Here, an early biographer tells the story of the conversion of St. Ignatius of Loyola and what it taught him about the discernment of spirits. Ignatius is remember by the Catholic Church on July 31....
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....
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...
A reflection on the Solemnity of All Souls, touching on the mystery of death and the afterlife including heaven, hell, and purgatory, and the validity of prayers for the dead....
St. Teresa of Avila's comments on the Lord's Prayer, specifically, on the petitions "Hallowed be thy Name" and "Thy Kingdom Come." The excerpt is from her book The Way of Perfection....
The parable of the merciless servant illustrates the meaning of "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us," a petition included in the Lord's Prayer. Anger can be righteous, but when we let it harden into resentment it becomes...
St. John Vianney, the humble and simple Cure of Ars, on the glorious duty of man to pray. He sees prayer, as intimate union with God in love, as producing serenity and sweetness. And such experience is available to all, including simple lay people. [dropcaps type='normal'...
In this beautiful prayer, read by the Church each year on June 9, the feast of St. Ephrem, we see the sacraments as a reflection of the light of the resurrection, an experience of the divine beauty which brings us delight....
Pointers of what to do & NOT to do . . . during eucharistic adoration, based on the meaning & purpose of prayer before the blessed sacrament....