I had a Southern Baptist friend who thought it was amusing, when visiting Catholic churches, to wave to the image of Mary and say, "Hi Mary!" When I challenged him on what seemed a mark of disrespect he said cheerily, "Y'all say, 'Hail Mary' and 'Hail' just means 'Hi', so it's my way of saying 'Hail [...]
Today is St Luke's feast day. It is Luke who recounts the infancy narratives, and the tradition is that he knew the Blessed Virgin and got the stories about the birth of the Lord straight from her. Icon of the Virgin in St Maria Maggiore The other beautiful tradition is that St Luke was [...]
I get an increasing number of requests to assist Protestants who are interested in the Catholic Church. One came in today in which a Presbyterian has come to believe in the Apostolic Succession but wonders if that necessarily means he must become Catholic. In the creed we profess the four marks of the Church: that she [...]
St James Here is my latest article for Catholic Exchange. It's unlocks an interesting detail about St James and the dating of the New Testament. Bible scholars piece together details of evidence to build up a full picture of the New Testament authorship and dates. Their work is like that of a detective—picking up a [...]
In learning more about St Kateri Tekakwitha I was struck by the connecting points between her and St Therese of Lisieux. Both were orphaned. Both suffered from a terrible disease. Both died at the age of just 24. Therese was called "the Little Flower". Kateri was called "the Lily of the Mohawks" Pictured are two antique [...]
"The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Says the Proverb. The critics of Christianity like to say, "Oh, I would rather choose to do good than be forced to do good out of the fear of hell." That's very nice, but what usually happens is that they don't actually do much good because they [...]
St Lucy Not Lucile Ball, but St Lucy is the one I love. It is her feast day today, and here are some reasons why she's important: Firstly, there is the symbolism of her name. "Lucy" comes from the Latin for light--"Lux" or "Lucis". Lucy is the saint of Light in the season of [...]
Do you remember that stylish film The Matrix? The hero, Neo Anderson, exists in a dull, conformist, monotone and monochrome world. Then he wakes up and is "born again" and enters the world of adventure and risk which is the real world. What I find curious about modern American Catholicism is that it is similarly monotone and [...]
In reading Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet's Jesus A Theography I enjoyed the second chapter the most. Frank and Leonard aim to show how Jesus Christ is echoed and reflected in every part of the Scriptures. They build up a full picture of Christ the Lord--not just by trying to reconstruct the "historical Jesus" (that exercise usually [...]
Did you know that the original Infant of Prague was owned by St Teresa of Avila? Here's the story: In 1628 the small, 19" wooden, wax coated statue was given by the Spanish princess Polyxena Lobkowicz to the Discalced Carmelites. The princess who was Spanish, had received the statue as a wedding gift in 1603 from [...]