Today also marks the death of Father Salvatore Micalizzi (1856-1937), an Italian Vincentian whose canonization cause is currently under consideration. Salvatore Micalizzi was born 5 November 1856 in Napes to Vincenzo Micalizzi and Elisabetta De Martino. He entered the Congregation of the Mission in Naples in 1884 and made perpetual vows in 1886. He preached numerous missions and had particular interest in ongoing formation of priests. In 1922 health obliged him to return to live in the community at Naples.... Read more

Today marks the death of America’s favorite crooner (and movie priest), Bing Crosby (1903-1977). Born Harry Lillis Crosby in Tacoma, Washington, he grew up in Spokane. There he received eight years of Jesuit education, at Gonzaga High School and Conzaga University. As Crosby himself put it: “Eight years with the Jesuits… yeah, pretty well indoctrinated.” It was at Gonzaga that Bing got involved in theater and singing, staple products of a classical Jesuit education. One historian notes that it was... Read more

Contemplation is nothing else but a secret, peaceful, and loving infusion God, which, if admitted, will set the soul on fire with the Spirit of Love. St. John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul Read more

Does anyone know what community this sister belongs to? I ask because I myself don’t know. Read more

The above is from a 1914 textbook used in Catholic schools of the time. Read more

Born in Balasar, Portugal, as a child she received a solid Christian education. At age fourteen escaping from an attempted rape, she jumped out a window and was paralyzed as a result. For the last thirty years she was completely bedridden. Little by little, however, she came to see her suffering as a special vocation to be the Lord’s “victim”. She received special spiritual gifts. From 1938 to 1942, every Friday she lived the three-hour “Passion” of Jesus every Friday,... Read more

Founded on immutable and universal principles, the Church can never grow old or obsolete, but is the Church for all times and places, for all ranks and conditions of men. Man cannot change either the Church or the dogmas of faith, for they are founded in the highest reality, which is above him, over him, and independent of him.Orestes A. Brownson, The American Republic Read more

Douglas Brinkley and Julie Fenster’s Parish Priest is a short, lively and readable account of the life of Father Michael J. McGivney (1852-1890), founder of the Knights of Columbus. Anyone interested in learning more about the Knights and the man who founded them ought to check out this book. Read more

Esteban Bellan (1850-1932) was the first Cuban and the first Latin American to play major league baseball. Bellan, who after playing in the United States, became one of Cuba’s first great baseball player-managers, learned how to play the game while he was a student at Fordham University from 1863-1868. During his time at Fordham, Bellan played for the newly created Fordham Rose Hill Baseball Club. Founded in the late 1850’s, the Fordham Rose Hill’s played the first ever nine-man team... Read more

Throughout the nineteenth century, Protestant Americans loved to remind Catholics that their own ancestors were the ones who settled America. Catholics responded, however, by noting that America was discovered by a Catholic, Christopher Columbus. Hence the image of Columbus became an important one for Catholics during this period. When a priest in New Haven, Connecticut, by the name of Michael McGivney put together what would become the most successful Catholic fraternal organization in the world, he could think of no... Read more