By T.K. Wilson … There is very little recorded of the personal life of St. Jude Thaddeus in the Bible. What we do know is that he was the brother or cousin of Our Lord; the son of Mary, wife of Cleopas; and brother of James the Lesser, bishop of Jerusalem. He was often confused with Judas Iscariot (technically his name is Judas) so the writers and the apostle himself call him Jude or Thaddeus, which means “courageous heart” or “friend of God”.
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By Sarah Levesque Losardo … John Newton was born July 24, 1725, in London, England. After his mother died when he was seven years old, John began to join his father, a sea captain, on his voyages. At the age of sixteen, John was pressed into service by the Royal Navy, and later became a sailor on a slave trader ship, eventually working his way up to captain. On March 10, 1748, John’s childhood faith, taught to him by his mother, was reawakened in him by a terrible storm which put his ship in grave danger…
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By Lyn Bennett Wilson … Saint Issac Jogues is one of only eight North American martyrs canonized by the Church. He served as a missionary to the Mohawk tribes in the 1600s. He was a dedicated missionary and willing to endure great suffering for the name of Christ.
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In 1853, in a small Italian village, a baby boy was born to an unassuming and quiet family. That boy, Joseph Sarto, would one day rise to the office of Pope, an office that he, to his dying day, felt unworthy of…
By TK Wilson
Saint Phocas is a reminder that you don’t need a pulpit to make a difference – sometimes, all it takes is a garden and an open door…
By Lyn Bennett Wilson
We know Jesus’ answer: “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (v. 22). The King James Version renders this “seventy times seven.” Regardless whether it is seventy-seven times or four hundred ninety times, it is obvious that Jesus put no limit on the times we are to forgive… By Bessie Wilson
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For Saint John Henry Newman, cor ad cor communication is not an emotional sentiment but an objective reality grounded in his own experiences of conversion and the ascendency of a correctly formed conscience…
By Lyn Bennett Wilson
It seems in all his works, Wycliffe was sincere rather than calculated, earnestly desiring reform…
By Sarah Levesque Losordo
In 1373, at the age of thirty, Julian fell ill with a mysterious illness that threatened to take her very life. She was spared, however, by the mercy of God, who healed her and revealed Himself to her in visions…
By Ian Wilson
James the Lesser, or James the Just, a close relative of the Mother of Our Lord and witness to the crucifixion, friend of the Apostle Paul, leader of the Jerusalem Council, and first Bishop of Jerusalem…
By Lyn Bennett Wilson
Mellitus arrived with eccelsial supplies (sacred vessels, vestments, relics, and books) and a message from the pope: burn the pagan idols and convert their places of worship and festivals to Christianity…
By Sarah Levesque Losardo
Julia Ledochowska always encouraged her students and nuns to always smile and look to Jesus as “flowers to the sun.”
By T.K. Wilson
Pope Miltiades’ reign as Pope of Rome was marked by change…
By Ian Wilson
Saint Joseph the Hymnographer (c. 816–886 AD) stands as one of the most prolific and influential liturgical poets in the history of the Eastern Christian tradition…
by Lyn Wilson
One ordinary summer night, August 31, to be precise, Cuthbert saw angels descend from the heavens, receiving a bright soul. The next day he learned of the passing of St. Aiden, Bishop of Lindisfarne and reasoned it was his spirit he saw being carried away to heaven. Within the next year, Cuthbert became a novice monk at Melrose Abbey, impressing everyone with his joyful demeanor and natural humility…
By T.K. Wilson
But there was a need in Ireland. With so few available priests, the Irish people had little access to the sacraments. In order to fill this gap, St. Gerald was made a bishop to ordain more priests and get the sacraments to more people…
By Ian Wilson
By Lyn Wilson … St. Herculanus, whose feast days are both November 7 and March 1, is Patron Saint of Perugia, Italy. His life story is a fact decorated by a bit of fantasy. He was said to have been sent to Perugia from Syria to evangelize sometime in the earlier half of the 6th century.
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Venerated for his personal holiness and artistic devotion to the church, St. Bilfrid of Lindisfarne was a man of great dedication and talent. He was a man that those of us who engage in artistic endeavors can emulate…
By Lyn Wilson
From childhood she was interested in caring for the poor – one of her brothers related in a letter how she wanted to change a dollar for pennies to give to beggars. She also trained herself to avoid the luxurious living of her family – once at the age of twelve she slept on a marble seat as a self-imposed penance for thinking too much about her comfortable hotel bed…
By Sarah Levesque Losardo
By T.K. Wilson … From his cell, Wulfric dispensed wisdom and healing to all who came to him. He lived a simple life of penance and fasting to atone for his previous life of self-indulgence, and even influenced the court of the king.
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