Faith & Spirituality

In the footsteps of the Holy Family: A pilgrimage through the virtues 

The Light of the World, François Boucher, 1750. 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 hearts a living icon of fidelity in hardship, stemming from complete openness to the grace of God. We can follow them not only in the “school of Nazareth,” as St. Paul VI expressed their daily routine of prayer and work, but, as we approach Christmas, we can join their steps to Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and their...

Godhead here in hiding: Transubstantiation and the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist

Photo by Lia Mendoza via Cathopic Catechetical School Instructor for the SJV Lay Division St. Thomas Aquinas is probably best known for his impressive theological works, but during his life he also composed beautiful prayers and hymns that we still sing in the Church today. Among these is his Adoro te devote , often known under the English title “Godhead Here in Hiding,” a translation into English by the 19th-century English poet and Jesuit priest, Gerard Manley Hopkins. This hymn is a...

Black Catholics on the way to sainthood: Ven. Henriette Delille

Born in 1813 to a multicultural and multiracial family, Henriette Delille grew up in a complicated environment. Groomed by her mother to join the society of the day, Delille was taught nursing and homemaking skills; she learned French, music, and dance, and attended various balls and events, all in the hopes of finding a suitable partner – a white man. At the time, this partner would have been a common-law husband who entered into a contract with his female partner’s mother, pledging support...

Servant of God Michelle Duppong’s Colorado roots grow to potential sainthood

Photo courtesy of FOCUS “Jesus, I not only want to be a Saint, but I want to be a great Saint that leads others to You all for Your...

Come Holy Spirit, Give us a Eucharistic Revival!

Photo by Grant Whitty via Unsplash In the 1930s, during Stalin’s rage against all things religious, St. Louis Catholic Church in Moscow was the only Catholic Church still open in all the USSR. As detailed in the marvelous book, In Lubianka’s Shadow, Catholics from all over the USSR would travel hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles, to receive the sacraments. St. Louis Church was located on a side street, just across from the infamous Lubianka KGB Prison. The KGB kept careful track of...

Highway to Heaven: Learning from Carlo Acutis’s Eucharistic fervor

Denver’s Cathedral to host a first-class relic of Bl. Carlo for the Eucharistic Revival (File photo) What do video games, the internet...

Abide in Relationship: The Eucharist as the Sacrament of Charity

(Photo: Cathopic) In the Gospel of John, Jesus uses some powerful analogies to explain our relationship with him. We are the branches. He...

Black Catholics on the way to sainthood: Servant of God Thea Bowman

For Black Catholic History Month, the Office of Black Catholic Ministry is pleased to present the documentary “A Place at the Table: African-Americans on the Path to Sainthood”  for free, in collaboration with FORMED and the Augustine Institute. Servant of God Thea Bowman is featured in the documentary. To watch, visit formed.org/signup , search for your parish and sign up under that parish. Hailing from the Deep South, Bertha Elizabeth Bowman was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi. Though she...

Black Catholics on the way to sainthood: Ven. Augustus Tolton

(Courtesy of the National Black Catholic Congress) For Black Catholic History Month, the Office of Black Catholic Ministry is pleased to...

Eucharistic Miracles, Miraculous Gifts

(Photo: Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons) The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a cornerstone of Catholic doctrine. But...

SJV Lay Division course seeks to bolster belief in the Real Presence

(Photo: Cathopic) It’s the most significant moment in Mass, but nearly 70 percent of Catholics don’t even believe what it means....

The Eucharist, the Mass and you

The words and actions of a man in the last conscious moments of his life in this world are always charged with deep meaning. The last days of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God made man for us and for our salvation, also possess that special density. At the Last Supper with his disciples, Christ left us the Holy Mass. From that moment on, it can be said that the Church lives by the Eucharist. In this mystery of love is fulfilled the promise of Christ: “the bread that I will give...