Dayly Knightly Catholic by Dayly Knightly

On Earth as It is in Heaven

Issue 14 - July 31 2016

To Defend & Proclaim the Word of Christ and the Catholic Church

St. Ignatius Loyola - July 31st

Miracle of St Ignatius Loyola, 1618-19 by Peter Paul Rubens 1

EDITORIAL Catholic Heroes This issue of Dayly Knightly takes inspiration from a number of Catholic lay heroes and the Catholic saints, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and St. Maximilian Kolbe, whose feast days occur on July 31st and August 14th every year, respectfully. Most Catholics would know or have heard about various Catholic saints especially well-known celebrated saints but less would be aware of lay Catholic heroes. In highlighting the latter, Dayly Knighly wishes to underline the fact that lay people too can just as easily aspire to sainthood and the sixteen people listed in this issue give bear witness to this. Readers looking for inspiration are encouraged to learn more about Catholic lay heroes and no better place to start would be to check first with Pier Giorgio

Frassati.

Divine Mercy Divine Mercy has been a special topic in this 'Year of Mercy', yet it seems many Catholic are not very familiar with its meaning and significance. Fr. William Casey, recently, gave a retreat in June 2016 devoted completely to Divine Mercy where he provides a memorable and refreshing Church's view on the special communion of Polish Sister Faustina with God through his insightful overview of her diary. Fr. Casey's retreat presentation and homilies can be viewed in this issue of Dayly Knightly. Science and Reason The secular world continues its aim to drive Catholocism from the public square including from the fields of science, education and the culture of life. It has, it seems, wilfully forgotten that Western civilisation owes much of its development to the influence nad guidance of the Catholc church. In particular, the works, theology and philosopy of 12th century Saint Thomas Aquinas has been and continues to be a dominant force of thought in the West for over 750 years including in the areas of science, reason and evolution. Martyrs Once again, we see the increasing menace of ISIS which has in July included a truck attack in Nice, France and the martyrdom of Fr. Jacques Hamel in Rouen, France. The tragic and barbaric deaths of the people in these attacks underline that it is they who are the real martyrs and not those who perpertrated the murders. Long after the passing of these murderers, the world will have forgotten them but will still remember true martyrs like Fr. Hamel and the 21 Christians martyred last year in Libya by ISIS. Christianity is facing persecution today both from the hands of terrorists and Godless secular states bent on a dictatorship of relativism. We as Christians need to unite, raise up, defend our faith and look at these times as our opportunity to stand heroically with Christ. We have to be prepared to die to ourselves in this battle though. However, we are in good company for we have our past generations of Catholic heroes and saints, all the way back to the first years of the early church 2000 years ago, to give us encouragement and inspiration.

Icon of the 21 Martyrs of Libya. Image courtesy of Tony Rezk, via tonyrezk.blogspot.com

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Vainglory is an enemy that assails those who have consecrated themselves to the Lord and embraced the spiritual life. Hence it can rightly be called the consuming moth of souls tending to perfection. The saints refer to it as the woodworm of holinessâ&#x20AC;?

- (Letters I, p. 445). St. Padre Pio - Become a Spiritual Child of St. Padre Pio

Feature

The 14 Rules for Discerning of Spirits By St. Ignatius of Loyola

THE DIFFERENT MOVEMENTS WHICH ARE CAUSED IN THE SOUL THE GOOD, TO RECEIVE THEM, AND THE BAD TO REJECT THEM. AND THEY ARE MORE PROPER FOR THE FIRST WEEK. First Rule. The first Rule: In the persons who go from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy is commonly used to propose to them apparent pleasures, making them imagine sensual delights and pleasures in order to hold them more and make them grow in their vices and sins. In these persons the good spirit uses the opposite method, pricking them and biting their consciences through the process of reason. Second Rule. The second: In the persons who are going on intensely cleansing their sins and rising from good to better in the service of God our Lord, it is the method contrary to that in the first Rule, for then it is the way of the evil spirit to bite, sadden and put obstacles, disquieting with false reasons, that one may not go on; and it is proper to the good to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations and quiet, easing, and putting away all obstacles, that one may go on in well doing. Third Rule. The third: OF SPIRITUAL CONSOLATION. I call it consolation when some interior movement in the soul is caused, through which the soul comes to be inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord; and when it can in consequence love no created thing on the face of the earth in itself, but in the Creator of them all. Likewise, when it sheds tears that move to love of its Lord, whether out of sorrow for oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sins, or for the Passion of Christ our Lord, or because of other things directly connected with His service and praise. Finally, I call consolation every increase of hope, faith and charity, and all interior joy which calls and attracts to heavenly things and to the salvation of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soul, quieting it and giving it peace in its Creator and Lord. Fourth Rule. The fourth: OF SPIRITUAL DESOLATION. I call desolation all the contrary of the third1 rule, such as darkness2 of soul, disturbance in it, movement to things low and earthly, the unquiet of different agitations and temptations, moving to want of confidence, without hope, without love, when one finds oneself all lazy, tepid, sad, and as if separated from his Creator and Lord. Because, as consolation is contrary to desolation, in the same way the thoughts which come from consolation are contrary to the thoughts which come from desolation. Fifth Rule. The fifth: In time of desolation never to make a change; but to be firm and constant in the resolutions and determination in which one was the day preceding such desolation, or in the determination in which he was in the preceding consolation. Because, as in consolation it is rather the good spirit who guides and counsels us, so in desolation it is the bad, with whose counsels we cannot take a course to decide rightly. Sixth Rule. The sixth: Although in desolation we ought not to change our first resolutions, it is very helpful intensely to change ourselves against the same desolation, as by insisting more on prayer, meditation, on much examination, and by giving ourselves more scope in some suitable way of doing penance. Seventh Rule. The seventh: Let him who is in desolation consider how the Lord has left him in trial in his natural powers, in order to resist the different agitations and temptations of the enemy; since he can with the Divine help, which always remains to him, though he does not clearly perceive it: because the Lord has taken from him his great fervor, great love and intense grace, leaving him, however, grace enough for eternal salvation. Eighth Rule. The eighth: Let him who is in desolation labor to be in patience, which is contrary to the vexations which come to him: and let him think that he will soon be consoled, employing against the desolation the devices, as is said in the sixth Rule.1 Ninth Rule. The ninth: There are three principal reasons why we find ourselves desolate. The first is, because of our being tepid, lazy or negligent in our spiritual exercises; and so through our faults, spiritual consolation withdraws from us. The second, to try us and see how much we are and how much we let ourselves out in His service and praise without such great pay of consolation and great graces. The third, to give us true acquaintance and knowledge, that we may interiorly feel that it is not ours to get or keep great 3

Feature devotion, intense love, tears, or any other spiritual consolation, but that all is the gift and grace of God our Lord, and that we may not build a nest in a thing not ours, raising our intellect into some pride or vainglory, attributing to us devotion or the other things of the spiritual consolation. Tenth Rule. The tenth: Let him who is in consolation think how he will be in the desolation which will come after, taking new strength for then. Eleventh Rule. The eleventh: Let him who is consoled see to humbling himself and lowering himself as much as he can, thinking how little he is able for in the time of desolation without such grace or consolation. On the contrary, let him who is in desolation think that he can do much with the grace sufficient to resist all his enemies, taking strength in his Creator and Lord. Twelfth Rule. The twelfth: The enemy acts like a woman, in being weak against vigor and strong of will. Because, as it is the way of the woman when she is quarrelling with some man to lose heart, taking flight when the man shows 1Sixth Rule is in the handwriting of St. Ignatius, replacing fourth Rule.her much courage: and on the contrary, if the man, losing heart, begins to fly, the wrath, revenge, and ferocity of the woman is very great, and so without bounds; in the same manner, it is the way of the enemy to weaken and lose heart, his temptations taking flight, when the person who is exercising himself in spiritual things opposes a bold front against the temptations of the enemy, doing diametrically the opposite. And on the contrary, if the person who is exercising himself commences to have fear and lose heart in suffering the temptations, there is no beast so wild on the face of the earth as the enemy of human nature in following out his damnable intention with so great malice. Thirteenth Rule. The thirteenth: Likewise, he acts as a licentious lover in wanting to be secret and not revealed. For, as the licentious man who, speaking for an evil purpose, solicits a daughter of a good father or a wife of a good husband, wants his words and persuasions to be secret, and the contrary displeases him much, when the daughter reveals to her father or the wife to her husband his licentious words and depraved intention, because he easily gathers that he will not be able to succeed with the undertaking begun: in the same way, when the enemy of human nature brings his wiles and persuasions to the just soul, he wants and desires that they be received and kept in secret; but when one reveals them to his good Confessor or to another spiritual person that knows his deceits and evil ends, it is very grievous to him, because he gathers, from his manifest deceits being discovered, that he will not be able to succeed with his wickedness begun. Fourteenth Rule. The fourteenth: Likewise, he behaves as a chief bent on conquering and robbing what he desires: for, as a captain and chief of the army, pitching his camp, and looking at the forces or defences of a stronghold, attacks it on the weakest side, in like manner the enemy of human nature, roaming about, looks in turn at all our virtues, theological, cardinal and moral; and where he finds us weakest and most in need for our eternal salvation, there he attacks us and aims at taking us. The above was cited from:

The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola TRANSLATED FROM THE AUTOGRAPH BY FATHER ELDER MULLAN, S.J. I.H.S. Scanned by Harry Plantinga, 1994 This etext is in the public domain.

Discerning Hearts The Discernment of Spirits Setting the Captives Free with Fr. Timothy Gallagher A 16 episode podcast series with Fr. Gallagher that guides you through the 14 rules of discernment by St. Ignatius of Loyola. Click here to access the podcasts. 4

Catholic Lay Heroes of the 20th Century

Dorothy Day

G. K. Chesterton

J. R. Tolkien

Dietrich von Hildebrand

José Sánchez del Río

Phyllis Bowman

Edel Quinn

Delores Hope

Flannery O’Connor

Eleanor Josaitis

Pier Giorgio Frassati

Franz Jägerstätter

Hilaire Belloc

Maria Goretti

Benedict Daswa

Shūsaku Endō

MILITIAE SPIRITUALI

Film Released in the Philippines - July 27th 2016, See Trailers here..... The Church as Field Hospital The Supernatural as Medicine

- Fr. Richard Hellman, Roman Catholic Man

The Dangers of being a Nice, Tolerant and Good Works Only Catholic Most Rev. Alexander Sample, Archbishop of Portland – The Catholic Sentinel Click to read

Catholic Saints and the English Martyrs, England

his is a trailer for Mary's Dowry Productions and shows clips from our films on St. Francis of Assisi, Edmund Campion, Margaret Clitherow, Kateri Tekakwitha, Wilfrid, Alexandrina da Costa, Winifred, Anne Line, Nicholas Owen, Francesco Marto, Margaret Pole and more. Visit our website for more information - spreading the lives of these awesome heroes of the Universal Church!

“People are out, exposed on the battlefield of life, and the bullets of sin and evil are buzzing like bees all around them. People aren’t looking for “just another organization” in which to belong … there are plenty of those to choose from. Without God at the center of their lives, they are empty inside and wounded by the world and sin. They are searching for the “true medicine” for their wounded lives.” “The liberal movement that sought to reduce our Church to “just another organization” by removing any trace of the supernatural in our field hospitals (churches) left the wounded of the world abandoned on the battlefield of life. Thanks to “push button truth” (internet) and amazing teachers like Pope Benedict XVI, we are restoring our Field Hospitals (churches) to their former ability to heal the wounded with “true medicine:” A Divine life, filled with grace, in friendship with God.”

Read full article here....

MILITIAE SPIRITUALI

French priest funeral: Jacques Hamel mourned in Rouen

ISIS is the Result of Christians “Growing Flaccid in Virtue and Ignorant of its Own Moral Foundations.” By Fr. George William Rutler, Courageous Priest and Lifezette.com, Read full article here....

MILITIAE SPIRITUALI

When Father Joseph Ratzinger Predicted the Future of the Church Laying it out in a 1969 broadcast on German radio ...

- Tod Worner, Aleteia “The Church will be a more spiritual Church, not presuming upon a political mandate, flirting as little with the Left as with the Right. It will be hard going for the Church, for the process of crystallization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek. The process will be all the more arduous, for sectarian narrow-mindedness as well as pompous self-will will have to be shed. One may predict that all of this will take time. The process will be long and wearisome as was the road from the false progressivism on the eve of the French Revolution — when a bishop might be thought smart if he made fun of dogmas and even insinuated that the existence of God was by no means certain — to the renewal of the nineteenth century. But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. Men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. If they have completely lost sight of God, they will feel the whole horror of their poverty. Then they will discover the little flock of believers as something wholly new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them, an answer for which they have always been searching in secret.” Read the full article here...

Looking for honest to goodness sincere non-heterodoxical sermons which speak clearly and without fear not only on our spiritual battles but also on many of the controversial issues affecting the lives of people today, then please check and listen to the sermons on Audio Sancto website here. 9

MILITIAE SPIRITUALI

Guide for the Catholic Family in These Days of Turmoil

A talk by Servant of God Father John A. Hardon, S.J.

The Holy Rosary The Spiritual Weapon for Spiritual War

Mary, as a Model Catechist for Parents Fr. John A Hardon, SJ

â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is spiritual warfare. It is ugly, horrific, shocking to the soul. But it is necessary. If you are a lapsed or lukewarm Catholic, please let me appeal to you, as a former bad Catholic living for a long time in mortal sin, to wake up to the reality all around you. Much of what you have heard, even in Catholic schools, was spiritual poison, death for your souls.â&#x20AC;?

- Mike Voris, Church Militant View and Read full article here 10

MILITIAE SPIRITUALI - Culture of Life 10 Reasons to Ban Assisted Suicide

Matt Birk ~ "I would say that I have great respect for the office of the Presidency. But about five or six weeks ago, our President made a comment in a speech, and he said, 'God bless Planned Parenthood.' " Birk, a Catholic, said his opposition to Planned Parenthood made it impossible for him to meet the President.

“Any approach that essentially tolerates abortion and euthanasia or puts these issues on a par with others, not only betrays the beautiful vision of the Church’s social teaching, but also weakens the credibility of the Church’s witness in our society." LA archbishop rips the seamless garment Abortion and euthanasia ‘stand alone’ among today’s injustices in US - Read more here

- Claire Chretien, LifeSite News

Gender Ideology Harms Children

The American College of Pediatricians urges educators and legislators to reject all policies that condition children to accept as normal a life of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex. Facts – not ideology – determine reality.

A Life-Changing Experience for Teens

Read More here

Pope Francis condemns abortion, euthanasia, same-sex ‘marriage’ in exhortation

-John Jalsevac, LifeSite News Read article here...

MILITIAE SPIRITUALI

Click here for Mazimilian Kolbe website

Saint Maximilian Kolbe A Documentary

Saint Maximilian Kolbe, O.F.M. Conv.

(8 January 1894 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 14 August 1941) Feast Day - August 14th A Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the German death camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II. He was active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, founding and supervising the monastery of NiepokalanĂłw near Warsaw, operating a radio station, and founding or running several other organizations and publications. Kolbe was canonized on 10 October 1982 by Pope John Paul II, and declared a martyr of charity. He is the patron saint of drug addicts, political prisoners, families, journalists, prisoners, and the pro-life movement. John Paul II declared him "The Patron Saint of Our Difficult Century" Due to Kolbe's efforts to promote consecration and entrustment to Mary, he is known as the Apostle of Consecration to Mary. Source: Wikipedia 12

Christianity and Philosophy

Faith and Reason

The Two Wings of the Human Spirit Rev. James Brent, O.P. (Thomistic Evolution)

“Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth…” (Pope St. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, no. 1) With this image of the two wings, Pope St. John Paul II summarizes two thousand years of Christian reflection on the relationship between faith and reason. The image is surprising. For according to the predominant mentality of our times, one must choose between either being a person of faith or being a person of reason. One cannot be both. That there is a dichotomy between the two is almost a given within the contemporary academy and within our society at large, even among many Christians. However, the good news that we will illustrate in and with this series of essays on evolution and the Christian faith is that the one and the same God who created us with reason also gifted us with faith. No one has to choose between the two. Everyone can have both. Faith and reason are meant to work together. Why is the view that one must choose between either living the life of a faithful and devout believer or leading the life of an intelligent and enlightened adult so widespread today? The answer is complex, but I will give five reasons here. The first reason is that at face value, faith and reason can appear to be opposed to each other. Thus, human beings had to actually learn how these two ways of contemplating truth could work together. The integration between the two does not happen by nature but by nurture. For this reason, it took the Catholic Church well over a thousand years from her founding by the Lord Jesus to learn and then to show the Christian people and the world how faith and reason can come together harmoniously. A second reason why faith and reason are widely perceived to be in conflict today is sin.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines sin as follows: “Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as “an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law” (CCC, no. 1849). Because of sin, human beings are prone to all forms of disintegration. Sin tears apart things that otherwise would go together peacefully in our lives. Take faith and reason. Although God meant both these ways of contemplating truth to work together, there are many sinful tendencies that make the work of integrating faith and reason difficult. The tendency to reject God’s truth when it is difficult to live or to understand; the tendency to take the world into our hands and to dominate it for our own plans and purposes; the tendency to refuse to depend upon God from our hearts for a truth which is genuinely beyond our powers of direct verification; and the tendency to despair over the difficulties of working through all the many perplexities about God and the world. And then there is the tendency to despair over knowing truth itself. In a fallen and a sinful world, these are only some of the tendencies that tempt us to give up on the arduous task of reconciling faith and reason. A third reason is historical. The sixteenth century was a time that placed an unusual number of perplexing social and intellectual challenges before the Church. The invention of the printing press, the Protestant reformation, the discovery of “the new world,” the rise of modern science, the growing awareness of the great diversity of world religions, and the development of new philosophies. These are only some of the historical developments that tested and continue to test the synthesis of faith and reason accomplished by the Fathers and theScholastics by the end of the thirteenth century. 13

Christianity and Philosophy A fourth reason is found in our contemporary culture. Our contemporary culture has an extremely impoverished understanding of what faith is and of what reason is. On the one hand, faith is equated with religion. It is commonly thought to be nothing but feelings about certain matters. It is a set of feelings about life, meaning, values, and God. On the other hand, faith is sometimes understood to be a set of private convictions about these matters, but not convictions based on evidence. Rather, to many contemporary minds, faith has little or nothing to do with truth. A person’s faith cannot be said to true or false. At most, a faith conviction is true for this individual, i.e. it is his belief. But the belief itself cannot be simply true. Reason, in contrast, is equated with science. It is understood to be thinking based on experiment, critical analysis, and evidence. The results of science, it is widely thought, are verified facts and publicly accessible truths. In fact, to many contemporary minds, only the results of science are bona fide verified facts or publicly accessible truths. For contemporary people who think that faith is merely a matter of feelings that have nothing to do with truth, it seems obvious that faith and reason either have nothing to do with each other or have to be in conflict. The final reason involves certain movements in contemporary society. In a society where faith and reason are not integrated and where it seems that one must choose between the two, many people do choose one or the other with a conscious exclusion or rejection of the others. Some people choose to fly by reason alone, and reject faith altogether. This choice is often called rationalism or scientism. Its motto could be, “Forget faith. Reason alone is the guide to life.” Other people choose to fly by faith alone, and reject reason in some serious way. They may sincerely and deeply believe the Bible or some other religious text, but as is often the case, they refuse to ask hard questions about the meaning and interpretation of this sacred text. Thus, they often refuse to accept well-established results of modern science because they think that these scientific claims would undermine their faith. This alternative is often called religious fundamentalism. Its motto could be, “Don’t think. Just believe.” In sum, it takes time, teaching, and effort to learn how to integrate faith and reason. Our sins

and our weaknesses make it difficult to learn to fly with both wings of the human spirit. The history of the last several centuries has moved our civilization away from an intellectual synthesis that shows us how this can be done. Finally, our contemporary culture does not teach people how to fly with both wings, and it is populated by vocal minorities who confuse people about even the possibility of synthesizing faith and reason. Is it any surprise that for nearly all people today it seems that faith and reason are opposed to one another? TJE - Download article here. Download - Faith and Reason The Two Wings of the Human Spirit, Part II here For a complete list of 30 excellent articles on the subject of Faith, Evolution, Philosophy and Reason from 'Thomisitc Evolution' please check the link, Parish Bulletins here.

Discovering our Saint's - St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas' Works in English 14

Christianity and Philosophy

The Origin (or 1,2,3,4.) of Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Why Thomas Aquinas Distrusted Islam? by THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, PH.D.27 Dec 2015

PHILOSOPHY - Thomas Aquinas by the School of Life

Islam as a Christian Heresy

8 Quotes from St. John Damascene A.D. 749

Know Your Faith

Priests Retreat 2012 Pt5, Card. Burke, Celibacy & the Eucharist

“Where there are problems of chastity, there are problems of obedience”

Cardinal Raymond Burke gives the the 5th talk at the Priest's Retreat at the Mother of the Redeemer Retreat Center in Bloomington, IN. He finishes his talk from this morning on the good example of saintly priests and specifically priestly celibacy. He starts with the reference to Jesus' statement on the those who give up things of this world for the kingdom of God will receive a hundred fold in this world and in the next. This is for all people but especially for those who enter the ordained priesthood. Some additional points addressed by the cardinal include, • Considered a great act of love for Christ, undivided heart, a positive thing • Living celibacy with generosity leads to a generous regarding poverty and obedience. • A witness of supernatural grace. • A bond with married faithful not a condemnation of marriage or procreation • Priests are to have spiritual children • Unmarried man concerned exclusively with the Lord. • Both marriage and virginity for the kingdom of God are from the Lord, Catechism • JPII Deepest reason for priestly vocation needs to be continually deepened • Mass and Eucharist central to Card. Burke's own calling • Love of priesthood and the Eucharist is highly linked • Sacred Heart of Jesus devotions also helpful • Problems in the 60's, reduced reverence of Eucharist, reduced vocations • Eucharistic devotion important for continual nurturing of priests and seminarians.

Know Your Faith - Divine Mercy

Retreat by Fr. William Casey - June 2016

"In Our Lord's Own Words: The Divine Mercy" God Have Mercy on Us Fr. William Casey

Retreat Homepage Click here Presented by

AirMaria Click here

Jun 17 – Fr. William Casey: God’s Love and Mercy Fr. William Casey gives the first homily for a retreat June 17 19 at the Mother of the Redeemer Retreat Center called "In Our Lord's own Words: The Divine Mercy" based on the words of Our Lord to St. Faustina. He covers the roots of the doctrine of the Merciful God in the Old and New Testament and then in St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and then Sr. Faustina. He makes the distinction between love and mercy. Love is unconditional but mercy is conditioned on our willingness to repent. Jun 18 – Fr. William Casey: God’s Mercy Beyond the Year of Mercy Fr. William Casey gives the second homily for our retreat June 17 - 19 at the Mother of the Redeemer Retreat Center. The retreat is called "In Our Lord's own Words: The Divine Mercy" based on the words of Our Lord to St. Faustina.. He reflects on Pope Benedict's comment that 2017 will be a big year for the Church, which happens to be at the end of the Year of Mercy declared by Pope Francis. Father points out how the one month of October of 2017 will be the 100th anniversary of the Russian Rev and of Fatima, and the 500th of the Protestant Reformation. He gives a summary of the difficult times we are in and then gives many quotes from the diary of St. Faustina, Bishop Dashe of Nigeria, Pope St. Pius X and Sr. Lucia to get a heavenly perspective on our problems and to see that the answer is to ask for God's mercy, especially by praying the Rosary. Jun 19 – Fr. William Casey: Merciful Purgatory Fr. William Casey gives the last homily for a retreat June 17 - 19 at the Mother of the Redeemer Retreat Centre. He explains what purgatory is, its scriptural basis and how it is merciful that God has created it in order for us to be prepared for heaven and live in the holy presence of God. He exhorts us to keep in mind the shortness of life and to live so that we are prepared for death and to pray for the souls of the faithful departed. 17

Know Your Faith

St. Justin Martyr describes the early Christian liturgy - Gretchen Filz , Read more here...

Know Your Faith

Introducing a new series “A Tour of the Catechism of the Catholic Church” given by Fr. Daniel J. Mahan, S.T.L. The entire Catechism is covered in about 80 videos, 10-20 minutes long each, giving an outline of the content along with easy to follow explanations. It is based on the 2nd Edition of the Catechism. Click here for 12th video in the series, ‘The Fall’.

SOLESMES (Gregorian Chant) Ordinary of the Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) Click to hear

The Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes is steeped in 1,000 years of history and is a leading centre for Gregorian chant. Above all, however, it is a living community of Benedictine monks searching for God. Since our monastery is a place of silence and recollection, we invite you to share in our spirituality, liturgical prayer, community life, heritage and the central presence of Christ in our life by taking this virtual tour. History of Gregorian Chant Gregorian chant is the chant proper to the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. Bequeathed to us by a long tradition, this musical repertoire, which the Second Vatican Council calls “a treasure of inestimable value”, was composed mainly from Latin Biblical verses. An ‘ancient collection’ of ecclesiastical chants with simple melodies was first built up in the West in around 3rd–4th centuries. This was based on recitatives in the liturgy of the first generations of Christians. A local repertoire developed in several regions: Roman chants, Beneventan (southern Italy), Milanese – i.e. Ambrosian – (northern Italy), Hispanic and Gallican (in Gaul). The popes between the 5th and 7th centuries, especially Leo the Great, Gelasius and Gregory the Great (to whom Gregorian chant owes its name), helped organize the repertoire throughout the liturgical year. Read more here... 19

Know Your Faith

Holy Souls Released from Purgatory by the Power of the Mass

Know Your Faith Defending the Truth of the Resurrection K. V. Turley, Catholic Exchange

“In the past, the Catholic faith had a plethora of robust defenders who took up their pen to explore, elucidate and express what Catholics believe. In addition, back then there was a more rigorous catechetical formation for many educated Catholics; the malaise of the 1960s & 70s had not yet struck. It is only in recent years that a new generation of Catholic apologists has emerged.”

Be a Man!

Father Larry Richards Said, "Be A Man!" At The 2015 North Texas

BLESSED ARE THEY WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT. - Luke 11:28 Catholic Sermons Online

Cardinal Burke: Gender theory is ‘madness,’ transgender bathrooms ‘inhuman’ - Claire Chretien, LifeSite News

'In his lengthy interview with French journalist Guillaume d’Alançon, titled Hope for the World: To Unite All Things in Christ, the American cardinal calls gender theory “madness,” addresses the question of Communion for the divorced and remarried, and offers remedies for the crisis in the Church.'