Jenna Marie Cooper

Our Sunday Visitor is a Catholic publisher serving millions of Catholics globally through its publishing and communication services. Jenna Marie Cooper, who holds a licentiate in canon law, is a consecrated virgin and a canonist whose column appears weekly at OSV News. Send your questions to CatholicQA@osv.com.

‘Question Corner’: What are miracles, and why do we need them?

March 1, 2023
By Jenna Marie Cooper
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner

Calling something like an unlikely sports comeback a “miracle” is using quite a bit of poetic license, since there is a readily discernible natural explanation for the victory (namely, the skill of the athletes, which the athletes acquired through their own human efforts).

Question Corner: Can laypeople ever absolve sins? Chanting in ‘Novus Ordo’

February 22, 2023
By Jenna Marie Cooper
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner

Even in an emergency, non-ordained laypeople are not able to confer absolution; nor can Catholic deacons, even though they are ordained.

Question Corner: Infant communion and wandering minds

February 15, 2023
By Jenna Marie Cooper
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner

The difference in customs regarding the Christian initiation of infants amounts to a difference in emphasis between the broad liturgical traditions of Christian East and West.

Question Corner: Must I believe in and follow apparitions?

February 7, 2023
By Jenna Marie Cooper
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner

No Catholic is obligated to follow any of the devotional “rules” accompanying a particular private revelation or to take on any of the prayers urged by the seers of an apparition.

Question Corner: Leaving early and the paschal candle

January 30, 2023
By Jenna Marie Cooper
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Feature, Question Corner

The final blessing is the official conclusion of the Mass, so — in that sense — once the final blessing is said, Mass is over and you may leave without technically missing any of the Mass.

Question Corner: Burning or burying sacramentals? And why use holy water?

January 25, 2023
By Jenna Marie Cooper
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Feature, Question Corner

If you have sacramental objects which you no longer need but which are still in relatively good shape, the best and easiest thing to do is pass them along to someone else who could use them.

Question Corner: On Limbo and on silent prayer

January 16, 2023
By Jenna Marie Cooper
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Feature, Guest Commentary, Question Corner

Limbo is not included in our Creeds and is never mentioned in our current Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Questions: Holy days of obligation, vegetarians in Lent

January 9, 2023
By Jenna Marie Cooper
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Feature, Guest Commentary, Question Corner

It can be a beautiful practice to go to Mass on a feast that isn’t strictly obligatory simply to enter more deeply into the spirituality of our liturgical year.

Why confess to a priest? What if it’s been a long time?

January 3, 2023
By Jenna Marie Cooper
OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Guest Commentary

While we know for sure that sins are forgiven through the sacrament, God is of course free to extend his grace beyond even what he has promised.