D.D. Emmons

1 day ago | ncronline.org | D.D. Emmons |Michael Sean Winters

Each year on Aug. 5 the church liturgical calendar commemorates the dedication of St. Mary Major (in Italian, Santa Maria Maggiore), one of the five great ancient basilicas in Rome, and the place Pope Francis chose to be entombed. Why would that event be a feast day for the universal church? What is our connection to the dedication of a building that took place in Italy over 1,500 years ago? The history of this church is rooted in the role of Mary as the Mother of God.

2 weeks ago | catholiccourier.com | D.D. Emmons |Jim Mosley

The Way of the Cross is one of the most personal, meditative and graphic of any Catholic devotion. We spiritually join Jesus on the via dolorosa (sorrowful way) leading to the place of the skull, suffering with him as he struggles to carry the cross on that first Good Friday. The crack of the Roman’s whip, the jeers of the mob, the sobs of his followers, fill our ears. We see him fall, see the executioner strip his clothes, nail him to the cross and raise him to die.