Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed[…]
Month: May 2025
Where Has Shame Fled?
“If I am a sinner and deny sin, there is no forgiveness. The denial of sin is the unforgivable sin.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen Once upon a time in every civilized society people wanted to keep their dirty little secrets from being found out. What point is there in shouting what should be one’s shame from[…]
Pope John Paul II and the Visitation
(Here is Pope Saint John Paul II’s first homily for the feast of the Visitation, to close off his first Marian month as Pope, in 1979. It was a different era, but his words speak to our time – John Paul was the the Pope chosen to lead us into the third millennium, and to[…]
The Feast of the Visitation
A blessed feast of the Visitation to all our readers, wherein we recall the meeting of no less than four chosen souls: Our Lady, Saint Elizabeth, and their respective yet-to-be-born children, the newly-conceived Son of the Most High, and Saint John the Baptist, six months along. One divine Person, and three human persons who were[…]
Go forward bravely. Fear nothing. Trust in God; all will be well. (Saint Joan of Arc, +1431)
Pope Benedict and the Maid of Orleans
(Today, the penultimate day of May, is the memorial of Saint Joan of Arc, and I thought readers would enjoy this address from Pope Benedict XVI on the remarkable teenage saint, put to death by her own Church – or, more to the point, corrupt representatives thereof in an unfair trial. A fitting saint for[…]
Sainte Jeanne d’Arc, the Mighty Maid of Orleans
My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded: the lowliness of his handmaiden: For behold, from henceforth: all generations shall call me blessed. Saint Jeanne d’Arc (+1431), ‘la Pucelle’, or the virgin-maid of Orleans, is hailed as patroness of France, their saviour, as the[…]
Rise and Fall: Everest and Constantinople
May 29th is the anniversary of two world changing events: The first was the reaching the summit of Mount Everest, the top of the world at 29, 029 feet, five miles up of pure ice, snow, glacier and rock, which had taken the lives of those who first attempted the climb – George Mallory and[…]
John Paul II Reflects on Paul VI
HOMILY OF POPE JOHN PAUL II TO COMMEMORATE THE SERVANT OF GOD PAUL VI Thursday, 6 August 1998 The memory of my venerable Predecessor, the Servant of God Paul VI who died here in Castel Gandolfo some 20 years ago, lives on throughout the Church. Time has not weakened his remembrance; on the contrary, the[…]
Finding Sanctity in a Controversial Papacy: Paul VI
Today, May 29th, is the optional memorial of Pope Saint Paul VI, celebrated on the anniversary of his ordination in 1920. This year, ironically, this is also the universal Solemnity of the Ascension, which Paul VI’s controversial liturgical reforms allowed to be moved to the following Sunday, when it is held here in Canada. We’ve[…]