Speaking to fellow saints in Heaven today, Franciscan saint Joseph of Cupertino announced that he was “simply fed up” with bailing out lazy students who “hardly even cracked open their books to study.” “Let me begin by saying that I am in no way telling people not to pray to... Read more

Padre Pio, now formally known as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, the great 20th century Capuchin mystic, stigmatic and healer. (Credit: Stock image.) Just about everyone has heard of Padre Pio. The biographies that sell steadily year after year, including one by the author written with help from... Read more

I remember that old gospel song, “I’ll fly away oh glory, I’ll fly away. When I die, hallelujah by ad by, I’ll fly away.”  We might “fly away” when we die but devotees of St. Joseph of Cupertino contend that he “flew” not so much in the sweet by and by, but in the... Read more

Among the 36 Doctors of the Church, St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) was unique for several reasons, all of which make up the singular admixture that was his person and position.  One of only two Jesuit Doctors (the other is St. Peter Canisius, the “Second Apostle to... Read more

In the Middle Ages, Catholic theology concentrated mostly on Christ’s passion. At the side of the Man of Sorrows, however, was the Sorrowful Mother, sharing his suffering. John 19:25 says, “Near the Cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of Cleopas and... Read more

A basilica in Italy marks the spot of a bloody episode in early Church history -- and is home to an image of Mary once lost in the hills for centuries. On Sept. 15, a Catholic shrine in the small hilltop town of Lenola celebrates the local feast day of Our Lady of the Hill. The... Read more

When we invoke the Blessed Mother under specific titles, she bestows on us particular graces related to that title. As Our Lady of Sorrows, she reveals what is hidden in our hearts (based on Simeon’s prophecy — “so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” from Luke 2: 35). Why... Read more

“The day dawned with a beautiful blue sky, bright sun and no clouds — a result of prayers for good weather,” remembers Sister of Charity Betty Ann McNeil about Sept. 14, 1975, when she attended the canonization of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. “The words... Read more

In his epistles, St. Paul employs a simple yet profound metaphor to describe Christ’s divinity. For in Him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily (Colossians 2:9).For in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell (Colossians 1:19). Hence, the Church’s... Read more

Cardinal Marian Jaworski of Lviv, Ukraine, is pictured next to Pope John Paul II during a beatification Mass in Lviv June 25, 2001. Cardinal Jaworski, a close friend of St. John Paul II, died Sept. 5 at the age of 94. (CNS photo/Giancarlo Giuliani, Catholic Press Photo) As Pope St. John Paul... Read more