Born in Bavaria, he was studying for the diocesan priesthood when he encountered the Redemptorists and joined them. The Redemptorists were walking primarily with the German community in the United States, and in 1843 he arrived in New York. Ordained in Baltimore in 1844, he worked in Pittsburgh with St. John Neumann, future Bishop of Philadelphia. His availability and innate kindness in understanding and responding to the needs of the faithful, quickly made him well known as an expert confessor... Read more

Son of a physician, Longo grew up in a well-to-do devout Catholic family, but fell away from the Church as a young man. After earning a law degtree from the University of Naples, he became a Satanist. However, a Dominican priest convinced him to turn from the occult and guided him back to the Church. Longo turned his life completely around. He became a Third Order Dominican, preached against the occult, built churches, and worked with the poor (especially the... Read more

Born Helena Kowalska in Poland, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and took the name Sister Mary Faustina. She lived in the Congregation for thirteen years and lived in several religious houses. She worked as a cook, gardener and porter. Externally, nothing revealed her rich mystical interior life, but she received extraordinary spiritual gifts such as revelations, visions, hidden stigmata, participation in the Passion of the Lord, the gift of bilocation, the reading of... Read more

Born in Italy, he attended the Catholic Action group in the parish, where his faith was nurtured and sustained. At Bologna University where he continued his studies, he was also active in the Catholic organization. Alberto graduated in 1941 with a degree in engineering and left immediately for the army, but was exempted because his brothers were already in service. Upon his return home he was elected diocesan vice-president of Catholic Action. He began teaching in a high school, devoting... Read more

A gift is freely given, and expects no return. Its reason is love. What is first given is love; that is the first gift. The Holy Ghost comes forth as the substance of love, and Gift is His proper name. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Read more

PER PACEM AD LUCEM by Adelaide A. Procter I DO not ask, O Lord, that life may be A pleasant road; I do not ask that Thou wouldst take from me Aught of its load; I do not ask that flowers should always spring Beneath my feet; I know too well the poison and the sting Of things too sweet. For one thing only, Lord, dear Lord, I plead, Lead me aright— Though strength should falter, and though heart should... Read more

The Seven Storey Mountain is the autobiography of Thomas Merton, a Trappist Monk and a noted author of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Merton finished the book in 1946 at the age of 31, five years after entering the Gethsemani Abbey near Bardstown, Kentucky. The title refers to the mountain of Purgatory in Dante’s Divine Comedy. Seven Storey Mountain was published in 1948 and was met with surprising levels of public attention. The first printing was planned for 7,500 copies,... Read more

Today marks the day that Pope Paul VI visited the United Nations, delivering his famous speech “War never again!” Read more

Alfred Emanuel Smith, Jr. (December 30, 1873–October 4, 1944), known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American politician who was elected Governor of New York four times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928. He was the first Roman Catholic and Irish-American to run for President as a major party nominee. He lost the election to Herbert Hoover. He then became president of the Empire State, Inc. and was instrumental in getting the Empire... Read more

Son of Pietro Bernadone, a rich cloth merchant. Though he had a good education and became part of his father’s business, he also had a somewhat misspent youth. Street brawler and some-time soldier. Captured during a conflict between Assisi and Perugia, Italy, he spent over a year as a prisoner of war. During this time he had a conversion experience, including a reported message from Christ calling him to leave this worldly life. Upon release, Francis began taking his faith... Read more