A beautiful friend (hi, Holly!) shared a reflection on the Assumption which resonated with me in the depths of my heart. Her words give me a new point of connection with the Assumption, and I want to share them with you, too. Holly writes... When considering the Assumption, I couldn't help but think about the wounds and false notions we women have in regards to our bodies. This special feast has an important message for us which is rooted in the fact that Mary was taken up to heaven both "body and soul." Our Blessed Mother understood the dignity and holiness of her body. It was never an obstac ..read more

On August 15th each year, the Catholic Church celebrates the Assumption of Mary. This commemorates the moment when our Holy Mother was taken up to heaven, body and soul. While the bodies of both Jesus and Mary are now in heaven, there is a difference between the Assumption and the Resurrection. Where Jesus arose from the tomb and ascended into heaven by his own power, Mary’s body was taken up, assumed, to heaven by the power of her Son. This dogma (specific teaching which is proclaimed as incontrovertibly true) is rooted in early Christian beliefs and was formally declared in 1950 by Pope Pius ..read more

The Rosary is one of the most precious gifts we have as Catholics. Being able to sit in prayer and reflect on the life of Jesus through praying the Rosary allows us to deepen our relationship with Jesus and His Mother. As teachers it is important that we pass on this great gift to our students. Below are five great reasons to encourage you to teach your students how to pray the Rosary. 1. Students know the bulk of the prayers already. The praying of a Rosary includes many Hail Marys and Our Fathers. These are prayers that most students who have attended a Catholic school should know. Many of t ..read more

As someone who was born and raised Catholic, Mary has mostly been an important figure in my life. However, over time, and as a result of different life experiences, my relationship with her has changed and evolved. From a young age, my sisters and I were taught how to pray to Mary and one of my mum’s favourite things to do with us girls was pray the rosary. I have vivid memories of my mum’s friends bringing over beautiful Marian statues and images, and all of us gathering around reciting the rosary in Maltese (somewhat clumsily!) As I grew, and my faith became something I needed to discover an ..read more

In the Catholic Church, the month of May is dedicated to honouring Mary. In much of the world, May is the height of the spring season; it is a time of blooming flowers and bright sunshine. For this reason, historically, May has been associated with fertility and new life. In May, the ancient Greeks celebrated Artemis, the pagan goddess of fertility, while the ancient Romans celebrated Flora, the pagan goddess of flowers. In the middle-ages, Christians began to associate “May Day,” a celebration of new life, with Mary, the Mother of God. The Jesuit order was the first to dedicate the entire mon ..read more

A beautiful reflection that we just had to share this mother's day. When I am doing ministry with young women, there is one question that comes up often. They ask me, ”Who are the saints in the Church who were mothers...and why are there not more of them?” There are certainly a few I could name, but I did not have a good answer to the second part of the question until I became a mother myself. A few years ago, I entered into the holy, bewildering, sanctifying adventure that is motherhood, and it was only after this when I realized why there are not more Saints who were mothers... The sacred wo ..read more

I don't know about you, but I was very happy to farewell 2021! I tried to remain positive throughout the year but, come December 31st, I was exhausted. Lock-downs, false news, societal division... it wore me down. My New Year's resolution was to surrender the fear and fatigue to Jesus and start 2022 afresh. Covid-19 is no match for my God, and I want to live with that confidence. But it's easy to be sucked in to the gloom and doom, especially when our way of living is still significantly impacted by the virus (gosh I'm over travel restrictions, masks and check-ins!) Even though we are only a f ..read more

If we’re going to be praying the rosary regularly, we are going to be praying A LOT of Hail Marys. The rosary is repetitive, like so many other important things we do (eating, sleeping, and saying “I love you” to our family members), but that doesn’t mean that it is mindless. In fact, to pray the Hail Mary is to declare Biblical truth. Let’s break it down: The first half of the prayer is straight out of Sacred Scripture. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that she would be the mother of Jesus, he greeted her, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among ..read more

If Jesus is God, and it is only He who can answer my prayers, why should I bother asking Mary or one of the Saints to intercede for me? Shouldn't I just pray straight to the 'Big Boss'? Two points worth considering: Church members pray for each other There are many passages in the Bible which instruct us to pray for one another (if you're interested in reading them, check out this list). Moreover, Jesus commonly helped one person because of another person’s faith (Matt 8:13, 15:28, 17:15–18; Mark 9:17–29; Luke 8:49–55). In my own life, this means I often ask others to pray for my intentions ..read more

The name of Jesus has power. Let that sink in. If you are ever afraid or discouraged in the face of challenge, remember, The name of Jesus has power. How do we know this? We only need to look at Sacred Scripture to see Jesus’ disciples casting out evil spirits and working miracles, all in the name of Jesus. Satan trembles at the name of Jesus. How does this relate to the Rosary? The Rosary allows us to contemplate the life of Jesus and call on Mary’s intercession. Each Hail Mary ends with ‘and blessed is the fruit of your womb: Jesus.’ Each time we pray the Rosary we say the name of Jesus at l ..read more