Rome, Open City (1945) is a film famous for a variety of reasons. It is credited with starting a whole new film movement called Italian Neo-realism; filmed in the streets of Rome at the end of WWII, it is also a rare historical document. What will likely cement its exalted position in film history long-term,…
Who else could feature as the saint of the week but our very own patron saint, St Patrick? Fortunately, we know a good deal about this archetypal holy man as he wrote two accounts that we have access to today – quite unique for that region at that time, as texts are scarcer than historians…
Mary DeTurris Poust Back when my husband and I taught a two-year confirmation prep program at our parish, many of the students in our class were attending because they had to be there. They did the work, asked good questions, trudging through the weekly evening sessions, but faith formation was just one more requirement on…
Jonathan Roumie, of The Chosen, fame says he’s doubling down on God this Lent, writes Gina Christian This Lent, Jonathan Roumie has a full plate at work – and an empty one at home, he told OSV News, thanks to some “heavy fasting” he plans to undertake between now and Easter. “Fasting is super-powerful,” Mr…
It’s hard to measure how good or great a film is, but when you’ve topped the premiere fan review site (IMDb) for more than 20 years, you must have done something right. What makes The Shawshank Redemption’s (1994) success even more remarkable is that it was a flop on release. It only came to fame…
Best known for his work in healthcare, especially in Ireland where many healthcare sites bearing his name dot the land, the Portuguese saint John of God is celebrated by the Church March 8. Born in 1495, Joao Cidade had an unsettled and haphazard early life, being orphaned at a young age before finding employment as…
Jem Sullivan Throughout the seasons and feasts of the liturgical year, the Church pauses to give special honour to Mary, mother of Jesus, the son of God. As mother of the Church, we turn to Mary as our mother in the order of grace for she brings about the birth of all believers in…
Both Christians and Muslims fast, pray and give alms. Can we learn anything from one another, asks Fr Michael Barnes SJ At this moment of the Church’s year, as Christians begin the long period of Lent, my thoughts always turn to Muslim friends and to various conversations which I have enjoyed on the subject of…
One of the more curious and eclectic sections on the Vatican’s 1995 list of important films is the ‘art’ section. At least one of their choices, however, is unlikely to be controversial as it is often considered the greatest ‘arthouse’ film of all time – Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi extravaganza, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Although…
The three pillars of Lent – prayer, fasting, almsgiving – enrich our spiritual life during this penitential season. But they can also be challenging. Saints can shed light on our journey. So let’s begin with almsgiving and look to St Katharine Drexel as a profound example of the depth to which this practice calls us.…