It is a shrine that was never really meant to be a shrine, according to Father Rev. Marco Mercado, rector of Maryville Academy.  This small shrine near Chicago draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims throughout the year..  It is the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, Illinois, just about a 7-minute drive from Chicago’s bustling O’Hare Airport.

It was in 1988 that a traveling statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe was brought back from Mexico City to the U.S.  After several failed attempts to find some church to accept it,  Maryville Academy offered to house the statue in a small chapel and from that a shrine was born.

Needless to say, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe are a highlight of the year.  Celebrations, along with native dancers, began on December 10th but the activities will really heat up starting on December 11th, with Masses beginning at 4:00 p.m. and being held every two hours through the night and following day until the final Mass and solemn procession at 7:00 p.m. on December 12th.

There is also television coverage on Univision, not only in the area, but in many cities throughout the U.S.

You can check their website here

Or learn more about the Shrine here.

On September 23. 2017 the first U.S.-born Martyr was beatified:  Father Stanley Rother, of the Diocese of Oklahoma City.

An Oklahoma farm boy, he fit in well with the oppressed Catholic peasants of Guatemala during the chaotic war fought in the late 1970’s and 80’s, when the dicatorship killed thousands of Catholics and persecuted the Church.

Refusing to abandon his parish, he was murdered in the sacristy…..not crying out so as not to put any of his flock in danger of execution as well.

His body was returned to Oklahoma City (minus his heart, which stayed in Guatemala) and is buried here in Oklahoma City.  Among the 14,000 people attending his Beatification were members of his family as well as some from the mission in Guatemala that he served and loved.

You can find out more about his life and his tomb in Oklahoma City by going to our page here.

Fr. Rene Laurentin was a leading Mariologist and author of over 150 books and thousands of articles regarding Marian apparitions, such as Lourdes,  Lisieux and many others.  He died on September 10, 2017 at the age of 99.

He wrote about many modern mystics such as St. Therese of Liseux, Maria Valtorta (“poem of the Man God”), Saint Bernadette and many, many more.

More recent works include his 1995 book “An Appeal from Mary in Argentina”, about the approved apparitions in San Nicolas, Argentina.

Exciting new Danube River Cruise for Catholics

A rapidly growing segment of the cruise industry has been river cruises, especially in Europe. They offer much smaller ships, dock right in the heart of town, almost everything is included in the price including shore excursions, drinks, gourmet meals and many other items that have become extra cost on most ocean cruises.

Unfortunately, there were hardly any that offered a priest on board….until now.

Select International Tours, an award-winning tour operator, is offering a Danube River cruise in June 2018, with Father Leo Patalinghug (Host of EWTN “Grace before Meals”) as spiritual director and Gus and Michelle Lloyd (radio hosts of “Seize the Day” on Sirius XM).

You can get a $100 discount when you register using code CTguide.  This cruise will fill up fast, the ship only hold 180 passengers, so don’t wait too long to sign up.

Click here for details.

You can get a $100 discount when you register using code CTguide.  This cruise will fill up fast, the ship only hold 180 passengers, so don’t wait too long to sign up.

Click here for details.

Julia Greeley, born a slave in Missouri, the freed after the civil war, was a woman who was known for her charity work and evangelization efforts all the way up until her death in 1918.

Click here to read her amazing and inspirational life story.

As usual, friars from the Basilica of Saint Anthony will leave Padua this June to take relics of their beloved Saint to his devotees around the world:

Three of of the Friars will accompany  some of St. Anthony’s relics to the following countries:

United States (June 9 to 18)

Canada (June 9 to 18)

Australia (June 6 to 21)

The friars accompanying the relics are as follows:

Fr. Alessandro Ratti will be in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut,

Fr. Paolo Floretta in the Toronto area,

Fr. Louis Cenci in the Lac-Bouchette, Quebec area (mainly in French), and

Fr. Mario Conte will be in the Australian states of Adelaide, Victoria and finally in the Sydney area.

Check our Calendar of events for the month of June for dates and places for veneration.  There are still one or two dates to be determined, so check back for updates.

The Sistine Chapel Choir (the Pope’s own choir) will be coming to the U.S. in September to perform three concerts:  New York City, Washington, DC and Detroit, Michigan.

This is the choir’s first return visit to the U.S. in over 30 years, and tickets will probably sell out far in advance.

Check our September calendar page for more  information.

For additional event information visit their website

In a strange legal battle, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s body has been in New York.  The Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, where he was originally ordained has been fighting to have his body returned.  He was born in El Paso, Illinois.

The Peoria Diocese has spearheaded a campaign for sainthood for Sheen, who became renowned as television’s first televangelist. In fact his Saturday night show in the 50’s at one time aired opposite Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra…..and he bested them both!

In the sainthood process, a custom of the canonization comes into play: the remains of a saint get buried at the site of where the sainthood petition began — in this case, Peoria.  Sheen’s remains would be interred in a marble crypt to be built near the altar at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria, where hewas ordained as a priest.

Sheen, who died at age 84 in 1979, is buried in the crypt under the sanctuary at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.

Here is the story