"With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts." ~3 Kings 19:10
From Art for the Liturgical Year : The radiance of the gilded dome of heaven draws attention upward to where Christ welcomes his mother, body and soul, into the splendor of Heaven, where she shares the glory of her Son’s resurrection. 4 Four concentric circles of light surround the figure of Christ while golden bands of light holding the nine tiers of angels compose the dome of heaven. Saints…
The Church Life Journal : It is important to realize that this dogma was not invented in the 1950’s. As Pope Pius XII’s encyclical points out, this tradition is found in the ancient liturgical books of both East and West. It is also attested to by St. Sergius I, Pope in the late 7th century, who even prescribed a litany to be prayed on the feast. But this feast−although solidly grounded in the…
In meditating upon the mystery of the Assumption we remember that nothing is impossible with God . Gaudeamus! ...Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at whose Assumption the angels rejoice and all together praise the Son of God. This is no mere earthly joy; it is the joy of heaven spilling over, cascading down through the choirs of angels…
And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars....(Apocalypse 12:1) On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII in the bull Munificentissimus Deus defined the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The teaching that the Immaculate Mother of God was taken body and soul into heaven at the close of her…
On the feast of the Franciscan martyr St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe it is a privilege to read o ne of his homilies translated from Polish by Fr. Angelo . I once had the privilege of meeting the Catholic Polish officer Franciszek Gajowniczek for whom St. Maximilian gave up his life. Mr. Gajowniczek told us that before the saint was led away he turned and gave him a beautiful smile. In the words of the…
From The Marian Room : The Franciscan Mariologist, Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner, was not only an expert on the writings and teachings of St. Francis and St. Bonaventure, but those of St. Maximilian Kolbe, as well; thus he was proficient in tracing the golden thread of “Mary’s presence and continuing influence” at the outset of the Franciscan order to the present day, as seen in the following: In the…
From EWTN : The Lady Clare, "shining in name, more shining in life," was born in the town of Assisi about the year 1193. Her mother was to become Blessed Ortolana di Fiumi. Her father is said to have been Favorino Scifi, Count of Sasso-Rosso, though whether he came of that noble branch of the Scifi family is not certain. Concerning Clare's childhood we have no reliable information. She was…
St. Lawrence was also a powerful exorcist. From My Catholic Life : The Church’s liturgy, like all public rituals whether sacred or secular, is inherently conservative. Its form is not easily altered. Its content shapes, more than is shaped by, the Church and the wider culture. The liturgy moves through time like a great river moves through the land. It plows its own path, carving the terrain,…
From Vultus Christ i : If Saint Dominic preached the rosary and prayed it, it was because he knew it to be a prayer capable of winning every grace. The rosary is a prayer of repetition. It is a prayer of confidence. It helps one to persevere in supplication, bead by bead, and decade by decade. Our Lord finds the rosary irresistible because His own Mother “subsidizes” it. She stands behind it. The…
Also known as St. Albert of Sicily . Today in the Carmelite Order water is blessed known as "St Albert's Water." Sr. Mary, the late departed extern sister at the Carmel of Loretto, PA., kept a generous supply of jars filled with St Albert's water in the pantry near the Turn. Sometimes the water would be there for so long that the jars began to look like small aquariums of interesting life forms.…
I am praying my novena for some private intentions as well as for my country and for President Donald Trump. Those who hate Trump, I pray for you, too. And those who hate Trump should especially pray for him, since Our Lord bids us to pray for our enemies. Mary, Queen Assumed into Heaven, I rejoice that after years of heroic martyrdom on earth, you have at last been taken to the throne prepared…
Let us run with confidence and joy to enter into the cloud like Moses and Elijah, or like James and John. Let us be caught up like Peter to behold the divine vision and to be transfigured by that glorious transfiguration. Let us retire from the world, stand aloof from the earth, rise above the body, detach ourselves from creatures and turn to the Creator, to whom Peter in ecstasy exclaimed: Lord,…
The legend, the feast and the basilica . The most important church in the city of Rome dedicated to Our Lady is the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, erected around the year 352, during the reign of Pope Liberius. (352-366) According to legend, a member of an aristocratic family, John and his wife were childless and prayed that the Blessed Mother might designate an heir to bequeath their wealth. They…
He is the patron saint of parish priests. I will never forget our brief visit to Ars in September 1999, when my husband and I decided to rent a car in Toulouse and drive up the east side of France to Paris. We motored along winding and precipitous roads through the mountains of Auvergne to Le Puy-en-Velay , the site of the shrine of Our Lady of France, popular in the Middle Ages. I could not…
Today we mystically kneel at the Portiuncula , to gain the triple indulgence of Rome, Compostela, and Jerusalem. To quote: According to a legend, the existence of which can be traced back with certainty only to 1645, the little chapel of Portiuncula was erected under Pope Liberius (352-66) by hermits from the Valley of Josaphat, who had brought thither relics from the grave of the Blessed Virgin .…
Today is his feast. Here is an excerpt from his book The Glories of Mary : And here we say, that although Mary, now in heaven, can no longer command her Son, nevertheless her prayers are always the prayers of a Mother, and consequently most powerful to obtain whatever she asks. "Mary," says Saint Bonaventure, "has this great privilege, that with her Son she above all the Saints is most powerful to…
From Jesuits in Ireland : The Society of Jesus was founded in 1540 by St. Ignatius Loyola and since then has grown from the original seven to 24, 400 members today who work out of 1,825 houses in 112 countries. In the intervening 455 years many Jesuits became renowned for their sanctity (41 Saints and 285 Blesseds), for their scholarship in every conceivable field, for their explorations and…
Madame de Montpeyroux, abbess of Port-Royal Abbey From Sensus Fidelium : One of the greatest spiritual battles in Catholic history was not fought over the Trinity, the Eucharist, or even the papacy. It was fought over the character of God Himself . Is God primarily a loving Father eager to save? Or is He chiefly a stern Judge searching for reasons to condemn? That question gave rise to one of the…
St. Martha of Bethany. It is ironic to me that she who tamed a dragon would also be the patroness of housewives. To quote from Aleteia : Once there, Martha was immediately sought after for her association with Jesus. According to tradition, she performed many miraculous feats, including the slaying of a dragon along the Rhone river. The Golden Legen d provides all the details. At that time, in the…
He founded the first monasteries of Carmelite nuns. From Louange de sa gloire : John Soreth was born at Caen in Normandy and entered Carmel as a young man. He pursued a doctorate of theology in Paris and served as regent of studies and provincial of the province. He was prior general from 1451 until his death at Angers in 1471. He restored observance within the Order and promoted its reform, wrote…
Here he is in his prison uniform. Saint Titus was a towering intellect as well as a man of humor, wit and sanctity. He stood up to the Nazis ; they put him in Dachau and performed experiments upon him. Before he died, he handed his rosary to the prison nurse and she was converted. He is a saint for our time. Although neo-paganism no longer wants love, history teaches us that, in spite of…
Everybody needs a Jewish grandmother. There is no need too small or insignificant for St. Anne to concern herself with; she is at home among the pots and pans, in the garden, the grocery store, and especially in the labor and delivery room. I can even see her standing in the living room in the middle of a family fight, trying to intervene. She is powerful with God. Her shrine in Quebec is among…
This is the day to make a mystical pilgrimage to Compostela , to kneel at the tomb of the son of Zebedee , the tomb of Santiago , whose name was the battle cry of Spain. Here is an article from a few years ago by Mary Jo Anderson : Today is the feast day of Saint James the Greater. Millions of pilgrims have trekked across four ancient pilgrim paths that thread through Europe, converging in the…
There were many atrocities perpetrated upon priests and religious in Spain during the bloody Civil War of the 1930's. In 1936, three Carmelite nuns were shot. Today is their feast, and here is their story : Sr Maria Pilar of St Francis Borgia, the eldest of the martyrs at 58, was born Jacoba Martinez García in 1877. Her elder sister was a Carmelite nun but as a teenager, Jacoba said she didn’t…
It is the octave day of the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. On this day Carmelites have traditionally celebrated the memorial of Our Lady, Mother of Divine Grace or "Mater Gratiae." Here is an article about the mysterious and miraculous Austrian painting called "Our Lady of the Bowed Head" which has become associated with this day . Since the time of St. Luke, thousands of pictures and statues…