November 22, 2017 at 11:47 am
She was probably 18 years old, had moved to Sydney from Antigonish, and with a Grade 10 education, applied for what were called “domestic” jobs — maids or housekeepers — that offered not only work, but often a place to live. Luckily for her, she landed such a job withRead More
November 8, 2017 at 12:02 pm
Fr. Lloyd Dwyer, who passed away two weeks ago, was a man who made an impression on the many people whose paths he crossed during an interesting and meaningful life. Born in New Glasgow in 1931, one of seven children of John and Catherine Murphy, he graduated from Normal CollegeRead More
November 1, 2017 at 12:06 pm
Were you aware that St. Francis of Assisi was a deacon? He had never wanted to be ordained to the priesthood, and when he explained to those in charge exactly what he wanted to do, which was simply to serve the poor, he was advised that he should be ordainedRead More
October 25, 2017 at 12:02 pm
Quebec’s “religious neutrality” Bill 62 has passed the Quebec legislature and will come into effect immediately, although there are no specific guidelines for those who will have to enforce or administer said law, which, strangely enough, has neither penalties nor fines attached to it. Critics see the bill as aRead More
October 18, 2017 at 11:49 am
Earlier this year, the idea of a guaranteed annual income (GAI) was in the news, including in The Cape Breton Spectator where yours truly wrote about Ontario’s plan to “launch a pilot project to assess whether a basic income can better support vulnerable workers, improve health and education outcomes forRead...
September 27, 2017 at 11:50 am
Pope Francis has introduced a new path to canonization for would-be Catholic saints. Now, in addition to martyrdom, living a life of heroic Christian virtue and “exceptional cases” (where someone has been venerated as holy since ancient times), Christians who lay down their lives for another will be eligible forRead...
September 13, 2017 at 11:36 am
Catholics, especially those of us who’d like to see changes to much accepted as “Gospel” over the centuries, have always been informed that if changes in church doctrine or practice happened at all, they would not happen “in our lifetimes.” Of course, many changes followed Vatican II – altar railsRead More
August 30, 2017 at 12:08 pm
t. Augustine’s Confessions do not repeat DO NOT make for light summer reading but there are times when one must do what one must do, so the Confessions have been on my agenda for the past while. It all started with Stephen Greenblatt’s article in the June 19/2017 issueRead More
July 12, 2017 at 12:05 pm
News the Vatican has banned the use of gluten-free hosts in the celebration of the Eucharist hit like a bombshell this weekend, but the rules re: gluten-free hosts go back at least to Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVl) who in July 2003 declared gluten-free hosts “invalid.” In MarchRead More