What Every Catholic should know

The Origin of the Ecclesiastical Year

October 12, 2024 No Comments

From the 1935 book, Catholic Liturgics, by Richard Stapper, S.T.D. (Spring-Summer, 2006) The ecclesiastical year originated in the annual observance of certain days in memory of Christ; these commemorative occurrences have a relation to one another and represent anew the historical progress and the supernatural benefits of the work of redemption. The divinely-instituted feasts of the Old Law served as models; these feasts were especially Easter and Pentecost, on which the “chosen people” gave thanks to God for definite benefits by the offering of sacrifice and public prayers. Paganism contributed toward the development of the ecclesiastical year in two respects: in some cases, pagan practices gave occasion for the institution of Christian practices to counteract them; in particular instances, when pagan feasts could receive a Christian meaning, they were displaced by Christian festivals. Just as the Christian era is reckoned from the birth of Christ, so it was a favorite

Why did the Holy Office Ban the Divine Mercy Devotion in 1959?

June 14, 2024 No Comments

by Rev. Fr. Benedict Hughes, CMRI (Summer, 2013) In a past issue of The Reign of Mary, we published an article on false devotions (issue #128). That article can also be read on our web site (http://www.cmri.org/articles-on-the-traditional-catholic-faith/false-devotions-dangers-for-pious-souls/). The point of the article was to explain the teachings of the Church on new devotions — teachings which caution against any superstition or novelty. Specifically, the famous decree of the Holy Office on the subject lamented the fact that “new forms of worship and devotion, often enough ridiculous, usually useless imitations or corruptions of similar ones which are already legitimately established, are in many places, especially in these recent days, being daily multiplied and propagated among the faithful, giving occasion to great astonishment and to bitter aspersion on the part of non-Catholics” (Holy Office, May 26, 1937; AAS 29-304). Did the Holy Office Forbid the Divine Mercy Devotion Because it was a

Cremation Chamber Georg Lippitsch, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Is Cremation an Option for Catholics?

February 19, 2024 No Comments

(Fall, 1998)by Fr. Benedict Hughes, CMRI Earth burial has been an integral part of Western culture for at least 1500 years. Lately, however, cremation has become more and more common, to the point that even traditional Catholics may wonder whether it is a lawful means of disposing of the remains of the departed. As we shall see, however, the Church has strongly forbidden it, and its acceptance by the modern, postconciliar “Catholic Church” is just one more proof that this church, with all of its bad fruit, is not of God. History of Burial vs. Cremation Although both of these methods of disposition of the dead were found among early peoples, earth burial prevailed in most ancient cultures. Cremation was unknown, in practice at least, to the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Persians, Chinese, the inhabitants of Asia Minor, or even to the early Greeks and Romans. “The Babylonians, according to Herodotus,

The Nuptial Blessing: Its Beauty and Significance

January 8, 2024 No Comments

(Fall, 2006) by Paula Storm The blessing bestowed upon the bride and groom during the Sacrament of Matrimony re-enacts the uniting of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We read in the book of Genesis that “…God blessed them saying: “Increase and multiply…”1 When the priest bestows this blessing upon the couple, he is affirming that marriage is part of God’s plan for companionship, procreation and the preservation of the human race. It also expresses the sacredness of their marriage vows: “What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” (Mark 10:9) The nuptial blessing is derived in part from Jewish blessings found in the Old Testament. These include the blessings given to Adam and Eve, to Jacob (Gen. 27: 27-30), and to his twelve sons (Gen. 48:16 and Gen. 49:25-26, 28). There is a striking resemblance to Tobias’ prayer asking for blessings on his marriage

The Holy House of Loreto

December 10, 2023 No Comments

By Sister Mary Agatha, CMRI (Fall-Winter, 2007) “The Sanctuary of Loreto more than all other shrines of Mary is rightly and deservedly regarded as illustrious, and to Christ’s faithful it has been, for the last six centuries or so, the object of especial veneration and of highest honor, it being in fact the house in which the most Blessed Virgin Mary was born, and which Divine mysteries have rendered sacred, since it was there that the Word was made flesh.”—Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, April 12, 1916 Of the many Marian shrines throughout the world, the Holy House of Loreto is one of the most ancient and highly venerated, and for good reason. Indeed, it is often referred to as the holiest place on earth, for within these very walls the Almighty Word took human flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here, too, our Blessed

The Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost: by Sister M. Cabrini O.P.

May 18, 2023 No Comments

An explanation of the Last Rites, specially of Extreme Unction.