My dear sister in Christ, I want you to know that I see you, and that it is my hope, my prayer, that this letter will bring you some comfort and peace. I hope that, by sharing my experience, you will no longer feel so alone. For the recently engaged, the world tells you to [...]
As a young girl (and to this day), I loved the movie The Sound of Music. I had great aspirations of being a spunky, joyful, faithful, romantic Maria, swinging my carpet bag and guitar whilst belting out “I have confidence in sunshine!” All of the songs brought me great joy, but there were some that [...]
Many of us are familiar with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe – the Blessed Virgin Mary, surrounded by light, standing on a crescent moon held up by an angel, clothed in a turquoise mantle that is embellished with stars. But how did this image come to be so revered? To understand, we must [...]
When I was 18, I struggled with my identity as a woman, attempting to reconcile my deepest desires with the way of the world and the ways of God. I longed to love and be loved. In pursuing these desires via the way of the world, I was left empty, tattered, spiritually destitute. Two years [...]
Saint Gemma Galgani and Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton devoted their entire lives to Jesus. They show us that we must run to His mercy and unite ourselves wholly to Him.
“In the middle of our life’s journey, I found myself in a dark wood.” So begins Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, one of the greatest poems of Europe’s Medieval Period. The long (over 14,000 line) epic is written as a first person account of Dante’s travels through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Heaven (Paradiso). Recently [...]
Recent polls have shown that people generally fall into one of two categories when it comes to Valentine’s Day: either it is viewed as an overrated, Hallmark holiday or it is embraced as one of the most romantic days of the year. I suppose I fall somewhere in the middle. Ultimately, I think that celebrating [...]
Love is often misconstrued in our culture. We use the same word to describe our fondness for coffee, our favorite book, our dearest friends and family members. In relationships, love is reduced to a feeling, often bound up in lust. For some, love only exists in fairy tales, because of the hurt, betrayal, and pain [...]
Every New Year’s Eve, my family attends Mass at St. Joseph or Sacred Heart Church. As a child, I always thought this was another one of my family's traditions - a way of welcoming and ushering in the new year. Only later in life did I realize that this tradition was much more profound and [...]
With the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death this past Saturday, our country has been asked once again to examine her values regarding truth, justice, charity, freedom and ultimately, peace. On Friday afternoon, I was rereading Pope St. [...]
Caitlin Sica 