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When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of king Herod, behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very Dear Sons,

Earlier today in Rome, the Holy Father closed the Holy Door, ending the Jubilee Year… Tomorrow a different door will open, that of the extraordinary consistory of Cardinals, during with our new Sovereign Pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, will lay out his plans for his pontificate. We must pray for the success of this great meeting and for the direction Pope Leo will give to Holy Church going forward.

As it moved toward the fullness of time, human history was driven by three major currents: that of the Romans with […]

And Joseph went up from Galilee…into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child (Lk. 2).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

It seems that the custom of celebrating three Masses at Christmas originated in Palestine, in the very country where the Holy Family lived. In the fourth century a first Mass was said at Bethlehem, in the very early hours; a second Mass was then celebrated around dawn in the greater church of Jerusalem; finally, a third holy Mass was celebrated about midday in the famous church of the Resurrection, the Anastasis. In Rome, a similar custom prevailed: the first Mass was said at midnight before […]

Trahe nos, Virgo Immaculata; Draw us, O Virgin Immaculate; we will run after thee to the fragrance of thy ointments. (Fifth Antiphon; cf. Cant. 1:3)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Very Dear Sons,

Beginning already in the earliest centuries of the Church, a debate arose as to the universal nature of original sin and its effects on the great friends of God such as Saint John the Baptist or Saint Joseph. Were they touched by this hereditary harm? Our Lord affirmed that “no one born of woman” was greater than Saint John (Mt. 11:11). Could he have been affected by the ugliness of original sin? But the question that caused the most discussion was relative to what part sin may have had in the body and soul of the Blessed Virgin […]

Post haec vidi turbam magnam…After this I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands (Apoc. 7:9).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

“A certain man running up and kneeling before [Jesus], asked him: Good Master, what shall I do that I may receive life everlasting? Why callest thou me good? Replied the Lord. None is good but one, that is God” (Mk. 10: 17-18). How is it that, while Our Lord thus affirms that God alone is good, Saint John in the Apocalypse, shows a multitude of human beings, so great that no one could number it, standing like […]

Signum magnum apparuit in caelo…A great sign appeared in Heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. Apoc. 12:1.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

Because we live in a place of spiritual darkness or, more exactly, of spiritual twilight (that half-light of Faith, as opposed to the vision), because the final truth concerning God and His Church has not yet appeared to our mortal eyes or to the eyes of our souls in its full splendor, because we struggle through life not knowing all there is to know about ourselves or about the world, having only a partial understanding–because of all of this–God sends us signs in order to help us keep on the road […]

Panem Angelorum manducavit homo, Man has eaten of the Bread of Angels, Alleluia.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My very dear sons,

Truly today’s feast is a magnificent feast, because we honor, not only a Sacrament of the Church, but the Blessed Sacrament itself, containing something even more considerable than the grace of God—which is quite extraordinary already—,God Himself, that is to say the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man. It is no wonder this most Holy Host is likened to the Bread of Angels and reminds us of the Manna that God rained down on the People of God, during their forty years of wanderings in the desert under the direction of Moses.

Why is it, though, that we partake so often […]

Ascendit Deus in jubilatione…. God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet. Alleluia.

Your Excellency,
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Very Dear Sons,

We contemplate today a reality that might seem quite “out of this world,” because it truly is. The Lord, having accomplished the mission set before Him by the Father, returns to the place from which He came, if we can speak in such terms in reference to a Divine Person. He leaves in order to blaze the trail for us. He does not leave us orphans or desert us. He promised this.

One of the characteristics of our time is the tendency to want to keep everything here below. Even Catholics, including prominent theologians, have expressed acceptance for this focus on the “here […]