Recently I was asked to speak at a local Catholic women’s group. It had been awhile since I’d put on my speaking shoes, and I was genuinely excited. That is, until I was given my topic. Fellowship, they said. Fellowship? I couldn’t help but wince. Not suffering? Prayer? Family discord? Keeping the faith during crisis?? Nope, Read more
The Vatican’s liturgy chief has said Pope Francis has given the go ahead for a study into the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Mass. Cardinal Robert Sarah said this at the Sacra Liturgia conference in London recently. The cardinal said the Pope has asked him to “to study the question of a reform of Read more
The founder of a US religious order died during a Mass celebrating 75 years since she made her first vows. Mother Rosemae Pender, FSE, had a heart attack during the Mass in Connecticut. She was the Mother Foundress of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist. Mother Rosemae had received the renewal of her vows during Read more
A cardinal has celebrated Mass standing in a refugee boat in front of a German cathedral. Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, who stood in the boat outside Cologne Cathedral on Thursday, called for compassion for migrants and refugees. Hundreds of people witnessed the liturgy. The boat had been formerly used to transport refugees across the Mediterranean. Read more
The Vatican’s liturgy chief has called on priests to celebrate parts of the Mass facing the east, as this is what Vatican II wanted. The prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Robert Sarah, made this call in an interview with a French Catholic magazine. Cardinal Sarah said Read more
On Holy Thursday, St Patrick’s Basilica in South Dunedin held its first public event in the building since its refurbishment began in 2014. Mass was celebrated despite the $2.6 million project not yet being complete. Continue reading
The elevation of the Host at Mass was seen the laity in the middle ages as a privilege and the ultimate form of communion. Their understanding of the sense of sight allowed sight to be a higher sense than the lower sense of touch, or taste, or smell. As such, the medieval laity wanted to Read more
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The mayor of a town in southern France has sparked outrage after his town hall sponsored a Catholic Mass in a local bullring. The mayor of Beziers, Robert Ménard, took part in a procession in the bullring, walking behind an effigy of the Virgin Mary. France has strict laws on the separation of church and Read more
Pope Francis sat in the pews for a Mass at the tomb of St Pius X in St Peter’s Basilica on August 21, the saint’s feast day. The Pope had already celebrated Mass in his residence very early that morning and had gone to the tomb of his predecessor to pray for catechists. When the Read more