Who are you, O Immaculate Conception?
The Immaculata is the “complement of the Blessed Trinity”. In this union heaven and earth are joined; all of heaven with all the earth, the totality of eternal love with the totality of created love. It is truly the summit of love. The Daily Compass is publishing the last reflection Saint Massimiliano Kolbe wrote on the Immaculate Conception, 17 February 1941, just hours before the arrest which would lead to his martyrdom.
“I Believe”, an act of titanic certainty
The words "I believe", in today’s culture permeated with relativism, have become synonymous of expressing one’s opinion. Instead, it is an adhesion to the Faith which, as Saint Thomas says, is a very certain adhesion, and more so than any other act. The act of faith combines intellect, will and grace. Today, the Daily Compass begins the first lesson of Sunday Catechism on the Creed.
"Let's not keep God in quarantine: let's ask Him to stop the pandemic"
"Since the beginning of the pandemic we have been praying to ask the Lord to give us the strength to endure it, but more rarely do we ask Him to put His hand to stopping it. God is seen not as the Creator of the cosmos, but as the companion on our journey. Yet, He can direct the action of the causes that produce a physical phenomenon, while respecting the laws of nature. And Christian prayer assumes that God can act in the biophysical world in which we live". Interview with Father Serge-Thomas Bonino, Dean of Philosophy at the Angelicum.
Father Jean Pierre, man of peace and prophecy
The death and funeral in Morocco of the 97-year-old Trappist monk who escaped the massacre in Tibhirine (Algeria) in 1996 showed how friendship can be born between Christians and Muslims when faith is lived in daily fidelity to the Gospel, without compromise, even at the cost of one's life. The embrace of Christians and Muslims around his tomb was the miracle of a friendship possible when the sincere search for God inhabits the human heart.
The Catechism prepares us to meet Jesus
There is an urgency to go back to the Catechism and teach it again, because too often today, the faith is reduced to a personal feeling. By saying, "I believe" means to open up under the influence of grace to the objective content that God reveals, to which we give our assent. Today, teaching is considered the opposite of experience, but it’s impossible to experience God except through teaching.
- THE DAILY COMPASS BRINGS US BACK TO THE CATECHISM
The Daily Compass brings us back to the catechism
From today, the first Sunday of Advent and the start of the liturgical year, the Daily Compass will dedicate every Sunday to the catechism. Lessons will be taught by Professor Luisella Scrosati which are introduced today with a reflection written by Cardinal Robert Sarah.
Popular movements and the ambiguous ‘theology of the people’
Popular movements, encouraged by Francis, are a heterogeneous galaxy bringing together socialism, ecologism, feminism, 'cancel cultures', etc. Their new pastoral approach presupposes doctrinal convictions often at odds with the SDC. The 'theology of the people' is an ambiguous category, and the Catholic who participates in such movements errs on two counts.
Vaccines and abortion, how Church teaching is being mystified
In newspapers and on TV it has become fashionable to deride and demonise Catholics who refuse to be vaccinated, while several bishops and priests are adamant that the Church is calling for compulsory vaccination. But the document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith places very clear conditions on the moral legitimacy of the use of these vaccines, including pressure on pharmaceutical companies and governments to ban the use of cell lines from aborted foetuses. On this point, however, the silence of the bishops is deafening.
US Bishops on the Eucharist, nice words contradict practice
The long-awaited and widely discussed document by the US bishops on the Eucharist correctly re-proposes the Church's doctrine which is its treasure, but contradicts itself in not foreseeing ways to defend it. It privileges the unity of the episcopate as a facade and the will to avoid political tensions in respect to Christ and the lives of millions of children.
St Joseph’s all-powerful intercession
Over the last century and a half, the Magisterium has honoured the role of St Joseph in salvation history several times, stating what is implicit in Holy Scripture and inherent in the sensus fidei. Not only was Mary's spouse recognised (under Blessed Pius IX) as the Patron of the Church, but his intercession was also described by Pius XI as “omnipotent”.
Traditional Latin Mass: Roche contradicts Benedict XVI
The reply sent by Msgr. Roche’s to Cardinal Nichols at his request for clarification on aspects of Pope Francis’s motu proprio on the Latin Mass, especially for the administration of the sacraments, has been made public. The prefect for Divine Worship considers the ancient rite contrary to "ecclesiology", contradicting Benedict XVI who emphasized its dignity and made clear that the 1962 Missal has never been repealed. Roche even forgets the 1971 indult, indicating the way Vetus Ordo will ultimately die a death.
The Vatican plays Sachs
The appointment of economist Jeffrey Sachs as an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences is unquestionably scandalous. But what it signifies is even worse: rather than the world being swayed by the Gospel, the Church is adopting the criteria of the world.
