"People look East and sing today / Love the Lord is on the way." "Pueblo, pon tu mirada hacia el Este y canta hoy / El amor de Dios está en camino."
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Book Review: Don’t Let the Culture Raise Your Kids
St. Mary’s parishioner Marcia Segelstein has written a book entitled Don’t Let the Culture Raise Your Kids. (The book is published by Our Sunday Visitor and will be available soon in the St. Mary’s Bookstore). Quoting the biography on the book’s cover, “Marcia Segelstein has covered family issues for more than twenty-five years as a…
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May Crowning
During the month of May many parishes continue the ancient tradition of crowning a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, often referred to as a “May Crowning”. Both in the Eastern and in the Western parts of the Catholic Church the practice of depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary wearing a crown came into use in…
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Learn Your Faith/Aprenda Su Fe: Communio Sanctorum (The Communion of Saints)
During the first eight days of the Easter season no feast days of saints are observed. Rather, the first eight days of the Easter Season (i.e. from Easter Sunday to the Second Sunday of Easter), called the “Octave” of Easter (from the Latin “octo” meaning “eight”), are treated as solemnities of the Lord, and as…
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Learn Your Faith/Aprenda Su Fe: Scripture and Tradition
What is the difference between a “Catholic Bible” and a “Protestant Bible”? We have discussed the fact that the English word “Bible” comes from the Greek word which means “book”. The Bible is actually a collection of a number of books, some written before the coming of Christ (the Old Testament), and some written after His death and Resurrection (the New Testament).
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Learn Your Faith/Aprenda Su Fe: How Old is Your Church?
If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex- monk of the Catholic Church, in the year 1517. If you belong to the Church of England, your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the right…
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Learn Your Faith/Aprenda Su Fe: Divine Mercy Sunday After Easter
Among the various legitimate forms of popular devotion is the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. According to a recent Church document (Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy) “[G]enuine forms of popular piety, expressed in a multitude of different ways, derive from the faith and, therefore, must be valued and promoted. Such authentic expressions of popular…
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Learn Your Faith/Aprenda Su Fe: Veiling Statues in Lent
It has been the custom of the Roman Church from the 17th Century to the present to veil crosses, statues, and images of the saints (except the Stations of the Cross) from the 5th Sunday of Lent until Easter. The crosses are unveiled after the unveiling of the cross during the Good Friday liturgy, while…
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Learn Your Faith/Aprenda Su Fe: The Sign of the Cross
As Catholics we begin all things with the Sign of the Cross. Our prayers usually begin and end with this sign as do the Mass and the sacraments of Confession/Penance/Reconciliation, Baptism, Confirmation, and the Anointing of the Sick, as well as the Sacrament of Holy Orders (Ordination) all include anointing with Holy Oil tracing the…
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Funerals at the Parish/Funerales en la Parroquia
The death of a loved one, even when it is expected, is always a traumatic event. The Church has understood this very well for two millennia and has provided for Her children the funeral rites. The funeral rites (rituals, or liturgies) consist of three parts. The wake service (or Vigil), the Funeral Mass, and the…
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