Free Republic

March 12 is the feast day of Pope Saint Gregory the Great on the traditional Catholic calendar. It also marks the date of his death in AD 604. One of the greatest Popes, Gregory reigned for 14 of the most tumultuous years in Church history, preoccupied as it was with the ongoing Lombard invasion of Italy. Wracked with a chronic illness, Gregory nonetheless managed Church and civil affairs with vigor and aplomb as prompted by the Holy Spirit. His reign is often considered the bridge between the ancient Papacy and the medieval Papacy in which the Pope played the role...

February 8 is the feast of Saint Josephine Bakhita, canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 2000. Her perilous and inspiring journey from slavery to sainthood is fairly well-known as it has been the subject of several books and movies. A summary of her biography may also be found in Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Spe Salvi from 2007. Pope Benedict wrote: The example of a saint of our time can to some degree help us understand what it means to have a real encounter with this God for the first time. I am thinking of the African Josephine Bakhita,...

The future Hall of Fame? quarterback is calling it a careerWhile the world awaits what's expected to be a retirement decision from Drew Brees, another NFL legend has opted to make his decision quickly. Philip Rivers, 39, recently noted he'd consider retirement but was also open to returning to the Indianapolis Colts for a second year, if they'd have him. Just over one week after being eliminated from the playoffs at the hands of the Buffalo Bills in an AFC wild-card game, Rivers is instead going to hang up his cleats -- he told The San Diego Union-Tribune -- ending...

"  Clare of AssisiAnthony of PaduaBernard of CorleoneCuré of ArsJoseph of LeonissaAgathangelus & CassianAnastasius HartmannAngelus of AcriApollinaris of PosatBernard of AndermattBernard of OffidaBernardine ColpetrazzoConrad of ParzhamCrispin of ViterboDidacus of CadizFelix of CantaliceFelix of NicosiaFidelis of SigmaringenFrancis of CamporossoFrancis of BassostIgnatius of LaconiIgnatius of SanthiaInnocent of BerzoJoseph of DreuxLaurence of BrindisiLeonard of ChatresLeopold MandicMary MartinengoPio ForgioneSeraphin MontegranoSolanus CaseyVeronica GiulianiNicholas of Gesturi THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTHONY by John Cooper ofm cap. Anthony was born at Lisbon in Portugal in 1195.(1) He was baptised "Fernando" in the Cathedral Church of old Lisbon. On the font is written: "Here the waters of holy baptism cleansed Anthony from all stain of original sin. The world rejoices in his light, Padua in his body, heaven in his soul." (2) His father, was a revenue officer and knight (3) at the court of Alfonso II, king of Portugal. When Fernando was 15 years old, he joined the community of Canons Regular of St...

The “Saints” aren’t marching in just yet. After being postponed over COVID-19 concerns, the much-anticipated “The Many Saints of Newark” is finally set to open on September 24, 2021 — almost a year after its original planned release date. “The Sopranos” prequel, which is being produced by New Line Cinemas and released by Warner Bros., was originally slated to hit theaters and streaming services in September 2020, Variety reported. The David Chase-created mafia flick was later rescheduled for this spring due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Readers of this blog will recall that I have written frequently on the eventful life of Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church, including his acclamation as bishop even before he was baptized, his discovery of the remains of Saints Protase and Gervase, his conflicts with the Empress Justina, and his confrontation with Theodosius the Great. On this feast day of Ambrose, let us examine some of the strange and portentous events which attended his death in AD 397, as attested by his secretary, Paulinus, who was witness to these things and wrote at the behest of...

Roy Moore was dragged through the mud as evil scum for accusations similar to those Jacob Blake’s girlfriend made to police, but Blake is being sainted. ast Friday, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and his team broke with the pack to hold practice as nine other NFL teams canceled theirs in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake. They put Blake’s name in big black letters across the front of their helmets in what Sporstcasting.com writer Stephen Sheehan called “a powerful visual signal.”New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton explained after practice that, “The idea of putting his...

Former NFL coach Mike Ditka had a lot to say about the NFL players who plan to take a knee during the national anthem. He simply doesn’t care for it and he suggests anyone who’s taking a knee for the national anthem may as well get out of the country. But don’t listen to me. Take it from the man himself as quoted by TMZ: “If you can’t respect our national anthem, get the hell out of the country. That’s the way I feel. Of course, I’m old fashioned, so I’m only going to say what I feel. You don’t...

July 18 2020 Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Mi 2:1-5 Woe to those who plan iniquity, and work out evil on their couches; In the morning light they accomplish it when it lies within their power. They covet fields, and seize them; houses, and they take them; They cheat an owner of his house, a man of his inheritance. Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I am planning against this race an evil from which you shall not withdraw your necks; Nor shall you walk with head high, for it will be a time...

July 15 2020 Memorial of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 Is 10:5-7, 13b-16 Thus says the LORD: Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger, my staff in wrath. Against an impious nation I send him, and against a people under my wrath I order him To seize plunder, carry off loot, and tread them down like the mud of the streets. But this is not what he intends, nor does he have this in mind; Rather, it is in his heart to destroy, to make an end of nations not a few.For he says:...

July 14 2020 Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin Reading 1 Is 7:1-9 In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel, son of Remaliah, went up to attack Jerusalem, but they were not able to conquer it. When word came to the house of David that Aram was encamped in Ephraim, the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.Then the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you...

July 13 2020 Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 1:10-17 Hear the word of the LORD, princes of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, people of Gomorrah! What care I for the number of your sacrifices? says the LORD. I have had enough of whole-burnt rams and fat of fatlings; In the blood of calves, lambs and goats I find no pleasure.When you come in to visit me, who asks these things of you? Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me. New moon...

July 11 2020 Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot Reading 1 Is 6:1-8 In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two they veiled their feet, and with two they hovered aloft.They cried one to the other, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!” At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook...

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Msgr. Charles Pope Sobering Spiritual Truths According to St. John of the Cross In today’s post I would like to ponder some hard and sobering spiritual truths, but ones that will set us free.In calling them “hard truths”, I mean that they are not the usual cozy bromides that many seek. They speak bluntly about the more irksome and difficult realities we face. If we come to accept them, though, they have a strange way of bringing serenity by getting us to focus us on the right things rather than spending our time...

July 6 2020 Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Hos 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22 Thus says the LORD: I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt.On that day, says the LORD, She shall call me “My husband,” and never again “My baal.”I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity,...

July 3 2020 Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle Reading 1 Eph 2:19-22 Brothers and sisters: You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Responsorial Psalm 117:1bc, 2 R. (Mark 16:15) Go out to all...

July 1 2020 Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Am 5:14-15, 21-24 Seek good and not evil, that you may live; Then truly will the LORD, the God of hosts, be with you as you claim! Hate evil and love good, and let justice prevail at the gate; Then it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will have pity on the remnant of Joseph.I hate, I spurn your feasts, says the LORD, I take no pleasure in your solemnities; Your cereal offerings I will not accept, nor consider your stall-fed peace offerings....

June 30 2020 Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Am 3:1-8; 4:11-12 Hear this word, O children of Israel, that the LORD pronounces over you, over the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt:You alone have I favored, more than all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your crimes.Do two walk together unless they have agreed? Does a lion roar in the forest when it has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from its den unless it has seized something? Is a bird...

June 29 2020 Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles Reading 1 Acts 12:1-11 In those days, King Herod laid hands upon some members of the Church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword, and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded to arrest Peter also. –It was the feast of Unleavened Bread.– He had him taken into custody and put in prison under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. He intended to bring him before the people after Passover. Peter thus was being...

June 27 2020 Saturday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Lam 2:2, 10-14, 18-19 The Lord has consumed without pity all the dwellings of Jacob; He has torn down in his anger the fortresses of daughter Judah; He has brought to the ground in dishonor her king and her princes.On the ground in silence sit the old men of daughter Zion; They strew dust on their heads and gird themselves with sackcloth; The maidens of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.Worn out from weeping are my eyes, within me all is in ferment; My gall...