What are some of the most crucial events in the history of the Catholic Church? Find out!
There are four Marian (related to Mary) Dogmas. Dogmas are those doctrines of the Church which have been defined by the Pope and the teaching authority of the Church. Dogmas are teaching, or doctrines, of the Church that have been bolded, underlined, and...
It’s Easter! Yes, really, it is STILL Easter. The Church, in her great joy and celebration of Easter, celebrates eight full days of solemnities in honor of the Resurrection of Christ called the Easter Octave. The most obvious signs of this celebration are found in the...
When filling out any number of government documents or certain applications, there is usually a box to self-report religion. Inevitably, one of these boxes, in the English speaking world at least, will read “Roman Catholic.” Growing up, I called myself a “Roman...
Thanksgiving Prayer O God, source and giver of all things,You manifest your infinite majesty, power and goodnessIn the earth about us:We give you honor and glory.For the sun and the rain,For the manifold fruits of our fields:For the increase of our herds and...
The upcoming feast days in November, All Saints Day and All Souls Day, we will remember with hope all those saints who are in God’s presence, who’ve lived an exemplary life and were carefully examined by the Church to be considered as such. It’s also the time to...
Fr. Brice Higginbotham from the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux provides excellent insight into the meaning and significance of the altar as he answers many of the questions you've probably never even thought to ask about this fixture present in every church. Take a minute...
Archaic. Backward. Ignorant. That’s what some people think of tradition. They outright reject it purely for the sake of rejecting it, but that’s as bad as following tradition without knowing what makes each tradition so wonderful. When I hear tradition, I either...
Today we present Part 3 of our series on the Doctors of the Church, having begun our list with Part 1, the Eight Ecumenical Doctors – four from the West and four from the East. In Part 2, we brought you the remaining eight Patristic Era Doctors. The eleven that follow...
Catholics have 73 books of the Bible; Protestants have 66. Christians are sometimes wholly unaware that this difference exists, completely misled as to why there is a difference, or confident that their particular canon of books is undoubtedly the original. No, these...
Recently, we brought you Part 1 of our series on the Doctors of the Church, having begun our list with the so-called Eight Ecumenical Doctors - from the West - St. Ambrose (340-397), St. Jerome (345-420), St. Augustine (354-430), and Pope St. Gregory the Great...
Part 1: The 8 Ecumenical Fathers Ever since I became Catholic, I've heard the title "Doctor of the Church" tossed about... but rarely have I gotten any further in my imagination than "that means he (or she) was really important." But what does it mean to have been...
Once you have your Nativity Scene all set up, take some time to ask for God's blessing as a family. In its present form, the custom of displaying figures depicting the birth of Jesus Christ owes its origin to St. Francis of Assisi, who made the Christmas crèche or...
Many believe that the Middles Ages were Dark Ages, a black abyss that divided the classical Greek and Roman antiquity from the “new lights” of the Modern Age. Even more, many see in religion the cause for the backwardness, precariousness, and ignorance that the...
October 16th and 17th (in the post- and pre-conciliar liturgical calendars, respectively) mark the feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. It is from this beautiful saint that the Church and the world came to practice the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Under the...
“Marie, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore!” In my family, we often speak to each other with movie quotes. The first time my parents attended Mass in the Maronite Church, when the priest began the liturgy chanting in Syriac, my father leaned over to my...
A popular fictional book and movie, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown follows a Harvard symbologist through a series of chaotic clues, uncovering a supposed 2,000-year old conspiracy—the Holy Grail is really the blood descendant of Christ and Mary Magdalene. In the story...
This story from the life of St. Clare not only reveals to us her incredible devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and her deep trust in the Lord's protection, but it also demonstrates the power of the Holy Eucharist. Though she was feeble and sick, St.Clare turned away an...
The month of August is jam packed with feasts of spiritual powerhouses. August 4th - or 8th in the pre-1962 calendar - is the commemoration of St. John Vianney, also known as the Curé of Ars. Born in 1786, the fourth of six children to devout Catholic parents in the...
On July 11th in the Liturgical Calendar, and on March 21st in the pre-1970 calendar, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Benedict of Nursia, father of Western Monasticism. Saint Benedict's name has garnered more attention of late due to the conversation across the...
In the history of the Church, the regular clergy, that is to say the communities that decide to live by a determined rule which dictates their religious practices, have been something like the Ecclesiastical body’s lung. The Church, although Holy, has had a need for...
“Who is more civilized?” asks Anthony Esolen, distinguished professor of Classics (and inaugural Fellow of the new Center for the Restoration of Catholic Culture at Thomas More College). He’s urging us to think about today’s society in comparison to that of the...
Have you been questioned about the Inquisition? Maybe it's time we Catholics prepare ourselves to dismantle false premises, rather than being caught on the back foot. One of the wonderful things about being Catholic is all the weird, random, and sometimes jagged...
The origin of the Rosary dates back to the year 800, but it has evolved throughout the centuries resulting in the Rosary we know today. The Rosary invites us to make a beautiful meditation about the life of Jesus and the Holy Virgin Mary. Whether we pray it alone or...
Names matter. For the Catholic Christian, who sees all of reality as replete with meaning, all the more so! The Catechism tells us, "God calls each one by name. Everyone's name is sacred. The name is the icon of the person. It demands respect as a sign of the dignity...
The Feast of Mary Help of Christians is celebrated every May 24. We often hear of the invocation “Help of Christians” in the Litany of Loreto, but how did it start and flourish? What To Know About The Feast Of Our Lady Help Of Christians 1. The Battle of Lepanto It...