Articles Under: Saints and Holy Men & Women

‘Then I went to Lourdes, where I was able to join thousands of faithful on the Jubilee Way, which includes the places of St. Bernadette's life: the parish church with the baptismal font where she was baptized; the "cachot" where she lived in great poverty as a girl; the Massabielle Grotto, where the Virgin appeared to her 18 times. In the afternoon I took part in the traditional torchlight procession, which is a wonderful manifestation of faith in God and of devotion to his and our Mother. ‘Lourdes is truly a place of light, prayer, hope and conversion, founded on... Read more

To many who live in the United States, ‘Montessori Catechesis’ may seem something of an oxymoron given the particular ‘unreligious’ mileu in which many Montessori schools find themselves. Yet anyone who has studied Maria Montessori and her educational philosophy knows that she was a devout Catholic, formed in the mind and heart of the Church. In her philosophy of education, we can hear an echo of St. Thomas Aquinas’ teachings on the nature of the human person [i] as well as Pope Leo XIII’s teaching on the nature of human liberty. [ii] Referring to her method, Maria boasted that ‘in... Read more

Neumann was not the saint of the storybook. You know the type-halo, ecstasy, up-lifted eyes, hands crossed on the breasts. Neumann never answered to that description. He was a prosaic, short, well-set man whom you might pass in the street without a second glance. And he was not a medieval saint figure, but a modern priest, a priest for today. When the sonorous echoes of [Daniel] Webster were ringing in the American Senate, Neumann, an unknown priest, was standing under the rafters of a wilderness chapel, zealously preaching the cross of Christ. When the covered wagons were lumbering over a... Read more

Heaven is exciting. I do not think this is always made clear. You have doubtless seen several pictures of the Last Judgement. There was often one on the West wall of Mediaeval Churches to remind the departing faithful to live in such a way that they would be among the sheep, not the goats. Many such paintings show the just being welcomed into Heaven, and the wicked cast into hell. Often you suspect that the artist enjoyed painting hell more than he enjoyed painting heaven! One particular painting, for example, shows Heaven as a city wall, with Angels playing trumpets,... Read more