(Last time, I promised to follow up Ad Rem 89 with some concrete advice. This will come, God willing, but first something more timely for November.)
Fingerprints burned into a prayer book. A clearly visible charred hand print on a wooden table. Similar marks on shirt sleeves, a night cap, and aprons. These are among the curiosities to be seen in Rome’s Purgatory Museum.
When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appeared on Meet the Press a few weeks ago, she was asked about her consistent approval of abortion. Repeating her frequently stated stand, she insisted that she is “an ardent, practicing Catholic” and then claimed that no one knows when life begins. Moderator Tom Brokaw promptly told her [...]
Today, the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, there is an interview with me published on the Renew America web site. Brian Mershon, a traditional Catholic journalist interviewed me several months ago, and this is the result:
One year later…the forgotten document: A reaffirmation of the one true Church of [...]
Every evening we come before our Blessed Mother, bringing her a collection of our day’s efforts. She gracefully produces a gift of value and, in November, we are emboldened to ask if any of it could be applied to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
November is the month dedicated to the Holy Souls, and they are [...]
One of the earliest and most popular editors of the Catholic newspaper, The Boston Pilot, was an escaped “convict.” John Boyle O’Reilly (1844-90) was unjustly sentenced in 1867, by the English, to twenty-three years of penal servitude in Australia for his anti-British activism as a member of the Irish Fenians. He escaped the [...]
In Catholic religious art the color blue, not white, is symbolic of purity. The white wedding gown originated in the nineteenth century in imitation of Queen Victoria who wore white for her wedding to Prince Albert. The blue that brides were instructed to wear “something borrowed, something blue” on the wedding day was in honor [...]
I’m back from this two-week trip to Rome, but I haven’t gotten the Eternal City out of my mind. Not by a long shot. Thus, this entry, which has a ghoulish picture in it. I think it’s an appropriate meditation on death for November.
In Rome there is a famous church dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, [...]
The following is a press release from the Catholic Action League, condemning a deal between Boston College and Victoria’s Secret:
The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts today criticized Jesuit administered Boston College for entering into a business relationship with Victoria’s Secret, the self-described distributor of the “world’s sexiest brands” in women’s lingerie, sleepwear [...]
The first diocese established in North America was not Mexico City or Quebec but Greenland. Viking Leif Erikson, son of Erik the Red, brought along Catholic missionaries when he sailed to Greenland from Norway in the year 1000. His father, exiled from Norway, had established a colony there in 986 at Brattahlid. Leif was raised [...]
The word “saunter,” which means to “wander about,” is derived from Saint Terre (Holy Land). The connection is this: After the age of the catacombs, with the ascent of Constantine and Theodosius to the imperial Roman throne, Christians were free to make pilgrimages to Palestine. This was always a dangerous journey, especially after the seventh [...]
Zenit News has a very interesting article affirming the fact, with documentation, that Pius XII saw the sun dance in the sky and change colors four times, October 30, 31, November 1, and November 8, 1950. He defined the dogma of Our Lady’s Assumption on November 1 that year. The pope testified to this in [...]
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One Week Ago: Twelfth Annual Saint Benedict Center Conference
There was an impressive turnout for both the Thursday Open House and the Conference in Nashua — better than expected, considering the cost of traveling today. Inspiring and very informative presentations by the thirteen speakers made the sacrifice well worth it.
Here at the monastery in Richmond, Dr. Maike Hickson, Joseph Topalian, and Third Order Prefect, Brother John Marie Vianney, M.I.C.M., Tert. gave very inspiring talks on their respective topics. Mrs. Hickson, with her husband and their new born, Isabella Maria, in the audience, whetted the listeners’ appetites for good Catholic literature. Mr. Topalian provided a fascinating tour of his own eventful life, filled with adventure and challenge, in the navy during World War II, in an eastern-rite seminary, and as a Catholic Armenian in America. The Tertiary Prefect spoke about the most holy and most intimate of all “unions,” the holy “Communion” that is achieved by the Son of God and the members of His Mystical Body through the worthy reception of the Blessed Sacrament, which, the speaker stressed, ought to be our “daily Bread.” Guests were served a delicious pork roast dinner afterwards.
The line up of speakers for the three days in Nashua provided an impressive variety of expertise. Host Gary Potter challenged the theme of the Conference that these days are “the darkest of times” by highlighting days not long gone past where horrific crimes were committed against Catholics on account of their Faith. Gary’s point was that the light of Faith shines more brilliantly and the charity of the just radiates more intensely when fueled by persecution.
All of the speakers, from a variety of angles, contributed magnificently to the theme of the Conference by demonstrating, either through examples in the lives of the martyrs or through instructive knowledge concerning the incorporation of Catholic principles in family and social life, that no matter how evil the age, nothing can stop one from being a light in the darkness. The presentations, as you can see from the titles of the Conference recordings that we are offering, cover a wide range of Catholic erudition, all of which can equip us to confront more powerfully the wiles of Satan, the grand architect of today’s pervasive confusion.
Lastly, lest we imagine that evil can ever really triumph, or that suffering accepted in hope is not a means of perfect purification, Saint Paul was inspired to write these assuring words: “[W]e know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good, to such as, according to his purpose, are called to be saints” (Romans 8:28). May the Holy Ghost sear this divine truth into our hearts.
Less than Two Weeks from Now: Richmond Blueberry Fiddle Festival
Can’t afford to take the family to Disney World this summer? Come to the 6th annual Richmond Blueberry Fiddle Festival, Immaculate Heart of Mary School’s unique, old-fashioned family festival.
New this year is Friday’s Fish Fry & Contra Dance, Saturday’s Fiddle Contest (endorsed by the North American Fiddling Judges Association), and The Plunge or The Unforgettable Tale of Fates and Fiddles (an original New England melodrama).
Music includes performances by New Hampshire’s Austen Woods Duo (with their “thousands of vibrating strings” — www.sethausten.com) and Andrew & Noah VanNorstrand (New York State’s young, dynamic brothers — www.vfiddle.com), as well as other local talent. Enjoy the music while you savor a slice of homemade blueberry pie and cool off with ice cream from a local dairy.
Games, crafts, a car show, and other activities provide fun for all ages.
The festival is held at Cheshire Fairgrounds (Route 12, Swanzey, NH) on August 8-9: Friday 2-9pm, Saturday 9am-7pm. Admission is FREE; parking is a one-time $5.
For more information, visit blueberryfiddlefestival.com or call 603-239-6495.
Nos, cum Prole pia, benedicat Virgo Maria!
In the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M.
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