Spiritual Life
Saint of the Week
The pope who persuaded Attila the Hun to spare Rome
Thursday, November 10th, 2011St Leo the Great (November 10) vigorously sought to maintain the unity of the Church
The wealthy boy who dreamed of escaping luxury
Friday, November 4th, 2011St Charles Borromeo (November 4) as Archbishop of Milan was hugely influential at the Council of Trent
The friar who led an army against the Turks
Friday, October 21st, 2011St John of Capestrano (October 23) was approaching 70 when he plunged into battle
The much-loved schoolmaster executed under Elizabeth I
Thursday, October 13th, 2011St Richard Gwyn (October 17) was imprisoned for four years, put in stocks, and disemboweled for his faith
The missionary who laboured to save the most abandoned souls in the world
Friday, October 7th, 2011St Daniel Comboni (October 10) inspired new European attitudes to Africans
A formidable English bishop who rooted out corruption
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011St Thomas of Hereford (October 2) was canonised only 20 years after his death after some 500 miracles had been attributed to his intercession
The saint who threw Satan out of heaven
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011St Michael the Archangel (September 29) provides aid in the spiritual struggle fought in every human soul
The archbishop who helped restore faith to England after a plague
Friday, September 16th, 2011St Theodore of Tarsus (September 19) probably never gave England a thought before the age of 66. But English civilisation owes him a great debt
The saint who dreamed of a tree stretching across Ireland
Friday, September 9th, 2011St Ciarán of Clonmacnoise (September 9) founded a monastery attracting recruits from all over Europe
The Patriarch whose fervour worried his mother
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011St Laurence Giustiniani (September 5) was born an aristocrat but became renowned for his extreme asceticism
Comment & Blogs
The faith of Mexicans is profoundly moving
By Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith
The Church is the loser in this ugly war between Vatican officials
By Paolo Gambi
Today's Catholic must-reads: 08/02/12
By Luke Coppen
Dickens is disappointingly thin - give me AN Wilson anytime
By Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith
If a woman is a priest, she can also be a bishop: if she’s not, she can’t. Either way, there is now only one way out for Catholic Anglicans: it’s over the Tiber
By William Oddie
More than any monarch, Queen Elizabeth II understands the spiritual element of her coronation oath
By Francis Phillips
Despite reports of violence, I feel totally safe walking around Mexico
By Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith
Morning Catholic must-reads: 07/02/12
By Luke Coppen