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Good Friday—a holiday in just 10 states—is celebrated by most Christian denominations, with fasting and somber worship services that often end in silence.Before Christians joyously celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday, they first must make a gruesome stop at a hill called Calvary. Two days before the trumpets sound, and churches—many opening for the first time in a year—fill their sanctuaries with lilies, dogwood, and alleluias, we first must witness the hideous trial of the sinless Lord, the bloody brutal scourging by Roman soldiers and his anguishing suffering and suffocating death on the cross, a day called...

Salt Lake City Bishop: Don’t Sweat Your Mass Obligation Today Parishioners in the Diocese of Salt Lake City were shocked to learn that the Solemnity of Mary, celebrated today, January 1, 2019, was abrogated by their bishop, Most Reverend Oscar Azarcón Solis.A weekly bulletin for the diocese states: Tuesday, January 1, 2019, Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God, is not a holyday of obligation in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. In the Diocese of Salt Lake City, the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God has been abrogated. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, with the approval of the Vatican,...

“I don't think the term Happy Holidays will ever annoy me so much again.” My dearest of friends Ralph and Margaret may have unknowingly ignited a Christmas trend that puts Christmas Greetings into a proper perspective that originates from natural order. Watching television is sometimes the only link to the outside world when small towns like the one where we live become snowbound when the main highway leading out of it is shut down. Like many others, Ralph and Margaret turn to Fox News when blizzards keep them house bound. Though Fox is their standby network, they were disconcerted to...

The times in which we live are often described as “secular.”  This word comes from the Latin “saecula” meaning “world.” Hence in saying our age is secular is another way of saying our times are  worldly. We may think it has always been so but such is not the case. To be sure, it IS the human condition to be a little preoccupied with the world. But previous times have featured a much more religious focus than our own. The Middle Ages were especially known for way in which faith permeated the culture and daily experience. The Rose window to...

BORDENTOWN — Students won't be allowed to sing religious holiday songs at winter concerts in a Burlington County school district.

Easter customs mix pagan myths, rituals, symbols and practices with just a little truth. What's wrong with this picture? Link to YouTube video: How Christian is Easter?

Did they really think nobody would notice and start a thread on FR about it?

Dick's Sporting Goods gets the unlucky honor of being this year's villain in the “War on Christmas” campaign. The American Family Association has singled it out for a boycott this holiday season because the chain is “against” the holiday, reports Advertising Age. One of its offenses is having a "Holiday Shop” section on its website, with no mention of Christmas. All in all, though, the defense of Christmas has been going splendidly for the AFA, says a spokesman; over five years, the percentage of retailers acknowledging Christmas has soared from 20% to 80%, he says. And while Dick's may be...

Lists Every Catholic Should be Familiar With Jump to: The 7 Sacraments (The Holy Mysteries)The 7 Corporal Works of MercyThe 7 Spiritual Works of MercyThe 3 Eminent Good WorksThe 7 Gifts of the Holy Ghost (& the Charismata)The 12 Fruits of the Holy GhostThe 3 Theological VirtuesThe 4 Cardinal VirtuesThe 7 Capital Sins & Their Contrary VirtuesThe 6 Sins Against the Holy GhostThe 4 Sins That Cry Out to HeavenThe 3 Conditions of Mortal SinThe 9 Ways We Participate in Others' SinsThe 10 CommandmentsThe 2 Greatest CommandmentsThe 3 Evangelical CounselsThe 6 Precepts of the ChurchThe Holy Days of Obligation (English)The...

 Here are some links to go to if you would like to download some wonderful music for Easter: Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music - The Musical Offering in MP3The download links at the page above look like this: Introitus: Resurrexi (Graduale Romanum)Hover your mouse cursor over the underlined / italicized text and right-click, then select 'save target as' from the right-click menu and choose your preferred download location. Hymns for the Celebrations of the Liturgical Year, Pontifical Musical Chorus of the Sistine ChapelThe download links at this page are different, they look like this: IO SONO RISORTO  For these...

LONDON, APRIL 30, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican clarified the celebration of holy days of obligation when celebrating the extraordinary form of the Roman rite according to the 1962 Missal, reported the bishops' conference of England and Wales. The episcopal conference submitted a query to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, which confirmed that in the Roman rite, whichever form of the liturgy is being celebrated, the holy days of obligation are to be held in common. Where the obligation has been removed and the holy day transferred to the Sunday, this is to be followed in both ordinary and extraordinary celebrations...

I hope you are jarred by that title: as most of you know, the feast the Church is now celebrating is traditionally "Ascension Thursday." It ought to be. But as is also well known, in this world there is a considerable difference between "ought" and "is." In this case, the difference is ironic indeed. For that reason, most American bishops don't get it. They have have moved celebration of this feast from Thursday to the following Sunday in order to make it easier for people to celebrate it. But why, exactly, was it harder on Thursday? Driving to church for...

What if it had been your child to suffer as Terri Schiavo did? Kevin Fobbs April 10, 2006 Should America just simply move on if it was your child who suddenly was incapacitated and went through Terri Schiavo's experience? It is an interesting question, because there are those in the media and even probably in your office, your neighborhood or even your family who have said well just let the "poor woman" rest. Well I don't think America can do that because it could have been said about any innocent person who was taken to a crucifixion, or lynched from...

Holy Days of Obligation, Or Holy Days of Opportunity Holy days are usually regarded in terms of obligation and imposition. But should they not be considered even more as graced times of opportunity to mark a special mystery of our faith? In recent years, holy days have come in for a good deal of discussion, evaluation and renewal. As early as the fourth century, St. John Chrysostom was concerned about the celebration of holy days in Constantinople. This Father and Doctor of the Church commented in a homily that "many people celebrate the holy days and know their names: but...

The Biblical Feast of Trumpets: Foretelling 'the Day of the Lord' Does this ancient biblical feast hold great meaning for Christians today? by Gary Petty Every autumn the Jewish community observes a holiday called Rosh Hashanah (meaning "head of the year," because it begins the Jewish civil year). This is a biblical festival, known in Scripture as Yom Teruah, the Day of Trumpets, because the Israelites were to blow trumpets on that day (Leviticus 23:24). A shofar, or ram's horn, is blown calling the faithful to 10 days of repentance culminating in another biblical festival, Yom Kippur or the Day...

The Feast of Unleavened Bread: The Lesson of Leaving Sin Immediately after the Passover comes a festival that depicts the next step in the fulfillment of God's master plan. After God, through Christ's sacrifice, has forgiven us of our sins, how do we continue to avoid sin, since we must go on living in newness of life? How do we live as God's redeemed people? We find the answer in the remarkable symbolism of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. When God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt, He told His people that for "seven days you shall eat unleavened bread"...

What Religious Days Did Jesus Observe? Every year millions celebrate major religious holidays that are found nowhere in the Bible. If we are to truly follow Christ, shouldn't we consider which religious days He observed? by Roger Foster The last activity Jesus Christ shared with His disciples, only hours before He was crucified, was the biblically commanded Passover celebration. He had observed this festival annually since His birth (Luke 2:41).Accompanied by His 12 apostles for their final Passover meal together, "He said to them, 'With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer'" (Luke...

What Did Paul Really Say in Colossians 2:16? http://www.gnmagazine.org/bsc/12/paulreallysay.htm The apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian Christians, a gentile congregation: "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come ..." (Colossians 2:16-17, King James Version).This passage, probably more than any other in the Bible, is interpreted by those who reject God's festivals as confirmation that the biblical feast days are unnecessary observances. Regrettably, such reasoning is based on poor scholarship and misleading translations from...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) _ Atlantic City has become the fourth school district in New Jersey to recognize Muslim holidays. The city's board of education approved districtwide days off for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, two sacred Islamic holidays, for the upcoming school year. Previously, under state law Muslim students and teachers were allowed to take off Islamic holidays without being penalized. According to Superintendent Fredrick P. Nickles, about 560 of the city's 7,800 children are Muslim. Board member Cornell Davis, who is Muslim, called the decision ``courageous'' in light of current tensions between Americans and Islamic extremists. ``It shows...

The Feast of Unleavened Bread: The Lesson of Leaving Sin Immediately after the Passover comes a festival that depicts the next step in the fulfillment of God's master plan. After God, through Christ's sacrifice, has forgiven us of our sins, how do we continue to avoid sin, since we must go on living in newness of life? How do we live as God's redeemed people? We find the answer in the remarkable symbolism of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.When God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt, He told His people that for "seven days you shall eat unleavened bread" (Exodus...