The movement of the human soul, and human society in general, from its fallen chaotic state towards divine order is at the heart of the Blog of Padre Pio Press. Writings, ponderings, and reflections on this movement of the soul are authored by Fr. Cliff Ermatinger and by the occasional Guest Contributor. The articles and recordings are relegated to the following areas:
Throughout the Month of April,
Padre Pio Press Cordially Invites Its Readership to Join In Saying:
Litany of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Christmas Day — Sermon by Fr. Ermatinger
Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder, cir. 1520
Translation of the Epistle for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord (Hebrews 1:1-12)
God, Who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days has spoken to us by His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the world; Who, being the brightness of His glory and the image of His substance, and upholding all things by the word of His power, has effected […]
A Message on the Word’s Mission
The Nativity, Altarpiece of the Seven Joys,
cir. 1480
FOR THIS PURPOSE, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God entered our world. In one sense, indeed, He was not far from it before, for no part of creation had ever been without Him Who, while ever abiding in union with the Father, yet fills all things that are. But now He entered the world in a new way, stooping to our level in His love and Self-revealing to us. He saw the reasonable race, the race of men that, like Himself, expressed […]
A Message from St. Jerome
Correggio, cir. 1515 (digitally restored)
But as we do not deny what is written, so we do reject what is not written. We believe that God was born of the Virgin, because we read it. That Mary was married after she brought forth, we do not believe, because we do not read it. Nor do we say this to condemn marriage, for virginity itself is the fruit of marriage; but because when we are dealing with saints, we must not judge rashly. If we adopt possibility as the standard of judgment, we might […]
Fourth Sunday of Advent — A Message from St. Pope John Paul II
Antoine de Favray, 1759
Translation of the Holy Gospel According to Luke (3:1-6)
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina, under the high-priests Annas and Caiphas: the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of […]