Imagine that you’re on a seventeenth-century Spanish merchant ship, sailing back with wares from the East Indies. A storm overtakes you, with howling wind and monstrous waves. Who would you call on for help? None other than St. Elmo, of … Continue reading →

An Italian family typically erupts in joy at the birth of a child. Bl. Margaret of Castello, however, was unwanted from the day she was born. Had twenty-first-century technology been available to her thirteenth-century parents, she might not have been … Continue reading →

Have you heard that 2016 marks an important year for Catholics? Well, beyond the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy and the 800th Anniversary of the Dominican Order, there is another important anniversary celebrated in 2016. But, this anniversary should be … Continue reading →

“Infant baptism. That’s just a method you Catholics use to swell your ranks.” A co-worker once shared this criticism with me. From a purely political view, where numbers lead to might, which makes right, this accusation makes sense. It’s cynical, … Continue reading →

Disney Studios has caused quite a stir over its latest movie, Zootopia. There is little disagreement over the movie’s wit and charm, but its message has not received such universal acclaim. Interestingly, while many of the reviews out there praise … Continue reading →

Today the Church continues to reflect on how Peter and his brother apostles preach the Holy Name of Jesus. Before the Sanhedrin they boldly proclaim the kerygma, The God of our fathers raised Jesus, though you had him killed by … Continue reading →

Time is uncomfortable. That’s probably why we’re always trying to “kill” it. In a letter to Sheldon Vanauken, C.S. Lewis wrote, If you really are a product of a materialistic universe, how is it you don’t feel at home there? … Continue reading →

My grandfather passed away suddenly when I was only five years old. Knowing my parents, I must have seen a lot of him as an infant, but we had been living in Germany for three years when the tragic news … Continue reading →

What a long, strange trip it’s been, hasn’t it? Yesterday we kept the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord, usually celebrated on the day nine months before Christmas. The Word through whom all things were created enters His creation … Continue reading →

At the end of a particularly good day, my college friends would refer to it as a “slice of the Glory Cake.” The exact origins of the phrase have been lost to the mists of history, but during our reunions, … Continue reading →

In algebra, students learn to perform mathematical operations using variables.  Initially, these variables represent known quantities, but eventually they come to represent unknowns.  The usefulness of this skill becomes apparent once one leaves the classroom: oftentimes, one must do more … Continue reading →

For many people, Easter is just another holiday, differentiated merely by its pastel color scheme, chocolate bunnies, and Easter egg hunts. But in the Church’s liturgy we are reminded why life and death have been forever changed by the power … Continue reading →

Pope Benedict XVI describes the Resurrection of Jesus as an “evolutionary leap” in which a new dimension of human existence emerges.  This new dimension “affects all of us and opens up for us a new space of life, a new … Continue reading →

Today’s Gospel recounts Judas’s betrayal of Jesus. For thirty pieces of silver, he agrees to hand Jesus over to the chief priests. This betrayal begins a chain of additional handing-overs. The chief priests hand Jesus over to Pontius Pilate, who … Continue reading →

There are, in the life of the believer, occasions when the Lord seems to slumber. It isn’t that He feels completely absent—as He did to St. John of the Cross, Bl. Teresa of Calcutta, and others who have experienced the … Continue reading →

It’s called the Place of the Skull, we’re told. Κρανίου Τόπος. Everything converges on this place, as a figure hangs from a cross sunk into the Skull, a hill so named on account of its pock-marked appearance or after its … Continue reading →

Dominicana > Home / Culture, Discipleship, Evangelization, History, New Evangelization, Politics, Preaching, Saints, Virtue, Virtue & Moral Life / Lions and Wolves and Lambs, Oh My! “I am sending you out as lambs among wolves” -Luke 10:3   “It is … Continue reading →

Twenty years ago this month, seven Trappist monks from the Atlas Abbey of Tibhirine in Algeria were kidnapped by extremist Islamic insurgents. Ultimately, their severed heads were found two months later; they died as martyrs for Christ. The story of … Continue reading →

Dominicana is happy to offer this audio recording of “A Kingdom Unlike All the Other Nations: The Son of David’s Reign of Mercy.” It was given by Br. Isaac Morales, O.P. as the final installment of the 2016 Lenten Conferences … Continue reading →

In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. – C. S. Lewis Last month, the country (and friars of our house) mourned the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia. Given the polarization … Continue reading →

Give us Barabbas! The familiar scene unfolds in our minds at least once a year: Jesus and Barabbas stand before the crowd in the praetorium. Barabbas the criminal is grunting about, egging on the crowd to cheer for him. He … Continue reading →

I recently listened to a public radio segment on CERN, the scientific research facility in Switzerland. I was struck by what the reporter referred to as, “the heart of CERN.” One might think it’s the laboratory or the complex scientific … Continue reading →

Days before her martyrdom in the year 203, St. Perpetua was granted this vision of her spiritual confrontation with that ancient serpent, Satan. I saw a golden ladder of marvellous height, reaching up even to heaven….. And under the ladder … Continue reading →

Dominicana Blog is happy to offer this audio recording of “Christ Our High Priest.” It was given by Br. Nicholas Schneider, O.P. as the first installment of a three-part series of Lenten Conferences, given at the Dominican House of Studies. … Continue reading →