While visiting midtown Manhattan Monday night to see the Christmas lights, I dropped by St. Patrick’s Cathedral and encountered a very different kind of light: a saint for our times, nestled next to Mary’s Chapel and the tabernacle containing the Blessed Sacrament. It’s the cathedral’s newest shrine, to St. Sharbel (or, as some spell it, Charbel). We’ve reported on this wonderworker in Aleteia in the past, and noted his ardent following. But shrines to him are few and far between... Read more

Remember when Easter Sunday meant watching “The Ten Commandments” or “The Sound of Music” on television? That was then. This is now: John Legend has been tapped for the title role in NBC’s live staging of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” set for Easter Sunday. “We’re all overjoyed to have world-class musical artist and producer John Legend starring as Jesus,” said Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment. “This score demands a singer with an amazing range and an actor with great depth,... Read more

From the Vatican: Pope Francis on Monday took 27 men and women a step closer to sainthood.  The Pope received Card. Angelo Amato, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes so Saints and authorized him to promulgate 12 decrees regarding 22 men and 5 women from as many as 8 nations.  They concern 3 miracles, a martyrdom and 8 heroic virtues.  Nineteen candidates, including 3 miracles and the martyrdom of 16,  have been cleared for Beatification, the penultimate state... Read more

A great vocation story from The Arlington Catholic Herald, on the journey of Deacon Michael Baggot, who was ordained this past weekend: Deacon Baggot was born in Texas in May 1985, but spent most of his life in Virginia, where his family moved to be closer to his grandmother. While his parents were both born Catholic, they had fallen away from the faith. It was through his grandmother that he caught glimpses of Catholicism. But while he was very close... Read more

From Catholic News Agency: The relics of Christian saints and blesseds deserve special care and their authenticity must be certified by the Church, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints has said. “Relics in the Church have always received particular veneration and attention, because the bodies of saints and blesseds, destined for resurrection, were on earth the living temple of the Holy Spirit and the instruments of their sanctity, recognized by the apostolic see through beatification and canonization,” said the... Read more

You may remember this story from last month. Now, the pope has added his voice: Following the traditional prayer of Marian devotion on Gaudete Sunday, Pope Francis appealed for the release of six religious sisters, who were kidnapped one month ago from their convent in Iguoriakhi, Nigeria. “Dear brothers and sisters,” he said, “I heartily join myself to the appeal fo the Bishops of Nigeria for the liberation of the Sisters of the Eucharistic Heart of Christ, kidnapped roughly a... Read more

An update on yesterday’s horrific story out of Pakistan: After the bombing of a Methodist church in northwestern Pakistan that left nine people dead, the country’s Catholic-sponsored National Commission for Justice and Peace has condemned what it called “the cowardly and inhuman attack on the church and innocent worshippers.” Sixty people were also injured in the Sunday bombing at Bethel Memorial Church, located in Quetta in northwestern Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan. The assault has been credited to the... Read more

This Sunday, we embarked on a new custom at my parish: Bambinelli Sunday. It’s a tradition popularized at the Vatican by Pope John Paul II, and it’s continued to this day. (Amy Welborn has even written a book about it.) People bring to church the infant Jesus from their nativity scenes at home, and they receive a special blessing by the priest at the end of Mass. [img attachment=”262766″ align=”aligncenter” size=”full” /] This is the blessing for the occasion. [img... Read more

From Catholic News Agency: Journalism must prize truth and reflection over sensationalism and clamor, Pope Francis told journalists on Saturday. “It is important that the criteria of judgment and information are offered patiently and methodically so that ‎public opinion is able to understand and discern, and is not stunned and disoriented,” the Pope said Dec. 16, according to Vatican News. The Pope encouraged journalism that embodies “serenity, precision and completeness.” It must use calm language that favors “fruitful reflection” and... Read more

It happened this morning in Pakistan. From The New York Times: Two suicide bombers attacked a church packed with worshipers on Sunday in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least eight people and injuring at least 30 others, several critically, officials said. The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, claimed responsibility for the attack in Quetta, the capital of the restive Baluchistan Province, in the country’s southwest. The group’s Amaq News Agency posted a statement online Sunday that said attackers had stormed... Read more