
Saint Columban
Saint Columban was an Irish missionary who worked on the European continent. He and 12 companions traveled to Gaul where they won the respect of the people. Columban established several monasteries in Europe.
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Saint Columban was an Irish missionary who worked on the European continent. He and 12 companions traveled to Gaul where they won the respect of the people. Columban established several monasteries in Europe.

This week we begin our journey into the season of Advent. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples to be alert for they know not when the Lord will come.

According to the “Legend of St. Catherine,” Catherine of Alexandria was instrumental in the conversion of 50 pagan philosophers as well as over 200 soldiers and royal family members.

Wisdom speaks of and leads to a bigger picture, a deep-seated awareness of wholeness, a sense of oneness, and interconnection.

I have been writing this column for 19 years, and I have covered a lot of topics and chronicled many of the aspects of my and my family’s lives. But one topic I have not addressed head-on—or at least as strongly as I could—has been mental health.

Anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to gift-giving I have two rules, the most important of which is this: no gift cards. My second rule has to do with what I see as the redundancy of getting a greeting card and a gift, but that’s not what I want to talk about here. That first rule is especially important to me at Christmastime.

Saint Andrew Dung-Lac was one of the 117 people martyred in Vietnam between 1820 and 1862. While members of this group were beatified on four different occasions between 1900 and 1951, all were canonized by Pope John Paul II.

Faced with persecution and possible death, Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro returned to his native Mexico after his ordination to minister to the people of God. Within a couple of years, he was arrested on trumped-up charges and executed.

Thanksgiving is fully living into our givenness—it is the acceptance that our life is a miracle.

Although there is little historical evidence concerning the life of Saint Cecilia, she is one of the famous martyrs of the Church in Rome. She is mentioned in the list of saints in the first Eucharistic Prayer—Roman Canon. Cecilia is often depicted playing an organ.