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At Christmas time, the Virgin Mary gets a bit of attention in the wider culture. A woman gives birth in difficult circumstances: Mother, baby, ox and ass, the manger. It’s a very touching scene. She quickly fades from the scene however, with some five centuries of culture desperately afraid that she will get too much attention. In that vein, she is pretty much absent from Easter. We have eggs, chocolate, bunny rabbits, and the resurrection of Christ (along with new dresses and such), but Mary has no place in our culture’s Easter imagination. Some of this is undoubtedly the result...

Rome Newsroom, Jun 15, 2020 / 05:30 am MT (CNA).- A historic statue of Mary atop a column, torn down by an angry crowd more than 100 years ago, has been restored to its original site in Prague. The placement of the exact replica of the 17th-century statue in the Czech capital’s Old Town Square June 4 was an event 30 years in the making. The Marian column, as it is called, was erected to “the singing of Marian songs, the ringing of bells on the tower of the Mother of God in front of Týn [Church] and the applause...

Pope Francis, starting back in 2014, instituted Islamic prayers to the moon god allah in the Vatican. In 2018, he told a photographer that he was ‘the Devil’ then walked away laughing about it. In 2019, he called for all Catholic schools to begin teaching about Islam, and he signed a ‘Universal Brotherhood’ concordat with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb after kissing him on the mouth. Did I say Pope Francis was the False Prophet? Hmm, now that I think about it, he sounds more like Antichrist. FROM LEO HOHMANN: The Vatican has released the preparatory document for its upcoming Pan-Amazonian Synod...

Our Blessed Mother’s Urgent Call Msgr. Charles Pope • May 9, 2017 • Continuing with the theme of urgency from yesterday’s post, we do well to consider Mary’s fervent requests at Fatima for prayer, conversion, and consecration. This Saturday will mark the 100th anniversary of Mary’s first appearance at Fatima.It was a critical time in human history. The First World War had claimed more than 17 million lives. Mary urged prayer to end this catastrophe: Say the Rosary every day to bring peace to the world and an end of the war (June 13, 1917).Continue to pray the Rosary...

Was “ Easter” actually borrowed or rather usurped from a pagan celebration? The argument largely rests on the supposed pagan names for the celebration in English and German (“Easter”, “Ostern”). Note, however, that in most other European languages, the celebration’s name is derived from Pascha (Greek), from Pesach, (Hebrew), Passover. Easter is the Christian Passover. [large snips here and throughout] The usual argument for the pagan origins of Easter is based on Venerable Bede (673-735), an English monk who wrote: “ … Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated "Paschal month" and which was once called after a goddess...

Among the greater mysteries of the New Testament are those surrounding the Mother of God. A large segment of modern Christianity has become tone deaf in this regard, a result of centuries of antagonism towards certain aspects of older tradition. It is a deafness that grieves my heart, primarily in that it represents a great gulf within the broader experience of the faith. A few years after my reception into the Orthodox Church, a friend from my Anglican past asked me if I ever thought of returning. He had no idea of how foreign the thought was to me....

August 22, 2016 Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 2 Thes 1:1-5, 11-12 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the Church of the Thessaloniansin God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:grace to you and peace from God our Fatherand the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters,as is fitting, because your faith flourishes ever more,and the love of every one of you for one another grows ever greater.Accordingly, we ourselves boast of you in the churches of Godregarding your endurance and faith in all your persecutionsand the...

AD CAELI REGINAM ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII ON PROCLAIMING THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY OCTOBER 11, 1954 To the Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops and other Local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Holy See. Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Blessing. From the earliest ages of the Catholic Church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven. And never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus...

The goddess of love, the Minoan Astarte, is the key figure that unlocks the mystery of the Phaistos Disk, according to linguist, archaeologist and coordinator of the program Erasmus of Crete Technological Institute; Gareth Owens. Speaking to the ANA -- MPA news agency, Owens said that after new data found in his research, his theory has changed slightly compared to the position he had expressed about a year ago. The focus is no longer the "pregnant mother", as originally estimated, but a "pregnant goddess" that takes shape in the face of Astarte, the goddess of love. "There is no doubt...

The historic Christian Syrian town of Maalula celebrated Saturday as a new statue of Mary, worshiped in Christianity as the mother of Jesus, was erected in its center, replacing the figure destroyed in rebel attacks in 2013. Dozens of families gathered alongside government officials and religious dignitaries in the main square, which was adorned with government flags and a giant portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Located north of Damascus, Maalula is one of the world's oldest Christian settlements, and its inhabitants still speak Aramaic, a language spoken by Jews in Israel at the time Jesus was said to have...

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary CUF Issue: What does the Church teach concerning the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary? Response: The teaching is aptly summarized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 974: The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up [“assumed”] body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of His Body.

Kingship of Christ, Queenship of Mary in Scripture Far back in the dim mists of ancient times, so far back, that we are not even certain of the century, in the strange land of Egypt, which thought gods had human bodies but animal heads, there lay dying the last of the great three Patriarchs, Jacob. His son, sold into slavery by his brothers for 20 pieces of silver, had by divine inspiration risen to be Vizier, second in power in all the land. The great Pharaoh - whose name we know not - had invited him to bring his father...

What is Mariology? Essentially, it's the theology that affords devotion to Mary. Does this mean the Catholics worship Mary? Well, yes and no. Publicly, the Roman Catholic Church does not afford Mary the same status as Jesus. However, their reverence for her goes beyond their admiration for even the saints. The Catholic Encyclopedia details a view of Mary that it admits is not Biblical. Their view of her life and her role originate in Catholic tradition - that is, the writings of the popes and theologians, rather than in the Bible. Biblically, Mary was betrothed to Joseph. Because of her...