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Works by Pat McNamara
Giving the Raw Gospel: Catherine De Hueck Doherty...
Pat McNamara | April 01, 2013
She fled the violence of the Bolsheviks, but found that advocating Civil Rights could be......
A Brief History of a Sometimes Long Wait
Pat McNamara | March 11, 2013
What's a conclave? And what happens? And how long will it take?...
A Walk Through Calvary Cemetery
Pat McNamara | January 02, 2013
In Woodside, a fascinating graveyard encapsulates New York's history....
The Powerhouse: Cardinal Francis Spellman
Pat McNamara | December 17, 2012
Ambition and natural leadership skills sometimes hid Cardinal Spellman's capacity for......
A View from the Tower of London: A Review of...
Pat McNamara | December 10, 2012
It's worth remembering when Catholicism was repressed and priests were hidden in......
"These Are a Few of My Favorite Saints . . ."
Pat McNamara | November 01, 2012
Fifteen favorite saints for a saint-oriented week....
"Rabble? That's Me!": Alfred E. Smith
Pat McNamara | October 22, 2012
The humorous Al Smith Dinner honors a Catholic politician and social reformer, a "happy......
The Joy of Sister Thea Bowman (1937-1990)
Pat McNamara | October 15, 2012
"I think the difference between me and some people is that I'm content to do my little......
"A Servant of the Lepers": Brother Joseph of Molokai
Pat McNamara | October 08, 2012
A Civil War veteran, a reformed drunkard, a rich man, a penitent: an inspiring story of......
Venerable Fulton Sheen: "A Loyal Son of the Church"
Pat McNamara | October 02, 2012
His background gave Archbishop Fulton Sheen a unique ability to convey "everyman"......
St. Alphonsus Liguori and the Redemptorists
Pat McNamara | September 24, 2012
There was no fire-and-brimstone in this passionate Doctor of the Church....
The Apostle of Ohio: Bishop Edward Fenwick, O.P.
Pat McNamara | August 06, 2012
Traveling countless miles to find Catholics needing sacraments, his saddle became "his......
Boniface Wimmer and the Benedictines in America
Pat McNamara | July 30, 2012
Remembering a great Benedictine priest and monastic founder who wrote, "Always forward!......
Sister Ignatia: The Apostle of Alcoholics Anonymous
Pat McNamara | July 23, 2012
Working with the founders of AA, Sister Ignatia began the first hospital treatment......
Up from Scratch: Bishop John Chanche and Mississippi...
Pat McNamara | July 16, 2012
Stepping onto the banks of the Mississippi with nothing, a gifted bishop created a......
Francis Thompson and the Hound of Heaven
Pat McNamara | July 09, 2012
A "failure" to the world, addicted, nursed by a prostitute, Francis Thompson is recalled......
Absolution at Gettysburg: Father William Corby, C.S.C.
Pat McNamara | July 02, 2012
Among the many statues on the Gettysburg battlefield, only one is dedicated to a......
Daniel A. Rudd: Black Catholic Journalist and Pioneer
Pat McNamara | June 11, 2012
How an ex-slave helped develop an international black Catholic consciousness....
Bl. Dominic Barberi: Apostle of the Second Spring
Pat McNamara | June 04, 2012
The story of a nineteenth-century barefoot preacher who was pelted and trampled on --......
The Quality of Mercy: Mother Gonzaga O'Brien
Pat McNamara | May 07, 2012
How a Sister of Mercy overcame anti-Catholic prejudice and mistrust through a lifetime......
A Church History Reading List
Pat McNamara | March 19, 2012
Want to improve your knowledge of Church history? Here's a list of great books to get......
Mother Irene and the New York Foundlings
Pat McNamara | March 12, 2012
In Post-Civil War New York, some 30,000 homeless children wandered the streets. Catholic......
Cardinal John J. O'Connor: A Priest Forever
Pat McNamara | February 07, 2012
"Surely I have a right to make clear the teaching of the Church," said Cardinal......
No Room in the Inn of Your Heart
Pat McNamara | December 20, 2011
The human heart can be compared to an inn filled with guests, from which resound the......
"Such Love Is Seldom Seen": Mother Mary Walsh, O.P....
Pat McNamara | December 06, 2011
Born in poverty, Mary Walsh gives a lively example of how potent redistributism can be,......
The Drummer Boy of Chickamauga
Pat McNamara | November 29, 2011
The twelve-year-old drummer of the 22nd Michigan Infantry turned around, shot the......
Betty Smith's Brooklyn
Pat McNamara | November 22, 2011
When Francie Nolan describes "the most beautiful church in Brooklyn," she is describing......
The Original Mighty Mac
Pat McNamara | November 15, 2011
Born to a Haitian mother and a white father, Almeide Maxis Duchemin headed two religious......
Father Francis P. Duffy and the Fighting 69th
Pat McNamara | November 08, 2011
As Veteran's Day approaches, remembering a famous regiment and the chaplain who served......
Edgar Allan Poe and the Jesuits
Pat McNamara | October 31, 2011
On the eve of All Soul's Day, remembering a tortured soul who found consolation and......
The Seminary Is a Living Thing
Pat McNamara | October 27, 2011
For a seminary professor, seeing the excitement of clerical and lay seminary students......
From Slave to Saint: Pierre Toussaint
Pat McNamara | October 24, 2011
From slave to entrepreneur, Venerable Pierre Toussaint is the only layperson interred in......
The Hurons, the Iroquois, and the Blackrobes
Pat McNamara | October 17, 2011
Remembering the North American Martyrs and Father Isaac Jogues, "one of the purest......
Father McGivney and the Knights of Columbus
Pat McNamara | October 10, 2011
Columbus Day brings us to the Knights of Columbus, who continue to promote Christian......
"Really Franciscan": St. Francis of Assisi Church
Pat McNamara | October 03, 2011
Hidden amid the cosmopolitan skyscrapers of New York City, a Franciscan parish is a......
"There's the Saint for Me!" St. Vincent de Paul
Pat McNamara | September 19, 2011
Religious images were destroyed during the French Revolution. But one was left untouched......
Intensely Catholic
Pat McNamara | September 12, 2011
"Beware of opposing Mother Hardey because she will kill you with her novenas."...
General Sherman's Jesuit Son
Pat McNamara | August 22, 2011
The Civil War hero's son wrote of his vocation: "What a grand thing it is to be, as it......
What is a "Know-Nothing"?
Pat McNamara | August 15, 2011
Anti-Catholicism was once so acceptable in America that you could buy candy promoting......
Cloisters in the Alleys
Pat McNamara | August 01, 2011
How the Sisters of Mercy served America's poor....
Thomas Verner Moore and the Carthusians
Pat McNamara | July 25, 2011
At age 70, Thomas Verner Moore left for Spain to become a Carthusian Monk. Later, he......
Bishop Andrew Byrne: Quixotic in Arkansas
Pat McNamara | July 18, 2011
In 19th Century Arkansas, Bishop Andrew Byrne endured anti-Catholicism "with a dignity......
Road to Rome, Part Two: Newman's Catholic Life
Pat McNamara | July 04, 2011
Once a Catholic, John Henry Newman often felt his life "forlorn and dreary," yet he......
Newman's Road to Rome, Part One
Pat McNamara | June 27, 2011
What made the conversion of John Henry Newman so especially noteworthy, and what did it......
The Setons, the Bayleys, and the Roosevelts
Pat McNamara | June 20, 2011
Soldiers, sailors, scientists, prison chaplains, teachers, social workers, authors,......
Missionary to China: Bishop Francis X. Ford, M.M.
Pat McNamara | June 13, 2011
A Brooklyn-born Irish lad with the heart of a missionary, Bishop Francis Xavier Ford......
A Jesuit in Little Italy: Father Nicholas Russo, S.J.
Pat McNamara | June 06, 2011
Like an early Mother Teresa, a brilliant Jesuit priest and professor proved himself no......
Catholic Sisters and the American Civil War
Pat McNamara | May 30, 2011
On the battlefields and in the hospitals, soldiers on both sides of the Civil War owed......
George W. Mundelein: Putting the Church on the Map
Pat McNamara | May 23, 2011
In a period of dramatic growth in America, perhaps no churchman matched the energy or......
The Barrymores, Hollywood's "Royal Family"
Pat McNamara | May 16, 2011
Talent and legendary profiles may have garnered them "Royal" notice, but the Barrymore......
Why is Manhattan College in the Bronx?
Pat McNamara | May 09, 2011
Historian Pat McNamara takes a fascinating and amusing look at the Christian Brothers......
Black Elk: Lakota Holy Man, Catholic Catechist
Pat McNamara | May 02, 2011
Black Elk's conversion was actually where he found true freedom and fulfillment as a......
Easter Sermon, 1876: Rev. Algernon A. Brown, C.S.P....
Pat McNamara | April 25, 2011
A 19th-century sermon on the Risen Christ: "Let us see the sepulchre, and let us cast......
Missionary of the Passion: James Kent Stone
Pat McNamara | April 18, 2011
A rich life of sacrifice, praise, sorrow, and joy is lived under the crucifix, and......
From Savannah to Harlem: Mother Theodore Williams
Pat McNamara | April 11, 2011
In the face of racism and doubt within her own church, Elizabeth Barbara Williams fought......
Father James Sheeran: Immigrant Priest and Confederate
Pat McNamara | April 04, 2011
This month marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. Meet an Irish......
Dorothy Day: Comforter and Afflicter
Pat McNamara | March 28, 2011
The world had to catch up to Dorothy Day on social issues; now it needs to catch up to......
From Columbus to Cabrini: America's Italian Catholics
Pat McNamara | March 22, 2011
For early Italian immigrants, the church was a cultural and spiritual consolation, but......
Why St. Patrick's Day Matters, for Everybody
Pat McNamara | March 15, 2011
St. Patrick's Day in America celebrates not only a great saint, but a put-upon people......
"No Party but Mankind!": Orestes A. Brownson
Pat McNamara | March 08, 2011
A flawed man of his time, Orestes A. Brownson begins to emerge as a challenging voice......
The Curious Case of Cornelia Connelly
Pat McNamara | March 02, 2011
When her husband told her to become a nun, Cornelia Connelly obeyed; when he tried to......
"Racism Is a God-Damned Thing": Father John Markoe, S.J.
Pat McNamara | February 22, 2011
John Markoe, S.J.: football star, soldier, alcoholic, priest, and a civil rights......
Before Thomas Merton: Gethsemani Abbey, 1848-1948
Pat McNamara | February 15, 2011
Catholics who believe the church can never get past its present troubles should look to......
What a Woman Can Do: Mother Xavier Ross
Pat McNamara | February 08, 2011
A fervent young woman answers her father's question, "What can a woman do?"...
"I No Longer Call You Slaves": The Healy Brothers
Pat McNamara | February 02, 2011
In an era of racial intolerance and whispers, America's first African-American Catholic......
"Do Not Lose Courage!" An Iowa Exorcism, 1928
Pat McNamara | January 25, 2011
Anticipating the cinema release of Matt Baglio's The Rite, Catholic historian Dr. Pat......
"Dagger John": Archbishop John Hughes
Pat McNamara | January 18, 2011
Although New York has changed greatly over the years, John Hughes' legacy continues in......
Twice Our Mother: Blessed Marie of the Incarnation
Pat McNamara | January 11, 2011
"With her own hands, she marked the sign of faith on our hearts, and it has never since......
Your Vocation is the Padded Cell!
Pat McNamara | January 04, 2011
One 19th-century actor leads the way in creating a Catholic culture of the arts....
Christmas Sermon, Stonyhurst 1904
Pat McNamara | December 23, 2010
Why is this Baby in our midst? And if, in His great love for mankind, He must needs......
A Vibrant, Active Piety
Pat McNamara | December 14, 2010
Passionate and purposeful, Isaac Hecker was politically conscious, explored world......
"The Prisoner of the Vatican": Pope Pius IX and the 19th...
Pat McNamara | December 07, 2010
The story of the man himself is much more complex and interesting than gross......
Edmonia Lewis: Artist, Woman of Color, Catholic
Pat McNamara | November 01, 2010
As a Black Catholic artist, Lewis brought a uniquely African perspective to her......
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