By Cassandra Palmer Catholic News Service When you have good news to share, who is the first person you want to tell? Your closest friend or most respected mentor probably has the honor of receiving your first phone call before you share your joy with a wider audience on social media. In Luke’s Gospel infancy […]
With May rosaries, Pope Francis prays to Mary for end of pandemic
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Under the gaze of a seventh-century icon of Mary, Pope Francis launched a monthlong, global recitation of the rosary, pleading for Mary’s intercession for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. And he prayed May 1 that Mary would move people’s consciences “so that the enormous amounts […]
Pope adds ‘Comfort of Migrants,’ other Marian titles to her litany
By Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Among the many titles under which Catholics invoke Mary, Pope Francis has asked them to add “Mother of Mercy,” “Mother of Hope” and “Comfort of Migrants.” Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, sent a letter to the presidents of bishops’ conferences […]
Mary is loving mother, humble disciple, pope says on Guadalupe feast
By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service ROME — Celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pope Francis said she reminds Catholics of her true essence as a woman, a mother and a “mestiza” or person of mixed race. She revealed herself to St. Juan Diego as a “mestiza” to show “that she is everyone’s […]
How the church determines a true apparition
By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — When it comes to Marian apparitions, the Catholic Church takes a prudent approach that focuses more on the message than the miracle. Supernatural phenomena, like the alleged miracle of the sun in Fatima, Portugal, nearly 100 years ago, are not the primary factors in determining […]
Photo: Mary month of lei
Catholics around the world dedicate the month of May in devotion to Mary. The statue of the Blessed Mother in the sanctuary of the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace was decorated with flower lei, May 5. (HCH photo | Darlene Dela Cruz)