Here’s why Hawaii’s St. Damien got his May 10 feast day
on 05/09/24
Damien of Molokai died on April 15, 1889, but his feast day isn't until May. Here's why.
Much beloved St. Damien of Molokai, who cared for those with leprosy in Hawaii, went to eternity on an April 15, in the year 1889.
Though the death date of a saint is customarily their feast day, there are a number of saints for which that is not the case. Often, diving into the date that is selected for their feast reveals something interesting.
For example, John Paul II’s feast day is the day he became pope. And the feast day of a number of married couples is their wedding anniversary (the Ulmas, Charles of Zita, the Martins, and the Quattrocchis). Paul VI’s feast is the anniversary of his ordination, and John XXIII’s on the day he launched
St. Damien is another to add to the list of saints with unique feasts.
April 15, his death date, often falls during Lent. So what happened on May 10, the day his feast is celebrated? “I am …Mais

martes, 7 de mayo de 2024 19:15
Misa, en español, en la Capilla de las Apariciones de Fátima

Blessed Carlo Acutis tells stories of miracles in podcast series
on 05/07/24
Saints Alive is teaming with Hallow to produce a weekly serial in the same vein as the old-fashioned radio dramas, with high production quality.
An imaginative new podcast series is bringing Blessed Carlo Acutis’ passion for Eucharistic Miracles front and center. The series, called Eucharist Alive, is run by the Saints Alive podcast, a successful half-hour program that has teamed up with the #1 prayer app, Hallow.
Saints Alive has been working to spread the stories of Catholic saints through podcast episodes and conversations for more than two years. The podcast has enjoyed a very successful run, with much of their audience built from word-of-mouth, as fans share their high-quality program with families, friends, and parishes.
Now, thanks to a partnership with Hallow, Saints Alive is expanding its offerings from monthly episodes to multiple weekly releases of Eucharist Alive.
Eucharist Alive is not what one …Mais

Pope urges young new Guards to leave their phones, look at Rome
on 05/07/24
"These experiences build you up inside, and will stay with you for your whole lives."
In a brief message to the 34 new recruits of the Swiss Guard, sworn in as every year on May 6, the day their predecessors gave their lives for the pope in the 1500s, Pope Francis urged the young men to foster friendships and community life.
Noting that the Trinity is a community of persons — a life of love in relationship — the Pope warned the youth against “the habit today of spending free time alone on the computer or the cell phone.”
“I say to you too, young Guards, go against the current. Please, go against the current!”
These new recruits have just sworn an oath saying they are ready to die to protect the pope, should it be necessary. The Holy Father’s advice concerned their daily, ordinary choices.
“It’s better,” the Pope said, “to use your free time for activities in common, to get to know Rome, for moments of fraternity …Mais

lunes, 6 de mayo de 2024 19:15
Misa, en español, en la Capilla de las Apariciones de Fátima

Monday, May 6, 2024 3:30 pm
Mass, in English, at the Chapel of the Apparitions of Fátima

Why the Our Father is the prayer of the end of the world
05/06/24
The Lord's Prayer looks at both the present age and the age to come, when all things will end and a new beginning will be initiated by Jesus Christ.
Typically we don’t think of the Our Father as a prayer that is connected to the end of the world.
However, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states precisely that, seeing in the Lord’s Prayer a preparation for the end times:
In the Eucharist, the Lord’s Prayer also reveals the eschatological character of its petitions. It is the proper prayer of “the end-time,” the time of salvation that began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and will be fulfilled with the Lord’s return. The petitions addressed to our Father, as distinct from the prayers of the old covenant, rely on the mystery of salvation already accomplished, once for all, in Christ crucified and risen.
CCC 2771
A closer look at the Our Father reveals many of its petitions can be viewed in light of Jesus’ second …Mais

Pope: Take a moment and thank God for your friends
on 05/06/24
Jesus wants more, something greater, that goes beyond goods and plans themselves: it takes friendship.
As Jesus calls his disciples his “friends” in the Gospel of Sunday, Pope Francis encouraged the faithful to take a moment to think of all the friends God has put in our lives, and thank Him for that gift.
Before praying the Regina Caeli on May 5, the Pope considered:
In the Bible the “servants” of God are special people, to whom He entrusts important missions, such as, for example, Moses (cf. Ex 14:31), King David (cf. 2 Sam 7:8), the prophet Elijah (cf. 1 Re 18:36), up to the Virgin Mary (cf. Lk 1:38). They are people in whose hands God places His treasures (cf. Mt 25:21). But all of this is not enough, according to Jesus, to say who we are for Him, it is not enough: He wants more, something greater, that goes beyond goods and plans themselves: it takes friendship.
After inviting the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s …Mais

Pope urges us to “make reparation” to Jesus’ Sacred Heart
on 05/05/24
While the concept of "reparation" might seem obsolete or be forgotten today, Pope Francis says it is a beautiful practice to take up again.
Pope Francis says the “beautiful practice of the reparation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” is an important practice for all the baptized, even if today it “may be somewhat forgotten or wrongly judged obsolete.”
The Pope spoke of “reparation” — a practice by which someone who has wronged God and neighbor tries to make right, or “repair” the wound — in an address marking the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary.
The Catechism speaks of reparation like this:
2487 Every offense committed against justice and truth entails the duty of reparation, even if its author has been forgiven. When it is impossible publicly to make reparation for a wrong, it must be made secretly. If someone who has suffered harm cannot be directly compensated, he must be given …Mais

Sábado, 4 de mayo de 2024 19:15
Misa, en español, en la Capilla de las Apariciones de Fátima

An enchanting hymn in the stunning refectory of Mont Saint-Michel
on 05/04/24
The Windborne Singers put on a performance to remember from within the 1,000-year-old halls of the picturesque Mont-Saint-Michel in France.
An enchanted setting demands enchanting tones, and that’s just what the Windborne Singers provided when they visited the picturesque Mont Saint-Michel in France. This excellent quartet started singing in the refectory of Mont Saint-Michel, which has some of the finest acoustics around and really made the performance grand.
Mont Saint-Michel has stood just off the Normandy coast for over 1,000 years, with the millennial anniversary of the laying of the first stone of the abbey church celebrated in 2023. A monument of the Middle Ages, this mysterious church on the edge of the world has spurred devotions and the imagination for centuries.
So when a group of singers wants to perform a hymn at such a storied and downright gorgeous location, they better bring their A-game. …Mais

May is the month of Mary Pope Francis encourages us all to "rediscover the beauty of praying the Rosary at home in the month of May." He shared a prayer to add on to the end of the rosary that you can find here:
O Mary,
You shine continuously on our journey
as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who, at the foot of the cross,
were united with Jesus’ suffering,
and persevered in your faith. “Protectress of the Roman people”, you know our needs, and we know that you will provide, so that, as at Cana in Galilee, joy and celebration may return after this time of trial. Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform ourselves to the will of the Father and to do what Jesus tells us. For he took upon himself our suffering, and burdened himself with our sorrows to bring us, through the cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen. We fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God; Do not despise our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from …Mais

Friday, May 3, 2024 3:30 pm
Mass, in English, at the Chapel of the Apparitions of Fátima