Holy Smokes: Habemus Papem
By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … Latins and Sabines may have watched for smoke / From the Vatican Hill across the way / Wondering if a careless shepherd had set a fire / Beyond the Seven Hills of holy Rome
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We Know Where The Holy Grail Is
By Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall … We know where the Holy Grail is / Each Sunday we see it on the Altar / As a cup, indifferent in its origins / In the catalogue of a church supply…
Read MoreFaithful Friday: St. Giulia Salzano
By Sarah Levesque … Giulia Salzano was born on October 13, 1846, in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Caserta, Italy. Her father, Diego Salzano, died when Giulia was only four years old, and she was taken in by the Sisters of Charity, with whom she stayed until she was fifteen years old.
Read MoreWhen the Lilies Attempt to Toil
By Cordelia Fitzgerald … Lilies of the Field is a modest film with a comparatively small cast, simple plot, and a light load of English dialogue. Homer Smith, a traveling handyman, finds himself employed by some German nuns with a dubious revenue stream and consequently becomes invested in their (or rather, the Mother Superior’s) dream, which turns out to be the basis of the story. Again, it is a simple film – but it is a battle of wills.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: Juliana of Liege
By Ian Wilson … In her youth, Juliana had quickly learned Latin and memorized the works of St. Augustine and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, devoting herself to theological study; an unusual pursuit for a woman in her time. At the young age of 13, Juliana was welcomed into the order.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: Edmund Campion
By Caroline Liberatore … Edmund Campion is notably remembered and celebrated yearly with a feast day on December 1st. Although there are many components of his later life which we annually recall and commemorate, his entire life was remarkable upon examination.
Read MoreThe Mysteries of Suffering
By Cordelia Fitzgerald … our good Lord understands of this need of ours for that commiseration, in a way, perhaps, that our fellow men fail to. This God that made us and understands us both from a mechanic or inventor’s point of view and from our very experience, since He too was one of us.
Read MoreA Purely Visceral Argument for Latin in Liturgical Settings
Latin, we hear, is dead—and a fitting statement it is, too, as applied to the tongue that should be the main language of the Church. For the Founder of this Church was also dead, but He “gloriously did rise on the third day,” and is, in fact, still living.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: Katherine Drexel
On a trip into the West, Katherine witnessed the misery of the Native American tribes and resolved that this population and the African American population would be her own personal mission. She became a patroness of schools and missions to these marginalized groups.
Read MoreThe Underappreciated Second Commandment
Have you ever had the feeling that you needed to watch yourself in a special way because you were representing something? The moment we take the name “Christian,” we are proclaiming ourselves Christ’s representatives.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: Mother Ascensión Nicol y Goñi
Following a long-held desire to serve the poor, at age 45, Mother Ascensión and four of her sisters accepted a mission to Peru, where they trekked through jungle and mountains to Porto Maldonado, the first European women to make the journey.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: Pope Callixtus I
Callixtus was first appointed to be a deacon by Pope Zephrynus, who counted him as trustworthy and often sought his counsel in regards to decision-making and theology. Even in his time as deacon, it became evident that Callixtus valued repentance and subsequent forgiveness most highly. As he began to influence Zephrynus toward this end, there were those who viewed this as an unfaithful expression of lawful theology.
Read MoreFaithful Friday: Padre Pio
Pio of Pietrelcina, more commonly known as Padre Pio, was born in Pietrelcina (Benevento), Italy in 1887 to Maria Giuseppa DeNunzio and Grazio Maria Forgione. He was their fourth child of eight. As a child, he would interact with his guardian angel, reacting in surprise when realizing other children could not see their heavenly guardians.
Read MoreA Street Called Parallel
When I was a girl, in small-town America, /
There was a street called Parallel, /
Where we Protestants ran alongside the /
Catholics – an historical microcosm of /
Our ancestral nations.
Divine Revelation
There are multiple facets of Divine Revelation. The main sections are Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, though God also reveals Himself in Creation, and certain saints have claimed to have been given visions.
Read MoreDoubt Like a Disciple
The disciples had not understood the incident of the loaves though they had been there. They collected the initial bread and fish. They collected the leftover fragments. Their hearts were hardened. The very disciples who physically took part in the miracle had their hearts hardened when they saw Jesus walk on water and come into their boat?
Read MoreDominicans
The month of August in the Catholic Church is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which makes it perfect for the biggest names in the Dominican order to have feast days in this month. The Dominican Order is known for their dedication to and honor of the Mother of God. They are not the only order to be known to have the Mother of God as their special patroness, but they are the most associated with her special protection.
Read MoreRogation Days
We are currently in the time of the Traditional Calendar known as Rogation days. “Excuse me, what?” some of you are probably saying. Well, I’ll tell you… On Rogation days, we are to ask God’s mercy and blessing upon us and the fields and fruits of the earth.
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