Since I am a professional historian, I am dismayed when I hear anyone say, “I hate history.” Their lament almost always means that the person is as yet unprepared to face history's challenges, the first and foremost of which is the ability to retain a great deal of data. To succeed in that undertaking, we must understand that retentiveness is a by-product of intellectual exercise.

My father, an accomplished carpenter, always seemed to be building “one more bookcase” to meet the literary demands of his wife. For all the things that our large Catholic family did not have, we had a treasury of books. My mother’s consummate genius in homeschooling pedagogy reached its zenith with a simple rule for her children: you can stay up as late as you want as long as you are reading.

According to proverbial wisdom, “When you do succeed, the chances are that you were not trying too hard in the first place.” This observation appears to contradict the idea of ...

September 1st marks the beginning of the liturgical year for Byzantine Christians. This important day is celebrated as the feast day for Saint Symeon the Stylite, who lived atop a ...

Labor Day is right around the corner. On this special occasion, many of us are given a long weekend to celebrate. We have barbeques, picnics, parties or maybe a family vacation at the beach or some other enjoyable place.

A recent Seton graduate informed us that he had chosen Moses for his Confirmation patron. No, not THAT Moses! There was, in fact, another Moses from the same Egyptian locality who was as colorful a character as the great Patriarch. August 28th could well be termed the feast day for bad boys gone good...

On September 19, the Catholic Church celebrates the apparition of the Blessed Mother when she appeared to two children in La Salette, France, in 1846. This apparition and the message are practically unknown in our country, likely because of the amazing miracles in relation to the apparitions of Fatima in Portugal and of Lourdes in France.

Readin’, writin’, ‘rithmetic and religion are, of course, vital and irreplaceable components of any educational system. As any Seton student can attest, a great deal of effort is involved in ...

The decision of the Supreme Court on January 22, 1973 was a tragedy not only for unborn children who would die by the tens of millions over the next 40 ...

A critic of Jane Austen’s novels facetiously coined this phrase to illustrate one of the virtues of civility. Characters with the most refined and elegant manners exemplify this virtue that ...

July 27 marks the feast day for Saint Panteleimon, or Saint Panteley for those looking for easier pronunciation. Panteley was an Imperial court physician during the reign of Emperor Maximian, ...

Visiting the cemetery of Mother Seton’s Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland, one experiences both the sadness and the hope of death. Seeing the row of graves marking the burial ...

During the Battle for Fort Moultrie (then named Fort Sullivan), South Carolina, on June 28, 1776, the flag flown over the American emplacements was a dark blue field with a ...

The old phrase “hate the sin, but love the sinner” reveals a deeply Christian sentiment. Yes, we see sin as the greatest offense against God, but we don’t consider the ...

The feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated this year on Friday, June 7th. Among Catholics and many Christians, pictures of the Sacred Heart and devotions to ...

Roger Ebert, the Chicago-based film critic who died recently, wrote that the first thing that really pushed him away from practicing his Catholic faith was his unwillingness to confess certain ...

Sister Josefa Menendez was a Spanish mystic who lived from 1890 to 1923. In 1920, she joined the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Poitiers, France.  During her ...

9-11: Eleven Years Later Where were you eleven years ago today? “September 11, 2001, was the deadliest day in history for New York Cityfirefighters: 343 were killed.” www.history.com Eleven years ...

Ginny Seuffert helps counsel parents here at Seton, and often shares with them different places to visit for hands on experience to learning history!

Margaret Elizabeth Doolin was born in August of 1900. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, she became a nurse and was working in the Philippine Islands when World War II ...