Lightning struck the cupola of St. Peter's Basilica 12 years ago today, at about 6 p.m. on the evening of February 11, 2013, about seven hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced to his assembled cardinals that he would resign the papacy on February 28, 2013 Pope Celestine V (c. 1215-19 May 1296). Born Pietro Angelerio di [...]
October 31, 2016, Monday -- The Basilica of St. Benedict in Norcia, Italy, at the birthplace of St. Benedict (480-529 A.D.), has completely collapsed due to an earthquake, but thankfully... no lives have been lost in Norcia and the monks and nuns in the city are all safe "The Basilica of St. Benedict is destroyed.'" —Father [...]
August 26, 2016, Friday -- Emeritus Pope Benedict Lives "At the Still Point of the Turning World" "Here I was taught by the grace of God that I should steadfastly keep me in the faith... and that at the same time I should take my stand on and earnestly believe in what our Lord showed in [...]
August 25, 2016, Thursday -- Two Monks Remain... "There is an incident in the anonymous Life of Ceolfrith which may refer to the young Bede. A plague swept through Ceolfrith's monastery in 686, taking most of the monks who sang in the choir... Only the abbot and a young boy raised and educated by him remained...Ceolfrith [...]
January 21, 2016, Thursday -- "A regression without precedent" “To create new and lasting unity (in Europe), political, economic and juridical instruments are important, but it is also necessary to awaken an ethical and spiritual renewal which draws on the Christian roots of the Continent, otherwise a new Europe cannot be built."—Pope Benedict XVI, April 9, [...]
