New Posts

Valletta · Sunday at 10:20 AM

BCP1928 said:
You shouldn't be--this is old news,

It's hard to keep up with the establishment media hoaxes.

Michie · Sunday at 10:19 AM

John and Kara Lilly tend to their newborn son Francis Roy Lilly in the INOVA Fairfax NICU following his traumatic birth April 1.

According to Kara, after months of an uncomplicated pregnancy, she started going into labor three weeks early. She was admitted to StoneSprings Hospital Center in Dulles and received an epidural. Kara lost track of time after that, but remembered a nurse came in for a vitals check. That is when she first heard those dreaded words — “I can’t find the heartbeat.”

“Suddenly, all the nurses were in the room,” said Kara. “Then they were rushing me into the operating room for an emergency C-section. I was just praying, ‘Lord, please save my baby,’ the whole time. It took 18 minutes for the doctors to resuscitate him.”

Kara remembers hearing Francis cry twice before she started to go into shock from blood loss. Doctors worked to save her life while Francis, who had swallowed a significant amount of meconium, was flown to the NICU at Inova Fairfax. He was baptized and confirmed that day by the couple’s friend, Youth Apostles Father Peter Clem, parochial vicar of the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria.

Continued below.

Thousands pray as Baby Francis stuns doctors with recovery - Arlington Catholic Herald

Hundreds of prayer warriors watched their social media accounts this past April for updates on a baby named Francis Roy Lilly. The “little lion,” as he was affectionately called, was fighting for his life at Inova Fairfax NICU. The rollercoaster began for the newborn and his parents, John and...

www.catholicherald.com

Michie · Sunday at 10:12 AM

As Pope John Paul II lay suffering in the last weeks of his life, he may have prayed the Lord send someone to carry the torch of his priesthood, rooted as it was in a love for young people and a heart attuned to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. If so, he found that someone in Father Timothy Tarnacki, director of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office of Ministry With Young Adults.

Just as Pope John Paul would spend the early years of his priesthood listening to the heartfelt desires of young adults on hikes through the mountains and the reading of Scripture by the light of a campfire, so has Father Tarnacki’s mission with young adults born similar fruit.

At least five marriages and several vocations have resulted from his work leading the young adult group at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown. Like the saintly pope, Father Tarnacki also was born in Poland, and he fills his young adult events with hikes, bonfires and even the occasional roller coaster ride.

Mostly, he listens. In fact, his young adult ministry began by listening to them in the confessional.

“I encountered many young adults, college students or young adults in their 20s and 30s, and I began really listening to what they were saying and listening to the deeper desires and longings that they were expressing and the challenges that they were facing,” he said. “On some level I could identify with a lot of those things, and I felt the call to respond to that in some way.”

It was a natural extension of his devotion to St. John Paul II, and it started with a dream.

Heeding the Call of a Dying Pope

Continued below.

Hikes, Hope, and Holiness: How One Priest is Reaching a New Generation

Pauline Father Timothy Tarnacki leads ministry to young adult Catholics in the Philadelphia region by taking a cue from his compatriot, St. John Paul II: listen to, walk with, and form relationships with young adults.

catholicphilly.com

johnnypapa · Sunday at 9:28 AM

Seventh Sunday After Pentecost

Seventh Sunday After Pentecost

Sermons and spiritual reading

sermonry.com

Goffines Devout Instructions on the Epistle and Gospel

Devout instructions on the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and holydays : with explanations of Christian faith and duty, and of church ceremonies : Goffine, Leonhard, 1648-1719 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

xxxiv, 901 p., [7] leaves of plates :

archive.org

Dan1988 · Sunday at 6:16 AM

FenderTL5 said:
No. Not according to my catachesis in Greek Orthodoxy.
As it applies to Christianity:
Orthodoxy does not teach there is no salvation outside the Orthodox Church. Where there is "no salvaton" is not ours to define.
It does teach that there is, without a doubt, salvation within the Orthodox Faith/Church.
In the southern vernacular; we know where it is but we can't know where it ain't.

Thank you for clearing that up for me, I greatly appreciate it

The Liturgist · Sunday at 5:13 AM

prudent_commenter said:
Hello.

I want to learn Byzantine Plain Chant. Does anyone know of some good resources for it? Some books, or some recordings I could use? I don't have musical knowledge but I am willing to learn it.

Here is an example: Login to view embedded media
Thank you.

The video you linked to is Byzantine Chant sung by a Romanian Orthodox choir.

It says you are from Romania; if you presently live there, find a Romanian Orthodox parish that is friendly; I don’t know of any good online resources for learning Byzantine Chant in Romanian, the resources I have are all for the Greek and English forms of it.

If you are in the US:

As Fr. Matt said, the best way to learn Byzantine Chant is from a Byzantine-rite church that uses Byzantine Chant (most Slavonic parishes such as Russian Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox, Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox, and likewise most OCA parishes (except those which are primarily Romanian, and some of those which are primarily Bulgarian, and a few others) do not use Byzantine Chant at least as their primary means of plainsong, but rather use a kind of monody or Znamenny Chant or in the case of those of Ruthenian or Lemko ethnicity in some OCA parishes, a system of congregational song called Prostopinije, neither do the Georgians, but there are only three Georgian Orthodox parishes in the US I am aware of, but they use a beautiful three part harmony of which I also have a recording of its use by some Greek Orthodox, but the main system in the Greek Orthodox parishes and many Antiochian Orthodox parishes, is Byzantine Chant, and of course even among the Russians Byzantine Chant is used, alongside various Russian and Ukrainian hybrids of it with Znamenny Chant at various monasteries, such as Valaam Chant and Kievan Chant.

But your best bet is to go to an Orthodox church near you that uses Byzantine chant, such as Greek, Romanian or Antiochian Orthodox Church or another church including some Serbian churches, some Bulgarian churches, basically, any that makes extensive use of Byzantine chant, which is done in English, as well as in Greek, Arabic (Syro-Byzantine Chant), Church Slavonic, Romanian and other languages (if they stream their services to youTube or another online service like Facebook, you can look there to see if they use it, or it might say if they use it online, and you can also ask them), visit them, find one that you like, that is friendly and willing to teach you Byzantine Chant.

Additionally there are the resources provided by St. Anthony’s Monastery: The Divine Music Project

Several smaller Athonite monasteries founded by Elder Ephraim, memory eternal, who founded St. Anthony’s in Arizona and who I met ten years ago this month, and other Greek Orthodox monasteries and other Orthodox monasteries using Byzantine Chant in English might also be a good place to learn.

But if you are Romanian and in the US, you should seek out a Romanian Orthodox church (these are split roughly evenly between those under the Patriarch of Romania and those that are part of the Orthodox Church in America, with the Bulgarian parishes likewise split between those under the OCA and those under the Bulgarian Patriarch in Sofia, but all of the above are in full communion, via the Society of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North America, and have close relations (the OCA is a multi-ethnic jurisdiction which became autocephalous in 1970, and has close ties to most other Orthodox churches in the US).

There is also a Romanian Orthodox monastery under the OCA in Southern California, which is home to several hieromonks which serve OCA parishes, both those which are predominantly Romanian and those which are of other ethnicities, but I don’t know if it is open to pilgrims.

The Liturgist · Sunday at 4:53 AM

rusmeister said:
Help! My teenage daughter’s friend has posted declared intent of suicide. Please pray for Sofia!!!

Gospodi pomuli! Kyrie eleison! Lord have mercy!

O Lord, Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of good things, and Giver of life, who desirest not the death of a sinner but their salvation, vouchsafe we beseech Thee to descend upon Thy handmaid Sofia, bringing her every comfort and assurance, and rescuing her from the pit of despair, that the Evil One would have ensnare the youth, and restore her to peace and wellbeing to faith in our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, and aid any physicians, counselors and elders of Thy Church called to assist her; this we pray through the intercession of the Theotokos and all Thy saints, in the name of the same Lord Jesus Christ, who reigneth with Thee, our Comforter and Paraclete, in the unity of the unoriginate Father, ever one God, one Holy, Undivided and Life Giving Trinity, both now and ever and unto the ages of ages, Amen.

Save thy handmaid Sofia, O Lord, for Thy name’s sake!

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal One, Have mercy on us!

Bob Crowley · Sunday at 3:13 AM

I lifted this from the link in the post.

A Kaleidoscope of Recollections of George Cardinal Pell

www.catholicworldreport.com

The second difficult cultural reference for non-Australians is “the Split”. This expression refers to the division within the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in 1955. The short story is that Communist-controlled trade unions exercised a huge influence over some sections of the Australian Labor Party. This was more of a problem in the state of Victoria than in the state of New South Wales. In 1955, some members split from the ALP and formed the Democratic Labor Party (DLP). One effect of this was that the ALP did not win another federal election until 1972. Another effect was that the two great archdioceses of Sydney and Melbourne were also, in a sense, “split” along political lines. The Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney and Sydney Catholics in general continued to support the ALP. In Victoria, however, Archbishop Daniel Mannix, until his death in 1963, staunchly supported the DLP, as did many Victorian Catholics and Catholics in the mineral-rich state of Queensland. Just about every Victorian Catholic knows which side their grandparents or great-grandparents took in “the Split”. Cardinal Pell came from a DLP-supporting family.

I've started reading Mike Willesee's "A Sceptic's Search for Meaning". He was an Australian journalist who became atheist but during the last few years of his life returned to the Catholic Church, and the book tells his story.

But he was also affected by the "Split", as follows, and it played a part in his becoming atheist as he was persecuted by Catholic priests and others.

"After a couple of years on this new road of slow withdrawal, events outside my control would force me onto a faster track away from God. It was the mid-1950's: the McCarthy era, and a divisive time in the liberty and mindset of Australians. 'Reds' were 'under the bed' and to call somebody a communist could all but destroy their career.

My father was a working-class man who'd realised his dream and been elected as a Labor senator for Western Australia. He was also loyal to the Catholic Church. Unsurprisingly, the Church was anti-communist, but it perceived the Labor Party to be tolerant of communism. My father was caught in the middle.

When the Labor Party - the party of unions and workers - split over the fear of of communist infiltration, many Catholics left Labor to start the staunchly anti-communist Democratic Labor Party (DLP). It was the best thing that ever happened to the governing Liberal Party. Suddenly, the opposition party had almost no Catholics left in federal parliament because they'd all defected to the DLP. It gifted power to the conservatives for the better part of two decades.

My dad tried to stay true to the Labor Party and to the church, but something had to give. The Church turned on him. One day at mass, his character and his politics were attacked from the pulpit by different priests who branded him a communist. Mum and Dad walked out of the Church literally and figuratively. They vowed never to return and would remain in exile until their final days. And with their withdrawal from weekly mass came mine.

But that wasn't the end of this bitter plague on my family. It then spread to the school. My headmaster and his sidekick tired to humilate me contantly. ... One such day, while I was out in the corridor, the headmaster, Brother Murphy, cam by.

"You're out of the class again, Willesee. You're a troublemaker."

Bang! He floored me with a right hook. I was tempted to get up and fight back. I was 15 and just getting big enough to contemplate such a course, but I could see some little kids peering out the window at us. I don't think I even told my parents."

My father was a staunch unionist and usually voted Labor. I remember him saying to me that McCarthy was an absolute disgrace in American history.

Anyway that was the "Split" and Cardinal Peel would have been caught up in it somehow as he was active during those years.

But I can understand why Mike Willesee became cynical about the Catholic Church and by extension God. He also spent time in a Catholic School where some pedophile Brothers were in charge and that didn't escape his notice.

He had his reasons.

Strong in Him · Sunday at 2:58 AM

willbill said:
God states in the N.T., "I will confound their wisdom with foolishness.." Are we witnessing that verse being fulfilled?

No.

linux.poet · Sunday at 2:33 AM

Gracious Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus,
I pray for Manuel's request. Help to prosper in his work or find better work that earns a better financial return, that he may use the money to build Your Kingdom and stay here to reach more people with Your Gospel until Your return.
In Christ's Name,
Amen

linux.poet · Sunday at 2:25 AM

God the Father and our Lord Jesus,
I lift Riley's situation with his sinful habits up to You again. Please be with him and help him to push through against them. You have written that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:37) Help Riley to conquer these habits and for him to realize the victory You have already won for him on the cross.
In Christ's Name,
Amen

ozso · Sunday at 2:07 AM

Too much weird creepy stuff aimed at children.

Christsfreeservant · Sunday at 1:38 AM

mrmeek · Sunday at 1:03 AM

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I’d like to share something quietly meaningful to me — a humble website I’ve been tending in Christ called God and the Meek.

It isn’t a platform of striving or self-display, but a space of repentance, rest, and reverent love for what is sacred.

If your heart is drawn to stillness, meekness, or the mystery of abiding in Christ’s peace, you are warmly invited to explore.

The link is below. May it stir something holy in you.

Blessings on your journey
https://godandthemeek.wordpress.com

“Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
— Matthew 11:29

Christsfreeservant · Sunday at 12:54 AM

Hoping2 said:
You got it.
I hope you are living THE life.

Thank you for sharing.

Christsfreeservant · Sunday at 12:54 AM

PatrickTate said:
I do believe that an outpouring of the Holy Spirit is happening right now. I have felt a higher level of guidance by the Holy Spirit over these past five or six years.

What makes you believe that an outpouring of the Holy Spirit is happening right now, besides based on your own personal experience? Describe what you see as "an outpouring of the Holy Spirit," too. And where do you believe this is taking place? This will help me get an idea of what you are saying here. Thanks

Christsfreeservant · Sunday at 12:50 AM

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB1995)

Now, I pretty much always refer back to Hebrews 11 with regard to “the great cloud of witnesses surrounding us,” since “therefore” generally is a reference back to what was said previously. But this morning I am looking at this through a different lens. For, as we live the Christian life, we do have a whole lot of people watching us, all around us, wherever we go, who are witnesses to our words, our actions, and our behaviors, good or bad.

And then there are cameras just about everywhere now, and we have AI listening in on our conversations which we have privately in our own homes, so there really is not much of a thing as privacy anymore, unless for those who may be totally disconnected from the digital world and who are able to escape all the cameras everywhere. But if we have smartphones and computers, and if we are on the internet, we are being watched, most likely.

But, as a side note here: Because AI does exist, and because certain people in positions of power and influence have the capability to fake videos and to alter recordings, they are able to make recordings and videos to appear legitimate, and so they also have the capability of framing the innocent, too, by making false recordings and videos in order to charge the innocent with what they did not do, sometimes to cover up what the guilty are doing.

So, just because you hear it or you see it in a recording or in a video, it doesn’t necessarily mean that what you are hearing and seeing is the absolute truth. For these alterations can end up being false witnesses, giving false testimony to what some people are charged with doing, but did not do, in truth. And sometimes they quote people out of context and make it appear they are saying one thing while the context proves differently.

But the point here is that we are being watched, and we do have people who are watching us and who are listening to us, who may be those who will give witness to what they see and hear, even though some of those witnesses may be breathing out lies, like Jesus’ enemies did to him. But we should be aware that how we live and what we say have the potential to influence other people for good or for evil. And this should encourage us to live right.

But this should not be the main reason that we lay aside all hindrances to our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, and that we renounce ungodliness and worldly passions so that we can live upright, godly, morally pure and self-controlled lives for the glory of God. Our primary motivation in dying to sin and in obeying God with our lives is because we love Jesus/God and we want to obey him, and we want to live pure lives for His glory.

And our eyes should be fixed on Jesus, not on other humans, concerned about what others think about us, and thus patterning our lives after what is socially acceptable, even if it is contrary to God’s will and purpose for our lives. We should stay focused on Jesus and on obeying him in doing what he has called us to do, as his servants. And we should do that regardless of what other people think of us or say about us, or how they treat us.

But there is another motivation for obeying our Lord, as well, and that is the end result of our lives. For if we die with Christ to sin, by faith, and we walk in obedience to his commands, then we have the hope of eternal life with God, provided we stay the course to the very end. But if we profess him as Lord, but then we do not obey his commands, and so we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, we will not inherit eternal life with God. We will face his wrath, instead. But still we should obey God because we love him.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

My Sheep

Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

Login to view embedded media
Run With Endurance
An Original Work / July 27, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

fide · Sunday at 12:43 AM

Akita Suggagaki said:
That must be true in all situations then, No?
Not just immigration but also riots at the capital? We have a convicted felon in the oval office.
Now this cry of "law breaking" sounds hollow.

But I agree. I am a man of rules and laws.

In this era of contradictions everywhere, the left/progressives/socialists/communists find such a "truism" - "true in all situations" - a convenient costume to wear, a useful tool for the advancement of death. Now we find credible reports of atheists among the Curia of the Holy Church, uncertainty about defining a woman, mortal sins paraded about as virtues, and laws weaponized by credentialed lawyers to commit unlawful crimes. The past certainty of a landscape of goods and evils is now asserted to be a new world of shades of grey, all walls replaced by open borders and lockless doors. Satan, who began small, asking Eve rhetorically (I paraphrase) "Did God really say that to you?", has now brought confusion and ambiguity like smoke into the Holy Place itself, civil and religious. Corridors of law - civil and religious - have been infiltrated by servants of the evil one, the lawless one, in whom there is no truth.

There is a safe and sure harbor still, there from the beginning, firm as a rock: the One True God IS. Without Him one can do nothing.

ozso · Sunday at 12:04 AM

If a cop tells you to get out of the car and you refuse, they can place you under arrest. Based on a lot of police bodycam footage I've watched of traffic stops, that doesn't happen until after the officer has had to ask multiple times.

Hans Blaster · Jul 26, 2025

An inter episode update:

After 8 straight episodes over 200 m high, and 6 straight over 300 m high, Episode 29 only reached 65 m high. With the extended wait time due to the debris in the vent, releaving all the accumulated pressure resulted in the 3rd most voluminous episode (after episodes #3 and #1 which both started in December) and at 13 hours the longest fountaining phase since they started noting that phase in April with #17.

The clearing of the post Episode 28 debris from vent has widened it and it is not nozzling well any more.

Here is an image from a drone overflight showing the wide pit of the expanded vent:

Though pressure continues to build to an expected Episode 30, the prediction is hard to make and HVO currently talks of mid next week. Again there seems to be some debris at the bottom of the pit-like vent and no/little glow in the overnight (when it is easier to see) or visible in the flyover. Perhaps it will continue to blast out a deeper and deeper pit. It would be really cool if it turned into a new lava lake like the pit that opened up in 2008 a few hundred meters away.

There are other cool pictures, from the monitoring, check them out here:

Photo & Video Chronology — July 24 & 25, 2025 — Kīlauea summit fieldwork

The ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption is currently paused. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists made observations of the summit region on July 24 and 25.

www.usgs.gov

chevyontheriver · Jul 26, 2025

chevyontheriver said:
This is a travesty. This Martin is the faithful Martin, Ralph Martin. In the meantime, that other Martin, the LGBTQSJ, continues to enjoy favor. This is very upside down.

And now we are told that Ed Peters, noted canon lawyer, also at the Detroit Sacred Heart Seminary, also got the axe. Wondering if anyone else will be getting the axe in Detroit. How much blood does this new archbishop think he needs to let to achieve his goals? Was he hired on in Detroit to do the bidding of pope Francis come hell or high water? Does pope Leo approve or disapprove or even know?

PloverWing · Jul 26, 2025

1Tonne said:
This can be true. Some do go over the top when pointing out people's sins. Westboro Baptist are a great example of this.
When doing this, they are not acting in a Christian manner. But Jesus did say to love your neighbour as you love yourself. This can mean that at times, we have to tell people things that may offend them. For instance, most people who are gay take great offence at being told that it is a sinful lifestyle.
So, we need to be very careful when doing this. We need to speak the truth in love but also do it with wisdom, gentleness and respect.

We also need to speak with humility, especially when speaking about issues on which Christians disagree. For issues on which Christians disagree with one another, perhaps a presentation like this is better: "My church believes X, while many other churches believe Y. But we agree about Jesus, who came to earth for the forgiveness of sins. Let me tell you about Jesus..."

Christsfreeservant · Jul 26, 2025

How can I say, “I love you”?
It’s said in so many ways.
Sometimes it’s whispered softly,
And sometimes it’s loudly raised!

Sometimes it comes through a letter,
A card, or a call, or a chat.
Sometimes expressed in emotions,
Or flowers, or gifts, this or that.

But love isn’t just our emotions,
Which fluctuate from day to day.
Love isn’t just words that are spoken,
When words can sometimes love betray.

We love, not by words, but by action,
Which sometimes includes words we tell.
But love in words only not gets it,
If actions speak words do not sell.

If we do not live what we’re saying,
The opposite we live, in fact,
If we lie and cheat, steal from others,
Our words will mean nothing. Get that?

Our Lord Jesus Christ loved us so much,
He died on a cross for our sins,
So now by faith we are forgiven
So we can live with Him in heaven.

But faith in our Lord not words spoken.
For actions must follow our words.
By faith we now die to sin’s habits,
And obey our Lord, His words heard.

If we not repent, keep on sinning,
Obey our Lord not what we do,
Then our sins, they are not forgiven.
Eternal life not what is due.

An Original Work / July 26, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

JPPT1974 · Jul 26, 2025

JPPT1974's Tues Thoughts 7/29/2025
Had He not emptied out Himself
We wouldn't be needing a
Savior and how that He would be
Invincible without not feeling human
But also we would be a sinless world
First and foremost not need Christ but
Due to that one sin with Adam and Eve.
God was sending Christ right away but not just
Yet back in the time but sent Him to save us and
Take the form of God's servant of all servants.
Had it not been for that very first sin, we would be
In such a lost and dying and even more worse, a
Godless world but God forbid as He sent Jesus to come save us.

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