James Martin, S.J.

Tomorrow July 31 nbsp or today depending on when you re reading this is the Feast of St Ignatius Loyola founder of the Society of Jesus aka the Jesuits nbsp To nbsp celebrate the day here is a favorite passage from his Autobiography which marks not only the beginning of the saint s convers

I can t figure out if this is a blessing or a curse nbsp A computerized Rosary the Rosary Companion nbsp which has the mysteries and even Hail Marys and Our Fathers spoken aloud is now available nbsp On the one hand it nbsp may be nbsp a boon for the lonely for nbsp those nbsp for whom ag

nbsp It s always pleasant business to report good news from the Catholic publishing scene nbsp Actually good news from a surprising source nbsp Last year Orbis Books full disclosure Robert Ellsberg the publisher is a friend and Orbis published one of my books published a book by Jim Dou

Isn t your guardian angel nbsp supposed to guard you You remember the old prayer nbsp Angel of God my guardian dear to whom God s love commits me here ever this day be at my side to light and guard rule and guide nbsp Light and guard nbsp Well maybe not nbsp Or at least maybe

You nbsp thought I was going to castigate The New Yorker again didn t you nbsp Wrong nbsp As I mentioned when I disagreed with Paul Rudnick s piece on nuns I usually love TNY nbsp Viz this week s issue has a nbsp top-flight piece by Joan Acocella who wrote on the best articles I ve ever re

Several years ago a Jesuit in our community brought back from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art a print of a painting by an artist of whom I had never heard James Ensor nbsp The painting was among his most famous works Christ s Entry into Brussels above nbsp It was unlike anything I had

The Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola the founder of the Jesuits is coming up–on July 31 In preparation for that day what should or could you do Well St Ignatius would probably be happy if you went to Mass on that day spent an hour in prayer and did some good work for the poor But rather

A reflection for today s Feast of St Mary Magdalene for Living with Christ Thanks to The Da Vinci Code millions of readers and moviegoers suspect falsely that Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus nbsp Thanks to a misguided sermon by Pope Gregory I in the sixth century many of Christians belie

Fascinating nbsp Michael Paulson s blog Articles of Faith nbsp has this story of a Vermont museum featuring a display of Wampum belts of faith with a Jesuit connection Two 17th century beaded wampum belts made by Native Americans in New England for French Jesuit missionaries as expressions

So here I am nbsp in Cape May New Jersey at a Jesuit vacation house ready to go to the beach yes even Jesuits need occasional breaks Gentle Reader nbsp when I duck into a small computer room check my email nbsp and then log onto nbsp Google News type in the word Vatican and find the ab