Imagine a quick snowfall on an otherwise brutally hot day in August. By all accounts, that’s exactly what happened on the morning of August 5, 352 upon the Esquiline Hill in Rome! Legend tells us that a childless aristocratic couple had asked the Blessed Virgin Mary to show them a worthy cause to which they could donate their fortune. This couple, John and his wife, was privileged to be visited by...
Danielle Peters
Recent Posts
Having crossed the midpoint of the Year of Mercy, it is time to take stock. During his eighth jubilee audience on June 30, 2016, Pope Francis challenged us by asking whether or not mercy has become our style of life. We can easily recognize this life style, the Pope noted, in a person in whom “mercy has eyes to see, ears to listen, hands to resolve.” In other words, “The works of mercy are not the...
On June 4 we celebrate the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. What are the scriptural, historical, and theological foundations for devotion to the Heart of Mary? How is devotion to the Heart of Mary linked to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus? Which magisterial documents and liturgical expressions provide support for devotion to the Heart of Mary?
“We must not be afraid to go into the desert and to transform it into a forest!” With these words Pope Francis challenged hundreds of people gathered on April 24, 2016 for the “Village of the Earth” event which was promoted by the Focolare Movement and Earth Day Italy. During his surprise visit that lasted more than an hour, the Holy Father drew attention to "the many deserts in the cities.” Recal...
The crucifix pictured above uniquely interprets the last recorded encounter of the Blessed Mother and her Son, Jesus. Its Brazilian artist, Fr. Angel Vincente, created this crucifix in 1960 and gifted it to the Schoenstatt Shrine in Santiago, Chile. Due to the close union between Christ and Mary depicted on the image it received the name Unity Cross.
Pope Francis’ Message for Lent in the Year of Mercy (LM) bears the title, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” (Mt 9:13). The works of mercy on the road of the Jubilee. Signed on the Feast of St. Francis (October 4, 2015), the message is subdivided into three subheadings. Parts two and three focus directly on mercy, reflecting respectively on God’s covenant with humanity: a history of mercy and on ...
