For the Daughters of St. Paul, founded only two years before the Fátima apparitions, the answer to that question is profound. Our Lady of Fátima appeared to three obscure Portuguese children at an important, even crucial, time in world affairs. World War I was going on, of course; but sadly there’s rarely a time when there’s a war not going on somewhere. Fátima's Distinctive Context: the Media ExplosionNo; what’s particularly distinctive to us is t...

Fear is one of the most powerful of all emotions. Fear has started wars, ended lives, and destroyed belief. Fear is possibly the most dominant weapon in the Devil’s arsenal, and he uses it well. So it stands to reason that one of our primary defenses against evil is to fight fear. And that can only happen through faith.One person who understood fear was Pope John Paul II. He was elected pope after the upheaval of Vatican II and saw fear everywhere he looked: in the politics and turmoil of ...

He didn’t do very well in school. Called—he thought—to the priesthood, he failed several of his seminary classes and was then in fact told to leave. His fifth-grade teacher urged him to persevere, and he went on to finally graduate from Mount St. Mary’s and follow his vocation.Still, it doesn’t sound like an auspicious beginning, does it? But soon after he was ordained, Father Stanley Rother answered Pope John XXIII’s call for missionaries to the struggling Ch...

One of the New Testament’s best pieces of advice, written by Saint Paul to help the small community in Thessalonika, was to “pray without ceasing.”Through the centuries since that letter was written, the Church has taken the advice very much to heart, and the result was what we might call the Church’s prayer schedule, sometimes referred to as the daily office (from the Latin officium divinum or divine service), the opus dei (work of God), the liturgy of the hours, or the ...

A farmer once attended a conference on Christian life. The group was asked to consider a moment in life when they had an experience of self-transcendence. The farmer became very interested when he recounted that during the harvest he would stand in a field of wheat and hold a grain of new wheat in his hand. This experience was overwhelming and moved him to tears; but he never told anyone as he didn’t think they would understand. As the farmer continued, he came to realize that up until now...

Often people attempt to launch into prayer without any preparation. Getting ready to pray is like an artist preparing a canvas, stretching and priming it to receive the inspired work of art. God is the artist who stretches and primes our hearts to receive His Word in prayer. Prayer is first of all God’s work in us and secondarily our work of cooperating with his gift. We begin our preparation by examining our attitude toward prayer. Have you ever held your breath under water until you had ...

Do you know someone who has left the Church? Who do you ask to pray for your loved ones? Sometimes St. Monica is invoked on behalf of children who have strayed from the faith. And she definitely can be a powerful intercessor. But there is another intercessor we should never forget when we pray for friends and family who have left the Church: our Blessed Mother. And in September as we remember her birth, it’s a good time to remember that she is there to help us.Here are some ...

It started with a dream in fifth grade, “Someday,” Linda said to herself, “I am going to get myself over to Africa.” Her teacher had told the kids in her class stories of that distant land and the thought of all the wildlife: monkeys, elephants, giraffes, and you name it, and the mysterious jungle itself, fueled her heart and imagination.The years passed, life happened, Linda Salvi became the Pauline Books & Media customer service representative, and the dream went on...

I have been amazed at how deeply concerned people are about "discovering the will of God." When we are young we want to find out God's plan for us. When we raising a family and pursuing a career, we want to know if we are doing God's will. And in mid-life and beyond we want assurance that we spent our life doing what God had in mind for us when he created us.On this first anniversary of the canonization of Mother Teresa, I thought it would be helpful if we asked Mother Teresa h...

Everyone has heard of Mother Teresa, and most people know that a year ago she became a saint in the Catholic Church. You probably think of her as someone who helped the poor; but as we celebrate her this month, test your knowledge about Mother Teresa. Did you know that … Her name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, and she was born Aug. 26, 1910, in Macedonia to a financially comfortable Albanian family that became less secure at the death of her father when she was eight years old....