History of Christian Thoughts

When most of us think of Shakespeare we don’t immediately connect him with the saints. We might think of the play Sir Thomas More, on which he collaborated with other contemporary playwrights and which was banned during his lifetime for its volatile pro-Catholic... Read more

The saints are not really like you and me. But Father Michael McGivney comes very close, and for that reason, he will be an attractive patron for parish priests. A clarification: There are no canonized saints who are like you and me. The vast majority of all those in heaven were... Read more

When I knelt in the monastery chapel after entering through the enclosure door to begin my postulancy, Mother read the traditional prayer for this moment: “O Mary, my good Mother, behold at your feet this child whom the charms of your Holy Rosary have drawn into this dear solitude . .... Read more

In his annual report delivered to the Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus this summer, Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said that through the spiritual genius of Fr. Michael J. McGivney, the Knights of Columbus “became the way for Catholic men to transform friends into brothers —... Read more

On Oct. 31, at St. Joseph Cathedral in Hartford, Connecticut, Father Michael J. McGivney will be beatified, 23 years after the opening of his cause in 1997 in the Archdiocese of Hartford. On May 27, Pope Francis approved a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to his intercession,... Read more

Sometimes it is hard to believe that saints were once flesh and blood: So often we see church statues of the blessed that look unreal. Harder still is it to recall that some of these saints had children and that today their descendants are living, breathing men and women. St. Gianna Molla is... Read more

The Second Vatican Council, citing the words of Christ – “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19) – decrees: “Therefore, all... Read more

When Communist officials kidnapped and killed Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, they likely did not intend to help create a Polish hero, martyr and future saint for the Catholic Church. Although the Communists had been trying to kill Popiełuszko in ways that would seem like an accident, they... Read more

What could be worse than the answer to a question no one‘s asking? Here is Jesus, Son of the living God, putting before his disciples the single most sundering question: “Who do people say that I am?” Followed by that most amazing response from Peter: “You are the Christ,... Read more

Catholics of my generation – the generation that came of age during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II – find it almost impossible to imagine the way the world was on October 11, 1962, the day the Second Vatican Council opened. My generation knows only the post-Conciliar Church with... Read more