Four hundred years ago, Brother Lawrence (1614–1691), born George Herman, spoke of spirituality as the “practice of the presence of God.” This lay Carmelite...
Church history
Some Catholic traditions are strange. After all, our “big tent” of traditions includes relics—oftentimes the body parts of saints—apparitions, weeping statues...
According to no less an authority than Etsy, the patron saint of cats is a woman named Gertrude of Nivelles. Not to be confused with St. Gertrude the Great (of...
In 2016 news broke that in 1838 Jesuits from Maryland sold nearly 300 slaves to help pay off debts for Georgetown University (then Georgetown College). While...
It’s impossible to list all the books that New Testament scholar and historian N. T. Wright has written in the space allotted on the facing page. His career...
When Charles Darwin was born 200 years ago this month, no one could have guessed the impact his Origin of Species (1859) would have not only on science but on...
The desert mothers and fathers have much to teach Catholics about contemplation and prayer. In the third- to sixth-century desert landscape of Egypt, Syria...
To reach one of the most popular bed-and-breakfasts in Chicago, make your way to Bridgeport, a gritty, working-class neighborhood on the South Side. Across the...
Almost a year after the Vatican removed now disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from ministry and nearly five months after U.S. bishops met in...
Whether school uniforms, habits, or vestments, Catholics are easily distinguishable by what they wear. It’s easy to assume that such highly visible markers of...
