The gospels tell us nothing about Mary's pregnancy except for its very beginning and its end. But without straying into pious fantasy or fiction, and since nothing indicates that hers was in any way not a normal pregnancy, it's not inappropriate to meditate on the not-so-simple truth of the Word made Flesh growing among us. Continue »

Andrew's heart burned with love for Jesus, to the point that he was honored to share in the same death on the cross. Do you desire to love Jesus more intensely? Continue »

In February 1927, with one stroke of the pen, Mexican President General Plutarco Elias Calles turned every priest in his country into an outlaw. He ordered them to leave their posts, wherever they were, and to report immediately to Mexico City. When they refused to obey, they faced arrest, imprisonment, and even death. Most went into hiding. Continue »

Men may work from sun to sun," says the old proverb, "but a woman's work is never done." Has there ever been a woman who lived out these words more than the Virgin Mary? Continue »

Kaskasia, Michigamea, Cahokia—strange-sounding Indian names peppered the priest's conversation as he sat in the Duchesnes' study in France and told of his work in far away North America. As young Philippine listened to Father Jean-Baptist Aubert, a new desire began to burn in her heart: to be a missionary among the Native Americans. Continue »

Early on the morning of February 3, 1943, survivors from the torpedoed U.S. troopship Dorchester shivered in lifeboats as they watched their ship slide slowly into the nerve-deadening cold of the North Atlantic. Peering through darkness occasionally lit by waving flashlights, they perceived four figures standing close together in a circle on deck. Continue »

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. 
(Psalm 24:3-4) Continue »

The young Jesuit lay prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament in the mission chapel in New France. As he begged God for the privilege of suffering for the sake of those he sought to bring to Christ, he heard as clear and resonant as speech the following words: "Your prayer has been heard. Be it done to you as you have asked. Be comforted, be of strong heart." Continue »

Francis of Assisi sought to serve God in all matters. To do so required action, not just words. Continue »

Too soon Simeon's words found their mark

and Mary's heart was sharply pierced with pain.

Driven out into the dark by the angel's warning,

the young family slipped away from Bethlehem,