Pray for Peace

In his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis issued a plea for a day of fasting and prayer for peace on this coming Saturday the 7th of September. All men and women of good will are bound by the task of pursuing peace. I make a forceful and urgent call to the entire Catholic Church, and also to every Christian […]

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He’s Lost his Head!

Today is one of the more interesting feasts on the liturgical calendar, for today is the feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. OK, nowadays they’ve slightly sanitized the name; it’s now officially called the “Memorial of the Martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist”, but for the sheer Catholic joy of calling a spade a spade, I’m sticking […]

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Augustine

Urged to reflect upon myself, I entered under your guidance the innermost places of my being; but only because you had become my helper was I able to do so. I entered, then, and with the vision of my spirit, such as it was, I saw the incommutable light far above my spiritual ken and transcending my mind: not this […]

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A Prayer to Saint Monica

Born of Christian parents about the year 331 at Tagaste in Africa, Monica was reared under the strict supervision of an elderly nurse who had likewise reared her father. In the course of time she was given in marriage to a pagan named Patricius. Besides other faults, he possessed a very irascible nature… Her marriage was blessed with three children: […]

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The Treasures of the Church

Today is the feast of the deacon martyr, Saint Lawrence. There are so many stories about him, that it’s hard to sum him up briefly. In the confused days after the martyrdom of Pope Sixtus, the administration of the Roman churches fell to the Deacon, Lawrence. He was captured by the Imperial authorities, but he bargained for his release. The […]

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Morior Invictus

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr. (12 October 1891 to 09 August 1942) Edith Stein was an influential German Jewish philosopher. An atheist by the time she was a teenager, she was influenced by the writings of Saint Teresa of Ávila and converted to the Roman Catholic Church. She was baptized at the age of 31. She […]

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The Snows of Rome

Today is the optional memorial of the dedication of one of my favourite church buildings in the world, the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, also known in English as Saint Mary Major. It is occasionally known by the title of Our Lady of the Snows. When we were in Rome, our apartment was just a few blocks from […]

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Santiago Apóstol, Peregrino, Matamoros

Santiago Apóstol Today is the feast of Saint James the Apostle, son of Zebedee and Salome of Bethsaida, brother of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist. One of the “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). Santiago. On this day last year, I wrote about what we know of Saint James from scripture and tradition. That was before I had walked 500 […]

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Heinrich the Bavarian

It’s a pretty rare thing when Kings become saints, or at least become canonized saints. I can only think of a handful off the top of my head: Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Edward the Confessor of Anglo-Saxon England, Saint Stephen of Hungary. Today is the feast of the only Emperor-Saint of which I’m aware: Saint Heinrich II, Duke […]

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Lumen Fidei

It’s not really a secret that Pope Francis’ first encyclical, released this morning, was primarily written by Pope Benedict XVI. If you’re going to have a ghost writer, I can’t think of a better one! “Coincidentally” the two Popes appeared together in public to consecrate Vatican City to Saint Michael the Archangel. Sounds like they think the Vatican may need […]

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Finding the Way

“The Incredulity of St Thomas” by Caravaggio God’s communications with us humans are often subtle. As the Prophet Elijah discovered, the Voice of God is often to be found in the whispering wind (1 Kings 19:11-13). Sometimes, however, God reaches out and whacks us upside the head, either physically or mentally. One such time in the history of the Church […]

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Finding the Way

“The Incredulity of St Thomas” by Caravaggio God’s communications with us humans are often subtle. As the Prophet Elijah discovered, the Voice of God is often to be found in the whispering wind (1 Kings 19:11-13). Sometimes, however, God reaches out and whacks us upside the head, either physically or mentally. One such time in the history of the Church […]

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Last of the Old,
First of the New

The story of the Jewish people moves through Exodus to the Judges to the Kings to the Prophets. It culminates in Christ, the culmination of all things. He is Priest, Prophet, and King, and in Baptism we come to share this designation as well. We do not all share the gift of prophecy, of course, but to see it continuing […]

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The Divine Right of Kings

On today’s feast, G.K. Chesterton explains pretty clearly the source of my devotion to Saint Thomas More. (I have split up the paragraphs of Chesterton’s essay for easier online reading. Original paragraphs have dropcaps.) Most would understand the phrase that the mind of More was like a diamond that a tyrant threw away into a ditch, because he could not […]

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