Tag: Christianity

Amari, Crete, Greece, May 15, 2024

Photo: Romfea     

Nearly a century after it was closed, the monastic life has been revived in the Holy Archangels Asomaton Monastery on the island of Crete.

On Sunday, May 12, in addition to the 17th anniversary of the consecration of the main monastery church, the official installation of a new sisterhood took place, reports Romfea.

The Orthros and Divine Liturgy were celebrated by Metropolitan Prodromos of Rethymnon and Avlopotamos and the local hierarch Metropolitan Irenaios of Lampi, Syvritos, and Skafia, together with local clergy.

The service was chanted by the monastery’s new sisterhood.

Following the Liturgy, both spoke, expressing their great joy at the reopening of the monastery after nearly a century. Met. Prodromos wished for the sisters to enjoy spiritual progress under the protection of their patrons, the holy archangels.

Photo: Romfea     

The monastic residential building as well as the sewing and iconography workshops were also blessed.

The monastery dates back to the Middle Byzantine period, around the 10th century. It was completely destroyed and restored several times during both the Venetian and Turkish occupations.

The monastery eventually gave its territory, at the request of the Greek state, for the opening of the Agricultural Schools of Asomaton. However, as the school developed, the monastery declined and was eventually forgotten among the people.

Met. Irenaios of Lampi was enthroned in 1990 and publicly expressed his desire to do whatever possible to revive the monastery. Initially, diocesan priests would gather in the old monastery church to celebrate the Liturgy every year on Thomas Sunday. The bishop also involved a broad array of experts to begin the revival of the monastery.

In 2007, the restored catholicon was consecrated and began to be used as a parish church. Over time, there were more and more calls to restore the church to its original function.

In February 2023, the current sisterhood, consisting of five nuns, visited the monastery and expressed its interest in living and laboring there, though the issue of housing needed to be resolved. With contributions from parishioners and Church and public authorities, a residential building was quickly renovated.

The restoration of the full monastic complex continues.

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While it is easy for people to love what is good and beautiful or to be generous and heroic for an ideal, Pope Francis said Christian love embraces what is not lovable, it offers forgiveness and blesses one’s enemies.

This “greater love,” which comes from God, “drives us where humanly we would not go: It is the love for the poor, for those who are not lovable, for those who do not care for us and are not grateful,” he said at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square May 15.

“It is love for what no one would love, even for one’s enemy,” he said in his main catechesis.

This “great selfless love” includes love for “the poor, the sick and the helpless, such as unborn children,” he said in brief remarks to visitors from Poland, who had brought a bell, known as “The Voice of the Unborn,” which will be taken to Kazakhstan. He also greeted representatives of the Yes to Life Foundation, which started the initiative.

The bell serves as a reminder of “the need to protect human life from conception to natural death,” the pope said.

In his main audience talk, the pope continued his series about vices and virtues by reflecting on the “theological” or New Testament virtue of charity or love. Of the three — faith, hope and love — “the greatest of these is love,” according to St. Paul the Apostle.

Many people consider themselves to be good people who love their family and friends, when in reality they may know very little about the love of God, he said.

“Christians are capable of all the forms of love in the world: they too fall in love, more or less as it happens to everyone. They too experience the benevolence that is felt in friendship. They too feel love for their country and the universal love for all humanity,” the pope said.

“But there is a greater love, a love which comes from God and is directed toward God, which enables us to love God, to become his friends, and enables us to love our neighbor as God loves him or her, with the desire to share the friendship with God,” he said.

Love is charity, he said. And “we immediately realize that it is a difficult, indeed impossible love to practice if one does not live in God.”

“Our human nature makes us love spontaneously what is good and beautiful. In the name of an ideal or a great affection we can even be generous and perform heroic acts. But the love of God goes beyond these criteria,” he said.

“So much love is needed to forgive. Christian love blesses those who curse while we are used to responding to insults and curses with another insult and curse,” he said.

“Love is the ‘narrow gate’ through which we will pass in order to enter the kingdom of God,” he said. “We will not be judged on generic love, but precisely on charity, on the love we concretely had.”

South Kinangop, Kenya, May 15, 2024

Photo: Facebook     

More than a dozen catechumens, including children and adults, were baptized into the holy Orthodox Church at an orphanage in Kenya on Holy Saturday.

The St. Barnabas Orthodox Orphanage and School (Patriarchate of Alexandria) in South Kinangop reported on Pascha that 15 people had been baptized the day before, including teachers from the school.

The Baptisms and Chrismations were celebrated by Fr. Methodios J.M. Kariuki, head of the orphanage and school and rector of the Kenya: Mission priest seeking help to build new Church of St. NektariosAfter the Divine celebration all the faithful gathered at the site of the new church building and prayed together for the Lord Jesus to bless the community with resources to build the much-needed church.

“>new Church of St. Nektarios.

According to Fr. Methodios, the newly illumined are former Pentecostals.

​

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By the time the monstrance carrying the Blessed Sacrament has completed the California leg of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s Serra Route next week, it will have been carried across the Golden Gate Bridge, led a flotilla of boats down the Sacramento River, drawn people to adoration at a homeless shelter, and led another flotilla of boats across Lake Tahoe and into Nevada. 

Just talking about it, Deacon Kevin Staszkow can hardly contain his excitement. 

“This Eucharistic Revival is a historic thing for the Church in the United States, and it needs to be marked by something epic,” says Staszkow, the lead planner for the pilgrimage’s 4-day segment in the Diocese of Sacramento.

Beginning in Northern California and Nevada before proceeding north to Oregon and Idaho and then east, the Serra Route is one of four national itineraries established to bring Catholic pilgrims — led by the Blessed Sacrament — to Indianapolis, the site of the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21. 

Organizers like Staszkow are determined to make the most of it.

It was the deacon’s boss, Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, who first had the idea of moving parts of the route from land to water. So from May 21 to 22, Soto will accompany the Blessed Sacrament aboard a 64-foot boat (borrowed from a Catholic benefactor) with a flotilla following in possession, making several stops along the Sacramento River. 

After all, Staszkow explains, the river itself was named after the Blessed Sacrament, as was the city. 

“It really doesn’t make sense to do anything except have the Eucharist travel on the Sacramento River,” said Staszkow, who heads the Diocese of Sacramento’s young adult ministry and faith formation offices. He remembers that the plan was first met with skepticism. 

“Everybody said, oh, you’re not going to be able to get a boat,” Staszkow said. “But I got a boat.”

Before the Sacramento portion, the pilgrimage will kick off in San Francisco with a May 19 bilingual Pentecost Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption celebrated by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone. Immediately after, Cordileone and hundreds — perhaps thousands — of Catholics will process through the city’s streets with the Blessed Sacrament. 

After a break to eat and rest, the procession will continue across the Golden Gate Bridge. Coincidentally, the iconic bridge was already scheduled to be closed earlier that day for the city’s annual “Bay to Breakers” footrace. 

Having crossed the bridge, Cordileone will lead pilgrims in Benediction at Point Cavallo, a lookout point with views of the San Francisco Bay. The pilgrimage will continue through Marin County, including Mission San Rafael Arcángel, before moving on to the Diocese of Sacramento. 

While the procession will make for a visual spectacle, Cordileone says the pilgrimage’s kickoff is not about a photo op. 

“It’s a public manifestation of faith,” Cordileone told Angelus. “That’s what processions are, and this is a very powerful one because it’s encompassing the whole country. Our faith is not meant to be kept within the walls of the churches, but to be brought out into the public square.”

As it heads east across Northern California, the pilgrimage will make stops Bishop Soto hopes will connect with different “marginalized populations,” including a Mass with farm workers in Vallejo, a walking procession leaving from Folsom State Prison, and a visit to Sacramento homeless shelter Loaves and Fishes. 

The route’s California portion ends on Friday, May 24, when Soto will again accompany the Blessed Sacrament leading a flotilla of boats, this time crossing Lake Tahoe at sunset (approximately a 26 mile journey) before arriving at Incline Village, Nevada, for a Eucharistic “handoff” to the neighboring Diocese of Reno. 

Sister Maria, a woman religious from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, plans to travel the Serra Route as a pilgrim by car from San Francisco to Indianapolis. She is making the pilgrimage out of gratitude to the Eucharist for bringing her to the church when she was in her twenties, but also as an opportunity to pray for others’ intentions (she’ll carry a prayer book for people to write them in) and in reparation for the lack of belief in the Eucharist she sees firsthand. 

“[Many Catholics] don’t believe in Jesus and the Eucharist anymore, and that is the whole point of this Eucharistic Revival, to draw people back to Mass and love of Jesus and the Eucharist,” said Sister Maria, who asked to remain anonymous. 

As it makes its way through parts of the western U.S., Archbishop Cordileone hopes the pilgrimage will “reignite an authentic Eucharistic faith” among Catholics. 

“I hope it instills in our Catholic people a reminder of the sacredness of what the Eucharist is, and who it is,” said Cordileone. 

Crossing the country over the course of two months, Sister Maria plans to be hosted in some places by friends or in convents with other women religious. In others, she’ll have to leave it to Providence. 

“You make your plan, but God always changes it,” said the sister, who works in youth ministry at a parish in the LA Archdiocese. “But at least you do your part and then you see what unfolds.”

On June 1, Archbishop José H. Gomez will ordain 11 new priests for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

In the days leading up to their ordination, we’ll be introducing a new soon-to-be Father. Los Angeles, meet your new priests!

Age: 29

Hometown: Glendora

Home parish: St. Dorothy, Glendora

Parish assignment: St. Philomena, Carson

There was a lot of quitting involved in Thomas Green’s road to priesthood. 

First he quit college football, then college itself. A few years later, he quit seminary, and eventually quit his job as a football coach and high school teacher only to re-enter the seminary. 

Thankfully, the quitting stopped there. 

Before all those decisions, “Tommy” grew up the youngest of three in a nominally Catholic family. That changed when his mother had a life-changing experience at a Cursillo retreat. As the Greens became more involved in church, Tommy became an altar server, a leader in the confirmation program, and even active in the Divine Mercy prayer group. 

After graduating from Glendora High School, Green got the chance to pursue his dream of playing college football. At 18, he enrolled at nearby Citrus College to play as an offensive lineman, hoping to catch the eye of recruiters and land a big-time scholarship.

It only took three games for that dream to fall apart. Green was blocking on a play when an opposing lineman jumped to tackle the running back — but crashed into the side of Green’s left knee instead. 

“It was like Rice Krispies’ ‘Snap, Crackle, and Pop,’ ” joked Green when asked to describe the impact that tore just about every ligament with initialisms found in his left knee: ACL, MCL, PCL, and meniscus. 

Green remembered crying on the sideline, sensing that his Heisman dreams were over. Later, while laying in bed after the surgery to rebuild his knee, he told God: “OK, maybe there’s something else you have in store for me. Let your will be done in my life.”

As he drew closer to God through adoration and daily Mass during his recovery, the thought of the priesthood appeared. After confiding in an ex-seminarian friend and a few priests, he decided to enter the seminary. 

“Go change the world, man,” he was surprised to hear his football coach say when Green told him why he was quitting the football team. 

From there Green enrolled at Juan Diego House to finish his college studies. But after a year at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo he began to struggle with his vocational discernment, and concluded God must want something else for him — so he quit. 

Soon after, Green got a job teaching and coaching football — two things he loved doing — at St. Paul’s High School in Santa Fe Springs. He dated a bit as well, but the thought of the priesthood kept coming back. 

One day during a prayer break, he struck up a conversation with a priest in the high school chapel. “The joys outweigh the struggles,” confided a priest to Green about his own vocation. 

The words echoed in Green’s head. Returning to his classroom, he came upon a piece of paper left by a student that read, “Come follow me.”

The message was clear enough to make Green quit — again. He re-entered formation at St. John’s, and hasn’t looked back since: “When you give everything to God, he can never be outdone in generosity,” he said with certainty. 

Green’s biggest discovery has been to find that generosity hiding behind seemingly tragic events in life. 

“Now that I look back at it, when I thought my life was falling apart, it was really kind of falling together,” Green said. 

As if to prove that point, the imposing ex-lineman with a hearty laugh still enjoyed athletic success while in seminary anyway, winning the game MVP award at two consecutive archdiocesan Priests vs. Seminarians basketball games. 

Today, he credits former spiritual director Father Ricky Viveros — “an incredible influence and incredible friend” — as well as Fathers Jim Anguiano and Ron Clark as invaluable mentors during formation. 

As a priest at the parish level, Green said he looks forward to “finding opportunities to bring people together” to find friendship with God and each other — and is ready to put his cooking skills into practice if needed.

“That’s what Jesus did,” said Green. “He invested in people, in relationships, and it was through those relationships that he changed a lot of lives. He certainly changed mine.”

St. Dymphna was born in Ireland around the seventh century. Her mother was a devout Christian, but her father was a pagan. When Dymphna was 14, she consecrated herself to the Lord, and took a vow of chastity. Shortly afterwards, her mother died, and her father, Damon, who had loved his wife deeply, began to spiral into mental illness. 

Damon’s advisors suggested he remarry, and he agreed, if he could find a woman as beautiful as she had been. He sent messengers into the nearby towns to find such a woman, but they were unsuccessful. Damon’s advisors then suggested that he marry his own daughter. At this point, Damon’s mental health was so deteriorated that he only saw his beloved wife when he looked at his daughter, so he agreed. 

Dymphna fled her home with her confessor, the priest Gerebran, two trusted servants, and the king’s fool. They sailed to present-day Belgium, and hid in the town of Geel. 

According to legend, Dymphna settled in the town and built a hospital for the poor. But when she used her wealth, her father discovered where she was. He traveled to Geel and kidnapped Dymphna and her companion, and ordered Gerebran killed. 

Damon then tried to convince his daughter to return to Ireland and marry him. When she refused, he cut off her head and left her body there. Dymphna was 15 years old.

The residents of Geel collected the remains of Dymphna and Gerebran and laid them to rest in a cave. 

Around the year 620, Dymphna became known as a martyr because she died rather than break her vow to God, and was called “the Lily of Eire.” In 1349, a church honoring her was built in Geel, and by 1480, so many pilgrims seeking treatment for mental illness had come that the church had to be expanded. This began a tradition of townspeople caring for the mentally ill that continues to this day. 

Many miracles have taken place at St. Dymphna’s shrine at the church that stands there today, the Church of St. Dymphna, consecrated in 1532. 

St. Dymphna is the patroness of people suffering from nervous and mental afflictions, as well as victims of incest. 

Zaporozhye, Zaporozhye Province, Ukraine, May 13, 2024

Photo: spzh.live     

Ukrainian authorities are going after His Eminence Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye again.

Criminal proceedings were opened against him Criminal proceedings opened against Metropolitan Luke of ZaporozhyeThe fiery and outspoken hierarch of Zaporozhye is the latest target in the state persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

“>in August, for “inciting religious enmity,” which is the same charge the state brings against any hierarch it targets for not joining the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.” And before that, he was placed under sanctions by his own state in Ukraine sanctions five more hierarchs, two priestsThe government documents do not indicate what the sanctioned persons are accused of.”>December 2022.

But this time, authorities are enforcing a measure of restraint against Met. Luke, one of the most respected hierarchs of the canonical UOC.

On May 1, Holy Wednesday, representatives of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) conducted searches at the Metropolitan’s residence and the diocesan administration, and also the residences of a number of clerics, the diocesan secretary, Archpriest Gennady Elin, wrote.

Following the searches, the SBU officially informed Met. Luke of suspicion for “provoking and inciting religious hatred in Ukraine” through his homilies and his messages on Telegram. The Security Service has yet to bring such charges against the OCU representatives who stage violent church takeovers.

In a homily after the search, Met. Luke said that when he opened the door, he sprinkled the SBU representatives with holy water, causing one of them to scream: “Get out of here with your satanism!”

They also interrogated him about why he didn’t obey Patriarch Bartholomew and join the OCU, to which Met. Luke replied that he couldn’t lead his flock into the abyss.

He emphasized that he is being attacked for an ecclesiastical position, not for anything political, as he prays for Ukraine and its authorities and army at every service.

On May 7, Bright Tuesday, a court ordered Met. Luke to wear an ankle bracelet and to be placed under nighttime house arrest for two months.

On Saturday, May 11, His Eminence reported that he was obligated by court decision to stop posting on his lekar.zp Telegram channel. The Metropolitan writes:

My conscience is clear before God and you, I’m not ashamed to look each of you in the eye, and as for what is said and written about me—let those who do so answer for it, and it will not be before those who trust their information, but first and foremost, before their own conscience and God. Remember one thing—hell reigns, but it does not last forever!…

Due to the fact that provocations are possible against me, I officially declare that any information that appears on this channel after this publication and before the final court decision will have nothing to do with me!

Instead, Met. Luke will share his “thoughts about the life of the Church, about life in this world mired in evil, and how to distinguish the sinful from the righteous, for the sake of saving priceless and immortal souls” on a new channel, at

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Tirana, May 14, 2024

Photo: knfsh.al     

The Interreligious Council of Albania issued a statement last week, outlining its objections to the “Sexual and Reproductive Health Draft Law.”

The Council, chaired by His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, also includes Catholic, Evangelical, and Muslim representatives.

The Council established a working group of jurists, sociologists, theologians, and medical professionals to examine the bill, and its new statement is a result of their work. In particular, the Council objects to the fact that public consultation on the bill was initiated without prior consultation from religious communities and other interested parties.

The Council also objects to particular stipulations in the bill, as explained in its statement, addressed to Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, and the President:

Esteemed Recipients,

Based on its statutory rights, the Interreligious Council of Albania, having been informed by the media about the draft law “On Sexual and Reproductive Health,” has established a working group comprised of representatives from five religious communities, consisting of specialists: jurists, sociologists, theologians, and medical professionals, and has worked to review it.

Following the analysis of the work of this group, through this letter, the Interreligious Council raises concern, before the Parliament and the Government, regarding the initiation of public consultation on this draft law without prior consultation with stakeholder groups, including Religious Communities, as well as for the lack of public presentation of the arguments that have led the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs to propose a draft law with negative effects on the health of individuals, children, families, and Albanian society as a whole. The numerous legal, medical, ethical, social, and theological arguments (attached) constitute the basis of our opposition to the draft law in the form it has been presented and call for its reconsideration based on:

1. The prohibition of sterilization as a contraceptive method, except in cases where there is a medical indication, determined by a special medical commission and at the request of the adult.

2. Encouraging childbirth by increasing care and support through more social, economic, educational, healthcare measures, etc.

3. Increasing awareness against voluntary termination of pregnancy, except in cases where there are medical indications and the life of the mother is at risk, as determined by the special medical commission.

4. Complete prohibition of surrogate motherhood in Albania.

5. Protection of the concept of family with mother and father.

6. Not replacing marital bond with the term “woman without a partner”

The Interfaith Council of Albania, as an interested group, requests the suspension of the consideration of the aforementioned draft law without its participation in the consultative sessions at the Ministry of Health; to be granted the right to present findings, recommendations, and objections regarding the draft law; as well as to be part of the public hearings on this draft law. Otherwise, the Interfaith Council requests that the draft law “On Sexual and Reproductive Health” not proceed to the Albanian Parliament. With the desire that our demands, representing the will and views of all our believers as part of the five official religious communities and Albanian society, receive due attention from you and, together, we work for a better and safer future for the younger generations with faith in God and the law for the common good.

May God bless Albania and all its citizens!

Success and prosperity in your work!

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Mountains, valleys and plains mark the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s St. Junipero Serra Route, which pilgrims will traverse over the course of eight weeks from California to Indiana.

Beginning on the eve of Pentecost May 18, the Serra Route is one of four National Pilgrimage Routes that will converge in Indianapolis ahead of the July 17-21 National Eucharistic Congress. The pilgrimage and the congress are part of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that launched in 2022.

At about 2,700 miles, the Serra Route is the national pilgrimage’s longest route. It will be traveled by six perpetual pilgrims accompanied by chaplains from the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. While Catholics may join the pilgrims for legs of their journey, they are especially encouraged to join any of the route’s 150 public events, which include Masses, all-night adoration, confessions, processions (including by boat), speakers, potluck dinners and socializing. The route itself is named for the Franciscan missionary priest St. Junipero Serra, the “apostle of California” who ministered to Indigenous people and Spanish settlers from 1769 to his death in 1784.

The following is a list of selected highlights from the pilgrimage’s northern route. Find information organized by diocese for the full Serra Route here.

— Mission Dolores Basilica, San Francisco: The Serra Route pilgrimage kicks off May 18 with vespers, Eucharistic adoration and confession at Mission Dolores Basilica, one of 21 California missions founded by St. Junipero Serra and his companions. Constructed by Native Americans from 1782-1791 and used continuously since for religious purposes, the church is the oldest intact building in San Francisco. The following day, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco will celebrate Pentecost Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, followed by a Eucharistic procession across the Golden Gate Bridge. On May 20, the perpetual pilgrims will stop for adoration at another mission, Mission San Rafael Arcángel.

— Folsom State Prison, Represa, California: Continuing the pilgrimage into the Diocese of Sacramento, the pilgrims will lead a Eucharistic procession May 23 from Folsom State Prison, following a private Mass at the prison celebrated by Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto, to a Folsom parish for adoration.

— O’Farrell’s Cabin, Boise, Idaho: The pilgrimage continues through the dioceses of Reno, Nevada, and Baker, Oregon, into the Diocese of Boise, where, in Boise, the pilgrims will process May 28 from an outdoor event recognizing the area’s parishes to the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. On their way, they’ll pass by O’Farrell’s Cabin, the location of the first Catholic Mass in Boise. Erected in 1863, the single-room log cabin was built by Irish-born gold prospector John A. O’Farrell, who also donated land for the first Catholic church in Boise.

— Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation, Fort Duchesne, Utah: The pilgrimage will continue through the Diocese of Salt Lake City with a Eucharistic procession June 4 through the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation followed by Mass and a presentation on the Ute tribe’s history.

— Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Denver: From June 5-6, the pilgrims will largely drive through the Rocky Mountains, stopping for adoration in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. In the Denver area, they’ll stop June 7 for the Divine Mercy Chapel at the Augustine Institute, June 8 for Divine Liturgy at Holy Protection of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church, and June 9 the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, where Mass will be followed by a Eucharistic procession through Denver’s downtown.

— Holy Family Shrine, Gretna, Nebraska: The pilgrimage continues through the Nebraska dioceses of Grand Island and Lincoln, with stops at both diocese’s cathedrals, into the Archdiocese of Omaha. At the recently established Ignatian retreat center The Cloisters on the Platte, the pilgrims will process five miles June 21 to the historic Holy Family Shrine, known for the distinctive contemporary design of its chapel overlooking the Platte Valley. While in Nebraska, the pilgrims will stop at the Jesuit-run Creighton University in Omaha before crossing into Iowa and the Diocese of Des Moines and then heading south into the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas.

— Shrine of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, St. Charles, Missouri: The pilgrims will spend June 25-26 at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, before heading east into the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph and then the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri. They’ll stop July 5 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows in Rhineland before driving into the Archdiocese of St. Louis, where their first stop will be in St. Charles and the Shrine of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne. Born in 1769, St. Philippine was a French nun who was sent to St. Charles, then part of the Louisiana Territory, as a frontier missionary. She founded the first U.S. convents of the Society of the Sacred Heart and accompanying schools and orphanages. While in her 70s, she spent one year at an Indian mission in present-day Kansas. She died in St. Charles in 1852 at age 83 and was canonized in 1988.

— Father Augustus Tolton’s gravesite, Quincy, Illinois: After events in St. Louis, the pilgrims will cross the Mississippi River into Illinois and the Diocese of Belleview, where they’ll attend Mass in Spanish July 7 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. Despite its modern design, the shrine commemorates a miraculous snowfall in Rome in 352 that led to the founding of the Basilica of St. Mary Major. After traveling into the Diocese of Springfield, they will process July 9 from the Church of St. Peter in Quincy to the burial site of Father Augustus Tolton (1854-1897), the United States’ first identifiable Black Catholic priest whose cause for canonization is underway. Declared “venerable” by Pope Francis in 2019, Father Tolton began his ministry in Quincy after being ordained in Rome, but went to Chicago 1889 to minister to Black Catholics there. He died in Chicago at age 43. As he desired, his body was brought to Quincy for a requiem Mass at St. Peter and burial. On July 12, the pilgrims will enter the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, with several days in Terre Haute, Indiana, before arriving in the state’s capital July 15.

Ostashkov, Tver Province, Russia, May 14, 2024

Photo: tvereparhia.ru     

Another church saw the start of the revival of its liturgical life after 100 years of desolation during Bright Week.

On Bright Thursday, a moleben was served in the Church of the Resurrection in Ostashkov, Tver Province, by Archpriest Dmitry Markovsky, the dean of the Ostashkov District. This first service in a century was attended by local residents, reports the Tver Metropolis.

The Holy Resurrection Church and the nearby Holy Trinity Church are the only stone buildings in Ostashkov dating back to the 17th century that have survived to this day.

The Resurrection Church, finished in 1689, was considered the largest and most majestic church in the Tver Province, built in the traditional Russian style. The church was expanded several times, and the Russian style was replaced with a more classical style in the mid-19th century.

Its fate was the same as so many other churches during the Soviet years: the church was closed, its iconography was plastered over, and the building was used as a warehouse.

Finally, the liturgical life was revived in the church this year during Bright Week.

Currently, the church is in satisfactory condition, and there will be Liturgy twice a month throughout the summer.

Another church in the Tver Province held its first Liturgy in 100 years Liturgy celebrated in Tver church for first time in 100 yearBy the grace of God, another church has seen the celebration of the Divine Liturgy after a century of closure by the godless Bolshevik authorities.

“>in January.

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