TIA,

I have recently returned to the Church after a very long absence. Having been back about 6 months, I missed Mass last Sunday, due to illness. Post-Vatican II, what is the Church's position on receiving the Holy Sacrament after having missed Mass?

I always believed one must go to Confession before receiving the Body of Christ. I'm somewhat confused.

   J.W.



TIA responds:

J.W.,

Welcome back to the Catholic Church! The traditional teaching of the Church regarding attendance at Mass is that every Catholic is obliged to go to Mass on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation under penalty of mortal sin, unless he has a serious reason. Among the serious reasons, illness is included.

So, you do not need to go to Confession for missing that Mass since your case is clearly seen as an exception.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

Dear Margaret,

I loved your article on flowers that symbolize Our Lady. After further searching, I did find Periwinkle under Flower Theology linked from your site... nice.

"Virgin Flower," emblem of the Blessed Virgin.

The "Annunciation with Flower Symbols" from a 16th Century French Book of Hours (at right) exhibits a panel of individual symbolical flowers beneath a miniature painting of the Virgin Mary with the Archangel Gabriel, a vase of white Annunciation Lilies, and the descending dove of the Holy Spirit."

The other flowers symbolize some of Mary's divinely bestowed prerogatives, as Mother of God, possible through her immaculate holiness:

Rose - symbol of the Blessed Virgin of prophecy, the Rose plant bearing the flower, Christ.
Daisy - "Mary's Flower of God"
Periwinkle - "Virgin Flower", emblem of the Blessed Virgin.
Columbine - symbol of the dove of the Holy Spirit, Mary's overshadowing, indwelling, divine Spouse.
Pansy - "Trinity Flower", symbol of the Trinity, first revealed to Mary.
Strawberry -"Fruitful Virgin", in flower and fruit at the same time.
Everlasting - symbol of the eternity of Mary's loving mediation in heaven.

Flower are symbols of Mary's divinely bestowed prerogatives

     In Our dear Mother Mary,

     P.J.

Dear TIA,

Is this picture of Benedict XVI altered or does he really make these kinds of signs? You have to intentionally do this with your fingers. Does he know what this symbolizes?

We never see him blessing the crowds?

     Just wondering,

     M.H.

TIA,

I am searching the website of the shrine of Saint Maria Goretti in Italy. Would you please provide me the link to that web page. And also, can you tell me if there are any first class relics available. I would very much love to obtain one for devotion.

     J.W.



TIA responds:

J.W.,

The website of the sanctuary of St. Maria Goretti in Italy is here.

You may write to the editor by e-mail or normal mail, both addresses are provided.

We hope you will succeed in your endeavor.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

Dear Professor Plinio Oliveira,

This question pertains to Saint Kaleb. I wanted to know about the statue of him. Where can I find more information on it?

Yours Truly,

H.M.



TIA responds:

Dear H.M.,

St. Kaleb or St. Elesbaan are two names for the same person. Besides the pictures we posted in Prof. Plinio's commentary on this Saint, we offer a suggestion on where you might find others and the requested information.

St. Elesbaan is quite popular among the black people of Brazil, where they have many statues and churches dedicated to him. We suggest you make a web search using the words santo elesbao, and then look under the images tab. Several pages of statues and pictures of St. Elesbaan both inside and outside of churches will appear. Click on the picture you like to go to the page where you should find more information about the statue and the saint.

We ask St. Kaleb to help you find what you are seeking.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

Dear TIA,

Thus is for your Churches of Hell collection.

It is the new "St. Thomas" church at Vaulx-en-Velin in France. I think it's competitive. The only thing that looks out of place is the cross atop the spire. But then, even a weather vane would be embarrassed.

The full story, quite interesting in itself, is here.

     P.V.

Dr. Horvat,

Regarding your Rock and Roll, Beatles, Vatican, Revolution, article...

Last week I went to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland Ohio, a museum enthronement of darkness, after Latin High mass. I had read that a "Rock Off" of Catholic bands, as an elimination for the "Catholic Rock Fest," shortly would be held. I read about it in the Immaculate Conception Church bulletin... after High Mass.

I survived! "When Mary goes it all goes," Bishop Sheen said. Mary was gone: It was all gone. All. Photos and comments coming.

"If this isn't the Devil; what is?" one office associate said to me after seeing photos without hearing my comments.

     Thank you for your work.

     E.K.

Hi,

I have been defending the Faith against Modernism, New Age thinking, Liberalism, and Protestantism for about 20 years. I'm a practicing Catholic, I accept all the teaching of the Church, and I have a case pending in the Tribunal at Rome regarding the heresy that Protestants are members of the Body of Christ, a heresy that seems to have been adopted by many Catholics.

Our Lord graciously taught me the Scriptures, and I must say that as I was learning the Scriptures, I too concluded that Protestants were not Christians. However, Our Lord did instruct me to heed the doctrinal teachings of the Church, and so I did.

If I were to determine my own doctrines, then I would be the same as the Protestants. The fundamental difference between the Faithful and the Protestants is that we have humbled ourselves and submit ourselves to the loving hand of God. Just as God had given the Jews Moses, and Successors, to lead them in all things, God had given us Peter, and Successors, to lead us in all things. This world is our desert, we must trust Our Lord to have the ability to lead those whom He has given us to lead us.

For reasons known to God alone, He permits baptismal regeneration to occur among those who participate in illicit Christian Baptisms, such as those found among the Protestants. St. Augustine instructs us that these illicit Baptisms are lacking the Grace of God: "Just as baptism is of no profit to the man who renounces the world in words and not in deeds, so it is of no profit to him who is baptized in heresy or schism; but each of them, when he amends his ways, begins to receive profit from that which before was not profitable, but was yet already in him" (On Baptism, Against the Donatists 4:4[6] [A.D. 400])."

Those who participate in illicit baptisms are Christians, but they are separated from God; as the prodigal son was. The father said that the prodigal son was dead, but had come back to life. This is how we should view the Protestants, Christians who lack the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, spiritually dead but who might come to life.

If you publically promote the belief that Protestants are not Christians, you are opposing the Church's public teaching, and then caught in the very position that separated the Protestants.

We need the Faithful to stay united, "We believe in ONE Holy Catholic & Apostolic Church ..."

     N.M.



TIA responds:

Hello N.M.,

Your reasoning is neither very sound nor very courageous. You basically say: "Protestants are not Christians, but the Church tells us to call them Christians. Therefore, we must do so, otherwise we will become Protestants."

This is tantamount to saying: "Luther is a heretic, but the Conciliar Popes tell us he is no longer a heretic and should be called a Christian. Therefore, we must do so, otherwise we will become Protestants."

Both reasonings are wrong. If a Pope tells us that Luther is not a heretic, the Pope is wrong, because he goes against the previous centuries-old uniform teaching of the Church declaring him a heretic.

The recent wrong teaching opposed to the previous papal magisterium must be resisted.

If we do not have the courage to see this opposition and to resist the wrong teaching, we must call ourselves not Christians or Catholics, but cowards.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk

Follow us

  Confession Before and After Vatican II

  A Renewed Interest in Mary Gardens

  Please, Don't Call Protestants Christians

  Explaining "Ugly Church" in the Alleged 3rd Secret

  Vatican Approves John Lennon: An Ill-timed Act

Related Works of Interest