She was sitting with three other ladies, also in wheelchairs, when I found her at the nursing home. She was over 100 years old. “We can’t do much anymore,” she said about herself and her friends. “I bet you can still pray,” I said. They nodded. “How about an ‘Our …

After 38 days Pope Francis leaves the Gemelli Hospital. By Andrea Tornielli 38 days have gone by since February 14, when Pope Francis left the Vatican to be hospitalized at the Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital. These weeks have been challenging for an 88-year-old patient battling bilateral pneumonia. Medical reports did not …

In this Jubilee Year we can celebrate the way the liturgical year is divided. We have two regular seasons (Ordinary Time), two playoffs (Advent and Lent) and the championship games (Christmas and Easter). So while the nation is to be enthralled in March Madness, we are in the teeth of our …

By Sister Constance Veit, lsp Five years ago this month, life as we knew it came to a standstill. COVID-19 cast a pall over the entire world, forcing us to face our radical vulnerability and our powerlessness in the face of death. About a week after we had gone into …

What are the origins of the Stations of the Cross? When were they first placed in churches? The Stations of the Cross, also known as the Way of the Cross and the Via Crucis, is a Christian devotional practice that commemorates the events of Good Friday, specifically Jesus’ journey from …

Each year during the season of Lent, the Church affords us the opportunity to rekindle our relationship with God, both as individuals and as a community of faith. These 40 days are a time set aside to pray more, to embrace a spirit of self-denial and sacrifice, and to work …

It is with a bittersweet heart that I write this column to you today. After more than five years serving as the Editorial Director of The Catholic Telegraph, I am signing off. Readers may remember that life has thrown some difficult things in my path over the last several years, …

Great Catholic theologians have said to “begin with beauty” when sharing the Good News of Christ, for beauty has the ability to bypass reason and appeal directly to our heart and soul. In art, our commitment to this beauty portrays the truth of our faith, which pierces the culture surrounding …

We live in a culture which increasingly focuses on individuality and the immediacy of the here and now. Rarely do we elevate our gaze to the transcendent. Modern voices proclaim the self-identifying and self-determining individual as important above all else, rather than reserving that distinction for God. Western society is …

Dear Father: I have a question regarding godparents. It seems mandatory that a godparent be a Catholic. I could have a Catholic be a godparent and move three years after the baptism to another state. The child would only rarely see them, possibly only on holidays. I could ask a non-catholic …