Details: To the haunting refrains of Amazing Grace, 150 strangers on Thursday attended the funeral of a seven-month-old girl who died of starvation in a basement that resembled a ‘dungeon’ in January. Police, firefighters and members of the public who never knew little May Edwards arrived at St. Anne Catholic Church in Barrington, Chicago, to mourn the baby and released a solitary balloon at the cemetery as she was buried. The turnout of so many was in part sparked by... Read more
A good English translation of this hasn’t surfaced yet, but here’s the gist, from L’Espresso and Sandro Magister: The sign of peace in the Roman Rite of the Mass will remain at the same moment in which it is now placed, before the distribution of the Eucharist. But it must be corrected the abuses that have registered so far, especially with regard to the confusion that often characterizes this time of the liturgy. This is the meaning of a letter sent... Read more
Really: Homophones, as any English grammarian can tell you, are words that sound the same but have different meanings and often different spellings — such as be and bee, through and threw, which and witch, their and there. This concept is taught early on to foreign students learning English because it can be confusing to someone whose native language does not have that feature. But when the social-media specialist for a private Provo-based English language learning center wrote a blog... Read more
From Religion News Service: Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman sentenced to death for refusing to renounce her Christian faith and then spared after an international campaign, left Italy on July 31 on a flight for the United States, where she plans to build a new life. Ibrahim, who met Pope Francis on the first day of her week-long stay in Rome, boarded an American Airlines flight bound for Philadelphia with her husband, Daniel Wani, and their two young children. The... Read more
Here’s something you don’t hear about much: Becoming a consecrated virgin, says Judith Stegman, means there’s one thing you’ll do without – obviously – and one you’ll definitely need: A sense of humor. In the era of The Bachelorette and Dating Naked, of Fifty Shades of Grey and Snoop Dogg’s “Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None),” a woman who chooses to live in reverent chastity can seem a curiosity. ” ‘Are you married?’ – it’s a common question,” Stegman said. “I say,... Read more
A friend posted this on FB, and it’s worth a look. From 2011: newly ordained transitional deacons in Kenya getting into some liturgical dancing. Dig those dalmatics, too! As the description on YouTube notes: Glenmary’s seminarians Crispine and Aaron were recently ordained transitional deacons. The ceremony took place at Crispine’s home parish in Ulanda, Kenya. One of the most inspiring and impressive parts of the ceremony was the liturgical dancing. Wow, can those deacons dance! Read more
Details: As of September, renowned director Martin Scorsese will be in Taiwan to begin work on his next film on Christian mission in Japan during the seventeenth century. The film, already in the program for several years, is based on a bestselling novel by a Catholic Japanese author. “Silence” was written by Japanese Shusako Endo (1923-1996) in 1966. It is based on the story of Tome Ferreira (1580-1650), a Portuguese Jesuit missionary, provincial of the mission of Japan, who renounced... Read more
The biggest surprise to me in this interview is that it’s the first one he’s given to the media in six years. Details: Archbishop John Nienstedt declared he will not resign as head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and insisted the archdiocese has turned the corner on the clergy abuse scandal and is now “in a much better place.” In a series of media interviews Wednesday — his first in six years — and in a column published... Read more
The embattled archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis has posted the following column in this week’s diocesan newspaper, to be published tomorrow: To say that this has been a difficult year is quite an understatement. Here in the archdiocese, Catholics have witnessed many troubling media reports, and many of us have had difficult conversations with friends and family about what it means to be Catholic and why we still profess the faith. I, myself, have been the subject of two investigations,... Read more
The Heritage Restoration and Design Studio in Illinois produced the video below, showing the impressive work they did on a small Catholic church in Texas. (The finished product is shown above). The renovation is exceptional—and so is the process. Take a look. Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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