Imagine being born in 1182, at a time when you could happily spend your whole life in the same community. But while you are a child, a shipwreck takes away the money your father had intended to be your dowry, and so, while you are at the age of 12 your parents decide, at least for the moment, to send you away to a convent for an education. There’s no way to phone home, and instead of being with your family and friends, you have to follow the strict schedule of some nuns. As a child, you don’t want to become a nun, and instead you care a lot about what you look like and about impressing potential suitors. After all, until that shipwreck took your dowry, you were hoping to get married relatively soon.
Sacred Heart
In anticipation of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. bishops will consecrate the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus June 11 during their spring plenary assembly in Orlando, Florida.
The nation’s Catholic bishops have a full agenda for their annual spring meeting, with topics including safe environment protocols, sainthood causes, the Synod on Synodality, and the consecration of the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Do you ever feel like you are going through the motions without passion as you carry out your responsibilities? At times, we all can — even monks.
This is the full text of Pope Leo XIV’s homily on June 27, 2025, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Knights of Columbus are inviting the faithful to take part in a novena to the Sacred Heart dedicated to the intentions of Pope Leo XIV.
A world that has become “heartless” and indifferent to greed and war, and a Catholic Church in need of revitalizing its missionary joy, need to open themselves up to Christ’s infinite love, Pope Francis wrote.