All Souls’ Day
All Souls’ Day is one of the most hopeful moments of the Church year. That might sound like an odd assertion regarding a day also known as The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. Indeed, celebration of the day comes…
Category Feast Day
Happy All Saints’ Day!
Having a feast for all the Saints is probably one of the most humble, practical, and happy things we can do as a Church. It is an act of humility because it makes us aware that there are countless saints…
All Hallows’ Eve
Increasing critiques of Halloween have led many Christians to question the day’s festivities. Some argue that the day’s customs have roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, despite several scholars’ arguments to the contrary. Others, such as one official…
A Saint for Our Times: Saint Francis of Assisi
This weekend offers a most unique moment in the sanctoral cycle as churches offer the annual blessing for pets, a lively and always unpredictable way to mark both the October 4th feast of St. Francis of Assisi and the gift…
The Korean Martyrs
The passion and perseverance that fuelled the growth of the Catholic Church in Korea can teach us all a lesson in faith. The first Church founded entirely by lay people, the Catholic Church in Korea dates back to the 18th…
The Cross as a Sign of Boundless Love and Mercy
The cross is at the very heart of our faith. As a symbol, it reminds us of God’s boundless love for us, and as a spiritual and historical reality it holds out the merciful promise of salvation. The Feast of…
Pope Gregory the Great
Few popes in the Church’s history have had as great of an influence on the shaping of the Church as Pope Gregory. Born into a wealthy patrician family in Rome around 540, Gregory rose to prominence within the Roman government.…
Saint Monica: Mothers and their Children’s Faith
There isn’t a mom I know who can’t relate – at least a little! – to St. Monica, the devoted mother of St. Augustine of Hippo, whose love for her child overcame their clash of wills and values. In what…
The Assumption of Mary
Today’s great Marian feast, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a day with joyful implications for all of us. The Assumption celebrates Mary having been taken into heaven, body and soul, at the end of…
St. Lawrence and the Ministry of Deacons
Although many of us are accustomed to deacons serving in our communities, a permanent diaconate is a very new experience for those of us in the Western Church. Despite references to deacons in the Christian scriptures, and the profound witness…