Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan priest, offered his life in exchange for the life of a family man doomed to execution by the Nazis at Auschwitz. The following excerpt from his writings contrasts religious indifferentism with the path of obedience to God's will and...
St. John Damascene extolls Sts. Joachim & Ann, parents of Mary, grandparents of Jesus. They have been honored at least since the 2nd century and their feast is July 26. ...
St. Romuald was born in Ravenna, Italy in the middle of the tenth century. He was a mystic who led the life of a hermit, traveling through various regions seeking solitude and establishing small monasteries. Here St. Peter Damian gives us some insight into the...
Prayer written by Saint Thomas More while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, awaiting execution by King Henry VIII....
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']T[/dropcaps]he African martyrs add another page to the martyrology – the Church’s roll of honor – an occasion both of mourning and of joy. This is a page worthy in every way to be added to the annals of that Africa of...
The following is from a letter that St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) wrote to the religious sisters in the community she founded, the Missionaries of Charity. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']I[/dropcaps] worry some of you still have not really met Jesus—one-to-one— you and Jesus...
REDEMPTORIS MATER (Mary, Mother of the Redeemer) John Paul II Encyclical Letter of John Paul II on the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Life of the Pilgrim Church promulgated on 25 March 1987 [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']T[/dropcaps]he Mother of the Redeemer (Redemptoris Mater) has a precise...
Peter Damian on St. George. The veneration of Saint George, the courageous soldier of Christ and martyr, began as early as the fourth century at Lydda in Palestine, where a church was built in his honor. From antiquity this veneration has spread throughout both the...
Gregory the Great here reflects on Jesus words in John 10 that he is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep....
Here Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem in the mid-4th century, urges catechumens to prepare themselves to receive the Holy Spirit at the Easter Vigil. He speaks of the sacrament of baptism in nuptial terms, describing it as a wedding feast at which the bridegroom will...