Blogposts

Sign the Petition to Pope Francis to Stop the conference at the Vatican, Exploring the Mind Body & Soul

04-26-2021From the desk of Fr. Villa

This conference is scheduled for May 6 to May8. The cover-photo on the conference-website features spoof of Michelangelo’s Creation of Man in the Sistine chapel. It has God’s hand Adam’s hand touching with rubber gloves. The invited to the Conference are a number of individuals who support abortion, population control via abortion/contraception, new age pseudo-religions and big pharmacy. Involved in this is a concerted effort on the part of many institutions to invent a universal religion superseding particular religions to create a universal religion uniting humanity. This has been the goal of Freemasons, secularists, some atheists, and various political ideologies. The will of Jesus is that all be united as one in Him in His Church. Click on this link to sign the petition and learn more about this Conference: lifepetitions.com/petition/tell-vatican-to-cancel-health-conference-packed-with-pro-abort-secularist-speakers

What are Sacramentals?

03-18-2021From the desk of Fr. Villa

Many people, while understanding the meaning of the sacraments, have never heard of sacramentals.

Sacramentals are sacred signs instituted by the holy Church, which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By these people are disposed to receive the chief effects of the sacraments and various occasions in life are rendered holy.

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Why Do We Need Commandments?

03-18-2021From the desk of Fr. VillaSt. Thomas Aquinas

We are placed between the things of this world, and spiritual goods from which eternal happiness consists: so that the more we cleave to the one, the more we withdraw from the other, and vice versa. Wherefore whoever cleaves wholly to the things of this world, so as to make them his reason for living, and to look upon them as the reason and rule of all he does, falls away altogether from spiritual goods. Hence this disorder is removed by the commandments.

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The Equality Act

02-23-2021From the desk of Fr. Villa

Our bishops ask us to oppose The Equality Act which discriminates against people of faith and threatens unborn life. Tell Congress to oppose it. To contact your representatives click here.

Timeless Wisdom and Teaching from Pope Leo XIII An Architect of Catholic Social Teaching

01-24-2021From the desk of Fr. Villa

These paragraphs from the encyclical, Diuturnum Illud, On the Origin of Civil Power (1881) are particularly relevant to the situation facing Catholics in the U.S. today:

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The Saint Benedict Medal

01-01-2021From the desk of Fr. Villa

The Saint Benedict Medal St. Benedict (born at Nursia, Italy, in 480) had a profound veneration for the holy Cross and for our Savior Crucified. In virtue of the Sign of the Cross, he wrought many miracles and exercised great power over the spirits of darkness. In consequence of the great veneration in which St. Benedict was held from the early Middle Ages, it followed that a Medal was struck, one side of which represents St. Benedict holding the Cross in one hand and the Holy Rule in the other. Around the image of St. Benedict are these words in Latin: "May his presence protect us in the hour of death." St. Benedict has ever been the patron of the dying, because of the circumstances attending his own most glorious death, for he breathed forth his soul while standing in prayer before the Most Blessed Sacrament.

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The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

12-29-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

The Church teaches that the Mass is the same sacrifice as the sacrifice of the Cross. Click here to help deepen your understanding of this foundational teaching of the Church.

The early Church summed up Mary’s Maternity in a single Greek word.

12-27-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

In the year 431 there was a fierce debate raging in the Catholic Church regarding a specific title of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The debate required a rare Ecumenical Council at the city of Ephesus to resolve the issue. Two different arguments were presented, one by Bishop Nestorius of Constantinople and the other by St. Cyril of Alexandria. Nestorius firmly believed that Mary should be called Christotokos, “Birth-giver of Christ” (also translated as “Christ-bearer”).

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Go to St. Joseph

12-11-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

To commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the proclamation of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church, Pope Francis has declared the Year of St. Joseph which began December 8, 2020 and will go to December 2021. Read his Apostolic Letter about this here. Many plenary indulgences* are available to the faithful during this here. You can read about them here.

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The Last Things We All Will Encounter: Teachings from the Catechism

11-15-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

The Particular Judgement

1021 Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ.592 The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith…

1022 Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death ....

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Purgatory

11-08-2020From the desk of Fr. Villa

Purgatory is the purification of the person’s love for God after death. It is a very consoling teaching and part of the Catholic Faith. St.Catherine of Genoa can help us appreciate more this great sign of God’s love and mercy. Prayer for the souls in purgatory is an act of love neighbor and a work of mercy. Click here to find out more about purification after death.