On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics, a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.… Continue reading Returning Catholics FAQs: About Non-Christians
Category: Sisterhood of Saints
Wednesday’s Woman: St. Martha
The Basics: Born in what today is Israel, sometime near the birth of Christ; death location not known with any precision; canonized pre-congregation; feast day, July 29. Friend of Jesus. The Story: Martha; her brother, Lazarus; and her younger sister, Mary were friends of Jesus’s. Most often we think of Martha as a bit of a… Continue reading Wednesday’s Woman: St. Martha
Wednesday’s Woman: St. Bridget of Sweden
The Basics: Born circa 1303 in Sweden; died July 23, 1373, in Italy; canonized in 1391, by Boniface IX; feast day, July 23. Mystic; adviser; monastery founder. The Story: Bridget was a world traveler and outspoken woman. By turns she was a wife and mother; a lady in waiting to the Swedish king’s wife; a pilgrim to… Continue reading Wednesday’s Woman: St. Bridget of Sweden
Wednesday’s Woman: St. Hedwig of Poland
The Basics: Born circa 1371 in Hungary; died July 17, 1399, in Poland; canonized December 17, 1996, by John Paul II; feast day, July 17. Queen. The Story: Hedwig had fallen in love with an Austrian duke. However, for political reasons, her father, King Louis I of Hungary, forced her when she was thirteen to marry a… Continue reading Wednesday’s Woman: St. Hedwig of Poland