Blog & News
Mary, Help of Christians
The Feast of Mary, Help of Christians is celebrated on May 24. The tradition of this devotion goes back to 1571, when the whole of Christendom was saved by Mary, Help of Christians when Catholics throughout Europe prayed the Rosary. The great battle of Lepanto occurred on October 7,1571. For this reason, this date has been chosen as the feast of the Holy Rosary. In 1573, Pope Pius V instituted the feast in thanksgiving for the decisive victory of Christianity over Islam.
Mother of Media
Before anyone ever heard of ESPN’s Top Ten Sports Bloopers, there were the wildly popular, weekly compilations of Zip Rzeppa’s Zippo Awards: “The best, the worst, and the weirdest moments in professional sports!” An entertaining and innovative sportscaster, Zip’s career stretches from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Saginaw, Michigan to Cincinnati, Boston, and finally Saint Louis where he was a regular TV personality from 1984 – 2001.
Most Important
The most Important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built the Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral — a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby's body...
Rosemary's Garden
Rosemary’s Garden, at Saint Wenceslaus Parish in Saint Louis, Missouri, was established in the mid-1990s, but the vision for this garden began many, many years ago with the planting of just a few seeds. My parents, Frank, Sr. and Rosemary Pichler, planted many seeds: the gift of life to their nine children – Barb, Diane, Frank, Jr., Mary, Roe, Laurie, Tony, Therese, and Eric; our love for God and our Catholic faith; our love and respect for one another – the family unit, the domestic church.
Divine Mercy Sunday
Divine Mercy Sunday (on April 28 in 2019) typically involves large numbers of people gathering to celebrate Holy Masses at which God's mercy is proclaimed by the priests or deacons. To receive the Extraordinary Graces of this Feast, the only condition is to receive Holy Communion worthily on Divine Mercy Sunday (or the Vigil celebration) by making a good confession beforehand and staying in the state of grace and trusting in His Divine Mercy.
So Obvious
Benedict said what the Vatican abuse summit dared not: "Homosexual cliques" ruined seminaries. He said what prelates at the Vatican’s recent summit on clergy sexual abuse would not say: Homosexual cliques “significantly changed the climate in the seminaries.” Benedict’s essay has broken the hierarchy’s seemingly impenetrable wall of silence regarding the major source of the Church’s sexual misconduct and cover-up problem.
Socialism Condemned
Sometimes you hear Christians says, “We can be faithful Catholics and socialists with regard to economics, because we aren’t atheists like Marx.” Actually, that’s not true. Popes have spoken explicitly and condemned socialism on economic grounds and in terms of social justice. Pope Leo XIII, in particular, puts the smack down on socialism.
Mother Angelica
In memory of Mother Angelica, foundress of the EWTN Catholic media empire, Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki wrote an article, Mother Angelica used power of media to evangelize. He explained that the Church used the term “social media” for the technology of communication. A document of the Second Vatican Council, Inter Merifica, uses the same term. Mother Angelica was called to use the media for evangelization. She did so to proclaim the Good News and share Catholic teachings in the modern era.
Saved by Childbirth
The Heresy of Relativism: Justifying abortion gives testimony to the pervasiveness of the heresy of relativism in our culture today. Relativism says that if you believe an action is moral, then it is moral. Anything can be moral if you want it to be; there is no absolute morality or truth. The truth is that God is the author of life, as well as the Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.”
Oil & Grace
Grace builds on oil? Naturally! My children have wonderful imaginations. Broom handles become wizard staffs. Legos become bath toys. While this is probably wonderful for some sort of developmental task, it creates problems. When someone goes to sweep, they can’t find the broom head. The plumber is called to retrieve small plastic blocks from the drain.