Editorial

Dear Friend, there was a place not far from Tours, in west-central France, where people used to gather to pray at the tomb of a man believed to be a martyr. An altar had been erected there, and for years no one had questioned the tradition. No one, that is, except Martin...

Dear Friend, every year, on the evening of October 3, we friars gather with many of the faithful in the Basilica of Saint Anthony to celebrate the Transitus of Saint Francis: his passage from this life into eternity. The same thing will happen in churches large and small throughout the world, as we gather in spirit around the Poor Man of Assisi...

Dear Friend, a few days ago, I went to visit a good friend of mine. Tony and I first met many years ago, when we worked together at a bank. Being seventeen years my senior, he naturally became something of a fatherly figure to me...

Dear Friend, every August, I go to stay with a dear friend whom I have known for more than forty-five years for my two-week vacation. There is always a small room waiting for me in his home. Simple, quiet, familiar… but filled with the warmth of a friendship that has endured through the years...

Dear friend, two or three times a year, I have the grace of traveling around the world carrying the relics of Saint Anthony, so that those who are devoted to his intercession might encounter him more closely. Wherever I go, I meet people whose faith is sincere and deeply touching, often expressed in simple yet meaningful ways...

Dear friend, as May begins, I cannot help but think of what happened just over a hundred years ago in Fatima. I am sure you know the story, yet allow me to recall it with you...