Chronicle of Marian Apparitions, Part 5 Hope in Wartime and Silence in the Rain: Our Lady of Pontmain to Our Lady of Fatima (1871–1917) War, national suffering, and the eve of a global catastrophe form the backdrop to the four apparitions examined in this fifth installment. From a French village threatened by Prussian invasion, to…
Chronicle of Marian Apparitions, Part 4 Weeping and Wonders: Our Lady of La Salette to Our Lady of Good Help (1846–1859) The mid-nineteenth century produced some of the best-documented and most consequential Marian apparitions in the history of the Church, culminating in the world-famous events at Lourdes. This fourth installment follows Our Lady from a…
Chronicle of Marian Apparitions, Part 3 Shepherdesses and Sinners: Our Lady of Querrien to Our Lady of Zion (1652–1842) The apparitions gathered in this third installment span nearly two centuries and move from the pastures of rural France to the streets of Paris and a quiet church in Rome. Three of the four center on…
Chronicle of Marian Apparitions, Part 2 The Age of Evangelization: Our Lady of Guadalupe to Our Lady of Coromoto (1531–1652) As the Catholic faith spread from Europe into the Americas and reawakened in lands touched by the Protestant Reformation, the Virgin Mary appeared repeatedly at the frontiers of the faith. This second installment traces five…
Chronicle of Marian Apparitions, Part 1 From the Apostolic Age to the Renaissance: Our Lady of the Pillar to Our Lady of the Guard (40 AD–1490) Long before Lourdes or Fatima entered the popular imagination, the Blessed Virgin Mary was already making herself known to the faithful across the Christian world. This first installment in…
Long before catechisms were printed or cathedrals raised their spires, the faith of the Church was carried in symbols. Four of these sacred ciphers have endured with particular power: IHS, INRI, the Chi-Rho, and the Ichthys. To understand them is to enter the imagination of the early Church and to recover devotions that have nourished saints for two thousand years.
Among the many names by which God has revealed Himself in Sacred Scripture, none is more sacred, more mysterious, or more theologically significant than the Tetragrammaton — the four Hebrew consonants יהוה, transliterated YHWH. This name, given to Moses at the burning bush, expresses the very being of God and stands at the center of…
How the Blessed Virgin Mary answers every mark of the first sin — from Lucifer’s “I will” to Mary’s “be it done unto me.”
Based on the research of Noel Woodbridge Of all the prophetic passages in the Old Testament, none has inspired more debate — or more awe — than Daniel 9:24–27. Written six centuries before Christ, it describes with startling precision the timeline of the Messiah’s coming, His atoning death, and the catastrophic consequences of Israel’s rejection…
An extended essay in apologetics for a general readership Introduction: The Courage to Follow the Argument Wherever It Leads Every honest person, sooner or later, comes to a halt before the oldest and most stubborn questions. Why is there something rather than nothing? Is there a God? If there is, has He spoken to us?…
