JOYCE CORONEL

Some of the greatest saints the world has ever known were utterly changed by God’s mercy. And although we revere them now as models of sanctity, the saints weren’t always so saintly.

In an era in which movies with overtly religious themes are generally dismissed as “cheesy,” Hollywood’s latest rendition of “Les Miserables” has garnered critical acclaim.

You know those emails that insist you “must” click on this link, view that video or delve into such-and-such a blog? Honestly, I end up deleting most of them. It’s just too much. Every now and then though — perhaps at my guardian angel’s prompting — I click.

Back in 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court concocted the right to abortion, people screamed bloody murder — and they meant that literally. Pro-lifers have spent more than four decades praying, working and campaigning to protect the lives of the most vulnerable among us: the unborn child.

There’s a peace that comes over you when you’ve made your peace with God — a peace that the world cannot destroy.

The Child Jesus enters our broken, fallen world with His purity and innocence and fragility. He is born in the most humble of circumstances, in a temporary shelter, among sheep and oxen, and laid in a manger. He shed His first drop of blood for us eight days later at His circumcision, a foretelling of the blood that would flow from the terrible wounds of crucifixion.

When I first heard about what happened to Albert Quihuis, 90, and his wife, Sophia, 87, my initial reaction was outrage.

A mother who loves her children warns them when they are in danger. The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, has been warning her children for years. Some have listened. Others have not.

Even now, four years after the day we lost him, I still hear the voice of my father resound within me day by day, guiding me through life’s twists and turns.

Nestled in the mountains not far from Naples, Italy, there’s a rustic little village known as Pietrelcina. Visitors from all over the world descend...