Saints Edith Stein and Maximilian Kolbe: Witnesses to Hope

The philosopher and Carmelite Edith Stein (Saint Teresa Benedicta a Cruce was her name in religion), and the Franciscan priest Maximilian Kolbe were put...

What Is Heaven?

Christians agree that God invites us all to end our lives in a state of being called 'heaven'; that is, in a personal relationship...

Pope Benedict, Hippolytus and Martyrdom

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Papal Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo Wednesday, 11 August 2010 The significance of martyrdom Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today in the Liturgy we commemorate St Clare of...

There is Much Hope: My Experience at the National Eucharistic Congress

A couple of weeks ago in Indianapolis, IN, 60,000 Catholics gathered together for a five-day National Eucharistic Congress. I was blessed to be one...

19th Sunday: The Merciful Presence of God

And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence (1 Kings 19:...

Pope Benedict and Saint Lawrence

PASTORAL VISIT TO THE BASILICA OF SAINT LAWRENCE OUTSIDE THE WALLS ON THE OCCASION OF THE 1750th ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY DEACON HOMILY OF HIS...

The Divine Comedy of Saint Lawrence

Today's Saint Lawrence (+258) lives on in the legend of his own divine comedy, a Spaniard from Valencia, chosen in the very bloom of...

Spes Aedificandi: Saint Edith Stein, Martyr and Co-Patroness of Europe

A quarter of a century ago, on the eve of the new millennium, Pope Saint John Paul II, on October 1st, 1999, the feast...

Pope Benedict and Saint Dominic

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 3 February 2010   Saint Dominic Guzmán Dear Brothers and Sisters, Last week I presented the luminous figure of Francis of Assisi;...

Tolkien, Discernment, and Vocation in The Lord of the Rings

The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, issued from the Second Vatican Council, emphasized the point that every person has a vocation to...