NOTHING in John’s early life foreshadowed his future sanctity. He ran away as a boy from his home in Portugal, tended sheep and cattle in Spain, and served as a soldier against the French, and afterwards against the Turks. When about forty years of age, feeling remorse for his wild life, he resolved to devote […]
ST. THOMAS was born of noble parents at Aquino in Italy, in 1226. At the age of nineteen he received the Dominican habit at Naples, where he was studying. Seized by his brothers on his way to Paris, he suffered a two years’ captivity in their castle of Rocca-Secca; but neither the caresses of his […]
SAINTS Perpetua and Felicity suffered at Carthage, 7 March 203, together with three companions, Revocatus, Saturus, and Saturninus. The account of their martyrdom contains Perpetua’s diary, and thus represents the earliest Christian text written by a woman. By a rescript of Septimus Severus (193-211) all imperial subjects were forbidden under severe penalties to become Christians. […]
It always makes me laugh to think of my fellow Southerners panicking at this time of year when the forecast is for snow. It is very typical for us to get a small dusting (or perhaps even more than a dusting!) right about now. But it seems that everyone forgets that tidbit of information and […]
Many people lump together all of the social changes that have taken place in American history as part of one broad march of “progress” toward a more just society. If this view is correct, does the march of progress ever reach completion? There is a classic debate between progressives and traditionalists on social issues. It […]
When it started, all was fresh and new. An unnamed but mighty God freed a motley crew of slaves and offered them a new way of life in a new land. Most importantly, he offered them a privileged and exclusive relationship with Himself. In the ancient world, most nations worshipped their own god and believed […]
AFTER a holy childhood, Colette joined a society of devout women called the Beguines; but not finding their state sufficiently austere, she entered the Third Order of St. Francis, and lived in a hut near her parish church of Corbie in Picardy. Here she had passed four years of extraordinary penance when St. Francis, in […]
We no longer drink diet soda, eat a growing variety of sweets or chew gum because of artificial sweeteners. My husband switched us to tooth polish without fluoride and soap without antibacterial agents. Our eggs come free-ranged and our produce organic. Attending home school functions nowadays, we have to be mindful of gluten, nuts and […]
Of Course He Would Go to Her First Reluctantly, he had let her go, “Just to get a few things” she had said. He was anxious if she was out of his sight for even a moment, His heart racing as the words constantly lingered, “Behold your Mother”. But she had reassured him “Only an […]
As part of an ongoing effort to maximize the international availability of abortion, researchers collaborating with the World Health Organization (WHO) released a study arguing that clinical follow-up after a chemical abortion is unnecessary, and that foregoing it could “save resources.” “This study was done in accordance with the WHO safe abortion guidance, which recommends […]
By now, most people have heard something about Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s order defying a federal ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in Alabama. It didn’t take long for the Left’s culture warriors to issue sanctimonious condemnations of the judge’s order: “This is a pathetic, last-ditch attempt at judicial fiat by an Alabama Supreme Court justice—a man who […]
Get this: The federal government is trying to explain things to citizens in plain English. In 2010, you see, President Obama signed the Plain Writing Act into law. It requires that all federal agencies use “clear government communication that the public can understand and use.” In 2011, Obama took the plain-language initiative a step further. […]
IN the seventh year of Diocletian’s persecution, continued by Galerius Maximianus, when Firmilian, the most bloody governor of Palestine, had stained Cæsarea with the blood of many illustrious martyrs, Adrian and Eubulus came out of the country called Magantia to Cæsarea, in order to visit the holy confessors there. At the gates of the city […]
I will be honest. I am tired. I am angry. I am frustrated. This is likely an uncharacteristically emotional post because, after nearly a decade of writing about biotechnology, I am uncharacteristically horrified. The UK has officially approved the creation of embryos with three genetic parents, and babies created with this technique are likely to […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion 1st Reading: Exodus 20:1-17 Responsorial: Psalm 19:8-11 2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:22-254 Gospel: John 2:13-25 Lent, A Time to Allow the Lord to Cleanse Us as His Temple Zeal for your house will consume me. (John 2:17) If you remember just one thing from today’s Gospel, remember […]
CASIMIR, the second son of Casimir III., King of Poland was born A. D. 1458. From the custody of a most virtuous mother, Elizabeth of Austria, he passed to the guardianship of a devoted master, the learned and pious John Dugloss. Thus animated from his earliest years by precept and example, his innocence and piety […]
“Having turned away from the knowledge given by God, the Christian influence on the whole of culture has been lost. In Europe, including England, it took many years ? in the United States only a few decades. In the United States, in the short span from the twenties to the sixties, we have seen a […]
Every once in a while, I catch a glimpse of what Jesus felt at times. For instance, I can understand a little of what he must have been thinking when his disciples asked: “Lord, teach us to pray.” He could have responded with amazement: “How can you not know how to pray? I have been […]
ST. CUNEGUNDES was the daughter of Siegfried, the first Count of Luxemburg, and Hadeswige, his pious wife. They instilled into her from her cradle the most tender sentiments of piety, and married her to St. Henry, Duke of Bavaria, who, upon the death of the Emperor Otho III., was chosen king of the Romans, and […]
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. on 26 November 1858, Katharine was the second daughter of Francis Anthony Drexel, a wealthy banker, and his wife, Hannah Jane. The latter died a month after Katharine’s birth, and two years later her father married Emma Bouvier, who was a devoted mother, not only to her own daughter Louisa […]
ST. SIMPLICIUS was the ornament of the Roman clergy under Sts. Leo and Hilarius, and succeeded the latter in the pontificate in 468. He was raised by God to comfort and support his Church amidst the greatest storms. All the provinces of the Western Empire, out of Italy, were fallen into the hands of barbarians. […]
ST. DAVID, son of Sant, Prince of Cardigan and of Non, was born in Wales in the fifth century, and from his earliest years gave himself wholly to the service of God. He began his religious life under St. Paulinus, a disciple of St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, who had been sent to Britain by […]
