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White Double AS WE HAVE ALREADY SAID, Joy is the leading feature of the Paschal Season—a supernatural Joy, which springs from our delight at seeing the glorious triumph of our Emmanuel, and from the happiness we feel at our own being delivered from the bonds of death. This interior Joy was the characteristic of the Saint whom we honor today. His heart was ever full of a jubilant enthusiasm for what regards God; so that we could truly apply to him those words of Scripture: A secure mind is like a continual feast. One of his latest disciples, the...

NOTE The following text SNIPPET is a quote: newyork.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/nyfo082410.htm Two Additional Arrests Made of Members of Violent International Organized Crime Group Albanian Government Aide Arrested; Newly Unsealed Indictment Charges 17 Defendants with Murder, Kidnapping, and Other Racketeering Offenses PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JANICE K. FEDARCYK, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and RAYMOND W. KELLY, the Police Commissioner of the City of New York, announced the arrests of FLORIAN VESHI and ALMIR RRAPO for their roles in a racketeering enterprise that engaged...

All PriestIn recalling the holiness of Saint Philip, it occurs to me that it was essentially this: he was all priest. He was always and everywhere a priest. His priesthood suffused his very being, making him incandescent with the fire of the Cross and of the altar. As we move toward the conclusion of the Year of the Priest, Saint Philip Neri makes his appearance to stimulate our generosity, and to show us what happens when a priest surrenders to the fire of Divine Love. Spiritual Combat: The Seven Capital SinsHave no illusions about priestly holiness. Like all men, priests...

This Friday (16 March) sees one of Rome’s most picturesque feasts – a commemoration of the Massimo miracle of 1583. The location was the Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, now on the Corso Vittorio Emmanuele, the home of the oldest of Roman families – claiming descent from the great consul and dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus (d. 203 BC). The miracle involved St Philip Neri and young Prince Paolo, who was lying on his deathbed. The saint was called but could not come immediately since he was celebrating Mass. By the time he arrived, the fourteen year-old had died and the...

"The true way to advance in holy virtues is to persevere in a holy cheerfulness. The cheerful are much easier to guide in the spiritual life than the melancholy.... Excessive sadness seldom spring from any other source than pride. Charity and cheerfulness, or charity and humility, should be our motto. It is very necessary to be cheerful, but we must not on that account give in to frivolity. Frivolity incapacitates a person from receiving any additional spirituality from God. Frivolity also roots up the little a man may have already acquired...." "Those who pay a moderate attention to the mortification...