Inspired by Truth, Enlightening Minds for the Church in Canada and Throughout the World
Inspired by Truth, Enlightening Minds for the Church in Canada and Throughout the World
Saint Bernardine of Siena (+1444) lived through a tumultuous time in the Church’s history. The Great Western Schism had begun in 1378, two years before the birth of Bernardine, with, eventually three rival claimants to the papacy, all with their various supporters. Left orphaned at six years old, Bernardine was raised by a pious aunt,[…]
A happy Victoria Day to all our readers, when we celebrate the history of our Dominion, first as a French, then a British colony, under both crowns. For better or worse, the Brits won out, even if la langue et culture francaises still exist in la belle province. Some have dubbed this ‘May two-four’, I[…]
I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out heaven from God…and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God among men. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his people, and God himself will be with them’ (Rev. 21:2-3). ⧾ With these[…]
The signs have been hopeful in this first week of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate – full regalia, clear teaching, warm demeanour, pastoral yet doctrinal. On Monday, May 12th, he addressed journalists, advocating for a charitable and peaceful presentation of truth, to ‘dis-arm’ words: Let us disarm communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even[…]
God is as really present in the consecrated Host as He is in the glory of Heaven (Saint Paschal Baylon, +1592)
On May 16th, the Franciscan family within the Universal Church celebrates the feast of St Margaret of Cortona. Her life was not at all rosy, but she kept her heart open to Christ and the unimaginable happened. Margaret was born in 1247 in Laviano, Italy, in a small farming village. At the age of seven she[…]
The life of Paschal Baylon (1540 – 1592) has much in common with that of his fellow Franciscan, Joseph of Cupertino (+1633). They were both Franciscan friars who adopted lives of great humility and austerity – Paschal would wear a spiked metal coat, or a habit with rough pig hair on the inside. They were[…]
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote much else besides Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit – he was an Oxford scholar, with many articles and essays and, of course, poems, including one on today’s saint, Brendan the Navigator. We present here the first stanza: At last out of the deep seas he passed, and mist rolled on[…]
Saint Brendan (+577) the sixth century Irish monk, called the ‘Navigator’, is reputed to have discovered Canada a full millennium before the Italian John Cabot – Giovanni Caboto – arrived on the shore of the Gaspé in 1497. In his semi-mythical recounting, the immram (‘narration’) known as Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (the Voyage of Saint[…]
Intriguing to see the then-Father Robert Prevost, as Prior of the Augustinians, now Pope Leo XIV, play a brief part in this documentary on Pope Benedict XVI. We never know quite what the future holds, and how history may converge. Our God and His providence are mysterious. Certainly, as the future Pope exhorts, we must[…]
