Christmas at Litmanova

The Marian Shrine of Litmanova, Slovakia. Christmas 2017 A forest chapel at the Slovakian Marian shrine of Litmanova. Stunning painting of the Sacred Heart inside the forest chapel....

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Conclave by Robert Harris

Capsule Review: I've just finished reading Robert Harris' very stylish, sophisticated thriller, Conclave, the story of the struggle to elect the next pope in the post-Francis era. The time period is 2018. I have...

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New Look for Gay Mystic

(Cathedral of Maria del Mar) I Just downloaded this new template for Gay Mystic = from New Blogger Themes, and I haven't had time to adjust the menus yet....which I hope to do tonight. I intend to get back to blogging...

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Pentecost in Prague

Attended Pentecost services today at the beautiful Catholic Church of St. Thomas in Mala Strana (something I rarely do). Surprised to see that the papal nuncio, Bishop Giuseppe Leanza was presiding - over a confirmation...

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RISEN: Film Review

Yet again - I've been neglecting this blog, despite my best intentions. I had hoped to comment on the Easter visit to Catholic Slovakia and the Marian shrine of Litmanova. A deeply moving event for me - going from secular,...

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Daniel Berrigan dead at 94

A day for prayers, a day for mourning and remembering, and a day for rejoicing that for a time - so brief - we were graced with the presence of such a gifted prophet. Not without his human flaws, but then aren't we...

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Two LGBT activists marytred in Bangladesh

Photo taken from Jesus in Love Blog A very sad story just posted at Kittredge Cherry's Jesus in Love Blog: Two outstanding gay activists, seen above, were hacked to death for"being pioneers of practicing and promoting...

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Quote of the Day re: Pope Francis' 'exhortation' on the family, released today.

Couldn't have said it better.  Very mixed feelings about the Pope's latest pronouncement this morning.  It is so very little. There is no real doctrinal change anywhere in Roman Catholic dogma about family life....

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Litmanova, Hora Zvir - the sacred mountain.

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Easter blessings in Litmanova

Tomorrow I leave for the little mountain village of Litmanova in Slovakia on the Polish border, site of the 1990-95 Marian apparitions to two village girls. A very peaceful, quiet place without tourists or fanfare -...

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Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age

Bedridden with a touch of the flu, at the moment, but thought I would post this brief book review of Italian historian Sergio Luzzatto, Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age.  This is actually...

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Hans Kung and Brother Francis, and other bits of this and that

The National Catholic Reporter published an open letter from renowned theologian, Hans Kung, to Pope Francis three days ago (read it here), and it's a lovely letter, full of wisdom, courtesy and restraint - besides...

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Padre Pio, the Lemon Sellers of Buenos Aires and Saints of a Sexually Embodied Spirituality: Part 2

Battling a touch of the flu, so it's taken me a while to finish the reflections I started in the last posting about the solemn 'transportation' of Padre Pio's relics into St. Peter's some weeks ago. Not sure how far...

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