Five years ago, I wrote an article asking whether St. Gregory of Narek (or Grigor Narekatsi, 950-1003), an Armenian monk, the then newly announced doctor of the Church, was a Catholic. The answer is clearly that he was not, making him the first non-Catholic doctor of the Catholic Church. The Read more…
I stumbled across the pilgrim plague survivor, St. Rocco, when I was 15. It was my first time in Europe, visiting my aunt who was studying at the University of Montpellier (founded c. 1292) in southern France. I hadn’t heard of Rocco before, but I found myself praying in his Read more…
This website focuses on rebuilding Catholic culture through art, festivity, education, Catholic history and traditions, and a life shaped by prayer. St. Martin of Tours (c.316-97) can be considered one of the original builders of Catholic culture. Thanks to Sulpitius Severus, we have a detailed biography speaking of his life Read more…
Newman almost died as a young man, still an Anglican, during travels in Sicily. While in recovery he had his first real encounters with Catholics and the Mass. When he was well enough to return to England, he resolved that he would use his renewed strength to enter more deeply Read more…
The early Middle Ages rightly can be called the Age of the Monks and the title fits in Ireland even more than anywhere else. Ancient Ireland did not have cities and, with its tribal organization, the monastery served as a central place of prayer, learning, and social organization. Over time, Read more…
We began our Beauty of Faith Pilgrimage to Ireland in Dublin, visiting its churches and its saints/saints in the making: St. Valentine-the Roman saint whose relics are at the Whitefriar Street church; St. John Henry Newman’s University Church where he delivered some of the discourses that became An Idea of Read more…