Short stories and photos shared with humor and love
For a humble man, Father Elias Nieves inspires a raucous party. More than 2,000 miles from his home town and 87 years after his death, the martyred priest headlined an all-day extravaganza at St. Therese Parish, including food, flan, and fire dancing. The church hosts a Father Nieves tribute celebration every year, marking the day, [...]
On Saturday, after a relaxing morning of taking her ACT exam, Molly will head over to St. Thomas More Church to be confirmed. She celebrated this Catholic rite of passage by firing off a letter to our pope, encouraging him to consider a more active promotion of gender equity within the global, Catholic community. I [...]
During a hectic weekend filled with annual pilgrimages to both La Crosse, for the Wisconsin State Theatre Festival, and to Madison, for Fundamentally Sound's Fall Show, we detoured for a little while to a beautiful shrine. Located just outside La Crosse, Wisconsin, The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe proved to be a sweet respite [...]
It's not that easy to be a Catholic saint. The martyrdom requirement alone tends to turn most people off. So, when we Catholics get ourselves a modern-day saint, we tend to go all out. Such is the case with Father Elias Nieves, beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1997. Father Nieves grew up poor [...]
In a misguided effort to stump my sister in-law, elderly Mr. Callahan stopped her at the door of their Manhattan apartment building on March 18 several years ago. "Guess what today is?" he asked. Having just received the annual reminder phone call from her fun-loving father, Nancy didn’t hesitate. "St. Cyril day," she said, "Of [...]