The Real St. Patrick

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Here’s a snippet from an email I got from Catholic Culture yesterday: Perhaps we can do better on Wednesday than mustering another secular drinking bout in honor of Saint Patrick. The restoration of Catholic culture demands that we celebrate feast days with keen attention to the virtues of the saint in… Continue reading The Real St. Patrick

Today: A Day of Prayer and Fasting

Bishop Loverde, my bishop, has declared today a day of prayer and fasting for the sanctity of life, using his power under Canon 1244, paragraph 2.* He’s specifically concerned that the Democrats in Congress seem hell-bent on passing sweeping healthcare reform which puts the federal government in the role of paying for women to have… Continue reading Today: A Day of Prayer and Fasting

St. Casmir

This tells you everything you need to know about my family: yesterday morning, my dad called to wish me a happy birthday, and to tell me it was St. Casmir’s feast day, who died on March 4, 1484, at the tender age of 26. So, my dad said, enjoy being 25. Lovely. On a more… Continue reading St. Casmir

Ash Wednesday!

Today’s Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent!1. What the Ash Wednesday Fast Consists OfThis is from St. Mary’s bulletin from this past Sunday: FAST AND ABSTINENCE: Everyone over 14 years of age is bound to observe abstinence (NO MEAT). ABSTINENCE IS TO BE OBSERVED ON ALL FRIDAYS OF LENT AND ON ASH WEDNESDAY. On… Continue reading Ash Wednesday!

Happy Candlemas, etc.!

Catholic Hour has a good post about this day in history from a liturgical, pop cultural, and personal perspective (it’s Candlemas, a.k.a., the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, and a lot of other important milestones).

Priests Online in the New Evangelization

It’s “official”: The spread of multimedia communications and its rich “menu of options” might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web, or to see it only as a space to be filled. Yet priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses… Continue reading Priests Online in the New Evangelization

Cloudy Nights of the Soul

Leila at Like Mother, Like Daughter has a great Christmas post (liturgically, we’re still in Christmas, even though today is the 13th Day of Christmas). One of the highlights: Those wise men did not take their eye off the star. Their pursuit necessitated the perfect balance of faith — plunging into the darkness with only… Continue reading Cloudy Nights of the Soul

The Consummate Politician

Fr. Belli, in his homily yesterday, noted Matthew 2:7-8, Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of thestar’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligentlyfor the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and dohim homage.” Yup. Herod… Continue reading The Consummate Politician