(From a talk Brother gave at the 1997 St. Benedict Center Conference) I will begin this talk with a basic question, but a question I’m afraid most of us don’t think enough about: What was the purpose of the Incarnation?
Category: Articles
Praying to Saints
I’ll never forget sitting at a table outside a café in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while a Pentecostal street preacher screamed his odd form of Christianity at the passing college students. He had the sort of rhythmic drive that Black Baptist … Continue reading
The Blessed Trinity Explained to Thomas Butler
You said: “Write a treatise on the Blessed Trinity, and explain it just to me!” You know very well that there are many realizations of the mystery of the Blessed Trinity which you have already arrived at, and which are … Continue reading
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
[Saint Kateri was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21, 2012. This piece was written when she was yet a blessed.] The Church says anyone can be a saint if he cooperates with the graces God gives him. And … Continue reading
The Beloved Disciple
One day Jesus was walking along the banks of the Sea of Galilee and He saw two fishermen, “James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets: and he called … Continue reading
The Pontificate of Pope Saint Leo the Great
Almost six years after the death of Saint Athanasius, in the pontificate of the glorious Pope, Saint Damasus - the patron of Saint Jerome in his biblical studies — there came to the imperial throne in the East, the great … Continue reading
Saint Louis Marie de Montfort
In all the annals of human endeavor there are no examples more inspiring, more worthy of remembrance and esteem in every age, than those of saints like Louis Marie. This in itself, we think, would be sufficient reason for presenting … Continue reading
The Life of Saint Gregory the Great
Pope Saint Gregory the Great not only saved the Church, in times so frightful that the men who lived in them were sure that the end of the world was come, but he founded the great civilization which has lasted … Continue reading
Saint Clement Maria Hofbauer — Apostle of Vienna
Born in Tasswitz, Austria, on December 26, 1751 — the eve of the feast of the Apostle who Jesus loved — he was christened John. But he would become known to the Catholic world by the names he would adopt … Continue reading
Saint Ephrem
In connection with the widespread revival of interest in Catholic theology during the current century, many of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, all but forgotten just a generation ago, are being studied and appreciated anew. Among the Fourth … Continue reading
Bishop John Nepomucene Neumann: An American Saint
On March 28, 1811 — Good Friday, according to the family tradition — our beloved saint was born and baptized in the obscure mountain village of Prachatitz in Bohemia. He was named after the holy Bohemian martyr and patron of … Continue reading
A Saint from New York: Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton
It was Father Leonard Feeney, one of Mother Seton’s earliest biographers, who asked this important question in a 1937 sermon given at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. In 1975 his hope was realized, and we now have a … Continue reading
The Eight North American Martyrs
Precious to God are His missionaries, those heroic souls who in imitation of the Twelve Apostles “go forth and teach all nations” the way of salvation. Yet, in this present age of religious tolerance and laxity it is unfortunate, but … Continue reading
G.K. Chesterton and the Atmosphere of Evolution
Evolution is a theory. Evolution is a philosophy. Evolution is also an atmosphere.
Mission Church: Shrine of Miracles
“Time was when in this city the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary was held in dishonor and contempt,” wrote Reverend John F. Byrne, C.SS.R., in his book, The Glories of Mary in Boston. “But today,” he continued, “deep devotion … Continue reading
