Friulian society was one of superstition, a rural society in which the old traditions, many of them pre-Christian traditions died hard and were completely foreign to the non-Friulian inquisitors Many of the people in the society were uneducated and sought to explain hard times they encountered through supernatural means, such as witches and the benandanti

Over the years, the hymn Ave Maria has been set to music numerous times The most famous of those was composed by Franz Schubert

Jesus is all about vision In John 14:6, one of His classic "I am" statements Jesus said, "I am the way

Historically, songs and music have always been an important part of the idea of worship Perhaps the reason for this is the ease which songs and music provide in expressing worship

The idea that man needs God to tell us how to behave morally, to be kind and thoughtful toward our fellow man, to aid others without any promise of benefit to ourselves, is a central tenet of most of the major religions To emphasize the point, we are told that if we do not obey God's Moral Law we will spend an eternity in hell while if we do obey the Moral Law we will spend an eternity of bliss in heaven

In the shape of a coin, religious medals are very common part of the Catholic persona and many Catholics own or often wear these items on chains around their neck The history of practice of wearing religious medals dates back to the early days of the church

One of the most difficult questions for priests, ministers, and theologians to answer is – Why does a kind, compassionate, personal God that answers prayers and looks out for our personal welfare, allow so much evil to occur in the world This is often called "the problem of evil

Throughout history, the classic Latin hymns have been an important part of the Catholic faith Two thousand years of musical development have produced a variety of hymns that encompass settings for every imaginable purpose and time

To truly be present, we need to be available to the moment with our whole self This requires not only an act of attention but also an act of integration so that we are drawing upon all parts of ourselves to 'be with' another

It may be difficult for us to imagine how the earth which appears to us to be a solid mass of complexly interrelated parts, can have an intentionality to purify and can be undergoing a process we normally associate with human beings on a spiritual path And even if it is true of the planetary body, we may well wonder how this happens and how it can affect weather patterns

In an era when politicians must prove they are religious to get elected and the proclamations of their ministers can get them into trouble, when schools are urged to teach creationism, when presidents and main stream movies proclaim the virtues of Intelligent Design, when fundamentalists want to destroy Western civilization in the name of religion, and when ninety-five percent of the people in the world believe that God created man, we need to ask the question, do they have it all backward - Did Man Create God

There was once a man and his son going with their Donkey to the market As they were walking along by its side a neighbor man passed them and said: “You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride on

I used to cringe at the word, “submission” Although I love my mother dearly, I will say that she did not do much to teach me what submission really means

The evolution of all life on earth from a single primitive life form is straight forward and fairly easy to understand on the basis of Darwinian principles of mutation and natural selection However, the question of where the first primitive life form came from is not so easy

What is the meaning of life And is there just one meaning or many

Are we alone in the universe or is there life on other planets And perhaps even as close our next door neighbor, the planet Mars

Angels Angels are messengers of the Lord and are spoken of in Hebrews as “ministering spirits”

We have all been at a crossroad at some time in our life Whether it is the death of loved one, losing a job, or a natural disaster, we have all come to a point in our life when we feel that we cannot go on, and the struggles of life are simply too much to bear

Fairies are Nature Angels, the lowest manifestation within the Angelic Hierarchy They, along with Nereids, Gnomes, Salamanders, Undines and Elves make up the Elementals

The Kundalini Energy is the basic evolutionary force in every individual It’s purpose is to drive us to reach for enlightenment