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Lent is often a time when we are invited to pray the Stations of the Cross, a devotion that has multiple lessons we can learn about the spiritual life.

One of the most popular devotions during Lent is the Stations of the Cross. Parishes around the world will hold special times when the faithful can come to the Church and pray the Stations together.

It is a devotion that simply “makes sense” during Lent, as it is focused on the intense passion and death of Jesus Christ.

The Directory on popular piety and the liturgy explains that it is a “synthesis” of various Lenten devotions:

The Via Crucis is a synthesis of various devotions that have arisen since the high middle ages: the pilgrimage to the Holy Land during which the faithful devoutly visit the places associated with the Lord’s Passion; devotion to the three falls of Christ under the weight of the Cross; devotion to “the dolorous journey of Christ” which consisted in processing from one church to another in memory of Christ’s Passion; devotion to the stations of Christ, those places where Christ stopped on his journey to Calvary because obliged to do so by his executioners or exhausted by fatigue, or because moved by compassion to dialogue with those who were present at his Passion.

While it certainly is focused on Jesus’ passion, the Directory notes four additional lessons that we can learn from it.

1. Life as a Pilgrimage

The Directory explains that the Stations of the Cross can open us up to the idea of, “life being a journey or pilgrimage.”

When praying the Stations of the Cross, it is common to move from one station to the next. This physical movement is sometimes made even more dramatic when praying at outdoor stations that wind its way up and down a hill.

Our life is a journey, a pilgrimage, that will be difficult at times, but will lead us to our ultimate home.

2. Preparation for Heaven

Connected to the previous lesson, the Stations can remind us that our life is “a passage from earthly exile to our true home in Heaven.”

Life can be difficult and Jesus’ passion puts this suffering on full display. When praying the Stations we can reflect on our own lives and how the many sufferings we experience prepare us for our true home.

3. Uniting ourselves to Jesus’ Passion

The Stations have an obvious lesson of igniting within us “the deep desire to be conformed to the Passion of Christ.”

While we may not always feel a great inner desire to be united to Jesus’ Passion, the Stations are a reminder to us that Jesus invites us to be with us at the cross.

There’s something special about Mass on Ash Wednesday — Catholics everywhere scramble to find a church and a Mass time so they can fit it into their day.

If you’re Catholic and walking around with a clean forehead on Ash Wednesday, you kinda feel like you went to work without your pants. But at the same time, when you do have ashes on your head, it’s hard to avoid the feeling that you’re a walking billboard for religion.

It’s a confusing day to be Catholic. If we’re supposed to “pray in secret” as Jesus commands in the Ash Wednesday Gospel reading, is it really a good idea to paste something on our foreheads to tell the world that we’re practicing our faith? On the other hand, when you see someone at the deli counter wearing their own smudge of ashes, you can give them a silent nod with the knowledge that you’re in this thing together and that’s pretty cool.

Perhaps Ash Wednesday is an important day for Catholics of all types because those ashes signify our participation in a community that’s walking toward God together. Even for those who haven’t been to Mass in ages, receiving and wearing those ashes is an important outward sign of an inward reality: we’re all part of this family.

There’s more to Ash Wednesday Mass than just the ashes, though. If it were just about smudging foreheads, they’d have a drive-through lane next to the church! When you’re at Mass on Ash Wednesday, here are three things to notice beyond the ashes.

1. Standing in line

When we walk forward to receive ashes, we walk in a line, just like we do to receive Communion. This line is a great equalizer — rich and poor, young and old, Yankees fans and Red Sox fans — we all walk in the same line toward one destination. Many stand in front of us, many stand behind.

It’s not a bad image for why we turn to faith: we walk together toward the table where God meets us, and then we return to where we came from. We’re all poor and hungry in line for a meal. We come and we go, together.

We can think of Mass as a beating heart, drawing us in, sending us out. When we join this rhythm, we’re restored and renewed as we approach the altar, and then we are sent out to take that nourishment to others.

That doesn’t mean that every time we come to Mass, we have an earth-shattering epiphany, or even an emotional experience. It just means that we come to Mass to connect our lives to God’s life in ordinary ways.

On Sunday evening, the Holy See Press Office released an update on Pope Francis’ health:

“Today, too, the Holy Father’s clinical condition has remained stable. The Pope has not required non-invasive mechanical ventilation, but only supplemental high-flow oxygenation. He does not have a fever.

Given the complexity of the clinical picture, the prognosis remains guarded.

This morning, the Holy Father participated in Holy Mass, together with those who have been caring for him during these days of hospitalization. Afterward, he alternated rest with prayer.”

No direct consequences from last Friday’s isolated bronchospasm are evident. However, the risk of a deterioration in the Pope’s condition remains, the update said.

Pope Francis has been hospitalized with breathing difficulties since Feb. 14.

In an Angelus address prepared by Pope Francis while he continued his treatment in hospital and published by the Holy See Press Office, the Pope thanked the faithful for their closeness in his moment of “frailty” and urged them to continue praying for peace in the world, just as they prayed for him.

“From here, war appeared even more absurd,” he said, calling in particular for prayers for “tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and Kivu.”

The Pope also expressed his gratitude to the doctors and healthcare professionals “for the attention with which they are taking care of me” and reflected on the hidden grace within his illness. “It is precisely in these moments that we learn even more to trust in the Lord; at the same time, I thank God for giving me the opportunity to share in body and spirit the condition of so many sick and suffering people,” he said.

Finally, he expressed his deep appreciation for the prayers rising from the hearts of the faithful across the world. “I feel all your affection and closeness, and at this particular time, I feel as if I am ‘carried’ and supported by all God’s people. Thank you all!”

Before turning to his reflection on the day’s Gospel, the Pope assured the faithful of his prayers for them as well. “I prayed for you too. And I prayed above all for peace,” he said.

He then invited them to meditate on that Sunday’s Gospel, which highlighted two of our five senses: sight and taste.

With regard to sight, the Pope explained that Jesus asked us “to train our eyes to observe the world well and to judge our neighbour with charity.” He emphasized that only a gaze of care, rather than condemnation, allowed fraternal correction to be a true virtue. “Because if it is not fraternal, it is not correction!” he added.

Turning then to taste, Pope Francis recalled Jesus’ teaching that every tree is known by its fruit.

In Canada, patriotism is hard to get just right. We do it well on Remembrance Day, with veterans, the national anthem, the Royal anthem, and even prayer – when it’s allowed.

Other times, it might be better to leave it to the Americans, who have established traditions: hand over heart during the anthem, flag laws, and other formalities. 

Canadians booing the American national anthem at sporting events, for example, just comes across as boorish. Observe how Boston didn’t really have the heart to match us in jeering O Canada at the final game of the 4 Nations hockey tournament.

Similarly, Canadians are making a lot of noise about boycotting American goods over Trump’s tariff threats. And while there’s value in supporting a Buy Canadian effort, and we’re at least confronting interprovincial trade barriers that have long frustrated domestic free trade, there’s something off about our response.

For one thing, it resembles other movements that flare up quickly and without much thought: pandemic responses, climate policies, claims of mass graves at residential schools, gender identity debates, racial and DEI policies, Ukraine-Russia. 

In each of these issues, it was difficult to ask questions or challenge the popular narrative without facing social ostracization.

We see the same thing happening now. Try making the case that Trump might have some legitimate grievances and it could cost you a friendship.

Trump’s approach is often brash, and sometimes off-base, but that’s his deal-making style. Anyone who hasn’t figured that out by now hasn’t been paying attention. “I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after,” he wrote in The Art of the Deal.

He often doesn’t get everything he wanted, and what he does get often benefits his opponent in some way too. Which makes it hard to understand why every proposal is greeted with maximum outrage.

There’s also the matter of Canadian hypocrisy. Where is this country’s equivalent of national anthem booing when it comes to China?

Despite rampant human rights abuses, religious persecution, suppression of free speech, military aggression, foreign political interference, cyber espionage, and a lack of transparency about the pandemic, China remains our second-largest trading partner. Canadians willingly spend their money on Chinese goods, which make up 10 per cent of our total imports. Yet if you told someone you’re boycotting Chinese products, you’d more likely be seen as a zealot, not a patriot.

There’s also Canada’s own imperialism when it comes to foreign policy. We can rage about Trump’s harshness about our soft border, but we seem unbothered by Canada’s colonial attitude toward third-world countries.

For years, Canada has tied foreign aid to reproductive rights and climate policies in developing nations, pushing progressive values onto people who would rather have food, medicine, education, clean water, and security.

Even as they began the busy work of transferring episcopal responsibility for Vancouver, it was the health and well-being of Pope Francis that was on everyone’s minds as the Holy Father announced that Archbishop Richard Smith would be the next Archbishop of Vancouver.

Speaking at a live-streamed press conference in Edmonton, Archbishop Smith said he was heartened by the outpouring of prayers he has been seeing for the Holy Father.

“What I have found beautiful over the last little while has been how the whole world has rallied in prayer for Pope Francis,” he said.

“He is the Pope, he is the head of the Church, he is our father,” said Archbishop Smith. “When a loved one is ill, you just rally, and you pray. You pray for God’s will. You pray for his recovery. It’s just so moving to see how beloved Pope Francis is to the whole world and how that has manifested in this outpouring of prayer.”

Archbishop Smith said he had the opportunity to work with the Pope during the historic papal visit to Canada in July 2022. The fact that Francis made the visit while his health was failing made it all the more remarkable.

“Even in a year of failing health, he still made the effort to come to Canada,” Archbishop Smith said.

For the Edmonton prelate, the visit demonstrated a path for the Church toward ministering to suffering people and those in need. “We need to open our hearts,” he said, and to approach people in ways suited to them so they can hear the Gospel and find hope.

“What I am very grateful to God for … was the opportunity that it gave me to draw closer to the Indigenous peoples of the area,” he said.

“I have really grown to love [our Indigenous people] and have a deep respect for their culture, their traditions, and their wisdom. Their openness to engage with me and with the Church has been a beautiful moment for me that I will treasure for a long time.”

Outside Holy Rosary Cathedral, Archbishop Miller was expressing similar sentiments to reporters who gathered after the mid-day Mass. “I know that people are praying for [Pope Francis] around the world,” he said in response to their questions about the Holy Father’s health.

During a Jubilee year dedicated to hope, he observed that there is something hopeful about the tradition of a Pope’s commitment to his ministry during illness, even to the end of his life.

The Holy See Press Office provided a medical update on Pope Francis Sunday evening, saying his condition remains critical but he had not experienced any more respiratory crises. 

The statement said:

“The condition of the Holy Father remains critical, but since yesterday evening, he has not experienced any further respiratory crises.

“He received two units of concentrated red blood cells with beneficial effects, and his hemoglobin levels have risen.  

“The thrombocytopenia remains stable; however, some blood tests show early, mild renal insufficiency, which is currently under control.  

“High-flow oxygen therapy continues through nasal cannulas.  

“The Holy Father remains alert and well-oriented.  

“The complexity of the clinical situation and the necessary time for the pharmacological treatments to show results require that the prognosis remain guarded.

“This morning, in the apartment on the tenth floor, he participated in the Holy Mass, together with those who have been taking care of him during these days of hospitalization.”

Last week, Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, joined the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in asking the faithful to pray for Pope Francis as he continues receiving medical care in hospital.

The Archbishop shared a special Prayer for the Holy Father, asking God to restore Pope Francis to good health so he may continue serving the Church. The prayer can be found on the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s website: rcav.org/announcements/prayer-for-the-holy-father.

Bishop William T. McGrattan, president of the CCCB, expressed the Canadian bishops’ solidarity with the Pope.

“I wish to assure the faithful of Canada that I am united with my brother Bishops in praying for the full recovery of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, as he continues to lead the Church with courage and a generosity of spirit,” he said.

He encouraged individuals, families, and parishes across Canada to pray for the Pope, invoking Mary’s intercession for his strength and healing.

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By Vatican News

Pope Francis had a peaceful ninth night in the hospital, the Holy See Press Office published on Sunday morning, issuing its latest note to journalists as the Holy Father is being treated for double pneumonia at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.

Saturday night, the Press Office issued the following evening health update on the Holy Father:

The condition of the Holy Father continues to be critical. Therefore, as explained yesterday, the Pope is not out of danger. This morning, Pope Francis experienced an asthma-like respiratory crisis of prolonged intensity, which required the administration of high-flow oxygen.

Today’s blood tests also revealed thrombocytopenia, associated with anemia, which required the administration of blood transfusions.

The Holy Father remains alert and spent the day in an armchair, although he is more fatigued than yesterday. At the moment, the prognosis remains guarded.

At a press conference in Rome’s Gemelli hospital on late Friday afternoon, Dr Sergio Alfieri, the head of the team taking care of the Pope, and Dr Luigi Carbone, the Vice-Director of the Vatican’s healthcare service, spoke for some forty minutes to a roomful of journalists.

The pair said that they believed the Pope would be hospitalised for “at least” the entirety of the next week, and that Pope Francis is not “in danger of death,” but he’s also not fully “out of danger.”

Dr Alfieri emphasised that the Pope is not attached to a ventilator, although he is still struggling with his breathing and consequently keeping his physical movements limited.

Nevertheless, the physician said, the Pope is sitting upright in a chair, working, and joking as usual.  Alfieri said that when one of the doctors greeted the Pope by saying “Hello, Holy Father”, he replied with “Hello, Holy Son”. Asked by a journalist what their greatest fear is, the doctors noted that there is a risk that germs in the Pope’s respiratory tract might enter his bloodstream, causing sepsis.

Dr Alfieri did say, however, that he was confident that Pope Francis would leave the hospital at some point and return to Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican – with the proviso that when he does so, his chronic respiratory issues will remain. 

Pope Francis remained in critical condition and was “not out of danger,” the Holy See Press Office announced Saturday evening in Rome. 

The 88-year-old Pontiff “experienced an asthma-like respiratory crisis of prolonged intensity” Saturday morning that required the administration of high-flow oxygen, according to the Vatican’s medical update. Blood tests revealed a low platelet count (thrombocytopenia), associated with anemia, which required blood transfusions.

While the Holy Father remained alert and spent the day in an armchair, he was “more uncomfortable than yesterday,” the statement said, describing the prognosis as guarded.

The Vatican confirmed earlier Saturday that the Pope would not lead the traditional Sunday Angelus prayer on Feb. 23. During a press conference at Gemelli Hospital on Friday, the medical team caring for the Pontiff had described his condition as serious, noting that Pope Francis was fully aware of his situation.

Prayerful presence marked the scene outside Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Saturday afternoon as religious sisters and faithful gathered to petition for Pope Francis’ recovery through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Local Catholics and jubilee pilgrims in Rome were praying for Pope Francis’ recovery as he marked one week in the hospital for treatment of pneumonia and bronchitis.

Pilgrim groups and individuals from around the world continued to travel to Rome for the 2025 Jubilee Year, and though they would not catch a glimpse of the Pontiff, he remained close to their hearts.

As they prepared to walk through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, a group of about 50 pilgrims from Our Lady of Nantes Parish in France told CNA they were praying for the Pope’s full recovery. The group had planned to attend the Angelus with the Pope on Feb. 23, but now, “we pray for him and we hope that everything will be OK,” seminarian Aymeric Dor said.

Dor recalled that one of the conditions to receive the Holy Door plenary indulgence was to pray for the Pope’s intentions, which he said they were doing: “We are praying for his health too.”

Agata Eccli, who was part of a pilgrimage of 57 people from different parishes and towns in Poland, said her group was not only praying for Pope Francis during their visit to St. Peter’s Basilica but also at each of the stops they made on an Italy-wide pilgrimage, including the tomb of St. Anthony in Padua, St. Francis in Assisi, St. Peter in Rome, and St.

Pope Francis continued on Saturday to be treated for a respiratory infection at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Hospital where laboratory tests indicate an improvement in certain health parameters.

A statement released by the Holy See Press Office on Saturday afternoon said the Pope rested throughout the night without experiencing episodes of fever.

“The examinations carried out during the day confirm the respiratory tract infection. The therapy has been slightly modified based on further microbiological findings. Today’s laboratory tests show an improvement in some values,” it explained.

The statement added that on Saturday morning the Holy Father received the Eucharist and “alternated moments of rest with prayer and reading.”

Pope will not lead Sunday Angelus

To aid his recovery, the medical team at the Hospital has prescribed complete rest. Therefore, the statement continued, “On Sunday, February 16, Pope Francis will not lead the Angelus prayer, however, he has sent a prepared text for its publication.”

The communiqué concluded noting that “The Holy Father has been informed of the many messages of closeness and affection received. He expresses his gratitude and asks for continued prayers for him.”

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How to fight the battle for our souls — and win.

If you knew you had to fight for your life, would you want some time to prepare for that struggle? How would you spend that time? Surely, you would want to spend some of that time choosing suitable weapons and defenses, and you would want to learn how to use them well.

Most of us will never have to fight for our physical lives, but all of us are in a fight — right now — for our souls.  Every human soul is a battleground between the grace of God and the evil of the fallen world, fallen flesh, and the devil. The season of Lent is a time to be vividly reminded of that constant, often hidden conflict. In an earlier column, I described Lent as a time to get serious about confronting the evil within us and the evil around us.  In my last column, I wrote about how to discern whether we are fulfilling or failing Lent’s purposes.  This week, let’s look at the tools needed to fight Lent’s battle — the battle for our souls — and win.

The three traditional Lenten disciplines are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Saint Peter Chrysologus taught that “prayer knocks, fasting obtains, mercy receives.” How can we take that wisdom to heart for Lent, and let those disciplines become our arms and armor for the constant battle for our souls?

Let’s start with prayer. Jesus never said, “Pray more” or “Pray better.” He did teach us to pray always. (Luke 18:1) To pray is to enter consciously and deliberately into the presence of God. Jesus was faithful unto death because He knew that He was always in the presence of our Heavenly Father, even when He did not feel that presence.

If you had the opportunity to be constantly in the presence of a father who loved you absolutely, would you take it? But we all have that opportunity! We are all always in the presence of our Heavenly Father Who loves us perfectly. During this Lenten season, find the answer to this question: “What would my life look like if I really believed that I am always in the presence of my Heavenly Father, Who loves me absolutely?” Then live according to the answer to that question — whether you feel like it or not. To “pray always” means to “practice the presence of God.” 

What about fasting? So many people seemed caught up in parsing the minutiae of what constitutes a fast and what does not qualify as a fast. Those considerations are not irrelevant, but they are not paramount.