Last spring, the Vatican opened the canonization process for Walter Ciszek, SJ, the American Jesuit who spent 23 years as a prisoner in the Soviet Union. This month the Jesuits are highlighting Fr. Ciszek’s life and the theme “A Life in Service” for Vocation Month. Here’s something a Jesuit said about him, and I don’t [...]
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It’s a weekend for old saints and new saints–especially Jesuit saints and one with a Jesuit connection. Today is the feast of the North American Martyrs–eight Jesuits who were martyred in the mid-17th century in Canada and upstate New York. I remember squirming in religion class when I was a kid when the nuns described their [...]
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In his well-known poem Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley observes something of the transience of all human effort. Writing about a massive statue of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II, which appears in a stretch of desolate desert, he wonders what, in this vale of tears, really lasts. And on the pedestal these words appear: “My name [...]
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The British Jesuits’ site ThinkingFaith.org remembers St. Alberto Hurtado, SJ, a Chilean who was one of the true Jesuit heroes of the 20th century. Alberto was years ahead of his time in his approach to social issues. ‘Injustice’, he insisted with enviable clarity, ‘causes far more evil than can be repaired by charity’. So he [...]
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Today is the feast of Aloysius Gonzaga, a saint who made his mark even though he lived only 23 years. Aloysius was born in a grand Italian noble family in 1568. His life at home was marked by conflict. His father wanted him to be a soldier; Aloysius wanted to be a priest. His family [...]
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The Vatican office for the Causes of Saints has opened an official examination of the life of Walter Ciszek, SJ, to see if he should be canonized one day. Fr. Ciszek, an American Jesuit, spent 23 years as a prisoner in the Soviet Union, including 15 years of hard labor in Siberia. He secretly ministered [...]
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A volunteer searching through the archives of the New Orleans Province of the Jesuits recently discovered a rare photo of Blessed Miguel Pro, SJ, along with an American Jesuit’s remembrances of time spent with the Jesuit martyr in a Belgian hospital. John Druhan, SJ, wrote that Pro spoke American slang with a Mexican accent and [...]
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Here’s a prayer to St. Ignatius to pray on All Saints Day. When you’re finished you can pray the litany of Jesuit saints. St. Ignatius, You who helped evangelize and spread the Great Message, Who was able to refocus your life, In troublesome times for yourself, On the most important being in life. Help us [...]
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This prayer by the Jesuit saint Robert Bellarmine puts a new spin on finding God on all things: What various powers lie hidden in plants! What strange powers are found in stones, especially magnetic stones and amber. What strength do we see in animals, such as lions, bears, bulls and elephants. How clever, although tiny, [...]
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