Campus Notes: Hundreds of students at Cabrini College just outside Philadelphia had their fortunes told at “Psychic Night” earlier this month, according to the student newspaper The Loquitur. More on this here.

CNA reports: Pope Benedict XVI used his Sunday Angelus address to remind Christians to call upon their guardian angel for help throughout life.

“Dear friends, the Lord is always near and active in human history, and follows us with the unique presence of His angels, that today the Church venerates as ‘Guardian,’ in other words those who minister God’s care for every man,” the Pope told pilgrims gathered in Rome’s St. Peter’s Square, October 2. “From the beginning until death,” he said, “human life is surrounded by their constant protection.” Read more here.

Yes, that is my opinion and also the opinion of many of the fathers of the Church.  As far as I know, among the doctors, only Saint Thomas argued against Saint Michael being a seraph. The Prince of the heavenly hosts is not only in the highest angelic choir, but he is also, along with Gabriel and Raphael, one of the seven who stand before the throne of God. Read More »

Servant and Steward: His Excellency the Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield in Illinois, has authorized the public recitation of the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel – originally composed by the Holy Father Pope Leo XIII in 1886 - following the dismissal at the end of Mass and before the recession. Read more here.

After reading about another horrific killing of  school children, this time in Brazil, by a deranged gunmen, who is so blind as to deny that the spread of satanism through movies, books, and “music” is one of the immediate causes.

CNA reports: A society dominated by moral relativism “fosters the spread of Satanism,” an expert recently explained. Carlo Climati told CNA on April 5 that Satanism “destroys those universal values that are written in the hearts of each human being.” It creates “a society that is turned on its head, in which good becomes evil and evil becomes good.” Read more of his interview with CNA here.

Father Bill Kneemiller has an informative article in the Davenport diocesan newspaper on the dangers of the many faces of the New Age movement. He speaks from personal experience. The first step he took in the wrong direction of Hindu and Buddhist practices was the so-called “technique” of yoga.

“The topic of New Age movements, once a budding campus phenomenon, is now mainstream and as close to us as our local bookstore or DVD movie. New Age refers to forms of spirituality that draw from old systems of knowledge such as Zen, Gnosticism (secret knowledge) and Eastern meditation.

“New Age concepts and ideals are even becoming part of our vocabulary. I know this terminology well, as I had a former involvement with Eastern meditation practices before my reconversion to my Catholic roots. I have been steeped in both traditions. So, I may have some insights for Catholics who are dabbling in New Age practices.  I have not publicly written about this before because it has taken time to come out of this New Age involvement.” Read full article here.

Here’s a clip of Father’s interview with CNA :

“One of the purposes of the book,” he noted, “was to take back the proper understanding of exorcism by placing it squarely in the context of the Church’s pastoral ministry.”

In regard to the need for this pastoral ministry, Fr. Euteneuer asserted that “priests are going to be inundated in the next decade or so at least with requests for exorcism because I can already see it happening now where the younger generations especially have been affected by a lot of hard and soft occultism.”

“Soft forms of occultism are like Wicca and New Age,” he explained, adding that “Harry Potter contributes to that with over 400 million books being sold.” The popular book series, he claimed, has helped educate “younger generations in the language and the symbolism of the occult.”

Although many young people have treated the books merely as “entertainment,” he observed, “it actually leads them more deeply into occult practices.”

“All of this is inevitably, with the lack of faith, going to lead to serious spiritual problems for younger people and those problems are going to be laid at the foot of the Church.” Full article is here.

Summer begins on my calendar after our May Procession. In meteorological time, it begins June 1. What this means is that the season of summer extends through the warmest months of the year, which in the Northern Hemisphere are June, July, and August. I only discovered today, while beginning this article, that in Great Britain and Ireland (and other northern countries) summer follows weather, or meteorological time. In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream the play takes place during the shortest night of the year, June 21, although this is not, in meteorological time, mid summer. That would be mid July.  Read More »

In my previous postings of questions about the angels I answered whether or not the existence of angels could be known from human reason or only from revelation. A few months ago I answered questions about the guardian angels. In this installment I discuss the nature of angels and their creation. This subject requires some knowledge of both philosophy and theology, so please bear with me if the material is a little deep and the terminology technical.

Read More »

Susan Brinkmann of Women of Grace website reports: A long-time video gamer and devout Catholic is sounding the alarm about a new breed of satanically-themed video games that target God and the Catholic Church, invite players to make pacts with the devil, and elevate Satan to hero status. Read full article here.