In the Western Church, our special day of prayer for the deceased is All Souls Day, which occurs every year on November 2nd, the day following All Saints Day. In the Maronite Rite of the Catholic Church (which is part of the ancient Rite from Antioch, where “the disciples were first called Christians”), the last […]
Grief to Grace
Early in September, I traveled to Newark, New Jersey, to participate in a “Grief to Grace” retreat. This retreat was written by Dr. Theresa Burke, the founder of Rachel’s Vineyard retreats for healing the wounds of abortion, but Grief to Grace has a different focus — healing the wounds of sexual abuse. I became interested […]
Special Grace of Divine Mercy Sunday
In the Diary of St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, the Lord Jesus said that He would give special graces on the Feast of Mercy, the Octave Sunday of Easter. On that day, Our Lord promises that those who have been to the Sacrament of Confession (and, of course, made a good confession of […]
Spiritual Works of Mercy: Comfort the Sorrowful
One of the Spiritual Works of Mercy is to “Comfort the Sorrowful.” There are a tremendous number of people who suffer from sorrow and grief in our world today, so there is a tremendous need for Christians to practice this work of mercy. First of all, what are some examples of people in sorrow today? […]