Eight hundred years ago, a barefoot St. Dominic carried an icon of the Virgin Mary across Rome to entrust the Marian image to a new community of cloistered nuns, who have safeguarded the icon within the walls of their convent to this day. The icon,
Last Lent, I wrote an article about the Surrender Novena, a prayer that was given to Servant of God Don Dolindo Ruotolo by Jesus in a mystical encounter. Since that article was published, I have continued to receive messages from readers near and far, telling me
The Church remembers the witness of Saint Polycarp today, who was killed because he would not renounce his faith in the Lord Jesus in the year 155 AD. Saint Polycarp was a victim of the brutal persecution of the Church by the Roman Empire, which
On February 22, the Church celebrates the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter (or the CathedraPetri). The word “chair” or cathedra designates a bishop’s seat — the symbol of his authority as a pastor of his diocese. Hence, the chair of St. Peter, from which he presided over
During Lent St. Francis would suspend his apostolic ministries and withdraw to the hermitages. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Our liturgical calendar is filled with saints who lived colorful lives of extraordinary grace. They serve as models of the Christian life for us. They are “raised to the altars” precisely to show us that we, too, can give our lives over to Jesus and
“Know and understand well, you the most humble of my sons, that I am the ever-virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the True God, for whom we live, of the Creator of all things, Lord of heaven and the earth.” — Our Lady of Guadalupe Jesus
The Church celebrates February 13 the first feast day of the second native-born US martyr since his beatification last December in Guatemala. Blessed James Miller was a Wisconsin native who lost his life in Guatemala in 1982, at age 37. After Oklahoma native Father Stanley Rother, he is
Black Catholic nuns have made manifold contributions to the Church in the United States, and theirs is a story that needs to be told, one historian says. Generations of black Catholic women “fought against racism in order to answer God’s call in their lives.” said
Pope Francis on Tuesday added the memorial of Sts. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus to the General Roman Calendar, giving the siblings the combined feast day of July 29. A decree from the Congregation for Divine Worship said on Feb. 2 that Pope Francis had included the three
