Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church rightly teaches that Mary was conceived without the stain of Original Sin, based upon the anticipated merits of the passion, death, and resurrection of her Son, Jesus Christ. In 1854, Pope Pius XI proclaimed in Ineffabilis Deus the following: We …
Continue reading ‘On the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary’ »
Advent begins on Sunday. It is the traditional time of preparation for both comings of Jesus: it’s a memorial of His first coming as a baby as well as an anticipation of His Second Coming in Triumph to judge all nations and history. This latter is obvious if you pray the Liturgy of the Hours …
The First Reading for the Mass of the First Sunday of Lent is about the Temptation of Eve. In it we read that the object of the temptation is pleasing to the eye, and that partaking of it will open the eyes to wisdom and knowledge. Just eating of the Tree of Life, one can …
An excerpt from the First Reading of the Mass for Friday after Ash Wednesday: Isaiah 58:1 Thus says the Lord GOD: Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; Tell my people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins. OK! So I will! We are a culture that …
Continue reading ‘Crying out full-throated and unsparingly!!’ »
In the Gospel for today’s Mass for the Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Jesus exhorts us to come and follow Him. However, there’s a catch. The road isn’t easy. Luke 9:22-25 Jesus said to his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and …
Since this blog is about “Conversion, Prayer, Fasting, Repentance, and Penance,” amongst other things, Lent is a natural time to blog a lot since those ‘abouts’ correspond to the season. I have often in previous Lents blogged daily, or at least a few times a week, taking inspiration from the daily Mass readings or the …
I am going through some ‘stuff’ right now; some personal issues as well as the usual anxieties about world and national events. The latter are bothersome, but I’ve gotten to realize that there’s not much I can do about them apart from prayer. The personal stuff is very worrying and those worries intrude on my …
Continue reading ‘Four things to help you get through difficult times’ »
Today begins the Immaculate Conception Novena (November 29 through December 7th. It’s all right if you get this too late and begin it on November 30th, it’ll end on December 8th, the actual Feast Day.) The Church teaches that the Blessed Virgin Mary was exempt from Original Sin by virtue of the anticipated merits of …
Continue reading ‘Immaculate Conception Novena begins today’ »
NOTE: Reblogged from last year, which itself was a reblog from the previous year and edited with some additions.) Coming up on August 15th is the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady. It is also the beginning of a Franciscan devotion known as “St. Michael’s Lent.” It is a 40-day period of fasting begun by …
The essence of the Holy Face Devotion, and why the Holy Face is the object, is reparation for sin; and since our sins were taken upon Our Lord in His propitiatory sacrifice on Calvary, there is a scriptural basis. Isaiah 52:13-53:12 contains many of the verses of the Messianic Prophecy of the Suffering Servant. “Behold, …