Publisher's Letter
If you were to ask me which saint has had the most dramatic influence on my life, I would answer, without a moment’s hesitation, “The Virgin Mary.” More »
Behold the Handmaid of the Lord
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
She is honored in shrines in virtually every country in the world. Pictures of her grace countless homes. Statues of her likeness abound in our churches. She is the subject of more paintings than any other person in the history of Western art. More »
In January 1858, a young girl was gathering firewood along the Gave de Pau River in southwestern France. When she sat down near a rocky outcropping to take her stockings off, she saw a mysterious lady “dressed in white with a blue belt and a yellow rose on each foot.” More »
Every time Advent rolls around, I begin to think more about the Virgin Mary. I marvel at her openness to God. I marvel at the way she resisted sin throughout her life. I marvel at the way she was able to stay close to God, even as she stood by her son as he hung on the cross. More »
Special Feature
It’s cold. It’s dark. I haven’t seen sunlight in a month. Or moon or starlight for that matter. I can’t tell time except for the one meal that tells me it must be daylight. When Herod comes to ask me questions, I figure it must be night because he has slipped away from Herodias, who hates any nod toward me. More »
Hospitality is one of the pillars of Benedictine spirituality. St. Benedict taught that we should receive everyone, without exception, as Christ himself. Yet even though I was close to making my final commitment as an Oblate of St. Benedict, I still needed to learn this lesson. And I learned it the hard way! More »
You might picture St. Francis of Assisi as a preacher to the birds or as the poor man who forsook his birthright. But he has another identity that is especially meaningful to me, and that is “combat veteran.” Like St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Martin of Tours, he returned from battle a changed man. As an Iraq War veteran, I can identify with this. More »