Catholic Church

A Clarification regarding Separation. Before continuing with St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians I would like to make a little clarification based on some recent feedback I received on one of these articles. Indeed I welcome any and all feedback that readers may have and I have included an e-mail address (john@truedevotions.ie) where I may be contacted, or if you you would prefer to send a letter to me my address is, 21 Glenbrook, Knock Claremorris, Co Mayo F12 NW20. … Read More

The Call to be Faithful The two previous articles in this series explored two extraordinary wives, Blessed Elisabeth Canori Mora and the Servant of God Elisabeth Leseur, who loved their husbands despite all the odds, and who, through their heroic sacrifices, obtained the conversion of these men both of whom ended their lives as priests of the Holy Catholic Church. Just imagine for a moment how the lives of these four spouses would have turned out if these two wives … Read More

Elisabeth Leseur Another more recent example of a wife obtaining the great fruits promised by St Peter is the story of the servant of God, Elisabeth Leseur, who was born into a well to do family in Paris in 1866. She was fervent in the practice of her faith as a child and was very well educated. She married Felix Leseur on July 31st 1889. Felix was brought up a good Catholic and qualified in medicine in Paris. However his … Read More

Today is Trinity Sunday.  As a Benedictine Oblate I recite the office of Lauds first thing in the morning.  Today in the Benedictine Office the ‘Athanasian Symbol’ or ‘Athanasian Creed’ is recited.  Whilst scholars do not now believe that this creed was written by St Athanasius it is nonetheless an approved creed of the Catholic Church. No harm to recite it today in Ireland given the recent apostate result of our referendum on same sex relationships.   Whoever desires to … Read More

Marriage a gift from God – The Church’s Understanding through Scripture This article was first published in The Catholic Voice in March 2014 St Peter on Marriage We have seen that Dei Verbum says “the interpreter of Sacred Scripture, in order to see clearly what God wanted to communicate to us, should carefully investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended, and what God wanted to manifest by means of their words.”. With this in mind let us have a … Read More

Ninth Day: Transfiguration and Ascension of Our Lord, and the Manifestations of the Holy Ghost. Hymn: – Veni Creator – Let us prostrate ourselves before the majesty of the most Holy Trinity, and uniting our dispositions with those of our blessed Lady and the holy apostles in the upper room at Jerusalem, let us say one Our Father and one Hail Mary, to obtain, by the merits of Jesus ascended, the fruits of the Holy Ghost – continence and chastity … Read More

Eight Day: Descent of the Holy Ghost upon Jesus at the Jordan Hymn: – Veni Creator – Let us prostrate ourselves before the majesty of the most Holy Trinity, and uniting our dispositions with those of our blessed Lady and the holy apostles in the upper room at Jerusalem, let us say one Our Father and one Hail Mary, to obtain, by the merits of Jesus ascended, the fruits of the Holy Ghost – continence and chastity Our Father…      Hail … Read More

Seventh Day: Descent of the Holy Ghost upon Mary at the Annunciation Hymn: – Veni Creator – Let us prostrate ourselves before the majesty of the most Holy Trinity, and uniting our dispositions with those of our blessed Lady and the holy apostles in the upper room at Jerusalem, let us say one Our Father and one Hail Mary, to obtain, by the merits of Jesus ascended, the fruits of the Holy Ghost – continence and chastity Our Father…      Hail … Read More

Sixth Day: Fruits of Continence and Chastity Hymn: – Veni Creator – Let us prostrate ourselves before the majesty of the most Holy Trinity, and uniting our dispositions with those of our blessed Lady and the holy apostles in the upper room at Jerusalem, let us say one Our Father and one Hail Mary, to obtain, by the merits of Jesus ascended, the fruits of the Holy Ghost – continence and chastity Our Father…      Hail Mary… Most holy, most divine … Read More

Fifth Day: Fruits of Faith and Modesty Hymn: – Veni Creator – Let us prostrate ourselves before the majesty of the most Holy Trinity, and uniting our dispositions with those of our blessed Lady and the holy apostles in the upper room at Jerusalem, let us say one Our Father and one Hail Mary, to obtain, by the merits of Jesus ascended, the fruits of the Holy Ghost – faith and modesty. Our Father…      Hail Mary… O eternal Father, how … Read More

Fourth Day: Fruits of Benignity and Goodness Hymn: – Veni Creator – Let us prostrate ourselves before the majesty of the most Holy Trinity, and uniting our dispositions with those of our blessed Lady and the holy apostles in the upper room at Jerusalem, let us say one Our Father and one Hail Mary, to obtain, by the merits of Jesus ascended, the fruits of the Holy Ghost – peace and patience. Our Father…      Hail Mary… Most holy prince of … Read More

Third Day: Fruits of Long-Suffering and Mildness – Hymn: – Veni Creator – Let us prostrate ourselves before the majesty of the most Holy Trinity, and uniting our dispositions with those of our blessed Lady and the holy apostles in the upper room at Jerusalem, let us say one Our Father and one Hail Mary, to obtain, by the merits of Jesus ascended, the fruits of the Holy Ghost – peace and patience. Our Father…      Hail Mary… O blessed and … Read More

First Day: Fruits of Charity and Joy. – Hymn: Veni, Creator Spiritus   Let us prostrate ourselves before the majesty of the most Holy Trinity, and uniting our dispositions with those of our blessed Lady and the holy apostles in the upper room at Jerusalem, let us say one Our Father and one Hail Mary, to obtain, by the merits of Jesus ascended, the fruits of the Holy Ghost – charity and joy. Our Father…      Hail Mary… O most holy … Read More

On the 9th of May 1897, Pope Leo XIII wrote the encyclical ‘Divinum Illud Mundum’ on the Holy Spirit.  In it he decreed the following “Wherefore, We decree and command that throughout the whole Catholic Church,this year and in every subsequent year, a Novena shall take place before Whit-Sunday, in all parish churches, and also, if the local Ordinaries think fit, in other churches and oratories.” With this in mind I am going to put a Novena to the Holy … Read More

This article was first published in ‘The Catholic Voice’, Ireland in December 2013 It is available for download through the Marriage Article link at the top of the page Marriage, a gift from God – the Church’s Understanding through Scripture Notion of Marriage Undermined In the first article I noted that western civilisation has collapsed due in no small part to the ongoing collapse of marriage. The traditional understanding of marriage has been seriously undermined in our society to such … Read More

Two of my sons were confirmed in Gricigliano in Florence, Italy, at the seminary of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign priest in March of 2012.  There were eight of us there, my wife and I and six of our eight children.  One day, in order to give my wife a break, I went out for a drive with the six children in the countryside around Florence.  We came across what looked like a little forest park trail and … Read More