1/ 🧵 Pope Leo XIV made a surprise visit yesterday to this Marian shrine outside Rome.

Why? Because this centuries-old icon of Our Lady of Good Counsel has long drawn saints, popes… and now, the new Augustinian Pope. 👇 2/ The sanctuary dates back to the 5th century, but it was on April 25, 1467 — during a feast day celebration — that something extraordinary happened.

A cloud descended on an unfinished church wall. When it lifted, a small fresco of the Virgin and Child was revealed.

Do you know the oldest images of the Virgin Mary?

Where they were painted—and how her image quietly transformed over the centuries?

Come discover the 9 earliest depictions of the Mother of God (2nd–6th c.).🧵👇 (1/9) Recently scholars have suggested that this woman at a well—long thought to be the Samaritan woman—is the first image of the Annunciation. Could this be the first portrait of Mary? (c. 240 AD?)

📍Dura-Europos, Syria

🧵 Today, May 1, 2025, marks the centenary of the birth of Padre Gabriele Amorth—perhaps the most famous exorcist of the Catholic Church. A thread on his life, legacy, and surprising influence. 1/ After his ordination in 1954, Fr. Amorth worked primarily as a writer and editor for the Pauline order. He was a Marian theologian, devoted to spreading the message of Fatima, and served for a time as editor of Madre di Dio magazine.

As of April 2025, Italy has 51 cardinals in the College of Cardinals, comprising 18 cardinal electors (under the age of 80 and eligible to vote in a papal conclave) and 33 non-electors (aged 80 or above) .​

Here are the Italians among the cardinal electors: 1. Angelo De Donatis (71)
– Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary (since April 2024).
– Former Vicar General of Rome (2017–2024).

Holy Saturday is the strangest day in the Christian year.

Christ is dead.
The altar is bare.
There is no Mass.
No song.
No light.
We wait by the sealed tomb.
🧵 What does it mean to wait in this silence? This is the only full day Christ lies in the tomb.

On this day Charles Péguy imagined God saying:

“My children honor me when they sleep.
They trust me enough to let go.”

On Holy Saturday, Christ sleeps.
And God keeps watch.
Who will roll the stone away?

Holy Thursday
🕯️ What really happened at the Last Supper?

Was it a Passover meal?

A farewell gathering?

The First Mass?

The foundation of the priesthood?

Enter the mystery of that sacred night.
🧵👇 1. “On the night He was betrayed…”

Was it a Passover meal?
The Synoptic Gospels say yes.
“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you…” (Lk 22:15)
But John says Jesus was crucified the day before Passover—
At the hour the lambs were sacrificed (Jn 19:14).

🧵 Do you know the difference between Judas & Peter?

Both betrayed Jesus. Both were disciples.

But only one became the Rock.

The other… became a warning.

Let’s talk about Judas and Peter—and the choices that changed everything.
👇
1/ Simon Peter was introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew:

“We have found the Messiah.” (Jn 1:41)

After the miraculous catch of fish,
Peter fell at Jesus’ knees:

“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” (Lk 5:8)

Already, we see his heart.

Do you know the 4 dogmas about Mary that Catholics are obliged to believe? 1/ Mary, Mother of God (Theotokos)

Proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.).

Mary is truly the Mother of God because she bore Jesus Christ, who is both fully God and fully man.

This protects the full truth of the Incarnation.

1/🧵I used to hear “offer it up” and roll my eyes.
It sounded like a throwaway line—one more way to silence pain, rather than face it.

But what if those words held a deeper invitation? 2/ In the Christian tradition, suffering isn’t meaningless.

Offered in love, it becomes a participation in the Cross:
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings… filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ.” (Col 1:24)
But to offer it, you have to see it first. And feel it.

5 things you probably didn't know about the story of the prodigal son. 🧵👇 ✦ 1. The Father Running – A Cultural Scandal
In ancient Jewish society, dignified men never ran—especially not patriarchs. Running meant hiking up one's robes and exposing bare legs, which was considered deeply shameful and humiliating.

➡️ So when Jesus says “his father saw him and ran to him…” (Luke 15:20), He’s showing us a father who chooses humiliation over dignity, a dramatic reversal of social norms. This would have shocked Jesus’ original audience. The father takes on the shame of the son—echoing what St. Paul says: “God made the sinless one to be sin…” (2 Cor 5:21).

🧵What is the Church?

The New Testament speaks of her as ekklesia, the assembly called together by God.

But what kind of assembly is this?
Not merely institutional. Not only historical.

This thread explores the Church’s many names—each one a key to her mystery.👇 1️⃣ Koinōnia (κοινωνία) – Communion

"That you may have fellowship (κοινωνίαν) with us… and our fellowship (κοινωνία) is with the Father and His Son" (1 Jn 1:3).

Communion is not of our making.
It is a gift of the Spirit, born from the Cross and Resurrection.
It unites us vertically with God, and horizontally with each other.

🧵Today is the feast of the Annunciation

Rome has been painting this moment for centuries.

Take a walk with me through the Eternal City’s most stunning depictions of the Annunciation. 👇 1. Santa Maria in Trastevere – Pietro Cavallini (1296–1300)

Look at the angel—he isn’t drifting down from heaven on a puff of cloud. He strides. He has a message to deliver.

Mary doesn’t faint, doesn’t flee. She leans back just slightly, but she holds his gaze. She is ready, though she does not yet understand.

And behind her—Cavallini gives us a throne, a great architectural structure. Mary is not simply a humble maiden now—she is already the Queen, the Throne of Wisdom.

🧵 Civilization is measured by its cathedrals.

The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière stands like a celestial citadel over Lyon, a triumph of Marian piety. But beneath it, almost hidden, lies something profound: the Crypt of St. Joseph. (1/) Lyon is no ordinary city. It is a place where Christianity put down its roots early, watered by the blood of the martyrs. Here, in the 2nd century, St. Pothinus and St. Blandina perished in the amphitheater, their courage securing for Lyon the title primatial see of Gaul. (2/)

1/ What no one tells you about today’s readings: The secret history of the Ember Days.

At first glance, the readings seem unrelated. But once you know this lost tradition, everything clicks. 2/ The Ember Days were fast days that occurred four times a year to commemorate the seasons. On the last day of the fast of the Spring and Fall Ember days, the Church celebrated ordinations.

1/ Veronica’s Veil: A sacred image, a legend, and a relic shrouded in mystery. How did Christ’s face become one of the most reproduced images in history?

Let’s explore the history of the “true icon (vera icona)” of His face—from the Shroud of Turin to Manoppello’s veil. 🧵👇 2/ The Holy Face has many forms: the Shroud of Turin, the Mandylion of Edessa, the Holy Face of Lucca, and the relic known as Veronica’s Veil. Each carries a unique tradition, but all point to the desire to see Christ’s face.

1/ Purgatory. The final purification. The fire of Love that makes a soul ready for God.

Some say it’s unbiblical. A medieval invention. A denial of Christ’s work.

Let's investigate. 👇🧵 2/ The Catechism makes three points (CCC 1030-1032):

1⃣There is purification after death.

2⃣It may involve suffering.

3⃣The prayers of the living help the souls being purified.

That’s it. 3 points. It's not a second chance. Not a middle ground. It's postmortem purification.

1/ The hardest part about love that no one talks about?

It’ll cost you something.

St. Valentine knew this firsthand. His love wasn’t soft or sentimental—it was dangerous, rebellious, and ultimately, it got him killed.
🧵👇
2/ The first Valentine was a Roman priest. Around 270 A.D., Emperor Claudius II executed him for performing Christian marriages against his orders.

The emperor thought that love and marriage were something the state could control.

Love, St Scholastica & St Benedict

1/ The Rule of St Benedict governs everything in a monk's life--time, hierarchy, discipline, and communal life.

But does that mean that the Rule is absolute? 🧵👇 2/ Is it possible for the Rule of St Benedict and the Gospel to come into conflict?

Ask St. Scholastica.

Her story reveals how love can sometimes overrule rules.

1/ Matthew 12:46-50 is often misunderstood as Jesus rejecting natural family ties.

Does it contradict the ordo amoris, the ordered hierarchy of love explained by St. Thomas Aquinas?

Let’s take a closer look. 🧵👇 2/ The passage:

"Someone said to him, ‘Your mother & brothers are outside, wanting to speak to you.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said: ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.’" (Mt 12:46-50)

🧵 What do we do when someone is hurting and feels alienated from God?

What if, in their prayer, all they can say is: "God, why are You so far from me?"

How do we respond—not just intellectually, but pastorally? Let’s talk about it. 👇 (1/9) 2️⃣ First, Acknowledge the Depth of Their Pain

Often, hurting people aren’t looking for a solution—they need to be heard.

📖 "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." (Psalm 34:18)

👉 “That’s such an honest and profound prayer. I think God receives that with tenderness.”

First, listen. (2/9)

🧵 The Cuban Kid Who Lost His Faith—Got it back—and is now America’s Top Diplomat 🇺🇸✝️

Marco Rubio caught our attention this weekend when he attended Mass before meeting with the President of Panama. Who is Marco Rubio?

Here’s his story. 👇 (1/7) 2️⃣ A Boy Caught Between Faiths

🇨🇺 Born 1971 to Cuban immigrants, Rubio was baptized Catholic.
🛤️ 1979: Family moves to Las Vegas & joins Mormonism.
🙏 1983: At 12, Rubio feels lost—he convinces his family to return to Catholicism.
🏡 Back in Miami, he receives First Communion. (2/7)