We continue what be began in our last number, a three-part study of spiritual childhood by Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (1877-1964).
St. Teresa of the Child Jesus reminds us that the principal virtues of the child of God are those in which are reproduced in an eminent degree the innate qualities of the child, minus his defects. Consequently the way of spiritual childhood will teach us to be supernaturally ourselves minus our defects.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day
I just read on the New Advent website the Catholic Encyclopedia’s excellent account of the life of Erin’s great apostle. I would highly recommend it if you can spare fifteen minutes today. I can’t think of anything I’ve read elsewhere over the years about the saint that …
That’s the motion that was debated last week in London, at an event hosted by the Spectator and held at the Royal Geographical Society. And guess what — “the 700-strong sell-out audience voted overwhelmingly in favour of the motion”!
Excerpt from The Catholic Herald:
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, author Piers Paul Read and Dom Anthony Sutch, former headmaster of Downside, spoke for the motion.
Anime cartoons and their characters are a huge cultic phenomenon, the most popular of all escapist media venues. It is very addictive and very dangerous, to the soul and the mind. I don’t post weird stories, but this blog by Zoe Romanowski from Inside Catholic, along with another, even …
One of the commentators on the relevant CWN article expressed it well: “It’s past time someone said this. Too often ecumenism is taken to mean the weakening of the teachings of the Church and the addition of non-Catholic ritual and beliefs.” A-m-e-n-!
Past time is better than no time — or, “better late than never.” All the scandal that has transpired, and is ongoing, in the name of ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue should cease at these words of Cardinal Levada defining its purpose (or “final cause” to you Aristotelians out there): “Union with the Catholic Church is the goal of ecumenism.”
Our 2010 conference will be held on October 8 and 9 at Saint Benedict Center in Richmond, New Hampshire.
The information currently available is as follows:
Theme: “The Romance of Wisdom”
Cost: $100 for both days (Friday and Saturday). This includes meals. Single days without meals: $40.
Note: This year, Friday and Saturday will both be full days. There will be eight speakers giving presentations in addition to the master of ceremonies, our Prior, Brother Andre Marie.
Archbishop Alberto Bottari de Castello, apostolic nuncio to Japan, has a very perceptive insight into the subversive effects Buddhist doctrine has on the soul of a suffering devotee confronting hopelessness. From Sandro Magister’s latest column: “Why Life is Worth So Little in Prosperous Japan.”
“The Japanese do not have a personal …
[March 5, 2010 - Rome Reports (with hat tip to Rorate Caeli)]
Benedict XVI has formed a commission to investigate if Our Lady truly appeared in Medjugorje, a small town in Bosnia.
The commission is part of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Cardinal Camillo Ruini will preside over the commission. Ruini is the pope’s former vicar of Rome’s diocese. Ruini goal will be to explain to the pope what’s happening at the sanctuary which has become the third most visited in Europe.
Allegedly, at least 6 people have witnessed the Virgins apparitions there since 1981.
When the enemies of the Church, the enemies of Christianity in general, and those who want to “hold” the Catholic hierarchy’s “feet to the fire” constantly jabber about Pius XII’s supposed complicity in the Nazi murder of Jews, it becomes necessary to defend the truth as well as the honor of the Holy Father. He was, after all, not only innocent of the crime of which he stands accused by an angry mob, but was also proactive in the protection of innocent Jews. That’s history. Catholics have a particular duty to defend the Church’s honor, but even secular historians of the era ought to vindicate Pius XII, if only to protect the integrity of their science.
In changing the traditional Douay-Rheims rendering of Genesis 3:15 from “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” to the Catholic Revised Standard Version translation (based on the King James Bible), “I will put enmities between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed: he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel,” the scriptural foundation for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is compromised. So, too, is the traditional doctrine concerning Our Lady’s essential role in salvation history, which has been translated into her more modern title of “Co-redemptrix.”
“The United Nations estimated that 683 Christians fled Mosul between February 20 and February 27. Chaldean Catholic Bishop Emil Shimoun Nona of Mosul estimated that ‘about 400 families’ had left the city’s community of 4,000 Christians.”
This disheartening data comes from an article in Catholic World News. The Iraqi Catholic bishops themselves are bemoaning the situation. But that’s not all they are doing; they are also praying, fasting, and organizing their people to protest peacefully. The facts are not to be denied, and they are not the “spin” of liberal news pundits trying to make a Republican effort look bad.
Biographies provide one of the more enjoyable ways to learn history, especially when they are well written. Focusing on the events surrounding the life of someone of great accomplishment gives the reader a window through which to see a slice of a time, its persons and places, as they relate to the subject of the biography.
Most, but not all of the biographies on our website are of extraordinary Catholic men and women whose sanctity, zeal, intelligence, and courage made the Church more holy and the world less evil. One can see in the lives recounted how they impacted a certain part of the world, or, with some other individuals, even the whole world. In some cases, they affected future generations as well. Their lives are posted so that our readers may learn history, especially that of the Church and Christendom, and draw inspiration from the Church’s heroes and heroines. Occasional villains show up here, that we might learn how they, too, impacted history.
Father Michael Jarecki is our chaplain. At ninety-two years of age, he is not yet quite as long-lived as Brother Francis (who died at ninety six), but he’s close. I fear that his recent hospitalization is a sign that he is soon to exit this world. Truth to tell, he wants to do just that, because, as he has told us many times, he wants to go to Heaven soon. Whether his departure is anon or no, I think a few words in tribute to this heroic alter Christus are appropriate now, even while he is still with us. Read More »
Every Catholic of a certain age remembers the week in January when the Church Unity Octave or the Chair of Unity Octave was celebrated liturgically. The Octave began on January 18, Feast of St. Peter’s Chair in Rome, and ended on January 25, Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. But, do we know how this important celebration came about? Most, even old timers, would have to say “No!” The story of the holy man who began this octave — as an Anglican, no less — and single handedly encouraged priests, bishops, and finally, the reigning pope to approve, adopt, and spread it throughout the universal church is a fascinating one. Read More »
It is certainly my pleasure to be a part of this tribute to our wonderful teacher. I’m sure I speak for all in saying that we know the one, true Faith better because of him. And for that we are all deeply grateful.
You may wonder why it is that I am up here speaking on this wonderful occasion. Well, I’ve been wondering about that too. I’ve come up with a possible answer. It is that I was chosen because I’m the only person in this room — other than Brother himself — who has ever been to Lebanon. Read More »
Brother Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M., (July 19, 1913 – September 05, 2009) Founding member of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Superior of Saint Benedict Center in Richmond, New Hampshire, Philosopher, College Professor, and published author died on Saturday, September 5, at the age of 96. Read More »
(Note: This was written on the occasion of the death of Brother Hugh, M.I.C.M., one of the founding members of our Order, who went to his reward on July 11, 1979. The piece introduced From the Housetops No. 18, which featured the life of Saint John Bosco. Brother Hugh was a real giant of a man who left a deep impression on many souls, and was an intrepid leader at Saint Benedict Center during very difficult times. Brother Francis loved him deeply, and has cherished his memory all these years. We thought it fitting, on the thirtieth anniversary of Brother Hugh’s death, to publish this small tribute on our web site. It is especially so inasmuch as its author is now very close to entering eternity himself, where, we hope, he will join his old confrere in beatitude.) Read More »
“They’re watching me,” he wrote to Saint Katharine Drexel, his confidant and benefactor.
One of the Catholic websites I frequent offers a video about a Black American priest by the name of Augustus Tolton. I could see by the black and white photo of him with a biretta on his head that he lived in the early twentieth, maybe even the nineteenth century. Being curious, I googled the name and read a couple of articles about the man. Read More »
This past February 9, I posted an article about the Huron Indian, Joseph Chihwatenha, entitled Red Man Without a Cause. He was a noble man, naturally virtuous, who after his conversion and brief life as a Catholic exhibited the kind of heroic sanctity that should earn him a place on the roster of the canonized.
I write now about another Huron, a warrior, quite probably a friend of Joseph’s, as he was a friend of Joseph’s brother, Teondechoren. Read More »
(1795-1868)
(Reprinted with Permission)
Editor’s Introduction: In the Arab Catholic world there is a rich treasury of liturgical rites. The Ancient Syrian Rite — that of Antioch — is the “parent rite” of five “children”: The Maronite Rite, discussed at length in this same issue; the Syrian Rite, which is discussed in the following article; the Chaldean Rite, which has preeminence in Iraq; and two rites celebrated in India: the Malabar and the Malankara Rites. Read More »
Andrew Cusak recently posted a brief, uplifting tribute to a great Catholic statesman: Paul Comtois of Québec. Lieutenant-gouverneur Comtois was a scandalously un-celebrated martyr for his love of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. No doubt, his lack of celebrity is due to the fact that his edifying death coincided with Québec’s Révolution tranquille. Read More »
One year ago, I posted a column on our website about Servant of God, Francis J. Parater, an Eagle Scout, who died in 1919 while studying in Rome for the priesthood. I proposed him as a worthy candidate to one day be the patron saint for the Boy Scouts. Read More »
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