Happy St. Crispin's Day to all! SaintCast #29 profiles the North American Martyrs. In the first of 2 segments written by Kathy Couture, we look at the lives of the French Jesuits who left the comforts of home to evangelize in a hostile frontier, giving their lives in the process. We welcome the Technopriest to the SQPN line-up, and Fr. Bill Kessler makes an encore visit to the SaintCast. We caught up with him this last weekend to discuss Ignatius of Antioch, Hippolytus, and the early Church litu...
Oct 26, 2006•1 hr 1 min
Four new Saints raised to the altars by Pope Benedict this past Sunday! An American, two Italians, and a Mexican archbishop were canonized Sunday, October 15th in Rome. We hear a bit about each of the new Saints and their missions. We introduce a new SaintCast segment, This Date in Saint History. Can you guess what happened on October 16, 1978? Audio feedback from our youngest listener yet on an early pope, and caretaker of the largest Christian catacombs in Rome, Pope St. Calixtus I. We then ta...
Oct 17, 2006•1 hr
Today on the SaintCast we continue our homage to St. Francis, whose Feast Day we celebrated October 4th, by going on a sound-seeing tour of the Basilica of Santa Maria Degli Angeli and the small chapel enclosed within, the Porziuncola, where Francis and his friars gathered and worshipped 800 years ago. Tom Serafin, the Relicman, pays a visit from sunny Los Angeles, to answer a listeners question about stones from Lourdes and relics. What was special about St. Francis's stigmata, and who is the o...
Oct 12, 2006•58 min
St. Francis as an animal and tree lover? Think again. Today we are honored to welcome to the SaintCast the Archbishop of Denver, Colorado, Charles J. Chaput, who is also a Capuchin Franciscan. Archbishop Chaput points to Francis as so much more -- a dynamic, charismatic leader and Church reformer of his time, who is a model for Church reform in all ages. He led by his humble example of following the Gospel "without gloss." He points to his Last Testament as particularly poignant written sentimen...
Oct 04, 2006•38 min
In today's episode, we profile a Saint known for his works of charity. He shares a common love for living the Gospel and his love for the poor, with another important Saint whose Feast Day we celebrate this week. We'll hear bits of a old time radio drama from the 1940's on M. Vincennes. We learn of an alternative group of Saints for Horse lovers, and answer the last St. Jeopardy. . . Who is the patron Saint of Ravello, Italy? The calendar of Saints for the coming week, and more on this week's Sa...
Oct 02, 2006•49 min
Today we talk about mystical levitation in the history of the Saints (many thanks to Joan Carroll Cruz and her book Mysteries, Marvels, and Miracles). What is it all about, who has had this gift, and what does it feel like? A listener in Lima, Peru, gives us some Spanish audiofeedback on St. Rose of Lima. In the e-mail segment we answer the question about why the Notre Dame University mascot is the Fighting Irish, and hear a suspiciously familiar-sounding theme song from an Australian Rules Foot...
Sep 27, 2006•1 hr
After a brief hiatus, the SaintCast returns with a tribute to the humble porter from Montreal, and Holy Cross Brother, Blessed Andre Bessette. We go over e-mail and audio feedback, including a question for Tom Serafin of the International Crusade for Holy Relics. We welcome a brief passage from the podcast "Meditations from Carmel," quoting St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. A new St. Jeopardy, a look at the Saints of the Week, and Paul is taken to task by a Brother of the Order of Hospitallers ...
Sep 18, 2006•58 min
Situated high above Lake Albano south of Rome, the hamlet of Castelgandolfo became the papal summer retreat under Urban VIII, the Barberini pope, and remains the possession of the popes today (it is extraterritorial). My son Chris and I traveled there for the blessing and Angelus greeting of Benedict XVI on our recent trip to Italy. This issue of the SaintCast takes you on a soundseeing tour of this day, and all of the excitement accompanying a papal audience there. Pictures on the website at Sa...
Sep 03, 2006•55 min
This week we profile a 20th century Carmelite Saint, and Jewish convert, who died in the Nazi concentration camps, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, or St. Edith Stein. We spent last weekend dropping our oldest child off at college, and we relate our first experiences with our daughter at the University of Notre Dame du Lac. St. Jeopardy returns with the answer to the Saint involved in the Galileo affair, and a new question. Who is the patron saint of businessmen? Terry Jones, of the Patron Sai...
Aug 28, 2006•1 hr 6 min
In honor of the Podcast Carnival on the Assumption, though a bit late, we discuss the doctrine of the Assumption, it's historical basis, and the history of the Feast of the Assumption. Why are there no first class relics of the Blessed Virgin Mary? What relics are extant? We get a view of what the actual Assumption might have looked like, by reading about the incredibly detailed visions of the mystic Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich.
Aug 17, 2006•46 min
Paul's back from Italy, and ready for podcasting once again! I visited an incredible number of Saintly places, and am excited to share them with listeners in the form of audio sound-seeing tours over the next few months. We've got news of a miracle for the cause of Fulton J. Sheen, the evangelist of the radio and TV airwaves in the 40's and 50's in the United States. Podcasters everywhere could take inspiration from him as a potential patron saint. Speaking of patron Saints, my daughter poses th...
Aug 13, 2006•1 hr 1 min
Last week marked the Feast of St. James the Greater and we spoke with Brother Giles Baker of the Order of St. John of God (and also the producer and talent behind The Secrets of Harry Potter) about the centuries old Pilgrimage to Compostela in northern Spain. Podcasting around Italy with my son, I wish you a wonderful Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola. More from Italy in a few days . . .
Aug 03, 2006•21 min
Over 400 years ago, five Franciscan friars lost their lives defense of the faith, specifically the Christian view of marriage. They were martyred in Florida, far from their Spanish home. Their cause for canonization was begun in the diocese of Savannah, Georgia, in 1984. We talk to Paul Thigpen, of Our Sunday Visitor, and Star of the Sea Catholic Resources, about their cause and their lives. Four new saints will be canonized in October, one of them a French American nun from Indiana, Mother Theo...
Jul 23, 2006•1 hr 4 min
A great SaintCast "welcome" to the Technopriest, Fr. Bill Kessler, who paid a visit to our humble abode in Overland Park, Kansas. We got a chance to podcast together, and learned a little more about why he's such a special Man of God. A rousing speech from Kenneth Brannagh as Henry V, from the Battle of Agincourt in Shakespeare's Henry V gave the answer to last week's St. Jeopardy question, the Feast of Crispin or St. Crispin's Day, October 25. More on Saint movies, including a trailer from the ...
Jul 12, 2006•1 hr 5 min
We start off this week with e-mail and a song from independent artist Anne Davis. Her moving song "Until That Day" was written for a friendâs wedding, and is featured at the outset of the podcast. You can purchase her album at the link on the website. My daughter Laura joins me for part of the podcast. She is 12, the same age of the young virgin and martyr of early in the 20th century featured on this podcast. . . the patron saint of young girls, and rape victims. We cover the Saint Feast Days t...
Jul 04, 2006•1 hr
Just back from the Atlanta Eucharistic Congress and the informal SQPN summit - a great time was had by all. This week's special saint was the subject of a special audio soundseeing tour of one of the California missions founded by Junipero Serra, Mission San Buenaventura. Join Paul and the kids as they tour this church in downtown Ventura, California. So much info this week we couldn't go over the saint calendar . . perhaps a reason for a second SaintCast this week. . . The hand of John the Bapt...
Jun 24, 2006•1 hr
Today on the SaintCast we debut a new segment, "Ask the RelicMan." We have our first Audio St. Jeopardy, as well as our first audio listener feedback responses! An incredibly saintly man is profiled in today's SaintCast, the patron of Kansas City, Missouri, St. John Francis Regis. He was a preacher who loved the poor, and spoke from the heart, converting thousands. A Jesuit who desired martyrdom in the Americas, he was asked to provide missions to Hugenot France in the 1600's. He inspired many i...
Jun 12, 2006•54 min
What do Padre Pio and the TV Series LOST have in common? Tune in to this week's SaintCast to find out. We discuss the phenomenon of bilocation in the context of saints. There are some important martyrs on the calendar of saints for this week. Paul finds a relic of martyred physicians in his father's possessions, and another episode of the Miracle Minute, all on this week's SaintCast. No time for e-mail, but feedback is welcome at 312-235-2278.
May 31, 2006•56 min
Welcome SQPN listeners, and Happy Feast of St. Rita! Today we present an audio sound seeing tour of the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi in San Francisco, California. Padre Pio for President? That's who one Italian legislator apparently voted for last week. . though as we learned on the first SaintCast, he died in 1968. Visit the archive to learn more about this holy man and stigmatist. More news on John Paul II's beatification and the miracle of the healing of a French nun of Parkinson'...
May 22, 2006•56 min
Happy Mother's Day! Now we're back on a weekly schedule, with the longest SaintCast to date. Have you ever wondered about the remains of Saints who are said to be incorruptible? What does this mean? There are over 100 well-documented cases of bodies of saints remaining incorrupt for many, if not hundreds of years. We'll talk about this phenomenon, and give you resources for further study. Hear about the new beatifications that took place this past weekend. We'll go through the mail bag, and intr...
May 15, 2006•1 hr 1 min
A bit delayed this week, but we present the first SaintCast soundseeing tour -- a visit to the beautiful Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in the North Beach District of San Francisco. In this season of First Communicants, we talk about the Blessed Imelda, who on May 12th, nearly 700 years ago, made her First Communion at age 11, and died in ecstasy. We answer last week's St. Jeopardy question - the Saint who suffered a thorn wound for years, St. Rita of Cascia. A new St. Jeopardy question for next ...
May 05, 2006•53 min
Greetings from the City by the Bay, under the patronage of Saint Francis of Assisi. The SaintCast travels to San Francisco after the SaintCaster breaks a finger! Hear about St. Catherine of Siena, the Dominican stigmatic who helped bring the papacy back to Rome, the last holy men and women raised to the title Blessed last fall, and the next to be so honored in May. Why are relics often embedded in stones in the altars of the faithful? Tom Serafin from the Apostolate for Holy Relics answers this ...
Apr 26, 2006•57 min
Happy Easter to all! Yesterday was Easter, but 127 years ago on April 16th, a saint was welcomed into heaven, Bernadette Soubirous. Tune in to this week's SaintCast to hear how about a young, poor, sickly 14 year old girl from Lourdes, France, and her visions of a beautiful lady. Brother Paschal Kolodziej of Marytown in Libertyville, Illinois, will give us insight into the holiness of Maximilian Kolbe, and give us some personal anecdotes from eyewitnesses to his martyrdom. We'll talk about the S...
Apr 18, 2006•56 min
In late April, 1918, Maximilian Kolbe was ordained a priest in the Order of Friars Minor Conventual. He then embarked on his mission as a Knight of the Immaculata. He consecrated his life to the Blessed Virgin and set out to convert the world. He founded a number of publications based in his first City of the Immaculata, Niepokalanow, in Poland. He traveled to Japan and India, and suffered greatly with tuberculosis. He lived a life of uncommon holiness, a truly saintly life, even before his famo...
Apr 10, 2006•56 min
Who is the Patron Saint of the Internet? No it's not Al Gore. . . and why is St. Isidore from the 600's, associated with the Internet? Who are the Frost Saints? Why do saints wear halos? All these questions, a guest appearance by Fr. Seraphim Beshoner, and more are answered on this week's SaintCast.
Apr 04, 2006•49 min
Nearly 118 years ago this next week, Therese Martin entered the cloister of Carmelite nuns at Lisieux, France, and never left, though she became one of the most beloved saints of the last century. She is the patron saint of missionaries, though she never left the convent. Learn about St. Therese and the Little Way, in this week's SaintCast. In addition, we cover the Saints of the week on the Liturgical Calendar, some canonization news, and hear the Communion Thanksgiving prayer of Padre Pio. . ....
Mar 28, 2006•49 min
Nearly 500 years ago this week, Parliament passed the Act of Succession, making the children of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII heirs to the English throne. It was also proclaimed that subjects were to swear an oath to the King's supremacy over the Church in England. People who refused to take the oath were charge with treason. This set the stage for the martyrdom of this special saint, scholar and statesman. We also take another look at the life of St. Joseph, we look at the calendar of saints for t...
Mar 20, 2006•57 min
Have you ever been to a St. Joseph Table? Chances are if you're Sicilian or of Sicilian descent, you have! Why is the St. Joseph Statue upside down? Tune in to find out. . . . Today we learn of some traditions associated with St. Joseph, Foster Father of Jesus Christ. We'll go over the saints for the week in the Roman Catholic Calendar, and more St. Jeopardy. . . .
Mar 13, 2006•37 min
The inaugural podcast of the SaintCast. . . a look at a special man of incredible holiness, who was alive during many of our lives . . St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, astonishing insights from a spokesman for the Padre Pio shrine in New York City, a look at the Saints of the upcoming week, Saint Jeopardy. . and MORE!
Mar 05, 2006•47 min
