St. Basil the Great (born in Turkey, 329-379 A.D.) has much to say to Catholic business men and women of today, enmeshed as we are in a very secular and increasingly anti-Christian world and work culture. Before sharing St. Basil’s exhortation to the faithful of his day, a time that was not unlike our times…
In reflecting on this season of the year, I have often wondered how a Martian reporter would do a story on Christmas in the United States. If one only had the dominant cultural icons of TV, movies, news media and retail stores, my guess is that the Martian viewing audience wouldn’t have a clue as…
CNA—The Diocese of Peoria announced Monday that Venerable Fulton Sheen will be beatified Dec. 21 at the city’s Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception. Sheen had been ordained a priest of the diocese in that cathedral Sept. 20, 1919. “It seems entirely fitting that the Beatification will take place at the end of…
The Polish Bishops’ Conference has asked Pope Francis to name St. John Paul II a patron of Europe and doctor of the Church. Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan, president of the Polish Bishops Conference, sent the request to the pope on Oct. 22 – the feast day of John Paul II. “The pontificate of the…
Patron of catechists, catechumens, and canon lawyers—St. Robert Bellarmine, whose feast is celebrated Sept. 17 on the General Roman Calendar, was a Jesuit and a cardinal who used his incredible intellect to defend Catholic teaching, largely through responses to the Church’s opponents in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation. In all his writings, St. Bellarmine…
The feast of St. Monica occurs the day before the feast of her son, St. Augustine. Her tears, prayers, and sacrifices over many years helped bring about his conversion. It is only proper that their feasts are celebrated close together. Monica was born in North Africa. As a child she lived with her family, but…
CNA—On Aug. 15, Catholics around the world mark the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, commemorating the end of her earthly life and her assumption into Heaven. But while the feast day is a relatively new one, the history of the holiday – and the mystery behind it – has its roots in the earliest…
CNA—As World War II raged around him in Poland, St. Maximilian Kolbe fought for souls using a printing press and another “weapon” – the Miraculous Medal. “Even though a person be the worst sort, if only he agrees to wear the medal, give it to him…and then pray for him, and at the proper moment…
CNA, CBJ—In recent years, some Catholics have been concerned by pushes from governments in locations such as Louisiana and Australia, and now California, who challenge the secrecy of the sacrament of confession, asking that priests betray the solemnity of penitents’ confessions when they hear of serious crimes in the confessional. However, the words of Saint…
CNA—The Vatican announced Monday that Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman will be canonized on October 13 in Rome. During a consistory of cardinals July 1, Pope Francis decreed that Newman and four other blesseds will be canonized together in St. Peter’s Square. Indian Sister Marian Thresia, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the…
Vatican News—All seven of the Greek-Catholic bishops were arrested in 1948. All of them were imprisoned and left to die of hunger, exposure, disease, or the effects of hard labor, and then buried in unmarked graves. The liturgical chair used during the Divine Liturgy in Blaj on Sunday, was made from the wooden planks of…
Pope Francis announced Monday that the Vatican will open its archives on the pontificate of Pope Pius XII. Confidential files of the pope who led the Church during World War II will be made available next year. “Serious and objective historical research” will be able to evaluate Pius XII’s “hidden but active diplomacy” “in its…
CNA—Pope Francis Wednesday approved the canonization of Bl. John Henry Newman, a Roman Catholic cardinal, scholar, and founder of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England. Following a Feb. 12 meeting with Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the head of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the pope signed off on a second miracle attributed…
CNA — Another miracle was officially recognized at the Marian shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France, the 70th Lourdes miracle recognized by the Catholic Church. The miracle was officially declared by Bishop Jacques Benoit-Gonin of Beauvais, France on Feb. 11, the World Day of the Sick and the feast day of Our Lady…
Crisis—2019 will mark the 30th anniversary of communism’s collapse in Poland and Eastern Europe. It will also mark 35 years since the murder of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko. I was safe in California when the communist secret police killed my old vicar in Poland in October 1984. In May 1980, Father “Jurek” Popiełuszko was assigned to our…
CNA—Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.” The Algerian martyrs were beatified Dec. 8 at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Cross in Oran. “The beatification of…
A cardinal dispatched by the Vatican to Algeria has held an unusual beatification ceremony for 19 monks, nuns and other Roman Catholics who were killed during Algeria’s civil war in the 1990s. The ceremony, on Saturday in the western city of Oran, was the first in the Muslim world, according to Algeria’s religious affairs minister.…
ACI Prensa and CNA—Matteo Pio Colella was just 7 years old when he contracted a deadly disease. Doctors believed there was no hope for the boy, but he made a full recovery. His cure was the miracle that paved the way for the canonization of St. Padre Pio by Pope John Paul II in June…
CNA—Below are brief biographies on the lives of each of the seven new saints canonized by Pope Francis Sunday, as well as photos of each saint’s banner currently on display at the Vatican. Blessed Pope Paul VI Born Giovanni Battista Montini in 1897 and ordained a priest in 1920, he did graduate studies in literature,…
December 1, 2011
No computers… No phones… Yet what powerful business tips are found in the life of this 16th Century saint! As we scramble to daily improve our FaceBook and Twitter sales and awareness outreach, it’s difficult to imagine that anything—or anyone—from the 16th Century could reveal powerful business tips for success today. But the life of…
