Labour Day, Leisure and Life
Labour Day – a rather prosaic name for the last holiday of summer - why not, 'blow out day', or 'the end of leisure,...
The Legendary Hermit, Saints Giles, or Egidio
The life of Saint Giles, as many mediaeval saints, is steeped in legend, but what a following he had! Countless places, villages, cities, churches...
The Not so Hidden Life of Blessed John Juvenal Ancina
Saint Philip Neri, the founder of the Oratorians and the ‘second Apostle’ of Rome, recommended reading books beginning with ‘S’, that is, lives of...
The Baptist and Losing One’s Head
The celebration of the beheading of Saint John the Baptist - it was an expeditious entrance into heaven - is sort of a bookend...
Augustine’s Pilgrimage to Truth
A blessed feast of the great Saint Augustine (354-430), bishop and doctor of the Church, and one of the greatest theologians in her history,...
The Persevering Prayer of Monica
Monica is the patron saint of mothers - not least, those who pray for the conversion of their children, an integral part of the...
The Black Madonna: Our Lady of Częstochowa
This feast of the 'Queen of Poland' is a national holiday in that great nation, with thousands of pilgrims flocking to her shrine at Jazna...
Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
It is an unfortunate accident of history – insofar as we may speak of accidents, when all things are guided in their providential design...
The Enigmatic and Ecstatic Life of Rose of Lima
Rose of Lima (+1617), whose birth name was Isabel, was called 'Rose' when a servant saw her face mystically transformed into the beautiful flower...
Saint Pius X and Restoring All Things in Christ
Saint Pius X (+1914) was the first of peasant to be elected Pope in centuries, the bishops of Rome all being chosen from the...