arts & culture
Filipino Simbang Gabi Masses more and more rooted in the US
The Masses, called “Simbang Gabi” or “Night Mass,” are mostly on an evening anticipatory schedule. Filipino-Americans have brought the tradition to their adopted homeland and added some multicultural flair to their celebrations.
Emmy-winning Catholic sound engineer inducted into honor society
David Wainwright, a sound engineer and parishioner of St. Bernardine, was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter’s (NATAS-NCCB) prestigious Silver Circle this fall in Baltimore.
Tolkien’s world, still popular on the big screen, began with faith and words
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth — the world of “The Lord of the Rings” and now the new animated film “The War of the Rohirrim” — was born, first and foremost, from Tolkien’s intense and lifelong love for language.
Ten Commandments tablet, attributed to ancient Samaritans, goes up for auction
An inscribed tablet of the Ten Commandments — claimed to be the world’s oldest known extant example — will go on auction Dec. 18 with expectations of garnering as much as $2 million.
Vatican chooses prisons as starting point for Jubilee art projects
Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, an award-winning poet, believes art can heal people, including prisoners, and can help them find the right path forward.
Jesus’ crown of thorns returns to Notre Dame Cathedral
Firefighters and police officers formed a human chain to rescue the crown of thorns from the inferno at Notre Dame on April 15, 2019. On Dec. 13, 2024, this holiest relic of Paris’ cathedral was returned to its proper home on the Île de la Cité.
With inaugural Mass, Notre Dame reveals ‘the Lord does not abandon his own’
Chilling rain and the “City of Lights” completely locked down due to high profile guests did not stop the crowds from arriving as close to Notre Dame Cathedral as possible for its inaugural Mass celebrated Dec. 8.
‘Long live Notre Dame de Paris!’ Jubilation as iconic Catholic cathedral reopens
The solemn reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral put Paris in the center of the Catholic world on the evening of Dec. 7 as the archbishop of France’s capital struck the magnificent door with his pastoral staff, marking the moment of the iconic Catholic church’s rebirth.
Reopening of Notre Dame is victory day for firefighters who saved it from the inferno
As the whole world awaits the reopening of Notre Dame, for those present inside the cathedral for the “grand réouverture,” it will be even more of a special moment.
Hopkins medical sculptor transforms lives, restores hope with facial prostheses
He’s worked with patients whose ears were bitten off in dog attacks. He’s seen people whose eyes or ears were lost in accidents or whose flesh was ravaged by aggressive cancers. And he’s helped others born without body parts or who suffered unimaginable gunshot wounds.