by Nicholas Senz Where do feast days come from? Often the answer to this question is simple. Usually feast days commemorate the life of a saint. Sometimes they commemorate events, like the dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran (the…

Every Sunday, midway through Mass, we rise and pray together the Nicene Creed: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth” and so on. Unfortunately for some, the Creed can seem somewhat rote, something taken for…

I am easily distracted in prayer. This hardly makes me unique — even many of the great saints confessed to this struggle, so at least I am in good company. Different things will pop up to derail me. Sometimes the events of the day intrude.…

When we think of angels, we tend to conjure images from Renaissance paintings: chubby cherubs with tiny wings; long-haired figures with flowing robes; or perhaps a heavenly warrior, outfitted in Roman armor. These depictions leave us with…