On August 2, 1942, the German S.S. stormed a Carmelite convent in Echt, Holland, and demanded that one of its nuns, Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, be handed over immediately, along with her sister Rosa. More »

An eighteenth-century European Catholic seeking to please the Lord might have had reason to despair. The prevailing theology of the day depicted God as a stern taskmaster who laid impossible burdens on his creatures. In this view, God expected blind obedience to a long list of rules. More »

Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier were canonized together on March 12, 1622. Xavier had captured the hearts and minds of the Europeans through his reports on his heroic evangelistic journeys to exotic places in the Far East. More »

Joachim and Anne, how blessed a couple! All creation is indebted to you. For at your hands the Creator was offered a gift excelling all other gifts: a chaste mother, who alone was worthy of him. More »

In the seventeenth century, French fishermen, fur traders, and explorers were landing in New France, which included not only Quebec but all the lands watered by the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. They traded and made alliances with native tribes such as the Hurons and Algonquins. More »

Every Christian has a conversion story. Most conversion stories are slow and happen over a life time. But then there are the dramatic ones that happen in an instant, like the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. More »

St. Thomas More is widely known as “a man for all seasons,” but he is best known for the final season of his life. A prominent government official when Henry VIII seized control over the church in England, Thomas refused to go along with the power grab. For that, Henry had him executed, in July 1535. More »

Once when giving a retreat for a group of college students, I met a young woman from Korea. She shared a story with us of a harrowing experience that happened in her native country when she was about thirteen years old. More »