Frances of Rome and the Taoiseach of Ireland

In the most troubled of times, God raises up saints as exemplars and intercessors, and Frances of Rome is no exception. Born into privilege in 1384, she lived through tumultuous times, with Rome ravaged by the effects of the ‘Great Western Schism’, which had begun in 1378, with eventually three rival claimants to the papacy, none of them providing a particularly edifying example. Frances wanted to give her life to God, but was ordered at the age of twelve – the custom back then – to marry, and was given to the wealthy Lorenzo di Ponziani, the commander of the papal troops. The marriage proved a happy one, even if Frances’ liberal, one might say excessive from a worldly view, almsgiving and care for the poor caused some consternation, the miraculous replenishing of the supplies alleviated the anxieties of the Ponziani clan.

Frances raised her children well, and cared for her husband until his death, after he was invalided in a battle. Before that, they had agreed to practice continence, and Frances’ charitable and prayer life deepened immeasurably, recounting visions of saints, her guardian angel, purgatory, hell, foretelling both the end of the schism and her own death. She was, as her biography attests, renowned for her patience, humility and obedience. Frances founded a community of pious women, the Benedictine Oblate Congregation of Tor di Specchi, and died on this day in 1440, after a life given to God in an age when so many were scandalized by so many bad examples in the Church. A lesson for our times, as all the saints are, really.

And, speaking of our times, Ireland – yes Saint Patrick’s beloved Emerald Isle – is in increasingly rough shape, as John Waters has pointed out more than once, most recently commenting on the decree from the nation’s Taosieach, Leo Varadkar, an open homosexual inimical to religion, that all crucifixes be removed from hospitals – including those run by religious orders. What is being imposed is, as he puts it, is not a vague ‘tolerance’, itself an anti-virtue, but rather a despairing nihilism, an enforced secularism, a prelude, to this author’s mind, to be quite blunt, of the ‘secular messianism’ of the Antichrist.

Saint Malachy supposedly prophesied in the eleventh century that Ireland would be inundated by the sea should she ever lose the Faith; but she already is ‘inundated’ by the tide of unbelief, smothering and suppressing all that made Ireland what she was, and still, one might hope, be one day again. As things now stand, that hope is dim, with the legalized and constitutionally-sanctioned murder of the unborn and fake, deviant ‘marriage’; soon, euthanasia and who knows what else. There is that whole question of whether Christ will find Faith once He returns again, one that is quasi-rhetorical, for we know He will; but where, and will He find it in our own souls, regardless of what happens around, and to, us?

But the one who perseveres to the end…

Carney’s Amoral Majority

After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→

Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress

This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→

A Tale of Two Benedicts

A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→

My Name is Bernadette

April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→

The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus

As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→

Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów

We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→

Saint Gemma Galgani

On this April 11th, in 1903 – the same year that the Italian Guiseppe Sarto was elected Pope later that summer as Pius X – a lovely, young Italian woman died, by the name of Gemma Galgani. She lived a brief life of 24 years, as did a number of other young saints, including Pier[…]Continue reading→

An Ideological and Improper Translation

I noticed something odd with the psalm reading at Mass the other day. Our bishops’ conference here in Canada has decreed that the Mass in English – Novus Ordo – use the ‘NRSV’, the ‘New Revised Standard Version’, an ‘updated’ translation of the original RSV, first published in 1952. This ‘new translation’ has the tendency[…]Continue reading→

Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle: A Teacher for Teachers

Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (1651 – 1719), a French nobleman, ordained a priest, founded the first order in the Church’s history entirely without priests, and this came about almost by accident. I say ‘almost’, for, of course, there are no accidents with God. Destined for ordination from an early age, Jean-Baptiste never looked back, even[…]Continue reading→