For most devout Catholics, the date of 20th September, especially at the beginning of the last century, was not a day to celebrate. It was a day that commemorated the end of the temporal power of the Popes, a historical event that took place, which was too overwhelming and heartbreaking at least for most Catholics. In fact, recent historiography has also highlighted the purely anti-Catholic aspect of the Risorgimento, the role of Freemasonry which was certainly not secondary.
Investigators Jin Guo Ping and Wu Zhiliang refer us to the Guangdong Tongzhi (Guangdong General Chronicle) by Jin Guangzhu: “On the 5th day of the 8th moon of the 26th year (July 24, 1598) of the Wanli Reign (1573 – 1615), people from Lução suddenly came to anchor in Haojing’ao (Baía de Vieira, Macau), requesting the presentation of tributes. The governor of Guangdong, deeming their entry illegal, decided to expel them. The Portuguese of Macau also reinforced their defense, preventing the landing of the luções.
Coming back from school, my son, who is in elementary school, told me: “Dad, today the teacher told us that Jesus was not born on December 25th. That the cold and frost that the Child suffered is all an invention, because the first Christians who celebrated Christmas, took it from an ancient pagan festival …” I have not been able to answer this question. Indeed, this news has shaken me too. Can you tell me something about it?
Padre Pio felt a mystery to himself. When he was prevented from celebrating the Eucharist with the faithful and attending confessions, he confided to someone close: “To take away the ministry of the altar and confessions from a priest means to kill him!”
There are the rare rags to riches examples of extraordinary successes to escape from poverty and limited access to good education. Usain Bolt came from a poor small town next to the “bush” in developing Jamaica. He neither had early educational, nor other, privileges, so how did he become a legendary sprinter?
Matthew’s name (in Greek = Matháios) sounds like the word “disciple” (in Greek = mathetés). And this was what possibly led the evangelist to elect Matthew to replace the tax collector named Levi, thus better representing the discipleship mission.
The rite of the Sacrament of Confession has evolved over the years, yet the essential elements have always been the same.
In recent decades, the use of the term “sacred music” to denote the music that is used for the liturgy has often been contested, preferring terms such as ritual, liturgical music and so on. Certainly, for some the term “sacred music” meant the monumentalization of certain repertoires as untouchable or intangible, not as models as they should be.
As soon as João da Gama arrived in Acapulco (March 1590) his ship and the entire crew were seized, thus complying with royal legislation. The assets of the Portuguese captain, “valued at 140,000 pesos,” were also taken from him and his court case went to the Casa de la Contratación in Seville, where he was to be tried.
Giovannino Guareschi was not only a great Catholic writer and humorist, but what is even more significant is that he is a great Catholic philosopher. Certainly his was not a philosophy in the common sense of the term: he never formulated a systematic thought; but it was still a very specific thought. It was the thought of “common sense,” that is, an authentically Catholic thought.
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