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

Charles Borromeo was a leading figure of the Catholic Reformation.   He was born in a castle on the shores of Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, to a powerful family. He was related to the Medici through his mother. As the second son, he was destined for a career in the Church from an early age. He received a doctorate in civil and canon law at the University of Pavia, and when his uncle was elected Pope Pius IV in 1559 he was summoned to Rome and made a cardinal. Among many other responsibilities he was made administrator of the vacant diocese of Milan and protector of the Catholic cantons of Switzerland and of the Franciscans and the Carmelites.   He played a large part in the diplomatic efforts that led to the reopening in 1562 of the reforming Council of Trent, suspended since 1552. As long as the Church was in a weak and corrupt state, emperors and kings could control it and its assets – and they would not easily give up control.   In ...

CHAIN OF EVIL "Foolish virgins! Why do you choose to live in this world of earth? Have you become blind to modesty? Has vanity invaded your hearts? Woe to those who cause the downfall of Our dedicated by their examples. You are all following the evil circle, My dedicated; for it is like a chain of evil, link by link. By your example you build a solid chain to hell. For woe to those entrusted with the souls of the little ones, and who lead the little ones to hell!" - Our Lady , November 21, 1970 Our world is steering towards damnation and the desire towards evil is increasing. Society's way of viewing sin has become so loose that things are seen as normal when they are not. Mankind was without sin from the beginning and sin, undeniable, entered the world through the action (disobedience) of one individual. Sin now stays with mankind and even as a 'relative' to society. Our daily lives are almost always characterised by the struggle against sin. Sin according to...

By Edmund Elorm Ackuaku  Sacred Scripture records vividly the passion of one Man, Jesus Christ, whose death brought salvation to the human race and reconciled the world to God. The Paschal Mystery summarized this for us as we contemplate the suffering, death, and Resurrection of Jesus. The major events of His suffering were on Good Friday. We often imagine Jesus carrying a big heavy Cross and bathed in blood. Our focus is almost always steered to the Passion of Jesus in the Lenten Season, especially the Holy Week. We usually forget one figure in this period of the liturgical year. This indelible figure is our Blessed Mother Mary. Her role in the life of our Lord cannot be forgotten so soon unless mankind has decided to be ungrateful to this generous woman by failing to honour Her. Even some Christians refuse to honour Her. The words of St. John Eudes can be applied to this ungrateful generation of Christians who are not ready to honour Mary, A man is no true Christian if he has no...

A sacrament of the New Law, instituted by Christ, for the remission of sins committed after Baptism. Implied in the right of "binding and loosing" promised by Christ to the rulers of His Church (Matthew 16:18), the power to forgive sins was unequivocally granted to the Apostles, and consequently to their successors, since the Church is permanent and unchangeable; it was thus granted by the words of Christ to the Apostolic college on the day of His Resurrection: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (John 20). The fact that Our Lord empowered His earthly representatives with authority not only to forgive but also to retain sins proves, in the first place, that He willed the exercise of this power to be a judicial process, in which the minister is to judge who are worthy, and who are unworthy, of forgiveness. Secondly, it shows that the forgiveness of sins by the use of this power is effected throug...

Throughout the liturgical year, the Catholic Church makes certain changes to the Mass to reflect the different liturgical seasons. Next to the change in the color of the priest's vestments, the absence of the Alleluia during Lent is probably the most obvious (with the absence of the Gloria during Lent and Advent a close second). Why don't Roman Catholics sing the Alleluia during Lent? The Meaning of the Alleluia The Alleluia comes to us from Hebrew, and it means "praise Yahweh." Traditionally, it has been seen as the chief term of praise of the choirs of angels, as they worship around the throne of God in Heaven. It is, therefore, a term of great joy, and our use of the Alleluia during Mass is a way of participating in the angels' worship. It is also a reminder that the Kingdom of Heaven is already established on earth, in the form of the Church, and that our participation in Mass is a participation in Heave n Our Lenten Exile During Lent, however, our focus...

(The first day of Lent )  Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption. Following the example of the Nine vites, who did penance in sackcloth and ashes, our foreheads are marked with ashes to humble our hearts and reminds us that life passes away on Earth. We remember this when we are told "Remember, Man is dust, and unto dust you shall return." Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice. It is a reminder that this life is short and merely a foreshadowing of what we shall become through the redemption of Jesus Christ on the cross. The work of our redemption will not be complete until we are raised from the dead, in resurrected bodies like His own and called to the eternal communion of heaven. The ashes used to marke...

Each year the Church observes the 40 weekdays of Lent before Easter to singnify the 40 days of Lent, which precedes Easter is based on two Biblical accounts: the 40 years of wilderness wandering by the Israelites and our Lord's Jesus Christ 40 days in the wilderness at which point He was tempted by Satan. We participate in abstinence, times of fasting, confession and acts of mercy to strengthen our faith and devotional disciplines. These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies and pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works). Lent is about conversion, turning our lives more completely over to Christ and his way of life. That always involves giving up sin in some form. The goal is not just to abstain from sin for the duration of Lent but to root sin out of our lives forever. Conversion means leaving behind an old way of living and acting in or...