We were recently asked to comment on the fact that the custom of granting awards to the best students is being abolished in several schools. At the root of this new policy is the idea that the public bestowal of awards is doubly harmful: exciting vanity in the beneficiaries of the honors … Read more
A friend of mine of German extraction, who is just becoming initiated into the savory and succulent delicacies of Portuguese literature, recently told me about the passage I have transcribed below. Let us savor it together, word by word, or better, drop by drop. At times we will delight in the lush … Read more
The French Revolution caused a large number of people, disgruntled with the concessionist policies of Louis XVI and the violence of the republicans, to emigrate to other countries. When the Bourbons were restored in 1814, these émigrés returned to their country with exactly the same mentality they had left 25 years earlier. … Read more
One of the themes of the Brotherhood Campaign [the Brazilian Bishops’ annual charity drive] invited all Brazilians to reflect upon the maxim: “We are all brothers, we are all equal.” To such reflections, I dedicate my words of today which, regardless of their merit, at least have the distinction of being a … Read more
Our spiritual life is the life of grace within us; through it we become children of God. For our spiritual life to be preserved and to develop, a series of actions are required that constitute the life of piety. How must that life of piety be? What deviations must be avoided? These … Read more
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal was the first great step toward the re-Marianization of the nineteenth century, preparing the great movement of souls that culminated with the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. On November 27, 1830, Our Lady appeared to Saint Catherine Labouré in Paris and revealed to … Read more
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as it were of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Thus does Saint John’s Gospel (1:14) announce the ineffably grand moment when the Son of God ‘dwelt among us” in … Read more
Scene: A small town having all of the conventional characteristics of a small town: a central public square leading to a graceful church with stained-glass windows, a tower, bells, and a clock; across from the church, a water fountain; then, the homes, modest but comfortable; nearby, adjacent to one narrow street, an … Read more
Saint John Fisher was a martyr, cardinal and bishop of Rochester, England. Henry VIII ordered him beheaded out of hatred for both the Catholic faith and the primacy of the Roman Pontiff in the sixteenth century. He was entirely isolated due to the general apostasy of the Catholic Church in England. We … Read more
The concept of Our Lady of Sorrows comes from the prophecy of Simeon who, thirty-three years in advance, foretold to Our Lady that a sword would pierce her heart. This prophecy proves that we can suffer spiritual reversals even when we live a glorious life. Given the existence of sin, life is … Read more