The site of today’s Marian celebration is a must-visit for any world-traveling Catholics. Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) is not only a papal basilica (alongside its neighbor, St. John Lateran, and St. Peter in Vatican City), it’s the largest church dedicated to Mary in Rome. It attracts millions of visitors annually with its spectacular […]Read more

Promises and striving to keep them are essential parts of our lives. When we love something – even when we simply want something – it’s engrained in us to set goals, make sacrifices, persevere, and (ideally) obtain our sought-after reward. If we’re very dedicated, we grow in the process as well. On today’s feast of […]Read more

The origins of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (or Our Lady of Perpetual Succor) are about as varied as the countries in which she is venerated. Some believe that the walnut-wood icon was written sometime between 1325 and 1480 in Crete; others believe Saint Lazarus the Iconographer wrote it sometime in the ninth century; still […]Read more

The Immaculate Heart of Mary, celebrated the day after the feast of the Sacred Heart, has been the subject of prayerful study and fervent veneration since the early years of Christianity. Its popularity surges where it’s clear she interceded in human history, events such as the appearance of the Miraculous Medal in 1832; the apparitions […]Read more

On May 13th, 1917, hope for the heavily Catholic country of Portugal, held under Freemason authority, made herself known with a flash of lightning. Our Lady appeared to three shepherd children in the field of Cova da Iria outside of Fatima – Lúcia, Jacinta, and Francisco. She said, firstly, that they would be rewarded in […]Read more

Most of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort’s intense ministry and fiery preaching revolved around two essential practices: frequent, if not daily, reception of Holy Communion, and total, radical entrustment of the whole person – body, soul, and merit – to the Mother of God. His wholehearted belief in approaching Jesus by giving all to […]Read more

Today we celebrate Our Lady of Montserrat, a mysterious statue hidden away in Catalonia, Spain, for nearly 200 years. “La Jerosolimitana”, or “the native of Jerusalem”, as she was first called, was handcrafted out of wood, decorated colorfully, and gilded with gold around 50 AD. It is commonly believed that the image was given as […]Read more

One of the most exciting – and daunting – tasks we can undertake is starting somewhere new. Our settled routine can be very alluring when God calls us out of it, but newness ignites our sense of adventure. In change, we are given a unique chance to grow in courage and trust in God. Saint […]Read more