ST. JULIUS was a Roman, and chosen Pope on the 6th of February in 337, shortly before the death of the Emperor Constantine the Great. The Arian bishops in the East sent to Julius three deputies to accuse St. Athanasius, the zealous Patriarch of Alexandria. These accusations, as the order of justice required, Julius imparted […]
We don’t know where Thomas was. All we know is that he missed it. All the others were huddling together behind locked doors, hoping that the authorities would be satisfied with the blood of their master and leave them alone. But Jesus wouldn’t leave them alone. Despite the locked doors, there He stood, glorious in […]
BADEMUS was a rich and noble citizen of Bethlapeta in 4th century Persia, who founded a monastery near that city, which he governed with great sanctity. He conducted his religious in the paths of perfection with sweetness, prudence, and charity. To crown his virtue, God permitted him, with seven of his monks, to be apprehended […]
AT the tender age of twelve, Mary left her father’s house that she might sin without restraint, and for seventeen years she lived in shame at Alexandria. Then she accompanied a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and entangled many in grievous sin. She was in that city on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Acts 4:32-35 2nd Reading: 1 John 5:1-6 Responsorial: Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 Gospel: John 20:19-31 Allowing the Word of God to Deepen Our Faith These are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ. (John 20:31) The Gospel writers […]
ST. PERPETUUS was the eighth Bishop of Tours from St. Gatian, and governed that see above thirty years, from 461 to 491, when he died on the 8th of April. During all that time he labored by zealous sermons, many synods, and wholesome regulations, to lead souls to virtue. St. Perpetuus had a great veneration […]
HE was by birth a Jew, and belonged to the Church of Jerusalem, but travelling to Rome, he lived there nearly twenty years, from the pontificate of Anicetus to that of Eleutherius, in 177, when he returned into the East, where he died at an advanced age, probably at Jerusalem, in AD 180 according to […]
The overriding sentiment which prevails at my house and in my heart each Easter Monday is the same. It is finished. The long 40 days of Lenten fasting, prayer and penance are completed. The late nights of the Triduum liturgies are over. Crumbs of the traditional Italian Easter bread and a handful of neon colored […]
ST. CELESTINE was a native of Rome, and upon the demise of Pope Boniface he was chosen to succeed him, in September 422, by the wonderful consent of the whole city. His first official act was to confirm the condemnation of an African bishop who had been convicted of grave crimes. He wrote also to […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Acts 10:34, 37-43 2nd Reading: Colossians 3:1-4 Responsorial: Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 Gospel: John 20:1-9 Allowing the Resurrection of Jesus to Strengthen Our Faith He had to rise from the dead. (John 20:9) At the first miracle, the wedding at Cana, Jesus turned […]
So named for the clandestine plans of Judas Iscariot. Matthew 26:14-16. “Then one of the Twelve called Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests, and said to them, ‘What are you willing to give me for delivering him to you?’ But they assigned him thirty pieces of silver. And from then on he sought out […]
ISDEGERDES, Son of Sapor III., put a stop to the cruel persecutions against the Christians in Persia, which had been begun by Sapor II. Thus, the Church had enjoyed twelve years’ peace in that kingdom, when in 420 it was disturbed by the indiscreet zeal of Abdas, a Christian bishop. He burned down the Pyræum, or […]
On Wednesday, March 25, in the Church the Annunciation, Pope Francis celebrated the Incarnation as Archangel Gabriel visited the humble Maiden of Nazareth and announced she would conceive and give birth to the Son of God. The pope incorporated this feast day into his Wednesday address as he continued his course of catechesis on the family because, with Joseph, Jesus […]
JOHN made, while still young, such progress in learning that he was called the Scholastic. At the age of sixteen he turned from the brilliant future which lay before him, and retired to Mt. Sinai, where he put himself under the direction of a holy monk. Never was novice more fervent, more unrelaxing in his […]
KING SAPOR, of Persia, in the eighteenth year of his reign, raised a bloody persecution against the Christians, and laid waste their churches and monasteries, Jonas and Barachisius, two brothers of the city Beth-Asa, hearing that several Christians lay under sentence of death at Hubaham, went thither to encourage and serve them. Nine of that […]
Lessons without end, at once lofty and hallowing, might be deduced from the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, celebrated by the Church on this day. We limit ourselves, however, to considering the event under one aspect merely in order to draw therefrom a moral lesson for our spiritual instruction. Our Lord enters Jerusalem, […]
ST. GONTRAN was the King of Burgundy (present day east-central France) from 561 to 593. Gontran was the second surviving son of King Clotaire, and the grandson of Frankish King Clovis I and St. Clotilda. His brother Charibert reigned at Paris, and Sigebert in Ostrasia. When compelled to take up arms against his ambitious brothers […]
TILL he was twenty-five, John worked as a carpenter with his father. Then feeling a call from God, he left the world and committed himself to a holy solitary in the desert. His master tried his spirit by many unreasonable commands, bidding him roll the hard rocks, tend dead trees, and the like. John obeyed […]
ST. LUDGER was born in Friesland (northern Netherlands) about the year 743. His father, a nobleman of the first rank, at the child’s own request, committed him very young to the care of St. Gregory, the disciple of St. Boniface, and his successors in the government of the see of Utrecht. Gregory educated him in […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Isaiah 50:4-7 2nd Reading: Philippians 2:6-11 Responsorial: Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24 Gospel: Mark 14:1–15:47 Following Jesus’ Example of Self-sacrifice and Compassion Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! (Mark 11:9) When artists talk about contrast, they’re referring to the […]
“HAIL, flowers of the martyrs!” the Church sings in her Office of the Holy Innocents, who were the first to die for Christ; and in every age mere children and infants have gloriously confessed His name. In 1472 the Jews in the city of Trent determined to vent their hate against the Crucified by slaying […]
In raising children, we rediscover the wealth in youth. On the most basic level, we re-learn the nursery rhymes, we re-memorize Dr. Seuss, and we are fascinated by door-knobs and blue skies and dandelion seeds. There is more to it than this, however. As Pope Francis notes, children are a gift because they witness to […]
