Catholic Church

By Fr Richard Heilman, Roman Catholic Man - The novena in honor of the Holy Spirit is the oldest of all novenas since it was first made at the direction of Our Lord Himself when He sent His apostles back to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost. It is still the only novena officially prescribed by the Church. Addressed to the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, it is a powerful plea for the light and strength and love so sorely needed by every Christian.

By By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing - It used to be said that the priest “made” holy water; he did not simply bless it. The rite is still in the Roman Ritual. The priest makes holy water by adding exorcized salt to exorcized water... He adds salt in imitation of the prophet Elisha, who thus purified the waters of Jericho: “Thus says the LORD, ‘I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.’”

By uCatholic - But in response, Rev. Edwin C. Dwyer, a priest of the Diocese of Saginaw, delivered a powerful sermon directly addressing what a Catholic should do when they suspect sexual abuse by clergy is occurring. A transcript of the homily was posted on Fr. Dwyer’s personal Facebook page, and is published here with permission, after our request.

By Dan Hitchens, First Things - “Pope Francis continues to tell us that everything cannot be regulated by a law and there are always exceptions.” Vanier’s is not the only interpretation of Pope Francis’s ideas—the pope is ambiguous on the question of moral absolutes. The point is that Vanier, in so many other ways a hero of the faith, might not have made such a serious mistake without the influence of the Vatican.