Free Republic

Red Double HE was a sign of contradiction in Israel. In his own time, Christians were ranged either around him or against him. The trouble excited by his mere name sixteen hundred years ago was renewed in the middle of the nineteenth century by the discovery of a famous book, which gave an occasion to the sectaries of our own days to stand with those of old against Callixtus and the Church. The book, entitled Philosophumena or refutation of heresies, was composed in the third century; it represented Callixtus, whose life and character were painted in the darkest colors,...

December 28, 2016 Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs Reading 1 1 Jn 1:5–2:2 Beloved:This is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christand proclaim to you:God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness,we lie and do not act in truth.But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,then we have fellowship with one another,and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.If we say, “We are without sin,”we deceive ourselves, and the...

December 26, 2016 Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr Reading 1 Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59 Stephen, filled with grace and power,was working great wonders and signs among the people.Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,Cyrenians, and Alexandrians,and people from Cilicia and Asia,came forward and debated with Stephen,but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. When they heard this, they were infuriated,and they ground their teeth at him.But he, filled with the Holy Spirit,looked up intently to heavenand saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,and he said,“Behold,...

Red Simple THE protomartyr of the Benedictine Order stands before us today in his strength and his beauty. The empire had fallen, and the yoke of the Arian Goths lay heavy upon Italy. Rome was no longer in the hands of the glorious races, which had made her greatness; these, nevertheless, kept up their honorable traditions. They offered a great lesson for future times of revolution to other descendants of not less noble families: in lieu of the ensign of civic honor once committed to their fathers, the survivors of the old patrician ranks made it their duty to...

Red Simple CYPRIAN’S Confessio begins: “Whosoever ye be that are seduced by the mysteries of the demons, none of you can equal the zeal I once had for these false gods, nor my researches into their secrets, nor the vain power they had communicated to me, to me Cyprian, who from my infancy was given up to the service of the dragon in the citadel of Minerva. Learn from me the deceitfulness of their illusions. A virgin has proved to me that their power is but smoke. The king of the demons was arrested at the door of a...

Red Double JANUARIUS is ever preaching the Gospel to every creature; for his miraculous blood perpetuates the testimony he bore to Christ. Let those who say they cannot believe unless they see, go to Naples; there they will behold the martyr’s blood, when placed near his head which was cut off seventeen hundred years ago, to liquefy and boil as at the moment it escaped from his sacred veins. No; miracles are not lacking in the Church at the present day. True, God cannot subject himself to the fanciful requirements of those proud men who would dictate to him...

Revelation 6

The latest figures are “the tip of the iceberg” according to Christian advocacy charity Open Doors. Some 743 Christians and 10 Yazidis were the victims of religious motivated attacks between February and September 2016, with some of victims aged five to 12 years old. Migrant centres in Germany must do more to protect Christians from the attacks with are said to “occur frequently and nationwide” at the hands of some Muslims in the camps. According to the report, 91 per cent of Christians and Yazidis surveyed accused Muslim migrants of carrying out the violent attacks, with 28 per cent accusing...

Eight years ago, doctors in Mexico disconnected an infant named Ximena Galvez from life support, convinced that she was brain dead.On Sunday, Ximena was giving Pope Francis a big hug during Mass in St. Peter’s Square.The eight-year-old’s incredible story came into the spotlight as José Sánchez del Río, a martyr of Mexico’s Cristero War, was declared a saint of the Church.Paulina Galvez, Ximena’s mother, is convinced it was through the intercession of St. Jose—affectionately called St. Joselito by Mexicans—that her daughter was spared death. And the Church agrees with her, using the medically-unexplainable healing as a sign from God that...

"¡ Viva Cristo Rey!" shouted José, the rallying cry of the Cristeros. "¡ Viva Cristo Rey!" over and over as he limped in his bloodied feet over the gravel and twigs. "Long Live Christ the King! Long Live the Virgin of Guadalupe!" At the graveyard, José was pushed into a shallow grave. Struggling to his feet he again shouted, "¡ Viva Cristo Rey!" To avoid the sound of gunfire, the commander of the firing squad ordered his men to stab the boy with their bayonets. "¡ Viva Cristo Rey!" Again the bayonet into his side. "¡ Viva Santa Maria de...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYQDSQM0Mb4 Saint Maurice's feast day is on the 22nd of September. (Two days from right now.) So for my Catholic and Coptic viewers, I present to you, this diddy on the life and martyrdom of St Maurice. Saint Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius) was the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion n the 3rd century, and one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that group. He was the patron saint of several professions, locales, and kingdoms. He is revered in the Catholic Coptic and Orthodox churches. He is the patron saint of soldiers, veterans, armorers,...

NEW YORK (ChurchMilitant.com) - Following news of the murder of a French priest by ISIS militants Tuesday, an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal is announcing his conversion to the Catholic faith. In a tweet posted Tuesday, Sohrab Ahmari stated "this is the right moment to announce that [he is] converting to Roman Catholicism." The message was prefaced by the hashtag #IAmJacquesHamel, referring to the 84-year-old priest murdered Tuesday morning by Islamic terrorists while celebrating morning Mass at his parish in Normandy, France. Ahmari noted he is currently under instruction at the London Oratory, shorthand for the Brompton...

Sohrab Ahmari, Editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, announced on Twitter that he is converting to Catholicism. His tweet read: “#IAmJacquesHamel: In fact, this is the right moment to announce that I’m converting to Roman Catholicism.” The hashtag “IAmJacquesHamel” refers to the French priest Fr. Jacques Hamel who was recently brutally murdered by Islamic extremists while serving Mass in France. Ahmari was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to the U.S. when he was 13 years old. Though he earned a law degree from Northeastern University in Boston, he was inspired to start working as a journalist after...

In a 2010 interview with Catholic World Report , Cardinal Joseph Zen, S.D.B., the emeritus bishop of Hong Kong, wondered aloud about the Catholic Church’s reticence to acknowledge those who had been martyred by Chinese communists during the Maoists’ rise to power, and thereafter. “Why should we not publicize . . . those martyrs?” Cardinal Zen asked. The truth demands it. Self-respect requires it. Today’s Chinese Catholics, especially those who are persecuted for the fidelity to the Bishop of Rome, would be strengthened by the example of brave witnesses who held firm until the end, Zen suggested. I think Cardinal...

02-24-2002Pastor's Message From the desk of Fr. Joseph McLafferty..... The lead article in this month's Maryknoll magazine is about Bishop Francis Xavier Ford, M.M., a Maryknoll missionary who served in China for almost 40 years.  This past Thursday, February 21st, marked the 50th anniversary of his death in a Chinese prison. Francis Xavier Ford was born in Brooklyn on January 11, 1892, the son of Austin and Elizabeth Rellihan Ford.  Ford attended St. Francis Preparatory School in Brooklyn and Cathedral College in Manhattan.  In 1912 he was the first student to apply to the seminary of the recently established...

"It was reported last week that several religious groups had received threats that Father Thomas would be crucified on Good Friday, but this was denied by his church in hometown of Bangalore. However, the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, told a congregation gathered in St. Stephen's Cathedral in the Austrian capital that the priest had been crucified." "It is not known how the Archbishop became aware of Father Thomas' alleged fate, but his confirmation of the crucifixion during Easter Vigil Mass was reported in Austrian media. "

Venerable Engelmar Unzeitig, CMM, whom Pope Francis declared a martyr last week. Credit: (c) Archiv Redaktion Mariannhill, Reimlingen via engelmarunzeitig.de. Vatican City, Jan 26, 2016 / 06:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Fr. Engelmar Unzeitig, a young priest with Czech roots serving in Germany and Austria, was arrested by the Nazis on April 21, 1941.His crime? Preaching against the Third Reich from his pulpit, particularly against their treatment of the Jewish people. He encouraged his congregation to be faithful to God and to resist the lies of the Nazi regime.As punishment, Fr. Unzeitig was sent to what has been called the "largest...

There is a classic story about a samurai warrior who came to understand what real courage, integrity and humility were all about. The cruelest, most violent Samurai in Japan decides he wants to become enlightened. He bursts into the home of an esteemed Zen Master and demands that the Master teach him how to become enlightened. The Zen Master looks deeply into his eyes and says, "No. You are a dirty, vicious Samurai. I will not teach you."Enraged, the Samurai yanks out his sword and places it right at the Zen Master's neck. He hollers, "Do you have any...

December 26, 2015 Feast of Saint Stephen, First Martyr Reading 1 Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59 Stephen, filled with grace and power,was working great wonders and signs among the people.Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,Cyrenians, and Alexandrians,and people from Cilicia and Asia,came forward and debated with Stephen,but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke. When they heard this, they were infuriated,and they ground their teeth at him.But he, filled with the Holy Spirit,looked up intently to heavenand saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,and he said,"Behold,...

"I am proud of my father--not just for my own sake, but because he has honored the whole Church. He did not deny his faith. That is something wonderful. We pray for the perpetrators, that they may be converted." CAIRO—The gruesome images of the 21 Christians who were beheaded in last February by Islamic State terrorists have left a deep imprint on the memory of Christian Egyptians. Now a new church dedicated to the martyrs—who are formally recognized as such by Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church—will honor their memory in a tangible fashion: this week—after a long delay—work began on laying...