Blog & News
Forgotten Season
Do you know about the Triduum of Death, the Forgotten Season of Allhallowtide? For most people, Halloween is just a fun (or sinister) secular holiday that stands on its own. But, it actually used to be an important part of a short liturgical season focused on death, Allhallowtide.
A Mother's Plea
Pope Francis canonized five new saints on October 13. Perhaps the most well-known is a 19th century British theologian by the name of Cardinal John Henry Newman. But what isn’t so well known is a special miracle that led to his sainthood. That miracle not only saved one little girl – still thriving today – but also her mother. Melissa Villalobos of Chicago first encountered Newman by accident on an EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) show.
Christopher Columbus
In popular myth, Columbus is the very symbol of European greed and genocidal imperialism. In reality, he was a dedicated Christian concerned first and foremost with serving God and his fellow man. Peering into the future, Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) could not have anticipated the ingratitude and outright contempt shown by modern man toward his discovery and exploration of the New World. Few see him as he really was...
Our Lady of the Rosary
On October 7, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the yearly feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Known for several centuries by the alternate title of “Our Lady of Victory,” the feast day takes place in honor of a 16th century naval victory which secured Europe against Turkish invasion. Pope Saint Pius V attributed the victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was invoked on the day of the battle through a campaign to pray the Rosary throughout Europe.
Unexpectedly Expecting
I had been brought up to believe that life is always a gift, but it certainly didn’t feel like one when I gazed in shock at a positive pregnancy test. As a mom who had my first baby in college, I know that an unexpected pregnancy can sometimes bring fear, shame, and doubt. However, I also know that an unexpected pregnancy can bring joy, excitement, awe, gratitude, and deeper love than I knew was possible — not to mention the little bundle who inspires these sentiments! About nine months after looking at that pregnancy test, I received the very best gift I have ever been given...
...my daughter Maria (name changed for privacy).
Holy Mountain
Father Jean (John) Berthier, a Missionary of La Salette, was thinking of redefining vocations to allow those who wanted to become priests, but who were unable to do so because of age or the lack of economic means, to be able to follow their calling. The Missionaries of La Salette did not have the financial means to open a seminary for late vocations. So, Father John Berthier, with the approval of his superiors, founded a congregation under the patronage of the Holy Family on September 28, 1895: The Missionaries of the Holy Family.
9 Choirs of Angels
Pope Saint Gregory the Great teaches, based on Saint Paul’s writings, that there are nine orders of angels: "We know on the authority of Scripture that there are nine orders of angels -- Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Archangels, and Angels. That there are Angels and Archangels, nearly every page of the Bible tell us, and the books of the Prophets talk of Cherubim and Seraphim."
Purgatory & Our Lady
At about 8:00 p.m. on Thursday of the 21st of August in 1879, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, and Saint John the Evangelist appeared at the south gable of the Church at Knock in County Mayo, Ireland. Beside them, and a little to the right, was an altar with a cross and the figure of a lamb, around which angels hovered. There were 15 official witnesses to the apparition, young and old. They watched it for two hours in pouring rain and recited the Rosary.
Purgatory Litany
A litany is a form of prayer with a common response to each petition or supplication. In this Litany for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, the response after each petition is: Jesus, have mercy! O Jesus, you suffered and died that all mankind might be saved and brought to eternal happiness. Hear our pleas for further mercy on the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
Purgatory Rosary
The Rosary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory is very similar to the Sorrowful Mysteries of the daily Rosary. Click Here for detailed information on how to pray the Rosary. In praying the Sorrowful Mysteries for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, just include two, brief additional prayers at the end of each Rosary Mystery. After the First Sorrowful Mystery, the Agony in the Garden, pray: