HOLY GUARDIAN ANGEL
I was sitting in the hospital room with my infant son in my arms, not believing what I was hearing from the pediatrician. My little boy had a serious heart defect. We would have to stay in the hospital for…
THE LITTLE WAY: FINDING THE ESSENTIAL WITH ST. THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS
I recently finished reading St. Thérèse’s book The Story of a Soul for the second time, and I was once again struck by the very simple yet inspiring writing of this young woman. She doesn’t write like a learned theologian.…
WORLD DAY FOR MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES: ANGELS UNAWARES
I came to Canada in 1965 as a migrant. My reception in Sydney, Nova Scotia, was affirming and welcoming. Why not? I was a 12-year-old with a Northern English accent at the height of Beatlemania. Many migrants have not been…
PRAYER BEFORE SCHOOL
Creator of all things,true source of light and wisdom,lofty origin of all being,graciously let a ray of your brilliancepenetrate into the darkness of my understandingand take from me the double darknessin which I have been born,an obscurity of both sin…
LABOUR DAY
“It’s complicated.” These two words are often used to describe the challenge of defining or explaining the nature of a particular relationship. For many of us, “It’s complicated” describes our relationship with work. We both love and loathe our jobs.…
SAVING THE PLANET CALLS FOR INNER CONVERSION
The Church has declared today, September 1, to be World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Given the long, hot summer we have just survived, the planet could use all the prayers we have. This past summer, Canada…
ST. MONICA AND ST. AUGUSTINE
The feast of St. Monica and St. Augustine may be one of the most relatable mother‑and‑son stories in Christian history. Monica was a devoted Christian mother known for her patience, perseverance and legendary life of prayer. Augustine, her son, was…
WORDS OF WISDOM FROM POPE LEO XIV AND POPE FRANCIS: NOVALIS BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR
September is just around the corner, and soon we’ll be moving into fall rhythms and shorter days. With luck you’ve made a dent in your to be read pile of books this summer and are looking for some fresh reading…
IT IS GOOD FOR US TO BE HERE
All three Synoptic Gospels tell us of the Transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–13, Luke 9:28–36). Jesus is on the Mount of Olives with his friends. They witness him start to glow with beams of light. Moses (the giver of the Law)…
LEARNING TO SEE WITH ST. IGNATIUS: DISCOVERING GOD’S PRESENCE IN THE ORDINARY
We celebrate the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola on July 31. This soldier-turned-saint has had a profound influence on the Catholic Church since his death in 1556, during the Catholic response to the Reformation, through his founding of the…