InPrincipio Podcast

St. Joseph of Cupertino (1603–1663) was an Italian Franciscan friar renowned for his humility, simplicity, and extraordinary mystical gifts, especially the miraculous levitations that earned him the title “the Flying Saint.” Born in Cupertino, Apulia, into poverty and marked by an awkward, slow-witted youth, he was eventually accepted into the Franciscan order as a lay brother after many difficult...

The Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis, observed on September 17, commemorates the miraculous event in 1224 when St. Francis of Assisi, while deep in prayer and contemplation on Mount La Verna, received in his body the sacred wounds of Christ’s Passion, becoming the first known saint to bear the stigmata. This mystical grace, bestowed two years before his death, was seen as the crowning seal of...

Pope St. Cornelius, who reigned from 251 to 253 during a time of intense persecution under Emperor Decius, is remembered for his steadfast leadership and pastoral charity in guiding the Church through crisis. Chosen as successor to Pope Fabian after a year-long vacancy caused by fear of persecution, Cornelius faced both external threats from Roman authorities and internal division sparked by the r...

Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, a monumental fifteen-volume work, offers a comprehensive exploration of the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, guiding readers through the spiritual and historical richness of the Church’s worship. Written in the 19th century, the series provides daily meditations, historical context, and liturgical texts for the Mass and Divine Office, covering...

Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, a monumental fifteen-volume work, offers a comprehensive exploration of the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, guiding readers through the spiritual and historical richness of the Church’s worship. Written in the 19th century, the series provides daily meditations, historical context, and liturgical texts for the Mass and Divine Office, covering...

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, kept on September 14, honors the sacred instrument of our Redemption, the holy wood upon which Our Lord Jesus Christ wrought the salvation of the world. It recalls the finding of the True Cross by Saint Helena, the dedication of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and the triumphal return of the Cross from captivity under the Persians by...

The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated on September 8, honors the birth of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who was chosen from all eternity to be the vessel of the Incarnation. Rooted in ancient tradition and first celebrated in the East by the 6th century, the feast spread to the West by the Middle Ages. It marks the dawn of salvation, for in Mary’s birth the world received t...

The Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary, celebrated on September 12 on the Fifth day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, honors the name of the Blessed Virgin as a source of grace, protection, and devotion for Christians. Instituted in Spain in 1513 and extended to the universal Church by Pope Innocent XI in 1683 after the victory of Christian forces at the Battle of Vienna, the...

Excerpts from St. Thomas Aquinas' works, De Regno (On Kingship), and the Summa Theologica, examining the nature of tyrannical government, and how Catholics may licitly respond to it.

Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, a monumental fifteen-volume work, offers a comprehensive exploration of the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, guiding readers through the spiritual and historical richness of the Church’s worship. Written in the 19th century, the series provides daily meditations, historical context, and liturgical texts for the Mass and Divine Office, covering...

Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (1245–1305) was an Italian Augustinian friar known for his piety, charity, and miracles. Born in Sant'Angelo in Pontano, he joined the Augustinian Order at a young age, dedicating his life to prayer, fasting, and serving the poor and sick. Renowned for his compassion, he ministered to prisoners and the marginalized, earning the title "Patron of Holy Souls"...

Chapter 4 of Book I of the Century of Columbus examines secondary master painters of the Italian Renaissance, including Fra Angelico, Titian, Botticelli, and others. The Century of Columbus by James Joseph Walsh offers a comprehensive exploration of the late 15th to early 16th century, emphasizing the pivotal role of Catholic faith and culture in shaping the era’s intellectual, artistic, and explo...

Saint Gorgonius of Rome, an early Christian martyr, lived during the late 3rd to early 4th century under the Roman Empire. Little is known about his early life, but he is believed to have been a devoted Christian who actively participated in Rome’s underground Christian community during a time of intense persecution under Emperor Diocletian. Gorgonius was likely arrested for openly professing his...

Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, a monumental fifteen-volume work, offers a comprehensive exploration of the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, guiding readers through the spiritual and historical richness of the Church’s worship. Written in the 19th century, the series provides daily meditations, historical context, and liturgical texts for the Mass and Divine Office, covering...

Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, a monumental fifteen-volume work, offers a comprehensive exploration of the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, guiding readers through the spiritual and historical richness of the Church’s worship. Written in the 19th century, the series provides daily meditations, historical context, and liturgical texts for the Mass and Divine Office, covering...

The Century of Columbus by James Joseph Walsh offers a comprehensive exploration of the late 15th to early 16th century, emphasizing the pivotal role of Catholic faith and culture in shaping the era’s intellectual, artistic, and exploratory achievements. Walsh, a Catholic historian, portrays the period as a golden age of Catholic civilization, highlighting figures like Christopher Columbus, whose...

Introduction to the Devout Life (1609) by Saint Francis de Sales is a practical spiritual guide written for laypeople seeking holiness in everyday life, showing that true devotion is not confined to monks or clergy but is attainable for all, regardless of vocation or status. Presented as a series of letters to a young woman under the pseudonym “Philothea,” the work offers step-by-step counsel on p...

Saint Lawrence Giustiniani (1381–1456) was a Venetian nobleman who, moved by a deep desire for holiness, renounced wealth and honors to enter religious life as one of the Canons Regular of San Giorgio in Alga. Known for his humility, austerity, and mystical spirituality, he quickly gained a reputation for wisdom and sanctity, eventually being chosen prior general of his community. In 1433 he was c...

Pope St. Pius X’s first encyclical, E Supremi Apostolatus (1903), sets forth the program of his pontificate with the motto Instaurare omnia in Christo—“to restore all things in Christ.” Writing at a time of widespread secularism, political upheaval, and moral decline, he laments the grave evils afflicting society, especially the rejection of God and the spread of error undermining faith and morals...

Saint Stephen I of Hungary (c. 975–1038) was the first king of Hungary and is revered for founding the Catholic Hungarian state. Born as Vajk, he converted to Christianity under the influence of Western missionaries and was crowned king around the year 1000, establishing Hungary as a Catholic kingdom recognized by the Pope. Stephen centralized royal authority, organized a network of dioceses and c...

Saint Giles, known in Latin as Aegidius, was a holy confessor of Christ who shone in sanctity during the 7th century. Born in Athens of noble and wealthy parents, he despised the riches of the world for the love of Christ and gave his inheritance to the poor. Journeying to Gaul, he embraced the eremitical life in a deep forest near Nîmes, where, sustained by the milk of a gentle hind sent by God,...

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), Christ tells of a man who, after being beaten and left for dead on the roadside, is ignored by a priest and a Levite but mercifully aided by a Samaritan—someone despised by the Jews—who tends his wounds and provides for his recovery. In Catholic teaching, this parable exemplifies the universal call to charity, showing that true love of neighbor...

Saint Rose of Lima, born Isabel Flores de Oliva on April 20, 1586, in Lima, Peru, was the first canonized saint of the Americas. Growing up in a devout Catholic family, she displayed intense piety from childhood, often engaging in extreme acts of penance and prayer. Rejecting marriage and worldly comforts, Rose joined the Third Order of Saint Dominic, dedicating her life to serving the poor and si...

St. John the Baptist, the last and greatest of the prophets, was praised by Christ Himself as the one “than whom none greater has arisen among those born of women,” because he was uniquely chosen to prepare the way for the Messiah, to call Israel to repentance, and to point to Jesus as the “Lamb of God.” His greatness lay not in miracles or earthly honor, but in his prophetic fidelity, humility, a...

Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430) was one of the most influential theologians and philosophers of the early Church, whose writings shaped Western Christianity and philosophy. Born in Tagaste, North Africa, to a pagan father and a devout Christian mother, Saint Monica, Augustine led a restless youth marked by ambition and moral struggles before converting to Christianity under the influence of Sai...