One of my favorite prayers in the Roman Missal comes in this Advent season. The ideas are expressed in a few different ways; this one from the First Sunday: May these mysteries, O Lord, in which we have participated, profit us, we pray, for even now, as we walk amid passing things, you teach us by them to love the things of heaven and hold fast to what endures As we draw near the conclusion of the Jubilee Year of Hope, it is good to look back on what you have been praying and hoping for in...

Who is Mary? What can we rightly say about the woman who accepted the incomparable call to be the Mother of Jesus, our Redeemer? And more specifically, how does her intercession for us relate to the Cross of her Son? Picture her in your mind. The image you paintings, holy cards. Scripture and prayers like the Rosary and Litany of Loreto present her faith, trust, obedience. Devotional reading, private revelation, and personal prayer depict various aspects of her times, her inner spiritual...

This year, the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross falls on Sunday. In the sorrows, violence, and challenges to hope that touch our...