Advent

Sunday of the Holy Forefathers and Feast of the Holy Fathers (Dec.16, 23 this year) If you ever wondered whether the holy men and women of the Old Testament are considered saints by the Church, December has your answer. It contains the…

As the season of Advent ushers in a new liturgical year, and a tumultuous year comes to a close in the Church, it may be a fitting time to revisit three Advent homilies given by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) in 1964. Ratzinger’s…

The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord is celebrated either on the 12th day after Christmas, Jan. 6, or on the first Sunday after Jan 1. Below are some ideas you can incorporate into your celebration this year, inspired by some…

The traditional icon of the Nativity is very different from what you usually find on Christmas cards, with Mary, baby Jesus, and St. Joseph clustered together in a barn over the manger.  From ancient times, the Nativity icon has been an…

It’s not too late to take a tip on Christmas gift giving from two doctors of the Church: St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. Teresa of Ávila. You can help a soul in purgatory reach heaven on Dec. 25. And — marking the eight days of the Octave of…

The holiday drinking season is upon us, and while many are thinking about what they can imbibe, sinners and saints alike might also consider how they ought to imbibe. One way to approach this question is to ask how one can drink like a…

This Dec. 1, I was witness to a peculiar ritual no doubt occurring in many of your own hometowns around this time of year. Much of the town gathered around a large pine tree, moving around to keep themselves warm in moist, cold New England…

When we think of Christmas, we often think of shopping, gifts, parties, and relatives visiting. Preparing for Christmas can be a stressful time. However stressful the preparations are, however, it is important to slow down to light candles,…

Thanksgiving afternoon, I stood shivering in our unheated garage, wishing I had brought ear protection. And a coat. Across from me my son, Mike, was bent over our makeshift worktable slicing his way through almost two inches of pine…

The real sign that he chose is hiddenness. … This sign of hiddenness points us toward the fact that the reality of truth and love, the actual reality of God, is not to be met within the world of quantities but can only be found if we rise…