God has given us a portrait of the virtues in the life of the Holy Family. Unlike a static, cracked ancient stone, we find in their...

The Nativity by Lorenzo Monaco, c. 1406-10. (Photo: Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons) Christmas and the Nativity is not just a fable,...

The world does not think like God. If we were to plan how to stage the most important moment in history, it might involve a great...

By Father Angel Perez-Lopez Vicar for Clergy for the Archdiocese of Denver The Son of God Becomes the Son of Man The Christmas season is...

Decorative metal lantern lit by a glowing candle in night By Ashley Crane We expect Christmas to be a happy and joyous time—a time of merry-making, gift-giving, and extravagant jollification. And it is right and good that it be so. We are, after all, celebrating the most important birthday ever. This feast is second in importance only to Easter in the Church’s calendar, and, like Easter, the Church celebrates it with an octave (an eight-day long celebration of the feast) fol

I recently happened across a comforting verse from The First Letter of Peter that seems fitting for a time like this. “Humble yourselves,...

Among the tenured professorial skeptics, few Gospel episodes have been sliced, diced, and tossed to the dissecting room floor as “mythology” more often than the story of the Magi: the “wise men from the East [who] came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and have come to worship him’” (Matthew 2:2).  In  Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives , Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, who avoids the unfort

Amidst the unique Christmas we will be experiencing this 2020, the astronomical event that will unfold on Dec. 21 appears like a gift of...

Every family is called to build a culture in their home, with unique traditions and practices. The season of Christmas is a great...

There is an ancient legend about Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and a spider. After Jesus was born, the Holy Family fled into Egypt, while baby boys were being slaughtered by order of King Herod. The legend says that one night the family stopped to sleep in a cave. There was a spider in that cave, the story goes, who knew the infant Jesus was a special child. According to the legend, the spider felt called to do something unexpected— something that would save Mary, Joseph, and Jesus fr

Dr. Michel Therrien, STL, STD is the  President of the Preambula Group. For families at Christmas time, the Church’s celebration of the...

In the bleak mid-winter Frosty wind made moan; Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow,...

By Monsignor Jorge de los Santos Around this time of year, it’s common to see the Christmas celebration filled with marketing and...

In October 2001 I had a long conversation with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. It was but weeks after 9/11; a new century and millennium were...