General interest

New Video on Redeeming Medieval Captives Goes Viral

Leave a comment

Offering one’s life in exchange for another Christian whose faith is in danger is certainly a noble cause. Maybe that’s why a new video on the history of a men’s order founded to do just that is attracting so much attention.

The nine-minute video, “Redeeming Medieval Captives–The Story of The Order of Mercy,” has gone viral on the Catholic video website Gloria.TV, with more than 2,000 views this week.

The nine-minute video explains the origins of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, complete with period paintings and drawings depicting 13th century ships, ancient drawings of men captured by Muslims, as well as prayerful modern-day Mercedarian friars.

Quoting the Mercedarians’ official historical record, the video says, “The real risk of captivity for a Christian captive in the power of the Saracens was the danger of renouncing the true faith. . . . The very circumstances of captivity were a real, ongoing and serious temptation for Christians whose faith was not very strong.”

Find out what experience motivated St. Peter Nolasco to found the Order by viewing the video and visiting the  Order of Mercy site.

News

On the Road Again

Leave a comment

The “Running Nuns” of St. Charles Children’s Home in Rochester, New Hampshire are holding their 15th Annual Labor Day 5k Road Race this Labor Day.

The road race fundraiser has helped the sisters provide hundreds of children with the guidance, therapy, and love they need to prepare them for life with new families. All proceeds of the road race go to benefit the children at the St. Charles Children’s Home.

General interest

Prayer Intentions

Leave a comment

Let’s once again unite our prayers this month with those of Pope Benedict XVI. Here are the Holy Father’s intentions for September 2011, as published by the Apostleship of Prayer:

  • Teachers. That all teachers may know how to communicate the love of truth and instill authentic moral and spiritual values.
  • Church in Asia. That the Christian communities of Asia may proclaim the Gospel with fervor, witnessing to its beauty with the joy of faith.

In addition, as we approach the tenth anniversary of 9/11 this month, may we also pray for a new outpouring of healing, mercy, and peace throughout the world. Check out the USCCB website for resources for parish and diocesan observances of the anniversary.

News

No Girl Altar Servers at Phoenix Cathedral

Leave a comment

The rector of Sts. Simon and Jude Church, the cathedral of the Diocese of Phoenix, has announced that girls will no longer be allowed to serve at Masses there.

For more of the story, click here. The article incorrectly noted that girls have been allowed to serve at Mass since 1983. Actually, such permission was not given until 1994.

At any rate, girls now function as altar servers everywhere in the United States, except in the Diocese of Lincoln and a handful of more traditional parishes scattered throughout the country. Continue reading No Girl Altar Servers at Phoenix Cathedral →

News

New Soldiers for Christ

Leave a comment

In a news release earlier this month, the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA reported a steady increase in the number of young men entering Catholic seminaries who would like to become military chaplains.

At the start of the 2011-2012 academic year, the number of co-sponsored and military-affiliated seminarians will stand at 31, up sharply from just three in 2008-2009; 12 in 2009-2010; and 23 in 2010-2011.

Co-sponsorship means that a diocesan bishop agrees to accept the young man as a seminarian, and that the seminarian will participate in the Chaplain Candidacy Program of one of the branches of the U.S. armed forces. The bishop agrees to release him for service as a military chaplain after three years of pastoral experience as a priest in his diocese. When the priest leaves military service, he returns to the diocese.

Father Kerry Abbott, O.F.M. Conv., Director of Vocations, said, “This is one of the ‘untold stories’ of the blessings of the Holy Spirit upon the Church Continue reading New Soldiers for Christ →

News

Religious Sisters of Mercy

1 Comment

Earlier this month, five young women took their final vows as Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma. This community is especially devoted to the practice of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

The event took place at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption in Saginaw, Michigan, at a Mass celebrated  by Most Rev. Joseph R. Cistone, Bishop of Saginaw, will celebrate the Mass. Read more about it here.

These are sharp sisters, by the way. The group that took their final vows includes a medical resident, a medical student, and a doctoral student in psychology, while the other two are studying theology in Rome. Wow!

General interest

How Do I Know?

Leave a comment

Last week the editors of the National Catholic Register offered the following response to the question, “How do I know what my vocation is?” In doing so, they quote Servant of God John A. Hardon, the beloved founder of the Institute on Religious Life.

“A religious vocation is a special grace that God gives to certain persons, calling them to a life of the evangelical counsels,” wrote Jesuit Father John Hardon, whose canonization cause is under way, as chronicled at EWTN.com. “What are some typical features of a true vocation to the religious life? I would emphasize especially three: 1) a strong faith in the Catholic Church and her teaching, shown by a firm loyalty to the Vicar of Christ; 2) a love of prayer, at least the capacity for developing a desire for prayer; and 3) a readiness to give oneself to a life of sacrifice in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. . . . I believe that if every prospective candidate were to make a private retreat, even for a few days, under a competent priest, it would help immensely. The retreat could be especially geared to a person who thinks that he or she has a vocation to the religious life. Then, during the retreat, in an atmosphere of silence and prayer, ask God to enlighten one’s mind as to whether or not he is calling the person to a life of Christian perfection. This, in fact, is one of the original purposes of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius: to discover and decide on one’s state of life.” Continue reading How Do I Know? →

General interest

Grandma Nun, and Much More

Leave a comment

Check out this recent post from popular blogger and First Things columnist Elizabeth Scalia. It’s basically a cornucopia of upbeat vocation news. She does something like this every year, but I recommend checking in on her site much more frequently than that!

This piece contains updates on entries into novitiate and professions of vows from an array of communities, which she says are on the rise.

As for the identity of “Grandma Nun,” you’ll have to read her post!

News

Sedevacantist Sisters Reunite with Church

1 Comment

The National Catholic Register published last week an article chronicling the journey of fifteen sisters who broke away from their sedevacantist community in 2007 to form the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church. This community is a public association of the faithful approved in 2008 by Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Washington.

Read the full story here.

Their original community was initially a traditional order founded with the approval of Church authorities, but its founder and members eventually embraced sedevacantism–the view that the current Pope is not a true pope. They were highly critical of the Church hierarchy after Vatican II and eventually broke away from the Church.

Sr. Mary Eucharista, a member of the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church, cites several factors that led to the departure of fifteen women from that community from sedevacantism and their return to full communion with the Church, including a visit from Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, the orthodox programming of EWTN Global Catholic Radio, and the election of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

General interest

Theater of the Word, for the Word

Leave a comment

In 2007, Fr. Joseph Fessio of Ignatius Press and Cardinal Raymond Burke, then Archbishop Burke of St. Louis, teamed with actor and playwright Kevin O’Brien to launch the Theater of the Word production company to spread the Gospel message through stage, film, television, audio recordings and the internet.

Inspired by the clandestine theater company run by Karol Wojtyla in Nazi-occupied Poland, also called the Theater of the Word, this traveling company seeks to evangelize through drama.

Kevin hosts his own series The Theater of the Word on EWTN, and he and his actors appear regularly on the EWTN shows The Apostle of Common Sense and The Quest for Shakespeare.

Check out Kevin’s interesting blog here. Many of our readers will recall the production of his play The Call, which his theater company performed at the IRL National Meeting last spring. Through the medium of drama, The Call offers profound insights into the nature and meaning of a “vocation.”

To book The Call or any other Theater of the Word shows, visit //www.thewordinc.org/ or call toll-free 1-888-840-WORD.