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 we commemorate the early martyrs Nereus and Achilleus, eunuchs and chamberlains of the court, and eventual converts to Christianity, who were put to death under Emperor Domitian in the late first century, about the time of the death of Saint John the Apostle. (Saint Paul mentions a ‘Nereus’ in Romans 16:15), and buried in[…]
Saint Ignatius of Laconi (1701- 1781) – not to be confused with the more famous Ignatius of Loyala – was a Franciscan friar, whom we celebrate on this May 11th, the day of his death. Born Ignazio Peis in Sardinia, he was one of seven children of poor peasants. He was drawn to the religious[…]
Today’s optional memorial as we continue the Easter season (alleluia!) commemorates Saint John of Avila (1499 – 1569), a contemporary of his fellow Spaniards, saints and correspondents, Teresa of Avila, Ignatius of Loyola and John of God. Like them, he was one of the primary instruments in what is (somewhat inaccurately) termed the Catholic ‘counter-reformation’.[…]
Saint Damien de Veuster (+1889) is celebrated on this tenth of May, a missionary priest who gave everything, even laying down his life, for the leper outcasts suffering from the disease on the remote island of Molokai, Hawaii. Born and raised in Holland, the youngest of seven children, Damien followed his brother into the missionary[…]
We have celebrated a number of ‘Catherines’ of late in our liturgical calendar, two of them Canadian: Kateri Tekakwitha on April 17th, the native convert who adopted the name of Catherine of Siena, whose feast was on April 29th, the day Kateri was baptized. Now today we commemorate Blessed Catherine of Saint Augustine (+1688), one[…]
‘Tis difficult to believe that Quebec was once a a bastion of the Faith, incarnating in an almost unique way in the historical annals the harmony between Church and State, offering the early pioneers of this nation – New France – the elan vital to conquer a wild and savage land, to raise large families,[…]
There is a trio of Canadian Saints in this week: Saint Marie of the Incarnation, on the last day of April; Saint Francois de Laval, on the 6th of May; and today, the little-known Blessed Marie-Leonie Paradis. Born on May 12th in 1840, baptized as Alodie-Virginie, in Quebec, she would also die in Mary’s month,[…]
Philip and James, Apostles, have been celebrated together on this third day in May since the revision of the calendar in 1969. They were originally commemorated on May 1st, the anniversary of the church dedicated to them in Rome, but that day was adopted as Saint Joseph the Worker by Pius XII in 1955, as[…]
GENERAL AUDIENCE Paul VI Audience Hall Wednesday, 20 June 2007 Saint Athanasius of Alexandria Dear Brothers and Sisters, Continuing our revisitation of the great Teachers of the ancient Church, let us focus our attention today on St Athanasius of Alexandria. Only a few years after his death, this authentic protagonist of the Christian tradition was[…]
Today, the second day of May, is the memorial of one of the most heroic bishops in the history of the Church, the great Saint Athanasius (+373), who stood contra mundum, against the world. He was mighty foe of the pernicious heresy of Arius, who denied the full divinity of Christ, and the hero of[…]
