Many believe that Christendom was a rigid and brutal order. In medieval times, we are told that tyranny ruled, and the Church and the nascent State were constant rivals in the pursuit of dominance. So many modern historians have cynically reduced this period when Christianity prevailed to a time of cultural darkness … Read more
The most impressive picture of the three seers of Fatima is the one taken soon after they had the vision of Hell. Saint Jacinta’s aspect, her gaze in particular, seems to churn with grave considerations. Hell: A Secret of Fatima The vision of Hell lasted only moments but it is evident from … Read more
Perhaps one of the more sensitive personal issues you can raise with people is that of dress. How you dress has become a purely personal affair. Most are left to their own opinion as to what is appropriate. There are, of course, some limits. Most Catholics will admit in theory that there … Read more
All this is very beautiful, but there is something even more beautiful that they asked me to make explicit. But what can I say? Infinite things are ineffable. The pulchrum [beauty] of an ideal is reflected in the soul of the one who fights for it. Take, for example, Saint Joan of … Read more
In the history of the Church, many martyrs died for the Faith. Starting with Saint Stephen the Protomartyr shortly after the Resurrection, they were the first to be remembered, venerated for their public witness and raised to the altars with the title of saint. There are also those who denied the Faith … Read more
The medal of Our Lady of Graces, more commonly known as the Miraculous Medal, is undoubtedly the most widespread medal of all times. It originated in France in 1830, having been revealed directly by Our Lady to Saint Catherine Labouré while yet a young religious. The Miraculous Medal is oval. On one … Read more
EXCERPT FROM A SERMON BY SAINT LEONARD OF PORT MAURICE It is not vain curiosity but salutary precaution to proclaim from the height of the pulpit certain truths which serve wonderfully to contain the indolence of libertines. They are always talking about the mercy of God and about how easy it is … Read more
On August 4, 1903 Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto was elevated to the Chair of Saint Peter and took the name Pius X. Twenty days later William and Mary Organ welcomed their fourth child into the world at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Ireland. They named her Ellen but she would eventually be known … Read more
Looking at the man in this photograph, the immediate impression is that he is a person of dignity. He sits upright with a bearing that belongs to old world diplomats. His facial expression is serious, determined and yet calmly tinged with charity. His eyes simultaneously suggest conviction and gentleness, intensity and kindness. … Read more
Our young saint lived in tumultuous times. The socialist government of Mexico was waging a bloody war against the Catholic Church, and fervent Catholics known as the Cristeros rose up to defend Christ the King. Their heroic resistance, La Cristiada, began in 1926. Background The Mexican constitution of 1917—socialist at its core—sparked … Read more