Recuerdos

St. Mary Magdalene Apart from the Blessed Virgin Mary, another famous figure in the New Testament is St. Mary Magdalene - the Penitent. She has been a subject of veneration, debate and controversy up to this day. In this day in age, she is revered by the faithful not only as a Penitent but also a model for preachers and contemplative life as evidently seen in numerous Orders and congregations naming her as their patroness. The Life of St. Magdalene St. Mary Magdalene One of Jesus’s most celebrated disciples, most of what is known about Mary Magdalene comes primarily from the Four Canonical Gospels. She is believed to have been of Jewish descent, though her culture and manners were that of a Gentile. Her name, “Magdalen,” comes from her birth town of Magdala. The canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John place Mary as witness to Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. The gospel references primarily speak only to her presence and rudimentary actions at the...

Of all the titles given to the Blessed Mother as tokens of devotion, the title “Queen of All Saints” ranks among the most important. St. Aelred has a tribute to Our Lady that is like a poem: "The Spouse of Our Lord is surely Our Lady; the Spouse of Our King is surely Our Queen." The title "Queen of All Saints" ought to have a special appeal to us all, for it is by this title that She is, in anticipation, our very own Queen, since, by the grace of God, we hope to be numbered among the saints in Heaven one day. Hidden saints, hidden to the world, but known to God and Mary. The first in that throng of created beings, angels or men, is Mary, so immeasurably above them all that She is, as it were, a distinct creation. St. Anselm says: "O Lady, nothing equals Thee: for all is either above Thee, and this is God alone, or beneath Thee, and this is all that is not God." We have already discussed in many places Mary's holiness, that supremacy of sanctity wh...

Whenever there will be news of a candidate for sainthood is up for approval of the cause or for beatification and canonization, some of the faithful would ask how does the process work or what does beatification or canonization means. For this blogpost, we are going to look on how the long and complex process of canonization happened. But before we get to our topic, let us define what "Canonization" means. Canonization is the declaration of a deceased holy person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering his or her name in the canon, or authorized list, of the Church's recognized saints. Keep in mind that prior to the year 1234, no formal canonization process existed. Usually martyrs and those recognized as holy were declared saints by the local church at the time of their deaths. The faithful venerated these saints and asked for their intercession; for exam...

An Overview Us Catholics are known for our love and devotion to or saints and we always go to them in times of need, whether it’s a temporal or a spiritual need. However, some Protestants and its radical denominations accuse us of idolatry and other hurtful yet untrue things because of their uttermost hatred in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. In this blogpost, we are going to delved on how the Church teaches regarding the veneration of saints, the main difference between worship and veneration as an attempt to counter most false claims that Protestants and its radical denotations hurled on us Catholics. In our Catholic teaching, the term ‘Saint’ is reserved for those individuals who have led a holy and exemplary life and have now entered Heaven.  What is ‘Veneration’ ? Veneration of the saints is the way in which the Church honors and respects those who it regards as deserving of such action. Our Catholic theology draws a clear distinction between veneration and worship...

Our Catholic is very unique and so vast and so many things that we can learn, appreciate and practice.  For many years, I have kept tons of reading and online materials that is anything related to the Catholic faith whether its the lives of the saints, a devotional prayer book, Church history among others. These materials continued to fascinate me up to this day and gives me a renewed spirit to keep on living the faith.  So now, having this in mind, how come this blog came about? There were so many ideas that came about on forming this blog - first as an all hagiography type blog, then did some trials on having one for a good and well known devotions, tidbits on church history, stories of venerated images and apparitions. The concept of a second blog began sometime in 2018 during the visit of the bone relic of St. Augustine of Hippo in St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Parañaque City where the cause of sainthood of four holy friars of the Order of Discalced Augustinians (OAD) are also...