From Season to Season

Ivan was born in 1896 in the village of Zhyvachiv (in modern-day Ukraine). He was ordained a priest in 1923. In April 1945, Bishop Hryhory Khomyshyn, Greek Catholic eparch of Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk), ordained Ivan as coadjutor bishop with the right to succeed him in case Bishop Khomyshyn should be arrested or killed by the Communist leadership. However, on June 2, 1945, Ivan was arrested and deported to the labor camps in Vorkuta, Russia. In 1950, he was transferred to labor camps in Mordovia, Russia. Following his release in 1954, Ivan returned to Stanislaviv. He was arrested again in 1962 and imprisoned for five years in a camp known for its harsh treatment of prisoners. Although he was released on November 30, 1968, he was interrogated by KGB officials every few weeks. The last visit was two weeks before his death, which was on December 2, 1973, in Stanislaviv. Because of his imprisonment and suffering, Blessed Ivan Sleziuk is honored among the “ Martyrs Kill...

Lucina (or Lucy) was a wealthy Roman woman who, according to ancient legends, was converted to the Christian Faith by Saint Peter. When the persecution of the Emperor Nero began (in the year 64), Lucina showed kindness to the imprisoned Christians, including Saints Martinian and Processus , who had served as Saint Peter’s guards while he was in prison awaiting execution. These two men were converted to the Faith by Peter and were executed a few days after the Apostle. Saint Lucina is remembered for courageously giving proper burial to the martyrs. She is believed to have suffered martyrdom herself and has been honored as a martyr since the fourth century.   She is buried in the Catacomb of Saint Callistus in Rome. Today, the relics of Saints Martinian and Processes are enshrined in Saint Peter’s Basilica . Detail of the Catacomb of Callistus In today’s Gospel (Thursday of the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time) we hear how Jesus restored a paralyzed man to health. B...

Francisca was born in São João del Rei, Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 1810. Born into poverty (with no record of her father), she and her brother were orphaned when their mother died in 1820. Francisca never received any formal education and remained illiterate throughout her life. As she grew into adulthood, she chose to never marry and devoted her life to her faith, particularly her devotion to the Blessed Virgin.    Blessed Francisca de Paula Jesus Isabel In time, she won the love of the local people, who came to honor her as Nha Chica —“Aunt Chica.” She eventually settled in the village of Baependi and many came to ask her counsel and prayers. She received everyone with a spirit of true hospitality. In time, she used her meager resources to begin construction of a chapel in honor of the Virgem da Conceição (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception), next to her small home. This chapel remains a popular place of pilgrimage. Nha Chica died in Baependi on June 14, 1895, ...

According to the Acts of the Apostles , Matthias, a witness of the Lord’s ministry and resurrection, was chosen by the apostles to take the place of Judas Iscariot (cf. Acts 1:15-26 ). Saint Matthias received the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and he is said to have preached the Gospel in Judea. Later traditions link him to the churches in Cappadocia and Ethiopia. Honored as a martyr, his relics were translated from Jerusalem to Rome by the Empress Saint Helena . Saint Matthias from the workshop of Simone Martini It is fitting that we celebrate the feast day of an Apostle on this final day before Pentecost . The witness of Saint Matthias and the other Apostles and early Church leaders who left behind home and family to preach and teach about Jesus is an important lesson for us today: Each of us has received the same Holy Spirit that inspired their ministry and service and we too are called to go out from our homes into our parishes and communities to invite others to follo...

On the 13th day of May, we celebrate the Virgin Mary who appeared to three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal, six times between May 13 and October 13, 1917. In these encounters, Mary identified herself as “Our Lady of the Rosary” and urged the practice of penance, daily recitation of the Rosary, and devotion to the Immaculate Heart for the conversion of sinners and of Russia.   On May 13, 2000, Pope Saint John Paul II beatified Jacinta and Francisco Marto , two of the visionaries. The commemoration of Our Lady of Fatima was extended to the Universal Church in 2002. Although there are many who focus on the signs and wonders associated with the apparitions at Fatima, Mary’s message to the children—and to us—is very simple: Pray! And our commitment to prayer—for the Church, for those entrusted to our care, for the poor and forgotten—are the greatest acts of devotion we can show to the Mother of God. Take time today to pray the rosary for those who have no o...

As they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” —Acts 1:9-11 In her novel  Gilead , Marilyn Robinson shares the story of Reverend John Ames who, looking back on a life of pastoral service, love, loss, faith, and hope, tells his young son: Sometimes the visionary aspect of any particular day comes to you in the memory of it, or it opens to you over time. For example, whenever I take a child into my arms to be baptized, I am, so to speak, comprehended in the experience more fully, having seen more of life, knowing better what it means to affirm the sacredness of the human creature. I believe there are visions that come to us only i...

François Laval was born in 1623 into one of the most distinguished families in France. He received the tonsure at age twelve (a symbol of his status as a cleric) and, later, he became a canon of the cathedral of Evreux. Following his ordination in 1647, he was named archdeacon of Evreux. At the age of thirty he was appointed Vicar Apostolic of present-day Vietnam, but he was unable to take up residence there because of the wars that plagued the country during that period; he resigned from that office one year later. In 1658, François was appointed Vicar Apostolic of New France. He arrived in Canada in May 1659, and reached Quebec one month later. During the next thirty years of his life he founded parishes, fought against the exploitation of the Native Americans, and opposed the Gallicanism of the civil authorities. He founded the first seminary in New France in 1662 and in 1674 he was appointed as first bishop of Quebec. François died in 1708 at the age of eighty-five. Saint Fr...