From a reader… QUAERITUR: I know, to make a good confession, we need to confess mortal sins and the number of times we committed the sins. But I am often confused about whether a sin I committed is mortal or … Read More →
From a priest… QUAERITUR: I am trying to clarify whether or not the precepts of the church bind under mortal sin? According to the catechism of St. Pius X they do, however the current CCC gives no clear indication. I … Read More →
Here is something to chew on, reverend and dear Fathers! From Methodus pie et fructuose celebrandi Augustissimum sacrificium missae by G. Tamburino: Si sacerdos per notabile tempus voluntarie distractus, eas missae partes quae canonem continent recitet, peccabit mortaliter. Videtur autem … Read More →
From a reader… Quaeritur: Recently went to confession at a parish near my new job. I hadn’t been there ever before. I mentioned the phrase “mortal sin”. The priest said, “I don’t think there was any mortal sin. Mortal sin … Read More →
From a reader: I know that the Church teaches that people that die in a state of mortal sin cannot go to Heaven. However, can martyrs killed in a state of mortal sin still go to Heaven? Excellent question, and … Read More →
From a reader: In confessing a sin is it necessary to describe (giving some details of) the sin rather than merely indicating the name (species) of the sin? You don’t have to go into great detail, but you ought to … Read More →
From a reader: Sometime ago, I was told by a priest that if the priest is in mortal sin, the mass (primarily Holy Communion) is still valid, his argument being that you wouldn’t know that he was in mortal sin. I was … Read More →
First, GO TO CONFESSION! Why? Because of mortal sin and the results of mortal sin. Don’t believe people can commit mortal sin? That it is really hard to commit an actual mortal sin? Over at the blog of my friend … Read More →
Last year I posted about some sheets developed by my friend the great Fr. Finigan, His Hermeneuticalness, to help people with an examination of conscience before going to confession. He made them available at the blog of his parish, Our … Read More →
People sometimes think, “Oh, those poor people. That could never happen here.” And then it does. The people in Russia who had the encounter with the bus-size exploding meteor, got up that day just like you did. Remember that … Read More →
From a reader: I know you love to hear good things about Confession. I just wanted to share that I went to Confession today with a most humble, wise, and kind priest. I was on the verge of a panic … Read More →
From a reader: I advised a friend that Catholics are either to abstain from meat on Fridays or to substitute another form of prayer, good work, or abstinence; and that she should confess if she failed to do this. In … Read More →
As you know, I think concelebration should be safe, legal and rare. I also think that priests should stick to the words in the books and do what the rubrics say. I, moreover, think that priests who continue to commit … Read More →
Taylor Marshall at Canterbury Tales has posted on the sins which “cry to heaven” for vengeance, saying also that the USA have failed 4 for 4! Some sources identity five sins that cry to heaven for vengeance or, variously, justice. If … Read More →
From a reader: The more I read you the more I’m intent on going to Confession again. I’m 31, and haven’t been since I was confirmed. As you know, it just hasn’t been consistently preached that it is necessary. I … Read More →
Catholics are obliged to attend Holy Mass on Sundays and also certain other “days of precept”, also called Holy Days of Obligation. We fulfill our obligation by attending Mass (or Divine Liturgy of course) on the day itself or on … Read More →
From a reader: I was wondering if it was possible for a natural miscarriage to be a sin. The doctors couldn’t tell me why it happened, but statistically miscarriages are more likely when the mother is obese, as I am/was. … Read More →
From a reader: Fr. Z I’m struggling to wrap my head around what the point of going to Mass if we’re not in the state of sanctifying grace. My understanding is when we fall from grace, any good works we … Read More →
From a reader: If i forget to confess a mortal/grave sin in the confessional, when i fully intended to confess it before i walked in, is it still absolved? If you truly forget to confess something, but otherwise make a … Read More →
From a reader: Can a person in the state of Mortal Sin begin a Novena with the intention of going to Confession as soon as possible? It seems it won’t be efficacious if the soul was in sin when beginning … Read More →
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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
Everyone, work to get this into your parish bulletins and diocesan papers.
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.”
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Books which you must have.
This REALLY helps! And it’s great coffee (and tea)
I use this when I travel both in these USA and abroad. Very useful. Fast enough for Zoom. I connect my DMR (ham radio) through it. If you use my link, they give me more data. A GREAT back up.
“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.”
“Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, and the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops.”
“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.”
- C.S. Lewis
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As 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
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.
This is really useful when travelling… and also when you aren’t and you need backup internet NOW! I use this for my DMR “Zednet” hotspot when I’m mobile. It’s a ham radio thing.
If you travel internationally, this is a super useful gizmo for your mobile internet data. I use one. If you get one through my link, I get data rewards.
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