ALL SAINTS
When one hears the words All Saints, images of painted plaster statues placed on pedestals or icons of beautiful representations in gold may come to mind. We can be distracted by ideas of perfect virtue or supernatural holiness. It is…
Category Feast Day
ST. TERESA OF AVILA
I like to think of Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) as a diamond, many faceted and beautiful. It is said that when she was a young girl, both she and her brother ran away to become martyrs in the conflict with…
HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS
For this reflection, I could go into the theology of angels and how they fit into Catholic doctrine. Instead, I want to suggest that we reflect on the security and comfort that this heavenly gift gives to each of us. I was…
ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Immaculate Mary, your praises we sing. You reign now in splendor with Jesus our King. I have spent time this summer pondering who Mary was and is. She was completely human, but with a significant difference from the rest of…
ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE
In the Catholic church, St. Maximilian is honoured as a confessor of the faith and a martyr of charity. He is most well known for offering to stand in the place of one of the men sentenced to starve to…
THE TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS: A PROFOUND REVELATION
Imagine you are Peter, one of Jesus’s closest disciples along with John and James. Jesus leads the three of you to the top of a mountain, where you witness something extraordinary, an event unlike anything the world has ever seen.…
ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA
If you think back on growing up as a Catholic, you may discover many ways that St. Ignatius of Loyola has influenced your faith development. St. Ignatius left an indelible mark on the Catholic Church. This was a saint who took…
ST. ANNE AND ST. JOACHIM
In the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, July 26 is the feast day of Saints Anne and Joachim, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These saints are not biblical figures. Most of what is known about them comes from apocryphal…
SACRED HEART OF JESUS AND WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE SANCTIFICATION OF PRIESTS
On this day of celebration, we honour the Sacred Heart of Jesus. At the same time, this World Day of Prayer invites all to pray for the sanctification of priests. One website offers an invitation to participate in a world-wide…
CORPUS CHRISTI
One of the traditional features of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi is a liturgical procession. Processions were a significant feature of the 19th century church as shown here in this painting of a Rogation Day procession through the wheat fields…