How many remember the old saying that was famous after World War I: “How are you going to keep them down on the farm when they have seen gay Paris?” I never understood why anyone would trade the simple life of the farm for the hectic life of Paris, or any city for that matter.

Last week, in the Denver Catholic Register (DCR) was a short article about a new Blessed, Chiara Luce Badano. I was intrigued because this new Blessed died in 1990, only 19 short years ago, and the Church usually takes much longer to investigate the life of someone who has been proposed for sainthood. So I [...]

That’s right, “auction” not “action.” I love auctions. I always have, since the time, when I was a little girl, when I enjoyed watching the annual Assumption Day auction at the little church in the tiny village in the Alps where grandpa (nonno) had his cabin: Piani Resinelli. The village was, and still is, practically [...]

On July 17, 1917 three children were given a vision of hell. This is how they described it: “We saw something like an ocean of fire. Inside that fire there were demons and the souls of the damned. These looked like transparent coals, black or bronze, and had a human shape. They appeared suspended among [...]

Habit: “A tendency toward an action or condition which, by repetition has become involuntary.” This is how my Webster defines it. In other words: habit is something that has become so much a part of our life that we do it on “autopilot.” Habits are something that we acquire by repetition, sometimes involuntarily (like cursing [...]

Years ago, when I was in my early teens, my mother’s father, our beloved grandfather Nonno Gianni, storyteller extraordinaire, family historian, giver of “splendid” gifts (baby rabbits, lambs, chicks), died. A widower at the time, he lived with three of his daughters in the apartment in which his large family had grown. He left behind [...]

During this month of October, our Mother the Church is asking us to reflect on Respect Life. It is ironic that at the beginning of this month Hollywood gave us two examples of “disrespect” for life: Roman Polanski and David Letterman. The two separate events to which I refer are sad enough for the victims [...]

Every year, many adults knock at the doors of the Church, asking for entrance. Among them are also those who were baptized Catholic but, for various reasons, did not receive all the Sacraments. Others never attended Religious Education classes, and are looking for answers to their questions. Our wise and loving Mother, the Church, has [...]

Every once in a while, someone comes up to me after Mass and tells me: “I loved your column.” Invariably, it was one in which I spoke of my Italian childhood. The stories are nothing special, they describe a simple life which most folks would call “boring.” No excitement, no fabulous trips, no extraordinary events. [...]

The other day, on KPIO, 1570 am radio; Mother Angelica was talking about “conditioning.” The word caught my attention because I had been pondering what caused the difference between my generation, when everyone went to church at least on Sunday, and the current generation, when only a small minority keeps even the Sabbath holy.