Saints and Angels

He Always Held His Soul in His Hands: The Story of Saint Anthony of Saint Anne Galvão

Saints and Angels / Brazil, Communion of Saints, Confessor and Apostle, Miracle Worker, Novena to Friar Galvão, Preacher

On 11 May 2007 the first Brazilian-born saint, Anthony of Saint Anne Galvão was canonized in Campo de Marte, São Paulo, Brazil, with an estimated one million people in attendance. Saint Anthony has been venerated in Brazil for centuries. However, the saint’s influence is spreading throughout the world. The following story happened in the United

He Always Held His Soul in His Hands: The Story of Saint Anthony of Saint Anne Galvão Read More »

The Martyrs of Japan: Champions of the Faith

Saints and Angels / Communion of Saints, Martyrs, Martyrs of Japan

It was March of 1585. After three exhausting years spent traveling halfway around the world, Julian and his friends, all Japanese converts to the Catholic Faith, looked out on Rome. They were probably the first Japanese to gaze on the Eternal City, which seemed like something out of a dream. As they arrived, a large

The Martyrs of Japan: Champions of the Faith Read More »

Saint Anthony Mary Claret: Apostolic Missionary, Ultramontane Champion and Crusher of Communism

Saints and Angels / Saint Anthony Mary Claret

Saint Anthony Mary Claret was one of the greatest saints the world has ever seen. He was an apostle par excellence, preaching and prophesying everywhere he went. He zealously defended Papal rights and fought against the errors of his time, especially liberalism and communism. Much can be said of this extraordinary saint. He was a

Saint Anthony Mary Claret: Apostolic Missionary, Ultramontane Champion and Crusher of Communism Read More »

Saint Bernard’s Spirit of Chivalry

Saints and Angels / Abelard, chivalry, Heresy, Knights Templar, St Bernard

Saint Bernard was a Cistercian monk. He founded a religious Order that was a branch of the Order of Saint Benedict, destined to practice greater austerity and have a tougher life than required by the toughest rules of the monks of his time. He believed — how rightly! — that through suffering, man atones for

Saint Bernard’s Spirit of Chivalry Read More »

The Miracle of the Sun: Only the Beginning

Saints and Angels, The Blessed Virgin Mary / Blessed Virgin, Communism, Cova da Iria, Fatima, Fatima Seers, Lucia, Miracle of the Sun

“Look at the sun!” The shout echoed through the massive crowd. The multitudes looked up. Jaws dropped. From one moment to the next, the world changed. The sun itself fell from the sky. Men, women and children shouted and cried in terror. Hundreds dropped to their knees in the thick mud. The end of the

The Miracle of the Sun: Only the Beginning Read More »

Saint Bernard Teaches: Do Not Take Your Eyes Off Our Lady

Saints and Angels / Blessed Mother, Help in Temptation, Our Lady, Plinio Correa de Oliveira, Saint Bernard

We do well to read some advice from Saint Bernard about devotion to Our Lady. The advice is as follows: “Oh, whosoever thou art that perceiveth thyself during this mortal existence to be rather drifting in treacherous waters, at the mercy of the winds and the waves, than walking on firm ground, turn not away

Saint Bernard Teaches: Do Not Take Your Eyes Off Our Lady Read More »

King Saint Ferdinand III and His Conquests for Christ

Saints and Angels / Conquest of Spain, Joan of Ponthieu, King of Castile and León, King Saint Ferdinand III, Moors, Queen Joan, Reconquista, Seville, Virgin of the Kings

It is a battle to remain faithful and strong. Saint Ferdinand III was a king, husband, father and warrior whose battle for his soul was just as vigorous as his renowned crusades against the Moors. His cousin, Saint Louis IX, King of France, is generally familiar to Christians and Catholics in the West, but King

King Saint Ferdinand III and His Conquests for Christ Read More »

The Struggle Against the Power of Darkness

Saints and Angels, The Blessed Virgin Mary / Angels, Demons, Virgin Mary

Notions about the holy angels among the Catholic faithful, even the most enthusiastic Catholics, are often vague and superficial. For the most part, they are mere memories and images of childhood, not much different from fictitious and somewhat mythological beings such as fairies and elves. Unfortunately, today’s iconography does not help to make known the

The Struggle Against the Power of Darkness Read More »

The Nobility of the Holy Family and Prayer to Saint Joseph

Family, Prayers, Saints and Angels / Blessed Mother, Child Jesus, Holy Family, Mary, Prayer, Saint Joseph

Mary, Joseph, and Therefore Jesus, Were Born of Royal Stock Taken from a sermon of Saint Bernardine of Siena (1380-1444) about Saint Joseph: Firstly, let us consider the nobility of the bride the Most Holy Virgin. The Blessed Virgin was nobler than any other creature that had been born in human form that could be or

The Nobility of the Holy Family and Prayer to Saint Joseph Read More »

Blessed Francisco: Contemplator of the Universe

Saints and Angels / Blessed Francisco Marto, Fatima, Our Lady of Fatima, Sister Lucia

In May 1946, Sister Lucia, then a Dorothean nun, went to Fatima to visit the sites of the apparitions of the angel (1916) and of Our Lady (1917). At Valinhos, where the fourth apparition of Our Lady took place, a group was waiting for her that included her uncle Marto, the father of Francisco and

Blessed Francisco: Contemplator of the Universe Read More »