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
Category: Articles
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
The Holy House of Loreto
The Holy Land had seen its last and truly unsuccessful Crusade in 1291. The last of the Christian soldiers withdrew from Nazareth the same year leaving behind the holiest of houses — unprotected. It was to be dealt with according … Continue reading
The Holy Shroud
Of the mortal remains of man interred in the earth, all of the worldly fame, all of the forced applause, all of the seductive wealth are piteously summarized in the stark words inscribing the temporal end of a life’s journey: … Continue reading
Daughters of Mother Seton in the War between the States
Editor’s Introduction: At the time of Mother Seton’s death in 1821, her original community of five had grown to fifty, and convents had been established in Philadelphia and New York. In 1850, twenty-nine years after the death of the Foundress, … Continue reading
On Judging Others
[Originally published in the 1940s.] Slogans are what often pass as Protestant substitutes for dogma. Nor is the disease of sloganizing confined exclusively to Protestants. Many Catholics, foolishly supposing association with heresy to be harmless, have been infected by it … Continue reading
Love is the Spirit of Truth
(written in 1948) Mr. Daniel Sargent has written a classic biography called Thomas More . If anyone should know about Utopia, it would be Sargent.
A Prelude to Faith
There is a certain definite behaviour of the human mind in reference to the Divine Mind constituting a function which Catholic Theology calls Faith. I am concerned with a critical analysis of that function. It were therefore a clear begging of … Continue reading
On Grace and Nature
The central mystery of our faith is the mystery of the Incarnation. The norm of Catholic orthodoxy has always been and will always be the doctrine that Our Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true Man.
I believe in the Holy, Catholic Church: An Explanation of the Ninth Article of the Apostles Creed
(taken from The Catechism Explained ) When we say, “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church,” we are not speaking of the material church, the place in which we faithful unite to pay God that tribute of love, honor, and … Continue reading
What Laws can the Church Change?
(written in 1955) Every Catholic knows (and practically all non-Catholics have heard about it) that one of the major proofs given for the truth of his religion is the fact that it does not change, that it has been the … Continue reading
Catholic Obedience
Roma locuta est! “Rome has spoken!”
