Advent 2025: Getting Closer
Advent by Candlelight is a beautiful ritual that I was privileged to be part of Friday night. It took place at Espiritu Santo parish in Safety Harbor, Florida. After each giant candle on an Advent wreath was lighted, a high school student read a guided meditation. Advent hymns were interspersed, sung by a small choir […]
A Book on Mary, Guided by the Spirit
Although May is Mary’s month, this month has a few Marian Feasts. For example, there is her birthday on September 8 and the feast of the Sorrowful Mother on September 16. So it’s appropriate that I blog about my Mary books this week. All my books came to be in various ways. My first one […]
Hands of Blessed Mother Mary
Pope Leo XIV Our God is a God of surprises. He certainly blew us away by giving us an American pope—a Christlike man. Let’s praise and thank God for this gift that renews the hope of the whole world. Did you see the two seagulls walking around the chimney awaiting the white smoke? To me […]
Mary, God’s Mother and Ours
As the Mother of Jesus, the Virgin Mary is the Mother of God and Mother of all of us.
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament
St. Pope Pius X said that Mary’s title Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament is perhaps the most meaningful of all. In this second part of my talk last week, you will see why. “Mary can guide us toward this most holy sacrament because she herself has a profound relationship with it,” St. Pope […]
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament
We are in the midst of a three-year National Eucharist Revival. A parish has asked me to speak about the relationship of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the Eucharist. Today I share some thoughts with you. At the Eucharist the priest declares over the bread and wine, “This is my Body” and “This is my […]
Ways to Learn/Teach about Mary
After months of preparing for my talk at the NCEA convention, it’s all over! I will give it a longer life by sharing part of it with you. May, the month dedicated to Mary, is right around the corner. You may wish to adopt any of the following ideas for yourself, your family, or your […]
Mary on My Mind
These days I am preparing for three events about Mary: a day of recollection, a two-day retreat, and a presentation Why and How to Teach about Mary: Fifty Nifty Ideas (At Least) at the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) convention in Dallas. That talk draws on activities in my latest book, Leading Young People to […]
Faces of Mary in Honor of the Assumption
I remember that as a child I drew our Blessed Mother over and over. I tried to make her as lovely as possible. Over the centuries she has been a favorite subject of a number of artists…more talented than I’ll ever be. She has been portrayed to represent various cultures. The other year my retreat […]
Why Mary Is the Seat of Wisdom
Today, June 8, is the feast day of Mary, Seat of Wisdom. She was known by this title since the 11th century. In the Litany of Loreto we invoke Our Lady by this name. Images of Mary, Seat of Wisdom, depict her holding Jesus on her lap and sometimes she is seated on a throne. […]