Fr. Andrew Gawrych greeted me with a smile, one humid summer’s day in July at Notre Dame University in Indiana.  He had just arrived to take up his new position as Associate Vocations Director for the Indiana Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross — a big job for a newly ordained young American priest!  ...read more

Are you a beekeeper? A climber? A candlestick maker? Do you like Dijon mustard? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you may be interested to know that today the Church celebrates St. Bernard of Clairvaux . Among other things (as you saw), St. Bernard is renowned for his deep devotion to the ...read more

Canada is saying goodbye to its Primate. Fittingly, Cardinal Marc Ouellet does so across the country with an interview on the CBC’s The National. (Note: the interview was recorded Thursday and was advertised to air tonight, but it has been rescheduled for Sunday.) He departs for the Vatican on Tuesday to take up his new ...read more

It looks like there will be a touch of Tolkien when Pope Benedict XVI visits Birmingham, England next month. No, we’re confident the Holy Father will not be quoting portions of Lord of the Rings in any homilies or addresses. However, the legendary author’s great nephew, Tim Tolkien, will be sculpting a life-size statue of ...read more

In less than a month Pope Benedict XVI will be landing in Great Britain. Today the Vatican released the official schedule for the trip. It won’t be the first Papal Visit to the UK; Pope John Paul II visited the UK in 1982, but his visit was strictly pastoral. Pope Benedict’s visit will be pastoral, ...read more

Thirty one thousand decades of the Rosary and one hundred and thirty days of Eucharistic adoration. That’s the amount of prayer that benefactors of the charity Aid to the Church in Need have pledged to Pope Benedict XVI. For those of you keeping count, that prayer total works out to more than six months of ...read more

Castel Gandolfo was busy yesterday as Pope Benedict XVI marked the solemnity of the Assumption. First there was the celebration of Mass at the Church of St. Thomas, located just across from the summer Papal residence.  Later in the day, the Holy Father welcomed the faithful to Castel Gandolfo for his Angelus address. Of course, ...read more

Cardinal Marc Ouellet has asked the faithful to pray that the Lord may give him “wisdom and discernment” as he heads to Rome. That’s where, as of August 24th, he’ll take up his new role as the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. He asked for the prayers yesterday at the St. Anne de Beaupre ...read more

It’s a feast of the Assumption not soon to be forgotten. A cruel prank was pulled on over 30,000 pilgrims gathered yesterday in Lourdes, located in southwest France. Police received an anonymous phone call about a bomb threat to the Shrine. The call came in as thousands of worshippers, priests and nuns were congregating for ...read more

As I shared in my previous post, I spent my vacation in Algonquin Provincial Park and at Madonna House in Combermere, Ontario. In between those adventures, I took a road trip to Newfoundland with my best friend. For one week, we marveled at the Maritime culture, wildlife and dramatic landscape of Gros Morne National Park. ...read more