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State by State: An Election Day Litany to the Patorness of America
It is well known that on December 12, 1999, Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed Our Lady of Guadalupe to be Patroness of the Americas. Less well known is the fact that our Lord’s holy mother Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, had been recognized as Patroness of the... Read more -
St. Martin de Porres & His Furnace of Love
The three theological virtues God infuses into our hearts and souls are, of course, faith, hope, and charity. There is no question that St. Martin de Porres had a deep Catholic faith and a persevering hope in attaining salvation through God’s aid. But the greatest of these God-given... Read more -
Dioceses offer free interment to encourage proper burial of cremated bodies
Bring them home to holy ground for All Souls Day. That is the message and the simple goal of “Lay Them to Rest,” a new program at two Diocese of Madison cemeteries. Bring the cremated remains of your loved ones home to the consecrated ground of a Catholic cemetery for interment, at no... Read more -
Purgatory is Based on a Promise of Jesus
I have blogged before on Purgatory. Here is a link to one of those blogs: Purgatory – Biblical and Reasonable. I have also written more extensively on its biblical roots here: PDF Document on Purgatory. On this Feast of All Souls, I want to reflect on Purgatory as the necessary... Read more -
Andrew Walther, president of EWTN News, remembered as servant of the Church after death on All Saints’ Day
Andrew Thomas Walther, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, died Sunday evening in New Haven, Connecticut. Remembered foremost as a loving husband and father, in his life’s work he was dedicated to serving the Catholic Church and defending persecuted religious minorities... Read more -
William Shakespeare and the Saints
When most of us think of Shakespeare we don’t immediately connect him with the saints. We might think of the play Sir Thomas More, on which he collaborated with other contemporary playwrights and which was banned during his lifetime for its volatile pro-Catholic... Read more -
Ninety-Nine and a Half Won’t Do—A Homily for the Feast of All Saints
Today is the Feast of All Saints. Some saints of the Church have a particular day on the calendar associated with them and are commonly recognized by name. Many more, though not as familiar to us, are still known by God and have been caught up with Him to glory. Today is their day, the day of... Read more -
Our vocation to holiness and the wondrous variety of the saints
Saint Augustine has referred to the Sermon on the Mount as the “charter of the whole Christian life.” The first part of the Sermon, the Beatitudes, is proclaimed at Mass on the Solemnity of All Saints. Pope Benedict XVI teaches that the Beatitudes, taken together like so many... Read more -
‘He lived the Beatitudes’: Mass of Thanksgiving for Blessed Michael McGivney
At the Nov. 1 Mass of Thanksgiving for newly beatified Father Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore said McGivney provides a model for both priests and laypeople of how to “live the Beatitudes.” “Anyone aspiring to holiness will... Read more -
Father Michael McGivney: A Likely Patron for Every Parish Priest
The saints are not really like you and me. But Father Michael McGivney comes very close, and for that reason, he will be an attractive patron for parish priests. A clarification: There are no canonized saints who are like you and me. The vast majority of all those in heaven were... Read more