10 Influential Catholics

Christopher M. Bellitto, PhD May 30, 2020

In celebration of their holiness, virtue, and influence, here is a Top Ten list of saints who substantially shaped the face of the Catholic Church.

The Symbolism of Incense

Pat McCloskey, OFM May 24, 2020

Would you explain why the priest uses incense at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and other ceremonies?

Franciscan Respite for Refugees

Toni Cashnelli May 21, 2020

The scene is repeated again and again as immigrants walk off a minibus and into the parish hall of a Franciscan church in McAllen, Texas. The moving gesture from greeters is a response to a modern-day exodus that began in Central America in 2014.

Franciscan Inspirations: St. Joseph

Jim Van Vurst, OFM May 20, 2020

Next to Mary, the mother of Jesus, there was no one closer to Jesus than Joseph, the spouse of Mary and the carpenter of Nazareth.

St. Anthony of Padua: His Beginnings

Jack Wintz, OFM May 19, 2020

Anthony was born in 1195 (13 years after St. Francis) in Lisbon, Portugal, at the mouth of the Tagus River, from which explorers would later sail across the Atlantic.

Dr. Carolyn Woo’s Mission of Charity

Rafael Alvarez May 19, 2020

It has been a fantastic journey, these past six decades in the life of Carolyn Woo. It is a tale as much Ian Fleming as Thomas Merton, two parts nose-to-the-grindstone for each part prayer of international intrigue, hard work, excellence in all attempted, and faith beyond understanding.

Pray on the Way: A Pilgrimage Story

Barbara Beckwith May 17, 2020

I went through Italy last summer. Franciscan Pilgrimage Programs took our group to places associated with Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi, Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Pope John XXIII.