Considered the last of the Fathers of the Church, St. Bernard of Clairvaux has been celebrated for centuries as a man of great intellect and greater holiness. As is evident in his prolific writings, Bernard was one for whom the Word of God impregnated every aspect of the human experience. He knew the Bible by ...read more

Just as the faithful of Vancouver have a pilgrimage to celebrate the feast of Assumption, Catholics in Edmonton have their own shrine to visit on this feast. The Skaro shrine, located 80 km northeast of Edmonton, was built at the turn of the 20th century by residents of the Polish settlement there. In 1904 residents ...read more

Since his death on August 4th 1859, and especially following his canonization in 1925, St. John Vianney has been recognized as a person of outstanding virtue and priestly holiness. In recent years, however, the popularity of this saint has grown, thanks largely to the recent Year for Priests (June 2009 to June 2010). In his ...read more

Carlos Ferreira reflects on a visit to the site of St. Ignatius of Loyola's conversion and how God uses us with all our imperfections for His great works. ...read more

This is the S+L Photo of the Day. Our producer Deacon Pedro Guevara Mann, with the director of the new documentary on the life of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Matt Gallagher, with the Finkbonner family of Ferndale, Washington. Jake Finkbonner (2nd from the left) was healed of Necrotizing fasciitis or “flesh-eating disease” through the intercession of Blessed ...read more

Left to right: Marie Brunet, Pierluigi Molla, Andre Brunet after presentations in Varese, Italy during the VII World Meeting of Families. Varese, Italy – On our  second full day of the VII World Meeting of Families, we spent the afternoon outside of Milan, in the town of Varese. To our great surprise, this trip outside ...read more

Throughout this past week in the daily gospel readings for mass, we have been working our way through Chapter 17 of St. John’s Gospel, a passage known as Jesus’ great priestly prayer. Quite providentially, these readings bring us up to the feast days of three important “priestly” saints: St. Bede the Venerable, Pope St. GregoryVII, ...read more

On the day the church celebrated vocations, the church beatified Giuseppe Toniolo. He is proof that not just those in religious orders are call to be saints. Toniolo was an economist from the Italian city of Treviso father of seven children. Born in Treviso in 1845 the now-blessed Giuseppe Toniolo became known for his work ...read more

Stories are powerful. They inspire us, imbue us with values, and foster a sense of continuity with the past. In fact, I always marvel at how Jesus used parables to reveal realities that could hardly be fathomed by those who heard them. I’ve heard it said that we become the stories we tell ourselves. I’ll ...read more

There was more to celebrate this past weekend than just the Resurrection of our Lord! As reported on Perspectives yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI has given his approval for Fr. Felix Varela to be given the status of “venerable,” following a unanimous recommendation from the Vatican’s Congregation for Saints’ Causes. This means that Varela is now ...read more