Born in Spain in 1542, John learned the importance of self-sacrificing love from his parents. His father gave up wealth, status, and comfort when he married a weaver’s daughter and was disowned by his noble family. After his father died, his mother kept the destitute family together as they wandered homeless in search of work. These were the examples of sacrifice that John followed with his own great love — God. When the family finally found work, John still went... Read more

 Read more

Magnify, my soul, her who is more honorable and glorious than the hosts above. I behold a mystery strange and wondrous. The cave is heaven, the Virgin is the throne of the Cherubim, the manger of the place where the Incomprehensible is laid, Christ our God, Whom we magnify with song.Byzantine Menaea, Feast of the Nativity, Canon at matins, Ninth Ode (8th cent.) Read more

If you’re looking for a readable history of the Catholic Church that’s not too massive a tome, a good place to start is this book by Father Thomas Bokenkotter. It’s comprehensive, manageable and enjoyable. Read more

He was born in 1808 in Hardin, Lebanon. As a child, he was strongly influenced by the monastic tradition of the Maronite Church. Four of his brothers became priests or monks, and Youssef himself entered the Lebanese Maronite Order in 1828. In 1833 he was ordained a priest and was named a professor at the scholasticate. Nimatullah was especially noted for his love of the Blessed Sacrament. During his free time – frequently at the sacrifice of sleep – he... Read more

Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick was a member of Irish Parliament, Royalist military officer during the English Civil War, and governor of the Province of New York. He is noted for having called the first representative legislature in New York, and for granting the province’s Charter of Liberties. He was born in Castletown Kildrought. He was the youngest son of Sir John Dongan, Baronet, Member of the Irish Parliament. As Catholics, his family faced persecution after the overthrow of... Read more

Catherine Doherty was a social activist and foundress of the Madonna House Apostolate. A pioneer of social justice and a renowned national speaker, Catherine was also a prolific writer of hundreds of articles, best-selling author of dozens of books, and a dedicated wife and mother. Her cause for canonization as a saint is under consideration by the Catholic Church. Her family belonged to the minor nobility in Russia and she was raised Russian Orthodox. During World War I she served... Read more

Maurice Baring was a dramatist, poet, novelist, translator essayist, travel writer and war correspondent. He was the eighth child, and fifth son, of Edward Charles Baring, first Baron Revelstoke, of the Baring banking family, and his wife Louisa Emily Charlotte Bulteel, granddaughter of the second Earl Grey. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. After an abortive start on a diplomatic career, he travelled widely, particularly in Russia. He reported as an eye-witness on the Russo-Japanese War... Read more

 Read more

The idea of the incarnation is the idea of Providence capitalized; and at the same time raised to the infinite.Aubrey De Vere Read more