CNA, Catholic Catechism—A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ, Mary and all the saints to remove the temporal punishment due to sin. The indulgence applies to sins already forgiven. A plenary indulgence cleanses the soul as if the person had just been baptized. A plenary…
CNA—Eight hundred years ago, a barefoot St. Dominic carried an icon of the Virgin Mary across Rome to entrust the Marian image to a new community of cloistered nuns, who have safeguarded the icon within the walls of their convent to this day. The icon, known as the “Advocata,” can be found today in a…
As the end of Advent approaches, the Office of Readings features some final admonitions from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. On the one hand they console; on the other, they challenge us to remain firm. Isaiah addressed a people in exile who still awaited the first coming of the Lord. Today, these texts speak…
The Catholic Thing—Today we begin the liturgical season defined by hope. The preface for Mass says that we dare to hope. Indeed, hope seems a more daring venture than ever. And yet for precisely that reason, it holds more importance than ever. In keeping with Chesterton’s famous aphorism — Hope means hoping when things are…
In light of Alaska’s 2018 earthquake in which the parish co-pastored by Fr. Arthur Roraff was the hardest hit, we reprint the excellent first homily of this same priest, given just 3 years ago. Adaptation for print 2015 by Catholic Anchor— Jesus was in a boat in the Sea of Galilee, which still exists in…
Some thoughts for Labor Day… “… elevated from within by the grace of Christ, let them work vigorously so that by human labor, technical skill and civil culture, created goods may be perfected according to the design of the Creator and the light of his word.” — St. John Paul II “If you are what…
March 26, 2018 Ralph Waldo Emerson had moments more perceptive than his vague religiosity: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” He spoke not of consistency itself, but of a “foolish” consistency. Ralph Waldo Emerson had moments more perceptive than his vague religiosity: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored…
