St. Callinicus (feast day July 29) may be the perfect saint for our times, even though he lived in Asia Minor and died in the year 250. You see, he was born into a Christian home at a time when most of his neighbors were pagan. Imagine an…

The feast of All Saints is exactly the same in the East as it is in the West; it’s just on the other side of the year. It always falls on the Sunday following Pentecost, which this year is June 16. On this day, the Eastern Church…

St. Zacchaeus has one of the greatest conversion stories of all time, so much so that the Eastern Church gives him his own Sunday. Falling this year on Feb. 3, it is the first harbinger of a new pascal cycle. Remember how I told you last…

St. Matrona (fifth century) Feast day: Nov. 9 Here we have a saint who left her husband and daughter to become a monk. Nope. Not a typo. Matrona is complicated. So much so that you might reasonably wonder: Why is this person a saint? Let us…

One out of three Catholic marriages ends in divorce. This, according to a study by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), is a lower rate than the general population, but it’s still nothing to brag…

There is not a lot of information on this month’s saint with a funny name and that suits a greater purpose. You see, St. Bucolus was the first bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor (present day Turkey to you and me). He reposed peacefully in the…

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction. (James 1:27)  Nazar sits in a crib in a bare room, smiling and laughing. Staffers gather around in amazement. They’ve…

For once, you have probably heard of these saints with funny names whose feast day the Eastern churches celebrate on May 11. These two brothers, who hailed from the ancient Greek city of Thessalonica, are well beloved by Catholics of both…

St. Sosipater (aka Sopater) is mentioned twice in the Bible and both times he comes across as, well, boring. But stick with me because boring people often have exciting friends and therein lies our story. We first read his name in the Book…