BIG C CATHOLICS

Pope Benedict opened a global "Year of Faith" as he conducted mass in St. Peter's Square on Thursday, Agence France Presse reports. The Vatican is celebrating the 50th anniversary of a council that changed the face of Catholicism, as it tries to rekindle the religious fervor of the time amid rising secularism. Read a transcript of the Pope's homily at The National Catholic Register .

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and suffering of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, reparation for sins, the reunion of all Christians; I offer them for the intentions of our Bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month. AMEN.

On this the Feast of the Guardian Angels Fr. Ignatius preaches on the nature of these heavenly helpers. He mentions how they are superior to us and so we can not name them but they are given to us by God as helpers toward our salvation and sanctification which is a great grace. Ave Maria! The Holy Guardian Angels

This is the traditional Catholic prayer to one's guardian angel. Angel of God, my guardian dear to whom God's love commits me here. Ever this day/night be at my side to light, to guard, to rule and guide. Amen. Whether guardian angels attend each and every person is not consis- tently believed or upheld by the Church Fathers in Christian thought, and hence is not an "article of faith", although the concept is clearly seen in both the Old and New Testaments. According to St. Jerome the concept is in the "mind of the Church" and he stated that: "how great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it." The first Christian theologian to outline a specific scheme for guardian angels was Honorius of Autun in the 12th century. He said that every soul was assigned a guardian angel the moment it was put into a body. Scholastic theologians augmented and ordered the taxonomy of angelic guardians. Thom

Marriage -- it's a lot bigger than just what happens on the wedding day. Marriage is our most important and timeless social institution, which means that changing marriage has consequences for all of society.   http://www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org/page/why-marriage-matters