HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS
When I think upon my faith as a child, I know that it was a safety net that saw me through traumatic and happy times. Faith in God is an anchor that can make a world of difference to a…
Novalis Seeds of Faith
A SAINT FOR ORDINARY PEOPLE AND POOR SPELLERS
Somewhere among my memorabilia files is a little reminder note written by a 7-year old me. It reads: “Tell mom to take me to see the poope.” (That’s not a typo. Spelling has never been my strength). I had been…
SAINTS MICHAEL, GABRIEL AND RAPHAEL, PRAY FOR US!
As I child, I found great comfort in knowing that there were guardian angels out there, guiding us and protecting us from harm. The prayer “Angel of God, my guardian dear…” was prayed often in our house. Later, when I…
BREBEUF AND COMPANIONS
You ember-eating, living thuribles coughing a smoke heavy and holy into the face of a wilderness that turns away with twisted smile, you aren’t nearly as alone as the cold and failure would beat you into believing. There are many…
MOMENTS OF GRACE AND GRATITUDE DURING A PANDEMIC
I once heard a talk given by Bishop Paul Andre Durocher on the topic of grace. He filled his presentation with concrete images to break this open. He told the story of a little boy in Grade 2 who was teased…
GREAT GRANDMA’S LESSONS ON GOD
Today we celebrate Grandparent’s Day. If I had to choose the person who had the greatest impact on my devotional life, it would have to be my great-grandmother, Mary Taylor. When I was a small child, I spent a lot…
NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
The celebration of the Birth of Mary seems to be eminently logical, as it is nine months after December 8, the commemoration of the day Mary was conceived by Saints Anne and Joachim. There is one slight problem, since the…
WHAT TO REFLECT ON THIS LABOUR DAY?
Labour Day is always bittersweet: as the last hurrah of summer, it is a little sad, but as the beginning of the hustle and bustle of autumn, it reminds us of interesting and exciting things to come. This Labour Day…
A DIFFERENT WAY TO APPROACH THE WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE CARE OF CREATION
To make today’s World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation truly inspiring, I’d like to suggest that we pray Pope Francis’ wonderful prayer below. But before we do that, let us start with a contemplation of what he means…
SAINTS MONICA AND AUGUSTINE: EARTH AND SON
In the history of famous Christian conversions, that of St. Augustine stands second only to St. Paul’s in stature. In both cases, Christianity would have looked very different today had either one of these men not turned off the path…