Pray for Pope Benedict XVI

Read more >>

Reading from the Diary of St. Faustina

"When a reluctance and a monotony as regards my duties begins to take possession of me, I remind myself that I am in the house of the Lord, where nothing is small and where the glory of the Church and the progress of many a soul depend on this small deed of mine, accomplished in a divinized way. Therefore there is nothing small in a religious congregation." (508)

"When my intentions are not recognized, but rather condemned, I am not too much surprised, for I know that it is only God who scrutinizes my heart. Truth will not die; the wounded heart will regain peace in due time, and my spirit is strengthened through adversities. I do not always listen to what my heart tells me, but I keep asking God for light; and when I feel I have regained my equilibrium, then I say more." (511)

"The day of the renewal of vows. The presence of God flooded my soul. During Holy Mass I saw Jesus, and He said to me, You are my great joy; your love and your humility make Me leave the heavenly throne and unite Myself with you. Love fills up the abyss that exists between My greatness and your nothingness." (512)

Read more from the Diary of St. Faustina

Read more >>

US Bishops Renew Consecration of America to Immaculate Heart of Mary

This is a joyous day indeed! The United States has renewed its consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary! At noon today, November 11, 2006, the United States renewed its consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. Archbishop Pietro Sambi celebrated the Mass at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C., and Father Andrew Apostoli, a familiar face on EWTN, gave the homily. In that homily, Fr. Apostoli quoted John Paul ll by saying, "Fatima is more important today than it was in 1917."

Remember that John Paul ll was shot in 1981 on the anniversary of the beginning of the apparitions of Mary in Fatima, Portugal. Mehmet Ali Agca, the assasin that shot John Paul ll, said to John Paul ll: "I am a professional assassin and I don't miss. Whose feast day is it in your church today? That person saved you."

May Mary guard and guide our nation back to Her Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Let us all make an Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart, consecrating ourselves, our families, and our societies.

Read more >>

More Information on Essential Classics Of Catholic Spirituality Collection

I'm not sure if anyone is interested, but here's more information:

I want to pass on this information I got from ProLifeSearch.com. It confirms that there will be a leather-bound, limited edition set too! Monday Nov 13th at 3:00 PM is the official "launch" date and time. Here's the information from them:

Concern #1. . . many people are concerned that since they can access many of these classics in text format online, what's the benefit of having our collection? We answered this question here:http://ecocs.blogspot.com/2006/10/concern-1.html

Concern #2. . . some people are worried that since they enjoy reading physical books, they may have a hard time with the electronic versions. We addressed this concern here:http://ecocs.blogspot.com/2006/11/concern-2.html

Sign up for the collection

Read more >>

Antique Holy Cards by Thomas Craughwell

A few weeks ago I was happy to review Saints Behaving Badly by Thomas Craughwell for Double Day Publishing. Yesterday, I received a very interesting email from Thomas Craughwell, the popular Catholic author. Here is a part of the email that he sent me:

"While waiting for the book to come out, I started a sideline business with my family. Using antique holy cards from my own collection, I've started producing Christmas cards and blank note cards. If I do say so myself, they are pretty nice. Actually, they're gorgeous."

Here's the link to his site: www.antiqueholycards.com

Read more >>

St. Leo the Great

Today is the Memorial of St. Leo the Great. See my article on him from last year for biographical information as well as a prayer for his intercession.

Read more >>

Words of Inspiration: November 9, 2006

I think that in Heaven my mission will be to draw souls by helping them to go out of themselves in order to cling to God by a wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this great silence within which will allow God to communicate Himself to them and to transform them into Himself." (Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity)

Make a little cell in your heart for Jesus of the Agony; take refuge there, when you hear Him outraged by men, try to make reparation; you, at least, love Him and keep your heart quite pure for Him. Oh! If you only knew how the good God love pure hearts! It is there that He loves to reign (Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity)

1 Peter 3:8-12

"Finally, all of you, be of one mind, sympathetic, loving toward one another, compassionate, humble. Do not return evil for evil, or insult for insult; but, on the contrary, a blessing, because to this you were called, that you might inherit a blessing. For: 'Whoever would love life and see good days must keep the tongue from evil and the lips from speaking deceit, must turn from evil and do good, seek peace and follow after it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears turned to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against evildoers'" (NAB)

Read more >>

Pope Benedict XVI Reminds the Faithful That Mortal Sin Leads to Damnation

Photo Source: REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (ITALY)

Nov. 06 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) reminded the faithful that mortal sin leads to damnation, in a sobering message at his Angelus audience on November 5.

The Pope devoted most of his Sunday audience to a reflection on the Christian understanding of death. An affluent society, he observed, often avoids the topic of death, but inevitably every mortal is brought face to face with this reality, which seems "radically hostile and contrary to our natural vocation to life and to happiness."

Through his redemptive suffering, the Pope continued, "Jesus revolutionized the meaning of death," making Christians realize that death is not a final end. Since the Resurrection, he continued, "death is not the same; it has been deprived of its sting."

However, the Holy Father remarked, there is a form of death that should be more fearsome to believers: the death of the soul in sin. "Indeed," said the Pope, "those who die in un-repented mortal sin, closed off from God's love by their prideful rejection, exclude themselves from the kingdom of life."

Read more >>

This Week in Catholicism (November 6 - 12, 2006)

This week in Catholicism...

• Nov. 7th: Election Day (USA). Exercise you right to vote and, as Catholics especially, we sure to vote pro-life (see endorsements)
• Nov. 10th: Memorial of St. Leo the Great
• Nov. 11th: Memorial of St. Martin of Tours
• Nov. 11th: Veterans Day (USA) - a day to remember all of those that have given their lives for freedom.  88th Anniversary of Armistice Day

**A prayer for this week.***

With November being a time to pray for the faithfully departed, let us pray for the souls in purgatory. Look at my post called Prayers and scroll down to the section on prayers for the Holy Souls.

Read more >>

Bad "Catholic" Websites that Catholics Need to Avoid

I have been meaning to create this post for quite some time. I wanted to put together a list of websites that claim to be "Catholic" but should never be supported by Catholics. I am using Catholic Culture's website reviews for some of the information. Please realize that these websites are generally opposed to the truth of the Faith. If you have a link to one of these websites on your blog/website, I strongly ask you to remove it in an effort for us all to promote the complete truth not a "watering down" of the Catholic Faith.

All links below are to the Catholic Culture review of the website; you may have to register (I believe it's free) to see the review by Catholic Culture. I do not want to post an actual link to the website since that is to be avoided.

• 8th Day Center For Justice - promotes liberation theology
• Association for the Rights of Catholics In the Church - errors include saying that promoting women's ordination is not heresy
• Call to Action - Excommunicated organization seeking to completely undermine Church teaching
• Catholic Women's Ordination - promotes women's ordination
• Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC) - promotes contraception and abortion
• Dignity USA - undermines Catholic Church's teachings on homosexuality
• Future Church - promotes women's ordination
• Georgetown Center for Liturgy - disobedient with the Vatican on the Liturgy
• Jubilee 2000 Our Lady of the Roses - promotes a condemned apparition
• Just for Catholics - created by Joe Mizzi, a fallen away Catholic and former seminarian, to lead Catholics away from the Church
• Leadership Conference of Women Religious - As Catholic Culture states: "The site is filled with antagonism toward the hierarchy and Church teachings, the emphasis on political activism in a secular humanist context, and feminist rhetoric."
• Maryknoll:  Their political activism fits in very well with their espousal of liberation theology. While it is logical that Maryknoll would care about the material needs of those in the countries that they serve, they are forgetting what they were founded for. Instead of bringing the Truth of Christ to the world, they are politicizing the poor.
• National Catholic Reporter - better named the National Catholic Distorter.
• North American Forum on the Catechumenate - Founded by Rev. James Dunning, a dissenter who does not believe the Eucharist is Jesus. The prayer book has dissenting resources.
• Pax Christi USA - Catholic Culture states: "They seem to care more about finding common ground with abortionists and the gay rights lobby than about working for true peace."
• Roses from Heaven - promotes condemned Bayside New York "apparitions"
• These Last Days Ministries - promotes condemned Bayside New York "apparitions"
• We are Church - a dissenting group following the "spirit of Vatican II"
  
• UnhealthyDevotions.com - This website seems at first to be offering information on a Novena to Saint Jude, but actually tries to sway the reader from saying novenas at all!
• ConsecrationVows.com - Website tries to claim that Saint Louis de Montefort's Total Consecration to Mary is essentially selling your soul to the devil 

Read more >>