John Murray PP tells the story of Patrick Peyton, who as a seminarian sick from tuberculosis with little hope of recovery, prayed to Our Lady and was cured. He went on to become a successful crusader for the Family Rosary with the motto: “The family that prays together stays together”. [...]

John Lonergan, the Governor of Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, writes about his view of Christianity.

God is always with us, behind us, supporting us, loving us, ever-present – even if not seen. John Callanan SJ tells us a Christmas story that illustrates this.

This is a first-person account of a wandering pilgrim in rural Russia who wants to fulfil St Paul’s command to “pray without ceasing”. What he comes upon is the ‘Jesus prayer’ and its practice transforms his life.

Sandra Cullen expresses very beautifully what it means for her as a mother to hand on the faith that inspires her life to her children.

Henry Peel OP tells the story of the 17th century martyrdom of Bishop Conor O’Devaney and a young priest, Fr Patrick O’Loughran.

Edel Quinn combined devotion with a great zest for life. Talented and expressive, she found her life’s work through the lay organisation, the Legion of Mary, and through it became a lay missionary in East Africa. John Murray tells her story.

Paul Hurley, SVD, looks at the life and work of the great apostle of temperance, Fr Theobald Mathew.

Finbarr Tracey SVD, pays tribute to Fr Mick Melvin, SVD, Director of Kairos Communications, who died last September (2008).

Mary Kenny, author and journalist, recounts how becoming a mother led her to return to the Church, having been deeply critical of it for many years.

Last autumn, when the global financial crisis began to bite, Paul Andrews SJ began to reflect on the prayer website “Sacred Space” about how the financial turmoil was affecting his prayer.

In this warm and touching book, Hilary Musgrave RSC recounts childhood memories of colourful family characters, the rigours of Irish Catholicism, first kisses, true love, hurt, forgiveness, death, and wonderings about God. All these memories contribute to her reflections on the journey of being oneself with God.

What does ‘handing on the faith’ mean in present-day Ireland. There are no longer the many Religious-run institutions, like schools and university halls. It seems one has to be living it with conviction oneself to be really able to hand it on. Fr John Looby SJ explains.

Brian J. Pierce OP examines Archbishop Romero’s life as a catechist and evangeliser, his heroic response to the divine injunction to bear witness to the truth and to justice, especially in defence of the poor and oppressed.

Lacordaire was a famous French priest and preacher of the 19th century. He had a marvellous grasp of the beauty of the Christian message. His somewhat eccentric personality is profiled here by John Murray.

John Murray PP tells the story of a family – father and two daughters – who sheltered Jews in Haarlem, Holland, during World War II. One daughter Corrie survived into 1980s continuing a ministry of God’s forgiveness in the USA.

You may think it takes a special family, a special home to “make” a saint. You’d be right. It takes a holy family. As soon as that is said, most of us think, “oh, that’s not my family.” However, you’d be wrong. All families are holy families. All families can [...]

President Mary McAleese tells how her experience of have children has given her some understanding of how God can extend his love to so many. There is no exclusivity in God’s love: it is all-including.

Etty Hillesum was a vibrant young Jewish woman who lived in Nazi occupied Amsterdam in the early 1940s and died ad Auschwitz in 1943. In the months before she was arrested she underwent a profound transformation through psychotherapy. She refused to give into hate and in this way overcame the [...]

‘Kairos’ is a Greek word meaning ‘right or opportune moment’ and is used in theology to describve a time with grace potential. Contrasting with ‘chronos’, meaning ‘ordinary or chronological time’, ‘kairos’ means holy or God-given time, laden with meaning and choice. Kairos signals new possibliities, repentance, renewal and action. Tess [...]

Henry Peel OP recounts the last days of Edel Quinn, a young woman who worked tirelessly as an envoy of the Legion of Mary in East Africa.

The path which led Dorothy Day to Jesus was a winding one, but her love of and commitment to the poor and the Catholic Worker movement which she founded show the genuineness of her life. John Murray tells her story.

A hundred years ago this year – on 28th July 1907 – Father John Sullivan was ordained a priest in the Jesuit chapel in Milltown Park. Conor Harper SJ writes about his life and influence.

John Murray PP writes about the life of Miguel Pro, a Jesuit priest from Mexico who worked in Belgium and returned to be executed for his faith on 29 November 1927.

Paddy Monaghan is the leader of the Alpha Course Movement in Ireland. Here he tells of the personal experience that changed his life and led him to devote so much of his time and energy to the task of evangelisation.

Fr Paul Andrews reflects on some of the very positive qualities he discovered in the people he met during his stay in New Zealand.

Martin Brennan SJ reviews the life of Jesuit scientist and thinker Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and emphasises Teilhard’s heroic concern to show that there is no necessary conflict between the findings of science and the religious conception of creation.

Reluctant to go to church as a youth, Billy Graham had the prototypical “born-again” experience as a teenager and by eighteen felt called to be a full-time evangeliser. He has had some Catholic evangelisers as his friends – Bishop Fulton Sheen and Pope John Paul II. John Murray tell his [...]

Conall Ó Cuinn SJ tells the story of John Newton, who was involved in the slave trade, but had an experience of the mercy of God. He became a preacher and composed the hymn “Amazing Grace”. Albert Finney plays the part in the recent film of the same name.

Andrei Rublev is famous for his icon of the Trinity. It is a stunning vision of the divine community to which, in the Eucharist, the faithful are invited to participate. John Murray PP tells us of the life of Rublev who was canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988 [...]