171 quotes found
"I verily aver that the right or otherwise of the process of the evolution of the Electoral Bill into the Electoral Act 2001 is trite. However, it is noted that President Olusẹgun Ọbasanjọ has pronounced that no law is perfect and that those opposed to the Electoral Act should go to court. It is equally notable that Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim has indicated that any law can be revisited any time in the future. These are food for sober reflection and positive action. Consequently, a few remarks thereon are mandatory and urgent."
"On this score, I will briefly address the re-entry of Biafra as a talking drum in our recent polity. A minister of state (Mrs. Dupe Adelaja) had the recklessness to say that Biafran soldiers cannot enjoy retirement benefits, not minding, for instance, the reality that some of them were Nigerian soldiers before the emergence of Biafra and that pardon has been granted to all ex-Biafran soldiers."
"I think the first thing is to warn INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) to be careful. It is in their interest to be good neighbors to Nigerians and prove that the country was not a banana republic as the ruling party is making us believe."
"It's quite hard, especially because of African traditional culture where a woman's place is in the kitchen"
"Women have a tough time contesting elections and they have to show exemplary proficiency to get recognised."
"People were not used to seeing women in public meetings talking just like male politicians do. They realised that women can talk back."
"For a woman to be successful, she has to have a very supporting husband and family."
"Parliament is very unfriendly for a woman with a child. We are talking about it and we would like to see more women with children getting into parliament and then performing their parental duties without hindrance, without neglecting the children.""
"The Middle Ages as a whole and throughout their duration – with all the ambiguity of their chronological boundaries and of the very expression "Middle Ages" – prove to be an incomparable season of the culture of reason."
"The Lord sent his apostles to proclaim and bear witness to his Gospel throughout the whole world, so that all men – absolutely all men – might become believers in Him. It follows that his disciple will not blush to proclaim that the only "true religion" – to use Augustine's words – is that announced by Christ and in actuality in Him; that there is no Christian God and, equivalent or almost equivalent to him, the God of other religions, even if monotheistic, but that the only true God is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, or the Trinity."
"The P2 also wanted Moro's death because he opened the door to the PCI. And Cossiga was powerless."
"[On the judicial investigations that led to his removal] I was more upset about the end of another investigation, the one into IRI's slush funds. In the P2 case it was the first time, and I thought it was an accident that could happen. But the next time I was on the verge of resigning."
"The investigations into the Freemasons and the relationship between the lodges and the mafia must lead to the political responsibility of the Honourable Mrs Anselmi and her commission on P2. What emerged was already known at the time, but Mrs Anselmi, on behalf of the party system, did not want to clarify the situation regarding the Freemasons."
"No one can deny that P2 is a criminal organisation."
"Being a member of the P2 meant having participated in an organisation, a secret sect, plotting against the State, and this was ratified by Parliament. And I share this opinion that was formed after the investigation by the Anselmi Commission."
"[About the Plan of "Democratic" Rebirth, as in the picture] My Plan of rebirth? I see that twenty years later this Bicamerale [the Massimo D'Alema Bicamerale] is copying it piece by piece, with the Boato draft. Better late than never. They should at least give me the copyright..."
"Since fifteen years a group of people has been using public functions to solve their own problems of justice; Go and reread the proposals of P2, go and reread all those proposals, they are exactly those of a justice system subservient to power, they are exactly those of an anti-democratic state where a caste rules over a people who are no longer citizens but subjects."
"The list of P2 affiliates includes, they say, 953 names, corresponding to the highest ranks of politics, the judiciary, the armed forces, bureaucracy, industry and finance. All ‘brothers’. It's proof that, in this country, woe betide only children."
"I don't want to attack Andreotti, for heaven's sake, but how can we forget that he handed the State over to P2 by appointing Grassini, Santovito and Pelosi as heads of the secret services in 1978? All of them were members of P2. The same three who later investigated the Moro crime."
"It is still not completely clear how ramified this organisation is [ Fethullah Gülen ] which resembles your P2 lodge, a criminal organisation that calls itself religious."
"The instigators have never sat in the dock. During the years of massacres we realised that within the State there is an Anti-State: high PUDUIST officers who acted to divert the course of justice, also using Gladio or the Anello, implicated in the most murky events of our history. Evidence destroyed, witnesses systematically eliminated. A misdirection of enquiries that continues today."
"The Palace had its occult and transversal implications. P2 teaches. P2 has run transversally through all the institutions of the State. It's a fact, I'm not the one saying it, and I'm not accusing anyone because I'm not in a position to do so. [...] So the transversality of my alleged attitude within the Red Brigades is specious, so I don't feel in the least bit affected."
"[On P2] Three years later it became quite clear that that power group saw my presence at Eni as an insurmountable obstacle to the continuation of the business system that existed before my appointment in 1992, and was trying in every way possible to eliminate me."
"Since the landing of the Allies in Sicily, and the decision to involve the Mafia to facilitate it, a 'quiet life' relationship has been established with this criminal organisation, which has characterised decades of our history. It was a necessarily occult agreement. And even more occult and opaque has necessarily been its perpetuation. What could it have produced if not blackmail? The blackmail of the criminal powers over politics. Another example of that way of governing the country by compromise, and then by blackmail, is the 'Cirillo case'. Remember? A part of the DC came to an agreement with Raffaele Cutolo's Camorra to free councillor Ciro Cirillo, granting, in exchange, the criminality access to the public resources of the post-seismic reconstruction. And I could go on: Iri's slush funds; the P2..."
"Would Giulio Andreotti have been the true "master" of the P2 Lodge? For heaven's sake... I had the P2, Cossiga the Gladio and Andreotti the Ring."
"With P2 we had Italy in our hands. Then there was the Army, Financial Police, Police: they were clearly commanded by all people from the P2 Masonic lodge. [...] We never wanted to attack and we couldn't attack, but we were a sentinel to prevent the Communist Party from emerging."
"Being a piduist is not a title of demerit."
"P2 gathered the best men in the country, and signing up was not a mistake but an accident through no fault of our own."
"When I received my membership card it said I was an apprentice bricklayer and I, who was a great home builder at the time, couldn't help but have a good laugh."
"Licio Gelli: In this country there is the only charismatic figure who can truly lead it: Silvio Berlusconi."
"Gomez: But in the meantime we know how these things go: he will end up being acquitted."
"Jesus Christ, whose body and blood are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar under the forms of bread and wine; the bread being changed (transsubstantiatio) by divine power into the body, and the wine into the blood, so that to realize the mystery of unity we may receive of Him what He has received of us. And this sacrament no one can effect except the priest who has been duly ordained in accordance with the keys of the Church, which Jesus Christ Himself gave to the Apostles and their successors."
"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
"To understand transubstantiation, let's turn to a related word that is more familiar to us: transformation. Transformation means changing from one form to another, while transubstantiation means changing from one substance to another. Let's take an example. When we see a woman leaving the hairdresser's with a whole new hairstyle, we sometimes spontaneously exclaim: ‘What a transformation!’. No one would dream of exclaiming, ‘What a transubstantiation!’. And rightly so. Her form and external appearance have changed, but not her inner being and personality. If she was intelligent before, she is intelligent now; if she was not intelligent before, I am sorry to say that she is not intelligent now either. Appearances have changed, but not substance. In the Eucharist, exactly the opposite happens: substance changes, but appearances do not. The bread is transubstantiated, but not transformed; in fact, its appearance (form, taste, colour, weight) remains the same, while its profound reality has changed, it has become the body of Christ. The promise of Jesus heard at the beginning [of the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time] has been fulfilled: "The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.""
"The Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation...claims...the "Whole substance" of the wine is converted into the blood of Christ,; the appearance of wine that remains is "merely accidental", "inhering in no substance". Transubstantiation is colloquially taught as meaning that the wine "literally" turns into the blood of Christ. Whether in its obfuscatory Aristotelian or its franker colloquial form, the claim of transubstantiation can be made only if we do serious violence to the normal meanings of words like 'substance' and 'literally'."
"The spectator experiences the phenomenon of transmutation; through the change from inert matter into a work of art, an actual transubstantiation has taken place.. .All in all, the creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work into contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act."
"It seems to me that art is a great miracle-it is the showing forth of the Holy Spirit transubstantiation. It is to find and proclaim the poetry of life, without which there is no life."
"The Lord ... said: Unless a man shall eat my flesh, he shall not have in himself eternal life. Certain of his disciples, the seventy to wit, were scandalised, and said: This is a hard saying; who can understand it? And they departed from him, and walked with him no more. His saying ... seemed to them a hard one. They received it foolishly: they thought of it carnally. For they fancied, that the Lord was going to cut from his own body certain morsels and to give those morsels to them. Hence they said: This is a hard saying. But they themselves were hard: not the saying. For, if, instead of being hard, they had been mild, they would have ... learned from him what those learned, who remained while they departed. For, when the twelve disciples had remained with him after the others had departed, ... he instructed them, and said unto them: It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. The words, which I speak unto you, are spirit and life. As if he had said: Understand spiritually what I have spoken. You are Not about to eat this identical body, which you see; and you are Not about to drink this identical blood, which they who crucify me will pour out. I have commended unto you a certain sacrament. This, if spiritually understood, will quicken you. Though it must be celebrated visibly, it must be understood invisibly."
"In the interpretation of figurative passages, let the following canon be observed. If the passage be preceptive, either forbidding some flagitious deed and some heinous crime, or commanding something useful and beneficent: then such passage is not figurative. But, if the passage seems, either to command some flagitious deed and some heinous crime, or to forbid something useful and beneficent: then such passage is figurative. Thus, for example, Christ says: Unless ye shall eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood; ye shall have no life in you. Now, in these words, he seems to command a heinous crime or a flagitious deed. Therefore the passage is a figure, enjoining us to communicate in the passion of our Lord, and admonishing us to lay it up sweetly and usefully in our memory because, for us, his flesh was crucified and wounded. On the other hand, Scripture says: If thy enemy shall hunger, give him food; if he shall thirst, give him drink. Here, without all doubt, an act of beneficence is enjoined."
"But Christianity is an invention of sick brains: one could imagine nothing more senseless, nor any more indecent way of turning the idea of the Godhead into a mockery."
"To the gross senses the chair seems solid and substantial. But the gross senses and be refined by means of instruments. Closer observations are made, as the result of which we are forced to conclude that the chair is “really” a swarm of electric charges whizzing about in empty space. ... While the substantial chair is an abstraction easily made from the memories of innumerable sensations of sight and touch, the electric charge chair is a difficult and far-fetched abstraction from certain visual sensations so excessively rare (they can only come to us in the course of elaborate experiments) that not one man in a million has ever been in the position to make it for himself. The overwhelming majority of us accept the electric-charge chair on authority, as good Catholics accept transubstantiation."
"This only will I speak, and that in a word: they which brought in transubstantiations, masses, calling upon saints, sole life, purgatory, images, vows, trifles, follies, babbles, into the church of God, have delivered new things, and which the scriptures never heard of. Whatsoever they cry or crack, they bring not a jot out of the word of God... These they honour instead of the scriptures, and force them to the people instead of the word of God: upon these men suppose their salvation and the sum of religion to be grounded."
"Early man... sought to identify himself with the animals he especially admired, and when he ate their flesh it was not alone to nourish his body but also to enrich his psyche with their virtues. ...That aspiration... was to lead... to the physical horrors of cannibalism on the one hand and to the intellectual horrors of transubstantiation on the other. At a much earlier period it was to set up the curious institution of the totem... The falcon-god Horus, of the Egyptians, probably began as such a totem, and so did the cow Hathor and the serpent Neith."
"Nothing announced so sudden a destruction. The people in general seemed attached to the ceremonies of catholicism; but there are bodies struck with lightning, who seem still to preserve their life and organization, but touch them, and they crumble into dust. The people had the appearance of believing in the mass, in transubstantiation, and in the most received dogmas of the catholic faith; but the people did not believe in them at all. All the sarcasms of Voltaire against the priests, all the pleasantries of the author of the Pucelle, had reached them... There was only a single step to take to lay the revolutionary axe to the root of altars loaded with gold and silver: had they been naked, they would have escaped the destroying hand. It is not their overthrow which ought to astonish, but it is having seen them fall in one day, with all the circumstances of the most profound contempt or hatred. The progress of irreligion was extremely rapid amongst the vulgar, who armed themselves at once with hammers and levers to break the sacred images before which six months back they bent the knee. They were easily persuaded that it was a useful thing to transform the temples into magazines, golden cups and crosses into money, the iron grates into bullets, and the copper cherubim into cannon. The mob thought, that after the decree of national sovereignty, the right of doing every thing, of commanding every thing, and of not obeying, was fully devolved to them alone."
"The victory of orthodox Christian doctrine over classical thought was to some extent a , for the theology that triumphed over Greek philosophy has continued to be shaped ever since by the language and the thought of classical metaphysics. For example, the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 decreed that "in the sacrament of the altar... the bread is transubstantiated into the body [of Christ]." ...Most of the theological expositions of the term "" have interpreted "substance" [according] to the meaning given this term ...in the fifth book of Aristotle's Metaphysics; transubstantiation, then, would appear to be tied to the acceptance of Aristotelian metaphysics or even of Aristotelian physics. ...Transubstantiation is an individual instance of what has been called the problem of "the hellenization of Christianity.""
"Mr. Gibbon has much to learn concerning the gospel before he can be properly qualified to write against it. Hitherto he seems to have been acquainted with nothing but the corrupt establishments of what is very improperly called Christianity; whereas it is incumbent upon him to read and study the New Testament for himself. There he will find nothing like Platonism, but doctrines in every respect the reverse of that system of philosophy, which weak and undistinguishing christians afterwards incorporated with it. Had Mr. Gibbon lived in France, Spain, or Italy, he might with the same reason have ranked the doctrine of transubstantiation, and the worship of saints and angels among the essentials of Christianity, as the doctrines of the trinity and of the atonement."
"'Twas God the Word that spake it, He took the Bread and brake it: And what that Word did make it, That I believe and take it."
"They had only three sacraments, baptism, eucharist, and the orders; and would not admit transubstantiation in the manner the Roman Catholics do. They knew nothing of purgatory; and the saints they said were not admitted to the presence of GOD, but were kept in a third place till the day of judgment. Their priests were permitted to marry, at least once in their life. Their rite was the Chaldaean or Syrian.… The uncontrolled power of Papal Rome had not then reached the Syrian churches in Travencore: they preserved their independence, and remained for ages unmolested, until the maritime discovery of India by de Gama: after which, priests and inquisitors from Goa disturbed their peace, burnt their unadulterated versions of the sacred scriptures, and compelled many of their churches to acknowledge the pope’s supremacy."
"(About Susanna Agnelli) She has always been the least Turinese member of the Agnelli family and, one might add, the most public."
"Susanna Agnelli, known as ‘Suni’, a nickname that always sounded terribly snobbish simply because she bore it, has always remained a mysterious woman: paradoxically, aloof. A tall, imposing figure with an ironic smile and an equally ironic gaze, little is known about her private life, her children or her friends. She was a sort of manifesto for silent female emancipation. But never, at heart, ostentatious; and perhaps she paid dearly for it."
"This book is about a survivor: of two world wars, seven popes, the monarchy, fascism, the First Republic and perhaps even the Second, if it is true that it is in crisis. And of six trials for mafia association and murder. It is the biography of a protagonist and witness who is quite unique in the Italian landscape: a friend of popes, heads of state, nuns, beggars, bankrupts, saints, dictators, actresses, emirs, painters, footballers, thieves and mafia colluders. A former powerful figure who is difficult to define as ‘former’, and about whom the younger generations know little and the older ones think they know (almost) everything, even if this is not true."
"Andreotti dreamed of a ‘Christian’ cinema that would compensate for the cultural primacy of the communists. Following his inclination towards concrete things, he listed the box office takings of Roman cinemas for the screening of the film [Gli uomini non guardano il cielo] on the life of Pius X, and compared them with the much higher takings of Siamo tutti assassini. He concluded that films about popes were not ‘box office hits’ even for Roman Catholics, who were supposed to be pious. (p. 51)"
"[...] as Minister of Finance, [Andreotti] had intervened to have a poster changed in which Anna Magnani was dressed as a nun. The problem was called Pascalina Lehnert. Sister Pascalina, who was a kind of ‘housekeeper’ to the Pope, belonged to the order of Franciscan Missionary Sisters, who considered their habit to be ‘desecrated’ by the poster. The poster was changed and some scenes from the film [Suor Letizia] were reshot. Sister Pascalina had won, and Andreotti had earned himself extra credit with Pius XII. (p. 52)"
"Massimo Franco, Andreotti. , Oscar Mondadori, Milano, 2010. ISBN 978-88-04-59563-2"
"[...] the Christian idea of man “made in the image and likeness of God” has created, on a political level, a tension that runs through the entire history of the West. It is, in fact, an ideal which, despite compromising and even murky vicissitudes, between ‘theocratic’ temptations and ‘satanocratic’ rejections of political power, has exerted, throughout history, a sometimes overwhelming pressure on its antithetical worldly element. “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's”: with this, the principle that Káysar is not Kýrios entered history – political power was desacralised, the worldly order relativised, and Caesar's demands subjected to a judgement of legitimacy by an inviolable conscience. On this basis, Origen could justify, against Celsus, the refusal of Christians to associate themselves with the cult of the emperor or to refuse to kill in obedience to his orders."
"You cannot be a philosopher. You cannot be one because you are a believer. A Catholic cannot be a philosopher'. So said Ugo Spirito to me one day. And this was the claim of most of the most influential philosophical movements of the century just ended. It was the presumption of those idealists for whom philosophy had among its tasks that of bringing to rational awareness contents embedded in “religious myths”."
"In science, nothing is certain: neither general assertions nor observational assertions. (p. 7)"
"The acceptability of a scientific theory is relative to the knowledge and technical resources available at a given time. (p. 7)"
"An open society is [...] open to as many people as possible with different and perhaps conflicting ideas, ideals and beliefs — it is open to as many as possible, but not to everyone. It is closed, on pain of self-destruction, only to the intolerant, that is, to those who, believing themselves to be in possession of absolute truths and exclusive values, attempt to impose these truths and values at any cost, even with tears of blood. (p. 11)"
"“'Information does not produce imperatives”'. And, therefore, it is not logically possible to move from being to ought to be. This, in short, is the law of Hume, the great division between indicative assertions and prescriptive assertions, between facts and values. This law is a death sentence for natural law and tells us that values are not based on science: they are based on our “choices of conscience”. (p. 62)"
"At the beginning of the academic year 1946-1947, Karl R. Popper received an invitation from the Secretary of the Moral Science Club in Cambridge to give a lecture. This was the occasion for the clash between Popper and Wittgenstein on the tasks of philosophy. But here is what happened the day after Popper gave his lecture. The next day, Popper recounts in his Autobiography, on the train to London, there were two students sitting opposite each other in my compartment, a boy reading a book and a girl reading a left-wing newspaper. Suddenly, the girl asked, “Who is this Karl Popper?” And the boy replied, “Never heard of him”. Such is fame. (I later learned that the newspaper contained an attack on “The Open Society”)."
"Living is learning. Science evolves in a Darwinian way: through trial and error."
"Popper argues that the worst aspects of Marxism stem from Hegelianism, namely historicism and totalitarianism. Not only Hegel, but also Marx is a “false prophet”."
"Closely connected with the idea of “rationality”, understood as a critical attitude, Popper developed the theory of the “open society”. Critical of “historicism”, i.e. the claim that one can grasp the “laws” that guide the whole of human history, Popper opposed “holism” (i.e. the idea that society can be known in its entirety) and “utopianism” (the idea that society can be “changed” in its entirety according to a deliberate plan)."
"Popper developed what is today the most rigorous, articulate and devastating critique of Marxism."
"Despite the long history of the “controversy over method”, which has seen a series of attempts – from Dilthey to the Frankfurt School – to deny (especially by some historians, sociologists and philosophers) the unity of the “scientific method”, today it seems increasingly clear that scientific theories are constructed, tested, confirmed or rejected through a “single methodology”."
"Having more theories available that allow us to see different aspects of an event and attempt to discard existing theories is not a weakness, but a strength."
"The continuous proposal of alternatives and relentless criticism are the two pillars on which all scientific research is based."
"Life is understood through life. The past is understood through the present: it is present “experience” that makes past experiences relevant, that gives blood to shadows, that brings them back to life."
"Quite a few intellectuals, undoubtedly well-intentioned, have repeatedly emphasised the fact that Europe does not have today, and will have even less tomorrow, a single philosophy, a single faith, a single morality. They have seen and continue to see this as the weakness of the West and the fragility of Europe. In short, Europe would be weak without such a “unifying idea, a single faith” to proudly oppose other cultures that are far more monolithic and dogmatic."
"Christianity was the most important political event in the West: by religious decree, the state cannot be everything. Theocracy, therefore, is not part of Europe's destiny."
"Supreme values are the subject of conscious choices: they are neither “proven” theorems nor “self-evident” and “self-founding” axioms."
"Europe is its history. “And this history is not the history of an idea that allows only one tradition, but the history of a tradition that allows the most diverse and daring ideas”."
"Honor the teachers that open the mind."
"Fear history, for it respects no secrets."
"Another reason, perhaps the most important one, why only men and not women can become priests in the Church is based on the fact that, when offering the Eucharistic sacrifice on the altar, the priest acts in persona Christi, the Heavenly High Priest (cf. Heb. 2:17). ‘Christ is here preparing the supper,’ says John Chrysostom (De Jud. 6), ‘for it is not by the work of a man that what is on the altar becomes the Body and Blood of Christ. When he approaches the altar and presents his priestly supplication there, he is only the interpreter and representative of the Saviour, but the grace and power that accomplishes everything is that of the Lord.’Now, since Jesus here on earth as a man was precisely a man, a woman cannot represent him at the altar, even if she were fully worthy. On the contrary, a man is suitable to do so, not because of his character or because he is worthy but solely because this is the will of Jesus by virtue of priestly consecration."
"God created the world through an active speech. God's Word is not descriptive, it is creative. God speaks the worls is being...God's Word changes, it is effective, makes things happen...What God says, is. If Jesus is just a spiritual teacher among many, one great religious figure, okay, fine. But there are thousands of those. What claims the Church is He is not a human figure amomg many, but He is the Word made flesh. The very embodiement of God [as a] transformative and creative work. The night before he dies, that Jesus took bread, the Pasqual bead, and said: "This is my Body." Taking the goblet with the meal, said: "This is the chalice of my Blood". If that [was said] by a human being, a great hero, a philosopher, a social reformer, okay, we say: "He is using a symbolic talk." But who is saying that? The Word made flesh. The Word whose speech constitutes reality at the deepest level. Just as if God spokes you to be, so Jesus speaks His presence into being, over the appearence of bread and wine...We move into His very identity at that point. We now commence to speak in the first person, saying: "Take this, all of you, and eat it. This is my Body given for you." We speak in persona Christi, we speak in the very Word of Jesus."
"He eliminates the work of his predecessors by placing arbitrary limits and obstacles to what they, with intra-ecclesial ecumenical intent and respect for the freedom of priests and faithful, established! It promotes ecclesial communion in reverse. The new measures involve a regrettable step backwards."
"(Regarding Summorum Pontificum for Holy Mass and the liturgy in Latin) What person of common sense would think that following traditional cuisine is contrary to innovative cuisine? Yet ideology is such that it denies reality: many young people and adults are rediscovering the faith (often discovering their vocation) by participating in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. This evidence is denied: it is always ideology. Anyone who wanted to annul the motu proprio would find themselves facing a great movement of resistance, an antagonistic Church, a growing and irrepressible reality, for the simple fact that it experiences the reform of the liturgy as a rebirth of the sacred in hearts, not as a spasmodic search for novelty drawn from current fashions."
"Let us be encouraged to carry out the work of mercy of "praying for the dead" (through personal prayer, the recitation of the Holy Rosary, holy hours offered in reparation, and most importantly, the Holy Mass), to visit their tombs in order to honor our roots and become aware of the temporariness of our lives on this earth. Thus we will be enlightening our brothers and sisters in the faith and all men and women of good will."
"[About the motu proprio Traditionis custodes] It brokes Pope Benedict’s heart."
"In vernacular language, it is said that the Precious Blood was shed “for all,” whereas in the Latin text (even the latest revised Latin text) it is said that the Precious Blood is “for many” and not “for all.” [...] The new Offertory prayers do not express the Catholic notion of sacrifice. They simply express the concept of a mere sharing of bread and wine. For example, the Tridentine Mass addresses the prayer to God: “Accept, O holy Father, almighty and eternal God, this Immaculate Victim which your unworthy servant offers to You, my living and true God, in reparation for my countless sins, offenses, and negligence.” The new Mass says: “We offer this bread as the bread of life.” There is no mention of sacrifice or victim. Interviewer: Could you cite a translation that actually contradicts Catholic dogma? Mgr. Lefebvre: Yes. For example, in the Latin text, the Virgin Mary is called Semper Virgo, “Ever Virgin.” In all modern translations, the word “ever” has been removed. This is very serious, because there is a big difference between ‘Virgin’ and “Ever Virgin.” It is very dangerous to tamper with translations of this kind."
"They placed a new missal in my hands, saying, “Here is the Mass you must celebrate and will now celebrate in all your houses.” They also told me that if, on this date, today, June 29, before our assembly, we had celebrated a Mass according to the new rite, everything between us and Rome would now be settled."
"Archbishop Mgr. Marcel Lefebvre, Mons. Lefebvre in 2 minuti spiega il disastro dottrinale e liturgico vaticanosecondista (In two minutes, Archbishop Lefebvre explains the doctrinal and liturgical disaster of Vatican II), radiospada, 20 December 2024 (in French with subtitles in Italian)."
"Note here a problem: unity is achieved in the Faith. And unity cannot be achieved with an indult, a privilege that has one thing in view for some and its opposite for others. For some, the priests and faithful who want to keep the Tridentine Mass, it is a means of preserving Tradition, but for the Roman authorities – they now admit it openly – it is a means of gradually and completely bringing them over to the “conciliar Church”, to the way of thinking proper to the Church of today. All this has been established and promised in the light of the protocol signed on 5 May 1988 by Cardinal Ratzinger and Mgr. Lefebvre. Let us return to the wisdom of Msgr. Lefebvre."
"Every holy Mass, heard with devotion, produces in our souls marvelous effects, abundant spiritual and material graces which we, ourselves, do not know. It is easier for the earth to exist without the sun than without the holy Sacrifice of the Mass."
"We insist on strengthening the community and promoting the physical presence at the celebrations of Holy Mass and other Sacraments, without which there is no basic support for living the faith. I think that the modern means of communication are very useful, but they will never replace the physical presence in the churches."
"The Extraordinary Form speaks, literally (because it is in Latin), and figuratively, a different language; and I think some people who need to can come back to faith through it."
"... we have labored under Modernism for these sixty years, and have watched with horror the disintegration of everything that made our Faith beautiful: Catholic doctrine, good and holy priests, an abundance of devout and zealous religious brothers and nuns, Catholic schools, Catholic universities, Catholic seminaries teeming with holy seminarians aspiring to the priesthood, the traditional Latin Mass, traditional sacraments, the Legion of Decency, religious habits, priests in cassocks and Roman collars, magnificent churches, elaborate ceremonies, Gregorian chant and other beautiful church music, discipline, orthodoxy, modest dress, good morals. I could go on. What I describe is the world of my childhood which, at the time, I took for granted, but which I loved and cherished."
"It’s my belief that the Church must get past these human-formed groups and sects, because, frankly, all of that has become a hindrance and distraction. The Divine meets us there, at the altar, but, meanwhile, we have been chewing each other up and ripping one another apart — and what are the fruits of this? This isn’t the Holy Spirit, this division.I encourage those in the traditional congregations to remember why they love the liturgy, why and how the reverence points to him. There is such a great opportunity for setting an example of simple, joyful reverence in the extraordinary form. That sense of awe that I experienced should be experienced by all. I understand it may be that for some who attend these traditional Latin Masses; the lack of reverence they have experienced [in the ordinary form] and even possible persecution from those within the Church for their reverence, has caused a reactionary response. But the fruits of discord, division, sectarianism, elitism, even spiritual pride: These cannot be from the liturgy — it is fully human, reactionary. I think this is where the devil seeps in, distracting this community from the focus on Jesus to a focus on the ritual, on legalism and even elitism. It’s a subtle deception."
"We must all – all of us – work diligently to revitalize out sacred liturgical worship, especially through more frequent and widespread celebrations of the Traditional Latin Mass. We need the mighty sustenance of the older rites, which we crafted in tougher times and polished like treasured jewels for centuries and lovingly handed down by forebears to their children who knew, as life had taught them, that hard times were ahead."
"My servant ... was numbered with the transgressors."
"Let us pray to God...for the Catholic Church, its establishment and increase; for the Eastern, its deliverance and union; for the Western, its adjustment and peace; for the British, the supply of what is wanting in it, the strengthening of what remains in it; for the episcopate, presbytery, Christian people...for all whom I have promised to remember in my prayers; or from mutual offices, for all who remember me in their prayers, and ask of me the same; or from stress of engagements, for all who on sufficient reasons fail to call upon Thee; for all who have no intercessor in their own behalf..."
"They were able to bear witness to their faith even in the difficult times of the forced closure of our church. The heroic testimony of the faith of our ancestors, to the point of martyrdom, and their intercession in heaven have contributed to the fact that in the Greek Catholic Church of Slovakia we are able to thank God for the abundance of priestly vocations."
"Fourteen centuries after the Christianization of the Croats, has the time finally come for maturity, the time of our confirmation – confirmation of humanity and faith? Has the time come for a transition from the selfish egocentrism of the individual, party, government and opposition into a mature, conscious person open to dialogue and the society, where Domnius' language of the value of openness and respect, justice and solidarity, the common good and unity, to all of us in the city of Split and the homeland of Croatia, will be our everyday, understandable and acceptable language? I believe that it is! That is why we ask his intercession today and celebrate him."
"Where there is Mary, there is Jesus and where there is Jesus there is joy, Mary is not only the Mother of God, she is the Mother of all of us who seek her constant intercession, we entrust our suffering to her."
"Prayer is petition, intercession, adoration, and contemplation; great saints and mystics have agreed on this definition. To stop short at petition is to pray only in a crippled fashion. Further, such prayer encourages one of the faults which is most reprehended by spiritual instructors — turning to God without turning from Self."
"All those who were physically healed in Lourdes have died or will die, even if for evils other than those for which they turned to Mary's intercession. [...] It is an obvious reflection, perhaps apparently banal. Yet, it allows us to clarify the Catholic's perspective in the face of the impressive dossier of "physical" healings which, at the foot of the Pyrenees, have not ceased to occur since 1858. The believer, that is, knows that what is promised by the Gospel - what 'everyone' is promised - it is indeed the radical and definitive "healing" of the body too; but only when this is resurrected to eternal life. (Vittorio Messori)"
"Yes, it has been a long and painful journey. I went to Lourdes in January and felt great straight after for a long time. It's an incredible place."
"Cristiano De André"
"Miracles are not the intercession of an external, divine agency in violoation of the laws of nature. A miracles is something impossible from an old understanding of reality, and possible from a new one."
"The Muslim reform movements of the nineteenth century helped to transform Muslim attitudes towards Hindus. They were essen¬ tially rejections of medieval Islam in India in favour of early Islam in Arabia. They were not movements confined to the library and to the study; their exponents did not merely formulate intellectual positions against monism, but went out and preached against the customs which so many Muslims shared with Hindus - intercession at the tombs of saints, consultation of Brahmins, even vegetarianism and aversion to the remarriage of widows. Muslims in India were to be made aware of what they did not share with their non-Muslim neighbours. India could be made by the reformers to feel not like a home, but like a habitat."
"Holiness is religious principle put into motion. It is the love of God sent forth into circulation, on the feet, and with the hands of love to men. It is faith gone to work. It is charity coined into actions, and devotion breathing benedictions on human suffering, while it goes up in intercession to the Father of all piety."
"Today I pray in a special way for peace and harmony in this country, so that with God's help and through the intercession of Our Lady of Budslau we can overcome."
"The most satisfactory way [in Jainism], perhaps, at arriving any conclusion is to divide the subject of prayer into various elements, such as petition, intercession, adoration, thanksgiving and to note under each head the actual practice and the sometimes conflicting opinions of the Jains."
"Father in heaven, just as the congregation’s intercessory prayer usually asks that you yourself will comfort all who are sick and sorrowful, so in this hour it asks that you give rest for their souls to those who labor and are burdened. And yet this is no intercession: who would dare to think himself so healthy that he would pray only for others. Alas, no, everyone is praying for himself, praying that you will give him rest for his soul. Give, O God, rest for the soul to each one individually whom you see are laboring and burdened in the consciousness of sins."
"I take the suffering of people caused by the events taking place with deep and heartfelt pain. I call on all parties to the conflict to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties. I appeal to the bishops, pastors, monastics, and laity to provide all possible assistance to all victims, including refugees and people left homeless and without means of livelihood. The Russian and Ukrainian peoples have a common centuries-old history dating back to the Baptism of Rus’ by Prince St. Vladimir the Equal-to-the-Apostles. I believe that this God-given affinity will help overcome the divisions and disagreements that have arisen that have led to the current conflict. I call on the entire fullness of the Russian Orthodox Church to offer a special, fervent prayer for the speedy restoration of peace. May the All-merciful Lord, through the intercession of our Most Pure Lady the Theotokos and all the saints, preserve the Russian, Ukrainian, and other peoples who are spiritually united by our Church!"
"O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon thy holy name, and as suppliants we implore thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin Immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious Archangel St. Michael, thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls. Amen."
"Please join me in thanking Our Lord for the election of Pope Leo XIV, Successor of St. Peter, as Shepherd of the Church throughout the world.The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse has a particularly strong bond with the Roman Pontiff, especially through its affiliation with the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major. I urge all pilgrims and friends of the Shrine to pray fervently for Pope Leo XIV that Our Lord, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Peter the Apostle and Pope St. Leo the Great, may grant him abundant wisdom, strength and courage to do all that Our Lord asks of him in these tumultuous times. May God bless Pope Leo and grant him many years."
"It is only Jesus Christ who has thrown light on life and immortality through the Gospel; and because He has done so, and has enabled us by His Atoning Death and Intercession to make the most of this discovery, His Gospel is, for all who will, a power of God unto salvation."
"Christ by His intercession is able to save thee beyond the horizon and largest compass of thy thoughts, even to the utmost. In danger Christ lashes us to Himself, as Alpine guides do when there is perilous ice to get over."
"There are not petitional or intercessory prayers in Buddhism. However much we may pray to the Buddha we cannot be saved. The Buddha does not grant favors to those who pray to Him. Instead of petitional prayers there is meditation that leads to self-control, purification and enlightenment. Meditation is neither a silent reverie nor keeping the mind blank. It is an active striving. It serves as a tonic both to the heart and the mind. The Buddha not only speaks of the futility of offering prayers but also disparages a slave mentality. A Buddhist should not pray to be saved, but should rely on himself and win his freedom."
"5. The incarnation of the Son of God, His work of atonement for the sins of mankind, and His mediatorial intercession and reign;"
"I guess when we love somebody we want to see them loved by others and being praised by others. And that's what Jesus, even all through history, so many miracles are done at the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, so much good comes into the world at the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, because Jesus wants her to be loved. Wants people, wants you and I to love her as much as he loves her."
"We will do our part, but everything is in God's hands, but one thing is certain: Niña now offers herself to us and to the faithful around the world, especially children and young people, as a model of Christian life. In her life she chose the path of holiness, she wanted to be close to the heart of God, she accepted and was faithful to the will of God in her journey. At this time we continue to ask for her intercession and we continue to work for the cause, praying and hoping that one day, God willing, she will be presented to us by Mother Church as Saint Niña Ruiz-Abad."
"Certainly, in the full and strict meaning of the term, only Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is King; but Mary, too, as Mother of the divine Christ, as His associate in the redemption, in his struggle with His enemies and His final victory over them, has a share, though in a limited and analogous way, in His royal dignity. For from her union with Christ she attains a radiant eminence transcending that of any other creature; from her union with Christ she receives the royal right to dispose of the treasures of the Divine Redeemer's Kingdom; from her union with Christ finally is derived the inexhaustible efficacy of her maternal intercession before the Son and His Father."
"And cite for them the example of the people of the town, when the messengers came to it. Where We sent two to them, but they disbelieved in them, so We supported them with a third one, thus they said: "We are messengers to you." They replied: "You are but human beings like us, and the Almighty did not send down anything, you are only telling lies." They said: "Our Lord knows that we have been sent to you. And we are only required to give a clear delivery." They replied: "We have welcomed you better than you deserve. If you do not cease, we will stone you, and you will receive a painful retribution from us!" They said: "Keep your welcome with you, for you have been reminded. Indeed, you are transgressing people." And a man came running from the farthest part of the city, saying: "O my people, follow the messengers. Follow those who do not ask you for any wage, and are guided. And why should I not serve the One who created me, and to Him is your ultimate return? Shall I take gods besides Him? If the Almighty intends any harm for me, their intercession cannot help me in the least, nor can they save me. Then I would be clearly astray." "I have believed in your Lord, so listen to me!" It was said: "Enter Paradise." He said "Oh, how I wish my people only knew! Of what my Lord has forgiven me, and made me of the honoured ones." And We did not send down upon his people after him soldiers from the sky; for there was no need to send them down."
"Prayer is a relationship with God, probably the most personal and intimate aspect of our lives. My ministry as a bishop has expanded my vision of prayer, and even though prayer has always been a part of my life, I would say one thing that has grown is my intercessory prayer. There are so many individuals and things to pray for. With the mission of bishop, and as a shepherd to the faithful, I first and foremost want to reach out to everyone, and there’s no better way to do that than through prayer. I have a deeper consciousness of inner prayer, and bringing to the heart of Christ the intercession that has been entrusted to me."
"If the infidels pray, they will surely seek the intercession of their idols, which is taking things too far… A wise man has said that unless you become a maniac (diwanah) you cannot attain Islam. The state of this mania means going beyond considerations of profit and loss. Whatever one gains in the service of Islam should suffice…"
"So it was that the Catherines poured water and spooned gruel, while the Clares prayed for the intercession of the saints. The Catherines changed sheets. The Clares practiced mortification of the flesh. The Catherines employed antibiotics. The Clares made a public display of a kneecap of their patron saint. It was soon widely know to which hospital one went to get well, and to which one went to die."
"I have often encountered certain people still attached to the fables of pagan mythology who ridicule our belief and assert that faith is all we require of those whom we give religious instruction. They also point with scorn at the Apostles' lack of education and stigmatize these men as uncouth and ignorant of the niceties of cultivated speech. They further say that the veneration shown to the martyrs is absurd. And as for the living seeking to obtain the intercession of the dead, this, they declare, is the utmost folly."
"I am grateful to the Lord for his grace in choosing me, a humble servant, as Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Beijing. I am aware that I do not have the qualities required for the task entrusted to me, but I accept it in faith and entrust myself to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Matthew the Apostle, trusting with all my heart and promising to dedicate myself entirely to the fulfillment of my pastoral duties, because "I do all things for the sake of Gospel.""
"That intercession is like this:"
"You should knot that a certain Franciscan from France, whose name indeed was Franz, was here not many days since and had such conversation with me concerning the Scriptural basis for the doctrine of the adoration of the saints and their intercession for us. He was not able to convince me with the assistance of a single passage of Scripture that the saints do pray for us, as he had with a great deal of assurance boasted he should do. At last he went to Basel, where he recounted the affair in an entirely different way from the reality - in fact he lied about it. So it seemed good to me to let you know about these things that you might not be ignorant of that Cumaean lion, if perchance he should ever turn your way. There followed within six days another strife with our brethren preachers of the [different orders in Zurich, especially with the Augustinians]. Finally the burgonmaster and the Council appointed for them three commissioners on whom this was enjoined - that Aquinas and the rest of the doctors of that class being put aside they should base their arguments alone upon those sacred writings which are contained in the Bible. This troubled those beasts so much that one brother, the father reader of the order of Preachers [i.e., the Dominicans] cut loose from us, and we wept - as one weeps when a cross-grained and rich stepmother has departed this life. Meanwhile there are those who threaten, but God will turn the evil upon His enemies."
"Francis will go down in history as the Pope of reform. He has done a great deal to reform the Church, and this must continue, and I believe it will continue, for the simple reason that before leaving office he concluded the cycle of the Synod on synodality. And what has been produced by this Synod has become a heritage for the whole Church. Interviewer: You mentioned synodality. In mid-March, Francis approved the start of a synodal journey that should lead to an ecclesial assembly in 2028. Can we say that this synodal journey remains unfinished? Cardinal Ambongo: I wouldn't say unfinished. The Pope always repeated: "I pray to the Lord that he will grant me enough time so that the reforms that have begun can reach the point of no return." I believe that the reform initiatives undertaken by Francis have now reached that point. That is why I am convinced that the reforms will continue."
"The synod that will begin tomorrow conceals an agenda that is more political and human than ecclesial and divine. The will is to profoundly change the hierarchical constitution of the Church is clear, with a further consequence a weakening of teaching on morality as well as discipline in the Church."
"Our Lord Jesus Christ who alone is our Savior is not at the root and center of synodality."
"After the great times of John Paul II, who gave us a vision of a universal Church capable of breaking down walls, and after Benedict XVI, who spoke to us about God in a profound and accessible way, Pope Francis has offered a synthesis of these two visions. I believe that we cannot fail to continue along this line. However, each Pope interprets Peter's mandate in his own original way, listening to his brothers gathered in the Conclave, who bring with them the experiences of their Churches and cultures. [...] The new pontiff will have to strengthen the unity of the Church. He will have to intensify ecumenical relations and interreligious dialogue. And then there is the methodology: the Church has walked on a path of synodality, collegiality and appreciation of episcopal conferences. I believe that this path must be consolidated. The new pope is called to walk among his people, but keeping in mind the realities of those who are ahead, those who are behind, and those who are on the right and on the left."
"There is still a long way but the model of conjugation between synodality and primacy certainly opens a fruitful way."
"The time has arrived when we all have to ask ourselves "What is up to me to do?", and I believe that that is synodality."
"Working together as a team allows the laity greater participation within the dynamics of responsibility. I would like that the three of us, and all of the staff of the Synod Secretariat, work out of the same spirit of collaboration and experience a new style of "synodal" leadership, a leadership of service that is less clerical and hierarchical, that allows participation and co-responsibility without at the same time abdicating the responsibilities entrusted to them."
"I would say that the 2021–2024 Synod was a "first" in many ways. It was the first time that the regulations of Episcopalis Communio were fully applied. It was the first time that the entire Church—and everyone within it—had the opportunity to participate in the synodal process. It was the first time that non-bishop members participated in the Assembly. It was the first time that a Final Document was immediately approved by the Holy Father, thus becoming part of his ordinary Magisterium."
"Historically, primacy has never excluded synodality, nor has synodality excluded primacy."
"It will be a pontificate in continuity with the magisterium of Pope Francis. I am very happy about that. This is what the majority of the cardinals wanted ... but with a style of their own. [...] Pope Leo XIV, in his first message, spoke of a “synodal Church.” Having participated in the work of the Synod, we have a Pope who knows synodality, who understands it, who dares to be synodal. There will not be a revolution, but an evolution."
"To all of you, brothers and sisters of Rome, of Italy, of the whole world, we want to be a synodal Church, a Church that walks, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, which always seeks to be close especially to those who suffer."
"Expanding the space of your tent means drawing closer together so there’s more room for others to join us."
"Monsignor Marcel Lefebvre is one of the most important guardians of Catholic Tradition who distinguished themselves in the 20th century. He is a champion of the deposit of faith of the Holy Roman Church, a faithful guardian of the Holy Mass, of the sanctifying integrity of the priesthood, of the Petrine primacy, and of the stable and firm Creed. In the collective imagination, his name is often linked to the figure of a “rebellious” bishop who was disobedient to the Church. Since the 1970s, just uttering his name seemed to evoke who knows what negativity, who knows what divisions... Much of the press and journalists portrayed him as a “schismatic,” someone who wanted to create his own Church... In reality, he was an uncomfortable figure because he spoke with courageous clarity at a time of great confusion in the Church and in the world."
"Catherine of Siena was only six years old when Jesus appeared to her dressed majestically as the Supreme Pontiff, with three crowns on his head and a red cloak, flanked by St. Peter, St. John, and St. Paul. She devoted herself to serving the Church and, in particular, the clergy and the Pope."
"For more than 50 years, since Vatican II, the Church, in its constant anxiety and tension to “dialogue” with the world and pay attention to those “far away,” has increasingly distanced itself from itself, losing its adherence to doctrine and, therefore, to the principles that constitute its own identity."
"Maria Montessori, busy giving lectures in various cities, committed herself to raising public awareness of “modern charity,” where the theme of the “new woman” emerged. She became a champion of women's emancipation and ideals of peace. In March 1896, she became co-founder and deputy secretary of a Roman women's association and in 1899 she joined the Maternal Union. She took up the women's cause in international forums, such as the Women's Congress in London in 1899, where she was approached by Guido Baccelli (1830-1916), who had experienced the barricades that defended the Roman Republic from the assault of French troops in 1849 and was seven times Minister of Education. Also in 1899, Montessori joined the Theosophical Society, founded in 1875 in New York for the study and dissemination of theosophy (divine wisdom) and esoteric sciences. Adhering to the Masonic principle of “universal brotherhood,” theosophy was based on the motto “there is no religion higher than truth.” No specific profession of faith was required of its members. This institution and its official organ, The Theosophist (1879), were founded by Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891), a Russian-born American philosopher, theosophist, occult essayist, and medium, and Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907) ."
"The cult arose in the 14th century, when Europe was ravaged by the Black Death, which began around 1346 in northern China and spread through Syria to Turkey in successive waves, eventually reaching Greece, Egypt, and the Balkan Peninsula. [...] The outbreaks of the pandemic disappeared in 1353, after killing at least a third of the continent's population: according to the most recent estimates, it caused the death of 20 million people. It was at that time and in Germany that Christians began to pray to a group of fourteen saints, each famous for their extraordinary miracles."
"The pilgrimage was a life choice, very difficult and very risky. Traveling to the Holy Land was a real gamble for one's physical safety. When deciding to set out for the sacred places of Jesus Christ, it was necessary to do so with armed groups to prevent attacks by marauders and Muslims. The crusade itself was experienced as a particular form of pilgrimage, to defend the holy places and, therefore, the Faith and Christianity."
"Cardinal Burke emphasized the real importance of the Catechism published in 1912: it is not simply a religious and historical aid to be celebrated, and urged by the public, he stated that the Pius X remains to this day a firm and indispensable point of reference."
"In a Benedictine monastery in Andechs, Germany, there is a relic of the miracle that took place in Rome in 595, during a Holy Mass celebrated by St. Gregory the Great. At the moment of receiving Holy Communion, a Roman noblewoman began to laugh because she was assailed by doubts about the truth of Christ's real presence in the consecrated bread and wine. The Pope then decided not to give her Communion, and immediately the bread and wine were transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ."
"The Church teaches that Saint Joseph, a model for both consecrated persons and fathers of families, has an unparalleled power of intercession with the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Furthermore, he who died in the sweet company of the Blessed Virgin and Jesus is the patron of the dying, the hope of the sick, and is able to protect the dying from the attacks of Satan."
"Mary's Davidic descent is common among the Church Fathers. St. Paul's own statement that Jesus was “born of the seed of David according to the flesh” confirms this. According to John of Damascus, Luke's genealogy is that of Mary, while Matthew describes the genealogy of Joseph. St. John of Damascus' hypothesis was promoted by Annius of Viterbo in 1502 and has since gained widespread acceptance. Luke's genealogy would account for Mary's Davidic descent, first hypothesized by Irenaeus of Lyon, and Jesus would be “son of David” even according to the flesh, making the prophecy of Psalm 131:11 and the announcement of the Angel Gabriel to Mary Most Holy true. St. Thomas Aquinas added to St. Irenaeus' hypothesis that Mary belonged to the tribe of Levi on her mother's side, like Elizabeth, her relative (Luke 1:5, 36)."
"Tradition is an ever-present legacy, ageless, as is God. The Tradition of the Church is gold, and gold cannot undergo evolution or alteration, otherwise it would no longer be itself; the only process suitable for gold is polishing, to revive its color and brilliance, which is the only “development” in the present of Tradition."
"In the Litany of the Saints prayed in Purgatory by those who were envious on earth, Saint Michael is the second to be named, after Mary Most Holy, a sign of his great power of intercession (Purgatory XIII, 51). The Virgin Mary and the Archangel Michael are associated in their fight against the Devil and both, iconographically speaking, have under their feet, depending on the case, the serpent, the dragon, or the Devil himself, whom the Archangel holds chained and threatens, ready to pierce him with his sword."
"Why did the Three Wise Men set off for Palestine? They were scholars of astrology and, seeing the comet, they attributed extraordinary significance to it because the doctrine of Zoroaster spoke of “a savior born of a virgin without the touch of a man,” the savior would restore the kingdom of good and evil, and his birth would be signaled by the appearance of a bright star. They therefore followed the path of the star and, knowing the Jews' expectation of a Messiah, set off, illuminated by divine grace."
"Saint Ferdinand, who completed the Reconquista of the Iberian domains that had fallen into the hands of Islam, is the only Spanish sovereign to date to be considered by the Church worthy of the glory of the altars. Everyone, even his enemies, agrees in recognizing his purity of morals, prudence, heroism, generosity, meekness, and great spirit of service to his people and the Church. His practice of virtue and wise ability to administer the Spanish kingdoms made him a model Christian sovereign and ruler."
"Saint Hilary was a Christian who bowed not to the power of the world, but to the Kingdom of God."
"Although born in a strongly Catholic country, at the age of 17 Marie Curie rejected all forms of religion, professing atheism and placing her trust solely in Enlightenment rationality and progress. She therefore adhered to Positivism, which became her mindset and guided her every action. Feminism found in her an icon of redemption and emancipation. Suffice it to say that in 1885, she went to the employment office to look for work, due to the financial difficulties her family was experiencing at the time, and found a job as a governess."
"Nehru Gandhi was inspired by the principle of secularism and a “socialist” and “scientific” model of managing the country's resources, based on the predominant role of the public sector within a planned economy and on gradual industrialization."
"The concept seemed ambiguous to me, and the emphasis with which "pastorality" was attributed to the current Council was somewhat suspect: was it not meant to implicitly say that the previous Councils did not intend to be "pastoral" or had not been pastoral enough? Had it not had pastoral relevance to make it clear that Jesus of Nazareth was God and consubstantial with the Father, as defined at Nicaea? Had it not had pastoral relevance to clarify the realism of the Eucharistic presence and the sacrificial nature of the Mass, as had been done at Trent?. There was a danger of no longer remembering that the first and irreplaceable mercy for lost humanity is, according to the clear teaching of Revelation, the mercy of truth, a mercy that cannot be exercised without the explicit, firm, constant condemnation of every misrepresentation and every alteration of the deposit of faith, which must be preserved. St Thomas Aquinas noted this in the 'Summa contra Gentiles' (I, 2): the task of theology is to "manifest the truth professed by the Catholic faith, eliminating errors contrary to it"."
"Can the Pope propagate his private ideas over those of perennial Catholic truth? No. He is not a private doctor, and it is unthinkable to modify at will or give versions that clash with Catholic doctrine and the deposit of faith, which is not a museum, and even here there would be much to say."
"What the Pope said today, tomorrow will be our precious deposit of faith. So we have an obligation to deepen it, implement it and spread it. You have the responsibility to tell the faithful that the Year of Faith is an inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the Pope, it is a way through which the Holy Spirit guides the Church. People can better live the Year of Faith offering a living witness of faith."
"Far from modernising ourselves in order to keep up with the times, as they say, we must return to the faith and piety of the Fathers (Tradition and the Deposit of Faith) in every way, because modernisation is already a more or less concealed apostasy and leads infallibly to perdition."
""Inculturation", is inevitable in evangelization; otherwise, Christianity would always be a "foreign" religion for the people of Asia. The shedding of European cultural characteristics does not absolutely mean any separation with the Catholic Faith, since inculturation is promoted while firmly taking into account the Deposit of Faith."
"You go on a beauty journey because it’s great for your well-being. It makes you happy, and it makes you confident. It makes you ready to take on the world, empowers you, and enables you to make it."
"Your weight doesn’t always reflect your actual progress, especially if you’re doing strength training. You might even gain weight as you build muscle, that’s the tendency. So when you step on the scale and see the numbers go up, you get discouraged and think, "This isn’t working. I might as well stop." It’s better to set a goal like fitting into a dress and saying, "I want to finally wear this.""
"Waking up early helps me get so much done. It’s hard at first, but once you get used to it, it really makes a difference."
"I too live in the hope of having friends in heaven who pray for me and wait to join me in our common homeland."
"We must always remember that this earthly life is only a passage to our true homeland, which is heaven."
"The Madonna has appeared and spoken to many visionaries from many peoples and in the most varied circumstances, like a living person, who promises, announces, praises, exhorts, prophesies, prays, guides and protects from dangers, heals the sick, performs miracles, weeps, invites conversion and penance, and helps us to draw closer to Christ, her Son."
"My sure compass is to walk the path of charity in every circumstance of life."
"The presence of the Holy Spirit in us is the pledge of our future eternal life."
"Only God remains. He is the only rock I can cling to so as not to be overwhelmed by the stormy waves in which I am floating."
"Because the way that your skin just feels after is just right. We always say that it’s like a glass of water for your skin."
"Dream Cream instantly hydrates your skin. Its lightweight and gentle formula is packed with skin-plumping hyaluronic acid and ceramides to strengthen the skin barrier and lock in moisture for non-stop hydration."
"I think everyone needs just some rest and relaxation and that’s what the Dream Spa is all about – beautiful things and a beautiful lymphatic massage."