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Pope institutes new celebration of Mary, Mother of Church Pope Francis inserts the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, into the Roman Calendar on the Monday following Pentecost Sunday. By Devin Watkins Pope Francis has decreed that the ancient devotion to […]

In the course of my visits to the USA, I heard about an astonishing religious awakening, born in the early years of this century, then gradually accepted in traditional Protestant Churches, and appearing in the Catholic Church in 1967. This spiritual Renewal affected both universities, […]

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Once again, the Pasch of the Lord draws near! In our preparation for Easter, God in his providence offers us each year the season of Lent as a “sacramental sign of our conversion”. Lent summons us, and enables us, to come […]

An introduction to the latest FIAT-booklet “Putting prayer into action” (Card. Suenens)  by Prof. Em. Jan Van der Veken “From now on all ages will call me blessed” (Lk 1,48b), words that have truly been fulfilled. In the prayer of successive generations, Mary has always […]

by Cardinal Suenens The key to the hidden source of the King’s life is not hard to find: it lies in his deep spirituality, in other words, in his union with God, lived out from day to day as a Christian, and translated into daily […]

A birthday gift Veronica O’Brien, founder of the FIAT Association, was for more than 50 years a faithful collaborator with Cardinal Suenens. He wrote about her life in his book The Contingency of God. We can read what happened there 30 years ago on September […]

The Spirit is in fact the Easter Gift par excellence.  He is the Creator Spirit, who constantly brings about new things. Today we will look at two of those new things: first, the Spirit makes of us a new people, and second, he creates in us a […]

A Personal Pentecost Let me begin by describing the basic experience which is the soul of the Renewal. Progressing beyond superficial analogies, we have to understand the Renewal as a grace that re-actualises baptism and confirmation, as a kind of personal Pentecost involving conversion, a […]

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning! In this second Sunday of Advent’s Gospel reading, we hear echoed the invitation of John the Baptist: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 3,2). With these same words, Jesus will start his mission in Galilee […]

The holy people of God shares also in Christ’s prophetic office; it spreads abroad a living witness to Him, especially by means of a life of faith and charity and by offering to God a sacrifice of praise, the tribute of lips which give praise […]

“So that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me” (John 17,21) From the beginning of all ecumenical dialogue, we have to […]

On the feast of Saint Joseph the liturgy opens with these words: “Almighty God, at the dawn of new times You places the mysteries of our salvation in Joseph’s watchful care. May this prayer continue to help your Church to bring these mysteries to their […]

A main problem in the charismatic renewal and also in the Church, according to Prof. J. Van der Veken is: “the link between God’s action and human activity. How should we understand that and think about it? What do we mean, for example, when we […]

To experience a conversion during the period of Lent truely is a grace of the Lord. All our actions originate in Him and go towards Him. From beginning to end, He is present in our activities. The primacy of Grace in the period of Lent […]

In ancient days the Lord sent the witnessing people patriarchs and prophets, in order to sustain its faith in the one God. But in the fullness, the zenith of time, he sent his own Son, who took flesh by assuming, in the Virgin Mary, a […]

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! The Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which concluded only recently, reflected in depth on the vocation and the mission of the family in the life of the Church and of contemporary society. It was an event of grace. […]

Holy Father, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, My intervention is not theological or canonical, nor pastoral. It is spiritual. Generally, there is in our Western countries much prosperity. There is social policy and care for the poor. Medical science is making great progress and health […]

The readings centre on three themes: solitude, love between man and woman, and the family. Today we present part 3: Family “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mk 10:9). This is an exhortation to believers to overcome every form of individualism and […]