Nagasaki

Tomorrow is the anniversary of that horrific event, the destruction of Hiroshima by the atomic bomb Little Boy, dropped by the U.S. Army Air Corps B-29 bomber Enola Gay. On the next day the bomb named Fat Man was dropped on the Japanease port city of Nagasaki.
Brother Anthony Josemaria looks at this event in light of the large population of Japanese Catholics who died at Nagasaki in The Catholic Holocaust of Nagasaki—“Why, Lord?”
I had known some of the story of the evangelization of Japan before. Who has not heard the story of Paul Miki and the twenty-five martyrs? I even knew a little of the story of Fr. Petitjean and the Urakami Christian. Brother Josemaria gives a very elightening view of Christian suffering and the historical framework of these evnts. An article well worth reading.

Dedication of Saint Mary Major

The Dedication of Saint Mary major is the liturgical feast celebrated in honor of the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, which is the largest church in Rome dedicated to the Blessed Mother.

This feast commemorates the rededication of the church by Pope Sixtus III just after the First Council of Ephesus.

This council was called to answer the problems caused by the teachings of Nestorius. Nestorianism split the natures of the Christ into human and divine. So while believing that Jesus was God, it denied that Mary was the mother of God. Cyril contested this belief, and at the Council it was declared that Mary was indeed the Theotokos, the birth giver of God.

This church is also called the Church of Our Lady of the Snows. It is said that in the forth century, during the pontificate of Liberius, a Roman patrician named John and his wife, who were without child, pray to the Virgin Mary, that she might make known a way that they might dispose of their property in her honor. On August 5th, in the heat of the Roman summer, snow fell on the Esquiline Hill. The couple had a vision of this event, and on the spot on the hill side which had been covered with snow they built a church.

I Don’t Need your Catechism!�|�Catholic Exchange

What is the basis of the Catechetical program in your parish?

I Don’t Need your Catechism!�|�Catholic Exchange

Prayer Time

In our busy world it often seems very hard to find the time to pray. We wake up already having more things to do than time to do them in. The kids need us. We don't get spend enough time with our spouse. We have more work than can possibly be accomplished in the time we have to do it. Where are we suppose to find the time to pray?

St. Francis de Sales when asked how much one should pray said that you should pray for half hour a day, unless you are really busy. If you are really busy, you should pray for an hour.

The great doctor of the Church understood that in being busy we are concerning ourselves with earthly things. Like Martha, the industrious sister of Lazarus and Mary, fluttering around concerned with the tasks of hospitality, but missing the presence of the bridegroom. We must, like Mary, choose the better half and subjugate our earthly concerns to the transcendent.

Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog: Chesterton on the real difference between Paganism and Christianity

Chesterton on Christian virtues by way of Ignatius Insight:

Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog: Chesterton on the real difference between Paganism and Christianity

Warren Harding-- say what??

Not my usual fare, but the Center for Visions & Values has an interesting article on Warren Harding, 29th President of the United States. You'll find lots of facts you probably weren't taught in school. The center for Visions & Values is at Grove City College, a Christian Liberal Arts College associated with the the Presbyterian Church.

Demonic Faith and Angelic Warfare - from Catholic Exchange

Rev. Bruno M. Shah, O.P. at Catholic Exchange frames the moral debate of the world against the Church.