February 2 is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple. It is known as Candlemass since it is the day that candles are blessed for use throughout the Church year....
Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest theologians in the history of the church, here focuses on the passion of Jesus Christ not only to redeem us but also to teach us. Indeed, the cross exemplifies every virtue and teaches us all we have to know...
Francis de Sales, one of the great masters of the spiritual life, here makes clear that devotion, his term for the pursuit of holiness, is not something tied to a specific state of life. All people, in a way appropriate to their own calling...
An excerpt from the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII Munificentissimus Deus defining the Assumption of Mary, long taught by the ordinary magisterium of the Church, as a dogma of faith....
January 1 is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics not because it is New Years, but because it is the octave (8th day) of Christmas, the feast of Mary the Mother of God. This feast helps bring home the reality of the incarnation, that...
We all know the elements of the Christmas story: Caesar's census and Herod, shepherds and Magi, ox, swaddling clothes & manger, a stable and not room in the inn, Emmanuel and the Prince of Peace. But underneath each of these people, places, and things,...
Bede the Venerable, one of the greatest Christian writers of the early Middle Ages, here reflects on the Magnificat, the Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary proclaimed during her visitation of her cousin Elizabeth and sung every night in the Church's evening prayer, part of...
Writing in the early 8th century, Bede explains why the Magnificat, Mary's prayer on the occasion of her Visitation of Elizabeth, is used daily in the liturgy of the hours (a.k.a the divine office) for evening prayer....
14 minute podcast in which Dr. Italy describes the town of Bethlehem and the field of the Shepherds at the time of the birth of Christ. Helps bring the Christmas story alive as we read of the little town that was the city of David. At...
Where did December 25 come from as the celebration of Christmas, the birthday of Jesus? What are the origins of the feast of Christ's Navity?...