Physical condition Besides the stigmata which he bore most of his life and the lifelong periods of the dark Night of the soul, “Padre Pio’s medical reports [from the time he was a young man and then friar], as was evident from the symptoms mentioned in the letters, never showed a clean bill of health.… Read More The Divine Illnesses and “Wasted Body” of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Mgr. Louis Gaston de Ségur writes, “The good God does everything in His time. His wisdom united itself to His mercy in giving to the Church the divine treasure of the Heart of Jesus for the time when it was going to have the greatest need of it. The Savior said so Himself, first to… Read More The Sacred Heart in a Time of Tribulations
I awakened this morning unexpectedly thinking of a painful absence, the absence of the sounds of Church bells, which, when we were young, summoned us to to prayer and Mass. Not that we always appreciated this when young to be sure. But it was always there. It was just there, like the rising and setting… Read More The Absence of the Bells
On overcoming. St. Augustine teaches, “When the unlawful pleasure of concupiscence tempts you, fight, resist, do not consent; and the saying is fulfilled, Go not after thy desires.” Still further, he says elsewhere that of two persons who have the same temptation to impurity, it sometimes happens that one consents to it and the other… Read More Predominant Sin of Our Times
Traditionally called St. Patrick’s Breastplate. I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,Through belief in the Threeness,Through confession of the Onenessof the Creator of creation. I arise todayThrough the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism,Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,Through… Read More Courage and Strength Through the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, who died… Read More Reparation
“While the Sacraments of Confession (also called Reconciliation or Penance) and Baptism are distinct, they share some profound similarities because both are sacraments of forgiveness and restoration. Similarities: 1. Both Forgive Sins: – Baptism forgives all sins—both original sin, which we inherit from Adam and Eve (cf. Romans 5:12), and any personal sins committed… Read More Confession is Like “A Second Baptism”
Catholic Critique 