By Patrick Giroux France’s most celebrated martyr, Joan of Arc, was captured at the gates of the city of Compiègne in northern France in 1431. The stark history of martyrdom would repeat itself more than 350 years later in that same town, except this time it was an entire convent of nuns who would [...]
The Second Book of Maccabees, Chapter 7, recounts the horrific story of the Jewish mother who was forced to watch the killing of her seven sons during the persecution of the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 BC). This evil military general inherited a portion of Alexander the Great's empire and set about forcing everyone [...]
Consider how you would react if a man in a police uniform barged into the room where you were teaching catechism to children and, with a gun in your face, yelled: “I’ve told you many times not to speak about Jesus. You must not mention God here, otherwise I will kill you all.” And [...]
Although the small rural town of West Nickel Mines in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, might not be familiar to most, the tragic shooting of Amish schoolchildren that took place there in 2006 probably is. It is notably one of the saddest incidents in the whole history of school shootings in this country, but it is [...]
The Church has always proclaimed the Cross of Christ as the mystical center of everything that exists. It is the truth of everything in the created world, the purification of the sins of all mankind, and the force of grace that conquers all evil. The Cross is easy to find, though not easy to [...]
Living in a politically and socially divided country, it is not easy to look with compassion on our enemies. According to the logic of the present cancel culture, enemies are to be destroyed, reviled and defeated, not forgiven…unless your soul is as pure as that of Maria Goretti. Then, your attitude toward your enemies [...]
When the annals of effective Christian missionaries are written, Peter Chanel will probably not be on the list – at least, not based upon the success of his missionary work during his lifetime. The young French priest volunteered to go to Oceania and bring the Catholic faith to the Pacific islanders in need of [...]