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The future King Henry V was hit by an arrow to the face at the Battle of Shrewsbury -- how did he survive? This was the topic of a paper given by Michael Livingston at the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies. Livingston, an Associate Professor at The Citadel, explains what happened in one of the most remarkable cases of battlefield surgery from the Middle Ages -- the arrow wound suffered by the future Henry V at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. Prince Henry was only 16 years old when he marched with his father's forces to Shrewsbury in...

1.) An infant is baptized, is raised by believing parents and later when older turns from the faith. 2.) An infant is baptized, has no believing parents to be raised by, and when older doesn't turn from the faith. Given that the antithesis exists for 1 & 2, wouldn't it be prudent for the priest to baptize the fortunate infant as well as the unfortunate, as either could remain faithful when older, show perseverance against high odds, and no priest knows the future - only God Almighty? Given that only God knows the future, perhaps withholding baptism isn't an option...

The lies never stop. The latest lie is that Philomena Lee found her son.Yesterday, the website of “People” quoted the 80-year-old Lee as saying, “I’m thankful and happy I did find him [her son], and that’s all I ever wanted to do.”Similarly, in the entertainment section of “Time” yesterday, it was written, “Many other Irish women found themselves in similar situations [pregnant out-of-wedlock at age 18 in 1952] but, unlike Lee, never managed to find the children who were taken from them.”All of this is a lie. Lee never found her son: he died in 1995 and was buried on...

New York City, N.Y., Dec 10, 2013 / 12:37 pm (CNA).- An atheist movie reviewer has criticized the new film “Philomena” as “another hateful and boring attack on Catholics,” saying that it unfairly shows the Church as exploitative and coercive. “Anyone who is honest understands that it lambastes the way Irish Catholicism played out in 1950s Ireland, using falsehoods whenever necessary to underscore the point,” said Kyle Smith, a movie critic for the New York Post. “Some like ‘Philomena’ for that reason. Some think there should be a little more art than diatribe to a film,” he continued. The...

Bill Donohue comments on “Philomena,” a movie that opens today:A half-century ago, an Irish woman gave birth to a son out-of-wedlock, and gave him up for adoption; he was born in an abbey, a venue that allowed the mother to avoid being stigmatized.There is nothing particularly startling about this, other than the fact that film reviewers are now all aghast about the “horrors” these fallen women experienced; many are making reference to the Magdalene Laundries. As I detailed earlier this year, it’s bunk [click here]. Those who are neither scholars nor principled observers have swallowed this propaganda, so debased is...

Q: How is it that the martyr Philomena used to be a saint, but isn’t any more? I don’t understand how the Church can canonize a saint and then change its mind… –Mary A: Philomena is not, and has never been a saint. Many Catholics erroneously believe that Philomena used to be a saint, and was somehow “decanonized” by Pope John XXIII in 1961. In fact, the action taken that year by the Congregation of Rites—which back then had jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the canonization of saints—actually clarified and made more consistent the canonical status of the person commonly...

In a world where lost souls exploit their relationships through infidelity, promiscuity, or unholy acts outside of marriage, it brings us much joy to share this beautiful love story. Leo and Jacque are two inspirational young people who bonded through their faith in the Catholic Church and many adventures working in the youth ministry of St. Thomas More Catholic Parish in Irvine, California, United States. They were blessed with the grace of a pure friendship, forming the foundation for their relationship and enabling the honest discovery of everything they had ever wanted in marriage, family and ultimately their path to...

  SAINT PHILOMENAVIRGIN AND MARTYRFEAST DAY AUGUST 11TH  SAINT PHILOMENA, POWERFUL WITH GOD, PRAY FOR US!  NOVENA AND DISCOVERY OF HER RELICS  Novena Prayer To  St. PhilomenaO FAITHFUL VIRGIN and glorious martyr, St. Philomena, who works so many miracles on behalf of the poor and sorrowing, have pity on me.  Thou knowest the multitude and diversity of my needs. Behold me at thy feet, full of misery, but full of hope. I entreat thy charity, O great Saint!  Graciously hear me and obtain from God a favorable answer to the request which I now humbly lay before thee... (Here specify...