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Advent and the Deliverance from Evil...

When the first child of any parent is born, there is great expectancy and anticipation that both parents and the entire family experience, as the joy that the first child brings to both parents and the extended family is shared. Specifically, the joy I reference can be described as an act of faith, because after the initial joy of birth, the family rejoices in the gift of this new member...

For 300 years, the early Church learned from ‘The Shepherd of Hermas’...

The Shepherd of Hermas is an inspiring combination of instructions for living the Christian life and an apocalyptic vision of the saved and the damned. At the most basic level, it is “an uncomplicated guide for repentance and moral living that will lead mankind to justification in the sight of God.” Using parables and allegories, the author instructs the early Church so that its members may lead lives pleasing to God.

In the Beginning: The Catholic Answers I Knew...

I’ve told this story more times than I can count, and it never gets old. What happened changed my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined. I first crossed paths with Karl Keating in early 1987 after reading a short, unremarkable notice in our diocesan newspaper about a public debate on the papacy between Catholic attorney Karl Keating and one Bill Jackson...

Pope Leo XIV Finishes Third Day in Turkey With Mass at Soccer Stadium...

Pope Leo XIV finished the third day of his apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon with a Mass at Volkswagen Arena, a soccer stadium in Istanbul's Maslak neighborhood.The Holy Father marked the day in part by joining Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I for a declaration pledging continued dialogue aimed at restoring full communion between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The two leaders also participated in a Doxology together.

If We Must Thank God for Good Things, Why Can’t We Blame Him for Bad Things?

Believers and non-believers alike sometimes balk at the demanding nature of St. Paul’s exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5: “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” In a world as broken as ours, can we really be expected to rejoice and give thanks in all circumstances?

Pope Leo XIV Participates in Live ‘Digital Visit’ With National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis...

The 2025 National Catholic Youth Conference will feature prayer, community, evangelization, and service among Catholic teenagers from Nov. 20–22 in Indianapolis. Follow CNA’s live coverage of the event here.

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Feast date: Dec 08

"The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin."

In 1854, Pope Pius IX's solemn declaration, "Ineffabilis Deus," clarified with finality the long-held belief of the Church that Mary was conceived free from original sin. Mary was granted this extraordinary privilege because of Her unique role in history as the Mother of God. That is, she received the gift of salvation in Christ from the very moment of her conception.

Even though Mary is unique in all humanity for being born without sin, she is held up by the Church as a model for all humanity in Her holiness and Her purity in her willingness to accept the Plan of God for her.

Every person is called to recognize and respond to God’s call to their own vocation in order to carry out God’s plan for their life and fulfill the mission prepared for them since before the beginning of time. Mary’s “Let it be done to me according to Thy Word,” in response of the Angel Gabriel’s greeting, is the response required of all Christians to God’s Plan.

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a time to celebrate the great joy of God’s gift to humanity in Mary, and to recognize with greater clarity, the truth that each and every human being has been created by God to fulfill a particular mission that he and only he can fulfill.

“The word of the Lord came to me thus: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you." (Jeremiah 1:5-6)

Leading Mariologists Publish Scathing Critique of Vatican Note on Mary’s Titles

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CWN closed for feast of the Immaculate Conception (CWN)

The offices of CWN are closed on Monday, December 8, so that our staff can celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Dec. 8 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Solemnity

Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the solemn dogma defined by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1854. As Our Lady Immaculately Conceived is the patroness of the United States of America, this is a holy day of obligation in the United States.