By all metrics, the skies of 2024 are overwhelming in their display of the extraordinary. Celestial spectacles are appearing with increasing frequency for those who know how to gaze heavenward in wonder. Many witnessed eclipses on March 25 and April 8, which darkened many parts of the earth. However, the most spectacular displays were the … Read more
Advent: From the Latin ad-venio, to come to. “Send down the dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One: let the earth be opened, and bud forth the Redeemer.” These words of the Advent hymn, Rorate Caeli, echo the longings of the Fathers of old for the coming of a … Read more
In times of great suffering like ours, it does us good to think about heavenly things. Such considerations are constant reminders that our greatest concerns should be our union with God in this world and the next. Indeed, in times past, people commonly raised their hearts to Heaven, which made all their woes seem small. … Read more
“Purgatory (to say nothing of Hell), penance, expiation, God’s holy justice: these just do not fit in with today’s cheerfully cheap religiosity.” – Hungry Souls. No one can say how many modern Catholics believe in Purgatory, but the percentage is unlikely to be high. A recent study showed that less than a third of Catholics … Read more
Henry Goodell, president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, described how the medieval monks saved agriculture from decaying. Their accomplishments have left a legacy lasting 1500 years. He explains how they did it in the most unlikely and difficult ways. They searched for distant and inaccessible places to live in solitude. They then drained swamps and … Read more
