Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to gift the Church again (a) Pope who is blameless, free, faithful, fatherly and wise. Such a Pope will certainly tremble before the weight of this office — and that is why he should be found and elected: Come, Holy Spirit!

Cardinal Zen (via Lifesite)

Oh, all you who are steeped in sin, and who for a time more or less long have lived as wanderers and fugitives because of your crimes…if the offences of which you have been guilty have hardened and blinded your hearts…if to grant satisfaction to one or other of your passions you have sunk into evil ways…Ah! when the motives or accomplices of your sin have forsaken you, and you realize the state of your soul, oh then, do not yield to despair! For as long as a breath of life remains a man may have recourse to mercy and ask for pardon.

If you are still young, if already the scandals of your life have lowered you in the eyes of the world, do not be afraid…Even if there is reason to treat you as a criminal, to insult and cast you off…your God has no wish to see you fall into the flames of hell…On the contrary He ardently desires you to come to Him so that He may forgive you. If you dare not speak to Him, at least look at Him and let the sighs of your heart reach Him, and at once you will find His kind and fatherly hand stretched out to lead you to the springs of pardon and life.

Should it happen that you have spent the greater part of your life in impiety and indifference, and that the sudden approach of the hour of death fills you with blinding despair…Oh! do not let yourself be deceived, for there is still time for pardon. If only one second of life remains to you, in that one second you can buy back eternal life!

If your whole life has been spent in ignorance and error…if you have been a cause of great evil to other men, to society at large, or to religion, and if through some set of circumstances you have come to realize that you have been deceived…do not allow yourself to be crushed by the weight of your sins and of the evil of which you have been the instrument; but with a soul penetrated with deep contrition throw yourself into an abyss of confidence, and hasten to Him who awaits your return only to pardon you.

The case is the same for a soul that has been faithful to the observance of My law from childhood, but who has gradually cooled off into the tepid and unspiritual ways of an easy life. She has so to say forgotten her soul and its higher aspirations. God was asking of her greater efforts, but blinded by habitual failings, she has fallen into tepidity worse than actual sin, for her deaf and drowsy conscience neither feels remorse nor hears the voice of God.

Then, perhaps, that soul awakens with a shock of realization: life appears to have been a failure, empty and useless for her salvation…She has lost innumerable graces, and the evil one, loath to lose her, makes the most of her distress, plunges her into discouragement, sadness and dejection…and finally casts her into fear and despair.

Oh soul whom I love, pay no heed to this ruthless enemy…but as soon as possible have recourse to Me, and filled with deepest contrition implore My mercy and have no fear. I will forgive you. Take up again your life of fervor, and you will have back your lost merits, and My grace will never fail you.

Finally, shall I speak to My chosen souls? Supposing that one has spent long years in the constant practice of the Rule and of her religious duties…a soul that I have favored with My grace and instructed by My counsels…a soul long faithful to My voice and to the inspirations of grace
…and now this soul has cooled in her fervor on account of some petty passion …occasions of faults not avoided…some yielding to the claims of nature and a general relaxation of effort…and in consequence has fallen to a lower level…to a commonplace kind of life…then lastly, to give it its true name, tepidity.

If, for one cause or another, you awake from this torpid state, the devil will instantly attack you in every way, jealous of a soul he hopes to claim. He will try to persuade you that it is too late, and that my effort is useless, he will accentuate your repugnance to make an avowal of your state of soul…he will, so to speak, throttle you to prevent you from speaking and accepting the light he will do his best to stifle trust and confidence in your soul.

But listen rather to My voice, and let Me tell you how to act:

As soon as your soul is touched by grace, and before the struggle has even begun, hasten to My Heart; beg of Me to let a drop of My Blood fall on your soul…Ah! hasten to My Heart…and be without fear for the past; all has been swallowed up in the abyss of My mercy, and My love is preparing new graces for you. The memory of your lapses will be an incentive to humility and a source of merit, and you cannot give Me a greater proof of affection than to count on My full pardon and to believe that your sins will never be as great as My mercy, which is infinite.

Excerpt from The Way of Divine Love by Sister Josefa Menedez

We join faithful Christians all over the world in praying for the repose of Pope Francis.

He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:3-6

“Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world” There are no words to express what we experienced last night, on the feast of St. Joseph, at the Catholic Prayer for America event at Maralago.

We had the blessing of bringing Our Lord Jesus Christ to… pic.twitter.com/RX5URjMWE4

— Catholics for Catholics ???????? (@CforCatholics) March 20, 2025

Lord, our lives are surrounded with passing things; set our hearts on things of heaven,— so that through faith, hope and charity we may come to enjoy the vision of your glory.Lord, share with us the treasure of your love.

Divine Office, morning prayer for November 23, 2024

A Plenary Indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who devoutly visit a cemetery and pray, even if only mentally for the dead from November 1st-8th (Octave of All Saints). The Plenary Indulgence can be gained on each on of these eight days. The indulgence is applicable only to the souls in Purgatory. On other days of the year this indulgence is a partial one.

The Handbook of Indulgences

So I’ve mentioned a couple of times, this Sunday we are beginning a Novena for Our Nation, and that will be happening immediately or shortly after this before a televised Mass at 7:00 AM Central. That’s when the Mass is. And shortly after that we will have this Novena that will begin on Sunday, up until the days of our National Election. So if you want to receive a text, or you can just listen, of course, when we are praying the Rosary and making this Novena. You can find them at ewm.com/novena, and in Spanish.

I encourage you to join us, especially this Sunday, as we begin these nine days of prayers before our National Election. Today also I would invite you and encourage you to join us for our holy hour of reparation at 2:00 PM Central Time, 3:00 PM Eastern Time, which will be happening live here in this chapel.

You may have seen in the news recently just a number of reasons why we need to make reparation. For example, this weekend in Toulouse, France, they are having a Satanic Festival, and the bishop there has consecrated that city to the Sacred Heart as a way of paying for protection. We also recently had a governor mock the reception of the holy Eucharist, and then today, as well, the archbishop of Atlanta has asked for prayers, reparation, holy hours to be made today because of a so-called “Black Mass” that will be taking place in Atlanta this evening. In light of all of these things, we need to pray and do the opposite, to express our love for God, to pray in reparation for those who offend him, who commit blasphemies. So I encourage you to join us at 2:00 p.m. Central time, live. We will have this holy hour of reparation. Today we are having a votive Mass in honor of the sacred heart of Jesus, and I’m also wearing a vestment which has the angels in adoration of Jesus, TRULY present in the Blessed Sacrament, our greatest treasure that we have here on earth. For this to be mocked and blasphemed is so offensive to all of us. In fact, a so-called black Mass is a desecration of an illicitly obtained Sacred Host from a Catholic Church. In response to that we offer our love and devotion, our reparative prayer.

Father Joseph Mary, M.F.V.A.

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

I have been alerted to very serious concerns about Question 4 on the Massachusetts ballot. If passed, this measure would legalize certain natural psychedelic drugs to be grown at home, e.g. magic mushrooms, and to be consumed and shared with others. The use of such natural drugs can alter one’s perception of reality, cause extreme feelings of euphoria or despair and can worsen mental health issues.

The President and President-Elect of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society testified before the Special Joint Committee of the Massachusetts Legislature that this initiative petition is “…reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous to the public.” Please see the attached information sheet (attachment below) for more details.

As mail-in ballots are already being cast in Massachusetts, I am asking that you read the attached information as soon as possible.

We have not and cannot accept any money or donations for this effort.

Thank you for this very important educational effort to inform our Catholics of this important issue.

With every prayerful best wish, I remain,

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Robert J. McManus, Bishop of Worcester