Well the turkey is down to soup and Julia, my youngest, has finished off the stuffing – the best part of the turkey, she declares every Christmas and Thanksgiving. Thinking back to our recent Christmas dinner, I can’t help but…
Immortalized by Jean Anouilh’s play, Thomas Becket remains one of the most well known English saints. The numerous retellings and productions of his story populate our imaginations with vivid scenes of his fierce struggle with King Henry II and his…
In his annual Christmas message, Archbishop Richard Smith offers reminds us of the gifts of the Magi to the newborn Jesus: gold, myrrh, and frankincense. For the year just past the president of the Canadian Conference of Bishops likens these…
We all want Christmas to be a special time of year, with family, friends and the perfect gifts for all. But often we get caught up in materialistic trappings, consumerist distractions and an emphasis on perfection that only adds stress…
I recently moved to Toronto to join the Novalis team. This is the first time I have been commuting on a train, and then walking any distance to my job. And what struck me is the kind of strange communion…
Impatience taught me my very first Latin word.
The staff at Novalis joins the world in mourning the horrific loss of lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. We pray for the students, the staff, their families and a community left reeling from this unimaginable tragedy.…
According to St. John of the Cross, God speaks in silence. The challenge for us is to learn how to speak his language. “It is best to learn to silence the faculties and cause them to be still, so that…
Today Catholics across the Americas celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. While the day commemorates Saint Juan Diego’s vision of Mary in 1531, it also celebrates a deeper reality, that of the Church’s catholicity. While the Church had…
Our new Associate Publisher, Glenn Byer, takes some time to tell us about his background, this upcoming year, some inspiring reading, and the Christmas season.