The story you are about to read is the earliest known account of a Christian martyrdom. Written about a.d. 156, within a year of the event it describes, it is an authentic eyewitness report of the heroic death of an elderly man named Polycarp. More »

Our God is a God of surprises who often works in unexpected ways to bring his saving truth to his people. More »

The girl was walking in the fields some ways off from her home, when two strangers appeared and asked her to pick them some fruit. Brought up to show courtesy to adults, the nine-year-old hurried to obey. Not until she was in the forest did she realize it was a trick. More »

I would like to look more closely at the Damascus event, just as Paul did later in some of his letters. More »

It is an early winter day in Naples, over seven hundred years ago. Two men in the distinctive black and white robes of the Dominican order make their way to a small chapel. One is a large man with sharp, intelligent eyes. His clothing is frayed and poorly fitted. The other man is younger, an obviously attentive friend. 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. When they refused to obey, they faced arrest, imprisonment, and even death. Most went into hiding. 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 »

The young Jesuit lay prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament in the mission chapel in New France. More »