Last Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent, was the beginning of a new Church year, also known as a liturgical year. The Church selects the Sunday Gospel readings for each year on a three-year cycle, giving each year a letter—A, B, or C. This is year B. Each of these three years features one particular […]

JOHN CARDINAL NEWMAN Feast Day: October 9  Canonized: October 13 Lead, Kindly Light: The Hymn and Its Author presented by Fr. Ashley Harrington Do you have a favorite hymn? Everybody has. Indeed, some people have several favorite hymns. Here is one hymn that is claimed by many as their favorite. Presidents William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, […]

Catholics of my generation . . . as told by Fr. Ashley Harrington . . . can remember vividly that first “take home” book. It was the first grade and Sister Mary had many books for her students to use—the reader that told the story of Dick and Jane, the book that taught how to […]

I began my study of Carmelite Spiritual Theology at an early age – five years old. For seven years I faithfully attended weekly Tuesday night sessions. Admittedly, I daydreamed or even slept through many of the talks, but keep in mind that I was only five or six. Without consciously knowing it, I was being […]

He was considered to be an enemy to his own people, a traitor. He was a Jew who served the Roman Empire as a tax collector. He not only enforced the heavy taxation, but, as was the tradition, took a little extra for himself. His name was Levi. One day he encountered Jesus. Jesus called […]

This is a week to celebrate Mary. On Saturday, August 15 we celebrate the Assumption of Mary into Heaven and on Saturday, August 22 we honor the Queenship of Mary. Both of these feasts are connected. Fr. Ashley explores the beliefs, history, and expressions of artwork surrounding these feasts. First of all, we begin with […]

What would it be like growing up in a town that had its own living saint walking the streets? Fr. Ashley Harrington, O.Carm. provides us with a look at the life of Saint Clare. . . Chiara Offreduccio was blessed with that experience. Her town was Assisi and its saint was Francis. Chiara, or Clare, […]