In the course of compiling the daily Catholic newswires on Friday, I stumbled upon a most welcome treasure on the CNN religion blog of all places. The treasure? A new friend in the world of Catholic music. Audrey Assad. With her first album scheduled for release this week (it’s already available on iTunes, though), Audrey ...read more

Oh Canadian summer, you are God’s mercy made manifest! Even in the midst of heat waves, I think many would agree that this beautiful season sure beats winter’s wind-chill (winter has a beauty all its own, of course). Life’s usually-hectic pace fades into a comparatively peaceful lull; BBQing, rekindling friendships and family ties and enjoying ...read more

Many of us are vaguely familiar with how things went for little St. Maria Goretti, but we often overlook the smaller points that make this story a particularly inspiring one. We know that she was a poor, pious farm girl. We know that only days before her 11th birthday, on July 6th 1902, Maria was ...read more

I have recently experienced the awakening of my Canadian identity. And the timing couldn’t be better. Happy 143rd Birthday, Canada! I’d like to point out here that the number 143 is traditionally associated with the words I=1 LOVE=4 YOU=3; this brings me right back to junior high. But I couldn’t help myself. Numbers speak. But ...read more

The Canadian Church will celebrate Canada day a little more than usual this year. It was announced this morning that the Archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, will be packing his bags for the Vatican. Pope Benedict has appointed Cardinal Ouellet as the new Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and President of the Commission ...read more

Literature and movies make farm life appear so quaint. But in those Victorian snapshots of rural living, the dung pile is usually not featured. There are many unpleasant jobs to be done on a farm and sometimes, finding someone to do them is like pulling teeth. This was the case on the Cronin Farm. After ...read more

Love, marriage and children. The three are so intertwined that after a while they become interchangeable. But should they? This week we asked you ” If you could give one piece of parenting advice what would it be?” The answers ranged from “unconditional love” to “read with and to your child”. Gabrielle Suthers writes via ...read more

When I was growing up, the only thing that could possibly put a damper on a Sunday Beach day was fulfilling our Sunday obligation… on Saturday night. Like many Catholics in the summertime, our family took advantage of the Saturday night Mass option in order to maximize outdoor time together at the family cottage or ...read more

Today in his farewell address at Larnaca airport in Cyprus, the Holy Father made direct reference to the political unrest in Cyprus saying that his accommodations at the Apostolic Nunciature, which is located in the United Nations buffer zone, provided a vantage point from which he witnessed Cyprus’ pronounced division first-hand. “Having stayed these past ...read more

The following is Pope Benedict’s full address from today’s presentation of the Instrumentum Laboris for the Synod of Bishops’ Special Assembly for the Middle East: Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I thank Archbishop Eterovic for his kind words, and I renew my greetings to all of you who have come here in connection with ...read more