Spirituality

I first met Thérèse of Lisieux when I was an Anglican priest. I had three months free between jobs and decided to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from England. One of my first stops was in the French town of Lisieux. I knew of St. Thérèse,…

These days we are used to our confessions being entirely private matters between only ourselves and our priests. Any penance we perform we usually keep to ourselves. Seldom do we directly tell others about the sins we needed to have…

All it takes is a few years or even months of dry weather before we realize how dependent all of us are on fresh water for life. When California was hit by drought conditions, the whole nation was affected. Because California grows a huge…

When my wife and I moved to the Bay Area from southern California, we were stressed. I was starting a brand new job, our first child was less than 18 months old and not sleeping at all, and we were staying at my wife’s parents’ home while…

by Gina Loehr Elizabeth filled with the holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41). So Luke tells us in his Gospel account of the Visitation. As her cousin Mary greets her, the elderly woman, who is nonetheless great with child, speaks through the power of…

We interrupt this Eastern Rite calendar to bring you St. Joseph. Why? Because St. Joseph (feast day March 19 on the Western calendar, patron of the universal Church) does not have a separate feast day on the Eastern calendar. This may lead…

The Church celebrates the Feast of Sts. Simon and Judes, Apostles, on Oct. 28. Here are five things to know about each of these men. St. Jude Jude is also called Thaddeus (see Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18). Jude is not the same person as Judas…

For this feast day of St. Dominic, Catholic Digest reached out to both a Dominican friar and Franciscan friar to ask them both about a unique tradition. Each year, on the feast days of the respective saints of their orders (St. Dominic on…

What does the Bible really tell us?

It’s the middle of August. Summer is quickly coming to an end. Our calendars are busy with back-to-school shopping, sports practices beginning again, moving children to college, and enjoying the last days of relaxation before everything…