Prayers to Saint Padre Pio
Saint Padre Pio gained fame due to his stigmata. He is one of the most popular saints and many make the pilgrimage to the church in San Giovanni Rotondo.
Saint Padre Pio gained fame due to his stigmata. He is one of the most popular saints and many make the pilgrimage to the church in San Giovanni Rotondo.
As Christians, we are expected to manifest the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives. These twelve fruits are different from the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. They are granted to us during our baptism and perfected through the Sacrament of Confirmation.
The seven gifts serve as virtues for us to follow while the twelve fruits are the actions that those virtues produce. We are expected to manifest these fruits in our lives as Christians.
Did you know Physician-assisted suicide is legal in five US states? Although it may seem like a viable option if we think about the painful effects of the patient’s degenerative disease, it is not reason enough to consider ending a life.
Saint Gregory is the patron saint of Educators, Musicians and Singers. He was born into a wealthy family. He sold his possessions and built monasteries in Rome and Sicily with the money he made. Gregory was elected Pope and sent Saint Austin to convert Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.
The Catholic Faith liturgy follows its own unique set of religious rituals and traditions which are part of the Catholic Mass Order. As a member of the Catholic Faith, you probably observed some of these practices which include sitting, standing and kneeling during mass. So why do we do these things and what do they signify?
As Catholics we have been taught about charity work through the gospels and various practices like outreaches. Thomas Aquinas esteems charity as “the most excellent of the virtues.” What does charity mean in the context of the Catholic Faith and why is charity work important to us as Catholics?
Saint Clare is known for warding off invading soldiers while kneeling in prayer holding a monstrance. She was an avid follower of St. Francis of Assisi and started the Order of Poor Ladies which is now known as the Order of Saint Clare. Saint Clare of Assisi is the patron saint of eyes and Television.
Catholic cremation is a divisive topic within the Catholic Faith community because not many people understand the Church’s teachings on it. When a loved one passes away, it is up to surviving family members to make arrangements regarding what to do with the remains and cremation may come up as a possible option.
Let’s examine the advantages and disadvantages of Catholic cremation and what the Church says about it.
Both the cross and the crucifix are important symbols in the Catholic Faith. To non-Catholics these two may look similar but certain meaningful differences exist between them and these differences can mean a lot to Catholic devotees. As a result, some Catholics may struggle in deciding whether to embrace a crucifix or just stick to a plain cross for use in their daily spiritual devotion.
We as stewards of God’s creation must look into the Catholic social teaching on the environment so that we can understand the role we play in addressing its issues. Now more than ever we are confronted by many pressing environmental problems. We hear about global temperatures rising, with the year 2016 said to be the warmest year on record, ice sheets melting and many species of animals going extinct.
Growing up in the Catholic Faith you probably wondered about the water basins put up at the entrance of the church and why the water contained inside it is considered holy. Holy Water is an important part of the Catholic Religion and there are many uses for it. To better appreciate its significance in various Catholic traditions and practices, let’s first understand its history and the meaning of Holy Water.
The Counter Reformation was a period of spiritual, moral and intellectual revival which the Catholic Church engaged with in response to the Protest Reformation. Sometimes called the Catholic Revival or Catholic Reformation, this movement began in 1545 during the start of the Council of Trent and ended in 1648 during the end of the Thirty Years’ War.
Saint John the Baptist is an important figure not just in the Catholic Faith but in different world religions. The patron saint of baptism, bird dealers, converts, lambs, monastics, printers, tailors and more, he is honored as a priest, prophet, saint and a forerunner of Jesus Christ.
The death penalty is a very controversial topic especially within the religious community. The Catholic Church’s stand on capital punishment has been varied. In the past, theological writers like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas have categorized the death penalty as a form of “lawful slaying” and a means of protecting innocent people.
Thanks to fairy tales like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, the concept of godparents is often taken to mean magical beings who grant wishes or make our lives easier. The role our godparents have in our journey here on earth is actually so much more significant so we must be careful in the people we choose to take up that role.
Faith is at the center of our lives as Catholics but what does living by faith truly mean? To live by faith in today’s world can be quite a challenge especially because contemporary culture conditions us to value hard facts and accuracy and faith is quite the opposite of these things. Faith requires a certain degree of uncertainty and surrender. It can be quite intimidating when we think about it.
Do you light candles after you say your Catholic prayers? Whenever you go to mass, do you notice the religious statues and beautiful paintings that adorn the church? Have you ever wondered what these artifacts and traditions mean and what value they hold to our faith?
The Apparition of Fatima was a miraculous incident that took place between May 13 and October 13, 1917 in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to three shepherd children. Let’s look back to this wondrous miracle as we commemorate its 100th year anniversary.
Going to church every Sunday is one of the most basic traditions that we associate with our Catholic faith. We have been taught to go to church and attend mass at an early age but is it really necessary for Catholics? Is going to church every Sunday still relevant in today’s times
According to the 2017 Annuario Pontifico (Pontifical Yearbook), there are about 1.287 billion Catholics in the world in 2015. As a major world religion, the Catholic Church provides many interesting insights into the religious history of the world. We, as members of the Catholic Faith, will find it useful to know about the history of the Catholic Church so that we can better appreciate its teachings and traditions.