Do a million people lining the Champs Élysées in Paris to see the pope confirm ‘Eldest daughter of the Church’ is not dead but only sleeping, asks prominent priest; Catholic priests hear thousands of ‘open-air’ confessions alongside Paris’ main boulevard; Pope Leo refers to France’s legalization of assisted suicide in Lourdes, says ‘What is legal is not necessarily moral’; A 13-year-old girl dressed as St. Bernadette sings Song to Our Lady for the pontiff – ‘We can shut down the internet for today,’ say impressed viewers; Watch Pope Leo’s final Mass in France at Metz Cathedral, known as the ‘Lantern of God’ – see below; Terrorist attack thwarted at Royal Air Force Fairford, UK; Nicki Minaj tells young Americans to ‘Vote Red’ in 2026 midterms – just 36 days away; Catholics celebrate the Bohemian saint famous for deep charity and who may remind you that Christmas is not far away; and more —
Oldest Little Daughter, Arise by Fr. Benedict Kiely
Jesus is asked by Jairus, an official of the Jerusalem Synagogue, to come to his house and heal his daughter who is gravely ill. As recounted in St. Mark’s Gospel, Jesus hurries to his house, but is told on the way that she has died. Arriving, the Lord, who sees what others cannot see, and knows that God’s glory will be revealed, tells them that the girl is not dead, only sleeping. They laugh at Him, as some translations say, “to scorn.”
The Lord enters the girl’s bedroom, holds her hand and, in Aramaic, says, “Talitha koumi – little girl, arise.” She wakes immediately and gets up.
Only Christ can bring the dead to life, or revive what seems to be dead.
For centuries, tyrants like Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin or the followers of Mohammed have claimed to have put the Church to death. But She has always arisen.
Viewing the scenes we saw in France this week during the visit of Pope Leo, it’s only natural to think both of those proud words of the tyrants and demagogues, and of the story of the daughter of Jairus.
France, for centuries called the “eldest daughter of the Church,” has been sleeping for a very long time. The horrors unleashed on that land with the regicide of the King and Queen, and the terror of the Revolution in 1789, seemed, in many ways, to have killed the little daughter of the Church. The further effects, we might say, of the revolution and the so-called Enlightenment have created a French society, as much of European society, that is, in Pope Leo’s words, “deeply secularized.”
Yet a million people lined the Champs Élysées in Paris to see the pope …
Read more at The Catholic Thing
Video of massive crowds lining the Champs Élysées to welcome Pope Leo
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Iconic image of Pope Leo holding a child who is disabled on Champs Élysées in Paris
The popemobile stopped so Pope Leo could make the sign of the cross on her forehead and embrace her.
See @RosaryQuotes123
Catholic priests hear thousands of ‘open-air’ confessions along the Champs Élysées
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Pope Leo draws 800,000 to Mass in the heart of Paris [Saturday]
Close to 800,000 people lined Paris’ Champs Elysees from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde for Mass Sept. 26 with Pope Leo XIV, who urged the people of France to follow Jesus to the source of true happiness and peace.
“Seeing you gathered here, my brothers and sisters, heirs to France’s long and beautiful history of faith, I say to you: drink from the source that is the pierced heart of Jesus. Yes, you thirst for God, for life, for truth, for unity, for peace, for communion and for happiness,” the pope said in his homily.
People waved flags and joyfully sang hymns as Pope Leo arrived in the popemobile in the Place de la Concorde, the largest public square in the city of Paris.
Parisians told OSV News that they waited hours, at times under drizzling rain, for their chance to attend Mass with the pope.
Read more at Our Sunday Visitor
Killing the sick is ‘false compassion,’ pope says in Lourdes [Sunday]
In a speech to sick people and caregivers, the pope denounced France’s recent legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Killing the sick is neither compassionate nor normal, and being legal does not make it moral, Pope Leo XIV said Sunday, in a clear reference to France’s recent legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
“I know that for some of you, because of particular illnesses and, at times, terrible pain, your horizon may appear dark, uncertain and without hope. But no human law should ever make you lose the certainty of your dignity,” the pope said during a meeting with about 5,000 sick people and caregivers at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes on Sept. 27.
“It is precisely in the name of this inalienable dignity of the human person that we must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion,” the pontiff added to loud applause. “It is impossible to regard causing death as something normal. What is legal is not necessarily moral.”
The popeʼs remarks on end-of-life concerns were met with applause and shouts of “Bravo.”
Read more at EWTN NEWS
Video of Pope Leo speaking to France’s recent legalization of euthanasia to a crowd in Lourdes
‘I know that for some of you, due to particular pathologies and sometimes terrible pains, the horizon may appear dark, uncertain, without any way out. But no human law must make you lose the certainty of your dignity. On the contrary, it is in the name of this inalienable dignity of the human person that the temptation to give death under the guise of false compassion must be firmly rejected. It is impossible to consider giving death as normal. What is legal is not necessarily moral.’ – Pope Leo’s remarks translated into English
Watch @jon_delorraine
At Lourdes, Pope Leo XIV holds private meeting with abuse survivors
On the eve of his final day in France, the Vatican confirmed that Pope Leo XIV held a private meeting in Lourdes with seven victims of sexual abuse.
According to a statement by the Vatican press office Sept. 27, the survivors — four men and three women — were accompanied by Bishop Gérard Le Stang of Amiens, president of the Council for the Prevention and Fight Against Pedophilia of the French bishops’ conference.
“The pope met with each of them individually and privately, listening to their stories, to the pain and suffering they experienced — sometimes, unfortunately, with the complicity or silence of those who could have helped them — and to their proposals to ensure that this never happens again,” the Vatican said, adding that with some, “he paused for a few moments in prayer.”
After meeting with each victim, the pope met with them together and thanked them “for their painful testimony.” The Vatican also said he reaffirmed his “commitment to ensuring that the evil they experienced is not repeated for others.”
Read more at Our Sunday Visitor
A 13-year-old girl sings ‘Quand tu t’en iras’ (‘When you leave’ in English) to Our Lady for Pope Leo in Lourdes
When you go away, you’ll have to leave us tenderness
So we won’t feel cold on all our mornings of weakness
When you go away, you’ll have to leave us love
When you go away When you go away, I’ll keep a gentle smile
Moments of joy in the evening before I fall asleep
When you go away, if you want to come back for a visit
We will always be here
Oh Mary, have mercy
Oh Mary, have mercy
Make this world
Live in love In joy In peace. Oh Mary, have mercy (partial lyrics)
Watch @EWTNews
Pope Leo’s final Mass will be livestreamed today – 4:00 PM French time (CEST) – 10:00 AM American time EDT
Pope Leo XIV celebrates Holy Mass at Saint Stephen’s Cathedral in Metz, on the final day of his Apostolic Journey to France. The Holy Father will celebrate a Mass for peace and justice. The Liturgy of the Word will include the passage from Isaiah, “The work of justice will be peace,” Psalm 84 and the Gospel of Matthew with Christ’s teaching not to resist an evildoer. Pope Leo XIV will deliver the homily during the celebration. The Mass will conclude with words of greeting from the Archbishop-Bishop of Metz, Archbishop Philippe Ballot.
Watch at EWTN
Meanwhile in the UK … Face-to-face with ‘bomb plotters’: Villager tells of 999 call after stumbling on masked men
Gloucestershire farmer feels lucky to be unharmed after she encountered suspicious group near RAF air base
Driving home from a party in the early hours, a local farmer came across three seemingly abandoned white vans blocking a quiet country road.
Confused, she turned her car around. As she did so, she saw a group of masked men in balaclavas scattering into the trees and across the fields towards RAF Fairford.
She accelerated away and called the police. When she stopped, she also messaged her local WhatsApp group and warned people to lock their doors.
Less than 25 minutes later, the men had been arrested. Video footage shows five men, shirtless, sitting on the ground in handcuffs in the middle of a road surrounded by counter-terror police.
Armed police officers began going door to door. By the next morning, a large cordon was in place, roadblocks were set up across the area and the entire community had been forced to evacuate as Army bomb disposal units investigated the suspicious vans.
The men were taken into custody, arrested under the explosives act, and later further arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act.
Read more at archive.today; article also available at The Telegraph
President Trump confirms arrest of terrorists in UK
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Nicki Minaj Tells Young Americans to ‘Vote Red Now’ in 2026 Midterms
Grammy-nominated rap megastar Nicki Minaj is urging young Americans to “vote red’ ahead of what many political prognosticators believe will be a close and contentious midterm election cycle.
Joining My View with Lara Trump, the New York native sent a message to young voters that they should head to the poll on November 3rd to make sure their voices are heard in Washington, D.C.
“Now is not the time to think that your voice will not be heard. Your voice will not only be heard, but your voice is very necessary right now for the country and for the world. We need you guys involved,” Minaj said.
“We need you guys involved more than ever before. This is your country, this is your world. You are the ones that have to reap the benefits of whatever vote decisions we make now.”
“Think about how much you want a say in what happens and realize that the only way to have that is by voting — not just voting for the president, but just voting in all of the local elections,” Nicki Minaj said. “Please, and vote red now.”
Read more at Breitbart
Watch Nicki Minaj with Lara Trump
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Today is the Feast of St. Wenceslaus
“He learned from the Lord to be ‘merciful and compassionate’ and guided by the spirit of the Gospel, he even found it in himself to forgive his brother, who took his life.” – Pope Benedict XVI
Watch @CatholicVoices1; read more at ACIAfrica and My Catholic Life!; see Good King Wenceslaus here
