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We continue our Patristic Rosary Project today with the:2nd Luminous Mystery: The Wedding at CanaThe late great John Paul II wrote in his letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae wrote: 24. The Rosary is at the service of this ideal; it offers the “secret” which leads easily to a profound and inward knowledge of Christ. We might call it Mary’s way. It is the way of the example of the Virgin of Nazareth, a woman of faith, of silence, of attentive listening. It is also the way of a Marian devotion inspired by knowledge of the inseparable bond between Christ and his...

We continue our Patristic Rosary Project today with the:1st Luminous Mystery: Baptism of Jesus by JohnThe one God had sent to prepare the way and whom Christ Himself would describe as the greatest man born of woman, was a focus of much contemplation by the Fathers and we can only touch the surface of their comments.  Chromatius (+c.406), Bishop of Aquileia, wrote of the Baptist and his significance for us: Hence John prepared these ways of mercy and truth, faith and justice.  Concerning them, Jeremiah also declared, "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where...

We continue our Patristic Rosary Project today with the:5th Joyful Mystery: The Finding in the TemplePious Jews would go to Jerusalem for the Passover so that they could bring a lamb to the Temple to be sacrificed at the right moment on the right day. Jesus Himself would be nailed to a Cross and die during the slaughter of the lambs in the Temple while the priests lined the stairs to the altar and sang Psalms. In the quiet of the ancient world, when Jerusalem was still on that holy day, Jesus could probabaly hear the crying of the lambs...

We continue our Patristic Rosary Project today with the:4th Joyful Mystery: The PresentationWe are made in God’s image and likeness and Christ came into the world to reveal man for fully to him (GS 22). We are radically in unity with Christ and, through Him, with each other. In this light, read the words of 3rd century Alexandria writer Origen (+254): So, when He died, we died with Him, and when He rose, we rose with Him. Likewise, we were also circumcised along with Him. After His circumcision, we were cleansed by a solemn purification. Hence we have no need...

We continue our Patristic Rosary Project today with the:3rd Joyful Mystery: The NativityChrist came into the world in "the fullness of time" (Gal 4:4). His First Coming was foreseen from all eternity and His Nativity was prepared from the beginning of the history of our salvation. The manner of His birth is significant. St. Leo I, "the Great" (+461; whose Christmas sermons deserve entries apart!) wrote in a letter: His God in that "all things were made through Him and nothing was made without Him." (John 1:3) He is human in that He was "made from woman, made under the...

We continue our Patristic Rosary Project today with:2nd Joyful Mystery: The VisitationCommenting on Luke 1:39-45, the when Mary journeys to visit her cousin Elizabeth, St. Augustine of Hippo (+430) speaks of the infant John, to be known as the Baptist, leaping in the womb at the sound of Mary’s voice: We see instances of leaping no only in children but even in animals, although certainly not for any faith or religion of rational recognition of someone coming.  But this case stands out as utterly uncommon and new, because it tool place in the womb, and at the coming of her...

Because October is dedicated in a special way to the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, during the month I, as a dedicated patristiblogger, will work my way through the Mysteries of the Rosary offering some comments from the Fathers of the Church.  Let’s jump right in! 1st Joyful Mystery: The Annuniciation Commenting on Luke 1:26-38, the announcment of Jesus’ birth, St. Ambrose of Milan (+397) makes a connection between Mary and the Church.  : And, therefore, the Evangelist, who had undertaken to prove the incorrupt mystery of the incarnation, thought it fruitless to pursue evidence of Mary’s...

Ingravescentibus Malis -- Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on the Rosary, 9-29-37 To the Venerable Brethren, Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Holy See. More than once have We asserted -- and We recently repeated this in the Encyclical Letter Divini Redemptoris (Acta Ap. Sedis, 1937, Vol. XXIX, p. 65) -- that there is no remedy for the ever-growing evils of our times except a return to Our Lord Jesus Christ and to His most holy precepts. Truly, only He "hath the words of eternal life" (Cf. John, vi, 69), and individuals and...

Pick Up Your Weapon And Get In The Fight.Dear Friends and Family,One of the most consistent and important themes of my almost 20 years of preaching and teaching has been that of spiritual warfare. This is, in fact, one of the most consistent and important themes of the Church’s preaching and teaching throughout the ages.St. Paul cautioned us in the sixth chapter of his Letter to the Ephesians that, “Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in regions above…” He was referring to fallen angels, or the demonic...

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...

The mixed marriage of parents of the well-known Mainz Priest, Father Hendrick Jolie, produced an alienation from religion in his family. But suddenly, everything changed and nothing was the same as it was. [kreuz.net] I was not "unpious" as a young person, explained the well-known Mainz Priest, Father Hendrick Jolie, in an interview today with the Linz site 'kath.net'. The clergyman came from a mixed marriage. "It created a kind of distance from the Church," according to him.

Back in the 90s when Fr. Paul Marx, founder of HLI, was asked his opinion about the efforts to legalize "same-sex unions" he commented in his usual forthright fashion, "When they do that," he said, "it's the end." He meant "the end" of the Christian civilization whose values used to form the basis of American common life. Fr. Marx, in a prophetic sense, saw rightly that a society cannot survive the perverse manipulation of the very structure of reality that God Himself has revealed to us, one very fundamental element of which is the institution of marriage. When we allow...

Pope St. Pius V trusted in the power of Our Lady's intercession through the Holy Rosary to save Christendom. He asked Christians everywhere to pray the Rosary for the victory of the united Christian fleet against the Mohammedan Turks. On 7 October 1571, at the Battle of Lepanto, the Turkish fleet was defeated, and the Catholic Church now celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Rosary every year on October 7. After World War II, Fr. Petrus Pavlicek of Austria led a Rosary Crusade to save his country from communist domination. In 1955, the Soviet forces occupying their zone of...

The following is a selection of (edited) e-mails I've received in recent days. Please note that I do not necessarily agree with every single point of every single e-mail I choose to print."John Doe": Bill Donohue is dead wrong about Late Nite Catechism. I saw it with my wife about ten years ago, we enjoyed it thoroughly, and I would go so far as to say that the abbreviated catechism given by 'Sister' in our performance was better than the watered-down catechism that my oldest daughter got at [school name redacted]. Full disclosure: Not only did I win the plastic...

A soldier who stood on a landmine and was shot in the chest in Afghanistan is convinced a rosary saved his life in exactly the same way as his great-grandfather towards the end of the Second World War. Glenn Hockton, 19, who is now home from a seven-month tour of duty with the Coldstream Guards in Helmand Province, was on patrol when his rosary suddenly fell from his neck. His mother Sheri Jones said today: 'He felt like he had a slap on the back. He bent down to pick up his rosary to see if it was broken. As...

A British soldier says that rosary beads given to him by his mother saved his life after he stepped on a land mine while serving in Afghanistan. ... Now home from a seven-month tour of duty, 19-year-old Glenn Hockton was on patrol when his rosary beads suddenly dropped from his neck. He bent down to retrieve the chain and realized he was on top of a land mine. Hockton stood still for 45 minutes while his colleagues worked to secure the land mine. ... On a separate occasion, Hockton, who joined the military when he was 16, was shot in...

"British soldier shot in Afghanistan is saved my his ROSARY... just like his great-grandfather in WWII" A soldier who stood on a landmine and was shot in the chest in Afghanistan is convinced a rosary saved his life in exactly the same way as his great-grandfather towards the end of World War II. Glenn Hockton, 19, who is now home from a seven-month tour of duty with the Coldstream Guards in Helmand Province, was on patrol when his rosary suddenly fell from his neck. His mother Sheri Jones said today: 'He felt like he had a slap on the back....

After attempting suicide several years ago at a Cumberland penitentiary, a prisoner spent his days lying alone on the floor of his tiny cell. Staring at the ceiling and speaking few words, the man seemed lost. Father Milton A. Hipsley, then the pastor of St. Mary in Cumberland and a chaplain for the area’s prisons, was moved by the man’s despair. Wearing his black clerics and white collar, the priest entered the cell and lay down beside the motionless figure. He became a channel of God’s mercy. “Inmates are good people,” Father Hipsley remembered. “They are lonely and they’re frustrated....

COLORADO SPRINGS — A Vietnam veteran has fulfilled his 44-year-old battlefield promise to return a rosary to a wounded comrade. Frank Heidel gave the rosary back to Chuck Doole on Wednesday night during an emotional reunion of the two veterans and their families. Doole had been shot in an ambush and feared he was going to die. The rosary was a gift from his grandmother and he didn't want it to be lost, so he gave it to Heidel. Heidel promised to return it when both were safe, but they lost touch. Heidel periodically tried to find Doole without success,...

"The priority for our players is to recognize they are at the University of Notre Dame to play for Our Lady" --new head football coach of Notre Dame, Brian Kelly, in his (fundraising) letter to the alumni. "Father Jenkins' decision [to invite President Obama to speak at Notre Dame and award him an honorary degree] is a deliberate thumbing of the collective nose at the Catholic Church...Notre Dame has forfeited the right to be called a Catholic University" --from recently deceased professor of philosophy, Ralph McInerny, who taught for over 50 years at Notre Dame (and who recalled when the department's...