Story by Joe Pisani While I was rummaging through some boxes in the attic, I found a small medal from 1950, when Pope Pius XII  proclaimed a Holy Year. On the front was his image, and on the reverse was the northern-most door of St. Peter’s Basilica, which is traditionally opened for jubilee years. The [...]

By Michelle DiFranco With Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner, it’s hard not to get caught up in everything that is, well, all about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Heck, how can we not, when we’re so bombarded with sights and sounds all around us? Set foot into the realm of retail and you’re blasted with a [...]

By Sue Parker Feast Day: Oct. 10 Inspired by the stories of missionaries who visited his classroom, St. Daniel Comboni (1831-1881) consecrated his life to Africa at age 18. His impassioned advocacy to “Save Africa through Africa” made missionary work on the African continent one of the Church’s priorities at that time. His vision of forming [...]

By Sister Ann Shield During October, we celebrate some significant feast days: St. Therese of the Child Jesus (1), Guardian Angels (2), St. Francis of Assisi (4), Our Lady of the Rosary (7), St. Teresa of Avila (15), St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (16), St. Luke (18), Sts. Simon and Jude (28). Each saint reflects some [...]

By Sister Ann Shields Since Oct. 7 is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, I want to devote my column this month to offering a way of praying the rosary that can be very fruitful. The rosary prayer, inspired by Mary, has 20 decades. Usually when we say we pray the rosary, we [...]

By Veronica Szczygiel A friend of mine once convinced me to indulge in dessert by saying, “Strawberries are good for the body, and chocolate is good for the soul.” Easily persuaded, I enjoyed more than my fair share. Though chocolate may seem heavenly, there’s no better prescription for our souls than an active, engaged faith [...]

Story by Joe Pisani One of my favorite prayer books is called the Raccolta. I know, the title sounds like an entre at an Italian restaurant. But Raccolta is actually an abbreviation of the full title, which is a bit overwhelming: Raccolta di orazioni e pie opere per le quali sono state concesse dai Sommi [...]

Story by Michelle DiFranco I’ve always equated my research to digging for buried treasure. I get to rediscover captivating traditions of our faith and trace back the layers of history from which they were formed. Recently, I unearthed one I had heard of but knew nothing about: Ember Days. I would conjecture that most [...]

By Nancy Rosebush Schertzing The details of Kishore Jayabalan’s life read like a novel. A Chicago-born son of Indian immigrants attends Catholic schools in Flint. While doing graduate work in Canada, he is baptized by a sainted pope and ends up working in the Vatican and living in Rome for 20 years. While there, he [...]

Story by Mary Gates Elaine Kutas credits her parents with helping her see the connection between faith and service: “We always went to church every Sunday, we went to Catholic grade school and now I’m in Catholic high school.” Beyond the schools and sacraments that helped form Elaine in the faith, there have been invaluable [...]