This excerpt from St. Augustine's Treatise on John's Gospel (Tract. 123, 5: CCL 36, 678-680) is read on the feast day of St. Nicholas, December 6. It focuses on the real meaning of the gift-giving for which St. Nicholas is famous--the self-giving love of a...
Augustine on the famous words of Jesus "anyone who does the will of my Father who sent me is my brother and sister and my mother." This indicates Mary's true greatness as a disciple, one who conceived not only in body, but in faith; Augustine...
Charles Borromeo, the bishop apostle of Northern Italy during the Catholic Reformation, on the primacy of prayer, read on his feast day, November 4. Though he is here addressing priests, his advice on meditation, distractions and recollection is valuable for all Christians....
Between the years 1642 and 1649 eight members of the Society of Jesus were killed in North America after brutal torture. These Jesuits had worked diligently to bring the native Americans of the region of what is now Upper New York and Canada to the...
This brief description the little way of love of St. Therese of Lisieux, commonly known as the Little Flower, so perfectly captures the saint's personality that they are read every year on her feast day, October 1....
St. Gregory the Great teaches us about the Archangels and why they are distinct from angels. For the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael on September 29....
These words of St. Vincent de Paul so clearly capture the essence of his vocation and ministry that they are read every year on the occasion of his feast day on September 27. The poor, when viewed with eyes of faith, give us the...
An excerpt written to Cornelius, bishop of Rome condemned to exile and death for his faith, from his brother bishop Cyprian of Carthage, who was to be martyred a few years later. Read on the feasts of Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian on September 16....
St. Bede the Venerable on the call of Matthew, Tax Collector turned disciple, apostle & evangelist. Matthew, originally called Levi, was, as a publican, excommunicated from the life of the synagogue and shunned in Jewish society....
St. Andrew of Crete (8th Century) proclaims the victory, glory, and triumph of Christ crucified forr the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14, the day that the stolen relics of the true cross were returned to Jerusalem in the early...