St. Cecilia is known for being the patron saint of music, musicians, and composers. According to tradition, St. Cecilia came from a wealthy family and was promised in marriage to a Roman pagan named Valerian. She had already made a vow of virginity to God, and she prayed and fasted that her promise be preserved.  ...read more

Today is the feast day of St. Martin de Porres, one of my favourite saints. St. Martin was born in Lima, Peru on December 9, 1579 to a Spanish nobleman and a freed slave from Panama. His parents were never married, and his father abandoned his family after St. Martin’s sister was born. St. Martin ...read more

A week into a lay ministry position in rural Alberta, I found myself in the lone coffee shop in a village of about 400 people. I was spending time getting to know the regulars, which meant that they needed to get to know me. In the course of our conversation, one of them curiously asked, ...read more

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (CNS) — As parish youth coordinator at St. Matthew’s in Surrey, Eleanor Wong sees firsthand the struggles that young people have with the church, so she’s welcoming a new pastoral letter from Canada’s bishops that tells young people they have unique contributions to make to the church and to the world. The ...read more

Blessed Carlo Acutis May 3, 1991 – October 12, 2006 Beatified: October 10, 2020 Feast Day: October 12 Millennial, computer programmer, gamer, and on the way to sainthood. Blessed Carlo Acutis reminds us that God can use anyone and anything to share His love, including a teenager who spent a lot of his time becoming ...read more

October 11, 2022 marks 60 years since the start of the Second Vatican Council. So what was Vatican II and why does it matter today? Vatican II was the biggest Church event in the 20th century, bringing together all the bishops of the Catholic Church – 2,625 of them! – with the pope and many ...read more

A little over a week ago, I arrived back from my pilgrimage to Israel and Egypt. I was tanned from the Egyptian sun, sleep-deprived and jet-lagged, but happy to be home.  The first week of the pilgrimage, my fellow pilgrims and I visited many sites and places including Capernaum, the House of Peter, Magdala, Tabgha, ...read more

As I stood in Maskwacis, Alberta, witnessing Pope Francis arrive to deliver his much-awaited apology to the Indigenous peoples of Canada on their lands, I was cut to the heart. Two things struck me simultaneously. First, the suffering, pain, and intergenerational trauma that has wreaked havoc on Indigenous communities and families. Second, the humility, courage, ...read more

Jim Towey is one of the fortunate few who also got to know her as a friend. Towey, an attorney by trade who has also worked in government and academia over the years, first met Mother Teresa 37 years ago after he started volunteering at a soup kitchen run by the Missionaries of Charity, the ...read more

Who is John Paul I? God’s Smile is Blessed It has been said that John Paul I’s pontificate was like a meteor that lights up the sky and quickly disappears. His election as pope was a source of joy after the heavy grief that accompanied the death of Saint Paul VI less than one month ...read more