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Father, accept this offering from your whole family. Grant us your peace in this life, save us from final damnation, and count us among those you have chosen. Canon of the Mass

But does Hell truly exist? The whole Gospel attests to the existence of Hell. Many a time does the merciful Saviour warn His disciples against it:

- “And if your right eye scandalizes you, pluck it out and cast it. from you. For it is expedient for you that one of your members should perish, rather than your whole body be cast into Hell. "(Matt5:29)

To live well is nothing other than to love God will all one’s heart, with all one’s soul and with all one’s efforts; from this it comes that love is kept whole and uncorrupted (through temperance). No misfortune can disturb it (and this is fortitude). It obeys only [God] (and this is justice), and is careful in discerning things, so as not to be surprised by deceit or trickery (and this is prudence)

St. Augustine De moribus ecclesiae 1,25,46
Catechism of the Catholic Church: #1809

Card. Gerhard Ludwig Muller, Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave a recent interview on March 3. Some edited highlights and observations: (see sabinopacciolla.com) The NOTES are NOT from the Cardinal’s interview.

About Pope Leo: With Pope Leo XIV, he states, the Church recovered a dimension that risked fading: the primacy of God. The new pontiff moves in the tradition of Saint Augustine, with Christ as central that emerges in every homily, in every text, in every public gesture.

Presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion should be a conscious decision, based on a reasoned judgment regarding one’s worthiness to do so, according to the Church’s objective criteria, asking such questions as: “Am I in full communion with the Catholic Church? Am I guilty of mortal sin? Have I incurred a penalty (e.g. excommunication, interdict) that forbids me to receive Holy Communion? Have I prepared myself by fasting for at least an hour?” The practice of indiscriminately presenting oneself to receive Holy Communion, merely because of being present at Mass, is an abuse that must be corrected (cf. Instruction “Redemptionis Sacramentum,” nos. 81, 83).

The tradition of visiting different churches during Lent (and other seasons in which there are also station churches, such as Christmas) began with the practice of the pope to make pastoral visits to the different areas of the city, beginning even as far back as the time of the persecutions by the Roman Empire. The current list of station churches was essentially complete by the late fifth century, with a few changes in the following centuries before being finalized in the mid-1500s. So, this is a very ancient tradition in which we take part. The Collect for Ash Wednesday helps to provide the context for our practice of the station churches. We prayed to be "armed with weapons of self-restraint" as we begin "this campaign of Christian warfare."

What should be said immediately is the following: As the Church of God is by no means directly advocating any particular economic and social systems, but seeks “to construct modern civilization in accordance with standards of humanity and evangelical doctrine,” a spiritual struggle against atheistic communism, … must be carried out so that the Christian faithful might be strengthened, and more apt ways might be offered for the effective carrying out of apostolic activity, especially among laborers. Proposed Teaching on Communism for Vatican II, February 1962 (emphasis added)

Nihilism, (from the Latin nihil meaning nothing) is the philosophy that denies the existence of genuine moral truths and asserts the ultimate meaninglessness of life or of the universe.

According to the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 377, citing CCC 1803), a virtue is a firm, habitual, and stable disposition to do good. It enables a person to perform good acts, choose the good in concrete situations, and give the best of themselves, with the goal of becoming like God.

• Habitual Disposition: Virtues are not just one-time actions, but deeply ingrained habits that make doing good easy and consistent.

Fr. Francisco Vera, elderly priest, shot in Jalisco for celebrating Holy Mass 1927

An important centenary and a persecution that continues. The film For Greater Glory with Andy Garcia is a film about the persecution to destroy the Church and the Cristeros resistance. by Marco Invernizzi