Venerable Henriette Delille is the foundress of The Sisters of the Holy Family. Born in 1812, she was a descendant of enslaved people and a free woman of color. As her grandmother’s namesake (Henriette Labeau), she was “destined for eldercare.” Henriette enjoyed caring for aunts, uncles, great aunts, and great-uncles, as well as cousins who were scattered through the city.  She was also instructed by her mother in the art of nursing.  How to prepare medicines for the sick and using roots and herbs with curative properties was a skill that was passed on from mother to daughter by these colored nurses. After receiving the sacrament of confirmation,  Delille clearly became a woman committed to the Lord. Her guiding motto, written in a prayer book, captures what defined her heart and spurred her vocation: “I believe in God. I hope in God. I love. I want to live and die for God.”

The winter tree is a snowflake dressed with grace and bones, a simple miracle to behold on winter’s lonely road.” — Angie Weiland-Crosby.

Advent and Christmas are coming quickly. On Dec. 1, the First Sunday of Advent, Bishop James Golka will be leading the Office of Vigils at St. Mary’s Cathedral at 5 p.m. I am hoping to convince you to come join us for this beautiful prayer.

It’s October and our nights are much cooler and our days are getting shorter. Before long we will have our first freeze and another growing season will be a distant memory. This time of year, even spiders are looking for a warmer place to live for the winter. While the interior of our home is off-limits to these creepy arachnids there is one “spider” that is beneficial to invite inside.

Those of us who regularly interact with non-Catholic Christians and others who have left the Catholic faith are often puzzled about how to communicate accurate information about Catholicism in a manner that is readily digestible. We either overwhelm friends or inquiring relatives with long explanations or recommend books that are dauntingly theological; other times we are too simplistic or find ourselves ducking the difficult aspects of the faith.

The fall equinox and the first day of autumn arrives on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, at 08:44 a.m. EDT in the Northern Hemisphere. The equinox occurs at the same moment worldwide. So, it’s official — fall is here!

Those who understand the signs of the times are increasingly jarred by the hollowing out of the American middle class. The variance between owner and worker in today’s industries is greater than even Gilded Age barons; the increasing costs of education, health care, housing, and food are hampering the building of fruitful and faithful families in our land. The voices that tempt our citizens toward despair and violence are being accepted as alternatives to this present crisis, for it seems that representative government can only appear to be hopelessly corrupt with self-interest on every side, in every party, leaving a faithful Catholic confused as to ways to live out an authentic Catholic faith.  The deluge of social media only impersonates our sense of connection and happiness.

“And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be contradicted.  And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’” (Luke 2:34, 35).

“Now there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.” (John 19:25).

On Sept. 14, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Most feasts in the Church celebrate a salvific event in the life of Christ or commemorate a saint. This feast, however, celebrates an object — the cross of Christ.

Ten years ago, Symbolon became the Augustine Institute’s first parish program that was core to their mission of handing down the Catholic faith. It was designed to help every Catholic know the Nicene Creed. Since its initial release, it has been used for catechetical formation and in the Rite of Christian Initiation (recently changed to the Order of Christian Initiation, or OCIA).