“This is indeed the Saviour of the world.” John 4:42 Fools miss the sublime truths of Holy Scripture. While the story of Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman is one of the most well known episodes in Holy Scripture, few … Continue reading
Category: Articles
Mary’s Perpetual Virginity
“The friends of Christ refuse to admit subsequent marital relations between Joseph and Mary. Accordingly, those who denied the virginity post partum are not the friends of Christ; they are not true Christians.” (St. Basil the Great +379) People of … Continue reading
Dies Domini: Is Saturday the True Sabbath?
While I was preparing to receive the sacrament of Confirmation, I was asked to memorize the Ten Commandments and the Six Precepts of the Church; included in those Six Precepts was the command “to assist at Mass on all Sundays … Continue reading
Book Review: The Iron Man of China
If the axiom “the corruption of the best is the worst” is true of persons, it can also be true of institutions, and perhaps even of nations as well. Too often this proverb, which ought to be a perennial caveat, … Continue reading
The Father of California: Saint Junípero Serra
(The title of this artcile was changed from “…Blessed…” to “…Saint…” after the September 23, 2015 canonization of our subject by Pope Francis. The body text of the article has not been edited.) “For I trust that God will give … Continue reading
Spain’s Crusade, 1936-39
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
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
