Catholic. Pastoral. Trusted.
A Letter by Robert E. Lee From my lofty perch atop many pedestals, I have become a lightning rod. Some governing bodies are now enacting legislation to keep me standing. Others have spent millions of dollars for masked men to remove my compatriots and me—mostly in darkness and secrecy. Paraphrasing...
For countless individuals and families with children, September marks the end of one kind of chaos and the beginning of another. In the summer, parents are taxed with the challenge to fill the stretch of long days with activity. Dotting many June-August schedules are the hottest (no pun intended) summer...
Visio Divina, a term used in the practice of contemplative prayer, means “holy gazing.” This refers to the practice of looking into something with intention and purpose, focusing on a certain object. In our case, the “something” is the icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. You may be familiar...
Fr. Michael Champagne, CJC, is recognized as the priest behind the traveling confessional—an old ambulance revamped to literally meet the faith-filled wherever they gather. Editor Elizabeth Herzing interviews Fr. Champagne about how he and his community strive to live a life of contemplata aliis tradere, like Mary, a handing on...
My paternal grandmother used to pray the rosary every morning before Mass. On Sundays, when my sisters and I would file into the pew, she would greet us with hugs and kisses, her beads swaying, and then return to her prayer. In adulthood, I learned that she began this practice...
Saint Michael’s Church was a Redemptorist stronghold in Baltimore, MD for more than 150 years. It welcomed immigrants and set them on a course toward God and the fulfillment of their American dream. As sadly happens in some city churches, the parish closed seven years ago, and the property was...
C.S. As we face the war on terror, the terror of war, and hatred among religions and races, now more than ever we must heed God’s call to peace. But how do we accomplish such a monumental feat? For answers, I turned to Jean Vanier, a hero of faith, humanitarian...
Ever since the 1732 founding of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, the Redemptorist missionaries have been able to rely on a dedicated order of contemplative nuns. In 1731, Blessed Maria Celeste Crostarosa founded the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptoristines). Maria Celeste’s inspired revelations then guided...
Prayer is the intimacy of being honestly human and letting God be God. In this intimacy, we gently learn to trust and open our hearts to God. The Creator and the Spirit’s love are the courage, generosity, and compassion that inspired Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. “Not what I will...
A Portal Into Mystery The common and best-known definition of icons is, “They are windows into mystery.” In short, the result of reading and praying icons is a spiritual experience. In the icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, the “window” is plentiful redemption. Where is the entrance point for us...
Recently, I jaunted down memory lane. It started when I tore apart my home office in preparation for a new printer. If you’re like me, every project leads to a larger and more complicated undertaking. And I take after my father, which means that cleaning always involves pitching, so in...
Wendy Barnes began working at Liguori Publications before she even had a driver’s license. During her first year of employment, her mother drove her to work in the morning and her father picked her up in the evening when she couldn’t get a ride from a coworker. “I grew up...
In October 1947, five Redemptorists drove their heavily loaded small truck from Oconomowoc, WI to St. Louis and then twenty miles southwest to the village of Barnhart. There, they turned onto a twisting gravel road, drove under a railroad viaduct and a half-mile up a hill to a plot of...
The apostolate of the pen—and the catching of the fish—were among the orders of the day for Liguori’s pioneers of seven decades past. “Fr. Donald Miller had long cherished the unique notion of a Redemptorist community engaged nearly entirely in the apostolate of the pen. And in the fall of...
The vegetarian equivalent of meat loaf—perfect for the Lenten season. From A Monastery Kitchen: The Classic Natural Foods Cookbook Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette Ingredients: 1 cup of lentils 1 cup of rice Olive oil 4 cups of water 1 large onion, sliced 2 tomatoes, chopped 10 mushrooms, sliced 2 garlic cloves,...
In 2017, Liguori Publications celebrates its seventieth anniversary at our location in Liguori, MO. Liguori Publications, a ministry of the Redemptorists, is named after our founder and prolific spiritual author, St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1732). In 1913, the Redemptorists ventured into publishing at our seminary in Oconomowoc, WI. The enterprise began...
Every month, St. Alphonsus gives us practical ways to imitate Christ Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696–1787) was a man of many accomplishments. Ordained to the priesthood at the age of thirty, he was a tireless preacher of the word of God, a popular writer on theological and spiritual topics,...
The Latin root of Cardinal is cardo, meaning “hinge,” or something very important. In the Church, it came to mean “a clergyman of the highest rank, next to the pope.” In early October, Pope Francis named seventeen new cardinals, including American Archbishops Blase J. Cupich of Chicago and Joseph W....
The month of January brings to mind new beginnings, a time of firsts. The root of the Latin word for January (Ianuarius) comes from the Latin word for door (ianua). January, the “door” into the new year, is when we often feel compelled to invoke resolutions on how we will...
I’m always amazed by the bizarre (unique?) “special days” that pop up each month. Take December. There’s National Fritters Day on December 2, Wear Brown Shoes Day (4), International Civil Aviation Day (7), Put On Your Own Shoes Day [who does that the rest of the year?] (6), National Roof...