Faith

Despite life’s struggles, the call kept pulling Llames to the seminary

April 17, 2007

TORONTO - Leo Llames first thought about a vocation to the priesthood when he was 10 years old during elementary school in Tacloban City, Philippines. He was inspired by the life story of St. Maximilian Kolbe and how he died a martyr for the faith, but he pushed those thoughts aside and continued on with life.

BECOMING A PRIEST: ‘Mountain top’ experience at Madonna House leads seminarian to priesthood

April 17, 2007

TORONTO - Zachary Romanowsky heard his call to the priesthood while staying at Madonna House in Combermere, Ont.

Bear witness to the resurrection

April 17, 2007

The belief in the resurrection of Jesus is central to Christianity, as demonstrated by the recent heated debate over the “tomb of Jesus” allegedly found by a Toronto filmmaker. It is a belief that comes to the forefront each year at this time.

BECOMING A PRIEST: Future priest is more at home in seminary than in high finance

April 16, 2007

Editor’s note: this is one in a series of articles on the men from Toronto’s St. Augustine’s Seminary and Redemptoris Mater Seminary who will be ordained as priests this spring.

As many reasons for retreats as there are people

April 16, 2007

TORONTO - Ann Jacques had been away from the church for a long time when she answered an ad in the church bulletin to go on retreat.

BECOMING A PRIEST - Coming to terms with addiction turned a life around

April 15, 2007

TORONTO - Kelly Boyden grew up in Orleans, a suburb of Ottawa, under the care of his adopted parents, two devout Catholics. He went to Catholic school and was an altar server, but in his teenage years he drifted away from the faith.

MY FAVOURITE PRAYER: Serenity Prayer eases things in stressful world

April 13, 2007

For Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May it’s difficult to choose a favourite prayer. She’s partial to the Peace Prayer of St. Francis (which is Franciscan in spirit, but not written by St. Francis) and St. Francis’ Canticle of All Creatures (which probably does date from St. Francis’ lifetime).

Report sets stage for closer relations between Catholics, Anglicans

April 13, 2007

TORONTO - Church unity hasn’t happened yet, but Catholics and Anglicans have a new list of concrete suggestions for ways to bring the two churches closer.

Praying for miracles

March 16, 2007

TORONTO - Sandy Sitar and her husband Glenn Brown work in the pharmaceutical industry in technically demanding jobs. They’re educated young professionals — not the sort of people who fall into superstition or believe in magic. But that doesn’t mean they don’t believe in miracles.

Demand for John Paul’s relics swamps Vatican

March 11, 2007

JPII [images/stories/historical_people/PopeJohnPaulII/JPII.jpg]ROME - The Rome diocesan office charged with promoting the sainthood cause of Pope John Paul II has exceeded its postage budget because of increased requests for prayer cards and relics of the late pope.