By Kate Quiñones, EWTN News – The five Spanish Franciscan friars collectively known as the “Georgia Martyrs” will be beatified in Savannah, Georgia, on Oct. 31, according to a recent Vatican announcement… Cardinal Francis Leo of the Archdiocese of Toronto, Canada, will celebrate the beatification, according to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
In September 1597, the five Franciscans were killed for defending the sanctity of marriage at a mission in present-day Georgia. …

By Virginia Grace McKinnon, Daily Signal – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, a Republican, received over 650 consumer complaints in December about advertisements across the state that read, “Pregnant? Don’t want to be?” directing consumers to Mayday Health… Jackley filed a cease and desist order in state court against Mayday Health, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides education about the abortion pill. The attorney general claimed that the advertisement was in violation of South Dakota’s laws on abortion.

By Mark Bauerlein, Chronicles – In 2008, after I’d written a book with the subtitle “How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future,” I was labeled a “Luddite” more than 50 times in various lectures, panels, and radio interviews. I argued that social media, multitasking, and computers in the classroom were threats to knowledge, taste, and bookish habits, and so came off as a clueless Boomer. The same thing happened when other tech skeptics of that era spoke out against the spreading digital zeal in those heady days of Web 2.0… Back then, all the momentum was with the digital breakthrough, particularly in K-12 education.

By Fr. Ignatius John Schweitzer, OP, Catholic Exchange – As we begin Lent, Christ’s three temptations in the desert give us the pattern by which we too are tested. Hence this Gospel is paired with the First Reading about the testing of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Where they fail, Jesus is victorious. Jesus’ temptations, like our own, are a testing of our trust… In this article, we will uncover the core of each temptation by focusing on the Scripture verse that Jesus responds with. As we consider the inner core of each temptation, you might ponder what this can look like in your own life and ask the Lord Jesus to meet you there. In each of these three tests, we will discover the possibility of a blessing hidden within.

By Eddie Scarry, The Federalist – “So what I’ve been talking about with my colleagues — and this is where Democrats need to be aligned — is that we are not saying completely defund ICE,” she said, apparently unaware that at least five of her Democrat colleagues in Congress have called to “abolish ICE,” along with other elected Democrat officials. “What we are saying is fund them to the level they traditionally were so that we’re securing our borders. And we are also working in our communities with local law enforcement to go after the violent criminals under the immigration jurisdiction that they have.”

By Grazie Christie, The Catholic Thing – As Lent begins again, and with it, the desire to follow Christ on the way to Calvary, I am fascinated, as all Western civilization has been for two millennia, by the Cross at the end of that uphill climb. It is the meeting point of all the things we dread. And perhaps the greatest mystery of all time is that God hung Himself on it… Over the years I’ve contemplated in turns his physical torment, the loneliness of his desolation, the way he watched his mother watch him die. This Lent a whole new avenue of prayer has been opened for me in St. John Henry Newman’s meditations on the mental suffering of Christ….

By Diane Motagna, The Catholic Thing – The leadership of the Society of Saint Pius X has announced that it will proceed with episcopal ordinations on July 1, despite the Vatican’s warning that doing so without a papal mandate “would constitute a decisive rupture of ecclesial communion (schism).” In a letter dated Feb. 18 to Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, SSPX Superior General Fr. Davide Pagliarani welcomed the Prefect’s offer to resume theological discussions but stated that he “cannot accept the perspective and objectives in the name of which the Dicastery offers to resume dialogue in the present situation ….

By Kennedy Hall, Crisis Magazine – Not long before he was martyred, St. Thomas More wrote a series of letters to his daughters. In those letters, which have been compiled into a work called A Dialogue on Conscience, we find his daughter Margaret attempting to persuade him to swear the oath that would save his life, which he did not do, of course. We also find More’s insistence on the primacy of the conscience and why it would be impossible for him to swear the oath… Many casual observers have misunderstood More’s life and believe that he would not consent to the king’s desire to have a divorce, but this is untrue.

Patron Saint of Bodily Illness – Francisco and Jacinta Marto were two of the three children to whom the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared six times at Fatima in 1917. Mary asked the children to pray the rosary, pray for sinners, and pray specifically for the conversion of Russia. The siblings both died during the influenza epidemic, not long after the apparitions in Fatima. They were canonized by Pope Francis in 2017. “We can take as our examples Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta, whom the Virgin Mary introduced into the immense ocean of God’s light and taught to adore him.” -Pope Francis

By Troy Newman, LifeNews – The recent release of documents from the Epstein files, including the disturbing notebook in Data Set 12 (EFTA02731361.pdf), reveals a horrifying reality: Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell operated what amounted to a forced-breeding program, using vulnerable young girls as “personal incubators” to produce children for their own twisted purposes… The survivor’s handwritten entries appear to describe multiple pregnancies, forced births, and immediate removal of infants—often under conditions involving coercion, isolation, and possible eugenic selection based on physical traits like hair and eye color. References to a “superior gene pool,” trips to remote locations like New Mexico, and involvement of medical figures—including an Israeli doctor i

By Alexandra Greeley, National Catholic Register – The Lenten season, of course, is a time of fasting… One food is always accepted and enjoyed during Lent: the pretzel. It has a deeply spiritual significance for Lent. Because of its limited ingredients and its shape, it signifies Lent’s call for restraint and reflection on God… 1. The baked goods are linked to monks. Pretzels became the acceptable Lenten bread as far back as the fourth century, according to sources (though Pretzels.com places their origin at about A.D. 610). …

By Aubrey Harris, American Spectator – Earlier this month, some Senate members attended a closed-door briefing with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. One of the topics of conversation? The abortion pill, mifepristone… Apparently, the briefing didn’t go super well. The FDA is in the process of doing a safety review of mifepristone, but according to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Makary couldn’t give a timeline on that review… It should be noted that the safety review is rather important. Last year, the Ethics and Public Policy Center used insurance claims to determine that “the rate of life-threatening complications due to mifepristone is at least 22 times higher than what the FDA … suggest[s].”

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – Luke 9:22-25 – 22 “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” 23 And he said to all, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

By The Associated Press – A New Jersey Catholic diocese outside Philadelphia has agreed to pay $180 million in a clergy sexual abuse settlement, the latest in a church scandal set off more than two decades ago… The settlement, which must still be approved by a bankruptcy court, comes after the diocese had fought a state a grand jury investigation for years before relenting last year… The Camden diocese, like others nationwide, filed for bankruptcy amid a torrent of lawsuits after the statute of limitations was relaxed… Here is a list of some of the other large clergy abuse settlements reached by the Catholic Church in the U.S.

By Walter Sánchez Silva, EWTN News – The Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace due to its particular nature, which is clearly not that of other states” … When asked about Italy’s participation as an observer on the Board of Peace, Parolin stated: “There are some points that leave one somewhat perplexed. There are critical pointsthat need to be explained.”… according to Vatican News, adding that “one concern is that, at the international level, it is primarily the U.N. [United Nations] that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have emphasized.”