Roman Catholics

"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."

"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."

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"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."

"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."

"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."

"We must always remember that this earthly life is only a passage to our true homeland, which is heaven."

"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."

"My sure compass is to walk the path of charity in every circumstance of life."

"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.""

"I too live in the hope of having friends in heaven who pray for me and wait to join me in our common homeland."

"The presence of the Holy Spirit in us is the pledge of our future eternal life."

"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."

""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."

"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."

"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)."

"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."

"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 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."

"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."

"Saint Hilary was a Christian who bowed not to the power of the world, but to the Kingdom of God."

"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"."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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) ."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"Expanding the space of your tent means drawing closer together so there’s more room for others to join us."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"Our Lord Jesus Christ who alone is our Savior is not at the root and center of synodality."

"There is still a long way but the model of conjugation between synodality and primacy certainly opens a fruitful way."

"Historically, primacy has never excluded synodality, nor has synodality excluded primacy."

"That intercession is like this:"

"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."

"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."