BLOG: Advent and Christmas,Saints and Blesseds
In the Jubilee Year of 2000, John Paul II made a very insightful statement.  He said: “Our Christian witness would be hopelessly inadequate if we ourselves had not first contemplated the face of the Lord.”  The same might be said of our fully entering into the Christmas season. Christmas is a time in which we ...read more
When Christmas is near, we all become traditionalists. Even the most anti-establishment types among us are horrified by attempts to alter our treasured rituals. As one example, Toronto shoppers were aghast at the unveiling of the modernized Christmas tree in the Eaton Centre shopping mall. Replacing the traditional, Swarovski-bedazzled faux-fir of years past, this year’s ...read more
The seasons of Advent and Christmas seem to come so quickly and to be filled with many activities to say the least. In the everyday planning and preparations for family and community celebrations there are inevitably certain individuals who for whatever reason go unnoticed or unrecognized. They make important contributions.  They are invaluable in their ...read more
The Vatican has released Pope Benedict XVI’s schedule for Advent and Christmas. He will preside over nine services between the beginning of Advent and the Epiphany. He will: — Lead an evening prayer service with Rome university students in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 1. — Pay homage to Mary on the feast of the Immaculate ...read more
On this season premiere of Nothing More Beautiful, Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton begins with a catechesis as he reflects on evangelizing the family. Witness speaker, Pierluigi Molla, talks about growing up with his mother, St. Gianna Beretta Molla (who beautifully enough, is Salt + Light’s patron saint). Join us for our season premiere of Nothing ...read more
In the following video from Catholic News Service, S+L’s Alicia Ambrosio tells us about the recent Mass of Thanksgiving for St. Kateri Tekakwitha. Mass was celebrated at St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, QC on Nov. 4. Many thanks to our partners at CNS for their video compilation. – Credit: CNS video ...read more
All Hallows Eve (or Halloween as most people refer to) is a beautiful time of year. With the celebration of Halloween comes an abundance of bright, scary costumes and a drastic change in weather (just look at Hurricane Sandy). But more than just the costumes and the weather comes a growing realization of how close ...read more
Among the seven new saints canonized by Benedict XVI this past weekend, maybe one of the lesser known new saints is Anna Schäffer, an example of how to accept pain and suffering. Anna was born in Mindelstetten, German on February 18, 1882. Her family was not a rich family and the death of her father ...read more
Sharon Smith, center, presents a relic of St. Marianne Cope, and Sister Kateri Mitchell, a member of the Mohawk nation, right, carries a relic of St. Kateri Tekakwitha during the canonization of seven new saints led by Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 21. Smith’s cure from a near fatal ...read more
Our CEO, Fr. Thomas Rosica introduces “In Her Footsteps” to over 2,000 pilgrims in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, Italy on the eve of the canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha and six other new saints. Cardinal Marc Ouellet presided over a prayer service following the movie, which also saw the Finkbonners present (Jake ...read more