St. Frances was born into a noble Roman family in the year 1384. From an early age, Frances felt drawn to the religious life, but at the age of thirteen her parents forced her into marriage. As Frances became acquainted with her in-laws she found that the wife of her …

As Catholics, we love our saints. We have a patron saint for just about everyone. Barkeepers (St. Amand), fireworks manufacturers (St. Barbara), mule drivers (St. Limbania) and dog handlers (St. Hubert of Liege) all have their designated saints. Name an occupation, medical condition, state in life or source of difficulty …

The Catholic Church celebrates the extraordinary life of St. John of God on March 8. The saint lived through decades of sin and suffering before a profound conversion that led him to embrace poverty, humility and charity. John was born in Portugal during the year 1495 to middle-class parents. Tragically, …

Married only six months, we learned we were expecting our first child, but were both working at low-paying jobs while searching for full-time careers. Of course, the news brought complete joy and overwhelming excitement! But we admit to feeling stress too. Thousands of questions ran through our minds as we …

Years ago, Milwaukee’s auxiliary bishop spoke to the confirmation class at the parish where I was a youth minister and opened the floor to questions. A student asked, “What is the purpose and meaning of life?” Perhaps the youth tried to stump the bishop, who answered without missing a beat, …

Saints Perpetua and Felicity were martyrs who died for the faith around the year 203. St. Perpetua was a young, well-educated, noblewoman and mother living in the city of Carthage in North Africa. Her mother was a Christian and her father was a pagan. In terms of her faith, Perpetua …

Self-denial is never an end in itself but is only a help toward greater charity—as the life of Saint John Joseph shows. John Joseph was very ascetic even as a young man. He devoted himself even at his youngest years to a life of poverty and fasting. At 16 he …

On March 4, the Catholic Church honors Saint Casimir Jagiellon, a prince whose life of service to God has made him a patron saint of Poland, Lithuania, and young people. In 1984, Pope John Paul II addressed Lithuanian pilgrims commemorating the 500th anniversary of the prince’s death. He said the …

DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, Lent is a favorable time for personal and community renewal, as it leads us to the paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For our Lenten journey in 2022, we will do well to reflect on Saint Paul’s exhortation to the Galatians: “Let …

There is a certain peace and beauty as we begin our Lenten Journey with Mass during Ash Wednesday. Check out today’s video: