John B. Manos

Pope Continues to Teach against Authoritarianism

Thanks be to God for Pope Francis! I continue to enjoy his homilies and he often has articulations of concepts that have irked me for a while. He said in his homily today (asianews.it): God save us from the “hegemonic uniformity ” of the “one line of thought” Amen. For too long I’ve been irritated about the…

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A leprechaun with a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, next to a winged horse. Text reads: "Empty Promises at the End of the Sash." Vibrant colors with green fields and a rainbow."

Bishop Paprocki is Stealing their happiness? !

You’ve seen the headlines by now:  Bishop Paprocki of Springfield diocese is going to perform an exorcism at the same time as the Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois signs a bill into law that enacts so-call marriages between persons of the same sex (as if that were possible anywhere in God’s creation). The story is…

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How the Local Greeks Commented on the Weeping Icon

I have not found or heard further news on the Icon of St. Michael that had been weeping in Greece. I have found a few comments from Greeks there about the weeping icon. Said the priest at the Church home to the icon:  “it is a message for all of us that we must be…

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Carved stone with Latin text "Tempus Fugit" and "Memento Mori." The carving is in a light beige color, featuring an hourglass symbol. This reflects Catholic themes of mortality and the passage of time."

Until the Choir Sings “Amen” – One Easy Secret to a Happy Death

“Life is a play in which for a short time one man represents a judge, another a general, and so on; after the play no further account is made of the dignity which each one had.” –St. John Chrysostom It’s that time of year when we ought to have been focused on the eleventh and…

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Can the Bishops even do as Peter tells them?

For the lengthy and flowery flourishes appropriate of a Papal Nuncio’s address to a pack of Bishops, there is one phrase in there that I wish would have been the only phrase: [Pope Francis’s] own deepest hope today for the pastors of the Church in America, as well as for all the pastors of the…

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A fiery object streaking through a blue sky with white clouds, leaving a trail of smoke and flames.

Fire From Heaven and St. Michael’s Tears

Somewhere in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty there is claimed to have been placed a plaque inscribed with a passage from the sonnet The New Colossus written by Emma Lazarus.  The passage compares the two bronze statues for purpose: Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land…

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A smiling woman with short white hair wearing a red top, against a blue background. Text reads: "THE GOOD FIGHT Barbara McGuigan"."

In case you missed the Good Fight

Last Saturday, I was the first hour guest on Barbara McGuigan’s The Good Fight. We spoke about St. Nicholas, the HHS Mandate, punching Arias, and what the saints have done when the state uses its power to oppress and suppress the faithful. I enjoyed chatting with Barbara and discussing these things, and I think I’m getting…

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A black figure with multiple arms and legs dances dynamically against a yellow background, surrounded by smaller human figures. The scene includes celestial symbols like the sun and moon.

The Tragic Comedy of Dehellenized Vocabulary

Or, how classical Platonists and modern neoplatonists interpret Theology of the Body topics. In his Regensberg lecture, Pope Benedict complained that we are now encountering the dehellenization of society. That one word has so much import that we could fill books speaking of the ramifications, but in my amateur capacity, I like to summarize what…

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Official Greek government document dated November 1, 2013, from the Ministry of Interior. The text is in Greek and includes a stamp, signature, and detailed official information regarding a specific case or decision. The document is primarily text-based with formal formatting, including headers and footers.

FOLLOW UP: Architectural Office reports Weeping Icon not Tampered

LALYSSOS, Greece, a small village outside Rhodes, is home to the weeping icon of St. Michael we reported on earlier this week. Yesterday, Rhodosreports.gr posted a letter from the Greek Architectural bureau that reports the results of their investigation of the wood, veneer, and paint of the icon made because of a request by the…

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Cover of a book titled "Charity and Sex and the Young Man" by Herbert J. Raterman, S.J., featuring a white background with black text and decorative borders. The book appears to discuss Catholic themes related to morality and youth."

“Ask her out” was what they said before the ToB Movement

I can remember the shock as I heard the answer to a question I put to Fr. John N. Felton, SJ. Fr. Felton, may God grant his soul to rest with a just repose, was a classics professor at Xavier University who used to say noon Mass at my old parish… In Latin, when he…

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