Today is the feast day of St. Martin de Porres, one of my favourite saints. St. Martin was born in Lima, Peru on December 9, 1579 to a Spanish nobleman and a freed slave from Panama. His parents were never married, and his father abandoned his family after St. Martin’s sister was born. St. Martin ...read more

A week into a lay ministry position in rural Alberta, I found myself in the lone coffee shop in a village of about 400 people. I was spending time getting to know the regulars, which meant that they needed to get to know me. In the course of our conversation, one of them curiously asked, ...read more

Whenever I see a rosary hanging on someone’s rear-view mirror, I automatically feel a kinship with the Catholic driver. However, a rosary is not a decoration. It is a powerful spiritual tool, and popes have been encouraging Catholics to pray the Rosary for years. Since October is the month of the Rosary, here are three ...read more

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (CNS) — As parish youth coordinator at St. Matthew’s in Surrey, Eleanor Wong sees firsthand the struggles that young people have with the church, so she’s welcoming a new pastoral letter from Canada’s bishops that tells young people they have unique contributions to make to the church and to the world. The ...read more

Blessed Carlo Acutis May 3, 1991 – October 12, 2006 Beatified: October 10, 2020 Feast Day: October 12 Millennial, computer programmer, gamer, and on the way to sainthood. Blessed Carlo Acutis reminds us that God can use anyone and anything to share His love, including a teenager who spent a lot of his time becoming ...read more

October 11, 2022 marks 60 years since the start of the Second Vatican Council. So what was Vatican II and why does it matter today? Vatican II was the biggest Church event in the 20th century, bringing together all the bishops of the Catholic Church – 2,625 of them! – with the pope and many ...read more

Jim Towey is one of the fortunate few who also got to know her as a friend. Towey, an attorney by trade who has also worked in government and academia over the years, first met Mother Teresa 37 years ago after he started volunteering at a soup kitchen run by the Missionaries of Charity, the ...read more

Who is John Paul I? God’s Smile is Blessed It has been said that John Paul I’s pontificate was like a meteor that lights up the sky and quickly disappears. His election as pope was a source of joy after the heavy grief that accompanied the death of Saint Paul VI less than one month ...read more

THOMASTON, Conn. (CNS) — It’s miraculous Joseph and Megan Hermosillo were able to walk across the Thomaston Opera House stage together Aug. 13. Along with their six children, ages 2-12, the couple from Frederick, Maryland, was invited to provide testimony for pilgrims following “In the Footsteps of Blessed Michael McGivney,” a tour sponsored by the ...read more

NOLENSVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) — For Sarah Hart, writing a new hymn is always about pleasing God. “I do think, ‘God, I hope this is pleasing to you. I hope that this thing I’m doing is my prayer to you,'” she told the Tennessee Register, newspaper of the Diocese of Nashville. “Writing a song for me ...read more