O Most High, all-powerful, good Lord God,
to you belong praise, glory,
honour and all blessing.
Be praised, my Lord, for all your creation
and especially for our Brother Sun,
who brings us the day and the light;
he is strong and shines magnificently.
O Lord, we think of you when we look at him.
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon,
and for the stars
which you have set shining and lovely
in the heavens.
Be praised, my Lord,
for our Brothers Wind and Air
and every kind …
NASA astronauts Jonny Kim and Zena Cardman, both Expedition 73 Flight Engineers, pose for a portrait inside the International Space Station’s Unity module during a break in weekend housecleaning and maintenance activities. Kim and Cardman are both part of NASA Astronaut Group 22 selected in June 2017 with 12 other astronauts, including two Canadian Space Agency astronauts, and affectionately nicknamed “The Turtles.”
Read MoreA reading from the Letter to the Colossians
Col 1:15-20
Brothers and sisters:
Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the Body, the Church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the Blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.
From the Gospel according to Luke
5:33-39
The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
"The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers,
and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same;
but yours eat and drink."
Jesus answered them, "Can you make the wedding guests fast
while the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
then they will fast in those days."
And he also told them a parable.
"No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one.
Otherwise, he will tear the new
and the piece from it will not match the old cloak.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins,
and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined.
Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.
And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new,
for he says, ‘The old is good.’"
The question about one’s destiny is very alive in the heart of man. It is a great, difficult question, yet decisive: “What will happen to me tomorrow?” There is a risk that wrong answers can lead to forms of fatalism, despair, or even proud and blind certainty. […] In the Letter to the Colossians, we find that the truth of “predestination” in Christ is closely connected to the truth of “creation in Christ.” “He is the image of the invisible God,” writes the apostle,” the firstborn of all creation; for by Him all things were created…” (Col 1:15-16). Thus, the world, created in Christ, the eternal Son, from the beginning carries within itself, as the first gift of Providence, the call, indeed the pledge of predestination in Christ, which is joined to the fulfillment of the definitive eschatological salvation, and first and foremost of man, the purpose of the world. […] We thus understand another fundamental aspect of divine Providence: its saving purpose. God indeed “wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4). In this perspective, it is necessary to expand a certain naturalistic view of Providence, limited to the good governance of physical nature or even natural moral behavior. In reality, divine Providence is expressed in the achievement of the purposes that correspond to the eternal plan of salvation. (St. John Paul II, General Audience, 28 May 1986)
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Faithful mourn death of Paterson pastor during heartfelt Mass – 
If it weren’t for the late Father Rafael A. Ciro, Claudia Pinillos might not be a practicing Catholic. The approachable personality — and relatable homilies — of this beloved priest from the Diocese of Paterson in New Jersey inspired her to “believe in Jesus.” On the morning of Sept. 3, Pinillos joined the faithful from the diocese and beyond in bidding a tearful farewell to the Colombian-born Father Ciro during a Mass of Christian Burial at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J. He died of suicide on Aug. 27. Father Ciro, 45, was pastor of St.
The Ascensor da Glória funicular in Lisbon, Portugal, crashed on Sept. 3, 2025, killing 17 people and injuring at least 23. / Credit: Maragato1976 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 4, 2025 / 15:03 pm (CNA).
The patriarch of Lisbon, Rui Valério, offered his prayers for the dead and injured in an accident involving the Elevador da Glória, an iconic funicular train that crashed at high speed into a building on Sept. 3.
A statement posted on the patriarchate’s website said the patriarch received “with profound sorrow and sadness” the news of the accident, which left 17 dead and at least 23 injured in the Portuguese city. The crash of the funicular, a type of railway operated by cables and designed for steep slopes, occurred around 6:05 p.m. local time.
“At this difficult time Bishop Rui Valério lifts up his prayers to God for the victims and expresses his closeness to their families during this time of separation and profound grief,” read the statement in which the patriarch also wished the injured a speedy recovery.
The patriarch also expressed his gratitude and solidarity with those who mobilized to help the victims, including emergency teams, health care professionals, civil authorities, and volunteers.
🇵🇹El descarrilamiento del popular funicular Ascensor da Glória en #Lisboa dejó un saldo de al menos 15 personas fall3cid@s.
Las causas del accidente aún se desconocen. pic.twitter.com/vh75eDVM17
— Canal 6 Tv (@canal6tv) September 3, 2025
The patriarchate also announced that Valério was scheduled to offer a Mass for the victims of the accident at St. Dominic Church in Rossio on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. local time. All faithful in the Portuguese capital were invited to attend.
According to the BBC, the cause of the accident is still unknown, nor is it clear how many people were on board the funicular, a tourist attraction inaugurated in 1885 and electrified 30 years later.
A witness told Portuguese television station SIC that just before the accident, the Elevador da Glória was descending “at full speed” down a steep street before violently colliding with a building.
“It crashed with brutal force and collapsed like a cardboard box; it had no brakes,” a woman told SIC.
Carlos Moedas, mayor of Lisbon, stated on X that the city council has declared three days of mourning for the victims of the accident and offered his “sincere condolences to all the families and friends of the victims. Lisbon is in mourning.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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Sister Miranda Moltedo was the principal of Carlo’s elementary school when he was a student. / Credit: EWTN News
Rome Newsroom, Sep 4, 2025 / 13:57 pm (CNA).
Before he was known as a soon-to-be-saint, Carlo Acutis was simply a boy in a school uniform, lugging his backpack through the hallways of the Tommaseo Institute in Milan. His teachers remember him as joyful, a bit of a prankster, and passionate about his Catholic faith.
“He was certainly not a perfect student,” Sister Monica Ceroni, Acutis’ middle school religion teacher, recalled. He sometimes forgot his homework or showed up late. But he had a “healthy curiosity” and “and wanted to get to the bottom of things.”
“When he became passionate about something, he didn’t give up,” she told EWTN News.
Acutis spent nearly eight years at the Tommaseo Institute, a Catholic elementary and middle school run by the Marcelline Sisters in central Milan. Located just across the street from his parish church of Santa Maria Segreta, the school became the setting for his daily routine of classes, soccer games with friends in the courtyard, and visits to the chapel to pray.
“What is striking in his report cards … is that religion was the only subject he did well in,” Ceroni said. “He was someone who liked to be involved in the classroom conversations, especially in religion,” she added.
“He was also a real joker,” she added, recalling some of the pranks he played with his classmates.
The Acutis family hired a tutor named Elisa to help Carlo with his homework, and Carlo would sometimes invite Elisa her to come with him to Mass afterward. Elisa, like so many others in Carlo’s life, later said that she grew in her faith because of her relationship with Carlo.
His teachers also noticed that Carlo gravitated toward classmates who struggled or were left out.
Sister Miranda Moltedo, who was the principal of Carlo’s elementary school when he was a student, recalled a boy in the class whose mother had abandoned him. “Carlo had taken him under his wing, protecting him,” she said. “We knew that he was a child who needed special attention, affection, and love, and Carlo cared about him.”
Carlo also stood up to bullies. When a classmate with mental disabilities was being teased and bullied, Carlo defended him. A teacher observed that, as a result, sometimes that classmate could be overly clingy with Carlo. When she the teacher asked Carlo about it, he replied: “He is a great friend of mine, and I want to help him.”
“I think this ability to be inclusive as an 11- or 12-year-old boy was extraordinary. … It was a natural gift of his,” Ceroni said.
“My strongest memory of Carlo is of a cheerful, lively boy. He was a typical boy his age, with a great zest for life and many dreams,” she said.
After graduating from the Tommaseo Institute, Carlo entered the Jesuit-run Leo XIII Institute in Milan. There, his faith stood out even more. “Carlo used to go to the chapel in the morning before entering the classroom and during breaks and would stop to pray. Nobody else did that,” said Father Roberto Gazzaniga, the school’s chaplain.
Classmates who testified in Carlo’s cause for canonization described him as respectful but unafraid to voice his convictions — on the Eucharist, baptism, pro-life issues, and the teachings of the Church. He also helped peers with homework, especially when computers were involved.
Carlo “never concealed his choice of faith,” Gazzaniga said. “Even in conversations and discussions with his classmates, he was respectful of the positions of others but without renouncing the clear vision of the principles that inspired his Christian life.”
The chaplain described Carlo as having had a “a transparent and joyous interior life that united love for God and people in a joyful and true harmony.”
“One could point to him and say: Here is a happy and authentic young man and Christian,” he said.
Unlike many at the private Jesuit school, Carlo paid little attention to what was trendy or popular. When his mother bought him new sneakers, he asked her to return them so they could give the money to the poor instead.
Acutis also asked a cloistered religious order to join him in praying for his high school classmates who partied in clubs and used drugs and spoke to his friends about the importance of chastity.
Carlo’s high school years were cut short when he was diagnosed with leukemia at age 15. He died in October 2006, just as his second year of studies was beginning, offering up his suffering from cancer for the pope and the good of the Catholic Church.
Sister Monica remembered vividly the last time she saw him a few weeks before he died. “We met right in front of the parish church,” she said. “We were going in and he was coming out of the church … He was happy to be back at school. He said he wanted to focus on computer science. I will always remember him this way.”
She returned to the parish for Carlo’s funeral not long after. “Carlo’s funeral ceremony was extraordinary. There were a lot of people, also poor people,” Ceroni said.
Today, both Sister Monica and Sister Miranda tell Carlo’s story to inspire their young students in the same classrooms where he once studied. “Carlo is presented as a child who was a friend of Jesus and found joy, because Christianity is joy,” Moltedo said.
Veronica Giacometti from ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-language news partner, contributed to this report.
Read MoreRob Lyons, taken from Vancouver, Canada WR 134 in Cygnus, lies about 6,200 light-years away, surrounded by intricate wisps of ionized gas that it blew off in its exceptionally powerful stellar wind. This image combines 26 hours of 5-minute exposures using dual 8-inch telescopes — one with an Hα/OIII dual-band filter and one-shot color camera,Continue reading “Wind-blown shells”
The post Wind-blown shells appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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A late-term abortion clinic in Washington, D.C., has stopped taking appointments after a pro-life group campaigned against it. / Credit: SibRapid/Shutterstock
CNA Staff, Sep 4, 2025 / 12:44 pm (CNA).
Here’s a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:
Pro-life group says late-term abortion clinic halted procedures after campaign against it
A pro-life group said a major Washington, D.C., late-term abortion clinic has ceased operations for the time being after a public campaign against it.
The Washington Surgi-Clinic, which has been at the center of controversy for years due to allegations of illegal abortion services, has “halted appointments” after a “campaign to shut the facility down” was mounted by the group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust.
The pro-life group said in a press release on Sept. 2 that it filed a complaint with the city board of medicine presenting “numerous complaints and lawsuits” against clinic abortionist Cesare Santangelo.
The clinic subsequently said it is “not currently taking appointments” and is hoping to resume them in “late September.”
Santangelo, meanwhile, has not been seen at the clinic “in over three weeks,” the press release said.
Texas passes law allowing state residents to sue abortion pill manufacturers
Texas lawmakers this week passed a bill that will allow state residents to sue providers and distributors of abortion pills who circulate the deadly drugs in the state.
State Rep. Jeff Leach, who authored the measure, announced the bill’s passage on Facebook on Sept. 3, writing that the law, when signed, will ensure “that those who traffic dangerous abortion drugs into our state are held accountable.”
The measure will allow plaintiffs to collect up to $100,000 in damages from those who bring abortion pills into the state or provide them to Texas residents. Pregnant women who use the pills cannot be sued under the law.
Abortion drugs are illegal in Texas, though those seeking to abort children can acquire them through the mail. State Attorney General Ken Paxton last year filed a lawsuit against an abortionist in New York, alleging she illegally provided abortion drugs to a woman in Texas.
Leach on Sept. 3 said the state will continue to be “a national leader in the fight for life.” Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign the measure into law.
Amy Coney Barrett defends Roe v. Wade repeal in new memoir
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in a soon-to-be-published memoir has defended her decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, citing what she said was public sentiment as well as long-standing legal precedent.
Barrett’s memoir, “Listening to the Law,” is due to be published on Sept. 9. Multiple media outlets reported on her remarks touching on Roe ahead of the book’s launch.
“The evidence does not show that the American people have traditionally considered the right to obtain an abortion so fundamental to liberty that it ‘goes without saying’ in the Constitution,” she writes in the book.
“In fact, the evidence cuts in the opposite direction. Abortion not only lacked long-standing protection in American law — it had long been forbidden.”
The Supreme Court’s role, the justice writes in the memoir, “is to respect the choices that the people have agreed upon, not to tell them what they should agree to.”
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Knights help nourish unity at Pompton Lakes community dinner – 
The Knights of Columbus Marian Council 3801 in Pompton Lakes recently helped supply food and volunteers for a free dinner for the local community at Pompton Reformed Church, also in Pompton Lakes. The church has offered the dinners monthly for the past five years. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Kendrick Castillo, the lone fatality at the STEM School shooting in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on May 7, 2019. / Credit: Courtesy of John and Maria Castillo
Denver, Colo., Sep 4, 2025 / 07:30 am (CNA).
Kendrick Castillo was 18 years old when he tragically died in the STEM School shooting in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on May 7, 2019. He died, witnesses said, after he jumped up in the line of fire and ran to stop one of the shooters with a couple other students. He was the lone fatality. Now, this young man could become a saint in the Catholic Church.
The Diocese of Colorado Springs — the diocese to which the city of Highlands Ranch belongs — announced that a petition to open his cause for canonization has been received.
“I am very grateful for the time and effort that Father Gregory Bierbaum and Father Patrick DiLoreto of St. Mark Parish in Highlands Ranch have spent gathering evidence and conducting interviews to prepare for a petition to open the cause for canonization of Kendrick Castillo. Although I have just begun to review the information submitted, it seems clear that Kendrick was an exceptional young man,” Bishop James Golka, of the Diocese of Colorado Springs, said in a statement.
He added, “As we study and discern how to approach the massive undertaking of promoting a canonization cause, I ask all the faithful to keep Kendrick’s family in their prayers. I also encourage everyone to privately invoke Kendrick’s intercession, praying especially for the youth in our diocese, that they emulate his example of fortitude and generosity.”
While Castillo had many connections to the Archdiocese of Denver — attending Notre Dame School in Denver, serving as a Squire of the Knights of Columbus in a Denver council and having his funeral at St. Mary Parish in Littleton — the Church looks to where the individual’s life ended to determine which diocese has the right to petition for canonization.
Therefore, since Castillo died in Highlands Ranch, which belongs to the Diocese of Colorado Springs, it is this diocese’s responsibility to conduct the investigation. Golka and the diocese will now review and examine the evidence collected and if approved, the petition will be sent to Rome for further consideration.
Father Patrick DiLoreto, the parochial vicar at St. Mark Parish in Highlands Ranch, is one of the individuals involved in gathering evidence for Castillo’s cause of canonization. He and the parish’s pastor, Father Gregory Bierbaum, both experienced Castillo’s story coming up in prayer for months, DiLoreto told CNA in an interview.
“After learning that the issue had been on both of our hearts, we felt this was a prompting by the Holy Spirit to investigate further,” he said. “After interviewing his parents and reviewing the manner in which he died we believed there was reason to petition the Diocese to open a cause for him.”
DiLoreto explained that the priests believe that Castillo qualifies for the category of “Offering of Life.” In a 2017 Motu proprio, Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” — in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.
Though similar to martyrdom, this definition fits those Servants of God who have in some way given up their life prematurely for charity, though the circumstances may fall outside the strict definition of martyrdom, which requires the presence of a persecutor.
“He [Castillo] courageously threw himself at one of the school shooters without hesitation allowing other students to follow and subdue the gunman. This saved the lives of his fellow classmates when in any other circumstance, there would surely have been more deaths on that day,” DiLoreto expressed.
When discussing Castillo’s faith, DiLoreto called him “a pious young man who cared deeply for his faith and desired to be a witness of the faith for others, especially those who had never encountered our Lord.”
“We have seen this through the devotionals which he had,” he continued. “For example, he always carried his rosary with him — seeing how well-worn the rosaries were, it can also be inferred that he used them frequently. He had one of his rosaries on him when he was murdered which has since been gifted to a classmate who was in the room.”
Actively served in his parish
DiLoreto also shared that Castillo served at Mass and funerals, actively volunteered at his parish, and attended the funerals of individuals he didn’t even know just to pray for the deceased and their family.
“As the country faces more and more persecution of Christians especially in these horrific school shootings, such as the one last week in Minnesota, we can look at the heroic examples such as Kendrick and the children who protected others for inspiration,” DiLoreto said.
“The elderly can look to such young examples as hope for the future generations where there may be skepticism over the future of the Church. Young people can look to such examples and be inspired that they too can live a life of virtue and that they can become saints,” he added. “It is not something that is out of reach for them if they are willing to build up virtue through acts of charity and the grace of the sacraments.”
The canonization process is a lengthy one with many steps. A large part of the process is determining if the individual has miracles attributed to his or her intercession. The Church requires one verified miracle for beatification, after which the individual is referred to as a “Blessed.” After this, another verified miracle is needed for canonization, at which point they become a “Saint.”
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Relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis on display. / Credit: Courtesy of Milagro Eucarístico Perú – 1649
CNA Staff, Sep 4, 2025 / 05:17 am (CNA).
From the finger of St. Thomas, to the arm of St. Jude, to the miraculous blood of St. Januarius and the Shroud of Turin, the Catholic Church is home to a plethora of relics. To an outsider, the tradition of venerating relics may seem strange; however, the roots of the practice are found in Scripture as well as in the ancient tradition of the Church.
Below are 10 of the most asked questions pertaining to relics and their veneration:
What is a relic?
A relic is a physical object that had a direct association with a saint or with Jesus Christ. The word “relic” derives from the Latin word “relinquere,” which means “to abandon or leave behind.”
What are the different classes of relics?
Traditionally, relics can be broken down into three classes: first, second, and third.
First class relics are the body or fragments of the body of a saint, such as pieces of bone or flesh. An example of a first class relic would be the skull of St. Thomas Aquinas or the bone of St. Jude Thaddeus. Pieces of the cross on which Jesus was crucified are also considered first class relics.
A second class relic is an item that a saint touched or owned, such as a shirt or book, or fragments of these items.
Third class relics are items that a saint has touched or items that have been touched to a first, second, or another third class relic. For example, touching the first class relic of St. Bernadette Soubirous’ bones with your own personal rosary would make your rosary a third class relic.
Additionally, a 2017 decree on relics identified the difference between “significant” and “non-significant” relics.
The decree defines a significant relic as “the body of the Blesseds and of the Saints or notable parts of the bodies themselves or the sum total of the ashes obtained by their cremation.”
These relics are preserved in properly sealed urns and are to be kept in places that guarantee their safety and respect their sacredness.
“Little fragments of the body of the Blesseds and of the Saints as well as objects that have come in direct contact with their person are considered non-significant relics,” the decree states.
These are also preserved in sealed cases “and honored with a religious spirit, avoiding every type of superstition and illicit trade.”
How are relics authenticated?
The process of authenticating a first or second class relic begins with the certification from a bishop or cardinal. In many cases the relics belong to the diocese to which the saint belonged.
Then, especially for first class relics, the item must be scientifically proven to be human remains, along with other criteria. This is done to ensure that fake relics are not being venerated by the faithful.
There is no process for formally recognizing third class relics.
Why do Catholics venerate relics?
Catholics venerate the relics of saints as a way to honor the saint’s inspiring way of life and bold faith. As Catholics, we strive to become saints ourselves and are encouraged to imitate the lives of the saints in our own daily lives.
St. Jerome, a great biblical scholar, said, “We do not worship relics, we do not adore them, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the creator. But we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore him whose martyrs they are.” (Ad Riparium, i, P.L., XXII, 907).
The veneration of relics is a Catholic practice of honoring the extraordinary work God did in a person’s life – a person who has achieved the highest level of holiness in the Catholic Church.
Is relic veneration biblical?
Yes. There are several instances in the Bible where individuals are healed by touching an item.
In 2 Kings 13:20-21, the corpse of a man is touched to the bones of the prophet Elisha and the man comes back to life. In Matthew 9:20-22, the hemorrhaging woman is healed by touching the hem of Jesus’ cloak. People were healed and evil spirits were driven out when handkerchiefs from the apostle Paul were placed on these individuals as is written in Acts of the Apostles 19:11-12.
Can relics perform miracles?
It is important to understand that while relics may be used in many miracles that are mentioned, the Catholic Church does not believe that the relic itself causes the miracle, but God alone. The relic is the vehicle through which God may work, but God is the cause for the healing.
Any good that comes about through a relic is God’s doing. But the fact that God chooses to use the relics of saints to work healing and miracles tells us that He wants to draw our attention to the saints as “models and intercessors” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 828).
Is it okay to own a relic?
Ideally a relic should be kept in a church or shrine where they can be made available for public veneration. However, the Church does not forbid the possession of relics by lay persons. They may even be kept in homes. Additionally, the Church no longer issues relics to individuals — not even clergy. The Church will only issue relics to churches, shrines, and oratories.
Can I buy or sell relics?
According to canon law of the Catholic Church, the sale of first- and second-class relics is strictly forbidden. Relics can only be given away by their owners, and some very significant relics, such as a heart, arm, etc., cannot be given away without the permission of the Vatican.
Where can I see or venerate relics?
Relics are housed all over the world in different churches and shrines. For example, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Notre Dame, Indiana, is home to an estimated 1,200 relics. In Venice, Italy, St. Mark’s Basilica houses the relics of St. Mark the Evangelist. Catholics can venerate relics of the True Cross at the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in Rome, Italy.
Relics will also go on tour to churches across cities throughout the world in order for the faithful to have an opportunity to venerate them.
Are there relics of Jesus or Mary?
There are no first class relics of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven. However, the most well-known second class relic that is believed to have been Mary’s is her veil, which is kept in Chartres Cathedral in France.
The case is similar for Jesus. While there are no bodily relics of Christ, who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, there are fragments of the True Cross, a fragment of the holy manger in which Jesus was placed after he was born, and fragments of black and white stone that are said to be from the pillar on which he was scourged.
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Authorities in the UK are cracking down on just about everything these days, but some of the things that can get you in trouble may surprise you.
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REHOBOTH BEACH, DE — Hunter Biden informed his father today that, due to an unexpected malfunction, he is going to be needing a new boat.
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View of the old town of Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, seen from the islet Unterwöhrd in the river Kocher.
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