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
Today, January 8th, is the feast of Saint Raymond of Penyafort (1175-1275), one of the first Dominicans (officially known as the Order of Preachers) eventually becoming the third Master General of the Order (after Saint Dominic himself, and Jordan of Saxony), and a fellow Dominican with his even-more famous confrere, Thomas Aquinas, with whom he[…]
Christ appeared in the world, and, bringing beauty out of disarray, gave it lustre and joy. He bore the world’s sin and crushed the world’s enemy. He sanctified the fountains of waters and enlightened the minds of men. Into the fabric of miracles he interwove ever greater miracles. (Saint Proclus of Constantinople, +446)
The 245 cardinals of the Catholic Church – give or take a few – are gathering today and tomorrow in consistory to discuss various issues. We don’t know precisely what they may discuss – the general agenda may be found here, but its specifics are the prerogative of the Holy Father, Pope Leo in consultation[…]
On January 7th here in Canada we honour one of our most beloved homegrown saints, André Bessette (1845-1937), a humble lay-brother who went on to found Saint Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal. A sickly boy, brought up in a difficult childhood mired in poverty in rural Quebec, his lumberjack father was killed by a falling tree,[…]
This fifth of January is the traditional commemoration of the eighth bishop of Rome after Saint Peter, namely, Saint Telesphorus. Not much is known about his life: He was Greek, and was chosen Pope in 126 A.D., during which he purportedly instituted a seven-week Lent before Easter, that Easter be celebrated on a Sunday (as[…]
Today is the feast of Saint John Neumann – whom we should distinguish from Saint John Henry Newman, the English Oratorian and fellow saint; as well as from the non-ordained layman John von Neumann, the great Hungarian-American mathematician and scientist, who helped devise what we now know as the ‘computer’. Today’s John Neumann was born[…]
In 1849, Fyodor Dostoevsky stood before a firing squad, fully prepared for death, only to hear his execution sentence revoked at the final instant. This episode serves as more than dramatic biography, since it operates as a key for understanding why Dostoevsky’s writing carries such moral weight, psychological depth, and spiritual seriousness. Few authors ever[…]
Between 1734 and 1735, J.S. Bach composed six Oratorios – or six parts of one long Oratorio – for the Christmas season, which the Lutherans in his day still celebrated with gusto and devotion, each part commemorating an aspect of the Christmas story: The first, the Birth of Christ; the second, the Annunciation to the[…]
A blessed and joyous Epiphany to all our readers, at least to those in Canada and other regions, where this solemnity is moved to the nearest Sunday. For the universal Church, it’s on the proper day the twelfth of Christmas, January 6th. However and whenever, we celebrate, the Epiphany is the culmination of the great[…]
On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (Mt. 2:11). The celebration of the Solemnity of the Epiphany completes our commemoration of the Mystery of the Incarnation which Christmas[…]
