TURIBIUS ALPHONSUS MOGROBEJO, whose feast the Church honors on March 23, was born on the 6th of November, 1538, at Mayorga in the kingdom of Leon in Spain. Brought up in a pious family where devotion was hereditary, his youth was a model to all who knew him. All his leisure was given to devotion […]
HUNERIC, the Arian king of the Vandals in Africa, succeeded his father Genseric in 477. He behaved himself at first with moderation towards the Catholics, but in 480 he began a grievous persecution of the clergy and holy virgins, which in 484 became general, and vast numbers of Catholics were put to death. Victorian, one […]
ST. CATHARINE was daughter of Ulpho, Prince of Nericia in Sweden, and of St. Bridget. At seven years of age she was placed in the nunnery of Risburgh, and educated in piety under the care of the holy abbess of that house. Being very beautiful, she was, by her father, contracted in marriage to Eggard, […]
Heb 5:7-9 Christ learned obedience and became the source of eternal salvation The Letter to the Hebrews is a singular spiritual work, one of the most unique books in the Christian Scriptures. For centuries church fathers believed Hebrews to have been written by the Apostle Paul, the great epistoleer of the New Testament, though modern […]
All of us want the very best for those we love. But as we pursue it, we often have a rude awakening. The best turns out to be quite expensive, whether you are dealing with homes, cars, or colleges. To get it will cost much time and money, maybe even some blood, sweat, and tears. […]
ST. BENEDICT, blessed by grace and in name, was born of a noble Italian family about 480. When a boy he was sent to Rome, and there placed in the public schools. Frightened by the licentiousness of the Roman youth, he fled to the desert mountains of Subiaco, and was directed by the Holy Spirit […]
His father was an officer in the armies of King Dagobert, and the Saint spent some years in the court of King Clotaire III and of his mother, St. Bathildes. But Wulfran occupied his heart only with God, despising worldly greatness as empty and dangerous, and daily advancing in virtue. His estate of Maurilly he bestowed […]
CYRIL was born at or near the city of Jerusalem, about the year 315. He was ordained priest by St. Maximus, who gave him the important charge of instructing and preparing the candidates for Baptism. This charge he held for several years, and we still have one series of his instructions, given c. 347. They […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34 2nd Reading Hebrews 5:7-9 Responsorial: Psalm 51:3-4, 12-15 Gospel: John 12:20-33 Welcoming Others into the Church and the Family of God Whoever serves me must follow me. (John 12:26) You might wonder whether Jesus is giving the cold shoulder to […]
If you had to ponder the most powerful alliance in human relations, how much strength would you accord to the “dynamic duo” of a young child and their grandparent? Playing on his celebrated phrase “How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor,” Pope Francis closed his General Audience on Wednesday, […]
ABRAHAM was a rich nobleman of Edessa in present day Syria. At his parents’ desire he married, but escaped to a cell near the city as soon as the feast was over. He walled up the cell-door, leaving only a small window through which he received his food. There for fifty years he sang God’s […]
ST. ZACHARY succeeded Gregory III., in 741, and was a man of singular meekness and goodness. He loved the clergy and people of Rome to such a degree that he hazarded his life for them during the troubles in Italy when the Dukes of Spoleto and Benevento rebelled against King Luitprand. Out of respect to […]
THIS princess (also called Matilde) was daughter of Theodoric, a powerful Saxon count. Her parents placed her very young in the monastery of Erford, of which her grandmother Maud was then abbess. Our Saint remained in that house, an accomplished model of all virtues, till her parents married her to Henry, son of Otho, Duke […]
As the camera pans the crowd at a football game, you see a few fans holding up the sign. It simply says “John 3:16.” For years, evangelical Protestants have extolled this little bible verse as the heart of the Gospel. In their minds, if you only have a moment to tell people something about the […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16,19-23 2nd Reading Ephesians 2:4-10 Responsorial: Psalm 137:1-6 Gospel: John 3:14-21 Serving the Lord in Accordance with His Will for your Life We are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared. (Ephesians 2:10) Wouldn’t […]
ST. EULOGIUS was of a senatorial family of Cordova, at that time the capital of the Moors in Spain. Our Saint was educated among the clergy of the Church of St. Zoilus, named for a martyr who suffered with nineteen others under Diocletian. Here he distinguished himself, by his virtue and learning, and, being made […]
THE FORTY MARTYRS were soldiers quartered at Sebaste in Armenia, about the year 320. When their legion was ordered to offer sacrifice they separated themselves from the rest and formed a company of martyrs. After they had been torn by scourges and iron hooks they were chained together and led to a lingering death. It […]
FRANCES was born at Rome in 1384. Her parents were, of high rank. They overruled her desire to become a nun, and at twelve years of age married her to Rorenzo Ponziano, a Roman noble. During the forty years or their married life they never had a disagreement. While spending her days in retirement and […]
NOTHING in John’s early life foreshadowed his future sanctity. He ran away as a boy from his home in Portugal, tended sheep and cattle in Spain, and served as a soldier against the French, and afterwards against the Turks. When about forty years of age, feeling remorse for his wild life, he resolved to devote […]
ST. THOMAS was born of noble parents at Aquino in Italy, in 1226. At the age of nineteen he received the Dominican habit at Naples, where he was studying. Seized by his brothers on his way to Paris, he suffered a two years’ captivity in their castle of Rocca-Secca; but neither the caresses of his […]
SAINTS Perpetua and Felicity suffered at Carthage, 7 March 203, together with three companions, Revocatus, Saturus, and Saturninus. The account of their martyrdom contains Perpetua’s diary, and thus represents the earliest Christian text written by a woman. By a rescript of Septimus Severus (193-211) all imperial subjects were forbidden under severe penalties to become Christians. […]
AFTER a holy childhood, Colette joined a society of devout women called the Beguines; but not finding their state sufficiently austere, she entered the Third Order of St. Francis, and lived in a hut near her parish church of Corbie in Picardy. Here she had passed four years of extraordinary penance when St. Francis, in […]
IN the seventh year of Diocletian’s persecution, continued by Galerius Maximianus, when Firmilian, the most bloody governor of Palestine, had stained Cæsarea with the blood of many illustrious martyrs, Adrian and Eubulus came out of the country called Magantia to Cæsarea, in order to visit the holy confessors there. At the gates of the city […]
