The sense of place and pull to the wild that inspired Nick Ripatrozone’s new book are tucked in his very name. The rip-roaring surname is the name of a mountain town in central Italy, which the 40-year-old writer has visited. 

Do you know any extraordinary heroes? I’ve been graced to know two, actually, and know them pretty well.  

My mother was born on April 28, 1921. She and my father were married on May 3, 1942. But for the pandemic, my family would have celebrated her 100th birthday and their 79th wedding anniversary. We’ll celebrate those events, eventually. As for now, I’ve had cause to reflect on growing up under their supervision.

Socrates Scholasticus, a Catholic historian of the early 400s, tells how antiphonal singing was introduced into the Mass by St. Ignatius, a disciple of St. John who was consecrated the third bishop of Antioch by St. Peter. In a vision, the bishop saw and heard two choirs of angels alternately singing praises at the throne of God. Thus impressed, he introduced the same form of song into his liturgies.

Let the pruning season begin! This is Part One of a two-part series covering common flowering shrubs in our diocese and their pruning needs. Part One covers spring flowering shrubs and Part Two will cover summer flowering shrubs, including flowers that grow on older wood.

I’m almost afraid to say it, but it appears that things are slowly beginning to return to normal in our homes for the elderly around the country.

We recently celebrated Mother’s Day with a loosening of COVID-related restrictions, allowing families to hug their loved ones, hold extended conversations without a window of separation, enjoy a snack together and even take their elderly loved one home for a few hours — all things that used to be taken for granted, but which have been prohibited since the onset of COVID.

In a recent statement from the National Catholic Bioethics Center on COVID-19 vaccines, we noted that the Catholic Church “neither requires nor forbids” the use of vaccines, but instead urges people to “form their consciences and to carefully discern the moral and prudential issues involved.”

She broke the rules. Snuck a cookie. Hid it behind her back, ran into the other room, chewed it up in two bites and then walked back into the living room, unaware that crumbs stuck on her mouth betrayed her secret snack.

Within two or three generations of the Church’s founding, Christians reflected on the meager biographical information given in the apostolic writings. They began setting down traditions passed down to them concerning characters mentioned in the Gospels, including St. Joseph and the role he played in the drama of salvation as the strong, silent protector of the Holy Family.