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Franciscan Media Image: Statue of Pope Callistus I on the Saints portal | Northern transept of Our Lady cathedral of Reims, Marne, France | photo by Fab5669 Saint Callistus I Saint of the Day for October 14 (d. 223)  Saint Callistus I’s Story The most reliable information about this saint comes from his enemy Saint Hippolytus, an early antipope, later a martyr for the Church. A negative principle is used: If some worse things had happened, Hippolytus would surely have mentioned them.Callistus was a slave in the imperial Roman household. Put in charge of the bank by his master,...

1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. 2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into...

"Every word of God is tested [pure, flawless]" (Prov. 30:5). God’s Word is without error. Inerrancy is a term that conveys the belief that the original writings of Scripture are wholly true in everything they teach— whether doctrine, history, science, geography, geology, or any other discipline or knowledge. It also applies to accurate copies of those original writings. Inerrancy is an unpopular concept with some people because they believe it isn't really important. But consider the implications. No Christian would deny that our relationship to Jesus Christ is of utmost importance. How can we know Him except as He is...

“Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (Romans 6:6-7). Having died with Christ, believers are no longer under sin’s control. Years ago a book with the amusing title “It Ain’t Gonna Reign No More” appeared. Though humorous, that title aptly summarizes the believer’s relationship to sin. Christians still commit sins but are no longer under sin’s dominion. When we were united with Christ in His death (Rom. 6:5), “our...

The Fall of the Gay Mafia’s Don The Pope’s glowing words won’t save Wuerl. He will end his days in disgrace. Some of Donald Wuerl’s priests called him the “Tin Man,” a reference to his cold, heartless style as the archbishop of Washington, D.C., a position from which he has now formally resigned, though outrageously Pope Francis is permitting him to continue as an “apostolic administrator” until his successor arrives. It is hilarious that Wuerl became arguably the most powerful American cardinal in the “pastoral church of Pope Francis,” given that Wuerl is the least pastoral prelate imaginable. He instinctively...

Video of the translation and public veneration of a holy relic of St. Ambrose of Optina to the women's monastery of Kazan.

Let's pray for one another.

“The National Council of Churches makes a rare statement to Oppose Kavanaugh.” So read the headline accompanying the lead story a fortnight ago in the The Washington Post’s “Acts of Faith” section. The WaPo hailed the NCC – the (fake) religious arm of the Democrat Party – for its denunciation of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee (and, by extension, President Trump himself). And the paper misleadingly suggested that the NCC’s statement represented the prevailing sentiment of the “more than 30 million U.S. parishioners” the Protestant organization purportedly represents. But the NCC hardly speaks for the more than 30 million parishioners....

Once again I must turn to my Freeper prayer warriors for help. I ask for prayers for Catherine a mother and friend who just had a heart attack that has required surgery. It involved the placement of five stints and more tests are coming. Catherine's family and friends are very worried so we need your prayers to see Catherine through and ease the worry we all share.

Pope Francis is facing criticism from abortion activists across Europe this week after he likened abortion to “hiring a hitman” to kill unborn babies. The pope made the impromptu remark Wednesday at the Vatican. ADF reports the pope’s abortion comments were not in the text of his prepared weekly homily. Instead, he appears to have spoken from the heart about the pervasive violence against unborn babies. “Is it right to hire a hitman to solve a problem? You cannot, it is not right to kill a human being, regardless of how small it is, to solve a problem. It is...

Patriarch Bartholomew I -- considered the leader of roughly 300 million Orthodox Christians, or "first among equals" of Eastern Orthodox clerics -- to "proceed to the granting of autocephaly to the Church of Ukraine" marked a clear step closer to another remarkable break from Moscow and its reach into Kyiv's affairs. After taking a moment to say a prayer, Natalia, a retired schoolteacher and parishioner of St. Volodymyr's, told RFE/RL that her previous prayer -- for her church to be legitimized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and broken free from Russia -- had been answered. The push for independence, "was our...

What Does Heaven Cost? A Homily for the 28th Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope • October 13, 2018 • The Rich Young Man Goes Away Sorrowful, J. Tissot (1894)The Sunday Gospel invites us to wrestle with these fundamental, essential, focal questions: “What does Heaven cost?” and “Am I willing to pay it?” I. Problematic Pondering – A rich man asks Jesus, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?Though his question is a good one, it is problematic because he couches it in terms of his own personal power and achievement. He wonders what he...

Kaja Godek is being sued by 16 LGBTI+ people over comments on the Taoiseach A leading anti-abortion campaigner in Poland says she will not apologise for referring to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s homosexuality as perversion, even if ordered to do so by a Warsaw court. On Thursday Kaja Godek was sued by 16 members of Poland’s lesbian and gay community for television remarks last May, repeated in recent days, that she viewed Mr Varadkar’s homosexuality as a “perversion”. Ms Godek has hit back at the civil suit against her, calling it “vengeance for my pro-life and pro-family stance”. “I don’t know...

QUEBEC CITY, October 11, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — Wearing religious symbols in the Canadian province of Quebec will become illegal for teachers, judges, police officers and those who work in prisons under a campaign promise made by the newly-elected Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ). Premier-elect François Legault's party isn't set to officially take over in the predominantly French-Canadian province until October 18. But the party's official line while it waits in the wings is that its campaign promise to bring in a secular charter will go ahead. Aspects of that secular charter, widely considered to be open to a constitutional challenge, would...

Francis downplays Wuerl's culpability for sinsPope Francis is saying that Cdl. Donald Wuerl's actions in protecting predator priests — actions that destroyed the spiritual lives of many and the physical lives of some — were justified as simply "mistakes" made in good faith. In his letter accepting the resignation of Wuerl as archbishop of Washington, D.C., Francis said in a letter Friday, "You have sufficient elements to 'justify' your actions and distinguish between what it means to cover up crimes or not to deal with problems, and to commit some mistakes." These "mistakes" were in actuality crimes, and Wuerl's name...

BRAINTREE -- Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley announced in an Oct. 11 statement that he has engaged an outside law firm to conduct the inquiry into conduct and culture at St. John's Seminary as well as expand the scope of the inquiry to include all three seminaries sponsored by the Archdiocese of Boston. In August, two former seminarians at St. John's posted on social media websites, including the Archdiocese's Facebook page, saying that they had "witnessed and experienced activities that are directly contrary to the moral standards and requirements of formation for the Catholic priesthood." Just days after the allegations appeared...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. 1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. Religion Forum threads labeled Prayer are closed to debate of any kind. Please join us in prayer.

October 14, 2018 Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Wis 7:7-11 I prayed, and prudence was given me;I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.I preferred her to scepter and throne,and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,and I chose to have her rather than the light,because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.Yet all good things together came to me in her...

Green Semidouble THE REMAINING SUNDAYS are the last of the Church’s cycle; but their proximity with its final termination varies each Year, according as Easter was early or late. This their movable character does away with anything like harmony between the composition of their Masses and the Lessons of the Night Office, all of which, dating from August, have been appointed and fixed for each subsequent week. This we have already explained to our Readers. Still, the instruction, which the Faithful ought to derive from the sacred Liturgy, would be incomplete, and the spirit of the Church, during these...

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,...