A rise in executions in the United States in 2025 occurred alongside “shifting public opinion” against the death penalty, offering anti-death-penalty advocates a hopeful sign going into 2026 even amid high levels of capital punishment. The Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit group that tracks and catalogs executions in the United States...

In 2025, 3,176,620 people were present for papal audiences and liturgies in the Vatican. That's according to figures disclosed by the Prefecture of the Papal Household, which include General, Jubilee, and special audiences; liturgical celebrations; and the recitation of the Angelus...

It takes a lot of money to run a parish or diocese. Personnel, property, and insurance costs quickly add up, no matter where you live. But few dioceses have a budget line for snowmobiles and bush plane flights, or operating costs for remote parishes that cannot be accessed by road. The Diocese of Fairbanks has that. Spanning the northern 409,849 square miles of Alaska...

January 1 is the Octave Day of Christmas, eight days after the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord, a second Christmas Solemnity, Christmas Day II. But it isn’t called that. Instead it is the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. That fact alone shows the singularity of Mary. The Octave of Easter Sunday is Easter Sunday II, a second day to celebrate what Jesus did...

An aspect of the Christmas story we often fail to notice is the way that God, through the Incarnation, became a burden to Mary and Joseph and the people around them. From Luke’s Gospel we know that Jesus’s parents were not wealthy, yet that didn’t stop God from asking them to have a child sooner than they had anticipated...

Feast date: Jan 11

Born to a pious family in 423 A.D., Theodosius began his studies at an early age, and became a lector while still an adolescent. The example of Abraham led him to leave home in order to properly follow God. He met Saint Simeon Stylites in Antioch, and Simeon recognized him as a holy man and leader, and invited Theodosius onto his pillar for prayer, blessing, and advice. He then traveled to Jerusalem where legend says he worked with Saint Longinus, who would have been nearly 500 years old at the time. After a time, he was given charge of a small church near Bethlehem, however his time there did not last long.

Dreading the vanity that comes from the esteem of men and unable to live in solitude with the multitude of admirers, he retired to a cave in the desert of Judah where he led a hermit's life. Word of his holiness began to attract disciples, and Theodosius built a monastery at Cathismus to house them. So many came that there had to be sections built for Greeks, for Armenians, for Persions, etc., but they all happily worked and prayed together. Next to the monastery he built a hospital for the sick, a hospice for the aged, and a mental hospital. He became a friend of and co-worker with Saint Sabbas, and was later appointed visitor to all cenobitical communities of Palestine, the patriarch of Jerusalem.

He opposed heresies, including Eutychianism and Monophysitism. Emperor Anastatius, a supporter of Eutychianism, once sent Theodosius a large bribe, hoping to sway the influential monk to his thinking, however Theodosius distributed the money to the poor, and continued to preach against heresy. Because of his orthodox views, Anastatius removed him from his position in 513, but he soon resumed his duties under emperor Justinian.

He continued to work until his health gave out, and spent the rest of his time praying for his community. He died at the age of 105.

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Did you know that an exorcism is performed with something as common as the rite of baptism?

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