Earthly riches are like the reed. Its roots are sunk in the swamp, and its exterior is fair to behold; but inside it is hollow. If a m...

Fulbert is said to have been born in Italy of poor parents. As a student at the Cathedral School of Rheims, he was purportedly one of i...

              Oh, most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven. Blessed Mother of the Son of God; Immacu...

Outpourings of affection for God, of resting in His presence, of good feelings toward everyone and sentiments and prayers like these … a...

Waldedrudis, or Waudru in French, was the daughter of the Duke of Lorraine, St. Walbert and his wife St. Bertilia and closely related t...

Every virtue in your soul is a precious ornament which makes you dear to God and to man. But holy purity, the queen of virtues, the ang...

Born on July 12, 1751 in Cuvilly, France, Marie Rose Julie Billiard was the daughter of fairly well-to-do peasant farmers who also owne...

Most Christians regard decorum and civility only as human qualities, and do not realize that these virtues can relate us to God, to our nei...

Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, the famous founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, or the Christian Brothers, was born in Rheims o...

True charity consists in putting up with all one’s neighbor’s faults, never being surprised by his weakness, and being inspired by the l...

William was born into an illustrious French family and raised in the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés under the tutelage of ...

Eutychian, Patriarch of Constantinople, relates the following well-known story of Theophilus (6th century). The Patriarch was an eyewit...

I cannot understand  how anyone conscious of mortal sin   can laugh or be merry.  St. Thomas Aquinas

Vincent Ferrer, although born in Valencia in Spain, was from Scotch-English descent on his father’s side. His parents instilled in him ...

 by Father Thomas de Saint-Laurent Out of love for us, the Eternal Word was made flesh in the chaste womb of Mary. His plan was ...

Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin. All hope consists in confession. In confession there is a chan...

Isidore’s father was probably of Roman origin. From Cartagena in Spain, he was connected to the Visigothic kings. Isidore’s much olde...

Satisfaction consists in removing the causes of the sin. Thus, fasting is the proper antidote to lust; prayer to pride, to envy, anger a...

Richard was born about 1197, the second son of a land-owning squire in Wyche, England. Today known as Droitwich, his birthplace is comm...

Do not grieve over the temptations you suffer. When the Lord intends to bestow a particular virtue on us, He often permits us first to b...

Born in Paola, a small town in Calabria, Francis’ parents were humble, industrious people, dedicated to the service of God. Childless a...

The Five First Saturdays devotion is one of the principal points of the Fatima message. It centers on the urgent need for mankin...

Think well. Speak well. Do well. These three things, through the mercy of God, will make a man go to Heaven. St. Camillus de Lellis

Hugh was born in Châteauneuf-sur-Isère in France. His father had served with honor in the army. Remarkable for his manly piety and the ...

Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven. St. Rose of Lima

Guy was born near Ravenna in northern Italy to parents who took great pride in him. Primarily to give them pleasure, he was meticulous ...

The longer the trial to which God subjects you, the greater the goodness in comforting you during the time of trial and in the exaltatio...

Leonard Murialdo was born in 1828 into a wealthy, but religious, family in Turin, Italy. The eighth child in a large family, he was onl...

As a child, I was fascinated by the foil wrapped, chocolate eggs hidden in the bush. The intense search was rewarded by a glimmer of ligh...

Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society. St. Francis of Assisi

Rupert’s origins are obscure, though there are strong indications that he was a Frenchman, and, according to a certain tradition, a sci...

A Prayer for Easter From Holy Saturday to Pentecost we sing or recite one of the Church’s most joyful anthems, the Regina Coeli (O, Qu...

Considering Our Lady’s action upon the three Fatima children in a broader sense, the changes she brought about in them was something ex...

The heart of man is, so to speak, the paradise of God. Since His delights are to be with you, let yours be found in Him. St. Alphonsus ...

Tutilo was an Irish man who, while visiting the renowned Benedictine Abbey of St. Gall in present-day Switzerland, delayed his departur...

The Resurrection represents the eternal and definitive triumph of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the complete defeat of his adversaries, and ...

For this reason she is called "the moon"   that as the moon is between the sun and the earth, and reflects upon the latter what s...

John of Egypt was born in present-day area of Asyut and was trained as a carpenter. At the age twenty-five he submitted himself to the ...