Monday, February 28, 2011
Christian Martyrs and Glorious Catholic Coenobites on African Continent
St. Augustine, too, was a monk in Algeria.
Home of Ratzinger Yesterday and Today
From 1982-2005 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger lived in a flat on the right and then upon his election to the throne of Peter moved across the street to the Apostolic Palace.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Nero: First to Butcher Christians
Even today many Christians are killed each year just for being Christian. Martyrs of the 1870 Porta Pia Massacre
The first watch of the guard at Porta Pia on the morning of September 20, 1870.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Support Baby Joseph
Help this family save their baby.
Pray, fast and do penance to save our civilization from pro-abortion claws.
Oremus!
Pray, fast and do penance to save our civilization from pro-abortion claws.
Oremus!
Pope Blesses New Statue of Maronite Saint for Outside Wall of St. Peter's Basilica
A lovely statue of St. Maron carved by a Spaniard in Italy, at Pietrasanta. A great honor to be present at the unveiling and blessing of this statue along with hundreds of Maronite pilgrims from Lebanon and across the globe. The blessing, oddly, was pronounced by the Holy Father in Italian (it would have been more fitting in Latin). 
Friday, February 25, 2011
Council Father Sings Divine Liturgy in Vatican Basilica
Not every day you see a living Council Father sing Pontifical High Mass, let alone a patriarch or a priest who has been bishop for 50 years.As Catholics we hold that there have been only 21 sacred and holy, oecumenical and general Synods (Councils).
On Wednesday, February 23 His Eminent Beatitude the Lord Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and of all the East, in the presence of the president of Lebanon and countless faithful from Lebanon and the diaspora, celebrated Divine Liturgy according to the Antiochene Syriac Maronite rite at the altar of the Chair of the Vatican Basilica in celebration of the closing of the Jubilee Year in celebration of the 1,600 anniversary of the dies natalis (death) of their founder, St. Maron.
The words of consecration were chanted in Syriac, the spoken languge of Christ.
Catholic Syria
They were Catholic before we were and have remained faithful with unbroken succession. 
Catholic Sri Lanka and Catholic Slovenia
The Catholic (universal) Church was the world's frist universal church, thus the name. 
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Mons. Sharbel-Ghattas Maroun the Great
One of the very finest priests on the planet earth.A saint. One of seven children. He inspires.
A great honor to spend time with him in the Holy City.
Thanks, Abouna!
Communion Rail of St. Peter's Basilica
Did your parish keep theirs, too?"Before you take down a fence first ask why it was put up."
Church of the Gesù
Everybody has their favorite and this is the favorite church of yours truly in Rome.
Catholic Culture
Holy Communion to the sick and dying: the boy leads with lantern and bell while the cleric follows with pyx in burse. 
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
She Who Speaks the Language of Christ
This sweet young lady seeen today in the Vatican is a Syriac Christian.They are the last humans on the planet earth who still speak the spoken language of Christ, Syriac (Aramaic).
A persecuted people, these Orthodox Christians do not speak or understand Arabic. They fled the sword of Islam into Turkey and in recent years have fled still further (after Ottoman genocide) to peaceful places such as Sweden, Germany, Austria and the United States.
It is a wonderful treat to hear them speak the language of Christ.
