The body of an American religious foundress was found to be miraculously incorrupt, four years after her death. What does this mean, and what might God be telling us through this? We’ll talk with someone who knows the community and recently visited Sister Wilhelmina’s body.
St. Anselm (1033-1109) has much to teach our modern world about human nature and about the search for God.
There is a major identity crisis today in the priesthood. It is a rupture, or at the very least an attempt to disconnect from the burden of its deep-rooted identity as one who offers sacrifice.
Thirty-one years ago today, Venerable Aloysius Schwartz, one of the greatest forces for good for the humiliated, abandoned, and rejected in the history of the world, died like a poor man.
A little-known 19th-century priest, born into Russian nobility but eventually a Catholic missionary priest in America, lived a life that can be a model for us today.
When America was first discovered, St.Nicholas was remembered as a wonder worker to be implored for his spiritual intercession and a bringer of gifts and guardian of children. But Martin Luther wanted to eliminate any devotion to the saint.
Some traditional Catholics criticize the founder of Opus Dei for his views on the papacy and his apostolate’s lack of enthusiasm for the TLM. But are those criticisms legitimate?
The Roman Martyrology is a vital, if uncomfortable, antidote to many modern poisonous misconceptions.
According to the twenty-first century multiculturalist, St. Martin of Tours was a cultural imperialist for overthrowing the pagan idols of his time.
A few days ago, I was at a graduation party for the son of a good friend. We were there to celebrate a fine young man raised by thoughtful and serious Catholics, and most of the other parents at the party were also intelligent and devout Catholics. While no graduation party of this sort is … Read more
I have known only two women named Agnes in my life. One of them was my grandmother who, having died two years after I was born, I could hardly be expected to remember. But since I was often told things about her—for instance, that she was beautiful and pious and went to Mass every morning—I … Read more
It may strike many Catholics as odd, improper, even irreverent, that there would be a patron saint of hangovers. We know from personal experience that through the prayers of the saints we are healed of serious ailments, protected in our travels, find stuff we’ve lost, and are granted a host of other graces. Why, then, … Read more
Let’s face it, there is one route the finance guys have yet to try. You have to pray to a saint! Am I right? We had a problem. A BIG problem! Exactly, it was all about money. We were staring two mortgages in the face. Changing houses is easy if your bank goes along with … Read more
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was one of the most dynamic preachers of the Catholic Faith in the twentieth century. Anyone familiar with his work in media knows the power of his influence and example. He was clearly one of the most notable products of the American Catholic revival that began in the 1920s, and the … Read more
My earliest recollections of anything pertaining to faith are not of words or instruction, but of primal sensory experiences of holy things within the built environment. From long before I learned how to read, and probably not so long after I learned how to walk, I recall momentary mental glimpses of the simple state of … Read more
If you ever visit the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, make sure you get a glimpse of the campus’ loveliest bit of architecture, the iconic St. Thomas arches. Built in 1947, these arches stand proudly astride the administrative building and the liberal arts center, displaying a statue of the university’s patron. At … Read more
Heavy-hearted, Sophronius, the patriarch of Jerusalem, set out to meet the Caliph, the successor to the Muslim prophet Muhammad, at the gates of the Holy City. The surrender had already been negotiated, after a siege that had lasted four months. Sophronius, patriarch of the city since 634, had decided that the city must be surrendered. … Read more
The Fortnight for Freedom, which ends today, July 4, will hopefully be a great boon to Catholics across the country. Despite the Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold Obamacare as a tax, hopefully the Fortnight, organized by the United States Bishops, has brought unity and resolve to American Catholics. But I fear that in the … Read more
I must confess—with no sense of boasting, just honesty—that I have often been quietly dismissive of news of, or interest in, the world of the more spectacular aspects of the faith: news of this incorruptible holy one’s body or that purported apparition; this stigmatic, or that saint’s levitations. And while such subtle, occasional arrogance is … Read more
St. Boniface had it all: natural brilliance, formidable powers of persuasion, and unstoppable energy and resolve. He could have had a great career and high status in society, but this saintly man wanted something very different: nothing for himself and everything for Christ and His Church. Although St. Boniface’s era (the seventh and eighth centuries … Read more