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None of the above. Just bad cleanliness procedures in industrial food-handling. Expect more. Our food is coming from fewer and fewer sources, farther and farther away, handled by fewer and fewer people but more and more machines; if the fewer people don't keep the more machines clean, then the more food is contaminated.

Franciscan Sisters of Christ the Light (formerly the School Sisters of St. Francis) are having one of their Authentic Femininity retreats, that also act as their initial come and see. Young women ages 18-40yrs old are welcome from Sept 25-27, 2026. Retreat starts at 6pm on Friday and ends after lunch on Sunday around 1:30pm. Event is free, but donations are accepted. https://panhandlefranciscans.org/femininity

The SOLT Family is having their national American Region assembly. During which Sr. Mary Ignatius of the Holy Family professed her perpetual vows. https://www.instagram.com/p/Da4TmTuvKxq/ During this same time, the Brothers clothed 4 novices and several of their lay members took temp and perpetual vows as part of their lay association. https://www.instagram.com/p/DbCly0-lWBq/?img_index=1

L3.7 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grace, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous etes benie entres toutes les femmes et Jesus, le fruit de vos entrailles est beni. Sainte Marie, Mere de Dieu, priez pour nous pecheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

Not sure I follow.... need more input...

Urgent matter

Planned? AI processed cooling driven?

The Dominican Friars of the Central Province announce that four novices will make first vows on August 3rd. They will have 23 men in their studentate this year. The five sixth-year friars should be ordained deacons soon, but I don't find any announcement of that. The 2026 novices should arrive in Denver, CO in the first or second week of August. I'll post that when it happens. The Dominican Friars of the Southern Province announce that four novices will make first vows on August 8th. They will have 20 men in their studentate. Their one sixth-year friar should be ordained a deacon soon, but I don't find any announcement of that. The 2026 novices should arrive in Houston around the first or second week of August. I'll post that when it happens. NB: The 23 Central Province student friars and the 20 Southern Province student friars all live at St. Dominic Priory in St. Louis and attend Aquinas Institute of Theology for their classes. St. Dominic Priory was originally a girls' academy run by the Sisters of Loretto - quite a big building - that closed. It was converted to temporary living quarters for homeless women and their children, under the aegis of eight congregations of women religious. When government funding for that ran out, the building sat empty until the Dominicans bought it and renovated it into their studentate. It has rooms for 50 friars (plus refectory, parlors, etc.), and at the time, they didn't have anything close to 50 students. Some people thought they were crazy to renovate such a large building. But it's full now! Forty-three students, and the other rooms are probably for the "senior friar community" - the student masters, some of the professors from Aquinas Institute, etc. The Dominican Friars of the Western Province announce that three friars professed solemn vows on May 30 at their provincial house in San Francisco. Five friars were ordained to the priesthood on June 26th. Four novices will profess first vows on September 5th. The 2026 novices should arrive in San Francisco the first or second week of August. I'll post about that when it happens. I have nothing to report from the Dominican Friars of the Eastern Province. They used to keep their social media very up-to-date, but some of what's listed as "news" on their site is from 2024. If anyone in The Pham has up-to-date information, please share it with us.

August 15, 2025 - At Saint Anselm Abbey in Manchester, NH, on August 14, Mr. Noah Manuel was received into the novitiate and clothed in the monastic habit. Abbot Isaac gave him his religious name, Bro. Dismas. He should make first vows in a few weeks, good Lord willing. March 21, 2026 - At Saint Anselm Abbey in Manchester, NH, Bro. Joseph Nicholas Wencis, O.S.B., professed temporary vows. June 29 - St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, IL announced that Bro. Aaron Minix, OSB had made his first vow profession the previous week. He made his novitiate at Belmont Abbey in North Carolina where Father Elias Correa-Torres served as Brother Aaron's novice master. July 19 - Bro. Mark Nelson, OSB was ordained a transitional deacon at Conception Abbey in northwest Missouri.

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L3.6 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grace, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous etes benie entres toutes les femmes et Jesus, le fruit de vos entrailles est beni. Sainte Marie, Mere de Dieu, priez pour nous pecheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

The Monastery of the Holy Cross (Benedictine monks) is in the heart of Chicago - the bill themselves as Monks in the City. It's a fairly new monastery, having only recently celebrated their 35th anniversary. They specialize in solemn liturgies, often chanted in Latin. They sustain themselves with a kind of bed & breakfast within the monastery. They're having a Come and See Weekend October 9th - 11th. Participants need to be between 20 and 35 years old, so spread the word to your younger contacts. Good detailed information in the link. https://chicagomonk.org/vocations/monastic-experience-weekend/

Saint Anselm Abbey (Benedictine monks) in New Hampshire posted on this announcement FB on July 1, 2026: "On Tuesday, June 30th, three men were welcomed into our community as postulants. Please join us in welcoming Mr. Thomas Canuel, Mr. Kiean Hickey, and Mr. Jacob Akey back to Saint Anselm. Fr. Augustine will serve as their postulant director. Please pray for these men as they begin their monastic life with us. Please also pray that our community will continue to be blessed with vocations." This monastery has seen a steady stream of vocations over the last fifteen years or so.

A communist/socialism society entails the absence of private property and social classes, and ultimately money and the state. socialism it's just another word for: communism, it has been estimated of deaths caused by communist governments in the 20th century range widely, with figures typically between 65 million and 110 million, depending on the definitions and methodologies used by scholars. Stéphane Courtois’s introduction to The Black Book of Communism presents an approximate total around 94–100 million victims and asserts that Leninist and Marxist–Leninist regimes were responsible for roughly 100 million deaths. Popular graphics and secondary summaries often repeat "around 100 million" or "94 million" as a headline number for deaths attributed to communist states such as the USSR, Maoist China, Cambodia, North Korea and Eastern European regimes. Capitalist societies such as United States created, and are responsible for the middle class. Be careful what you wish for

L3.5 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grace, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous etes benie entres toutes les femmes et Jesus, le fruit de vos entrailles est beni. Sainte Marie, Mere de Dieu, priez pour nous pecheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

To be fair tho, Catholic tradition has always leaned into the personal conversion and free choice from the heart, not mandating it by a governing authority. For example: So the common good flows from the individual's immersion and education in the life of Christ. Living a holy life leads one towards solidarity but the point of the Gospel isn't solidarity. It's the personal conversion and holiness of the individuals Christ died for, you and me. A big mistake of looking to the church for economic ideas is that it tends to put a by-product of the Gospel as the goal, and achieves neither the by-product of economic solidarity or the goal of the Gospel.

L3.4 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grace, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous etes benie entres toutes les femmes et Jesus, le fruit de vos entrailles est beni. Sainte Marie, Mere de Dieu, priez pour nous pecheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

The readings for today, encourage us to be patient. In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of the wheat and the weeds growing together until the harvest. The temptation is to want everything sorted out immediately – every problem solved; every uncertainty removed. Yet the wisdom of God is different from our own. We need to look at the story more carefully to understand why. Look at the weeds first. Consider that the weeds that have grown up in the wheat field are an annual grass that looks very much like wheat. Distinguishing one from another in the early stages of growth is practically impossible. Moreover, as the plants mature, the roots of weeds and wheat intertwine and become almost inseparable. Yet separating them is necessary. Unless the weeds are removed, the flour made from the wheat will be ruined by the weeds, which are both bitter and mildly toxic. The usual solution is to harvest the plants, spread them on a flat surface, and then remove the weeds, which by this time are a different colour than the wheat. So, the weeds can be separated only at the proper time, following the harvest. This brings us to what the landowner says, “Let both of them grow together until the harvest.” This teaching now makes sense to us, hopefully, in the context of wheat growing in a field where there are also weeds. Where it dismays us is elsewhere in the world. Looking at the news, it might seem to many of us that weeds are growing like crazy in the wheatfield of the world! There are plants we may want to take out by the roots. We want the field of the world to flourish with wheat, and not to be troubled with weeds. That does not seem too much to ask. The pervasive evil in the world can lead to a feeling of despair about God: Why doesn’t God do something about these people? Where is God when people commit horrible crimes? The parable does not deny that there are weeds in the wheat. It does not suggest for a moment that the world is free from evil. Instead, the weeds are only too visible. The landowner knows what’s happened: “An enemy has done this!” Yes, the world is a terrible, broken place. What is meant to be a wheat field is hosting countless weeds. And yet we hear from the landowner this instruction: “Let both grow together until the harvest.” This sounds like the landowner is resigned to letting his fertile field become little more than a weed patch. But now we must look carefully at a word. The word is one which is often rendered “let”: “Let both grow together until the harvest.” The original Greek word has a wide range of meanings. One major meaning is “let” as in the sense of “pardon” or “forgive.” This parable invites us to the patience of discipleship. The very real evil that others do is not to be answered by pulling out the weeds, by attacking and destroying the people responsible. Doing so only adds to the harm. Instead, our response is to be one of forgiveness, and a willingness to trust in the purposes of God who will winnow the wheat and the weeds at the harvest time. The passage goes on to explain that once this harvest is in, the weeds will be recognized for what they are and thrown into the fire. There’s mercy, yes, but there’s also justice. Why this delay, then? Everywhere in the world, the weeds and the wheat are growing together, sometimes in dramatic, horrible ways; sometimes in ugly, everyday ways. Why not do something about it now? St. Augustine, in commenting on this parable asks and answers the same question: “There is this difference between people and real grain and real weeds, for what was grain in the field is grain and what were weeds are weeds. But in the Lord’s field, which is the Church, at time what was grain turns into weeds, and at times what were weeds turn into grain; and no one knows what they will be tomorrow.” God gives us all amazing latitude to make choices, to do right, even to do wrong, to the point of inflicting grievous harm on others and on ourselves. The most convincing entry in this record is the story of Jesus. Nowhere does he even suggest that in this life we get paid back in kind for the evil we have done. Instead, he goes around telling strange parables about patience and forgiveness, like the one about a landowner who suffers the weeds and wheat to grow together through the many months leading up to harvest. When his enemies nail him to the cross, he forgives them. Risen from the dead, he forgives those disciples who skipped out in his hour of need. Forgiveness and forbearance are God’s way of working with our broken world. Our preoccupation with the problem of weeds must not prevent us from recognizing the wondrous conclusion of the parable: how indeed the harvest happens, an abundance of wheat is gathered in, enough to make landowner and farm hands rejoice together. And so, the parable ends on a note of brilliant triumph about that harvest: Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!

L3.3 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grace, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous etes benie entres toutes les femmes et Jesus, le fruit de vos entrailles est beni. Sainte Marie, Mere de Dieu, priez pour nous pecheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

L3.2 Je vous salut Marie, pleine de grace, le Seigneur est avec vous, vous etes benie entres toutes les femmes et Jesus, le fruit de vos entrailles est beni. Sainte Marie, Mere de Dieu, priez pour nous pecheurs, maintenant et a l'heure de notre mort. Amen

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Our Lady of the Mississippi Trappistines On June 13, 2026, Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Sister Marie Madeleine Beverly made solemn profession at the Missisippi Abbey (USA). Sister Madeleine was born in Jacksonville, Florida, USA in 1989; she entered Mississippi in 2018 and made first profession in 2021. St Mary's Abbey Glencairn Trappistines On July 11, 2026, The Solemnity of Saint Benedict, Sister Beatrice Brady made solemn profession at St Mary’s Abbey of Glencairn (Ireland). Sister Beatrice was born in Ireland in 1995. She entered Glencairn in 2018 and made first profession in 2021

I think one could do this through private vows, and definitely still live those vows in the world, but then the vows would be, well, private. But depending on your workplace/role it may be a blessing for it to be private, too - like a Catholic ninja, as my old pastor used to say during Lent.

I think the closest thing would be to join a Secular Institute. They make vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, but live in the world as a lay person. They are connected to a larger community, however live independently. They typically have monthly meetings either in person or virtual, and have a specific prayer commitment daily. Unlike CV life, they do have a specific charism or spirituality within the institute, and a bit more of a formal formation.

Does anyone know if there's a male equivalent to being a consecrated virgin? I don't necessarily mean adopting the feminine spirituality per se, but rather is there a state of life where men can make public vows of celibacy (and poverty and obedience) while still living in the world?