“St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, glory of the Eastern Church and celebrated champion of the Virgin Mother of God, has always been held by the Church in the highest esteem, and We welcome the opportunity of recalling his merits in this brief Letter…He was, as Our saintly Predecessor Agatho proclaimed, ‘a defender of the truth’…
“The writings of Francis de Sales, filled with celestial doctrine are a bright light in the Church, pointing out to souls an easy and safe way to arrive at the perfection of a Christian life.” (Breviarium Romanum, 29 January, lect. VI.) Born: 1567 Died: 1622 Beatified: 1661 by Pope Alexander VII Canonized: 1665 by…
On May 30, 1990, a grievously depressed teenager hurled himself from the balcony of his apartment in Mexico City, plunging 30’ to the pavement below. He suffered life-threatening head injuries and the doctors gave him a zero chance of survival. Hoping against hope, his family prayed urgently to Juan Diego for a miracle. Ten days…
by Joan Windham Our contributor Dr. Kwasniewski suggested that we publish this chapter from Sixty Saints for Boys by Joan Windham, in honor of the feast of the great saint of Tours, the first confessor to be liturgically honored in the history of the Church. We express our thanks to Angelico Press for allowing us…
As could be expected in any age, no matter how rotten the circumstances, the Lord continues to raise up men and women who have the traits of holiness. Two well-known examples are Blessed Chiara Badano (1971–1990) and Blessed Carlo Acutis (1991–2006). Does the fact that they lived exclusively within the sphere of the Novus Ordo…
It’s hard to be a Catholic today. Every time you turn on the news it seems that there’s another statue being defaced or a crucifix being vandalized or a church being set ablaze. Just the other day, a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe was smashed to the ground in broad daylight in a Brooklyn,…
In the traditional Latin Mass, the Gospel for today’s feast of St. Martha is always Luke 10:38–42: Now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain town: and a certain woman named Martha, received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the…
The traditional Roman liturgical calendar at this time in July presents us with a “triduum” of saints of mercy: St. Camillus de Lellis (July 18), St. Vincent de Paul (July 19), and St. Jerome Emiliani (July 20). Always ahead of any age and its needs, the Church gives us exemplars from the past who are…
On February 13, 1790, France, the eldest daughter of the Church, forbade the taking of religious vows. A little over two years later, in September 1792, a Carmelite convent about 50 miles north of Paris was seized. The nuns were forced to live separately, and to abandon their habits. In his book To Quell the…
Most Catholics who have a decent acquaintance with theology will be familiar with the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) — at least, with questions from his Summa theologiae. Apart from Franciscans who are devoted to their own tradition, however, it is rarer to find an appreciation of or familiarity with St. Thomas’s exact contemporary…
At the top of a grassy hill in St. Louis, Missouri, a bronze apotheosis of the city’s patron sits erect on a giant steed, keeping watch over the city. Recently, this work of art, which has inspired St. Louisans for over a century, has come under scrutiny. All over the world, beautiful, priceless monuments are…
