Deacon Lawrence Toth (Fourth in Series) Next in Pope Leo’s teachings about Vatican II‘s document on the sacred liturgy, he reflected “on some of the fundamental elements of the sacred liturgy, such as the rite, the sign and the symbol.” Understanding these elements is helpful for drawing us into a richer experience and a deeper…
Deacon Lawrence Toth (Second of a series) Last week’s article introduced all the teachings Pope Leo planned to give this year on the subject of the documents of Vatican II. The remaining articles in this series will focus on what he said specifically about Sacrosanctum Concilium (“SC”), the Council’s Constitution on the sacred liturgy. What…
Most commonly, we understand the term “vindication” in a very legal, argumentative context. We say someone is “vindicated” when they are proven innocent, or when their good name is defended from an accusation. This isn’t so far from what vindication means in the sense of virtue, either. Vindication is related to the virtue of justice,…
The medal of the Immaculate Conception that has come to be called simply the “Miraculous Medal” dates back to an apparition of Mary to Saint Catherine Laboure, who was then a novice sister with the Daughters of Charity. On November 27, 1830, Our Lady appeared to her standing on a globe, with shafts of light…
The Ignatian Spiritual Exercises are prayers and meditations developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (commonly referred to as the Jesuits.) St. Ignatius of Loyola (1492-1556) was born to a noble Basque family. In his youth, he spent time at the Royal Court of Castile and fought in the…
It may seem unfair, at first, to say that wisdom is a virtue — after all, doesn’t everyone know one or two people who seem incapable of wisdom? Well, that depends on what we actually mean when we talk about “wisdom.” Wisdom is not mere scholarliness. It is more than being smart. They say that…
The word “serenity” is only found once in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: in the section describing the effects of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, quoting the Council of Trent when it declared that a good confession “is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience.” (CCC 1468) This may give the impression that serenity…