Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 47

Saints Silvia and Gregory the Great

Note: I’m currently featuring women saints who had notable relationships with male saints–their sons, husbands, fathers, or colleagues in faith.

The Basics: Silvia, born about 515 in Italy;died about 592 in Italy; feast day, November 3. canonized pre-congregation. Wife, mother. Gregory, born about 540 in Italy; died March 12, 604; feast day, September 3. Pope and Doctor of the Church.

The Story: We know little of Silvia’s early life, other than that she likely came from a family of some

Silvi...

Radiating His Light

Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

Some of us seek to touch the lesser celebrities of our world, the reality-show stars, the titans of commerce, the political power brokers. As Paul puts it in Colossians 2, we can be attracted by their “empty, seductive, philosophy.” It can be difficult to see that their power is fleeting, and the healing temporary, if at all.

Then there are the...

Wednesday’s People: Blessed Gisela and Saint Stephen of Hungary

Note: I’m currently featuring women saints who had notable relationships with male saints–their sons, husbands, fathers, or colleagues in faith.

The Basics: Gisela, born about 985 in Germany; died May 7, 1060, in Germany; beatified in 1975 by Paul VI; feast days, May 7 and February 1. Wife, mother, queen, and abbess. Stephen, born about 975 in Hungary; died August 15, 1038, in Hungary; canonized August 20, 1083, by Gregory VII; feast day, August 16. Husband, father, and king.

The Story: They...

Not for Wrath, but for Salvation

Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

Worrying is dangerous.

Many of our first-world worries of the day—will Metro be a mess yet again, will the store have canned lentils, will the repair person come on time—are, in the scheme of things, minor. They suck up time and space in our heads and souls, even though we have no real control over them.

Worries of the past take up room too: Did...

Friends in Faith: Kathy Hofer

I remember the first time I saw Kathy Hofer. It was at our parish, and she was facilitating a Walking with Purpose women’s Bible study small group that had ended up twice as big as expected. I could tell Kathy was nervous, but she plunged right in, confident in her soul (if not her head!) that God had put her in that place for a reason. I knew I wanted to get to know the woman who was so obedient.

In the past two years, Kathy and I have become friends. I know she is never happier than when sh...

On the Nightstand: Super Girls and Halos

Wonder Woman and Katharine Drexel, the do-gooder heiress turned tireless missionary? Katniss from Hunger Games and Mary MacKillop, who had more than one run-in with authority on her way to canonization? Yep, that’s the way my friend Maria Morera Johnson sees it in her new book, Super Girls and Halos. I’m looking forward to discovering these commonalities and more! And, her subtitle–My Companions on the Quest for Truth, Justice, and Heroic Virtue–really speaks to me, because we can always use...

Wednesday’s People: Blessed Maria de la Cabeza and St. Isidore the Farmer

Note: I’m currently featuring women saints who had notable relationships with male saints–their sons, husbands, fathers, or colleagues in faith.

The Basics: Maria, died about 1175 in Spain; beatified August 11, 1697, by Innocent XII; feast days, May 15 and September 9. Wife and hermit. Isidore, born about 1080 in Spain; died about 1130 in Spain; canonized March 12, 1622, by Gregory XV; feast day, May 15. Husband and laborer.

The Story: They had little in earthly wealth, but they had enough to...

Speaking the Truth

Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

There was something about John the Baptist. Everyone saw it, his followers and his enemies alike. Even Herod, the king who would have him put to death, saw it. He liked to talk with John, even though John was quite straightforward about the inappropriateness of Herod’s marriage to an ex-wife of one of his brothers. (Or, as some scholars posit, J...

Wednesday’s People: Sts. Helena and Constantine

Note: I’m currently featuring women saints who had notable relationships with male saints–their sons, husbands, fathers, or colleagues in faith.

The Basics: Helena, born circa 250 in Turkey; died circa 330 in Italy; canonized pre-congregation; feast day, August 18. Mother, empress. Constantine, born circa 272 in Serbia; died 337, in Turkey; canonized pre-congregation; feast day, May 21. Ruler.

The Story: It is one of those stories whose facts have been lost to time, a story that appears to in...

What’s in It for Us?

Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

I take this little notebook with me to Mass. I don’t do it in case I get some bright idea for a column or essay, or to work on my to-do list before things get started. No, it’s because of St. Teresa of Avila. She’s supposed to have said she never heard a homily from which she couldn’t learn something and since I began trying to live that a coupl...