principal objects for the Ember days of this period of the year: the first is to offer up to God the Season of Spring, and by fasting and prayer, to draw down his blessing upon it; the second is to ask him to enrich with his choicest graces the Priests and Sacred Ministers who are to receive their Ordination on Saturday. Let us, therefore,...

DAY 1: The biggest ever February 14, 2018 The biggest Lenten 40 Days for Life campaign yet is finally here!And now we need YOU to step out in faith and go to the closest location to pray and fast for an end to abortion!40 Days for Life begins TODAY — and continues through March 25 — in 354 communities across the United States and 24 other countries … including multiple locations in nations such as Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Mexico, Romania and the United Kingdom!It is because of your prayers that God has provided so many blessings: 13,998 lives have been...

The information in this section comes largely from The Urban Character of Christian Worship, by Rev. John Baldovin, S.J. Footnotes refer to the pages in his text where further information can be found.Station Churches 2012 Each year, the North American College follows the ancient tradition of the Roman stational liturgy. All are invited to join us for the celebration of Mass each day. Using the side bar on the left, you will find the schedule and listing of the churches. Each page contains a short description and history of each church. At the bottom of each page, you will find...

Friday morning in spring, was the weather mild or cool that day as the passover crowds milled through the street, in festive mood? Did the whisper pass from ear to ear that morning about the trial, letting the crowd gather at the courtyard to witness another passover, a spectacle unexpected, perhaps, but which would shout through the centuries. How frail you must have seemed when he presented you to the leaders to the gathering group, beaten, bloody, so far removed from the prophet-king of last Sunday, no hosannas this time, just calls for your blood. Some merely curious, some angry,...

THURSDAY IN THE THIRD WEEK OF LENT Station—Sts. Cosmas and Damian This church, made from two pagan temples, holds the bodies of the holy martyrs, Cosmas and Damian, who were put to death during the Diocletian persecution. The sick came in crowds to visit the tomb of these two brothers, doctors by profession, imploring them to restore their health. The "unsalaried" physicians, Cosmas and Damian, devoted time and talents to the service of the poor and the sick, so that, by curing the infirmities of the body without renumeration, they might more easily win immortal souls for Christ. Today, the...

Saturday, Second Week of Lent "Let us eat and celebrate because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life." (Luke 15:23-24) Reflection. Salvation to all that will is nigh; That All, which always is All everywhere, Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear, Which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die, So, faithful Virgin, yields himself to lie In prison, in thy womb; and though He there Can take no sin, nor thou give, yet He'll wear Taken from thence, flesh, which death's force may try. Ere by the spheres time was created, thou...