Grab your beer steins, buy a 6 pack, and ring the rectory doorbell—it’s the second Monday in September, also know as International Buy a Priest a Beer Day! This festive holiday traces its origins back to the pious deed of St. Hopswald of Aleyard, the first man to buy his priest a beer. The legend goes that […]

Note: The following article is from a chapter in Dom van Zeller’s Suffering: The Catholic Answer, available from Sophia Institute Press. It is reprinted with permission. Psychologists tell us that one of the chief evils of our age, an evil apparently less evident in earlier ages, is that of easy defeat. Be this as it may, most people […]

“What I know of the divine sciences and Holy Scriptures, I learned in woods and fields. I have no other masters than the beeches and the oaks.” – Saint Bernard of Clairvaux This past weekend, we went on a family camping trip in the local state forest. While we certainly enjoyed ourselves, I will admit […]

Why then, since we are watched from above by such a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of all that weighs us down, of the sinful habit that clings so closely, and run, with all endurance, the race for which we are entered. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the origin and the crown […]

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting Matthew Christoff of the blog, The New Emangelization. Matthew is a convert like myself, and he has dedicated his considerable talents and wealth of experience to the service of the Christ and his Church. He especially has a heart for men’s evangelization, and he is passionate about inspiring us to […]

It’s no secret that I’m a big Tolkien fan. Not only are his works fantastic literature, they are also rich with Catholic motifs that inspire one to fight for what is good and true in the face of growing darkness. Then there’s the films. While I’m highly disappointed with the new Hobbit movies, I think the Lord of […]

When we think of great mystics and wonder-working saints, we often think of those who lived centuries ago. Yet, St. Pio of Pietrelcina was both a mystic and a performer of many miracles—and he died in 1968, only 46 years ago. In many ways, this saint was and is a contradiction to our scientific, rational age, and despite their eagerness […]

Blessed John Henry Newman was a consummate Catholic gentleman. Reviled by many of his closest friends for converting to Catholicism, he bore insults and attacks on his character with patience and charity. Here is his description of a gentleman taken from his work The Idea of a University, published in 1854. Keep in mind that Newman is here […]