During this time of pandemic, it has been very important to me to persevere in my work as a sacred musician. Not only do our liturgies still need music, but it seems to me that during this time, in which much of our focus has been on bodily survival, the …

by Bonny Van Sam Wittmann is not a typical high school junior. He’s an exceptional artist who has drawn the connection between his art and his faith, thanks to a class assignment. “The project was a study of drawing hands from life,” explained Renee Merland, chair of the visual arts …

by Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Feb 11, 2021 / 08:00 am MT (CNA).- On the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, the papal delegate for the Marian shrine urged masked pilgrims and virtual viewers alike not to lose hope in the face of sickness and difficulties. “Lourdes is the place …

“In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art,” St. Pope John Paul II writes in his Letter to Artists, issued on Easter Sunday, 1999. As you will read in this issue of The Catholic Telegraph, art and beauty have a unique power to …

by Father Jeffrey M. Kemper “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that all who believe in him may not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn: 3:16) God calls us not to simply follow the rules, but to be in a relationship of love and life …

Sister Mary Jo D’Amico, SNDdeN May 26, 1931 – January 12, 2021 “You do more good by training one good teacher than by looking after a hundred boarders.” (Saint Julie Billiart, p. 67, To Heaven on Foot) Mary Josephine D’Amico was the oldest child and only daughter in a close-knit …

by Courtney Mares Vatican City, Feb 3, 2021 / 04:10 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis said on Wednesday that it is essential for Christians to participate in the liturgy and the sacraments to encounter the Real Presence of Jesus. “Every time we celebrate a baptism, or consecrate the bread and …

by CNA Staff Washington D.C., Jan 27, 2021 / 01:30 pm MT (CNA).- In an interview discussing his recent admonition of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco emphasized the need for Catholics to recover the sense of worthiness to receive Holy Communion. “Catholics no longer …

Sister Gwen Koza SNDdeN May 4, 1927 – December 29, 2020 Mildred Gwendolyn Koza was the oldest child of Thomas and Mildred Koza. Gwen’s father died before Gwen’s third birthday, leaving her mother with Gwen and a newborn baby. Mrs. Koza left Gwen with her paternal grandparents in Michigan City, …

Sister Mary Margaret Fischer SNDdeN June 28, 1927 – December 17, 2020 Mary Margaret Fischer, the fifth child and third daughter of a working-class family, was born just in time to have vivid memories of growing up during the Great Depression. Her parents were both of German descent. Her father’s …