This photo is a page from a delightful book called An Alphabet of Saints, by Fr. Robert Hugh Benson, Reginald Balfour, S.C. Ritchie, and illustrated by L. D. Symington. I made this happy discovery when searching for available scanned versions of Msgr. Benson’s fiction books (Lord of the World is probably his best-known work). Immediately…
We recently celebrated a Nameday for a family member–great fun! Namedays are very happy days for little ones. A nameday is the feast day of the saint for whom a person is named (assuming, of course, that when he was baptized he was given a Christian name). Until he is old enough to receive the…
When you need strength in your daily spiritual warfare, remember this Spanish saint’s quiet and heroic life, and this beautiful sonnet about him…
Blessed Feast of All Saints! Earth is so near to Heaven today that the one thought which fills all hearts is happiness. –Dom Prosper Guéranger, The Liturgical Year What a glorious day this is! From sunrise to sundown will be remembering and celebrating the eternal joy that our big brothers and sisters, the saints, are enjoying in…
I have a small ambition: I really want to change the world. I want to save it–or at least, the souls in it. I want to help rebuild and restore Christian culture. Are you with me? Of course, it’s an immense undertaking that will likely take millions of people, generations of effort, and a constant outpouring of God’s abundant…
This beautiful, strikingly emotional prayer is so long that it might more fittingly be called a “meditation.” The source in which I found this prayer surprisingly gives no information about it other than the title, so I don’t know if it really is by St. Augustine–but I think that as such an important and holy figure in…
Supposedly some of the names of the days of the week in the English language are derived from the names of Norse gods. (This has always fascinated, rather than annoyed, me.) We must live each of these days in a Christian way, however, and one great way to do that is to observe the tradition of Christian…
Do you want to really feel and understand the sacred rhythm behind the Liturgical Year? Like me, have you spent years sitting in the pews thinking, “Why do we even bother?” Because the only differences you can perceive in most parishes between, say, Ordinary Time and the Easter Season are different felt banners and different sacro-pop songs strummed during Communion. As…
May they (the heavenly host) praise you, Joseph! It’s the Feast of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin! Some ideas for today: Listen. Those popular consecrated religious artists the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, among others, have recorded a beautiful polyphonic version of the Te Joseph Celebrent that everyone should hear. These sisters also…
If you’re not convinced enough yet to start cracking those books or visiting those websites, here are ten more pieces of motivation to get you to start studying right away! Fall in love. Christ loves His Church as His chosen Bride–therefore we, His followers, should love her too. Only by knowing someone can you love her–and so in order…
St. Catherine Catholic Culture Center 