Jeanie Hannaman

December 11, 2024

The Nativity Fast: The “Advent” of the East, by F. Andrew Wolf, Jr.

By F. Andrew Wolf, Jr., Crisis Magazine - ’Tis the season, indeed—one of hope and anticipation—Advent is upon us. And much like the West, Eastern Churches remember Christ’s birth through prayer and opening oneself to the work of the Holy Spirit... Although referred to as Advent (Latin: “coming, arrival”) in the West, among Eastern Catholics, the season is known as the Nativity Fast... To be fair, the term Advent, actually, does not well accommodate the Eastern rites. The latter do not share all the themes of Latin Advent, and it retains a vigorous fasting component which may be observed voluntarily, partially, or totally.

December 11, 2024

Catholic School Principal Fired for Being ‘Too Traditional’? by John-Henry Westen

By John-Henry Westen, LifeSiteNews - Barker began the episode by explaining that after he got the principal job, he wanted to implement more traditional Catholic practices, such as having daily Mass during an open block of time and having the kids learn from the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism... “And, I go to the priest, and I say, ‘Hey, I’ve got this block of time. What do you think? Can we do daily mass?’ And he’s like, ‘Absolutely.’ I mean, most priests, they’d have to pull teeth to try and get their principal to want to do daily Mass,” Barker said.

December 10, 2024

Syria Falls to al Qaeda. What’s Next for Christians There? by Jason Jones & John Zmirak

By Jason Jones & John Zmirak, The Stream - If you follow the mainstream media, you’ve probably read stories about the plucky freedom fighters dubbed the “Syrian rebels” and heard that they just vanquished the forces of a wicked, dangerous tyrant, Bashar al-Assad. If you ever took John McCain seriously, you might have believed him when he vouched for these groups as “moderates.” If you watched the Republican presidential debates in 2016, you’d have heard all but three of those seasoned GOP leaders (Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump) agree that it was so important to America that these rebels prevail that the U.S. ought to shoot down Russian planes, risking a nuclear war.

December 10, 2024

Peaceful Conversion of the Heart, by David La Mar

By David La Mar, Catholic Exchange - John Pridmore was a gangster, working in organized crime on the mean streets of London in the 1980s. He lived a life of drug deals, theft, and violence. He had a penthouse apartment, sports cars, money and power. But he knew something was missing. There was no peace in his heart... Baptized Catholic, he drifted away from the faith. Despite having everything anyone could want in life, he felt empty. He knew he had to affect a change of heart in order to find that peace he so deeply desired. Even though he didn’t know it at the time, he was looking for Jesus.