Thursday, July 3, 2025

Pope Benedict and Saint Barnabas

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Wednesday, 31 January 2007   Barnabas, Silas (also called Silvanus), and Apollos Dear Brothers and Sisters, Continuing our journey among the protagonists who were the first...

Saint Barnabas and Keeping up the Good Fight of the Faith

It is fitting that we celebrate the Apostle Barnabas, the ā€˜son of consolation’, or the ā€˜son of encouragement’, in this season of the Holy...

Saint Columbkille, the Irish Apostle of Scotland

If you will forgive a little parochialism, today is the feast of Saint Columbkille (521-597), also called Columba, who is not celebrated in the...

Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

Six years ago, Ā on the 160th anniversary of the first apparition of Lourdes, on February 11th, Robert Cardinal Sarah, then-head of the Congregation for...

The Repentance and Return of Saint Peter

In a previous essay I dealt with the stages in St. Peter's fall from grace. In this essay, I would like to examine his...

Holy Norbert and Heroic Normandy

Saint Norbert (+1134) of Xanten was a zealous bishop and founder, who was at the forefront of the ecclesial reform named after Pope Gregory...

Pope Benedict and Saint Boniface

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Saint Peter's Square Wednesday, 11 March 2009 Saint Boniface, the Apostle of the Germans Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today, we shall reflect on a great eighth-century...

Saint Boniface: Laying the Axe to the Root of Evil

Saint Boniface, bishop, missionary and martyr was hacked to death by a band of Frisian idol-worshippers on thisĀ  day, June 5, 754, along with...

Father Francis Caracciolo’s Burning Heart of Zeal

Saint Francis Caracciolo (1563 - 1608) was a near contemporary of Saint Philip Neri, whom he resembles in some ways, and with whom the...

Saint Charles Lwanga and Companion Martyrs: The Hope of Africa

If the Church seems moribund in North America, there is hope in the vast continent of Africa, where there are untold millions of Catholics,...