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Catholic Faith Corner

Living in the Light
of Jesus Christ

Sea of Galilee at Sunrise

Catholic Faith Corner

Living in the Light
of Jesus Christ

Dying Words of Saints

Halloween is the Eve before we celebrate the Hallowed (Saints). In honor of this feast, which occurs the day this post appears, I offer you two excerpts from my book I Am Going … : Reflections on the Last Words of the Saints. Originally published by ACTA, the book is now available for $14.95 from […]

Books of Animal Prayers

One question people ask about heaven is Will my pet be there? My ninth grade religion teacher said, “If that will make you happy, it will be there.” Actually the jury is still out regarding the presence of animals in the afterlife. Because they do not have the same kind of souls that we do, […]

May, Mary, and the Rosary

During the past week on three occasions, people asked me about the rosary. On Saturday I was privileged to be at the Cleveland orchestra’s performance of a modern piece called “Mysteries of Light.” It had five movements, each one based on a luminous mystery of the Rosary. I’m taking these events as signs that my […]

Why Our Lady of Lourdes? Prayer and Penance

Today is February 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. There are 69 approved miracles of physical healing that occurred at Lourdes, France. (About 7,000 have been submitted.) But perhaps there are many more miracles of spiritual healing resulting from Mary’s visit to Earth back in 1858. I’m willing to bet that almost every […]

Strange Happenings: Angels at Work?

At dinner the other night an elderly friend I’ll call Lucy told us a touching story. A few years ago on her 65th wedding anniversary, she was sorely missing her deceased husband. She lived alone, and there was no one to share her sadness and console her. She figured that her children would not remember […]

(Holy) Poor Souls and Saints: The Next World

The day after I flew home from a conference in Chicago, I googled my name. (That sometimes proves interesting.) That night a shocking notice appeared—an obituary for Kathleen Glavich! Did our plane go down? Am I in twilight zone? Am I dreaming? I didn’t feel dead. I clicked on the notice and it took me […]

Why Pray a Psalm at Mass?

At every Mass we pray or sing a psalm after the first reading. A psalm is a prayer-song taken from the Old Testament and attributed to King David, who, as you know, played the harp. I thought of blogging about psalms today because we are in the month of the Holy Rosary, a devotion that […]

How to Find Lost Things and St. Anthony’s Help

A picture appeared on Facebook showing St. Anthony of Padua saying “Seriously? You lost them again?” As the patron of lost things, this saint is possibly the one most prayed to other than our Blessed Mother. How did he acquire this reputation? According to a legend, St. Anthony, as the novice director for the Franciscans, […]

Short Prayers for Everyday Spirituality

When I entered the convent, a custom prompted us to think of God all day long. Every hour a bell rang over the PA, and we prayed a lengthy ” hour prayer.” This is no longer done, and it has never been done in regular homes as far as I know. Yet, we are still […]