The most spectacular aspect of the Act of God will be the three days of darkness over the whole earth. The Three Days have been announced by Catholic prophets St. Caspar del Bufulo, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, Blessed Elizabeth Canori-Mora and Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified.  The Church does not oblige us to believe in any particular prophecy as a matter of faith [de fide], but we are indeed obliged to believe that prophecies may be made even in our own times, for this is in the Gospel [Evangelium]: the Holy Ghost will speak to many in the Latter Days.[…]

Very differently from now. It then commenced with the Feast of St. Martin, and was observed by the faithful like the Forty Days’ Fast, with strict penance and devotional exercises, as even now most of the religious communities do to the present day. The Church has forbidden all turbulent amusements, weddings, dancing and concerts, during Advent. Pope Sylverius ordered that those who seldom receive Holy Communion should, at least, do so on every Sunday in Advent. The Church called us to follow the strict norms not so long ago. In the Orthodox Church, fasting remains normative for 40 days prior[…]

In order to stem the tide of secularism and materialism which certain opportunists inject into every Christmas season it is not necessary to go to the other extreme and assume Puritanical austerity. Christmas ought to be merry. We ought to be happy and light hearted. It is a feast day of great importance. Man has every reason for celebrating this day of days with all the gladness his heart can hold. Only the worldly and the cynical say, ‘‘I’ll be glad when it is over,” or believe that Christmas is no longer anything more than a time of costly and[…]

One of the most inspiring days preceding Christmas is the feast of “Our Lady of Expectation” unknown to many today but still kept alive in many countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy and Poland as well as in a few religious orders. In older editions of missals, this feast is still listed as a votive Mass. The feast is celebrated on the 18 December, a week before Christmas Day. As Vox Cantoris observes: “The machinations of Annibale Bugnini were well on their way in the middle 1950’s with the planned reforms given to us by Pope John XXIII in the Missal[…]

“AND it came to pass, that as he was in a certain place praying, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” ~ Luke 11:1, Douay-Rheims Bible. Prayer is man’s richest boon. It is his light, his nourishment, and his very life, for it brings him into communication with God, who is light [St. John viii. 12], nourishment [Ibid. vi. 35], and life [Ibid. xiv. 6]. But of ourselves we know not what we should pray for as we ought [Rom. viii. 26]; we must needs, therefore,[…]

In 1531, a “Lady from Heaven” appeared to a poor Indian at Tepeyac, a hill northwest of Mexico City. She identified Herself as the Mother of the True God, instructed him to have the bishop build a temple on the site, and left an image of Herself imprinted miraculously on his tilma, a poor quality cactus-cloth, which should have deteriorated in 20 years, but which shows no sign of decay 471 years later, and today still defies all scientific explanations of its origin. It apparently even reflects in Her eyes what was in front of Her in 1531! The Lady[…]

The Savior, then, who is coming to us is the clothing which we are to put on over our spiritual nakedness. Here let us admire the goodness of our God, who, remembering that man hid himself after his sin, because he was naked, vouchsafes himself to become man’s clothing, and cover with the robe of his Divinity the misery of human nature. Let us, therefore, be on the watch for the day and the hour when he will come to us, and take precautions against the drowsiness which comes of custom and self-indulgence. The light will soon appear; may its[…]