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
A blessed feast of the great Saint Augustine (354-430), bishop and doctor of the Church, and one of the greatest theologians in her history. His voluminous works – his autobiography, sermons, commentaries, letters, – helped form the mind and soul of Christian civilization. Augustine himself was nearly not the Augustine we know. In the mystery[…]
Monica is the patron saint of mothers – not least, those who pray for the conversion of their children, an integral part of the maternal vocation, as many a mother will admit. Even for those children who stay in the Faith, ‘conversion’ is an ongoing process, never-ending, in that universal call to holiness to which[…]
This feast of the ‘Queen of Poland’ is a national holiday in that great nation, with thousands of pilgrims flocking to her shrine at Jazna Gora, where the precious image of Our Lady of Częstochowa is kept and held most dear. There are untold icons and paintings of the Mother of God, just as there are[…]
St. Louis IX (1214-1270) has been considered by many to be the greatest king of medieval Christendom. As the quintessential Catholic monarch, he ruled over what contemporary popes called a “most Christian kingdom,”[1] a sacramental harmony in which the Catholic faith was the ordering and motivating principle for all levels of society. Louis was renowned[…]
We would be remiss if we did not at least remark on this day on the great and sadly forgotten Saint Joseph Calasanz (+1648), a zealous priest, pastor, reformer and educator, who more or less set up what we now take for granted – universal basic education for all children, free of charge for the[…]
BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE Saint Peter’s Square Wednesday, 4 October 2006 Bartholomew Dear Brothers and Sisters, In the series on the Apostles called by Jesus during his earthly life, today it is the Apostle Bartholomew who attracts our attention. In the ancient lists of the Twelve he always comes before Matthew, whereas the name of[…]
Rose of Lima (+1617), whose birth name was Isabel, was called ‘Rose’ when a servant saw her face mystically transformed into the beautiful flower soon after she was born. Sure enough, Isabel-Rose would go on to become the first native-born canonized saint of the Americas, renowned even during her lifetime for her generosity and charity,[…]
A blessed memorial of the Queenship of Mary, – as queen of heaven and earth, of angels and men. Although the Church has always celebrated the glories of the Mother of God, this feast was formally instituted by Pope Pius XII on October 11, 1954, in his encyclical Ad Coeli Reginam, four years after his[…]
(As mentioned in an accompanying post, the Queenship of Mary used to fall on the last day of May (now the feast of the Visitation), and was moved to its current location on the Octave of the Assumption in the 1969 revision of the liturgical calendar. Here are the words of Pope Pius XII proclaiming[…]
Instaruarae omnia in Christo (motto of Pope Saint Pius X) Saint Pius X (+1914) was the first ‘peasant’ to be elected Pope in centuries, the bishops of Rome all being chosen from the Italian nobility, trained for the task from youth in elite schools, with few exceptions. Born Guiseppe Melchiorre Sarto in 1835, he grew[…]
