In my last article, I looked to the rosary as the Marian devotion par excellence. Some people may find the rosary difficult to pray, or they desire to honor Mary in another way or additional ways. Below are twelve other ways in which a person can honor Mary beside the rosary. By no means should [...]
The world is constantly telling women that we aren’t good enough. We go unseen, unsought, unpursued, and this all leads us to believe that we are unworthy. Unworthy of what, you ask? Unworthy of happiness, joy, love, peace, and any good thing that life could offer us. These lies, straight from the mouth of Satan, [...]
The celebration of the feast of the Ascension of Our Lord has been transferred to the following Sunday in many dioceses, but the 40th day after the resurrection remains a Holy Day of Obligation. This allowance to transfer the celebration has confused many Catholics, and so it seems worthwhile to examine this phenomenon. On Facebook [...]
As Catholics, we should have the desire to be saints. But how do we do it? One may think that it’s extremely difficult to become a saint, but let us just follow St. Therese’s method, sanctifying each day in the little things. Here is a list of things to keep in mind to make becoming [...]
My life is very structured. Just ask my wife. I fold my socks and put them in a special place in my drawer. I have a quarterly personal goal list on an Excel spreadsheet. I arrive at work at almost precisely the same time every day. However, this structure is often a hindrance to my [...]
The spiritual life is sacred ground, but often times we tread clumsily and heavily as if it were not. My own experience is that those of us who spend their time studying religion, history, philosophy, literature, theology, etc… sometimes fail to manifest the same sensitivity and subtlety that they have in their own fields of [...]
My favourite kind of art explores the darkness. I don’t mean the sensational darkness of psychological trouble, of psychopaths and murders and crime. Nor do I mean the dark depths of addiction and vice and moral evil. That’s pop stuff. We project it away from ourselves, and our experience in our minds becomes all light. [...]
I wanted to write about prayer because I love to do it. What I really enjoy is when God answers prayer. That would be my favorite part of praying but still, I do immensely enjoy talking to God. I will admit that kneeling is not on my top 10 things to do when praying but [...]
“Accustom yourself to pray this way and, God grant, soon you will nurture true prayer in yourself. Then there will be no need for rules. Labour, or nothing will come of you. If there is no success in prayer, then there will be no success in anything. It is the root of everything.” – St [...]
We pray with our children before bed each night. John was getting a bit distracted during the Hail Mary, so I thought I would try something new. I thought, what could be better for a little boy than praying to St. Michael the Archangel? I enthusiastically asked John if he knew who Saint Michael was, [...]
While writing her opinions of several C.S. Lewis books she had recently finished, a friend of mine remarked: “The more I learn, the more I want to love.” This sentence resonated with me because it reflected such an honest and beautiful desire of the soul to continue to learn more about her Divine Spouse. Here she [...]
Running is an easy form of exercise: it’s free, you don’t need anyone else, and you can do it rain or shine (if you don’t mind getting wet or course). It makes you feel good and, if outside, gets you in contact with nature. It can also be a way to connect with the Creator [...]
This Monday of Holy Week we heard St. John’s account of the first Last Supper. Christ prepared us then for today, Holy Thursday, THE Last Supper, and now is urging us: “Remember Lazarus”. In every town Jesus travels through he encounters sinners and the sick. Bethany is no exception. Simon the Leper lives in Bethany. Mary [...]
Last year, I helped teach high school students at my parish’s faith formation program in St. Ignace, Michigan. We took the students to exposition, and afterward, one of them asked me how to tell when she is hearing God’s voice. This is an edited version of the letter I wrote her. Dear M., I’m glad [...]
In C.S. Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew—the story which “shows how all the comings and goings between our world and Narnia first began”—a conniving character called Uncle Andrew stumbles into the world of Narnia at the very hour of its creation. He finds the land like Paradise before the Fall, and in the rich soil of this second [...]
My friend Jon and I came up with a crazy idea: what if everyone around the world took pictures of Holy Week and the beauty of God, made a #hashtag (#CaptureEaster) and posted them all up on one website? Starting this Palm Sunday, join us in our attempt to flood the internet with pics [...]
Michael, I’m going to jump right into the Catholic excitement about your post today. On behalf of all Catholics (and any Christians for that matter) everywhere: Thank you. Thank you for an honest reaction to a moment of worship, and thank you for blurring the lines of denomination and hostile opposition by being unafraid to [...]
Do you ever get the feeling, around the middle of Lent, that you’re dragging? The zeal that typically fills me at the beginning and again during Holy Week tends to dwindle. I complain about the sacrifices I’ve chosen instead of try to embrace them, and I wonder if I’m getting anywhere. Two weeks ago, I [...]
“We shall notice that pious persons are disturbed most, because they have their own respectable way of hearing Mass, and they will feel shaken out of their usual thoughts and obliged to follow those of others.” -Paul VI, General Audience of November 26, 1969
Though the vestments be polyester and pinstriped, our God is glorious. His house the gate of Heaven, where He dwells in His glorious majesty, though it be made of concrete and plastic. Though the Lord speaks through a lisp, His word will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. Though the microphone cuts in [...]
Here we are about two weeks into Lent. Some of us are doing great with our Lenten penances; others of us have petered out or never figured out what to do for Lent this year in the first place. This is for those “others of us.” It is not too late to start Lent. Should [...]
On Ash Wednesday, in the Gospel of the day, Jesus tells us: “But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. ” (Mt 6:6 ). It is not enough to go into our room and pray; we also need to shut the door. I think these [...]
Q. How do you pronounce “ignitum”? A. Well, you have some options. The Romans would have said ig-NEE-toom. In church, we’d say “in-YEE-toom.”
Why?
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