On this feast of the Immaculate Conception, we read the story of our first parents’ fall and God’s promise of salvation through an offspring of Eve (Genesis 3). More »

The crowd that gathered in the church in Milan that day late in a.d. 374 was confused, fearful, and angry. The Christian community in the city had been bitterly divided for decades between the followers of Arius, who taught that Christ was not divine but merely a creature, and those who defended the teaching of Rome that Jesus was both man and God, equal to the Father in all respects. More »

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 »