God wanted from all eternity to make us one with Himself. That is why He created us. He wanted not merely to be our Creator, but our Father, giving us the title and the right to say to Him, “Our … Continue reading
Category: Spiritual Life
On the Feast of the Sacred Heart
God has told us that He loves us. In the Old Testament — a mere “shadow of the good things to come” (Heb. 10:1) — we are told of God’s love: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jer. … Continue reading
Meditations Upon The Seven Daily Prayers of Saint John Fisher
SAINT JOHN FISHER, whose feast day falls on June 22, was born in 1469 in Beverly, Yorkshire, England. He was Bishop of Rochester for thirty-three years and was a solicitous bishop, stirring preacher, brilliant scholar, and model of every virtue.
The Ascension and the Apostolate
Imagine having an aerial view of the Apostles just after the Ascension. The Eleven, accompanied by other disciples, were looking up to heaven, seeing nothing in the spring skies of Judea but a faint speck: the cloud upon which their … Continue reading
A Bouquet from the Spiritual Garden of Mother Cabrini
The lovable personality of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini and her holy zeal are beautifully reflected in her letters, of which, thank God, there are an abundance. And no wonder, when we consider the long journeys she undertook in her life … Continue reading
The Seven Words
Saint Thomas Aquinas once was asked from what books he had garnered his extraordinary theological wisdom. Pointing to a crucifix, the holy Doctor of the Church replied, “This is my book!” We see in this beautiful example how the wisdom … Continue reading
The Mystery of the Moral Virtues
In modern theology, biblical criticism, and other sacred sciences, articles are often entitled, “The Problem of X,” or “The X Problem,” as in “The Problem of Free Will” or “The Synoptic Problem.” Modern folk have the bad habit of looking … Continue reading
Mysticism and Controversy
It is a wonderful sign that the study of serious mystical theology is gaining momentum in Catholic circles. We have much cause for joy in the revival of the deep, fortifying works of spiritual masters such as St. John of … Continue reading
The Mystical Incarnation
Saint Louis de Montfort says that the true Slaves of Jesus through Mary will have a special devotion to the Incarnation (True Devotion , No. 243). Those who desire to be disciples of this great spiritual writer of the Church … Continue reading
Venerable Emmanuel d’Alzon: ‘A Noble and Frank Intolerance’
Venerable Emmanuel d’Alzon first caught my attention when I came upon the following paragraph from an address he gave to his religious congregation. “We love Christ with the same kind of love as the early Christians because He still faces … Continue reading
Ecumenical Monologue
Yesterday, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the community finished the Chair of Unity Octave. We prayed the beautiful prayers found in a traditional prayer book for the eight days of prayer for Church unity. This is a … Continue reading
Christmas and the Expectation of the Nations
One of the striking triumphs of God in our difficult world is the recurring miracle of Christmas. Once a year the whole of mankind, believers and unbelievers, must think of an event from which all history before and after is … Continue reading
Heaven’s Icon: Sister Lucy’s Vision at Tuy, Spain
The devotion to the Heart of Mary had a long history before the revelations of Our Lady of Fatima. But — as with the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which took on a whole new dimension with the … Continue reading
Catholics, Protestants, Grace, and the Spiritual Life
This paper answers the following question: Given what Catholics believe about grace, merit and justification, why is it much more logical for Catholics to have treatises on progress in the practice of the presence of God and growth in mystical … Continue reading
Mary at Bethlehem, by Saint Peter Julian Eymard
Saint Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868) was born at La Mure, a little town in the diocese of Grenoble, France. His entire life from his infancy to his death was a perpetual hymn of praise in honor of the Blessed Eucharist.
