In a ceremony at the beginning of Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica this morning, Pope Francis canonized María Antonia de San José de Paz y Figueroa, popularly known as Mama Antula, Argentina’s first female saint.
Saints
Posted inDispatches, Faith
As St. Brigid relic returns to Irish Kildare, bishop reminds all of her strong faith, hospitality
Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare and Leighlin said he hoped that the newly returned relic of St. Brigid would inspire people to show hospitality to asylum-seekers, at a time of growing protests about immigration in the country.
Posted inExplainer, Faith
Who was St. Brigid—and why is she having a moment in Ireland?
In a country disillusioned with Catholicism, Ireland’s St. Brigid is having a moment.
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
John W. Donohue: an ascetic Jesuit and bane of Christopher Hitchens
John W. Donohue, S.J., an associate editor of America from 1972 to 2007, was described by one Jesuit on staff as “a living rule. Were the Society of Jesus ever to lose its Constitutions, we would need only look to him to see how our life should be lived.”
Posted inFaith
St. Angela of Foligno: a ‘wild’ mystic who reminds us to worship God with our bodies
St. Angela of Foligno was a medieval Franciscan mystic whose devotion to the side wound of Christ shows that we worship God not only with our minds but with our bodies.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: St. Katharine Drexel’s complicated record on race
In ‘Katherine Drexel and the Sisters Who Shared Her Vision,’ the historian Margaret McGuinness has performed another valuable service to American Catholic history.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
The mystery of Thomas Aquinas: Why did he leave his ‘Summa’ unfinished?
Thomas Aquinas’s ‘Summa Theologiae’ is perhaps the most important philosophical/theological work in Christian history. Why didn’t the Angelic Doctor finish it?
Posted inFaith, The Good Word
When you see someone struggling to be holy, you’re looking at the face of Christ
A Homily for the Solemnity of All Saints, by Father Terrence Klein
Posted inArts & Culture, Catholic Book Club
Holy sinners and doubting saints: The fiction of Brian Moore
Despite his public antipathy toward Catholicism, a number of Brian Moore’s novels dealt subtly and deftly with the profound emotional impact of struggles with faith.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis publishes new apostolic exhortation on St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Published Oct. 15, the pope’s letter is titled, “C’est la Confiance,” the opening words of her phrase, “It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love.”