Sine Qua Non of Sunday Family Dinner

A few years ago, my husband and I looked around at our family and realized that our existing dining area was becoming too small...

The Second Sunday of Lent: The Wonder of the Transfiguration

The Transfiguration is celebrated twice in the Church’s liturgy: on the second Sunday of Lent but also on 6 August. The latter date is...

The First Message of His Holiness, Saint John Paul II, for Lent

(In the spirit of beginning our Lenten journey, here is a retrospective of the first Lenten message by Pope (Saint) John Paul II.  He...

Moral Meltdown: A Magisterial View of the Morality of Embryo Adoption

Perusing the website of Snowflakes, an American adoption agency, the viewer is presented with myriad photos of respectable, young-to-middle-aged couples radiantly embracing beautiful, healthy,...

Compassion is not cynical: a reply to David Bentley Hart on Annulment and Divorce

David Bentley Hart has recently suggested that the Eastern Orthodox practice of divorce is more coherent and compassionate than the Catholic practice of annulment. The...

The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ: From the Visions of Anne Catherine...

In this account of Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich’s visions regarding the Last Supper, trial, scourging, carrying of the Cross, crucifixion, death and resurrection of...

The Spirituality of Lent and the Science of the Cross

‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him’ (Mt. 4:11). On Ash Wednesday we began the observance of the holy season of Lent with...

Frost and Fire: A Lenten Poem

To have the soul of a poet Lord, To have one that feels to the depths. The gaping wide hole in my soul Lord The sadness and...

Doors of Victory

And there was a great battle in heaven; Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels. And...

Remember Man, That Thou Art Dust

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI Vatican Basilica Ash Wednesday, 13 February 2013   Venerable Brethren, Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today, Ash Wednesday, we begin a new Lenten journey, a...