A Daily Quote to Inspire Your Catholic Faith “I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind.” – Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot, Doctor of the Church The Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (1090 – 1153) is August 20. Image […]

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Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. Christ warned us that families would bust apart because of Him.  Father against son and mother against daughter.  Throw a person’s in-laws into the mix, and Christ comes off as some sort of divine homewrecker. […]

In the rolling countryside of Burgundy, the fledgling monastery at Cîteaux sat in quiet struggle. It was the year 1112, and Stephen Harding, an Englishman who had wandered half of Europe in search of God, was now abbot of a place that felt as if it were dying before it had truly begun. Cîteaux had […]

ENCOUNTERING THE WORD — YOUR DAILY BIBLE VERSES “Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” – 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Please help spread the Gospel. Share this scripture with family and friends on Facebook and other social media. We depend on your generous […]

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St. Bernard of Clairvaux, born in 1090 in Fontaines, France, is celebrated as one of the most influential figures in medieval Christianity. He entered the Cistercian monastic order at the age of 22, founding the Abbey of Clairvaux in 1115. His deep spirituality and leadership quickly marked him as a significant figure in the Church. […]

National Catholic Register, Aug 19, 2025 / 18:43 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV made a private visit Tuesday to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mentorella, Mother of Graces, near Rome, underscoring his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

A favorite pilgrimage site of St. John Paul II and close to the picturesque mountain town of Capranica Prenestina, it is the fourth Marian shrine the Holy Father has visited since his election on May 8.

The Vatican said in a short statement that after visiting and praying at the shrine, Leo XIV spent some time with members of the Polish Resurrectionist congregation who run the shrine before returning to Castel Gandolfo.

Perched on the top of a small mountain overlooking a vast valley below with breathtaking views, the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace at Mentorella is said to have been founded in the fourth century by Constantine, who wanted to commemorate the site of St. Eustachius’ conversion. Pope Sylvester I had it consecrated around 335, and in the sixth century the land was given to the Benedictine monks at nearby Subiaco.

The shrine’s small church, with its gable façade and ogival windows, dates to the 13th century; behind it is a mystical grotto where St. Benedict is alleged to have lived for two years. During his visit on Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV lit a candle and prayed there.

The shrine as it is seen today was developed by Jesuit scholar Father Athanasius Kircher in the 17th century, believing it to be one of the 12 abbeys St. Benedict founded. The pope at that time, Innocent XIII, asked for his heart to be buried there.

The Polish Resurrectionist congregation has looked after the shrine since 1857.

The shrine was the first Marian shrine Pope John Paul II visited after his election in 1978. He made several pilgrimages to Our Lady of Mentorella throughout his pontificate, using it as a place for personal prayer and reflection. During his visits, he used to cherish a hiking path leading to the shrine, now known as the Wojtyla Trail, which makes its way through a captivating landscape of small waterfalls surrounded by red rock.

Benedict XVI also visited the holy site soon after his election in 2005, celebrating Mass there exactly 27 years to the day of John Paul II’s first visit.

Leo’s fourth Marian shrine

Pope Leo has so far visited three other Marian shrines, the first being the Augustinian-run Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano about an hour’s drive from Rome, on May 10, two days after his election. While in Genazzano he left a written note for Our Lady expressing his devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel and asking for her help in his new mission.

He has also prayed before the “Salus Populi Romani” icon in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome soon after his election — a special place of devotion also for Pope Francis, who is buried there — and on Aug. 17 he celebrated Mass at the Shrine of Santa Maria della Rotonda in Albano near his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo.

This week’s visit is therefore just the latest example of Pope Leo’s very apparent Marian devotion. Mariologists such as professor Mark Miravalle of Franciscan University of Steubenville have noted clear devotion to Mary in Leo’s pontificate so far — in common with Leo XIII — as well as possibly providential indications such as his papal election on the previous feast of the Mediatrix of All Graces. 

The pope has repeatedly referred to the Blessed Virgin in his addresses and homilies as a source of consolation, hope, and help, particularly for those facing illness and suffering, and encouraging the faithful to grow in devotion to Our Lady. 

This week, the Vatican disclosed that he had responded in a magazine to a letter from a mother who shared some of her struggles with faith, inviting her to keep the Virgin Mary as a firm point of reference amid difficulties.

In an address during a 1978 pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mentorella, Pope John Paul II said the holy site, “hidden among the mountains, particularly fascinated me.”

Noting that the “Mother of Christ went to the hills to say her ‘Magnificat,’” he said that “this is a place in which man opens to God in a special way: [A] place where, far from everything, but also at the same time close to nature, one can speak confidentially to God himself. One feels within one what is man’s personal call.”

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

National Catholic Register, Aug 19, 2025 / 18:43 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV made a private visit Tuesday to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mentorella, Mother of Graces, near Rome, underscoring his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

A favorite pilgrimage site of St. John Paul II and close to the picturesque mountain town of Capranica Prenestina, it is the fourth Marian shrine the Holy Father has visited since his election on May 8.

The Vatican said in a short statement that after visiting and praying at the shrine, Leo XIV spent some time with members of the Polish Resurrectionist congregation who run the shrine before returning to Castel Gandolfo.

Perched on the top of a small mountain overlooking a vast valley below with breathtaking views, the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace at Mentorella is said to have been founded in the fourth century by Constantine, who wanted to commemorate the site of St. Eustachius’ conversion. Pope Sylvester I had it consecrated around 335, and in the sixth century the land was given to the Benedictine monks at nearby Subiaco.

The shrine’s small church, with its gable façade and ogival windows, dates to the 13th century; behind it is a mystical grotto where St. Benedict is alleged to have lived for two years. During his visit on Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV lit a candle and prayed there.

The shrine as it is seen today was developed by Jesuit scholar Father Athanasius Kircher in the 17th century, believing it to be one of the 12 abbeys St. Benedict founded. The pope at that time, Innocent XIII, asked for his heart to be buried there.

The Polish Resurrectionist congregation has looked after the shrine since 1857.

The shrine was the first Marian shrine Pope John Paul II visited after his election in 1978. He made several pilgrimages to Our Lady of Mentorella throughout his pontificate, using it as a place for personal prayer and reflection. During his visits, he used to cherish a hiking path leading to the shrine, now known as the Wojtyla Trail, which makes its way through a captivating landscape of small waterfalls surrounded by red rock.

Benedict XVI also visited the holy site soon after his election in 2005, celebrating Mass there exactly 27 years to the day of John Paul II’s first visit.

Leo’s fourth Marian shrine

Pope Leo has so far visited three other Marian shrines, the first being the Augustinian-run Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano about an hour’s drive from Rome, on May 10, two days after his election. While in Genazzano he left a written note for Our Lady expressing his devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel and asking for her help in his new mission.

He has also prayed before the “Salus Populi Romani” icon in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome soon after his election — a special place of devotion also for Pope Francis, who is buried there — and on Aug. 17 he celebrated Mass at the Shrine of Santa Maria della Rotonda in Albano near his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo.

This week’s visit is therefore just the latest example of Pope Leo’s very apparent Marian devotion. Mariologists such as professor Mark Miravalle of Franciscan University of Steubenville have noted clear devotion to Mary in Leo’s pontificate so far — in common with Leo XIII — as well as possibly providential indications such as his papal election on the previous feast of the Mediatrix of All Graces. 

The pope has repeatedly referred to the Blessed Virgin in his addresses and homilies as a source of consolation, hope, and help, particularly for those facing illness and suffering, and encouraging the faithful to grow in devotion to Our Lady. 

This week, the Vatican disclosed that he had responded in a magazine to a letter from a mother who shared some of her struggles with faith, inviting her to keep the Virgin Mary as a firm point of reference amid difficulties.

In an address during a 1978 pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Mentorella, Pope John Paul II said the holy site, “hidden among the mountains, particularly fascinated me.”

Noting that the “Mother of Christ went to the hills to say her ‘Magnificat,’” he said that “this is a place in which man opens to God in a special way: [A] place where, far from everything, but also at the same time close to nature, one can speak confidentially to God himself. One feels within one what is man’s personal call.”

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 19, 2025 / 14:33 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram to the bishops of the Amazon region participating in a meeting in Bogotá, Colombia, this week, reminding them of the importance of caring for nature without becoming slaves or worshippers of it.

In his message, addressed to Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno, president of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon, the Holy Father thanked the prelates for their “efforts made to promote the greater good of the Church in favor of the faithful of the beloved Amazonian territory.”

Recalling what was learned during the Synod on the Amazon in 2019, the pontiff urged the bishops to seek, based on the unity and collegiality proper to an “episcopal body,” ways to help “diocesan bishops and apostolic vicars concretely and effectively carry out their mission.”

To achieve this, Pope Leo XIV proposed three dimensions: the Church’s mission to proclaim the Gospel to all people, the just treatment of the peoples who live there, and the care of our common home.

“It is necessary that Jesus Christ, in whom all things are encompassed, be announced with clarity and immense charity among the inhabitants of the Amazon,” the pope affirmed, emphasizing the need to “give them the fresh and pure bread of the good news and the heavenly food of the Eucharist, the only means to truly be the people of God and the body of Christ.”

He also emphasized that “wherever the name of Christ is preached, injustice recedes proportionally, for, as the Apostle Paul asserts, all exploitation of man by man disappears if we are able to receive one another as brothers and sisters.”

Within this “perennial doctrine,” the Holy Father emphasized the importance of caring for the “home” that God the Father “has entrusted to us as diligent stewards, so that no one irresponsibly destroys the natural goods that speak of the goodness and beauty of the Creator.”

“Nor, much less, subjects oneself to them as a slave or worshipper of nature, since things have been given to us to attain our end of praising God and thus obtaining the salvation of our souls,” the Holy Father stated, citing St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. 

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 19, 2025 / 14:33 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram to the bishops of the Amazon region participating in a meeting in Bogotá, Colombia, this week, reminding them of the importance of caring for nature without becoming slaves or worshippers of it.

In his message, addressed to Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno, president of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon, the Holy Father thanked the prelates for their “efforts made to promote the greater good of the Church in favor of the faithful of the beloved Amazonian territory.”

Recalling what was learned during the Synod on the Amazon in 2019, the pontiff urged the bishops to seek, based on the unity and collegiality proper to an “episcopal body,” ways to help “diocesan bishops and apostolic vicars concretely and effectively carry out their mission.”

To achieve this, Pope Leo XIV proposed three dimensions: the Church’s mission to proclaim the Gospel to all people, the just treatment of the peoples who live there, and the care of our common home.

“It is necessary that Jesus Christ, in whom all things are encompassed, be announced with clarity and immense charity among the inhabitants of the Amazon,” the pope affirmed, emphasizing the need to “give them the fresh and pure bread of the good news and the heavenly food of the Eucharist, the only means to truly be the people of God and the body of Christ.”

He also emphasized that “wherever the name of Christ is preached, injustice recedes proportionally, for, as the Apostle Paul asserts, all exploitation of man by man disappears if we are able to receive one another as brothers and sisters.”

Within this “perennial doctrine,” the Holy Father emphasized the importance of caring for the “home” that God the Father “has entrusted to us as diligent stewards, so that no one irresponsibly destroys the natural goods that speak of the goodness and beauty of the Creator.”

“Nor, much less, subjects oneself to them as a slave or worshipper of nature, since things have been given to us to attain our end of praising God and thus obtaining the salvation of our souls,” the Holy Father stated, citing St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. 

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

ACI MENA, Aug 19, 2025 / 14:03 pm (CNA).

Marking the 11th anniversary of forced displacement of Christians in Iraq, Father Benedict Kiely presented an icon of Our Lady of Persecuted Christians to Bishop Benedictus Younan Hanno, Syriac Catholic archbishop of Mosul and its dependencies, on Aug. 6 in Qaraqosh, Iraq.

The bishop announced that the icon will be placed in St. Ephrem Church in Qaraqosh, which is currently under construction and expected to open in November.

Kiely, a priest of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, England, has spent the last decade supporting persecuted Christians. In 2015, while visiting Iraq to assist in Aid to the Church in Need’s efforts to shelter and feed victims of forced displacement, he became deeply bound to the Christians there who suffer for their faith, leading him to return many times and expand his support.

His efforts bore fruit in 2016 with the official founding of Nasarean.org, dedicating his priesthood to preaching, writing, and raising global awareness of the persecution of Middle Eastern Christians “as well as working to create job opportunities to help them remain in their historic homeland, something that cannot be achieved without a source of livelihood,” he told ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

“Over 10 years of service, our organization has supported more than 60 small projects in Iraq alone in addition to other initiatives in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Armenia, and Jordan,” Kiely said. “We focus on small and family-run projects to help families remain rooted in the land of their forefathers.”

Spiritual support before humanitarian aid

Driven by a sincere desire to call Church members to intensify prayer for their persecuted brothers and sisters worldwide and to draw attention to their suffering, Kiely has launched a spiritual initiative to establish shrines dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the title “Our Lady of Persecuted Christians.” 

“A Catholic organization founded by a priest cannot be just like any other humanitarian NGO [nongovernmental organization] that provides material aid only,” Kiely explained. “Prayer must be at the heart of our mission. That is why we have created these shrines, to offer a space for prayer for suffering Christians, many of whom are in the diaspora, so they can also be a sign of hope.”

This year, the group launched an annual World Day of Prayer for the Persecuted on July 24, which will be observed every year at all shrines.

After the dedication at the Church of St. Michael in New York City — which featured an icon of the Virgin in traditional Chaldean dress holding the Child Jesus — there were dedications at six more shrines around the world: Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Gregory in Warwick, London; St. John Guardian of Our Lady Parish in Clinton, Massachusetts; Akalla Church in Stockholm; Byzantine Chapel of Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyoming; and Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Astana, Kazakhstan. The seventh shrine in Qaraqosh will have its dedication this October.

Most of the dedication ceremonies included the local bishop who celebrated the Divine Liturgy and blessed the icon.

Middle Eastern Christian artists

While the icons share stylistic similarities, they all bear their title in Syriac. “I wanted it to express the identity and continuity of Iraq’s Christians and remind the world that the language of Christ is still alive and spoken in this land,” he explained. 

Kiely prefers the icons to be created by Middle Eastern Christian artists to carry symbolic meaning and offer them both encouragement and support. The Qaraqosh icon was written by Deacon Ibrahim Lallo, an artist from nearby Bartella.

Kiely concluded with a message of hope to Iraq’s Christians: “You are not forgotten. The Church in the West prays for you and supports you so you can remain in your historic homeland, keep your faith, your language, and your heritage. You have been here for 2,000 years, and these shrines are a sign of our concern for you and our commitment to stand by your side.”