Few artists have left as lasting a legacy as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In just 35 years of life he composed more than 600 musical works that are acknowledged as the pinnacle of symphonic, operatic, orchestral and choral music.
Military chaplaincy a ‘complex ministry’
By Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic NewsOTTAWA - When Brigadier General Guy Chapdelaine, Canada’s new Chaplain General, spent Christmas in Afghanistan in 2006, he took no chances on what might be in store for him.
Gesù is a Montreal gem
By Alan Hustak, Catholic Register SpecialMONTREAL - The Church of the Gesù is in the heart of Montreal, just east of Place Ville Marie. Hidden from view, in part by a high stone wall, its main doors are four metres above street level and the marquees between the ascending spiral staircases mean it is easily mistaken for a theatre. Which the Church of the Gesù also happens to be.
Post-earthquake Haiti makes one forget their troubles in Canada
By Kristen Curtis, The Catholic RegisterJan. 12 marks the sixth anniversary of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010. The anniversary always takes me back to time spent in Haiti two years after the earthquake. It was a life- changing experience.
Christ's birth can bring peace, hope to suffering world, Pope says
By Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY - Christmas is a reminder that through the birth of Christ, hope and peace are possible and that only through his grace can humanity find peaceful solutions to the world's most difficult problems, Pope Francis said.
O come to church all ye faithful, sort of faithful and atheists, too
By Cathy Lynn Grossman, Religion News ServiceDecember means curtains up for church Christmas pageants, hand-bell concerts, caroling kiddie choirs and Nativity displays on the front lawns.
The family Christmas tree became my task
By Fr. Philip J. Kennedy, Catholic Register SpecialChristmas practices are developed and celebrated in different ways in families, and certain tasks and jobs become traditions. So how did it happen that growing up in my large family I became the one to go out into the forest and get the annual Christmas tree?
A sweet Christmas tradition: baking cookies with mom
By Kristen Curtis, The Catholic RegisterMy hands are covered in flour and my mom is wrist deep in dough. The oven is preheated and the cookie trays are lined with parchment paper. She asks me to choose the cookie cutter for this year, and I select the angel.
Student carollers get life lessons outside of class
By Evan Boudreau, The Catholic RegisterTORONTO - On a wet and windy early December night the leadership team from Holy Spirit Catholic School set out with a group of 27 students from the northeast Toronto school to carol in the surrounding neighbourhood.
Spirit of giving overcomes commercialization of Christmas
By Evan Boudreau, The Catholic RegisterTORONTO - To curb the commercialization of Christmas, Alice Chan has made a tradition of volunteering with her two sons over the Christmas holidays.
Wreath is symbolic of Christ’s light shining on a dark world
By Evan Boudreau, The Catholic RegisterTORONTO - After watching friends and families with children come together to create a Christmas tradition making decorative wreathes, Sarah Fairley finally decided to give it a go herself.