[Saint Elisabeth of the Trinity/Elizabeth Catez – XIX-XX Century; Avord, France/Dijon, France; (aged 26); Mystic; Spiritual Writer; Gifted Pianist] “Fourth Day First Prayer 13. “Deus ignus consumens.” (Heb 12:29) Our God, wrote St. Paul, is a consuming Fire, that is “a fire of love” which destroys, which “transforms into itself everything that it touches.” (Saint John of the Cross) “The delights of the divine enkindling are renewed in our depths by an unremitting activity: the enkindling of love in a mutual and eternal satisfaction. It is a renewal that takes place at every moment in the bond of love.” (Ruysbroeck) Certain souls “have chosen this refuge to rest there eternally, and this is the silence in which, somehow, they have lost themselves.” “Freed from their prison, they sail on the Ocean of Divinity without any creature being an obstacle or hindrance to them.” (Ruysbroeck) 14. For these souls, the mystical death of which St. Paul spoke yesterday becomes so simple and sweet …More
"15. “I have come to cast fire upon the earth and how I long to see it burn.” (Lk 12:49) It is the Master Himself who expresses His desire to see the fire of love enkindled. In fact, “all our works and all our labors are nothing in His sight. We can neither give Him anything nor satisfy His only desire, which is to exalt the dignity of our soul.” Nothing pleases Him so much as to see it “grow.” “Now nothing can exalt it so much as to become in some way the equal of God; that is why He demands from the soul the tribute of its love, as the property of love is to make the lover equal to the beloved as much as possible."
It was “not so good” that Pope Francis had suppressed the traditional Roman Mass "in an authoritarian way," Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller said in an interview with journalist Michael Haynes. Pope Francis, Cardinal Müller said, had been "hurting and committing an injustice by accusing everyone who loves the older form of the rite of being against the Second Vatican Council in a general way, without any differentiating justice to single persons." The cardinal criticized what he sees as a double standard in the Vatican’s emphasis on dialogue and respect: "All the time they speak about dialogue and respect for other persons. When it comes to the homosexual agenda and gender ideology, they speak about respect—but toward their own people, they have no respect," he said. Cardinal Müller emphasized that the Church is like a family called to overcome internal tensions like brothers: "We do not have a police-state system in the Church, and we do not need one." And: "The Pope and the bishops …More
“They are an extraordinary family,” McGurn said in the interview. Lai’s wife, Teresa Lai, “is a rock. If Jimmy didn’t have Teresa to lean on, he knows it, he wouldn’t be strong. I mean, he has his faith, but she strengthens it. That’s what they have in common,” McGurn said.
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 16, 2025 / 07:00 am Catholic human rights and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai was found guilty following his lengthy national security trial. Lai, 78, will be sentenced at a later date but faces up to life in prison. The Dec. 15 verdict “is important, and it’s not important,” Bill McGurn, Wall Street Journal columnist and godfather of Lai, told “EWTN News Nightly.” “It’s important because it’s part of the Hong Kong process, and everyone knew he would always be convicted. So it’s important because we have to get it out of the way,” McGurn said. “Jimmy cannot be released until he was convicted, and that’s why we had to wait all these years for the trial and then his conviction.” “On the other hand, it was always this charade … the world sees it for what it is. And so in Jimmy Lai’s world, it’s not really a big milestone because it’s phony. Everything about it is phony,” McGurn said. ‘The real work begins now’ While the verdict was guilty, it is …
Furthermore, only three Popes named Leo appear on the Virgin of Guadalupe's mantle. Since her appearance, counted from the Council of Trent. The name Francis does not appear either.
"For centuries, the visions of Saint Hildegard of Bingen have been studied by historians, theologians, and scholars of medieval spirituality. In this video, we explore what Saint Hildegard actually wrote in her works, including Scivias, and how her symbolic language has been interpreted over time. Rather than making predictions about specific events, Hildegard described moral, spiritual, and social patterns that she believed shaped human history. Her imagery — including ideas about balance, decline, renewal, and human responsibility — has often been revisited in different historical periods. Some readers find her warnings timeless, while others see them as reflections of the medieval world in which she lived." Kind of long YT Video >>> youtube.com/watch?v=3sZzLfqF8N0
Vatican Nativity Unveiled in St. Peter’s Square: Today, the Vatican inaugurated the nativity scene and lit up the Christmas tree in St Peter’s Square. This year's nativity scene was created by the Diocese of Nocera Inferiore–Sarno, which has close links to St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori. His relics are venerated in Pagani, within the diocese. The nativity includes a figure of the saint, who founded the Redemptorists and wrote the Christmas hymn “Tu scendi dalle stelle”.
Il bellissimo Presepio Vaticano di quest’anno, con figure in legno intagliate a mano realizzate nella diocesi italiana di Nocera Inferiore-Sarno, è stato inaugurato questa sera. Comincia davvero a sembrare Natale!