The first time I spent the Easter holidays with my husband’s family, I participated in one of their long-established traditions. We made Easter baskets out of construction paper and filled them with candy. A family member’s name was written on the handle, and the entire basket was stashed into a plastic bag. On Saturday evening, my husband and his brother hid the baskets all over the house. More »

In Crossing the Threshold of Hope, Pope John Paul II singles out five saints as exceptional models of prayer. Four are well known to most Catholics. But following on the heels of Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Ignatius of Loyola comes a name that leaves many of us scratching our heads. Who is St. Seraphim of Sarov? More »

Brian was a happy fifth-grader who related well, enjoyed learning, and accepted his parents’ Christian values. Then he changed schools. More »

The Jewish day began at six in the morning and ended at six in the evening. For the devout Jew, there were three hours designated for prayer: nine in the morning, twelve noon, and three in the afternoon. Of course, a Jew could pray anytime and anywhere, but tradition and custom taught that prayer in the temple was especially efficacious. More »

This is a psalm about God’s mercy. St. Gregory brings out the consoling fact that God’s mercy does not end when we die, but works upon us to prepare us to share life with him in a place where nothing impure can enter (see Revelation 21:27). More »

The famous account of the disciples of Emmaus . . . tells the tale of two followers of Christ who, on the day after the Sabbath or the third day after his death, were leaving Jerusalem sad and dejected, bound for a village that was not far off called, precisely, Emmaus. They were joined on their way by the risen Jesus, but did not recognize him. Realizing that they were downhearted, he explained, drawing on the Scriptures, that the Messiah had to suffer and die in order to enter into his glory. More »

Among Donald Martin’s most valued possessions are a Cross pen and a few three-by-five index cards. The pen has seen better days, and the cards are dog-eared, but their owner wouldn’t trade them for anything. Mementoes of Father Walter Ciszek, they testify to a friendship that began in the early 1960s, when Martin was a third-grader at St. John of the Cross Parish School, in Western Springs, Illinois. More »

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end" (John 13:1). God loves his creature, man; he even loves him in his fall and does not leave him to himself. He loves him to the end. He is impelled with his love to the very end, to the extreme: he came down from his divine glory. More »