FIRST SATURDAY DEVOTION PRAYER TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY – SEEKING MERCY, PEACE, AND UNION WITH THE HEART OF THE MOTHER OF GOD O IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY,full of love and compassion, I come before you on this First Saturday,seeking mercy for my sins and for the sins of the whole world.Mother most pure, … Read more
Now I am going to tell you about something that until I did this article I knew next to nothing about — Advent fasting customs of the Eastern Rite. All I knew is that the period of Advent starts way sooner than Advent in the West. Instead of the Sunday after the Solemnity of Christ … Read more
The Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552), who was born in the castle of Xavier in Navarre, Spain. In 1525 he went to Paris where he met St. Ignatius Loyola and with whom he received Holy Orders in Venice in 1537. In 1540 he was sent to evangelize India. He labored in … Read more
Pope Leo XIV interacts with a baby before celebrating Mass in Beirut, Lebanon, on Dec. 2, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media CNA Staff, Dec 2, 2025 / 17:34 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV’s first official papal trip from Nov. 27–Dec. 2 to Turkey and Lebanon has just ended. The wide-ranging international visit included historic ecumenical … Read more
St. Francis Xavier Feast date: Dec 03 On Dec. 3, the Roman Catholic Church honors St. Francis Xavier, one of the first Jesuits who went on to evangelize vast portions of Asia. Francis Xavier was born during 1506 in the Kingdom of Navarre, a region now divided between Spain and France. His mother was an … Read more
St. Foillan Feast date: Oct 31 St. Foillan was born in 7th-century Ireland and was the brother of St. Fursey and St. Ultan. He joined them in England, where they were working as missionaries, and had established a monastery near Yarmouth. During a war between the Mercians and Anglo-Saxons, c.650, the monastery was destroyed and many of … Read more