1. Il fastidio della cenere.
Fratello, sorella, io so del fastidio della cenere.
Quando il grigiore ricopre lo splendore, quando una coltre tiepida non è né fredda né calda.
Io so del fastidio che provi per la cenere: quando ti ricordi con nostalgia dell’entusiasmo di una volta e tiri avanti i tuoi impegni di servizio e di carità per inerzia, di malumore, con lamenti e risentimenti.
Io so del fastidio della cenere e perciò proclamo con intima speranza la parola di Gesù: io sono venuto con il fuoco!
Il fuoco che riaccende l’ardore, il fuoco che arde e diffondere una specie di allegria, il fuoco che arde e contagia e fa ardere.
Come si accende questo ardore?
Non sono i propositi di una sera. Non sono le emozioni di una esperienza, non è il fascino di una testimonianza. Ogni scintilla parla del fuoco, ma si spegne in un attimo: senza Gesù non possiamo fare nulla.
2. Il peso delle inerzie
Fratello, sorella, io so del peso delle inerzie.
Quando i vincoli e i rapporti sono un impaccio …Altro
Quanto è eretico questo signore
L’attivista e il lapsus in diretta : educazione sessuale? Per negare maschile e femminile
L’attivista Simonetta Sciandivasci svela su La7 gli obbiettivi dell’educazione sessualeche si vorrebbe rendere obbligatoria.
E’ accaduto giovedì durante il programma “L’aria che tira” su LA7.
La giornalista Maddalena Loy de “La Verità” ha dovuto fronteggiare, da sola, la deputata Deborah Serracchiani, la giornalista de “La Stampa” Simonetta Sciandivasci e il conduttore David Parenzo.
Loy ha giustamente ribadito che l’Italia, pur non avendo un obbligo di educazione sessuo-affettiva è il Paese in cui il tasso di femminicidio è più basso.
E avrebbe anche dovuto aggiungere che, secondo l’ultimo rapporto del Parlamento europeo sulla violenza di genere, Svezia e Finlandia sono ai primi posti. Proprio laddove l’obbligatorietà dell’educazione sessuale a scuola è presente da decenni.
La giornalista ha poi aggiunto che l’emendamento, approvato scatenando una bufera politica, non impedisce …Altro
Forse facevano la prima ora di latino: maschile, femminile, neutro. In genere il neutro è attribuito alle cose. Quell' altra cosa , cui alludono, i romani la chiamavano "" il vizio greco''".
Ho sentito con le mie orecchie la disquisizione tra studenti di un corso di laurea scientifico. Uno spiegava agli altri il concetto fondamentale espresso dal docente: "Un conto è il sesso biologico, altra cosa è il genere". È evidente che la cosiddetta formazione universitaria non esiste più, specialmente in quelle sedi prone ai diktat della sinistra, sono quelle le università che corrono all'impazzata pur di essere al passo coi tempi. Cosa fare allora? In primis tenere ben presente che i corsi di laurea non formano ma indottrinano, chi ne ha lo strumento formi i figli in modo tale da renderli impermeabili alle diaboliche dottrine impartite ex cathedra e, possibilmente, li mandi a studiare al Sud: anche le università meridionali non sono immuni dalla peste ma corrono meno velocemente per essere al passo coi tempi diabolici che stiamo vivendo. Io non spenderei migliaia di euro per mantenere mio figlio o mia figlia agli studi in una città rossa dove verrà loro insegnato che un conto …Altro
Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics coach and NBA champion: "I'm going to be a deacon, it's my dream"
Joe Mazzulla is the coach of the legendary Boston Celtics, NBA champion last season, and is known for making references to the Gospel during press conferences, reserving seats at the foot of the court for priests and carrying a gigantic rosary. According to ChurchPop, the coach now wants to become a deacon.
Mazzulla has recently spoken with Dominican friar Joseph Anthony Kress on the Godsplaining podcast. "What would you say is your next goal?" they asked him. And instead of talking about another NBA title, he surprised the listeners: "I just was eligible to be a deacon, something I've always wanted to do. There it is. I've been thinking about that."
"I think winning has been more scary for me because it's like I'm fighting with God. Like, do I become greedy and want more? How do you find the space to want more and, at the same time, be grateful for what God has given you? Because my biggest …Altro
The heart as a battlefield
Recently, at a dinner with friends, I heard a phrase that made me think deeply. Someone quoted Fyodor Dostoevsky, saying:
“The devil fights against God and the battlefield is the heart of man.”
The conversation continued, but those words stuck with me. That image – the heart as a battlefield – has enormous spiritual power and led me to wonder what it meant from a Catholic perspective. Is there really a fight between good and evil that rages within us? And how can we live this reality in a positive, constructive and hopeful way?
The inner battle: a reality of all time
Dostoevsky, from his deep understanding of the human soul, perceived what even the Church teaches: that the history of man is a story of struggle against evil. The Catechism clarifies it:
«The history of man is woven of struggle against the powers of evil» (CCC 409).
This fight does not take place outside of us, but inside us: in the heart, where love and selfishness, humility and pride, light …Altro
‘If you have to kill, shoot me!’
You may remember Sister Ann, who made world news when she confronted police targeting young people during the military coup in Myanmar. Here she explains, in her own words, the truth behind the image which captured the attention of the world:
‘The police chased and shot at demonstrators. Most of them were children and teenagers. They were hiding in our clinic. I wanted to save their lives. That’s why I knelt down in front of the police officers. “Don’t shoot the young people,” I begged them. “They’re unarmed. If you have to kill, shoot me.”
Sr Ann belongs to the Sisters of St Francis Xavier and is a trained nurse. Her photograph went viral after she put herself between armed forces and young protesters.
Not just once
In fact, Sr Ann actually took similar action on two separate occasions:
‘The first time, on 28 February 2021, police officers ordered me to move out of the way. They said, “If you don’t leave, we’ll shoot you.” But I stayed, and they …Altro
Mentre i falsi pastori pusillanimi e mercenari abbandonano le pecore, ci pensano le pastorelle a salvarle.
The Church needs a legion of good holy nuns like Sister Ann. May God love, bless and be with you, Sister Ann, and may Our Lady keep you lose to Her SON.
Holywins 2025: ecco come torna l'alternativa ad Halloween che celebra i santi
Si commemora nelle parrocchie, nelle scuole e anche nelle strade, con eventi di evangelizzazione
Dal 2002, l'alternativa per bambini ed educatori a Halloween è Holywins, una festa incentrata sui santi, che viene sempre più celebrata in parrocchie e scuole alla fine di ottobre, e spesso con attività in strada.
Ci sono diversi modi per celebrare Holywins, ma ovunque alcuni elementi si ripetono con forza:
- rendere visibili i santi, ancor più, dare loro "carne" travestindosi da loro;
- per quanto possibile, festeggiare all’esterno , a volte con giochi, a volte distribuendo stampe, con un elemento di testimonianza ed evangelizzazione;
- incoraggiare i bambini (e gli anziani) a conoscere le vite e le gesta dei santi;
- collegare la commemorazione con la messa e un'adorazione ;
- per adolescenti, collearlo con la notte, riempita di fede, mistero, amicizia.
Holywins è nato a Parigi nel 2002 come giornata …Altro
THE WORLD DOES NOT HONOR THE HOUSEWIFE, SO WE MUST
The word “vocation” gets sort of abused by both the world and in Churchy-talk. In the Church we use it to refer only in the sense of the objective states in life of marriage and the priesthood or religious life. In the world, it usually refers just to a specific skill or job, usually one of humble estate – a “vocational school” is where kids go that want to get to work and maybe not enter full-on academia. This is often a class matter, or looked down on, as The Charlie Daniel’s Band put so poetically in Long Haired Country Boy: “The rich man goes to college/ The poor man goes to work.”
There’s more to the word vocation than the job on the lower end, and the divine calling and path to salvation on the higher end. There’s an intermingling of the two in the reality of our lives, in between the soil and the heavens. For many of us married men, we very often fight to keep them more integrated, because our higher calling is in our home …Altro
La nostra società ha creato condizioni difficili per l'inserimento dei giovani nel lavoro: in Italia la meritocrazia è quasi del tutto ignorata e per partecipare ai concorsi occorre minimo una laurea. Ciò richiede diversi anni di studio e tirocini, e nel frattempo, una donna facilmente supera anche i trent'anni per iniziare ad avere una sua famiglia. Gli uomini oggi, parlo in generale, preferiscono che la donna abbia una sua indipendenza economica per non sentirsi gravare di tale responsabilità. Molte donne scelgono la convivenza e arrivano al matrimonio solo successivamente, e non ritengono necessario sposarsi in chiesa.
Catholic men kneel down to recite the Rosary in Poland:
Other countries could learn from Poland. Catholic men were seen kneeling in public, reciting the Rosary: a powerful testimony that is now inspiring similar movements throughout Europe.
Daniel 12:3:
"The learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven, and those who have instructed many in virtue, as bright as stars for all eternity."
Go Poland
The sign of the cross of a young pianist travels around the world
It happened on October 11th shortly before the start of the XIX International Chopin Piano Competition at the Warsaw Philharmonic, Poland.
In the atrium of one of the most prestigious stages in the world, the Polish pianist Piotr Pawlak, during a moment of tension-laden silence before his performance in the semifinals, took his rosary, made the sign of the cross and prayed.
Surprised by the clamor, 27-year-old Pawlak explained that it was an "absolutely natural gesture, I pray before every performance".
The reason? «I always ask for support, because what we do as musicians somehow exceeds our human abilities. I simply did what I always do. I don't hide my faith, and I'm not ashamed to ask God for help».
Born in Gdansk, Pawlak is famous for his ability to combine technical precision and emotional depth and is also linked to Italy. From 2024, in fact, he studies at the International Piano Academy of Lake Como.
Raised in a …Altro
ovunque andiamo, quando usciamo di casa, possiamo portare con noi il santo rosario e pregarlo.
E' vero: molti musicisti suonano in maniera sovrumana, divina, è quasi un miracolo esibirsi in maniera così perfetta, e questo miracolo è possibile solo grazie all'aiuto di Dio. Invochiamolo per ogni attività della nostra vita, lo Spirito Santo ci aiuta a fare bene il nostro lavoro se lo invochiamo.
King Charles III will pray with Pope Leo XIV: a first in five centuries against a backdrop of Anglican schism and spiritual renunciation of the United Kingdom
It is a moment of history, but also a symbol full of ambiguity: for the first time since the Reformation, a British monarch will pray publicly with a pope. King Charles III and Pope Leo XIV will meet on October 23, 2025 in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel, under Michelangelo's frescoes, for an ecumenical service devoted to the protection of creation. But this meeting, which many present as a gesture of reconciliation between Rome and London, comes as the Anglican world has just been torn apart and the United Kingdom is moving away from its Christian heritage. Never had the British monarchy seemed to fluctuate so much between loyalty to its past and capitulation to the ideological currents of its time.
But while Charles III advances towards Rome, the Church of which he is the earthly leader is breaking up. On October 16, 2025, in Kigali …Altro
Will they wear their aprons?
Heuchler! Freimaurer-Diener!
Chopin i jego nawrócenie na katolicyzm
Poniżej znajduje się list, który ksiądz Aleksander Jełowicki, ksiądz, osobisty przyjaciel Fryderyka Chopina i założyciel Polskiej Misji w Paryżu, napisał do Ksawery Grocholskiej kilka dni po śmierci słynnego kompozytora.
To właśnie ksiądz Jełowicki udzielił Chopinowi sakramentów i zaświadczył o jego powrocie do wiary katolickiej przed śmiercią.
Paryż, 21 października 1849 r.
Najczcigodniejsza Pani,
Wciąż jestem wstrząśnięty śmiercią Chopina.
Piszę, aby Pani o tym opowiedzieć. Zmarł 17 października 1849 r. o drugiej w nocy.
Przez wiele lat życie Chopina wisiało na włosku.
Jego ciało, zawsze kruche i słabe, było coraz bardziej trawione ogniem geniuszu. Wszyscy zdumiewali się, że w tak wyniszczonym ciele może jeszcze mieszkać tak żywa dusza, która nie traci ani jasności umysłu, ani żaru serca. Jego twarz, zimna i blada jak alabaster, była przezroczysta, a oczy, zazwyczaj zasłonięte, niekiedy rozbłyskiwały blaskiem. Zawsze słodki, miły, …Altro
Come musicista ho sempre considerato Chopin una persona angelica, le sue composizioni sono divine, non opera di un essere umano, ma di un angelo sceso dal cielo. Nelle sue composizioni c'è tanto paradiso, tanta fede, tanta perfezione (anche nello scrivere gli spartiti la scrittura è così perfetta che non c'era neppure bisogno di stamparle), non è possibile che un essere umano possa, in una vita così breve, comporre tanto ed essere il più grande compositore per pianoforte di tutti i tempi. Il demonio (nelle persone affariste e sensuali che lo circondavano) lo ha fatto deragliare, ma alla fine ha vinto Dio, perchè anche in Paradiso hanno bisogno di lui, delle sue composizioni che sono frutto di uno spirito inquieto che anela alla perfezione, anela a Dio. Signore tienilo caro perchè senza Chopin noi musicisti saremmo orfani.
''W końcu on, który zawsze był tak subtelny w mowie, wyraził wdzięczność i powiedział: „Bez Was, Kochani, umarłbym… jak świnia!”.
W chwili śmierci powtórzył raz jeszcze słodkie imiona Jezusa, Maryi i Józefa, przycisnął krzyż do ust i serca i ostatnim tchnieniem powiedział: „Jestem już u źródła szczęścia!…”.
Tak umarł Chopin!''
"With gratitude to Jesus blessed".
Extremely rare discovery in Anatolia (Turkey). Five loaves of bread for the Eucharist dating back to the VII-VIII century, one of which depicting a Jesus sower.
A very original and extremely rare discovery, especially for the image of the Lord as a farmer, different from the well-known known Christ Pantocrator. A reason related to agriculture that could indicate the intention to turn to the local community where faith coexists with the work of the land.
It could also reflect the parable of the sower cited in the Gospels, a strong allegory of faith as a seed that takes root in the human heart and bears spiritual fruit.
The charred loaves date back to the Byzantine period, one in particular has an engraving depicting Jesus as a sower, accompanied by the Greek inscription: "With gratitude to Jesus blessed".
The other communion breads bear imprints of a Maltese cross, reinforcing the hypothesis that they were destined for the liturgy and the …Altro
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Un grande aiuto deve venire anche dalla gerarchia ecclesiastica che deve gridare: "Basta con queste persecuzioni!" richiamare i capi dei popoli al loro dovere di impedire questa mattanza. Il silenzio in questi casi è assordante. Si organizzino fiaccolate, raccolta fondi anche nelle parrocchie. Manifestazioni pubbliche e private per mettere il dito nella piaga, far capire ai musulmani che stanno sbagliando e se credono di portare qui impunemente le loro persecuzioni è meglio se ne stiano a casa loro. Dicono che non esistono le guerre sante, ma esiste la Difesa Santa.
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Iran, a metro station dedicated to the Virgin Mary
Inaugurated on Monday, October 13, 2025 is already an international case.
In Tehran, the new subway station is named after the "Holy Virgin Mary", as it is located near the cathedral of San Sarkis, in the sixth district.
In Rome, on line B, there is Santa Maria del Soccorso, in Madrid on line 4 there is Parque de Santa María and on line 12 of Paris we find the station "Notre-Dame-des-Champs" ("Our Lady of the Fields").
We would never have expected that Iran would also equip itself with a "Mariana" subway station, a gesture that the Armenian and Assyrian Christian communities have welcomed as an official recognition of the historical heritage of Iranian Christianity.
There are about 200 thousand Christians in Iran, mainly concentrated in the main cities of Tehran and Isfahan.
The cathedral near the subway station, San Sarkis, is the heart of Armenian Christianity in Tehran, the largest denomination. Alongside the Armenian icons stands …Altro
Kike Figaredo, with the PMO in Cambodia: wheelchairs and new chapels in mission territory.
This Sunday, October 19, is the World Mission Day. Pontifical Mission Societies (PMO) raises funds to support the 1,131 mission territories of the Church.
The Spanish Jesuit missionary Kike Figaredo apostolic prefect of Battambang, Cambodia, explains :
It is a territory where 22 priests and 58 nuns take the faith to remote villages and attend to many victims of anti-personnel mines, a vestige of the war at the beginning of the century. About 4.5 million people live in Battambang, and almost all are Buddhists. There are about 5,000 Catholics. As in other missionary and poor territories, the help of the PMO is used to:
- ordinary expenses,
- construction of extraordinary projects, such as chapels and nurseries,
- support for people linked to the Church.
Figaredo met in Cambodia a Korean builder who was a convert and only wanted to build churches. "I discovered the Lord and he changed my life …Altro
Since the Church practically teaches that ALL are saved, what is the purpose of having missionaries, since all they spread is modernism. The missionary work of the TLM groups is spreading the Gospel and not liberation theology garbage.
Catholics & Singles
Are you looking for a partner with faith? SacredSpark unites Catholics who want to love, pray and build a family
The Catholic lecturer and digital creator understood that young Catholics want holy marriages, but they need help to find each other. This led her, along with her husband Daniël Hussem, to create a new Catholic dating app and call it SacredSpark.
The app combines technology and tradition to foster online connections with the purpose of creating lasting relationships outside the digital world
One of the main features of SacredSpark is its commitment to more authentic connections. All profile photos appear blurred at the beginning and are only revealed when two people match.
Instead of simply swiping between images, users can record audio messages to introduce themselves, so others can listen to them and discern if there might be a connection.
"We created this function because we want relationships to start with something meaningful, beyond appearance …Altro
I despised Pope Francis, but his death changed me
(Of
Alfredo Salta*
*blogger and new convert)
On April 21, 2025, the news of Pope Francis’ death reached my parish community.
It was unexpected news for me, which came at a particular moment in my history of faith and that certainly marked my path.
I remember that in those weeks I was already immersed in a serious revaluation of his figure.
I confess that I never appreciated it.
It would be more honest to say that for a long time I even despised Pope Francis.
Before my conversion to Catholicism, I even considered him a kind of "progressive extremist", an antipope, a comfortable ecclesial crutch for that liberal cultural power that is the antithesis of everything that is Christian and that has dominated every area of secular culture for twenty years.
For a long time I even entertained the idea that Pope Francis might not really be the Pope, but a sort of usurper of the Petrine throne.
Only when my reflection led me to truly recognize in …Altro
"Had a deep devotion for Mary" he says about false prophet Francis, defending him with a lie... Francis is the only antipope EVER to proclaim Mary wasn’t born a saint and he defends Bergoglio with a "deep devotion to Mary"; whoever wrote this he's either clueless or colluding. Amoris laetitia is heretical, It is truly amazing to see how people fall for beautiful lies so easily.
You needed a lot of words to justify your changed view of Francis... In vain. Your entire argument is gaslighting and not worth responding to. Just one thing: you say that Francis had a deep devotion to Mary. Which Mary? He has publicly stated several times that he thinks it is “madness” to call Mary Co-Redemptrix. That shows that he did not have the faintest idea who Mary is (just as he did not understand who her Son is).
The Benedictine monks of Barroux settle in Bellefontaine: a new breath for a spiritual high place in Anjou
The Cistercian abbey of Bellefontaine, a spiritual high place in Anjou for more than a thousand years, is preparing to open a new chapter in its history. After a long discernment, the Cistercian brothers, aging and few in number, chose to transmit the torch to another monastic community: the Benedictines of Barroux, known for their loyalty to the traditional Latin liturgy and their rooting in the rule of St. Benedict.
For several years, the Cistercian community of Bellefontaine had been wondering about its future. Despite constant efforts to adapt the buildings and imagine partnerships with associations, material and human obstacles have eventually made the continuation of community life impossible. "It was a great disappointment and a great ordeal for the brothers," says Brother Samuel, head of the community. From 2026, Benedictine monks from Barroux, in the Vaucluse, will come …Altro