Catholic Saints
Why Are These Symbols Connected With Saints?
Pat McCloskey, OFM
November 15, 2025
I have noticed that many paintings of Saint Jerome include a lion lying at his feet. In other paintings there is a skull. I have noticed similar images in paintings of other saints. I am intrigued by these symbols. What do they mean?
Hymn of Praise
Franciscan Media
November 15, 2025
Each path Francis took on his journey to God led him to a single action: praise of God.
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Rich in Poverty
Pat McCloskey, OFM
November 14, 2025
“Rich by reason of its poverty.” That phrase was as difficult to understand in Francis’s day as it is in ours. Celano was not pulling this expression out of thin air.
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Sister Death
Jack Wintz, OFM
November 13, 2025
Throughout this canticle, we have seen how Francis saw God’s goodness, radiance and beauty in all creatures. He saw them indeed as benevolent friends, as brothers and sisters—as family. And now even the reality of death itself becomes “Sister Death” ...
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Too Many Clergy Among Canonized Saints?
Pat McCloskey, OFM
November 12, 2025
Who was the last saint canonized who was not a member of the clergy? Are only Catholics recognized as saints? Can a non-Christian become a saint?
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A Church of Many Cultures
Stephen J. Binz
November 12, 2025
Today, Christian Native Americans seek ways of being equal participants in the life and mission of the Church—as indigenous people.
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Love Heals, Builds, and Binds
Darleen Pryds, PhD
November 11, 2025
When the realities of life hit, and you have lost everything, what is left is the stunning beauty of our relationships with one another, with this world, and with God.
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