I honestly do not buy books anymore for the free books of incredible quality online currently. It's not a matter of being cheap, but rather that the books that have been translated from those like St. Paisios and published in English are amazing. I have a preference for audio books. Athonite Audio on YouTube is a treasure trove. Here is a really really good book. Also, I never listen to the lengthy introductions written by erudite intellectuals. I always jump to where the saint begins. It's a waste of time.
I didn't know that Antonio Banderas is a practicing Catholic. Every year he returns to his hometown of Málaga to take part in the Palm Sunday procession. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Tears and Mercy, and Málaga has around 40 such brotherhoods, each with its own patron, colors, music, and statues. During the procession, the whole city gathers as they carry a large wooden sculpture depicting the Passion of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary through the city center. There is a specific order in which the brotherhoods pass, when the main Passion scene comes, followed by the priests and then the common people. It's one of the largest processions in Europe and a symbol of Christian Spain. Banderas’ mother had great devotion to Our Lady of Tears and Mercy, and he himself founded the Tears and Mercy Foundation, which funds students and palliative care. My great respect to Banderas, today it’s not easy to be a Catholic anywhere, and especially not in a place like Hollywood, to stay true to your roots and openly express your faith... here a link : https://x.com/Sachinettiyil/status/...-banderas-u-spektakularnoj-procesiji-u-malagi
I’ve always had a tendency to “privatize” and sneak in some promotion of religious traditions from Croatia whenever this topic comes up, but that’s simply because we’ve truly been fortunate to be at the heart of Christianity for over 2000 years. As a neighboring country to Italy, where the Apostle Paul is said to have already preached, and with Dalmatia mentioned as a place visited by his disciple Titus, all the way to the story of the Holy House from Nazareth, which — according to legend — was carried by angels to Trsat for a short time before being moved to Loreto in Italy...I hope you don’t mind. I personally always enjoy reading about things like this: devotions, shrines, and significant church events in other countries. We are all part of the same Church and part of Christ’s mystical body." Since I already mentioned the procession in Málaga, let me introduce you to a similar tradition on the island of Hvar in Dalmatia. This is one of the most historically important Croatian islands, dating back to the Roman Empire. It was once a major maritime center and an important port, and today it’s known as a true gem of tourism. The island stretches about 70 kilometers in length and roughly 10 kilometers in width, with many small settlements and a population of just over 10,000. Now, why am I bringing this up? Because Hvar has hosted a continuous Passion procession since the year 1510 called Following Cross, which is still active to this day and is under UNESCO protection. The procession lasts for over 8 hours — yes, you read that right — beginning at 10 PM on Holy Thursday and ending in the early morning hours of Good Friday, covering a distance of over 25 kilometers, with thousands of people taking part. What makes it unique is that it’s not a single procession, but actually six simultaneous ones. They connect six parish towns on the island: Jelsa, Pitve, Vrisnik, Svirče, Vrbanj, and Vrboska. Each parish has its own route, and all processions start at exactly 10 PM, moving clockwise around the island. However, they must not encounter each other, and they all return to their own parish churches by 7 AM on Good Friday. The cross-bearer (the person who carries the cross) holds a position of great honor. The cross weighs between 10 and 18 kilograms, is covered with a transparent veil, symbolizing a personal or family vow and an act of gratitude for faith, devotion, and respect for Christ’s Passion. The cross-bearer walks barefoot or in socks, never sits, and only walks, kneels, or stands. He is accompanied by two assistants, two candle bearers, two lead singers, and a group of accompanying singers who chant “Gospin plač” (Our Lady’s Lament). To become a cross-bearer, you not only need to have a connection to the island of Hvar, but you also have to sign up years in advance — the next available slot is in 2057. In the Jelsa procession, during the final 100 meters of the route, the cross-bearer runs — after 8 hours of walking and kneeling — into the embrace of the priest in front of the church. This is considered a special honor and privilege. The "Gospin plač" is a Lenten chant dating back to the 15th century, consisting of over 1,000 verses, describing Christ’s Passion from the Garden of Gethsemane to His burial. According to legend, the text originated in the 11th century, when Saint Anselm, an Italian saint and bishop of Canterbury in England, had a vision of the Virgin Mary, who, at his request, narrated Christ’s Passion, suffering, and death. The Latin name for the text is “Planctus Beatae Virginis”, which you might recognize. The written version of this chant later spread across Europe, with each country adapting the melodies to its own tradition. To conclude: this procession has been uninterrupted for over five centuries. During World War II, Italian fascists limited it to a maximum of 12 participants, and the Nazis later banned it entirely in 1944. However, since many people from Hvar were in refuge in Sinai, Egypt, the British command allowed the procession to take place there in 1944. During the COVID crisis 2020, all processions were banned across Croatia, but this one was allowed to continue with a limit of around 10 participants per procession. The cross-bearer runs the last 100 or so meters into the arms of the priest — a tradition specific to the parish and procession of Jelsa.
Very interesting and beautiful. Such a commitment! Our Hispanic Priests from South America are trying to introduce new ways of worship in our parish. Last night was the First Rosary service by the women. Wed night is Men’s Rosary Service. We had about 60 in attendance. It was so beautiful with music and Eucharistic Adoration. Two Priests attending. And light refreshments after so we could mingle. I hope they continue this.
We are seeing changes in things in a parishes too. With all the new immigrants they are helping build up the Body of Christ. The central parishes are growing while rural are dying. I live in rural area, so travel in on Sundays, but still love my quiet rural parish for daily Mass and prayer. Silence is awesome
Where I live, way out in the country, the rural parishes with a conservative pastor are growing by leaps and bounds. New young families keep arriving. The liberal parishes are aging out.
So interesting. Perhaps, that movement will happen here eventually. Our parishes that are growing aren’t liberal, just changing with different cultures now. Liturgies are beautiful. I see beautiful families from Columbia, India, Philippians are living the faith from the head to the heart and we are all learning from them.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/w...ican-palm-sunday-mass/?utm_source=twittercath Ok, now it is getting interesting. We have the head of Canadian Bishops bucking globalists, and two young priests in the Vatican doing it as well. The Vatican would normally keep these guys on a tight leash, especially the Canadian Bishops. Some kind of power shift has happened in the Vatican.
I'm not in a position to throw the first stone, I'm struggling myself and I'm not always victorious. But I was interested in what is known about Banderas and his religious life. In fact, he seems to have been visiting his home country regularly during Holy Week and participating in religious events for long time. And he also spoke about his belief in Jesus' word - love. However, he is unfortunately in one of the most anti-Christian environments you can be in - Hollywood, as you mentioned. His popularity probably also makes it difficult for him to lead a Catholic life with integrity. He has been divorced twice and is currently in a ‘wild’ liaison, living in mortal sin. A few years ago he had a heart attack, let's hope that God will give him a few more opportunities for conversion...I know it myself, the struggle takes place when I'm not in church...
Gold. Gold, through all of history has been the safe haven from all economic, sociedal and political uncertainty. At the moment it has been going crazy as we might expect with President Trump's Tariff's and the huge decline of the dollar. People are fleeing to gold like crazy. The Central Banks especially. But I saw something most unusual today from a news report form the Royal Mint, the Gold Dealer for the Brits. It was a report denying as a conspiracy theory that they were running short of gold to sell. I think this was a lie. They are running short of gold to sell. I know this because gold orders throughout the World are not being met. They are being met with promises to deliver ASAP. I think there is a massive, massive world wide run on Gold. But people have stopped selling it. I hope I am wrong but I strongly suspect the world economies are in the process of tanking. I would really advice anyone reading this as an act of charity to cut your losses and short sell stocks ASAP/ It might be an idea if you have money in banks to withdraw at least some as cash. If you don't believe me check the current spot gold prices. They are insane. Maybe this is why Trump requested an audit on Fort Knox? Anyway. I just checked the current Spot price on Gold it rose: $ 108.83 today per ounce. This is insane. People will pay just about anything to get their hands on gold. Money is no object. Plus it is going up like mad all the time.
I don't know if markets are in the process of tanking as much as the curtain is being drawn and everything is being exposed. So people are fleeing to gold as a hedge against the market volatility. However, having a bit of cash on hand is always a good idea. Something like 5 trillion dollars are going to be invested in the US alone since the beginning of Trumps presidency and I don't see the trend going anywhere. Especially since Trump is simply leveling the playing field with tariffs. In most cases where Trump has applied tariffs, the tariffs are still lower than those applied to the US initially.
I am not criticising Trump. I kinda like him. I think this was always going to happen anyway.It was a massive credit bubble that was always going to burst. Fiat currencies like the US dollar were always a big, big, big lie. Trump only happened to be the pin that burst it. The world is fleeing from the dollar like crazy towards gold. The Dixie has hit the ground. Not only the US but the World economies are nose diving. Everybody's buying gold. Or trying very hard to. Suddenly gold is very,very ,very hard to buy Things look very,very,very bad. The same thing before the 1930's tail spin. Anyhow it fits perfectly into Catholic Prophecy. I can't believe the prices for gold I am watching at the moment. Astonishing. The markets tomorrow will be so interesting.
Trump's a Real Estate Dealer from NY. What does he know about Global Economics? He was trying for a Global Economic reset in favour of the USA , something that has not happened since 1945. It was always going to be a roll of the dice. It looks to me like the dice have fallen the wrong way. Again I don't blame him for trying. It's not personal. Or political. The dice were too much loaded with US debt. He tried; he failed. Now there is going to be the most horrendous crash.
It was the same thing with the Roman Empire. Economies Collapse. You can print money and print it and print it. But the day will come when folks will want to change it for gold and you won't have it to give them. That's what is happening at the moment. People are offering their paper money for gold and other people, like the Royal Mint, are not selling it.At any price. Why not? The current price of gold is $3341 an ounce on the market. I suspect the actual worth is about $25000 an ounce (for paper money). That's why no one wants to sell. So they discover that their paper money is just a piece of paper. Horror. At the end of the Second World War General Charles de Gaulle of France sent a warship to New York asking that the gold of France, stored in Fort Knox be returned to him. It never happened. Because the gold was no longer there. The warship returned to France empty. So say you were a millionaire in dollars your actual real worth in gold, the real value of money would be what..about $110,00? I think the bubble is about to burst, the dream world we have been living in is about to end.
So if I am right the actual real worth of a dollar, in terms of gold, is seven and a half cents. The same goes for currencies all over the World. Imagine what will happen when people find this out. When the bubble bursts, as it appears to be entrain. That it was all a great big lie.
I honestly do not see how the US raising tariffs is a losing scenario at all for the US, in fact I see it as quite the opposite. Especially when in most cases he only raised them to 50% of what other countries had levied against the US initially. I hope that he eventually matches percent for percent. The US is not UNICEF and doesn't need to be funding socialist/communist governments worldwide. Those countries who are no longer subsidized by the US could be in trouble though. As well, in regards to gold it seems like there is a lot of scamming going on like in everything else. People saying they have gold on hand when they don't is a huge scam. Hopefully this gets fully exposed. The FED printing money endlessly is a joke too, however I believe that we will see this resolved too. Time will tell.
