Ruth is one of the people in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus’ ancestors—a reading that prepares us for Christ’s nativity. Through the Book of Ruth, we encounter this woman who upended the cultural expectations of her time. More »

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? More »

When Theophane Vénard was nine years old, he read the story about a priest from his own province who had been beheaded in 1837—only two years earlier—in Southeast Asia. More »

I’ve always been intrigued by missionaries, even as I have always known that heading off to a foreign land to spread the gospel was not part of my calling. More »

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.” More »

For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. (Psalm 91:11) More »

For a man who always aimed to relate to church authorities with “firm, constant, and iron” obedience, he certainly was in trouble a lot. Critics charged him with sexual improprieties and mishandling donations. More »

For a few brief years early in the seventeenth century, two Jesuit saints-in-the-making lived together on the beautiful Mediterranean island of Majorca. Alphonsus Rodriguez, the respected older brother at the Jesuit College there, had taken under his wing Peter Claver, a devoted young seminarian. More »