Today is the 8th anniversary of the death of John Paul II.
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“This blog is like a fusion of the Baroque ‘salon’ with its well-tuned harpsichord around which polite society gathered for entertainment and edification and, on the other hand, a Wild West “saloon” with its out-of-tune piano and swinging doors, where everyone has a gun and something to say. Nevertheless, we try to point our discussions back to what it is to be Catholic in this increasingly difficult age, to love God, and how to get to heaven.” – Fr. Z
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summorumpontificum777 on Daily Rome Shot 1483: “Fascinating history, JayKay. Thank you. I was previously unaware of that 3-month restoration at Christ Church in 1689.”
Robert on Pope Leo XIV will not overturn Francis’ limits on the TLM but will grant dispensations to bishops who ask – AKA – “Please, sir, I want some more.”: “@TonyO While I can understand your concern, I do not believe it is well founded. Obviously there are bishops who…”
Kukla65th on Bishop of Austin to Pastors: Make it hard for people to kneel for Communion: “Does the Austin Diocese still make kneeling before and after Communion the norm or is it another diocese where people…”
Kukla65th on Pope Leo XIV will not overturn Francis’ limits on the TLM but will grant dispensations to bishops who ask – AKA – “Please, sir, I want some more.”: “I just keep wondering why the Church spends so much time on one council that was pastoral and not dogmatic,…”
fac on Not just for Austin!: “SophiaGrace – would it be possible for you to ask Father if you can kneel in the first pew to…”
amenamen on From “The Private Diary of Bishop F. Atticus McButterpants” – 13-11-25 – Bishops meeting: “I enjoy these diary entries, and I wonder how closely they might reflect the actual thoughts of some of our…”
jaykay on Daily Rome Shot 1483: “The Pro… oooops… the Cathedral also has a very good choir, men and boys, for well over a century now.…”
jaykay on Daily Rome Shot 1483: ““Also on display are the conserved tabernacle and the candlesticks used in 1689 under James II when the Latin rites…”
Michaela on Not just for Austin!: “This will certainly be the new fashion for moms of littles — the kneeler assists when pregnancy makes kneeling (while…”
jaykay on Daily Rome Shot 1483: “Summorum: actually, during the reign of James II, that did happen, and Christ Church cathedral has preserved a Tabernacle that…”
Grabski on For the Bishop of Charlotte: “Sorry. None has crossed to SSPX That says hold our metaphorical fire and stick with Rome”
Lurker 59 on Pope Leo XIV will not overturn Francis’ limits on the TLM but will grant dispensations to bishops who ask – AKA – “Please, sir, I want some more.”: “@R2D 6.) For 60 years, people with authority in highchairs have been saying, “We are doing [insert obnoxious, ostentatious, and…”
L. on Bishop of Austin to Pastors: Make it hard for people to kneel for Communion: “Frequently in response to a story about climate-change proponents flying in private jets to a climate conference, a blogger I…”
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- The most evident mark of God’s anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clerics who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds.
St. John Eudes
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“Until the Lord be pleased to settle, through the instrumentality of the princes of the Church and the lawful ministers of His justice, the trouble aroused by the pride of a few and the ignorance of some others, let us with the help of God endeavor with calm and humble patience to render love for hatred, to avoid disputes with the silly, to keep to the truth and not fight with the weapons of falsehood, and to beg of God at all times that in all our thoughts and desires, in all our words and actions, He may hold the first place who calls Himself the origin of all things.”
- Prosper of Aquitaine (+c.455), De gratia Dei et libero arbitrio contra Collatorem 22.61
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“He [Satan] will set up a counter-Church which will be the ape of the Church because, he the devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the anti-Christ that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ. In desperate need for God, whom he nevertheless refuses to adore, modern man in his loneliness and frustration will hunger more and more for membership in a community that will give him enlargement of purpose, but at the cost of losing himself in some vague collectivity.”
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- “The modern habit of doing ceremonial things unceremoniously is no proof of humility; rather it proves the offender's inability to forget himself in the rite, and his readiness to spoil for every one else the proper pleasure of ritual.”
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frz AT wdtprs DOT comAs for Latin…
"But if, in any layman who is indeed imbued with literature, ignorance of the Latin language, which we can truly call the 'catholic' language, indicates a certain sluggishness in his love toward the Church, how much more fitting it is that each and every cleric should be adequately practiced and skilled in that language!" - Pius XI
"Let us realize that this remark of Cicero (Brutus 37, 140) can be in a certain way referred to [young lay people]: 'It is not so much a matter of distinction to know Latin as it is disgraceful not to know it.'" - St. John Paul II
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Recent Posts
- From “The Private Diary of Bishop F. Atticus McButterpants” – 13-11-25 – Bishops meeting
- Daily Rome Shot 1484
- Not just for Austin!
- Daily Rome Shot 1483
- Pope Leo XIV will not overturn Francis’ limits on the TLM but will grant dispensations to bishops who ask – AKA – “Please, sir, I want some more.”
- Bishop of Austin to Pastors: Make it hard for people to kneel for Communion
- Daily Rome Shot 1482 – “A…. ?… for your thoughts.”
- REPORTED: Pope Leo says any bishop who requests dispensation for TLM will have it granted
- About the Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series at The Catholic Thing
- Daily Rome Shot 1481
- Roman Rota rules against dioceses, orders publishing ‘credibly accused’ clergy lists
- Daily Rome Shot 1480
- For the Bishop of Charlotte
- My View For Awhile: the last leg
- Your Sunday Sermon Notes – Dedication of the Lateran 2025
- Reid on the liturgical challenges facing Leo XIV
- BROOKLYN 25/10 – Day 42: theologically certain
- BROOKLYN 25/10 – Day 41: shopping
- Wherein Fr. McDonald challenges Fr. Z
- More pain in Charlotte and Greensburg – IMPORTANT UPDATE
- Wherein Fr. McTeigue has a good idea.
- BROOKLYN 25/10 – Day 40: Still looking homeward
- ROME 25/10 – Day 39: Look homeward
- ROME 25/10 – Day 38: Details details.
- ACTION ITEM! Seven Sisters Apostolate for Saturday
- Cong./Dicastery for Doctrine of the Faith: “Mater Populi fidelis” – Nota dottrinale su alcuni titoli mariani riferiti alla cooperazione di Maria all’opera della salvezza
- ROME 25/10 – Day 37: fast food
- ROME 25/10 – Day 36: The last days
- ROME 25/10 – Day 35: Rare photos
- Leo XIV proclaimed St. John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church – POLL
Let us pray…
Grant unto thy Church, we beseech Thee, O merciful God, that She, being gathered together by the Holy Ghost, may be in no wise troubled by attack from her foes. O God, who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy people making supplication unto Thee,and turn away the scourges of Thine anger which we deserve for our sins. Almighty and Everlasting God, in whose Hand are the power and the government of every realm: look down upon and help the Christian people that the heathen nations who trust in the fierceness of their own might may be crushed by the power of thine Arm. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
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What a gift JPII has been to the world! And to me personally. It was the story of his passing, and highlights of his pontificate that drew me to visit St. Matthew’s Cathedral in DC. In the next couple of days, I made my first confession in nearly 20 years, validly received Communion and started a spiritual re-birth that has been the corner-stone of my life ever since. Thank you blessed John Paul!
Blessed Pope John Paul II began the restoration of the Church after Vatican II. Pope Benedict XVI picked up where Pope John Paul II left off. Let us hope and pray that Pope Francis continues the good work his two immediate predecessors initiated.
Oremus pro Pontifice….
While a fan of Benedict and a supporter of Francis I still miss Bl. John Paul (the Great). He was a true father to the Church. May God reward him!
Beautiful man. I credit his writings with saving me from giving in to the many voices that urged me to contracept early in my marriage. He inspired me as a teenager when he visited St. Louis and I could palpably feel his holiness at a time in my life when I was struggling with slavery to mortal sin. He was a true father to me and I wept like a daughter when he died.
Bl. John Paul (the Great) instituted Divine Mercy Sunday to be celebrated (in a few days time) on the following Sunday after Easter.
The Good Lord took him home to his bosom during the Vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday.
Blessed John Paul II, Please pray for us and obtain for us the grace to live lives worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Pope Saint John Paul the Great… Pray for us!!
(Okay, I know that’s premature, but still…)
Mozzetta!!! Symbol of jurisdiction…
May Blessed John Paul II intercede for his successor our Holy Father Pope Francis.
I agree Jack that he was a great and saintly man, but, yes, a couple of years premature on canonization and about 200 years on ‘the Great’.
I will never forget the utter grief during Pope John Paul II’s passion, and this right on the heels of the utter horror of the passion of Mrs Terry Schiavo, murdered slowly with our government’s approval. I remember being so heavy of heart during that time. It was faith and prayer that got us through it. May Blessed Pope John Paul II receive the crown of glory he so richly deserves for all he gave the Holy Church. Thank God for his ministry.
How I loved this Pope! I always felt we were in the presence of a living saint before he passed. Today is my mom’s birthday, and she was Polish, too. And JPII’s feast day is my wedding anniversary, so there is something special about this great man!
Beate Ioannes Paule magne, ora pro nobis!
Beate Ioannes Paule magne, ora pro pontifice nostro Francisco!
Beate Ioannes Paule magne, ora pro Ecclesia!
chantgirl , I’m with you. His books “Love and responsibility” and”Theology of the Body”, changed my life and literally my family size as well. :)
Andkaras – Yes, I’m pretty sure that JPII, as a celibate priest, was responsible for many more babies being born than he could have ever been as a married man! He showed us that the yoke is a joyful and free thing, and that the heart of the law is love.
What a giant JPII was. I wish I could have seen the looks on the faces of the leaders in the Kremlin when the announcement of his election was made. I like to think that not a few of them realized that Soviet communism’s days were numbered when he became Pope.
Eight years since his death means seven years since my friend’s young son nearly died in a freak accident. She called me frantically late that night from the ER, asking for prayers. As we were praying and crying together over the phone, through the fog I remembered what day it was, and we put the care of her little fellow into JPII’s good hands. He woke up the next morning, and asked for– I forget what now, but something totally “right” for a four-year-old. Maybe his blankie? His favorite food? But he was right as rain, no long-term injury or brain damage, after mom had had to resuscitate him and perform CPR until the paramedics arrived. Thanks be to God.
JPII’s death drew me back into the Church after 25 years of darkness. I remember watching his funeral on TV with a feeling of intense longing that I hadn’t experienced in years. That longing drew me to the nearby shrine of Our Lady of Fatima later that summer. I sat in the back of the church for quite some time, then (thank you Jesus!!) plucked up the courage to walk into that confessional. “Bless me father, for I have sinned…” Wow ~ ~ JPII was a fisher of men indeed. Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints!
Is that Cardinal Siri above the pope’s left shoulder?
Gasp! Look at what he’s wearing in that photograph. His dress is laced with flamboyant colours. Thank goodness we now have a humble pope for the first time, who cares about the poor, rather than the papal fat cats of old.
Catholic_at_nd
Yes That is Card. Siri, and on his right is Card. Pericle Felici, who made the announcement twice in 1978, “Habemus Papam” IF you use You Tube you can here Card. Felici saying Annuncio Vobis Gaduem Magenm (spelling not great in latin)….
Yes I also notice the mozzetta….funny when you water down fine wine you no longer have fine wine but watered down or diluted drink…..sure missed the Papal regalia this time…..reminds me of Paul VI and his doing away with the Tiara,etc….history repeating itself again????
Sorry I meant to say on Blesses John Paul II’s Left is Card. Felici…..how well we remember that day!
Blessed John Paul II Pray for Pope Francis and the Church.
very moving comments all.