BLOG: Mary Rose Bacani Valenti
Last week, the Downtown Chapel in Portland, Oregon, made a special announcement:  they’re changing their parish name.  A recent degree by the Archbishop of Portland will change the Church’s patronage from St. Vincent de Paul to the Congregation of Holy Cross’ first saint, St. André Bessette. For any of you who have seen the documentary ...read more
Salt + Light Director of Programming Gita Hosek called me to her office around the summer of 2009. “One of my dream projects,” she said, “is a production on Fr. Michael Prieur’s book Panes of Glory.” She handed me the book to look at.  Her eyes lit up when she talked about the book, the ...read more
On Thursday, January 6th, the universal Church celebrates the 74th anniversary of the death of its first male Canadian-born saint – St. André Bessette.  As you may remember, the end of last year was marked by the celebrations for St. André’s canonization on October 17th.  Salt + Light also produced a documentary on his life ...read more
Waiting.  Expecting.  Calmly expecting.  Expecting nothing else but to be with God.  Just being available for Him. Last time, I talked about how a friend’s visit inspired me into the “passive active-ness” needed to prepare for God this Christmas. But there’s someone else who inspires me.  On a regular basis.  A woman just like me ...read more
Waiting.  Expecting.  Calmly expecting.  Expecting nothing else but to be with God.  Just being available for Him. For almost two months, I have been focusing on what this is like as I reflected on Christ’s coming this Christmas.  This mode of silent, almost “passive active-ness” was inspired by a visit from a friend. Three weeks ...read more
Journalism is being committed everyday on Twitter… in 140 characters. Mark Lukasiewicz made this strong statement in front of around 100 journalists and those interested in the future of broadcast journalism.  Mark is the vice president of NBC news Specials and Digital Media.  He is a Canadian with a successful journalism career in the United ...read more
A week ago, Canada celebrated the canonization of Br. André Bessette at the Olympic stadium in Montreal.  It’s been an exciting time for the Church in Canada!  My time working on all things Br. André has now come to an end (I think, but who knows what the future always holds), so I wanted to ...read more
I wrote the blog Encores for Brother André, mentioning the rebroadcast of the Canonization Mass and the airdates for my Catholic Focus: Remembering Brother André episode this coming weekend. But there’s much more Br. André to catch this weekend than that! So, check this out: 1. Rebroadcast of the Coverage of the Canonization Mass: Saturday, ...read more
There were so many wonderful people I met and so many wonderful stories I heard during the filming for the documentary God’s Doorkeeper:  St. André of Montreal. Unfortunately, I couldn’t include them all in the documentary! So we’ve decided to feature a special episode of Catholic Focus entitled “Remembering Brother André”. This episode will give ...read more
For all of you who weren’t able to catch the Salt + Light coverage of the canonization of Br. André Bessette this past weekend, don’t worry.  Salt + Light is rebroadcasting the canonization coverage on Saturday, October 30th, at 10 am ET. You also have the option of viewing it at any time online.  Go ...read more