October 15 was World Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. In honour of lives lost, as well as to offer hope and encouragement to those whose lives were touched by such losses, our Novalis Managing Editor Anne Louise Mahoney offered…
Most of us have been touched by miscarriage or infant loss – either personally or through someone we know. This all-too-common loss (around 1 in 5 pregnancies ends in miscarriage) is often unseen and unmourned by the Catholic community. Perhaps…
In Mary Jo Leddy’s book Radical Gratitude, she introduces the following phrase for reflection: “It would be enough if….” This is a wonderful way to fall into a spirit of gratitude. It would be enough if I owned a house…
St. Francis of Assisi is one of my favorite saints. The example of his very simple, humble and generous life leads us straight back to what is essential in the Gospel: to trust in God’s providence, praise him for his…
This past July I was fortunate to travel to Darien, Illinois to participate in a Congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph collaborative event. My friend and I travelled in a climate-controlled vehicle, with a connected GPS and lots of good…
Today, we celebrate the feast day of the man affectionately known as Padre Pio. We ponder the gifts, graces and lessons his life might offer. Well known for carrying the stigmata – bearing visible wounds similar to the excruciatingly painful…
When you enter into a church off the Piazza Navona in Rome called San Luigi dei Francesi, a series of chapels culminate with the Contarelli Chapel which holds three huge depictions of key moments in Matthew’s life: the calling, the…
The start of a school year is filled with a variety of emotions and tasks. When I was teaching, I had feelings of hope and apprehension. What will be the character of my classrooms? What exactly will I be teaching?…
In 2015, Pope Francis announced that the Roman Catholic Church would join with the Orthodox Churches in recognizing September 1 as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Since that time, there has been broad ecumenical observance…
What is a Doctor of the Church, really? And how does someone become one? For St. Augustine of Hippo, whose feast we celebrate August 28, his elevation to one of the highest honours bestowed by the Catholic Church was anything…