There’s no other way to say it: St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) was in love with God. He was so impelled by a burning desire to make Jesus known and loved, in fact, that he threw all his talents and energies into helping others develop a personal relationship with God by embracing Jesus Christ in their lives. More »

Thousands of cheers—and a few jeers—greeted the news that Juan Diego, the humble visionary of Our Lady of Guadalupe, was proclaimed a saint by Pope John Paul II on July 31, 2002. As with many canonizations, there were challenges. In this case, the challenge involved both the person and the miraculous image connected with his story. More »

A friend was struggling. You could see it in his eyes and in his growing estrangement from his family and from church. I prayed for him, sensing he was headed for deep trouble. And since the need was so great and the crisis so near, I entrusted my friend to the care of St. Nicholas of Myra. More »

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. More »

Free, educated, and beautiful, Henriette Delille enjoyed the highest status possible for a black woman in a slave state before the Civil War. Yet, out of love for God, Henriette chose to exchange a life of relative ease and wealth for one of poverty and struggle. More »

Did You Know? There’s a Patron Saint for Business Men and Women. . .St. Homobonus (November 13) More »

With November, we enter the season of last things. Those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere are watching the last leaf fall, the last bird fly south for the winter. It is a month that is a special time to reflect on what spiritual writers have traditionally called “the four last things”—death and judgment, heaven and hell. More »

If there is someone to whom these Scripture verses would apply more than most, it would have to be Mattie J.T. Stepanek, the best-selling poet who died last year at the age of thirteen. Few people have lived a more fragile existence than Mattie. For every moment of his short life, he was beset by a crippling disease. And yet Mattie realized that he had a great treasure to be shared with everyone: his tremendous faith and courage, and the wisdom that he expressed through the beautiful gift of his writing. More »