The Holy Innocents and the Church’s pro-life witness
The Church, “expert in humanity” (as Pope Paul VI put it), knows that the mystery of Christmas (like that of Easter) is so great that it cannot be adequately plumbed – let alone celebrated – [...]
View ArticleSuffering Advent
The secular world calls it the Holiday Season. The Catholic Church calls it Advent. The two are starkly different, but the one thing they have [...]
View ArticleVatican cardinal criticizes advice to avoid word ‘Christmas’ in EU commission...
Cardinal Pietro Parolin speaks in a Vatican News interview published Nov. 30, 2021. / Screenshot from Vatican News - Italiano YouTube channel. Vatican City, Nov 30, 2021 / 06:22 am (CNA). The...
View ArticleYou better watch out—St. Nicholas is coming to town
Everyone loves jolly ol’ Saint Nicholas. There is something romantic and cozy about telling Santa stories around the crackling fire. He is an icon of the Christmas season. But not everyone agrees about...
View ArticleSt. Nicholas or Santa Claus?
The Christian battle for Christmas is an uphill one—which is the very reason why it is one worth fighting. “Season’s Greetings” and “Happy Holidays” are the prophylactic, politically-correct slogans...
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10 things that Pope Francis wants us to learn from the nativity scene
Pope Francis celebrates Christmas Mass in St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 24, 2020. / Vatican Media. Greccio, Italy, Dec 17, 2021 / 04:00 am (CNA). In 2019, Pope Francis issued an apostolic letter on the...
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Assisi is illuminated with Giotto’s frescoes this Christmas season
Giotto's Nativity fresco projected on the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. / Shutterstock/CNA Assisi, Italy, Dec 17, 2021 / 15:17 pm (CNA). Saint Francis' hometown of Assisi has once again been...
View ArticlePiñatas, Posadas and other Christ-centered Mexican Christmas traditions
A Posada in San Felipe, Mexico, on Dec. 19, 2021. / Courtney Mares. Guanajuato, Mexico, Dec 21, 2021 / 01:30 am (CNA). Did you know that the beating of a piñata traditionally follows after Mass and...
View ArticleChristmas falls on a Saturday this year. What does that mean for Mass...
null / haak78, Shutterstock Denver Newsroom, Dec 21, 2021 / 12:28 pm (CNA). As much as some of us would like a few extra days to prepare, Christmas 2021, ready or not, is Saturday, Dec. 25.“How will I...
View ArticlePope Francis’ Christmas Mass: ‘God comes into the world in littleness’
Pope Francis offers Mass for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord / Vatican Media Vatican City, Dec 24, 2021 / 13:00 pm (CNA). In his Christmas homily, Pope Francis asked Christians to...
View ArticleWise Men from the East and the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord
We Three Kings of Orient are, Bearing gifts we traverse afar. . . . Who were these gift-bearing kings, these Wise Men of the East? What has their mission meant to Christians across the ages? [...]
View ArticlePope Francis at the Angelus: God wants to live with us and in us
Pope Francis delivers his Angelus address at the Vatican, Jan. 2, 2022. / Screenshot from Vatican News YouTube channel. Vatican City, Jan 2, 2022 / 05:55 am (CNA). Pope Francis said on Sunday that...
View ArticleFeasting, praise, poetry: Rediscovering and celebrating Pentecost anew
How do you celebrate Pentecost? In years past, my tradition consisted of showing up to Sunday Mass, glancing at the bulletin, and thinking, “Is it Pentecost already? I should have worn my red dress.”...
View ArticleJohn the Baptist reveals the Reason for the Season
In Advent and Christmas our thoughts turn, naturally, to the baby Jesus and his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Most people think this time of year is about the miraculous birth of Our Lord, Jesus [...]
View ArticleCelebrate the joy of the season with ‘The Great Big Christmas Show’
Father David Michael Moses takes part in UST MAX Studios Great, Big Christmas Show. / UST MAX Studios Denver, Colo., Dec 10, 2022 / 07:30 am (CNA). This year you’re invited to celebrate Advent and...
View ArticleThis is why Pope Francis wants you to spend less money this Christmas
Pope Francis arriving at the general audience at the Vatican, Dec. 14, 2022 / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA Rome Newsroom, Dec 14, 2022 / 03:42 am (CNA). Pope Francis is inviting everyone to have “a more humble...
View ArticleSt. Joseph’s doubt and the angel’s gift
Readings: • Isa 7:10-14 • Ps 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 • Rom 1:1-7 • Mt 1:18-24 “Looking on thee, O Unwedded One, and dreading a hidden wedlock, O Sinless One, the chaste Joseph was riven in [...]
View ArticlePope Francis to Roman Curia: Be vigilant against ‘the evil that quietly lurks...
Pope Francis speaking to the Roman Curia at the Vatican, Dec. 22, 2022 / Vatican Media Rome Newsroom, Dec 22, 2022 / 04:53 am (CNA). Pope Francis warned the Roman Curia on Thursday that they need to...
View ArticleThe Miracle of Goshen’s first Christmas Mass
The purpose of the Advent season is to arouse within ourselves the same spirit of longing the many holy souls of the Old Testament had in their hearts for the coming of the promised Redeemer. [...]
View Article“O Holy Night!”
“Minuit, chrétiens, C’est l’heure solennelle Ou l’Homme Dieu descendit jusqu’à nous Pour effacer la tache originelle Et de Son Père arrêter le courrou.” The Christmas carol, “Cantique de Noël”, was...
View ArticleOn Christmas Day, Pope Francis prays for Prince of Peace to end ‘third world...
With a cane in his right hand, 86-year-old Pope Francis delivers his 10th Christmas "Urbi et Orbi" blessing on Dec. 25, 2022. / Vatican Media Vatican City, Dec 25, 2022 / 05:00 am (CNA). In his...
View ArticleExtra, Extra! News and views for December 28, 2022
An Authentic Christian Artist – “She will never receive the Church patronage that the corrupt Jesuit mosaicist Marko Rupnik has, but this Ukrainian Catholic mom creates extraordinary images that...
View ArticleChristians in Pakistan celebrate Christmas amid heightened security
Christian devotees attend a prayer service at Sacred Heart Cathedral to celebrate Christmas in Lahore, Pakistan, on Dec. 25, 2021. / A M Syed/ Shutterstock Lahore, Pakistan, Dec 28, 2022 / 17:15 pm...
View ArticlePro-life pregnancy centers brings ‘happy tears’ this Christmas for women and...
A mom receives a donation of free gifts at ABC Pregnancy Resource Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana. / Pregnancy Resource Center Boston, Mass., Dec 29, 2022 / 12:00 pm (CNA). Pro-life pregnancy...
View ArticleUkrainian Catholics will now celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25 in a shift toward...
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, on Dec. 9, 2022 / Oleksandr Sawranskij / Major Archbishopric of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Washington...
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