I have never lost confidence in our Heavenly Father (Saint Marguerite d’Youville, +1771)
Year: 2025
Saint Marguerite d’Youville
MARGUERITE d’YOUVILLE, the first native Canadian to be elevated to sainthood, was born October 15, 1701 at Varennes, Quebec. She was the eldest of six children born to Christophe Dufrost de Lajemmerais and Marie-Renée Gaultier. Her father died when she was seven years old leaving this family of six in great poverty. It was only[…]
Asinine Astrology
Astrology today is a $3 billion dollar online industry. According to one source, 95% of Americans know their astrological sign and roughly 70% of millennials turn to astrology seeking guidance and reassurance in times of trouble. Astrology is one of the oldest methods of human reckoning. It is associated with prehistoric religions that were based[…]
A Panoply 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. She was a lovely Quebecoise, who married young to a dissolute man, Francois d’Youville, a dissipated bootlegger who sold liquor to the easily-addicted Natives, and would disappear for long periods. He did[…]
Teresa of Avila, Doctor of Prayer
Today is the feast of Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), a discalced Carmelite nun who reformed the Order, which traced its origins way back to the 12th century in the Holy Land, to that very ‘Carmel’ spoken of in such exalted terms in Scripture where Elijah met with God. The Order developed through the ages,[…]
Pope Benedict and Teresa of Avila
BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 2 February 2011 [Video] Saint Teresa of Avila Dear Brothers and Sisters, In the course of the Catecheses that I have chosen to dedicate to the Fathers of the Church and to great theologians and women of the Middle Ages I have also had the opportunity[…]
The Beauty and Unity of Child of These Tears
Child of These Tears by Molly McNett Slant Books, October 1st, 2025 For an excerpt, see the Slant webpage here Being human is being peculiar to all of creation. We have a body that tends toward the way of all flesh, that wilts and fades. But we have too a spirit, akin to the angels,[…]
Saint Callixtus: From Slave, to Pope, to Martyr
This is the memorial of Saints Callixtus, (+222-223) (also spelled Callistus), whose life is historically shrouded, as are many of the early Christians. Some say he was a reformed slave who lived a rather dissolute and rebellious life in youth, with theft and street fighting as part of his resumé – or rap sheet. if[…]
I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder (G.K. Chesterton, +1936)
Thanksgiving Day
A blessed and joyful Thanksgiving to all of our readers! Even our American ones who, of course, hold their own day of thanks later in November, but who do honour Christopher Columbus on this day; or they used to, for that, like so much else, is now resonant with its own controversial cultural overtones. We[…]