The Coming of the Divine Infant

Saint Francis de Sales spoke the following words in a Christmas Eve Sermon on December 24, 1613. The below sermon is presented in a shorter form. HOLY Church usually prepares us for great solemnities with vigils to help us appreciate more the great benefits we have received from God in the events celebrated. In the…

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Advent Calls Us to Silence: Part II

Pope Benedict XVI continues his previous discourse on silence by focusing on the importance of expectation. Another fundamental element of Advent is expectation, an expectation which is at the same time hope. Advent impels us to understand the meaning of time and of history as a kairós, as a favourable opportunity for our salvation. Jesus…

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Advent Calls Us to Silence: Part I

In the biblical Reading we have just heard, taken from the First Letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul invites us to prepare for “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:23), with God’s grace keeping ourselves blameless. The exact word Paul uses is “coming”, in Latin adventus, from which the term “Advent” derives. Let…

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The Third of Week of Advent: Gaudete!

The first word of the Mass of Gaudete Sunday, read in every Catholic church this morning, sounds the keynote of our faith. It is the Latin word, gaudete, which, being translated, means rejoice. It is a striking paradox that the religion of the cross is at one and the same time the religion of joy.…

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The Joyous Feast of St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas, the patron Saint of Russia, was born toward the end of the third century. His uncle, the Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, ordained him priest, and appointed him abbot of a monastery; and on the death of the archbishop he was elected to the vacant see. Throughout his life he retained the bright…

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The Beginning of Advent: Preparing for Christmas

The Catholic Church is the most interesting institution in the world. Like her Founder, she is both human and divine. She is human because her members are of human origin; she is divine because Christ, the Head of these members, is divine. The Catholic Church is the greatest storyteller in the world. She is the…

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Mary as the Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant was a wood box about four-feet long and two and a half-feet wide.  The word “ark” comes from the Hebrew word “aron” which means chest or coffer.  The Ark was no ordinary chest.  It was plated inside and out with gold.  And it had an ornate cover, called the mercy…

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Christmas Meditation on the Sacred Infancy of Jesus

” Yet neither Nazareth nor Bethlehem were his beginnings.  He was eternal years old the moment he was born. “ -Fr. Frederick Faber Below is a unique Christmas meditation from the famous English convert to the Catholic Faith, Fr. Frederick Faber of London, England. Fr. Faber has long been revered for his thoroughly enjoyable and erudite…

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Mystical Aspects of the Mystery of Christmas

Below is an excerpt from a brief, but interesting sermon that was delivered by Saint Francis de Sales to a convent of nuns on Christmas Eve in the year 1614.  These nuns were members of the Congregation of the Oblates of the Visitation; an order founded by him. The sermon addresses Christ the Savior as…

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Welcoming Advent in the Home as a Pre-Christmas

Advent is here and soon enough Christmas will be upon us! It has always been the aim of the Church to cause her children to reflect and prepare in a special way during this holy season. Mothers can sympathize with the secular mythology surrounding Ol’ Saint Nick–that of a fairyland workshop bursting with harried elves…

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The Secrets of the Sacred Heart

On the night before Our Lord suffered and died, He took comfort in the consolation offered by His beloved disciple, St. John the Evangelist, who reclined on His Sacred Heart. In less than twenty-four hours, the Heart that once beat in the womb of Our Lady in Bethlehem, would beat no more. Instead, the Sacred…

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Advent – Time for “Holiday Parties” or Little Lent?

“But except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.” —Luke 13:5 My childhood hero was Bishop Ignatius Kung. We were told of his heroic suffering as a prisoner. The Chinese Communists (the same ones who recently gifted us with a man-made virus), permitted him to leave his solitary confinement of thirty years if he…

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