Feast Day: November 11This soldier saint lived in the fourth century. He joined the Roman army in Italy when he was only fifteen. Although his parents were pagans, he began to study the Christian religion. Those who study the Christian religion are called catechumens until they are baptized.One very cold winter day, Martin and his companions came upon a beggar at the gate of the city of Amiens. The man's only clothes were nothing but rags and he was shaking with cold. The other soldiers pass...

By Jaymie Stuart WolfeThere’s a saint for just about everything. Whether you are suffering from a chronic sore throat or applying to law schools (or even writing a blog post like this one!), it’s likely that there is someone who can inspire you with an example of heroic virtue and intercede on your behalf.Of course, there are the “popular” saints like Francis of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, Rita of Cascia, and Thérèse of Lisieux. They’re the ones who are ...

Expensive sneakers. Designer clothes. Cutting-edge devices. Popular toys.If you think your students care too much about these kinds of material things, you're probably right. Studies show that today's kids tend to be more materialistic than children of the past. They often judge others by their possessions and assign a higher social status to those who have the "coolest" stuff. Many mistakenly believe that owning the right things—and plenty of them!—will lead to hap...

A letter from Jesus Read in a children’s Bible or from a missalette: Luke 16:19–31Dear Friends,   Bragging is one of those things that some people do a lot of. They might do it to feel better about themselves, but their bragging often leads others to feel hurt, self-conscious, or even stupid. When we think only about how great we are, we leave no room in our hearts for other people. We need to remember that all of us are given gifts that are special and important....

Ever since I was a child, the most Sacred Heart of Jesus has been a part of my life. It began with my family. A lovely picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus hung in our living room and there we consecrated our family to Jesus' most Sacred Heart. On the First Friday of most months we participated in the all-night vigil at St. Agnes Church. (I think we kids loved most the super refreshments at the break around 11 pm!) The continuity of this practice made a deep impression on me. There'...

We are quickly approaching the Feast of All Saints on November 1. Making saints a part of your everyday conversation helps kids make friends with men and women (and even girls and boys!) who show us how to follow Jesus with their very lives.Here are some practical ways you can make the saints your kids' best friends:Leave picture books of saints around your house and in your car. You can easily find picture books of saints for kids, and now there are also books of saints with great...

Feast Day: October 17Margaret Mary lived in the seventeenth century. She is the famous French nun to whom Jesus showed his Sacred Heart. As a child, she was a happy little girl who loved the nuns at school. But when she was eleven, she became very sick. It was four years before she was well again. Her father had died, and an aunt had moved into their home. This aunt and her husband made Margaret Mary and her mother suffer very much. Almost every day, the teenager would hide in the garden to cry ...

You may have noticed the latest trend in Keep Calm T-Shirts and even Facebook posts: Keep Calm I'm a Nurse, Keep Calm and Carry On, Keep Calm and Let the Chef Handle It, Keep Calm It's My 40th Birthday Today.... Anyone can go on zazzle.com and create their own Keep Calm T-Shirt message. I’m visiting my family these few weeks and these Keep Calm messages have caught my attention.

As adults we sometimes ask ourselves fundamental questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose on earth? Children ask the same questions, too, but often we don’t pay attention to them. Often their deepest concerns and secrets are known only to themselves. Perhaps that’s because they’re spoken in a different language, if they’re spoken at all. Sometimes it’s simply a look in the eyes or a turn of the chin that tell us somet...

Vincent, the son of poor French peasants, was born in 1581. When he grew up and became famous, he loved to tell people how he had taken care of his father's pigs. Because he was intelligent, his father sent him to school. And after finishing his studies, Vincent became a priest.