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Pope Francis on Saturday put Robert Schuman, who paved the way for the founding of the European Union, on the path to sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. The pope approved a decree recognizing the “heroic virtues” of the 20th-century French statesman who died in 1963, the Vatican said in a statement. “Behind the action of the public man, there was the interiority of the man who lived the sacraments, who, when he could, would take to an abbey, who would reflect on the sacred Word before finding the shape of his political words,” the Vatican said about Schuman. The...

On December 8, 1977, Venerable Fulton J. Sheen came to the Philadelphia area to preach to a packed house at the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Roxborough. This church is about 10 minutes from where I grew up, and I was seven years old at the time of the event. Though I didn't attend, my aunt and uncle did. This was probably the closest I ever came to Archbishop Sheen during my lifetime. It was his first talk after a six-month hiatus recovering from heart surgery. I was recently reminded of the event by my aunt who gave me...

White Double THE BLESSING GIVEN by our Lord as he ascended into heaven has revealed its power in the most distant pagan lands, and during these days the liturgical cycle bears witness to a concentration of graces upon the west of Europe. The band of missionaries begged of Pope Eleutherius by the British king Lucius has been followed by the apostolate of Augustine. the envoy of Gregory the Great, and today, as though impatient to justify the lavish generosity of heaven, England brings forward her illustrious son, the Venerable Bede. This humble monk, whose whole life was spent in...

Vatican City, Jan 23, 2015 / 10:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Servant of God Aloysius Schwartz is one of the 11 causes for canonization that Pope Francis advanced yesterday, and will be granted the title “Venerable” with the pontiff’s recognition of his heroic virtue. Pope Francis approved the advancement of the causes for canonization during a private Jan. 22 audience with Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In addition to Fr. Schwartz, six other Servants of God were recognized for heroic virtue, while three have been acknowledged as martyrs. The Pope also recognized a...

Margaret Occhiena, Co-founder of Salesian Family VATICAN CITY, NOV. 16, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes read a decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Margaret Occhiena, mother of St. John Bosco, as well as her reputation for holiness. Cardinal José Saraiva Martins read the decree Wednesday in the chapel of the Salesian community in the Vatican. On hand were the rector major of the Salesians, Father Pascual Chávez; the postulator general, Father Enrico dal Cóvolo; the prefect of the Apostolic Vatican Library, Father Raffaele Farina; the director general of the Vatican Press, Father Elio Torrigiani; and...

May 25, 2005Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Psalm: Wednesday 24 Reading ISir 36:1, 4-5a, 10-17 Come to our aid, O God of the universe,look upon us, show us the light of your mercies,and put all the nations in dread of you!Thus they will know, as we know,that there is no God but you, O Lord. Give new signs and work new wonders. Gather all the tribes of Jacob,that they may inherit the land as of old,Show mercy to the people called by your name;Israel, whom you named your firstborn.Take pity on your holy city,Jerusalem, your dwelling place.Fill...

SAINT BEDE CONFESSOR, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH—735 A.D. Feast: May 27* Almost all that is known of the life of Bede is derived from a touching description of his death written by a disciple, the monk Cuthbert, and a short factual account in the final chapter of his famous work, the <Ecclesiastical History of England>, from which we quote: "Thus much of the ecclesiastical history of Britain and especially of the English nation, have I, Bede, a servant of Christ and priest of the monastery of the Blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, which is at Wearmouth and Jarrow, with...

May 25, 2004 Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter Psalm: Tuesday 24 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IActs 20:17-27 From Miletus Paul had the presbyters of the Church at Ephesus summoned. When they came to him, he addressed them, "You know how I lived among you the whole time from the day I first came to the province of Asia. I served the Lord with all humility and with the tears and trials that came to me because of the plots of the Jews, and I did not at all shrink from telling you what was for...

The Passion of The Christand Anne Catherine Emmerichand Mary of Agreda The Mel Gibson movie The Passion of The Christ has caused new interest in the writings of the Catholic mystics Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich, and Venerable Mary of Agreda. Although the  source of the movie is the Gospels, Gibson nonetheless appears to have taken some inspiration for his artistry from the writings of these two holy Catholic women, whose writings he acknowledges were important to the spiritual journey which lead him to make the movie. Anne Catherine Emmerich was an Augustinian nun who was born 8 September 1774...