This is the only complete letter from the first thirty-five years of Blessed Junípero Serra’s life. Today it is kept in the Capuchin Convent (monastery) in Barcelona. “Most Dear Friend in Jesus Christ, Father Francisco Serra, “Words cannot express the … Continue reading
“For seventy years, more than six hundred Jesuits had toiled in Baja California, moving steadily northward, never abandoning a mission.” (De Nevi and Moholy) Now, with no regard for age or illness, they were ousted from their Indians and herded … Continue reading
There are several interesting facts in the history of West Virgina that highlight the footprints of the Catholic Church in the most mountainous state east of the MIssissippi. The first is a tradition handed down from the eighteenth century that … Continue reading
Perhaps the oldest devotion to Our Lady in Europe is the devotion to Our Lady of the Pillar. In Spain, Pilar is a popular girl’s name, as is Mercedes for Our Lady of Mercy. (In fact, General Franco named one … Continue reading
When the Apostles divided the earth and drew lots for their portions, Spain fell to Saint James the Greater. The seeds he sowed grew well, and the roots of the Faith in Spain go deep. Upon his return to Jerusalem … Continue reading
This is a very interesting article, not only because it authenticates Antonio Gramsci’s conversion, but because it highlights his strategy for Communizing all Europe. In order to do that, Gramsci insisted that the Church, the new order’s main enemy, would … Continue reading
We received news yesterday on the death of Brother Dominic Maria, O.S.C.O. Brother was an early member of Saint Benedict Center and a convert of Father Feeney’s from Protestantism. He was a Harvard student and the scion of the famous … Continue reading
An offense is measured, not by the one who gives it, but by the one who receives it. While it certainly would be wrong for anyone to strike a neighbor, it would be a much greater wrong to strike the … Continue reading
I had heard of Stevenson’s defense of Father Damien many years ago, but only recently came across the actual letter that he wrote to the Rev. Dr. Hyde, the Blessed’s unworthy calumniator. Pope John Paul II beatified Father Damien de … Continue reading
Today is the feast of the Miraculous Medal. As I only recently visited the Church of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, where the most well-known Miraculous Medal miracle took place, I would like to tell the story of that miracle (but not … Continue reading
Of all the words, exclamations, and clichés that grew out of anti-catholic bigotry, it is the word “dunce” that is the most ridiculous misnomer. It is derived from the name of one of the greatest scholastic thinkers of the Middles … Continue reading
Everyone knows that Protestants do not venerate saints. Nevertheless, sometimes they canonize their own by naming places after some local denizen that they feel deserves the title. At least five cities in the U.S.A. testify to the rather strange anomaly: … Continue reading
Brian Kelly has written on this site about Our Lady of America and her apparitions to the holy religious in Ohio, Sister Mary Ephrem (Mildred Neuzil). These apparitions are approved by the Church, as the recent canonical study of the … Continue reading
Last Sunday, the Gospel was from the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, transferred on this year’s liturgical calendar to this time just before Advent. Saint Matthew provides us with the vivid image of Our Lord as Teacher, using richly textured parables, … Continue reading
Anxious to restore the English hierarchy at the earliest opportune time, Blessed Pius IX, in 1850, created Bishop Nicholas Patrick Wiseman Cardinal (1802-1865), appointing him to head the Church in England as Archbishop of the newly created See of Westminster.
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