By Leandra Ulmer   “To be sure, no human being has ever really seen everything that lies visibly in front of his eyes.” Josef Pieper, Only the Lover Sings Upon first reading these words about ten years ago, I was deeply struck by them. I also received them as a …

An Ocean Full of Angels by Peter Kreeft | Word on Fire Luminor, 2026 | 432 pages  |  $34.95 Of all living writers, Peter Kreeft is the one who reminds me most of C. S. Lewis. Like Lewis, Dr. Kreeft has an uncanny ability to put the most abstract and …

A Guide to Visio Divina Invite the Holy Spirit to enlighten your experience as you gaze at the artwork. Notice what thoughts and emotions enter your heart and mind. Be still. Pray with the image as you are led. “Sacred art by being true and beautiful should evoke and glorify …

  Kitahara Satoko* kept a box of newspapers and magazines that reported on her charitable work with the children from a homeless village called Ants Town. The articles’ headlines dubbed the 22-year-old Catholic convert “Mary of Ants Town”—much to Satoko’s embarrassment and delight, as she later confessed. Born August 22, …

  I had a consistent Panera habit years ago when my son, Thomas, was two. Every so often, I’d drive through with Tom in the back and order the same cookie for him and coffee for me. A few months into this ritual, as I pulled up to the familiar …

The Basilica of St. Josaphat in Milwaukee might be the most beautiful church in America. I’m no expert—and I certainly haven’t seen every church in the country—but it’s hard to imagine it has much competition. The Basilica is run by the Conventual Franciscans, one of whose priests gave me a …

In Catholic circles, some movies and series are held in such high esteem that they are essentially considered “required viewing.” Among these are Lord of the Rings, It’s A Wonderful Life, A Man for All Seasons, and The Passion of the Christ. Another film that should be added to this …

I’m so old that as I was growing up I had to Google the answers to my questions. How did I even survive before AI? Now, we simply ask one of the many forms of artificial intelligence, then  receive an answer tailored to our own most whimsical whim: Q: Can …

    “Truth, Beauty, and Goodness” are often called the “three transcendentals.” But while we use these terms frequently, their meanings are not obvious, especially in a political and legal culture that either denies one (or all) of these terms or redefines them in unrecognizable ways. So, how do Catholics …

There is something special about trees. My love for them can be traced back to childhood summer days spent playing in the white pine forest on my grandfather’s farm, to sacred moments spent in the woods of Pacem in Terris retreat center, and to days spent backpacking along the Superior …