Saint John of Avila, Apostle of Andalusia
Today's optional memorial as we continue the Easter season (alleluia!) commemorates Saint John of Avila (1499 – 1569), a contemporary of his fellow Spaniards,...
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Patroness of the Poor
On this 17th of November we, as Franciscans, joyfully celebrate the feast of St Elizabeth of Hungary, a tertiary of our Order.
Elizabeth was born...
All the Myriads of Saints
A blessed solemnity of All Saints to all our readers, a feast that goes back to its official institution by Pope Gregory III (731...
Saint George Preca, Catechist and Apostle of Malta
(We are a bit late, alas, in posting this reflection on Saint George Preca, a home-grown Maltese saint, whose feast was May 9th. But,...
Padre Pio and the Story of a Vocation
This 23rd of September is the liturgical feast day of St Pio of Pietrelcina. It was also twenty eight years ago that Jesus, through Padre...
A Day of Four Saints
We celebrate a veritable panoply of saints today: In Canada, we have the memorial of Saint Marguerite D’Youville (+1771), the first Canadian-born saint -...
James the Greater and Humanae Vitae: Signs of Contradiction
Today we celebrate the great feast of Saint James 'the Greater', not because of any intrinsic superior quality to the other apostle James, 'the...
A Triptych of Saints: Clement, Columba and Pro
November 23rd marks one of those tri-partite saint days, Clement, Columba and Pro, which sounds like a sign outside a law office - not...
Saint Bartholomew, aka Nathaniel, In Whom There Was No Guile
A blessed feast of Saint Bartholomew, to one and all! Like many of the Apostles, we don't know all that much about the life...
Pope Saint Leo: A Great Support in Time of Adversity
During our study and appreciation of the Church's history of two millennia, one of the outstanding figures is that of Pope St Leo the...