Matthew Plese

1 month ago | fatima.org | Matthew Plese

“Consider your soul as being on a pilgrimage. You are not in your own country, but on a journey. And what does it matter if you suffer some discomfort, since you are only traveling for a day?” – St. Teresa of AvilaFather John Hardon’s Modern Catholic Dictionary provides a good definition:“A journey to a sacred place undertaken as an act of religious devotion.

1 month ago | acatholiclife.blogspot.com | Matthew Plese

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1 month ago | acatholiclife.blogspot.com | Matthew Plese

2018 Blessing of Easter Baskets at St. John CantiusAs the holiest of all Christian holy days, it is fitting that Easter is rife with customs. While cultures may vary in how they observed Easter, a unifying theme throughout is found in food. After having completed 40 days of fasting and 46 days of abstinence, Easter ushers in a period of fifty days where the faithful celebrate through various meats, eggs, dairy products, and other foods which were forbidden in Lent.

1 month ago | acatholiclife.blogspot.com | Matthew Plese

The Strictness of Holy WeekThe Passion Fast is a term whichrefers to the fast which began for some as early as sunset on Holy Thursday andas late as 8 AM on Good Friday. No one was allowed to eat any food during thattime until sunset on Holy Saturday, which – since most fasted for Communion –extended until the morning on Easter Sunday. It was often called a “40 HoursFast” and represents the original Lenten fast.

1 month ago | acatholiclife.blogspot.com | Matthew Plese

Through the boldness and generosity of St. Joseph of Arimathea and St. Nicodemus, who sought the Body of Our Lord from Pilate (cf. John 19:38) despite the consequences they would suffer from the Jewish leaders, Our Lord’s Body was given a proper burial as the Scriptures affirm: “And Joseph taking the body, wrapped it up in a clean linen cloth. And laid it in his own new monument, which he had hewed out in a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument and went his way” (Matt.