Dominican convent in US sees growth in vocations
According to reports by Gaudium Press agency, some countries have experienced a significant increase in the number of religious vocations during the pandemic. An example of this is the convent of the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Harbor, Michigan, where eighteen new postulants were accepted. They decided to abandon everything in order to be closer to Our Eucharistic Lord.
“Most of my discernment took place during the pandemic,” declared one of the young women, a native of Phoenix. Another postulant from New York said that her lack of access to the Sacraments during the quarantine made her realize that her life was entirely focused on Mass and Eucharistic Adoration. It was this certainty that led her to the decision to enter on the religious path.
Ireland: obstacles to practising the Faith increase
The Irish Times daily newspaper has recently published a report in which it affirms having obtained an as yet unpublished government document establishing regulations that will affect Catholic education in the country.
According to the article, this document describes the steps needed for the implementation of a so-called “multi-denominational spirit”, to replace the vocational nature of schools, and which would gradually eliminate Catholic symbols and the celebration of Mass in educational institutions.
Another measure by the Irish government that has caused great concern among the faithful is the new restrictions approved on October 22, to combat the second wave of the pandemic, which completely ban the celebration of public Masses. The penalty in the event of a breach of these norms may include a fine and even imprisonment of the celebrating priest.
Historical issues of L’Osservatore available online
Since November 4, the complete collection of L’Osservatore della Domenica, a magazine which first appeared in 1934 and accompanied the weekly edition of L’Osservatore Romano until 2007, is available free of charge on the Vatican newspaper’s website.
Approximately sixty thousand pages are available online in searchable PDF format at www.osservatoreromano.va. These documents contain more than seventy years of Church and world history.
Salesians inaugurate museum dedicated to Don Bosco
On November 4, the Casa Don Bosco Museum was inaugurated in the Valdocco district of Turin, so that pilgrims can learn more about the history of the place where he founded the first Oratory, availing himself of a pre-existing building: Casa Pinardi.
Present at the inauguration were the Rector Major, Father Ángel Fernández Artime; the Mother General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Yvonne Reungoat, Father Pascual Chávez, Don Bosco’s ninth successor, as well as those responsible for the congregation’s architectural projects, and ambassadors from Latin American countries with a Salesian presence, such as Brazil.
A solemn Eucharistic celebration in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, very close to the site, preceded the inauguration ceremony.
During the celebration, Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime recalled that “eleven people, whom the Church recognizes as Venerable, Blessed or Saints, passed through the corridors of Casa Pinardi. This means that Valdocco was a school of humanity and sanctity, and we want to transmit this heritage to the world.”
Catholics of Indonesia gather to pray Rosary
At the initiative of the National Direction of the Pontifical Missionary Societies (PMS), the recitation of the “National Missionary Rosary” was promoted in 37 dioceses in Indonesia throughout the month of October.
The campaign, which was supported by all the Bishops of the country and spread on social media, invited the faithful to gather in their communities, parishes, associations and families to recite the Marian prayer together.
Desecration of churches continues
Sacrilegious acts and the desecration of churches around the world continue to multiply. A case in point is the episode that occurred in the Church of San José de los Arroyos, in Paraguay, where on the morning of October 21 parishioners encountered signs of a possible satanic ritual: a burnt statue of the Virgin Mary, the tabernacle open and consecrated Hosts scattered on the ground.
Four days later, thieves stole one of the tabernacles from the Parish of the Virgin of the Sea in Madrid and broke into another, removing the consecrated Hosts that were in both. The following day, October 26, criminals invaded the Church of St. Wolfgang in Regensburg, Germany, and removed the relics of the Saint, which were well protected by bulletproof glass. And on November 6, rioters defiled a crucifix venerated in the Chapel of Our Lady of Luján, in the Argentinian town of El Bolsón, with red ink, and marked another image of Our Lord with the anarchist symbol.
Savage Desecrations of Chilean Churches
On October 18, demonstrations in Santiago de Chile led to violent attacks on two historic churches in the capital’s downtown area: St. Francis Borgia and the Assumption.
Hooded individuals invaded the churches and set them on fire, after looting their interiors and destroying several statues. The fire in the Church of the Assumption, one of the oldest in the Chilean capital, completely consumed the spire that topped its façade. Howls of joy were heard among the rioters as it fell to the pavement engulfed in flames.
Social media carried numerous images of the perpetrators of the crime gloating over their deeds. Walls of the Church of St. Francis Borgia were defaced with blasphemies such as “death to the Nazarene”. Videos published by the aggressors themselves also record the moment when a statue of Our Lady is knocked down from atop the main façade.
The following day there was also an attempt to set fire to the church of St. Francis in the city of La Serena. The criminals broke down doors, painted graffiti on walls and piled up the church pews to set them on fire, but were stopped by members of the National Police.
