The Congregation of the Sisters of the Resurrection was founded in Rome in 1891 by a widow, Celine Borzecka, and her daughter, Hedwig. The formation of the Congregation was the first time in the history of the Catholic Church that a religious community of women was founded by a mother and daughter. Celine, the daughter of a wealthy land owner, was born in Eastern Poland. From her early childhood she fervently desired to dedicate herself entirely to God. At the... Read more

Piotr Skarga (February 2, 1536– September 27, 1612); actual name: Piotr Powęski; referred to in some English sources as Peter Skarga) was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-reformation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was called the “Polish Bossuet” due to his oratorical abilities. He was born and educated at Grójec later at Kraków, he began life as a tutor to the family of Andrew Tenczynski, castellan of Kraków, and, some years later, after a... Read more

A celebrated French bishop and pulpit orator, born at Dijon, 27 September, 1627, died at Paris, 12 April, 1704. For more than a century his ancestors, both paternal and maternal, had occupied judicial functions. He was the fifth son of Beneigne Bossuet, a judge in the Parliament of Dijon, and Madeleine Mouchet. He began his classical studies in the Collège des Godrans, conducted by the Jesuits, in Dijon, and, on his father’s appointment to a seat in the Parliament of... Read more

Vincent de Paul was born into a peasant family on April 24, 1581, in the village of Pouy in southwestern France. He studied theology at the University of Toulouse, was ordained a priest at 19, and completed his theological studies 4 years later. Using his status as a priest to escape the dull village life of southern France, Vincent went to Paris in 1608. He wrote a curious letter to some friends at this time, telling in detail how he... Read more

The Scarlet and the Black is a 1983 made for TV movie starring Gregory Peck and Christopher Plummer. Based on J. P. Gallagher‘s book The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican (published in 1967), this movie tells the story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, a real life Irish Catholic priest who saved thousands of Jews and Allied POWs in Nazi-occupied Rome. In 1943, German-occupied Rome witnessed many atrocities of the Gestapo under the command of Colonel Herbert Kappler. Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, an... Read more

Our religious needs are our deepest needs. There is no peace till they are satisfied and contented. The attempt to stifle them is in vain. If their cry be drowned by the noise of the world, they do not cease to exist. They must be answered. Isaac Hecker Read more

John Ireland (September 11, 1838 – September 25, 1918) was the third bishop and first archbishop of Saint Paul, Minnesota (1888–1918). He became both a religious as well as civic leader in Saint Paul during the turn of the century. Ireland was known for his progressive stance on education, immigration and relations between church and state as well as his conservative stance towards drinking and political corruption. He is also remembered for his acrimonious relations with Greek Catholics. He created... Read more

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Sacred music, being a complementary part of the solemn liturgy, participates in the general scope of the liturgy, which is the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful… and since its principal office is to clothe with suitable melody the liturgical text proposed for the understanding of the faithful, its proper aim is to add greater efficacy to the text, in order that through it the faithful may be the more easily moved to devotion. Pope St. Pius... Read more

Patrick Sarfsield Gilmore is often called the “father of the American Band,” “America’s greatest bandleader”, “America’s first Superstar”. He touched the lives of music lovers all over America and the world. Born on December 25, 1829 in Ballygar, County Galway, Ireland. Emigrated to Boston in 1849. Became famous as cornet soloist and band leader. Founded Gilmore’s Band in 1857, featured two woodwinds to each brass instrument: the same used in modern concert bands. First Promenade Concert in America (1855): forerunner... Read more