The Narrow Gate Blog

This article was originally published at ncregister.com The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is celebrated throughout the world on the Friday following the Feast of Corpus Christi.Every year, 19 days after Pentecost, the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But where did that tradition originate?Devotion to the wounded heart of Jesus has its origins in the eleventh century, when pious Christians meditated on the Five Wounds of Christ. There grew up among the faithf …

This article was originally published at catholicweekly.com.au The feast day to Mary Help of Christians has been celebrated in Australia since 1844 but the history to this day dates back to the start of the 1800’s.Napoleon Bonaparte had jailed Pius VI who died in jail. When Pope Pius VII was elected he too was jailed by Bonaparte, who kept him prisoner at Fontainbleau.The Holy Father vowed to God that if he were restored to the Roman See, he would institute a special feast in honour of Mary.The …

This article was originally published at edwardsri.com. Imagine a Pope approaching a statue of Mary, carrying a bullet in his hand, putting the bullet in Mary’s crown, and repeatedly saying to her, “You saved me…You saved me…”That’s what happened in 1982 when St. Pope John Paul visited the apparition site of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, a year after he had been shot in St. Peter’s Square. But the pope wasn’t just giving thanks to Mary in a general way. He was recognizing the crucial role …

This article first appeared at: catholicweekly.com.au The Saturday night rosary was a cornerstone of my family life growing up. After dinner was finished, all 12 of us would gather in the living room, sitting on the couch, chairs or the floor.The lights would be switched off and the candles next to the statue of Our Lady holding the child Jesus would be lit.Mum and Dad would then list all the people we were going to pray for and if any child had anybody else to add to the list they could do so. …