Help! Yoga & Mindfulness Are in My Child’s School

We continue to receive questions from concerned parents of both public and parochial school children whose schools are introducing yoga and mindfulness into the curriculum in some way. What can they do to counter this worrying trend?

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Pope Benedict XVI on the Most Holy Rosary

By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS

Speaking just days before the feast of the Most Holy Rosary in 2010, then Pope Benedict XVI advised the faithful to pray the rosary daily and use it to meditate on the mysteries of Christ “in union with Mary, the Virgin at prayer” which “strengthens us all in faith, hope and charity.”

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The Song of Saint Francis of Assisi: A Canticle of Praise

The fact that, during his lifetime, Saint Francis of Assisi (1182 – 1226) enjoyed a deeply personal connection to all aspects of creation has been documented thoroughly over the eight centuries since his death. Stories and legends abound surrounding his interactions with elements of the natural world and creatures of all kinds.

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The Family of Thérèse of Lisieux: Holiness and Challenges at Home

Saint Therese of Lisieux is one of the most beloved of God’s closest friends. Affectionately known as the Little Flower, her holiness of life attained global renown very quickly in the aftermath of her untimely death in 1897. For one who lived only 24 years, the final nine as a cloistered Carmelite nun, her speedy impact on the world was nothing short of phenomenal.

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St. Therese: Patron Saint of the Bullied?

St. Therese at the age of 8

The glorious Therese of Lisieux is known as the patron saint of missionaries, priests, florists and pilots, but because of her own sad experiences in the schoolyard at the Abbey in Lisieux, she richly deserves another title – Patron Saint of the Bullied.

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Temptation: The Ordinary Ways the Devil Attacks Us

Temptation is the devil’s ordinary mode of action (see 1 John 3:8– 10). Satan is the tempter (1 Thess. 3:5), and just as he incited the Fall, he still directly influences us to reject grace and commit sin. Temptation is common to all.

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Masses for the living, too!

by Susan Tassone

Is a Mass offered for one who is still living more powerful than a Mass celebrated for that person after he or she has died? I often wondered about that, so I wrote to Father Edward McNamara, a noted professor of liturgy, at the Regina Apostolorum University in Rome. This is how he responded to my inquiry:

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Saint Clare of Assisi:  Gaze Ever Focused on Jesus

August 11th marks the feast day of Saint Clare of Assisi (1194-1253), a woman of outstanding virtue such that she was canonized only two years after her death.  Her name is forever linked with that of the man she called “our Blessed Father Francis,” the beloved saint of Assisi who paved the way for Clare and her Sisters.

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