Assisi in Advent: illuminated frescoes and a nurse in a nativity scene

by Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Dec 9, 2020 / 01:00 pm MT (CNA).- Assisi unveiled a nativity scene Tuesday made of 50 figurines of shepherds, angels, and barn animals with a new addition this year: a life-size figure of a nurse in scrubs wearing a mask. The diocese said that …
A Closer Look: FRATELLI TUTTI, SOLIDARITY AND INCARNATIONAL EMPATHY

On Oct. 3, Pope Francis promulgated the third encyclical of his pontificate, Fratelli Tutti, signed at the tomb of St. Francis on the vigil of the saint’s feast day. The Holy Father takes his title – “All Brothers” – from St. Francis’ Admonitions, a short series of spiritual exhortations to …
Pope Francis proclaims Year of St. Joseph

Vatican City, Dec 8, 2020 / 04:08 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis announced a Year of St. Joseph Tuesday in honor of the 150th anniversary of the saint’s proclamation as patron of the Universal Church. The year begins Dec. 8, 2020, and concludes on Dec. 8, 2021, according to a …
US Supreme Court urged to protect KY religious schools from shutdown

CNA Staff, Dec 7, 2020 / 04:37 pm MT (CNA).- An order shuttering in-person education until Jan. 4 in Kentucky amid rising COVID-19 cases amounts to religious discrimination, the US Supreme Court has been told in amici curiae briefs. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) temporarily halted in-person learning in the …
Pope Francis: the Immaculate Conception is ‘one of the wonders of the story of salvation’

Vatican City, Dec 8, 2020 / 06:20 am MT (CNA).- The Immaculate Conception is “one of the wonders of the story of salvation,” Pope Francis said in his Angelus address Tuesday. Speaking from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the pope encouraged …
Ohio legislature passes bill to require burial or cremation of aborted babies

By Jonah McKeown Denver Newsroom, Dec 7, 2020 / 06:01 pm MT (CNA).- The legislature of Ohio has passed a bill that would require the bodies of babies killed in surgical abortions to be cremated or buried at the abortion clinic’s expense. Senate Bill 27 would allow women seeking abortions …
December 8: Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

The Immaculate Conception, a solemnity celebrated on December 8, is the patronal feast of the United States. In 1854, Pope Pius IX’s solemn declaration, Ineffabilis Deus (link al documento que está en Marian documents), clarified with finality the long-held belief of the Church that Mary was conceived free from original …
Obituary – Sister Ann Catherine Lehmkuhl, CPPS

Lehmkuhl, Sister Ann Catherine, 88, died peacefully on Dec. 5 at Hospice of Dayton after a short illness. She was born June 1932 in Minster, Ohio, and entered the Sisters of the Precious Blood, Dayton, Ohio, August 1948. She faithfully served God and His people for 72 years. Private services …
LIVE: First Vespers for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception: Monday, December 7 at 7:30 pm

First Vespers for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, with music by members of Mount St. Mary’s Latin Schola. This event will include the chanting of the psalms and canticles of Evening Prayer for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Patroness of the Seminary. The concert will feature Marian …