Our Lady of America

Great Expectations

What could it mean that the Blessed Virgin Mary, appearing in Northern Indiana, USA, on September 25, 1956, in private revelation to Sister Mary Ephrem, CPpS, “promised that greater miracles than those granted at Lourdes and Fatima would be … [Read more...]

Our Lady of Good Help, the New Evangelization, and the Priest

Allow me to begin by making two confessions: I arrived at the Monastery of the Holy Name of Jesus in Denmark, Wisconsin, on Friday afternoon. I am an old friend of the nuns and try to visit them at least once a year. Two of the nuns, … [Read more...]

Mary and Prayer

Part III of a Marian Triptych

Mary is not a conceptual counterpoint to Christ, imagined and projected into the Gospels as a kind of semidivine goddess who was made manifest, as it were, in preparation for the coming of the Savior of mankind: a kind of “power of woman” to … [Read more...]

A Man’s Relationship with the Girl Who Ravished the Eyes of God Himself

Introduction During Advent of 2018 I wrote an article for Homiletic and Pastoral Review called “Mary Is Made for You.”[1. Keith Berube, “Mary Is Made for You,” at Homiletic and Pastoral Review (Dec. 20, 2018), hprweb. … [Read more...]

Virgin Undefiled

Mary’s Perpetual Virginity and Her Miraculous Delivery of Christ

As light passes through glass without harming it, so too did Jesus pass through the womb of Mary without the opening of Mary’s womb and without any harm to the physical virginal seal of the Virgin, who was pure and the perfect tabernacle of … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – April 2019

Reflections on the Sacred Liturgy, Vol. I: Lent & Holy Week By Fr. Thomas Hoisington. Reviewed by Stephanie A. Mann. (skip to review) Off the Hook: God, Love, Dating, and Marriage in a Hookup World By Timothy P. O’Malley. Reviewed b … [Read more...]

Mary Is Made for You

Sometime ago a priest gave what may initially seem a cryptic kind of homily. Personally, I have not heard a homily about Mary such as this, and yet this is precisely the homily that men need (and, by direct extension, what women need men) … [Read more...]

“To Jesus through Mary” Is Not Enough

St. Louis de Montfort’s “To Jesus through Mary” is a common refrain amongst lovers of Mary, and rightly so. To be sure, she is the way to Jesus — Jesus does not come to us via any other way. Nor is anyone transformed into Christ but through … [Read more...]

Is the Holy Family a Realistic Model for Ordinary Families?

In this time of troubled marriages and beleaguered families, a renewed focus on the Holy Family, and what it teaches us, can act as a bracing support. Dr. Mary Shivanandan’s new book, The Holy Family, Model Not Exception, provides just such … [Read more...]

Total Consecration to the Virgin Mary

Introduction When we think of Jesus Christ, what do we think of first? Do we think of an ideal of unselfishness: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31)? Do we think of an institution divinely inspired: “You are Peter, a … [Read more...]

Meditations Upon the Virgin’s Virtues for Contemporary Clergy, Part 2

This continues the meditation begun in Part 1, here. Generosity: Mark 3: 31-35 Before Dr. Phil, there was a story about a couple who sought marriage counseling. The wife went in to see the counselor first, and alone. And after she left, … [Read more...]

Meditations Upon The Virgin’s Virtues for Contemporary Clergy, Part 1

Introduction What is the difference between a furrow and a rut? A furrow is an intentional emptiness cut into the earth in preparation for fullness. A farmer’s plow intentionally cuts a furrow, opening the earth to produce a full harvest. A … [Read more...]

Springtime Reading

  Proofs of God: Classical Arguments from Tertullian to Barth by Matthew Levering. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2016. Reviewed by Matthew K. Minerd, Ph.L. Speaking from Within: Biblical Approaches for Effective Pr … [Read more...]

Suggestions for Observing the Marian Month in a Parish

Our Catholic Church recommends a particular devotion for every month![1. A comprehensive list can be found at the website for Aquinas and More: aquinasandmore.com/catholic-articles/monthly-dedications-of-the-church-year/article/184/] For … [Read more...]

The Stillness of Waiting and the Beauty of Birth

How does a Christian keep an Advent orientation amid society’s pre-Christmas, frenzied rush? The key is to focus on the right things. The first Sunday in Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year, and the season in which we prepare t … [Read more...]