Is there an end to mourning?
Is there an end to mourning? How can we come to the realization that a loved one is gone without denying their death nor hushing up the pain? Drawing on his experience as a counselor with bereaved persons at the…
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Hope or Expectant Hope, What is the Difference?
“Expectant hope goes much further than just tomorrow morning.” We use the term ‘hope‘ widely when we expect some improvement or some positive outcome. Yet, in the Christian faith, there is a clear distinction between hope and expectant hope. At…
How to achieve the grieving process?
The French poet Lamartine wrote: “One being is missing and every place feels empty”. Those words have a profound echo for those who experience absence, silence, the void left by someone they loved. Is it really possible to achieve the…
Obsequies: Mass or Simple Blessing?
What should we choose for funerals, a Mass or just a blessing? Less than half of the French wish to have a religious service for their own obsequies. Still, when a loved-one dies, the question of choosing between a Mass…
Communicating with the Dead
Mankind has been fascinated with the idea of communicating with the dead since the dawn of time. From shamanic practices to ancient societies through spiritualism sessions in the 19th century or recent apps imitating the voice of the deceased, this…
Love beyond death
Does love end at death, or can it continue beyond physical separation?How can we go on living after the loss of a loved one? Can we still love the person with whom we shared daily life, intimacy and flesh for…
Does Heaven really exist?
One of the lyrics of a song by Michel Berger goes like this: “Je m’en irai courir dans le paradis blanc, loin des regards de haine et des combats de sang” [I will go run across the white paradise, far…
Mutually connected in good… and in evil too
Do we have a mutual connection in good as well as in evil? Do our actions influence only our own lives, or do they also affect the lives of others, including the dead?
Our ancestors’ sins
Can we remain impacted by our ancestors’ sins? The subject of whether the consequences of sin are transmitted from one generation to the next raises a number of questions. Are we responsible, one way or another, of the actions of…
Choosing to be hopeful
Who never wondered: "What's the use?" when faced to the ordeals of daily life? Georges Bernanos wrote: "The demon of our heart is called 'What's the use'." Why then choosing to be hopeful when everything falls apart? Father Charles Lenoir, chaplain at the shrine Notre-Dame de Montligeon, shares his insights on the virtue of hopefulness which changes our relationship to the future.