Harpa Dei

NOTE: We will return to the readings of the day on days when we do not meditate on the life of a saint. Lk 18:9-14 He spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves on being upright and despised everyone else, ‘Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, […]

When we begin to discover the lives of the saints, we often come across extraordinary stories. Such is the case of Saints Chrysanthus and Darius, martyrs of the first centuries, whose memory is celebrated today in the ancient liturgical calendar. The following is told about today’s saints: Saint Chrysanthus was the son of pagan parents.

According to the traditional calendar, today is the feast day of St. Raphael the Archangel. Describing an angel is undoubtedly much more difficult than describing the life of a saint. The latter are usually well documented and more accessible to us. Nevertheless, we should strive to become more familiar with our friends in heaven—without letting

In 1861, a prominent anarchist wrote, “If it hadn’t been for Father Claret, Catalonia would have understood the message of the revolution. With his thousands of extraordinarily popular sermons, this tireless man managed to re-Christianize the whole of Catalonia. After completely transforming Catalonia, he did the same in the Canary Islands and, later, in Cuba,

NOTE: Since there is no obligatory memorial of a saint prescribed by today’s liturgical calendar, we will meditate on the reading of the day. Rom 6:12-18 ‘That is why you must not allow sin to reign over your mortal bodies and make you obey their desires; or give any parts of your bodies over to

Why would someone become a hermit? Why would he leave everything behind for Christ, giving up the opportunity to live in community with other brothers and sisters, in order to be alone with God? This choice can only be understood through the eyes of faith. From the world’s perspective—so far removed from God—it might seem

Pedro Garavito was born in Alcántara, Spain, in 1499 and, at the age of sixteen, entered the Franciscan Order. There he led a life of strict penance, particularly with regard to food and sleep, to a degree that is difficult for us to imagine today. This is why we tend to admire the saints for

NOTE: As today is the Feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist, we will interrupt our series on the lives of the saints and meditate on the passage foreseen for this occasion, taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke. Lk 10:1-9 After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two

Those who receive a special commission from the Lord do not always have an easy time of it. They encounter resistance of all kinds, often from the people closest to them. However, it is precisely in such circumstances, when the chosen ones cling to their mission despite all the difficulties, that God’s work bears fruit,

With joy, I ventured to undertake this series on the lives of the saints in order to meditate on them and benefit from their example. But I did not know what awaited me, nor the wonderful people I would encounter. Through them, the life of Christ becomes so palpable that our own efforts seem insignificant