Defining Prayer Anew
Maureen O'Brien
April 25, 2025
And though you believe you hold no hope, you just bought three pears and are waiting for them to ripen in the bowl.
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Maureen O'Brien
Maureen O'Brien's award-winning short stories and poems have been published widely in magazines and anthologies. She lives in Connecticut, where taught creative writing to teenagers for 25 years. She holds an MA in creative writing and a BA in philosophy and religion. She is the author of What Was Lost: Seeking Refuge in the Psalms and Gather the Fragments: My Year of Finding God’s Love (Franciscan Media).
The Incredible Procession
Maureen O'Brien
April 18, 2025
Good Friday is the most holy of days: The Veneration of the Cross is stark and sorrowful, yet so full of pure adoration from ordinary people.
Hushed Mother Love
Maureen O'Brien
March 28, 2025
Marian apparitions bring us so much guidance, beauty, and sustenance. The apparition of Our Lady of Knock, Ireland, is the only apparition where not a word was spoken by the Blessed Mother.
Animus Christi
Maureen O'Brien
March 18, 2025
Sometimes the world feels so chaotic, abrasive, everything exploding, even trashed. In these times, the simplest of phrases can be the most grounding—like Animus Christi, the soul of Christ.
Symbols of Our Faith
Maureen O'Brien
March 5, 2025
From blessing ourselves with holy water to praying a rosary, our rituals and sacramental objects enhance our spiritual lives. Sit quietly and reflect on the things that are bringing you closer to God.
Open 24/7
Maureen O'Brien
February 25, 2025
At St. Edmund’s Retreat on Enders Island, on Long Island Sound, the sea-facing Chapel of Our Lady of Assumption is open 24/7. How rare it is, in these current times, to find a church that provides constant refuge.
This Tabernacle
Maureen O'Brien
February 9, 2025
The word tabernacle, a word found in Scripture, isn’t one we use every day. Yet it has beautiful music to it, and a cherished meaning for us as follows of Christ.