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You may know her from the “scandalous” Sicilian dessert, or at least have seen it in photos. Small mounds, covered in a layer of sugary, white marzipan and adorned with a candied cherry on top. It’s also popular in iconic religious imagery, with a painting revealing the saint who is holding a pair of cakes on a plate. Some say these mini cassate re...

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In 1850, a small and sickly girl, the youngest of thirteen children, was born two months prematurely to a farm family in the Italian region of Lombardy. Francesca Cabrini would suffer from poor health her entire life. When in her teens she decided to give her life to Christ, she was rejected by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart, who considered her...

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My husband, Doug, and I have participated in multiple pilgrimages to Europe with Father Daniel Dury (aka “Padre”), pastor at Sunbury St. John Neumann Church and previous pastor at Columbus St. Catharine Church.  Our most recent trip, in early September 2023, was to Italy. This pilgrimage was planned by Father Dury and a private tour operator/manage...

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Buses filled with elderly men lumbered down dusty Panhandle roads and rolled to a stop at the edge of a cornfield. Wearing suits and ties, some pinned with Italian military medals, the men stepped onto the reddish dirt and walked toward a small white chapel tucked amid the stalks. They took turns entering the structure to read the inscription engra...

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Demolition of Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church in Asbury Park may take place soon as the legal battle over the fate of the landmark church comes to an end. The city Planning Bard voted this week to approve the plan to remove the church and build six new single family homes on the site at Second Avenue and Bond Street. The Planning Board had reject...

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The Cathedral of St. Paul recently discovered some of the treasured history behind its artwork. It starts with a teenage sculptor from Italy who traveled to the capital city in the early 1900s. His grandsons are now sharing untold stories about an artist remembered as the cathedral's Michelangelo. The Capecchi cousins — Jerry and brothers Mark and...

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Everyone knows that Santa will be doing the rounds at Christmas, squeezing down chimneys, knocking back glasses of whiskey, leaving presents under trees and ho-ho-ho-ing all the way back to the North Pole in his flying sled. Or – and you’ll want to ask children to look away at this point – will he actually just be lying dead beneath a church named...

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From life-sized figures to intricate miniatures, Nativity scenes are popular around the world at Christmas time – but where does this tradition come from? The custom of displaying a Nativity scene at Christmas began in 1223 when St Francis of Assisi is said to have staged the first recreation of the scene of Jesus' birth in the town of Greccio, Ita...

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For the last decade, Msgr. Paul Bochicchio of St. Francis Church in Hoboken has been advising as a spiritual consultant on the upcoming film “Cabrini,” produced by Angel Studios about the life and ministry of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, set to debut in theaters in March 2024. The highly anticipated movie, from the studio that produced “The Chosen”...

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While it doesn’t have the same name recognition as Spain’s Camino de Santiago, the Via Francigena is considered to have some of Europe’s most iconic pilgrimage sites. The 1100-mile journey traces the route Archbishop Sigeric the Serious took in 990 A.D. as he traveled from Canterbury to Rome. Because the full journey requires a hefty time commitmen...

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