‘How the soul, after having mounted the first step…’ ~ 'The Dialogue' of Saint Catherine of Siena; 1907; A TREATISE OF DISCRETION; pp. 150-151 [Saint Catherine of Siena /Caterina di Benincasa/; XIV-XV Century AD; born: Siena, Republic of Siena/died: Rome, Papal States; aged 33; Spiritual Writer; Mystic; Virgin; Doctor of the Church] How the soul, after having mounted the first step of the Bridge, should proceed to mount the second. " Thou hast now seen how excellent is the state of him who has attained to the love of a friend ; climbing with the foot of affection, he has reached the secret of the Heart, which is the second of the three steps figured in the Body of My Son. I have told thee what was meant by the three powers of the soul, and now I will show thee how they signify the three states, through which the soul passes. Before treating of the third state, I wish to show thee how a man becomes a friend and how, from a friend, he grows into a son, attaining to filial love, and how a …მეტი
"Every perfection and every virtue proceeds from charity, and charity is nourished by humility, which results from the knowledge and holy hatred of self, that is, sensuality. To arrive thereat, a man must persevere, and remain in the cellar of self-knowledge in which he will learn My mercy, in the Blood of My only-begotten Son, drawing to Himself, with this love, My divine charity, exercising himself in the extirpation of his perverse self-will, both spiritual and temporal, hiding himself in his own house, as did Peter, who, after the sin of denying My Son, began to weep."
Dutch Cardinal Wim Eijk condemned the euthanasia of a severely disabled Dutch child, nearly two years old, as a violation of human dignity. “Is it merciful to violate the fundamental dignity of the human person by ending their life?” he asked. Speaking to CruxNow.com in an interview on September 25, Eijk warned that “merciful” is often used to justify “ethically questionable actions.” He said ending the body is a “fundamental violation” of a person’s inherent dignity.
Cardinal Eijk condemns euthanasia of Dutch toddler
A Quiet ICE Surge That Unfolded ‘Everywhere All at Once’ This Summer nytimes.com/2026/09/25/us/ice-surge-immigration-a… A review of dozens of incidents caught on camera sheds new light on a largely invisible crackdown. The reporters reviewed more than 50 incidents and interviewed more than two dozen lawyers, business owners, residents and detained immigrants and their family members for this story. Published Sept. 25, 2026Updated Sept. 27, 2026 Leer en español The most effective escalation of President Trump’s mass deportation campaign happened quietly. Unlike earlier high-profile raids that drew thousands of protesters into the streets of Chicago, Los Angeles and Minneapolis, the surge in arrests in June, July and August was captured mostly by grainy security camera footage, through cracked blinds and from behind closed doors. Arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement this summer soared to record highs since the start of this Trump administration — with 43,000 in June, more than …მეტი
Conservative Dutch Auxiliary Bishop Rob Mutsaerts joins the media enthusiasm surrounding Leo XIV’s reception in France. His praise of Leo XIV becomes rather grandiloquent: “The guillotine is gone. Now a man in white appears, proudly raising the Cross.” His central point is more interesting: secular Europe may have lost much of its Christian memory without losing its religious hunger. Mutsaerts sees a generation rediscovering the Cross, the rosary, Gregorian chant, Augustine and Aquinas. And he lands on a memorable image: “The world has organized Christianity’s funeral many times. The remarkable thing is that the deceased keeps showing up.”
LA GHIGLIOTTINA, IL PAPA A PARIGI E IL RITORNO INASPETTATO DELLA FEDE Un’illuminante riflessione di mons. Rob Mutsaerts su Vitamin Exp commenta il trionfale viaggio di Papa Leone XIV in Francia, mettendo a confronto il fallimento delle ideologie laiciste con la permanente attrattiva della fede. I punti salienti dell’articolo: I paradossi della Rivoluzione: Nata con la promessa di libertà, la Rivoluzione francese sfociò nel Terrore, nella ghigliottina e nella creazione del grottesco “Culto della Ragione”. Il surrogato woke: L’uomo non può fare a meno della religione. Rifiutato Dio, la cultura laico-progressista ha inventato il woke: un sistema fondato su colpa e condanna, ma privo della grazia e del perdono cristiano. La smentita delle profezie laiciste: Voltaire ipotizzava la scomparsa della Chiesa, ma le centinaia di migliaia di fedeli a Parigi e l’aumento dei battesimi di adulti dimostrano che la secolarizzazione non è un destino ineluttabile. La vera ribellione: In un mondo …მეტი
September 30: Transitus of St. Thérèse On September 30, a special ceremony, the Transit of St. Thérèse, is held followed by the Vigil Mass for the Feast of St. Thérèse. Instituted in 2008, the ceremony commemorates the saint’s death of tuberculosis at age 24, narrating the saint’s final conversations before her death on Sept. 30, 1897. Just after entering the infirmary on June 9, 1897, Thérèse wrote: “I am not dying; I am entering a new life.” We invite you to contemplate her encounter with the Lord through her final words. The saint’s final months were spent in agony. She was unable to complete her memoirs, which her superiors had assigned, and which was to become one of the most popular spiritual autobiographies of all time: The Story of a Soul. It was during this time that she spoke of her future: “I feel that my mission is about to begin, my mission of making others love God as I love Him, my mission of teaching my little way to souls. If God answers my requests, my heaven will be …მეტი
Honduran Bishop Teodoro Gómez Rivera has died at 63 while traveling to Rome to meet Pope Leo XIV during an ad limina visit. The bishop of Choluteca died Monday during a stopover in Madrid. Gómez Rivera had led the diocese since 2023 and was vice president of the Honduran Bishops’ Conference. ACI Prensa, citing an unnamed Church source in Honduras, reported that he died from respiratory arrest and had diabetes. Spanish authorities are conducting an autopsy following his sudden death.
Monseñor Teodoro Gómez falleció al llegar a Madrid, España, cuando se dirigía a Roma para participar en la Visita Ad Limina Apostolorum junto a otros obispos hondureños
At first, it seemed like nothing more than the little things that happen with age. Mom misplaced her glasses more often, forgot where she had left her keys, and sometimes couldn’t remember the name of a neighbor she had known for years. We used to laugh it off. “Just getting older,” we’d say. “Nothing to worry about.” Then one afternoon, she looked right at me and called me by her sister’s name. She smiled, so I smiled too. But something inside me went quiet. After that came the doctor visits, memory tests, blood work, brain scans, and the long wait for answers. Eventually, we heard the words we had been afraid of: Alzheimer’s disease. Mom sat silently for a while before asking, “Can they cure it?” The doctor gently shook his head. She looked down at her hands, then said something I will never forget: “Then I hope I never forget how much I love you.” From that day on, our lives slowly changed. We put labels on kitchen cabinets and drawers. Family photographs went up around the house with …მეტი
Ep 2.5 Immigration: How did we get here? What do we do now? Diocese of San José Join Bishop Oscar Cantú, Ruby Ramirez of PACT (People Acting in Community Together), and Father Michael Carson
A diocesan bishop has undergone a personal “conversion” toward the traditional Latin Mass. Bishop Donald Lippert of Mendi, Papua New Guinea, has come personally to see the beauty and power of the traditional Roman rite. He told AdVaticanum.com on September 29 that he had “over the last year or so, a bit of a conversion myself into the Traditional Latin Mass.” “I am, as many of us are, an amphibian. I exist mainly in the Novus Ordo, because that is the reality in which I live, and the Church that I have been called to serve at the moment.” He has “no problems with the Novus Ordo”, but sees the power of the traditional Mass particularly in its reverence: “The Traditional Latin Mass has a mysticism about it, and a reverence about it, that can touch the hearts of people and draw them closer to God in a world where there are so many distractions pulling them away.” He is still learning to celebrate the Mass. Mass not primarily for educated Western people When someone told him that the Mass …მეტი
Trump Wants to Get His Hands on the Power of the Purse nytimes.com/2026/09/30/opinion/trump-vance-fraud-… Sept. 30, 2026, 5:09 a.m. ET By Jamelle Bouie Opinion Columnist Since March, Vice President JD Vance has been tasked with rooting out any fraud perpetrated against the federal government. “This is a very big thing that we’re doing,” President Trump said when he announced the task force. “If we found half of the fraud that’s taking place in this country — and I think you have a chance of doing that — we would have much more than a balanced budget.” The White House says that since then it has “uncovered” hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud and “stopped” tens of billions in ongoing fraud. But, as my newsroom colleague Linda Qiu notes in a recent report, “It is difficult to verify those figures because there is no publicly available breakdown of the total.” And while fraud is real, there has been no independent verification of the administration’s claims. They’re asking us, in …მეტი
How Meta Uses A.I. Data Centers to Avoid Billions in Federal Taxes nytimes.com/…6/09/30/technology/meta-ai-data-cent… Meta is exploiting a lucrative tax break intended to support research and experimentation. Its own accountants say the gambit is risky. By Kashmir HillJesse DruckerEli Tan and Mike Isaac Sept. 30, 2026 Mark Zuckerberg says Meta’s A.I. push is a tremendous success. “Our investments in A.I. are accelerating every major part of our core business,” he has toldinvestors. “Every sign that we’re seeing in our own work and across the industry gives us confidence in this investment.” But when Meta files its taxes, it tells the Internal Revenue Service a different story. It claims that its A.I. data centers are a giant experiment that could fail, according to four people with knowledge of the company’s operations. It does this so it can tap into a tax credit intended for research and experimentation. It’s an aggressive interpretation of the tax break, which Meta embraced to …მეტი
Vatican Synod commission proposes “complete revision” of canon law — including marriages without a priest. A 10-member Canonical Commission established as part of the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality has published today proposals to reshape canon law. The report says that in the long term there is an “obvious need for a complete revision” of the Codes. The goal is to reflect emerging “theological and ecclesiological issues.” Among the proposals: • Sensus fidei: Canon 749 would begin by stating that “the entire body of the Christian faithful… cannot err in matters of faith” when universal consent in faith and morals is manifested “from the bishops down to the last of the lay faithful.” • Duty to listen: Pastors would have a canonical “duty to listen to the opinion of the Christian faithful” through communal discernment. • Lay governance: Bishops could appoint lay “episcopal delegates” exercising delegated authority. Lay men and women could serve as diocesan judges and, in certain cases, as …მეტი
Jane Allen was suffering from anorexia. She traveled to Colorado seeking treatment. Instead, her doctor offered assisted suicide — a prescription for death. Her father intervened just in time. Jane began to heal — eating again, tapering off morphine. The anorexia clinic dropped her, calling her a “liability.” When Jane chose life, her doctors walked away. Assisted suicide isn’t healthcare. It’s preying on the sick and vulnerable.
Yes, communism which NON Russians brought to the people and killed tens of millions of CATHOLICS AND ORTHODOX. Some people ought to take out all the hate from their hearts and their lying and get rid of the ignorance they speak. What was Sister Lucia concerned about? communism. What does the Church teach? communism is a sin and evil. Who did the Saintly Popes reach out to? The Russian Orthodox. Who did the Russian Orthodox reach out to? Saintly Popes. Who did most of those Saintly Popes and more condemned fiercely? protestantism. The slaughterer of souls. And also the mind. YES! The errors of Russia! But NOT of the Russian People! As the Church has said, taught and shown for centuries.
Swiss Bishop Appoints Female Vicar General Bishop Felix Gmür of Basel, Switzerland, has appointed theologian Sarah Gigandet to a senior leadership position in the diocese. From 1 November, she will share the responsibilities of the vicariate general with incoming Vicar General Ruedi Heim. The Diocese of Basel announced this unusual arrangement under the headline 'Vicariate General becomes more synodal'. Gigandet, aged 40, will formally hold the title of Episcopal Delegate in the Vicariate General, while Heim will be the canonical Vicar General. According to the diocese, however, the two will divide the areas of responsibility between them and jointly assume leadership responsibilities. According to canon law, the office of vicar general, which involves exercising ordinary executive authority as the bishop’s deputy, is reserved for priests. Therefore, Gigandet cannot formally be appointed vicar general. Bishop Gmür is known for his pro-homosexual activism. He also supports the ordination …მეტი
Swiss bishop appoints lay woman to share leadership of diocesan vicariate The Diocese of Basel has announced a new “more synodal” leadership model, with a lay woman set to share responsibility for its general vicariate alongside the canonical Vicar General
The Redemption of Man and the Rejection of “Holy Sex” A Patristic and Scholastic Disputation Against the Modern Exaltation of Carnal Pleasure “The first man Adam was made into a living soul; the last Adam into a quickening spirit.” —1 Corinthians 15:45 Prologue: The Question Before Us There is a fundamental question which must be asked before we speak of the holiness of sexual pleasure: What is man? And immediately after that: What became of man through the Fall? For if we begin with fallen man as though his present condition were the standard of human nature, we shall inevitably mistake the wounds of the Fall for the original design of God. This is precisely the danger in the modern exaltation of sexuality. The question is no longer merely: "Is marital intercourse lawful?" The Catholic tradition already answers that question. The more profound question is: "What ought the Christian to desire within the marital act?" And here a profound difference appears between the ascetical tradition …მეტი
Father Isaac Relyea on the sign of the Cross with John-Henry Weston. I have not watched it yet. Fr. Isaac Relyea: “Pope Leo XIV Is a Heretic” – Silence of the Shepherds Invites Damnation Traditional Franciscan priest Fr. Mary-Isaac Relyea joins John-Henry Westen to address what he describes as a crisis of silence within the Catholic hierarchy. Drawing on St. John Eudes and St. Gregory the Great, Relyea argues that priests and bishops have a grave obligation to defend Catholic doctrine and warn souls against sin. He sharply criticizes Pope Leo XIV and other prelates whom he believes have failed in that responsibility, a failure that, he warns, invites damnation. The discussion addresses reception of Holy Communion, homosexuality, modernism, Vatican II, and the SSPX. Relyea argues that Catholics must remain faithful to what they understand as perennial Catholic teaching even amid opposition from Church authorities or their own families. The silence of the shepherds is not neutral; it is …მეტი
Vatican II Church Permits Protestants and Orthodox to Receive Catholic Communion in Particular Cases - The recent beatification ceremony for Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a man whose popularity extended also to many non-Catholics on account of his nationwide radio and television prominence, has drawn renewed attention to a little-known law that has been on the books in the Vatican II Church since the 1980s. Over 43 years ago, Pope John Paul II enshrined in official church law a permission for Protestants and Eastern Orthodox to receive Holy Communion and two other sacraments under certain circumstances — but without renouncing their respective religions.
I paradossi della Rivoluzione: Nata con la promessa di libertà, la Rivoluzione francese sfociò nel Terrore, nella ghigliottina e nella creazione del grottesco “Culto della Ragione”.
Il surrogato woke: L’uomo non può fare a meno della religione. Rifiutato Dio, la cultura laico-progressista ha inventato il woke: un sistema fondato su colpa e condanna, ma privo della grazia e del perdono cristiano.
La smentita delle profezie laiciste: Voltaire ipotizzava la scomparsa della Chiesa, ma le centinaia di migliaia di fedeli a Parigi e l’aumento dei battesimi di adulti dimostrano che la secolarizzazione non è un destino ineluttabile.
La vera ribellione: In un mondo …მეტი
