Over fifty years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Catholics held the first Thanksgiving in America. On September 8, 1565, the feast of Our Lady’s Nativity, Spanish Catholics sat down for their first Thanksgiving dinner in the colonial town of St. Augustine, Florida. Three things marked this event: a Catholic hero, … Read more
This Thanksgiving, the COVID crisis threatens and discourages all the material trappings that usually characterize the secularized holiday: big family get-togethers, sporting events and “Black Friday” shopping binges. We are left with a more subdued atmosphere that is conducive to thinking about higher things. There is much to consider. It seems that … Read more
I will deal with a subject, which will benefit many who receive Communion. Indeed, I have the pleasure of seeing many people go to Communion often. As to the number of Communions, they are excellent. However, what can be said about their quality? When dealing with Communion, quality, more than in any … Read more
For many, Thanksgiving is one of the favorite holidays of the year. In a culture which has lost much of its sense of family, it is a time for families to get together. It remains largely unsullied by the commercialization that has infected Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Halloween and even Mothers’ Day. Everything … Read more
Thanksgiving has become a secular holiday. It is a time for family get-togethers, sports events and shopping trips. There is some, but not enough giving of thanks on Thanksgiving. Moreover, when gratitude is felt, it frequently remains just a feeling that is not directed toward a good and personal God. Then too, … Read more
Anyone can stand in a line for hours on end and burst into Walmart trampling people underfoot on Black Friday. The scene has become so ordinary and scripted that most people don’t even notice anymore. Shoppers fighting over Barbie dolls are as predictable as hockey match brawls. The reports from news crews … Read more
In honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on August 15, a Solemn High Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in the heart of Philadelphia, Penn. Fr. Robert Pasley of Mater Ecclesiae of Berlin, New Jersey, celebrated the 17th Annual Mass of Thanksgiving while … Read more
Claude Newman was a twenty-year-old African-American who, in 1943, awaited execution in a prison in Mississippi. His crime was that of ambushing and shooting a man named Sid Cook, his beloved grandmother’s abusive second husband. One day, noticing a medal hanging around the neck of a fellow prisoner, Claude asked the young … Read more
Hundreds of thousands of Catholics nationwide are preparing to pray the rosary in public this Saturday, October 10,imploring God, through the intercession of His Most Holy Mother, to intercede and save America. In more than 14,000 public places from coast to coast, lay Catholics associated with America Needs Fatima will hold their annual … Read more
As we gear up for the Thanksgiving holidays, many are preparing to engage in a strange new ritual that is crowding out the traditional turkey and pumpkin pie. The ritual, of course, is the extension of Black Friday shopping into Thanksgiving Day. It is a practice so shocking that we might as … Read more