"STAY WITH US, LORD" (Luke 24:29)

(Latin: caliae , cup) The cup used at Mass to contain the Precious Blood of Christ, to commemorate that used by Our Lord at the Last Supper. A chalice is usually from 8 to 11 inches in height, with a wide base, a stem with a knob midway, and a cup. The whole may be of gold or silver, or the cup only. In case of poverty it is permitted to make the cup of inferior metal, but this must be gold-plated within. Chalices are blessed by a bishop, who anoints them with holy chrism, a ceremony which goes back to the time of Saint Gregory the Great (590-604). Formerly, if a plated chalice needed regilding it had to be reconsecrated, but under the present law this is not necessary . In art the chalice is a symbol of the Holy Eucharist, and is often depicted with a Host above it. As the Sacramental Cup, it signifies faith. It is also an emblem associated with - Saint Barbara - Saint Bruno of Querfort - Saint John the Evangelist who is represented with a chalice and a serpent issuing therefrom,...

Jesus contrasts intellectual pride with child-like simplicity and humility. The simple of heart are like “babes” or “little children” in the sense that they see purely without pretense or falsehood and acknowledge their dependence and trust in one who is greater, wiser, and more trustworthy. They seek one thing — the “summum bonum” or “greatest good” who is God himself. Simplicity of heart is wedded with humility, the queen of virtues, because humility inclines the heart towards grace and truth. Just as pride is the root of every sin and evil inclination, so humility is the only soil in which the grace of God can take root. It alone takes the right attitude before God and allows him as God to do all. God opposes the proud, but gives Grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6). The Grace of Christ-like humility inclines us towards God and disposes us to receive God’s wisdom and help. Allow the Lord Jesus to heal the wounds o...

An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven" ( Indulgentarium Doctrina norm 1). Indulgences in no way forgive sins. They deal only with punishments left after sins have been forgiven. For more information on this - see also the Purgatory section. One never could "buy" indulgences. The scandal around "Buying" indulgences, the scandal that gave Martin Luther an excuse for starting the reformation, involved alms-indulgences in which the giving of alms to some charitable fund or foundation was used as the occasion to grant the indulgence. There is a big difference. Pope Paul VI issued the apostolic constitution  Indulgentiarum Doctrina , which established new norms for the use of indulgences. This document introduced the classification of indulgences as  partial  or  plenary —a simplification of an earlier system of reckoning how many "days" of penance an indulgence represented tha...

First of all almost Every sin can be forgiven. Final impenitence is the refusal to ask for forgiveness, and certainly that can result in a person dieing in a state of mortal sin. The Church’s understanding of suicide is: 2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of. 2281 Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God. 2282 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an ...

While one-third of the angels sinned, the other two-thirds persevered in grace. One-third of the fallen angels is in Hell tormenting the condemned souls. These devils are the ones who freely followed Lucifer and deliberately revolted against God. They cannot leave the abyss except with the special acquiescence of God, when He decides to punish the sins of men with a great calamity. These are the worst among the devils. . The other two-thirds of the fallen angels inhabit the air and the earth. They are the ones who did not take a side in the battle between Lucifer and God, but remained silent. . The devils of the air often instigate storms, winds and thunders to frighten souls, causing their wills to weaken and cede to inconstancy, thus preparing them to falter in the Faith and to doubt Divine Providence. The devils who live on earth among men to tempt us are the fallen angels of the lowest choir. The faithful angels of this choir are our guardian angels. . The prince and chie...

There were two young noblemen in Madrid, of whom the one encouraged the other in leading a wicked life, and in committing all sorts of crimes. One of them one night in a dream saw his friend taken by certain dark men, and carried to a tempestuous sea. They were going to take him in a similar manner, but he had recourse to Mary, and made a vow that he would embrace the religious state; on which he was delivered from those men. He then saw Jesus on a throne, as if in anger, and the Blessed Virgin imploring mercy for him. After this his friend came to pay him a visit, and he then related what he had seen; but his companion only turned it into ridicule, and he was shortly afterwards stabbed and died. When the young man saw this his vision was verified, he went to confession, and renewed his resolution to enter a religious Order, and for this purpose he sold all that he had; but instead of giving it to the poor, as he had intended, he spent it in all sorts of debauchery. He then fell ill, a...

The Church teaches that the Mass is the re-presentation or  reenactment of the sacrifice of Calvary. The Catholic Church does  not  teach that the Mass is a re-crucifixion of Christ, who does  not  suffer and die again in the Mass. John A. O’Brien, writing in  The Faith of Millions , said, "The manner in which the sacrifices are offered is alone different: On the cross Christ really shed his blood and was really slain; in the Mass, however, there is no real shedding of blood, no real death; but the separate consecration of the bread and of the wine symbolizes the separation of the body and blood of Christ and thus symbolizes his death upon the cross. The Mass is the renewal and perpetuation of the sacrifice of the cross in the sense that it offers [Jesus] anew to God . . . and thus commemorates the sacrifice of the cross, reenacts it symbolically and mystically, and applies the fruits of Christ’s death upon the cross to individual human souls. All the e...