Today marks the anniversary of the official beginning of the French Revolution, back in 1789 with the storming of the Bastille prison. Much ado is made of this 'storming', even though there were only seven inmates still imprisoned in the vast, stone edifice. The Marquis de Sade (from whom...
A true saint for our times is the one we celebrate today - Camillus de Lellis (+1614) (we will follow the Canadian calendar, and for those American readers who would like to reflect on Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, please see here).
Camillus was born in what is now Abruzzo, in Naples,...
We could do with more leaders such as Saint Henry (+1024), 'Emperor of the Romans' and 'King of the Italians', the last of the 'Ottonian' line - descended from the Emperor of the recently re-founded Roman Empire, Otto I (+973). Henry was from Bavaria â whence Josef Ratzinger would...
The publication of Magnifica Humanitas (2026), the first encyclical of Pope Leo XIV, has renewed global discussion on the Catholic Churchâs historical relationship with slavery. In the document, Pope Leo expressed deep sorrow and asked forgiveness for the direct and indirect support that certain members and institutions of the Church...
July the 12th is âOrangeâ Day, celebrated still with fervour in Northern Ireland, commemorating the defeat of the rightful Catholic king of the Stuart line, James II of England and Ireland (and VII of Scotland) by the forces of the Dutch and Protestant William of Orange (named after a...
Then the disciples came and asked Jesus, âWhy do you speak to them in parables?â He answered, âTo you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been givenâ (Mt. 13:11). ⧟
Our Lordâs answer to the disciplesâ question...
BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
St Peter's Square
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
Saint Benedict of Norcia
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today, I would like to speak about Benedict, the Founder of Western Monasticism and also the Patron of my Pontificate. I begin with words that St Gregory the Great wrote about St Benedict: "The man of...
On this feast of Saint Benedict (+543), we commemorate the monk credited with saving what we know as 'civilization'. As a student in Rome in its sixth century fin de siĂšcle, Benedict found he could no longer live amongst the enervating and debilitating milieu of his fellow scholars. Their...
The mighty Saint Lawrence River is intertwined with the history of Canada and the United States, and forms a natural border between the two countries. It's how everyone arrived in Canada before the invention of air travel. The waterway was named by the staunchly Catholic explorer Jacques Cartier in...
As we approach the feast day of Saint Benedict of Nursia on July 11, we look ahead to the jubilee year 2029 that marks the 1500th anniversary of the Rule of Saint Benedict. Saint Benedictâs Rule, shaped by his experience at Monte Casino, has endured throughout human history because...
In one of those many mysteries of providence, this day marking the martyrs of China is also the anniversary of the Martyrs of Gorkum, nineteen Catholic priests, diocesan and religious, hanged on this day in July of 1572 by militant Calvinist troops in the midst of the wars of...
CAPPELLA PAPALE FOR THE CANONIZATION OF 123 NEW SAINTS
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
Sunday 1 October 2000
1. "Your word is truth; sanctify us in your love" (Gospel Acclamation, Italian Lectionary; cf. Jn 17: 17). This invocation, an echo of Christ's prayer to the Father after the Last Supper, seems to rise from the host of saints...
Through the centuries there have been untold thousands of martyrs in China, and July 9th is chosen as the day to commemorate them, for it was on this day in 1900 that the Chinese government, during the so-called âBoxer Rebellionâ, ordered the execution of 45 Christian men, women and...
What piece of work is a man, how noble in reason,
how infinite in faculties, in form and moving,
how express and admirable in action, how like an angel in apprehension,
how like a god! (Hamlet, Act II, Scene II)
Magnifica humanitas is a long document - 43,000 words â and there is...
The Saint Gregory the Great Institute has just released the first of their video series on the 'wisdom of the founders of Western civilization', aptly named 'Reasonable Passions', as opposed to the destructive 'unreasonable' sort, which have done so much damage. Much of virtue and the moral life consists...
Saint Kilian (or Cilian, originally in Gaelic Ceallach, 640-689) was an Irish missionary bishop who brought the Faith to central Europe, Franconia, now part of northern Bavaria, which is still more or less staunchly Catholic. Itâs where Josef Ratzinger hailed, who is in his memoirs describes the vibrant culture...
To my Venerable Brother Bishop Agostino Vallini of Albano
1. A hundred years ago, on 6 July 1902, Maria Goretti died in the hospital at Nettuno, brutally stabbed the day before in the little village of Le Ferriere, in the Pontine Marshes. Her spiritual life, the strength of her faith,...
It was a hot, humid and sweltering July 6th in the year of our Lord 1902, one hundred and twenty four years ago, in a small farming town in the fetid area outside of Rome, when a young girl - one could scarcely call her a woman, at twelve...
âCome to me all you that are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and...
Saint Anthony Zaccaria (+1539), from noble lineage in late-renaissance Italy, was born in Rome in 1502, on the cusp of the Protestant revolt against the Catholic Church. But the mayhem at this point was mostly in far-off northern Europe, and did not impact Anthonyâs life at first. He studied medicine,...
