I went to Church today took an Uber to get there thinking it would be at 12:10. Which is listed on the site for holy days. Come to find out it was at 11. It was posted on the front of the church and on the board inside the church. I went on a ton of Catholic church websites in my area a large city. It was very tough to find a Mass time. What happened to 3 or 4 Masses a few years ago for those who work. Poor Mary she needs to be honored more! In the end her her Immaculate Heart will triumph. Thought I would vent. Anyone else run into similiar issues.
Yes! And I went looking online and found this site. Hope it's up to date but you may want to bookmark it https://masstimes.org/
Yes this happened to me a couple of weeks ago; I went to a mass that wasn't there. I learnt me lesson! I always go to the Parish website to check! Still some Parish web sites are abandoned which is awful. A funny thing happened to me tonight when I went to confession, I was kind of proud of myself because there was a (I thought) a big improvement but the priest gave me a penance much bigger than usual. But I laughed to myself, the penance was because of my pride in the improvement rather than the sins themselves. I certainly think God has a sense of humour.
There was a slightly larger congregation than usual for a Saturday at Mass today and we sang (with unusual gusto) some lovely Marian hymns including the Ave Maria led by a lady singing with great enthusiasm and skill (bless her), I became a bit teary at the end. The priest, who is alarmingly trendy in many ways, gave a short but interesting homily about the history of the belief in the dogma - apparently Thomas Aquinas rejected it on the grounds that no-one could have been saved prior to the incarnation, including Mary. Belief was especially strong in England before the 'reformation', he explained and also said that Our Lady's appearance at Lourdes confirming the dogma ('I am the Immaculate Conception') occurred just four years after Pope Pius IX promulgated it in 1854. A great Mass, Deo Gratias.
Many saints opposed the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception , including st Catherine of Sienna (also a Doctor of the Church) who said that Our Lady told her in a very famous vision that she was NOT Conceived immaculate. In a happy kind of way this cheers me up a lot. I get it wrong so often myself. But I am in very good company. But Holy Mother Church always gets things right. That's what she's there for.
This is why I never come across as having all the answers; if saints including Doctors of the Church got things so very,very, very badly wrong I should always, always, always be open to the possiblity that I may be wrong myself..apart from the times when I am arguing that the Church herself is right in her teachings. I no longer surprise myself whatsoever how wrong I can be about everything. In fact I can nearly expect it coming. You know; I think a truly humble person should be amused by their mistakes; rather than surprised by them.
I think this will be so as it refers to the Era of the Divine Will. This is a theme that has been repeated by a consensus of prophets of this era, including Father Gobbi's blue book with double imprimatur. Yet, so many clergy and laity fail to study, pray and discern this gift. Like other teachings of the faith, it won't be accepted until it is a reality staring everyone in the face. Well at least for those who have persevered the tribulations forthcoming and preceding the Era of Peace.
My local church, which our pastor declared as a "sanctuary church" for the Hispanic immigrants, is so geared on the feast day of our Lady of Guadalupe that they put no mention in the Church bulletin or mention at last Sunday's mass about the holy day of obligation today. They've been decorating the Church for day's for a big celebration. A few called the church office on Thursday about not having mass on a holy day of obligation and so it was mentioned on Friday mornings mass (attended by about a dozen old ladies) that there would be a mass at 9:00 for the Immaculate Conception today. About 50 showed up. This means that the many many hundreds of people coming to church tomorrow for the celebration of our Lady of Guadalupe (celebrated a few days early) will do so in mortal sin for not attending a holy day mass of obligation (CCC 2041, 2042, 2043). Who is more culpable, the pastor or the lay person for putting all the emphasis on on celebrating, with loud horns, music and decorations, our Lady of Guadalupe in lieu of Mary's Immaculate Conception? If not for the Immaculate Conception their would be no Lady of Guadalupe. I know, I have heard Pope Francis rebuke those who like Pharisees hold to "laws" as being wrong. I guess there is no longer objective laws and the only mortal sins are for those who still hold to the laws of Christ's church and being judgemental when they are not being practiced.
To give such little attention to such a holy day as this is sooooo sad. No wonder are churches are crumbling beneath our feet.....It’s foundation is being gutted.
It said on there site Holy days of obligation are at 12:10. There a great order. There was a few that showed up at that time. No worries I offer it upto God.
I had researched the story about this "apparition" and could not find any primary sources for it. Apparently, it is a story that is much repeated about St. Catherine, but I doubt it's validity. To my knowledge, it doesn't appear anywhere in her writings, but starts to pop up later and is attributed to her. The sources that claim she said this only seem to quote each other and not anything directly from her.
If it is true then obviously it is not something her hagiographers would want to emphasise no more than a Michael Jackson fan would want to underscore his prediliction for children. But I must have a look and see.
EWTN Cites Pope Benedict xiv who himself cites it as a vision which occurred in 1377, from his Encyclical, 'On Heroic Virtue' and cites chapter and verse (I wonder if it might have been Fr Benedict Groeschel actually wrote this for them; he says the same thing in a book he wrote..' A still small voice'..: http://www.ewtn.com/library/scriptur/disspr.txt 'Benedict XIV ("On Heroic Virtue" III.53.#16) examines an ecstasy of 1377 of St. Catherine of Siena, in which the Blessed Virgin seems to deny the Immaculate Conception. Benedict quotes some authors who try to blame editors or directors. But it is very possibly her preconceived ideas - Dominican opposition to Immaculate Conception - really caused the "vision".'
Yes everybody cites "A Still Small Voice" but not an original text nor does it cite one. And if Catherine Of Siena could be wrong then Pope Benedict XIV could be wrong about saying she was wrong This could become dizzying. I guess my point is it is of uncertain origin. A story going back quite a ways, but people on either side of the debate could have fabricated it at some point. To my knowledge (and I am open to being proven wrong) no original texts of hers mention this and it seems something she would have mentioned.
Well it was six centuries ago. My own inclination would be , like Fr Groechell to believe it. Why? Well the context was the dispute between the Dominican position which opposed the Immaculate Conception and which St Catherine as a Dominican lay sister was heir too. The fact that we have a consistent tradition which relays accounts of this vision. ..and thirdly it be expected that there would be a certain hushed voice amounting to a cover up of such an embarrassing moment. But since it was six centuries ago we would need a time machine to be certain.
Well, either position could be true. I cannot say that my position is correct. However, in uncertain things I always look for primary sources and for this there are none to my knowledge. So for someone so important as St. Catherine, and fo0r such an important story, I would need some evidence of some kind and there doesn't seem to be any. If she did have this "vision" though it is obviously of the devil. So I see no reason it should be covered up. If anything it would serve to remind us that even saints can be fooled.
No, I would not class it off the devil but delusional, a kind of wish fulfilment. Clearly there would be an ante in covering this up or at least not high lighting it from Dominican quarters.
There used to be a Catholic church at every corner and they were always open whenever you wanted to go and pray. Now they are far and few between and they are also locked. It is so very obvious that the church and its followers have crumbled. I don't know where it will all end so I just keep praying. God bless you. ..Gary
www.masstimes.org will get you nearly every mass time in the country if you live in the US. This would come in handy for me back in the day, when I would travel with my kids for hours, even to Oregon and Florida for basketball tournaments. I never missed a mass thanks to this web site.
