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The patriarch Jeremiah Al Amchiti was born in Amsheet, Lebanon, where he grew up and received education until God called him for his service in the religious life. In fact, he became a monk, and with the help of his brothers David and Joseph, he lived for a while as a hermit in Amsheet’s hermitages. Those hermitages included vast and high cellars and three churches: Our Lady of the Sea, Saint Zakhia, and Saint John. They are all known as Saint Zakhia’s churches, and are considered today among the most important ancient ruins in Amsheet.In 1199, Jeremiah Al Amchiti was...

November 26, 2015Thanksgiving and the EucharistMarcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. For Americans, the term "Thanksgiving" conjures up images of turkey and cranberry sauce, parades and bowl games. These "traditions" have come to mark an event made a perpetual institution of American life by President Abraham Lincoln.But why did Lincoln proclaim the last Thursday in November as a national holiday? Because it was clear to him that the blessings of food, land, family, and freedom enjoyed by Americans are all gifts from the Creator. But Americans, he realized, had forgotten this. A special day was needed for us to forget our differences and...

ROMA, April 28, 2005 -On Sunday, April 24, Benedict XVI inaugurated his “Petrine ministry as bishop of Rome”in the sunlight of a Saint Peter’s Square overflowing with crowds. But his first intention was different. He had wanted to celebrate his first solemn mass as pope, not in the square, but inside the basilica of Saint Peter. “Because there the architecture better directs the attention toward Christ, instead of the pope,” he told the masters of ceremonies on Wednesday, April 20, his first full day as the elected pope. Only the immense number of faithful who were coming induced him to...

Today Mark Shea  Other Articles by Mark SheaPrinter Friendly Version   One More Time: It's All About the Eucharist August 7, 2007On July 10, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church", a document stating the absolutely-not-new fact that, yes, the Church does believe it is the Church Christ founded and that other Christian bodies are right insofar as they agree and with and preserve Catholic teachings and practice and wrong insofar as they reject or add to them. The media response was all so...

It is generally known, that, since Vatican II, much has changed in the Catholic Church with regard to this veneration of the Host (whic means "sacrificial gift" in Latin). Most of the forms of reverence I have described [such as kneeling for Communion] have disappeared. The liturgical reformers succeeded in convincing the faithful that reverence for the Host, worship of the Host as the real physical appearance of Jesus Christ, has been unknown in the Church of the Apostles and their early successors. This veneration of the Host was medieval, they said. The word "medieval" has an even more pejorative...

ROME, MAY 12, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Understanding the true presence of Jesus Christ in the consecrated host and wine is difficult for Catholics. To this end, the Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum held a conference on miracles that are associated with the Eucharist as a way to help people comprehend the incomprehensible. The May 5 Conference also opened an exhibition entitled "Eucharistic Miracles," continuing through May 19, brings attention to these miracles that support the phenomenon of the truth of the faith. Giancarlo Casagrande, one of the event's organizers, and professor and dean of the Faculty of Science and Faith Studies, told me:...

The early Christians give us the signs of the Christian life: The Eucharist celebrated and lives poured out. In July of A.D. 64, during the tenth year of Nero’s reign, a great fire consumed much of the city of Rome. The fire raged out of control for seven days—and then it started again, mysteriously, a day later. Many in Rome knew that Nero had been eager to do some urban redevelopment. He had a plan that included an opulent golden palace for himself. The problem was that so many buildings were standing in his way — many of them teeming...

24 May, 2005 BANGLADESH The Eucharist in Bangladesh, where Sunday is a “workday” by Marta Allevato Rome (AsiaNews) -- It’s hard to celebrate Sunday as the “Lord’s Day” in a Muslim country, where Sunday is not only a working day, but also “one of the busiest.” But the Eucharist in Bangladesh, a predominantly Islamic country, is a moment that the tiny Catholic community needs to “express its shared belonging.” It is “the gratuitous gift of oneself”, “forgiveness” and “sharing” with the poor and with sinners. In an interview with AsiaNews, Fr Franco Cagnasso, a missionary of the Pontifical Institute for...

The Holy Eucharist As Sharing In Divinity by Fr. Sharbel Maroun Pastor of St. Maron Church Minneapolis, Minnesota “You have united O Lord, Your divinity with our humanity And our humanity with your divinity. Your life with our mortality, And our mortality with your life. You have assumed what is ours And you have given us what is yours. For the life and salvation of our souls. To you be glory forever.” These words that are used in the Maronite Liturgy at the time of the mingling of the precious Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus summarize the whole...

Fundamentals of Catholicism by Father Robert Altier Lesson 18: The Eucharist (Part 2) If you want to trace some of these things through the Scriptures, the place to begin is in Genesis 14. There you will find a man by the name of Melchizedek. That is the only place where he is mentioned. He comes out of nowhere and offers sacrifice and blesses Abraham, and Abraham gives him one-tenth of everything he has taken as booty in his defeat of the five kings. The only other place in the Old Testament that Melchizedek is ever mentioned is in Psalm 110....

Fundamentals of Catholicism by Father Robert Altier Lesson 17: The Eucharist (Part 1) (Class begins with a greeting by Father and the recitation of the Our Father.] We have come to what is perhaps the most important of all the lessons because it builds and fulfills everything we have talked about so far. The focus of this lesson is the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Lord, and when we consider it from that perspective, this is absolutely central. When we talked about Jesus, we talked about all the objective things regarding Who He is and His Person, but now we...

The Eucharistic Mystery Calls For Our ResponseMany events in the Church in the last three years have in a special way oriented our attention to the Holy Eucharist. In April 2003, the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II, gave to the Church the beautiful Encyclical Letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia. At his direction, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued the Instruction, Redemptionis Sacramentum in March 2004. A special Eucharistic Year declared by Pope John Paul was celebrated by the whole Church from October 2004 to October 2005. The October 2005 Synod of Bishops has...

The notion that in matters of religion, but not only in matters of religion, one must make a choice between tolerance and truth is as persistent as it is false. It comes up again in connection with a study designed by sociologists James D. Davidson and Dean R. Hoge that explores how the sexual scandals have influenced Catholic attitudes toward the faith and the Church. The study included a nationwide survey of more than a thousand self-identified Catholics, 60 percent of whom are registered in a parish and therefore, presumably, more active than the 40 percent who are not or...

More than 1,000 Teens, the Bishop and the Eucharist Focus on Eucharist is 'historic day' for diocese at its largest gathering of youthMORRISTOWN - Young people from parishes and Catholic high schools from every corner of the diocese - more than 1,000 - came to Delbarton School here May 1to be with Bishop Serratelli for a Day on the Eucharist, guided by the theme "Made Right in God's Sight by Faith." Activities for the day, which was hailed as  the largest gathering of youth in the diocese's history, were designed to awaken thee teens' faith and inspire them to examine...

The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde on Oct. 15 during the Diocesan Pilgrimage at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. The relationship of mother and child is unique. We know this from our own personal experience: how we would instinctively run to our mother and seek her help in time of need. In the days following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, our hearts were profoundly touched by the pictures of mothers holding their children to protect them. We read — with tears welling from our eyes — the...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- It was not listed as a topic for discussion, but the question of Communion in the hand versus Communion on the tongue received attention at the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. Cardinal Janis Pujats of Riga, Latvia, was the first to raise the issue, telling the synod Oct. 3 that he thought Catholics should receive Communion on the tongue -- while kneeling. When communicants stand, Cardinal Pujats said, he feels like a dentist looking into their mouths. Cardinal Francis Arinze, who heads the Vatican's worship congregation, responded by saying that arguments could be made for...

RELATED NEWS: US Bishop’s conference says document on gays in priesthood coming soon New TV series features life of parish priests Catholic Clergy group recommits to orthodox preaching of the Gospel, defense of human life Priest must be reflection of Christ, says bishop at international meeting Grace of the Eucharist is secret to holy priests, says PopeVatican City, Sep. 19, 2005 (CNA) - Before his noontime Angelus prayer at the papal Castelgandolfo summer residence yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI said that the key to holy priests and to a sanctified Church lies in the celebration of the Eucharist. As the...

by Fr. William Saunders Other Articles by Fr. William Saunders The Disposition of Priests 07/15/05 If an ordained priest does not believe in transubstantiation, do the communicants receive the Body and Blood of Christ? In answering this question, one has to wonder, "How could a priest not believe in transubstantiation?" Of course, the point here is not simply the word "transubstantiation," which the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 officially used in its Creed and which the Council of Trent repeated in its Decree on the Most Holy Eucharist in 1551. Rather, the important point is believing what the word transubstantiation signifies:...

In a homily given in 1999, Pope John Paul II said, “The Heart of the Lord is the starting point of the holiness of each one of us.” I have always had a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. My favorite image is the one distributed by the Priests of the Sacred Heart in Wisconsin. Our Lord’s eyes seem to say, “I love you, come to Me.” As a youth, I wanted to go to Him often but I was easily distracted. After parochial grade school, I attended public high school and soon became lukewarm in my faith. Once...

My son, who made his First Holy Communion this spring, had a very upsetting experience. His friend, who attends a different parish and who also was making his First Holy Communion, said to my son, "Oh, it’s just bread and wine." My son was crushed, because he has been taught that Holy Communion is the Body and Blood of Jesus. I reassured him of the truth, but am I missing something? In This Article... Source and Summit of the Whole Christian LifeOpen Your Eyes and Recognize the LordNo Ordinary Food and Drink Source and Summit of the Whole Christian...