lunes, 13 de mayo de 2024 19:15
Misa, en español, en la Capilla de las Apariciones de Fátima

Nossa Senhora de Fátima 13 de maio No dia 13 de maio de 1917 as três crianças, Lúcia, Jacinto e Francisca, estavam pastoreando nas colinas, quando sobre uma pequena árvore, surge um clarão e a figura "de uma Senhora vestida de branco, mais brilhante que o sol, reluzindo mais clara e intensa que um copo de cristal cheio de água cristalina, atravessado pelos raios de sol mais ardente". Lúcia, a mais velha, tinha dez anos, e os primos Francisco e Jacinta, nove e sete anos, respectivamente. Os três eram analfabetos. As crianças mudam radicalmente. Passam a rezar e a fazer sacrifícios diários. Relatam aos pais e autoridades religiosas o que se passou. Logo, uma multidão começa a acompanhar o encontro das crianças com Nossa Senhora. As mensagens trazidas por Ela pediam ao povo orações, penitências, conversão e fé. As aparições só começaram a ser reconhecidas oficialmente pela Igreja em 13 de outubro, quando sinais extraordinários e impressionantes foram vistos por todos no céu, principalmente …Mais

Did you know that you were adopted by God at Baptism?
05/13/24
Through the waters of Baptism, God the Father has adopted you as a son or daughter, pressing you close to his heart with his generous love.
As Christians, it can be easy to forget that we have been adopted into God’s family. This adoption has profound spiritual consequences that we may not always consider.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church comments on this reality in its section on the Our Father:
We can adore the Father because he has caused us to be reborn to his life by adopting us as his children in his only Son:by Baptism, he incorporates us into the Body of his Christ; through the anointing of his Spirit who flows from the head to the members, he makes us other “Christs.”
CCC 2782
St. Cyril of Jerusalem puts it this way: “God, indeed, who has predestined us to adoption as his sons, has conformed us to the glorious Body of Christ. So then you who have become sharers in Christ are appropriately called ‘Christs.'” …Mais

Fatima’s “Miracle of the Sun” as visualized by A.I. (Photos)
on 05/13/24
What did the “Miracle of the Sun” look like to eyewitnesses? Generating A.I. images of their accounts produces fascinating results, but we need to be cautious.
With the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima upon us, my mind turned to her apparitions at Fatima and particularly to the last one on October 13, 1917. It is only natural to think about what it would have been like to be among the tens of thousands gathered that day who saw the “Miracle of the Sun.”
Would it be possible, I wondered, to get some idea of what they saw using generative A.I.?
“Revelatory possibilities”
Not surprisingly, others have already pointed out this possibility. In their fascinating paper “Choreographing Shadows,” the scholars Mark Burchick and Diana Pasulka express enthusiasm for the “revelatory possibilities” that A.I. imaging tools present, particularly in regard to religious phenomena. It now becomes possible to create “images for which we …Mais

The fruits of the Holy Spirit according to St. Thomas Aquinas
on 05/12/24
The fruits are not simply our good deeds, but rather the virtuous character traits that blossom in us as the Holy Spirit works in our hearts.
Catholic life is supposed to be an adventurous journey of growth in holiness – a journey aided by the Holy Spirit. St. Thomas Aquinas, in his monumental Summa Theologica, sheds light on a crucial aspect of this growth: the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
These fruits, as listed by St. Paul in Galatians 5:22-23, are nine: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Now, a first question rises here. The biblical text says “the fruit” of the Holy Spirit, not “the fruits.” Indeed, the Greek reads karpòs – in the singular; don’t let that final “s” fool you into thinking that’s plural.
Augustine’s commentary on the matter explains that the Apostle “had no intention of teaching us how many there are; but to show how the works of the …Mais