St. Francis Xavier—the sixteenth-century Jesuit who spread the gospel in India, Indonesia, and Japan—has been called the greatest missionary since St. Paul. This intrepid priest broke new ground and evangelized on a large scale, despite great dangers, deprivations, and hardships. More »

The Virgin Mary teaches us what it means to live in the Holy Spirit and what it means to accept the news of God in our lives. She conceived Jesus by the work of the Holy Spirit, and every Christian, each one of us, is called to accept the Word of God, to accept Jesus inside of us, and then to bring him to everyone. More »

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. More »

Anthony Claret possessed all the gifts to become a world-renowned designer. Born in 1807 in the small town of Sallent in Catalonia, Spain, Anthony was the son of a weaver and entered the family business as a teenager. More »

My mother called with the news one cold October night. “Hello, Janet? I just wanted you to know that Grandma Grace is dying.” She continued with details of how Grandma had begun refusing food two days before. More »

“I plead with you. Do not do me an unseasonable kindness.” More »

“Here’s something you might want to do,” said my husband, as we left church one Sunday. He pointed to an item in the parish bulletin: Has your life ever been touched by the Sisters of St. Joseph? Would you like to return the kindness? It went on to ask for volunteers to help out at the local nursing home for the retired nuns from the order. More »

How did the son of a wealthy merchant become the town beggar? What would prompt a popular young bachelor to start talking dreamily about “Lady Poverty”? What would cause him to abandon the party scene and spend his time rebuilding a ramshackle old chapel stone by stone? More »