When news media late last winter reported that a plaque was to be placed in the New Hampshire capitol building to honor natives of the state who served in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39, … Continue reading
Category: Articles
Catherine Tekakwitha
The sweet-briar rose of summer glades We lay upon another shrine ; [1] The lily of the Mohawk woods, O dusky maiden! shall be thine.
Louis IX: King, Crusader, and Saint
François Marie Arouet, known to literature and history as Voltaire, a name he assumed while serving time in prison, was an enemy of the Faith who did much to generate the intellectual atmosphere in which the French Revolution, once it … Continue reading
The Four and Forty Rivers
The four and forty rivers are rallied at the heights, In the melting of the days, in the dripping of the nights, In the condensation of clouds:
Origin of the Angelus
In Catholic countries, before the year 1000, it was a pious custom for the layfolk to recite three Hail Marys to honor Our Lady in her singularly exalted role as the Mother of God. This was done towards evening, usually … Continue reading
Saint Olaf and the End of the Viking World
One thousand years ago, an entire world was coming to an end. It was the world of the pagan Vikings. It would be replaced by another: that of Christian Scandinavia. The vanished world and the one that replaced it are … Continue reading
Roman Conferences of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe
(From the Housetops is indebted to Father Martin, the superior of the Franciscans of the Immaculate in New Bedford, Massachusetts, for his permission to publish the following conference of St. Maximilian Kolbe in our magazine. It has been transcribed exactly … Continue reading
Saint Pio of Pietrelcina: A Short Biography of the Padre
There were many saints who were renowned for their fiery devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Eucharist. Saints Peter Julian Eymard and Philip Neri come to mind at once. But, surely, Saint Pio of Pietrelcina is among the most seraphic of all adorers because he was literally nailed to the cross with Christ as he offered the holy sacrifice of the Mass. Continue reading
Confess Your Sins!
St. Francis de Sales, the Bishop of Geneva, was responsible for the conversion of Lady Stafford, a Protestant noble woman, who had formerly been intransigent in her opposition to the Catholic Faith. After going to one of his Masses, she … Continue reading
Saint Gabriel and the Lizard
One could not imagine a more unlikely person to be honored as the patron of marksmen than the humble and gentle Saint Gabriel Possenti, also called by Pope Benedict XV, who canonized him, the patron saint of youth. He was … Continue reading
Father Joseph Picco, A Patron for the Unemployed
Father Joseph Picco was born on July 4, 1867 in Nole (Turin Piemonte), Italy. He studied in the Seminary at Turin, and entered the Society of Jesus on September 22, 1885. For more than a quarter of a century he … Continue reading
Homily on the Nativity of Our Lord And Savior Jesus Christ
(St. Leo the Great D. 461) The Voice of Peter The truths that belong to this day’s solemnity are truly well known to you, Dearly Beloved, and you have frequently been instructed in them. But just as this visible light … Continue reading
The Mother of God
MARY IS THE MOTHER OF GOD. She is the virginal mother of only one Child.
It’s All or Nothing
(Dealing with two common objections against the Faith.) A Note of Introduction: In its first part, this article employs the use of some fundamental concepts of logic, the art and science of correct reasoning. As an aid to the reader, … Continue reading