A few weeks ago, I was contemplating Jesus on the cross. It’s not hard to image the pain he was experiencing: the nails, thorns, and scourging rip your own soul wide open. One common tradition understands that Jesus was offered … Continue reading
Saints
The Seven Prayers of St. Gregory
A certain woman used to bring altar breads to Gregory every Sunday morning, and one Sunday, when the time came for receiving communion and he held out the Body of the Lord to her, saying “May the Body of our … Continue reading
Preacher, Theologian, Contemplative
In Blessed Humbert of Romans’ important work, “On the Beginnings of the Order of Preachers,” he calls St. Augustine “the distinguished Preacher.” This way of identifying Augustine stands in splendid relief to St. Thomas Aquinas’ way of identifying him over … Continue reading
The Tears of St. Monica
Thus you gave another answer through your priest, a certain bishop nurtured in the Church and trained in your books. When that woman implored him to consider speaking with me, to refute my errors, un-teach me evil, and teach me … Continue reading
Faith Sees the Glory
“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (Jn 1:46). Such was the initial reaction to Jesus of the man we remember today, the man who, tradition tells us, would eventually surrender his very skin in testimony to Christ. Saint Bartholomew, also … Continue reading
To the Parents of a Black Sheep
Every family seems to have someone who sticks out above the rest, for better or for worse. It is not uncommon today to have parents who consider one (or more) of their children to be the “black sheep” of the … Continue reading
A Terrible Time
The third century AD was a terrible time. Like, really terrible. The prosperity and relative peace of the second century went down in flames. Well, flames, assassinations, civil war, revolts, famine, plague, and invasions, to be more precise. From the … Continue reading
The Preacher of the Incarnation
Christianity is no mere ideology, a set of human goals with no power to save. Nor is it a natural religion, the aggregate wisdom of the sages who through long experience learned to get along in the world. It is … Continue reading
The Treasure of the Church
Where are the treasures of the Church? Perhaps you have seen some in art museums. There are stunning reliquaries, beautiful chalices, and intricately decorated liturgical books. And yet behind glass these treasures appear dead. They sit sadly empty, no longer … Continue reading
Many Hearts, One Love
To gaze on Mary with Mother Teresa and her sisters is to look into Mary’s Immaculate Heart. “I put all my trust in her heart,” Mother Teresa confided (Come Be My Light, 135). Writing to a spiritual director, she pleaded, … Continue reading
Many Hearts, One Love
To gaze on Mary with Mother Teresa and her sisters is to look into Mary’s Immaculate Heart. “I put all my trust in her heart,” Mother Teresa confided (Come Be My Light, 135). Writing to a spiritual director, she pleaded, … Continue reading
The Faculty of Wonder
The mother of Holy Father Dominic allegedly discerned an “odor of holiness which always clung to” the preacher of grace. Bl. Jane of Aza must have reared her son with wonder and admiration, rejoicing at the mysterious designs of divine … Continue reading
Unrelenting Contrition
Saint Teresa of Calcutta famously said to her Missionaries of Charity, “God does not call us to be successful but to be faithful.” Really, these words provide a panacea for anyone tempted toward perfectionism as well as a stimulus for … Continue reading
You Don’t Know What You’re Asking
Swish! Swish! Swish! lap the waves. 12:15 AM reads the my watch beneath the silver star light. What am I looking for? What do I want? I think to myself as I knead the sand with my toes. Beep! … Continue reading
What I Did for Love
The sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us (Rm 8:18). Why would someone give up something that they love? Giving up something you are addicted to makes sense. Giving up something … Continue reading
Strength to Climb
I love the collect the Church prays on today’s feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It voices a simple and robust request for God to act in our lives through the Blessed Virgin Mary: May the venerable intercession of … Continue reading
Saint Who?
Saint Dogfan. Ours is the kind of Church that can boast of a saint named Dogfan. No boasting really happens, however. Today is St. Dogfan’s feast day, but it’s unlikely that Masses commemorating this fifth-century Welsh martyr will be celebrated … Continue reading
Amor meus et Amor meus
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn 20:29). The desire to feel God, to experience the consolations and sensible sweetness of his presence, is shared by even the most advanced souls in the … Continue reading
How Can We Understand?
“In the beginning . . .” And from here, many Christians begin their journey through the Bible. It seems like a reasonable place to start, and considering that it contains the beginning of salvation history, it’s not a bad idea. … Continue reading
The Restorer of Lost Things
Between the liturgical procession complete with marching band, the local variety of pizza without mozzarella cheese, and the statue of a poor Franciscan friar entirely covered with money, the St. Anthony’s feast day celebration I saw last year was full … Continue reading
St. Boniface and the Idols of the Day
Chop! Chop! Chop! Wiping away the perspiration rolling down his broad forehead, the burly Englishman heaved his axe and struck again. Chop! Chop! Chop! The bitter cursing that greeted his first swings died down to an uneasy grumble. “How stiff-necked … Continue reading
Love and the Vanity of Labor
What are you working for? Our lives are a bustling whirl of labor, occupying our hands during the day and often our minds at night. How overwhelming and toilsome this work can become. There are moments when the words of … Continue reading
Faith, Hope, and Love Towards Canaan’s Land
Editor’s note: This is the twelfth post in our newest series, reflecting on the Hillbilly Thomists’ recent, self-titled album. The series will run each Tuesday and Thursday throughout the Easter season. Read the whole series here. This post concerns the … Continue reading
From Peter to Francis: A Constant Papal Teaching
At Mass today, we hear from the closing of St. Peter’s First Epistle, which mentions a man whom Peter calls “Mark, my son.” It can be easy for those of us in the pews to forget that these holy saints, … Continue reading
The Saintly Father of Lima
In the Soul of the Apostolate, Trappist monk Jean-Baptiste Chautard quotes this saying: “A holy priest makes a fervent people; a fervent priest a pious people; a pious priest a fairly good people; a fairly good priest, a godless people.” … Continue reading