On an evening late in November, 1886, four men settled into their bearskins to try to keep warm in the unoccupied hut they had appropriated for the night. They were worn out from a long day trekking across the snow-covered tracts of western Alaska. Tomorrow they would reach their destination, the town of Nulato. In … Read more
What does it mean to be great? If we think of those historical figures that we have graced with the suffix “Great,” what comes to mind? They are mostly rulers and conquerors. Think Alexander the Great, Charlemagne (French for “Charles the Great”), Peter the Great of Russia, Frederick the Great of Prussia, and the list … Read more
“Master Robert, I should like to be known as a prudent man, but above all let me be one, and you may have the rest, for prudence is such a great and good thing that the word itself savors.” Thus spoke the great St. Louis IX to one of his chaplains, Robert de Sorbon. To … Read more
October 31 does not receive much attention as a saint’s feast day in the United States. The ostentatious festivities of Halloween are, of course, difficult to compete with—as is the Holy Day it vigils. Besides being a night of merry devilry and the eve of All Saints’ Day, October 31 commemorates the feast of one … Read more
It seems everyone has his own John Paul II. Even among highly committed Catholics there are many views on the lessons of his papacy. Indeed, he was pope for so long, and did so much in so many spheres, that a full account of his activities is perhaps nearly impossible, especially for those who were … Read more
In narrating the birth of our country, no one would forget figures such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and, of course, George Washington. Yet Catholics know that it is truly the spiritual that forms and shapes the external reality. In this sense, when we look for the true spiritual fathers of our country, we would … Read more
“Why are so many people drawn to St. Francis de Sales after their first contact? It is because his spirit is a short, sure, and successful way to find the Lord. In his spirit, you find medicine for your worries and salve for you injuries: the peace that every heart seeks.” So wrote Bl. Louis … Read more
The sisters and their helpers had toiled all year to create a bountiful harvest. Less than two years into their effort to establish a foothold in the Indiana wilderness, they stowed their precious grains and other foodstuffs in their new barn, which was also a product of their labor. It was October 2, 1842, the … Read more
Joseph de Maistre once wrote that “The scepter of science belongs to Europe only because she is Christian. She has reached this high degree of civilization and knowledge because … the universities were at first schools of theology, and because all the sciences, grafted upon this divine subject, have shown forth the divine sap by … Read more
Insofar as Americans know anything of the Spanish Civil War it is through the propaganda of Ernest Hemingway’s admittedly compelling For Whom the Bell Tolls, or through Pablo Picasso’s chaotic (and admittedly repellant) Guernica. That version goes something like this: an oppressed working class calling themselves republicans rose up against a tyrannical aristocracy allied with … Read more
Catholics who commemorate the Feast of St. Januarius may celebrate two miracles—one ancient, one modern; one Old World, one New World. This past September 19, at the cathedral in Naples, Italy, dedicated to the fourth century martyr, dried blood preserved as a relic of the saint miraculously liquefied, as it has done nearly every year … Read more
The Year of Faith began with a challenge from the Holy Father Emeritus: “We cannot accept that salt should become tasteless or that light be kept hidden.” During this last intense year of renewal, Catholics have been reminded again and again that our age calls for vigilance. For the embers of Western Civilization glow but … Read more
The Catholic Church has sometimes been praised, and sometimes criticized, for the strength of its hold upon the lives of its members. Its vision of the human is so profound and its view of the destinies of collective humanity are so all-encompassing that it tends to create its own atmosphere wherever it takes root, and … Read more
Summer is at an end. For those of us in the world of education, the new academic year is upon us. As the urgency and pace of preparation builds, it is worthwhile to pause, take a step back, and reflect. When the year is over, what will we have accomplished? This question is especially important … Read more
In my beginning is my end. –T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets: “East Coker” St. John the Baptist’s origin and vocation, as recorded in the beginning of the fourth gospel, provides hints of his destiny. In his beginning is his end. The fourth gospel declares that John’s vocation is “to bear witness” to the Messiah. Within the … Read more
When most Catholics hear the name of Pope St. Pius X, they think of the great saint who pulverized modernism, that “synthesis of all heresies” in the early twentieth century. Many are also aware of his Eucharistic reforms, which promoted frequent communion and communion for young children. Some may also be aware of his conflict … Read more
On the night of August 11, 1834, the Charlestown Convent lay in ruins, destroyed by a furious anti-Catholic mob. Completed only six years earlier, the convent had been the showpiece of the Catholic Church in America. Situated on 22 acres overlooking Boston, the convent property included a school building, a chaplain’s house, gardens and orchards. … Read more
Edith Stein was an unlikely saint. A former Jewish-atheist bluestocking who died for the Faith as a Carmelite nun in the gas chamber at Auschwitz, Stein was impelled by a quenchless thirst for truth. God in His Mercy placed in her life friends who were themselves, in one way or another, “hidden with Christ in … Read more
When Pope Francis, the first Jesuit to become pope, celebrated Mass for the feast of St. Mark last April, he used his homily to exhort the Church to proclaim the Gospel with magnanimity and humility. He noted that St. Thomas Aquinas taught that magnanimity, or great-souledness, means doing great deeds and seeking great honors. Humility, … Read more
“How beautiful […] are the feet of him who brings the gospel.” Isaiah 52:7 Isaiah’s prophecy about the Messianic age clearly echoed in the heart of the woman who anoints Christ’s feet early in his ministry. As the scene unfolds, the evangelist Luke describes her as a “sinner” and “woman of the city” (Lk 7:37). … Read more