The Holy Martyrs of England and Wales
Memorial of the English and Welsh Martyrs On May 4th in 1535 three Carthusian monks were put to death at Tyburn, the first of many...
The Rosary Revives the Soul
A Guest from the Irish College The Reverend Mr. Bernard Healy of the Pontifical Irish College visited me today. He was interested in seeing the...
La Madonna del Popolo, Mediatrix of All Graces
Federico Fiori Barocci’s Madonna del Populo (1575–1579) depicts the maternal intercession of Mary, the Mediatrix of All Graces. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)...
The Geraghty Family Visits Santa Croce
Today I had the pleasure of welcoming Brian Geraghty, studying here in Rome with Loyola University, and his parents visiting from San Francisco. Mr. Geraghty...
Saint Joseph and the Eternal Father
I find this painting of Saint Joseph and the Most Holy Trinity (Antoni Guerra, 1699) extraordinary. The Eternal Father is pointing to Saint Joseph, indicating...
Saint Pius V
I walked to Santa Maria Maggiore this afternoon to pray before the tomb of Pope Saint Pius V. Around the tomb were burning candles and...
What will tomorrow bring?
Then again, there is also May 5th . . . O God, who raised up Pope Saint Pius V within Thy Church to uphold the...
Santa Maria Sopra Minerva
Today, being the feast of Saint Catherine of Siena, the destination of our weekly passeggiata was the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva where the...
Our Lady of Good Help
Father Abbot sent me to offer Holy Mass this morning in our lovely little chapel of La Madonna di Bon Aiuto (Our Lady of Good...
Mary, Teacher and Mother of the Church
From the lineamenta for the forthcoming Synod on the Word of God: Mary, Every Believer’s Model of How to Welcome the Word 11. In penetrating...
Holding Fast to the Hard Saying
Third Saturday of Paschaltide Acts 9:31-42 Psalm 115: 12-13, 14-15, 16-17 John 6: 60-69 A Eucharistic Lectio Divina If in your lectio divina this past...
The Secret of Mary
Tomorrow is the liturgical memorial of Saint Louis–Marie Grignion de Montfort. His writings have been a lamp unto my feet and a fire in my...
Holiness and Beauty: Tying the Knot
For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and...
Blessed Maria Rafael Arnáiz Barón
A Gifted Boy Today is also the memorial of Blessed Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911- 1938), a Trappist Cistercian Oblate of the Abbey of San Isidoro...
Never To Depart From Her Counsels
I just came up to my room from the basilica after having celebrated the 6:30 p.m. parish Mass. Today is the liturgical memorial of Our...
Saint Mark
Saint Mark, Evangelist 1 Peter 5: 5b-14 Psalm 88: 2-3, 6-7, 16-17 Mark 16: 15-20 Mark and Peter Tradition calls Saint Mark the interpreter of...
No Peace Without Chastity
A Holy Abbess The Benedictine–Cistercian calendar commemorates today Saint Franca of Piacenza, virgin (1173–1218). Franca was an intrepid monastic reformer. After enduring sufferings and persecutions...
“I will never be able to thank enough”
Blessed Maria Gabriella was “a little soul.” She has affinities with Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, Blessed Elizabeth of...
Blessed Maria Gabriella dell’Unità
An Offering to the Father Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagghedu, a Cistercian nun of Grottaferrata in Italy, died on April 23rd in 1939. Pope John Paul...
The Wounds of Christ Applied to the Soul
“See my hands and my feet” (Lk 24:39). Jesus would have us contemplate his holy and glorious wounds. The wounds of the Risen Christ are...