Sometimes we have this feeling that Our Lady is an icicle or an image on a holy card or a statue with perpetually folded hands — aloof, above us, almost inhuman, unrelated to anything that’s related to us. Why do some of
Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Weeping Madonna of Syracuse, a plaster image of Mary hung in the bedroom of a newlywed couple in southern Italy that began shedding tears, Pope Francis said the miraculous sign is a reminder of Mary's maternal
Mary, human and not divine, shows us what the living inculturation of the Gospel looks like by revealing herself as one of the people to whom she appears. Juan Diego doesn't see an outsider; he sees a mother and trusts her. In
ICatholic dad Leonard DeLorenzo encourages parents to help their children discern the Word of God, the only one influence that never deceives and always is worthy of all our trust. Mary, the first and perfect disciple, is willing and able to listen
The Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is observed each year on November 21. According to the apocryphal Gospels, the feast commemorates the presentation of the Blessed Virgin as a child by her parents, Joachim and Anne, in the
A reader asks: “After Saint Joseph learned of Mary’s pregnancy, he did not want to expose her to the Law. He decided instead to quietly divorce her. What was this law? What would have happened to her and her child if she
In the 15th century, Dominican friars and local rosary confraternities initiated the observance of a special feast dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. This tradition found its roots in the historical events of October 7, 1571, when Christian and Turkish forces
Notre Dame football is an American legend. Its home games are treated as rituals. Students pack the stands. At every game, rain or shine, they sing the school’s Alma Mater, accompanied by the equally legendary Fighting Irish Marching Band. These are the
The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is celebrated on September 15 and commemorates the seven great sorrows of Mary, Mother of Jesus. The biblically-based sorrows are: the prophecy of Simeon; the flight into Egypt; the Child Jesus being lost for three
According to the apocryphal Gospel of James, Mary was the child of Sts. Joachim and Anne. Joachim had ventured out into the desert to lament their childlessness and learned in a vision that he and Anne would have a daughter. Ancient accounts