Not only did Fra Giovanni paint like an angel; he was, in his personal life, an angel himself. The friar’s “angelic” style and “rare and perfect talent,” Vasari informs us, were the result of a “simple and devout life.”
Saints
Posted inFaith, Features
Five Years with Dorothy Day
I had planned to stay a few months, but was pretty quickly hooked and remained for five years – the last five years of Dorothy’s life, as it turned out.
Posted inFaith
Who was Charles de Foucauld?
At the time of his violent death, Charles de Foucauld had had founded no congregation nor attracted any followers. And yet his witness endured.
Posted inFaith
The Saint of the Sock Drawer
I can’t imagine what led me to focus my childish desires on St. Jude and spend in excess of three weeks’ allowance on a plastic statue instead of, say, another Archie comic book.
Posted inFaith
United in Happiness
It always disappoints me a bit when the celebrant at Mass chooses Eucharistic Prayer 1 (the Roman Canon) and skips the invocation of the saints, that resonant list of early martyrs recited before and after the institution narrative. The omission is all the more disappointing since one of those lists
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Halfway to Heaven
Garnished with stories of saintly figures and their teachings, Robert Ellsberg’s book consists of eight chapters that are like interlocking facets of happiness and holiness.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
St. Joseph: a patron saint for all overlooked workers
It is easy to overlook Joseph, much as we overlook those millions of men and women who do their work quietly and well, without the least fanfare.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Explainer: Who was Mother Katharine Drexel, the second American-born saint?
Mother Katharine Drexel founded schools nationwide, including Xavier University, and a religious order to serve people of color.
Posted inFaith, Vantage Point
Edith Stein’s niece on what her canonization means for Catholic-Jewish dialogue
Susanne M. Batsdorff, niece of Edith Stein, reflects on Catholic-Jewish dialogue on the occasion of Stein’s canonization in 1998.
Posted inFaith, Vantage Point
6 saints who weren’t always so saintly
Saints are known for their holiness. That doesn’t mean they were easy to get along with.