Here is Pope St John Paul II’s prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: ‘Oh, Immaculate Heart! Help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths […]

Here are some words of the Visitandine St Margaret Mary Alacoque for the Feast: ‘The Sacred Heart is the symbol of that boundless love which moved the Word to take flesh, to institute the Holy Eucharist, to take our sins upon Himself and, dying on the Cross, to offer Himself as a victim and sacrifice […]

Here is part of the account, as told by St Luke: ‘Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbours and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her’. The hymn traditionally sung for this feast, Ut Queant […]

These two Reformation Martyrs are at the core of what it means to witness for the Faith. One, Bishop of Rochester, and the other, Chancellor of England, gave their lives for Truth in 1535. In particular, they believed that no human authority can replace the authority and power of God. As we see the rise […]

This sixteenth century Jesuit saint had a profound spiritual awakening at the age of 7. Reading about the Jesuits made him convinced that God was calling him there, but because of family pressures, it was some four years before he could enter. In 1591, the plague struck Rome, and the Jesuits opened a hospital to […]

Today is also the Optional Memoria of St Alban, Protomartyr of England, and the saint after whom the city of St Albans is named. Here is part of Bede’s account of what happened: ‘Alban, being yet a pagan, at the time when the cruelties of wicked princes were raging against Christians, gave entertainment in his […]

St Ambrose of Milan wrote: ‘You have read that in the creation, the words of Christ have power to change the natures of the elements. You have read that in the creation of the whole world He spoke and they came to be; He commanded and they were created. If Christ could by speaking create […]

Here is part of a traditional hymn for a Dedication Festival: ‘Blessed city, heavenly Salem, vision dear of peace and love, who of living stones art builded / in the height of heaven above, and, with angel hosts encircled, as a bride dost earthward move. … Many a blow and biting sculpture / polished well […]

From today’s Gospel, from St Matthew: ‘Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your […]

Today is also the Optional Memoria in the Archdiocese of Birmingham of St Richard of Chichester, born towards the end of the twelfth century in what is today Droitwich in Worcestershire. The miracle associated with him is that of the dropped chalice. It is said that, tired and worn out, he dropped the chalice containing […]