Christmas Traditions: Las Posadas

One of the most beautiful Christmas traditions brought to our Community by our sisters from Latin America is ‘Las Posadas’. This tradition emulates the pilgrimage of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem. As we know from the Scriptures, “there was no room for them in the inn.” (Lk 2:7) After searching everywhere for a […]

Christmas Traditions: Bambinelli Sunday!

The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday because, in the words of the entrance antiphon, we are called to, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.” (Ph 4:4-5) In St Peter’s Square, Rome there is another tradition that emphasises the closeness of the Lord and brings […]

Advent: Preparing for the coming of the Lord

Each year, on the 1st Sunday of Advent, the Church heralds the start of a new year. A new year is often a time of ‘resolutions’, ‘new start’ or even renewal. The Church’s year is no different! As the Lord prepared Israel for the coming of the Messiah over the course of 4,000 years, it […]

May Christ’s Kingdom Come! The Solemnity of Christ the King

On the last Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast in 1925 with the Encyclical Quas Primas so that the Church may honour Christ’s kingship and meditate on what it means to be subject to His ‘sweet’ rule. Indeed, the feast is […]

The Rosary lifts us up to God

The Rosary is the favourite prayer of Popes and saints alike. It is therefore not surprising that we find a very powerful image that symbolises the power of the Rosary in Michelangelo’s Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, which is the Main Chapel of the Popes. Looking closely at the detail we can see two […]

The Hail Mary moves Jesus’ Heart!

The Virgin of Revelation told us the power of invoking her intercession by praying the Hail Mary saying, “The Hail Marys that you say with faith and love are like golden arrows to the heart of Jesus.” At Tre Fontane, as with the other Marian apparitions of the last century, Our Lady emphasised the importance […]

The Holy Spirit – the Soul’s Sweet Guest.

The account of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles is filled with powerful imagery. The Holy Spirit overcomes the confines of the Upper Room where the Apostles are gathered and, with the sound of wind and the appearance of tongues of fire, descends on each of them. The effects are instant. The Church is […]

“Call me Mother”

We recall the words of the Virgin of Revelation who, with her maternal goodness, came to recall a lost son, and therefore all of us, to conduct ourselves in a way that does not deviate towards “strange doctrines” (Heb 13:9) but is conduct that is worthy of a Christian. On the 12th April 1947, the […]