Veni sponsa Christi, accipe coronam quam tibi Dominus praeparavit in aeternum pro cujus amore sanguinem tuum fudisti et cum Angelis in paradisum introisti. Veni, electa mea, et ponam in te thronum meum quia concupivit Rex speciem tuam. Come, bride of Christ, receive the crown which the Lord has prepared for you for all eternity; forContinue reading “veni, sponsa Christi”
Tag Archives: saints
The life of Catholic foundress Cornelia Connelly was ruled by men. Was her obedience to them holy?
“O my love, I have wished to be a Catholic in my acts of love but I am afraid in truth & spirit have been but a discontented protestant,” Cornelia Connelly wrote to her husband. He had just informed her that they would be converting from Episcopalianism to Catholicism, and she would be required toContinue reading “The life of Catholic foundress Cornelia Connelly was ruled by men. Was her obedience to them holy?”
omnes sancti confessores
When I was in seventh grade, or whatever year we drove to visit a friend of a friend who was a nun in the Bronx, I grew momentarily obsessed with the martyrs of Japan. I remember this because it was raining and there was traffic and I had in my lap this sky-blue encyclopedia ofContinue reading “omnes sancti confessores”
Blessed Sára Salkaházi
Foto: BoldogSalkaháziSára on Facebook My patron saint for 2017 is Blessed Sára Salkaházi. The first paragraph of her Vatican biography is more than forthcoming about the providence involved: Teacher, bookbinder, milliner, journalist: this was the resume of Sára Salkaházi when she applied to join the Sisters of Social Service, a Hungarian religious society that todayContinue reading “Blessed Sára Salkaházi”
Katharine Drexel: the American missionary
Our country’s pain these days isn’t necessarily on the same scale, but it rhymes with Katharine’s America in a way that is instructive. Like her, we face a situation that it would be very easy to withdraw from. She, too, lived in a time of immigration, economic turmoil, fraught borders, gang violence, and epic war.Continue reading “Katharine Drexel: the American missionary”
A litany of women for the Church
On this International Women’s Day, I am praying this litany from Joan Chittister, OSB. An excerpt: We call on the holy women who went before us, channels of Your Wordin testaments old and new, to intercede for us so that we might be given the grace to become what they have been for the honor and glory of God. Saint Esther, whoContinue reading “A litany of women for the Church”
“imitate the bee”
Do not act like the spider, who represents the proud; but imitate the bee, who is the symbol of the humble soul. The spider spins its web where everyone can see it, and never in secret. It spins in orchards, going from tree to tree, in houses, on windows, on floors—in short, before the eyesContinue reading ““imitate the bee””
A Lily Among Thorns: The Mohawk Repatriation of Káteri Tekahkwí:tha
The Jesuits had to learn Mohawk. They didn’t force us to learn French. They borrowed names and concepts from our creation story to teach us their story. Karonhià:ke, the Mohawk name for Sky World, became the Mohawk word for heaven in the Lord’s Prayer. This was not just a linguistic shortcut, but a conceptual bridgeContinue reading “A Lily Among Thorns: The Mohawk Repatriation of Káteri Tekahkwí:tha”
fearful but overjoyed
In the time between Mary Magdalene seeing the Risen Christ and telling the disciples, she was the church on earth. Fr. James Martin, SJ She’s my confirmation saint, because when she went out and told the men they didn’t believe her. Kaya Oakes All Saints Day, I know, is meant to be about the manyContinue reading “fearful but overjoyed”
the saints Catherine
Photo via my friend Amanda, 2 February 2014 My parents say they called me Catherine because it’s a classic, the name of many saints and queens, the kind of name that never goes out of style. But of course in our churches a baptismal name is also a point of entry into tradition, uniting aContinue reading “the saints Catherine”