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
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.
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
WHAT IS THE 2025 RED LIST?
A REPORT OF THE 25 COUNTRIES WITH THE WORST CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION TODAY
Red zones are based on the number of killings, building attacks, arrests, displacements, and abductions & assaults.
BASED ON REAL-TIME DATA
Presents the latest statistics, infographics, insightful written analysis, thought-provoking stories along with prayer points and more.
GET THE FREE REPORT
The Global Christian Relief Red List Report …
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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Official launch on 21.10.2025
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
Il Vaticano nomina i giudici per il processo dell'ex artista gesuita Rupnik accusato di abusi da parte di oltre 20 donne
Il Vaticano ha fatto l'insolito passo lunedì di annunciare di aver nominato giudici per decidere il destino di un famoso ex artista gesuita, i cui mosaici decorano le basiliche di tutto il mondo e che è stato accusato da più di due dozzine di donne di abusi sessuali, spirituali e psicologici.
L'ufficio vaticano che gestisce i casi di abuso sessuale del clero, la Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, ha detto che i cinque giudici nominati per ascoltare il caso Rupnik in un tribunale canonico includono donne e sacerdoti che non hanno posti di lavoro nella burocrazia vaticana.
Ha detto che tale composizione è stata "fatta al fine di garantire meglio, come in qualsiasi processo giudiziario, l'autonomia e l'indipendenza del suddetto tribunale".
I mosaici di Rupnik abbelliscono alcuni dei santuari e santuari più visitati della Chiesa cattolica in tutto il mondo, …Altro
Carlo Acutis i polska niania, która nauczyła go wiary
Od kogo święty Karol Acutis nauczył się wiary, skoro jego rodzina nie praktykowała?
To pytanie zadawało sobie wielu po wydaniu książki „Sekret mojego syna”, napisanej przez jego matkę Antonię Salzano.
Chociaż rodzice Carla, podobnie jak większość Włochów, byli katolikami, rzadko przekraczali próg kościoła, a słowo „wiara” praktykowano w domu tylko w wyjątkowych sytuacjach.
Matka Carla wspominała, że była w kościele tylko trzy razy w życiu, zanim syn ją do niego przyciągnął: „Moją pierwszą Mszę Świętą była z okazji Pierwszej Komunii Świętej, drugą z okazji Bierzmowania, a trzecią z okazji ślubu”.
A jednak Carlo dorastał z niezwykłą pobożnością i to on, w bardzo młodym wieku, nawrócił swoich rodziców.
To właśnie dzięki ciekawości syna, jego codziennej modlitwie i uczestnictwu we Mszy Świętej jego matka doprowadziła do nawrócenia. Zapisała się na studia teologiczne w Mediolanie i zaczęła uczęszczać do parafii.
Od dzieciństwa …Altro
“You will be reborn with compassion and forgiveness.”
Those were the exact words I heard as Jesus placed His hand over my heart.
Growing up, no one taught me about Christ. I went to church a few times with my grandmother when I was 4 or 5, but at that age, your concept of God is just “some nice guy in the sky with a beard.”
With no foundation in Christ’s love, I entered a traumatic and desolate childhood that shaped me in painful ways. I remember having a childlike wonder about God. I also remember the moment I rejected Him.
My family struggled financially and was plagued by addiction. At 8 years old, I became a victim of abuse—emotional, physical, and spiritual—in a home no child should ever live in. It was in those moments I came to hate and deny the existence of God.
The pain didn’t end there. Death after death robbed me of any joy or hope I had left. For over a decade, I lived in silent suffering, masking depression, anxiety attacks, and suicidal thoughts behind a false smile. …Altro
Praying the Rosary as a Family... with 18 People
They have 16 children and are from North Carolina, and if there's one thing Conor and Ashley Gallagher know you can do with 16 children, it's praying as a family, finding order in the chaos, and that there will always be excuses to avoid the customs of prayer.
In their case, the rosary often includes their two-year-old son biting the beads and older children fighting for a spot on the couch, while several children in between beg to lead a mystery even though they don't know the Lord's Prayer by heart.
"It's adorable, but I also want to go to bed," Gallagher says, adding that the image also reflects "one of the most peaceful nights."
The normal thing for them, trying to pray at a time when all family members can be together, is to pray while some are finishing their homework, trying to elevate their prayers above the sound of the vacuum cleaner, or even holding a phone so that one of the children on the way home can join in the family prayer. …Altro
The incredible story of the monastery built in 1133 in Spain and transported stone by stone to Florida
The Ancient Spanish Monastery is a small piece of Spanish history.
The construction began in 1133 AD, almost 360 years before Columbus left Spain and arrived in the Americas, and it took eight years to complete it. There are over 35,000 stones, some of which weigh a ton and a half.
While the Monastery itself was completed in 1141 AD, making its cloister the oldest building in the Western Hemisphere, it changed ownership for many years later.
When the Cistercian monk, Bernard of Clairvaux, was canonized in 1174, the monastery was named after him and played at home for the Cistercian monks for almost 700 years later. With their great consternation, a social revolution in 1830 led to the conquest of the monastery's cloisters.
Fast forward to 1925 When business and media tycoon William Randolph Hearst bought the monastery's cloisters and annexes with the intention of bringing them to …Altro
The 36 Cameroonian bishops had to take the fate of the country into their own hands
Political tension in Cameroon is exploding as the presidential elections scheduled for tomorrow, October 12, 2025 approach.
The incumbent president Paul Biya is 92 years old and has been in charge of the country since 1982, he has even modified the Constitution to abolish the limits of mandate, opening up the possible almost centenary stay in power.
The Catholic Church in Cameroon has long been the only critical and credible actor capable of challenging the Biya regime, after decades of personal power and growing inequalities. The political opposition is in fact fragmented and weak and the main candidate, Maurice Kamto, was excluded from the electoral competition in controversial circumstances.
The incumbent president, moreover, has been disinterested in the country for some time, he has been living in Geneva (Switzerland) for more than a month and did not even show up at the United Nations General Assembly …Altro