Religion today

• Feast of the Appearance of the Icon of the Mother of God in the City of Kazan. My copy of this icon.
• Our Lady and original sin. From Eirenikon.
• Stop thinking so hard and start praying. Rod Dreher quotes Fr Stephen Freeman.
• RC World Youth Day more than hype: ‘overwhelming demand for confessionals’. Gaudent angeli. From Fr Jay Toborowsky.
  

  Confession isn’t a get-out-of-jail free card.

  It must be as complete as possible — all mortal sins that you know you committed — and with the intention never to commit those sins again.
  

  Priests are “spiritual garbage men”. The priesthood, which is of and for the Church, exists for the salvation and sanctity of souls, not for personal empowerment. He says: “Like Christ, they [priests] are sewers, who drain off the world’s sins. They clean up our spiritual garbage, and wash dirty, smelly feet like Christ did before He died.” Being a “garbage dump” is the essence of priesthood.

  — Fr Gordon Anderson quoting Peter Kreeft
  
  Pope Benedict’s Catholic restoration is under way. But there’s still a long way to go.


• At the same time the above on confessing sins is true, Owen White presents an Orthodox view that complements it, or small-o orthodoxy isn’t the hateful judgementalism you might think (also the point of Brideshead Revisited).

In Russia celebrating the feast last Thursday of the sainted Tsar Nicholas II and his family and servants. The church says, ‘Come with us’.

Photo from Andrew Cusack.