Tracts
Mary & the Saints
The Marian dogmas, the intercession of the saints, and the lives of holy men and women. 33 tracts.
Blessed Fulton Sheen
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979) was one of the twentieth century's most effective Catholic communicators, reaching millions through radio and television with a clear, joyful presentation of the faith centered on Christ. He was declared Venerable and beatified in September 2026.
Did Jesus Have Brothers?
About ten New Testament passages mention the "brothers" and "sisters" of the Lord. But in the Bible "brother" has a wide meaning that includes cousins and other relatives, and the context shows these were not children of Mary. She remained a virgin all her life.
Guardian Angels
Guardian angels are spiritual beings God assigns to guard and guide us. The Church definitively teaches that every baptized person has one, and commonly teaches that every person does. We do not worship them but ask their intercession. Their feast is October 2.
Immaculate Conception and Assumption
The Immaculate Conception means Mary, conceived in the normal way, was preserved from original sin and its stain from the first instant of her existence. The Assumption means that at the end of her earthly life she was taken up body and soul into heaven. Both are holy days of obligation, on December 8 and August 15.
Our Lady of Fatima
In 1917, at Fatima in Portugal, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared six times to three shepherd children, identifying herself as the Lady of the Rosary. Her message calls the world to repentance, prayer, especially the daily Rosary, and trust in God's mercy, and always leads to her Son. Her feast is May 13.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
In December 1531, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego on Tepeyac hill near Mexico City and asked for a church to be built there. As a sign, her image was miraculously imprinted on his cloak, which is still displayed in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Her feast is December 12.
Praying to the Saints
Asking the saints in heaven to pray for us is an ancient Christian practice, shared by Catholics, the Orthodox and other Eastern Christians. Scripture shows the saints in heaven are aware of our prayers and offer them to God, and their intercession no more violates Christ's unique mediation than asking a fellow Christian on earth to pray for us.
Saint Dymphna
St. Dymphna was a seventh-century Irish princess, baptized secretly by her Christian mother, who fled her father's incestuous intentions and was martyred by him at about fifteen in Geel, in modern Belgium. She is patron of those who suffer from mental illness and emotional distress. Her feast is May 15.
Saint Joseph
St. Joseph, husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus, guarded the Holy Family and is the Patron of the Universal Church. Though Scripture records none of his words, he is a model of faith, courage, chastity and work. His principal feast is March 19, and the Church also honors St. Joseph the Worker on May 1.
Saint Patrick
St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, was born in Roman Britain in the late fourth century, enslaved in Ireland as a youth, and returned as a Catholic bishop to evangelize the Irish. His feast is March 17.
Saint Valentine
St. Valentine was an early martyr whose life is known more from legend than history, though there is good evidence he was venerated in the early Church. His feast, February 14, remains an optional memorial. The Church does not celebrate the day for romance but for his witness as a saint and martyr.
Saint Worship?
Catholics do not worship the saints. "Worship" once meant giving honor, and Scripture uses it of honoring people. Theology distinguishes *latria*, the adoration due to God alone, from *dulia*, the honor due to the saints, and *hyperdulia*, the higher honor due to Mary. Scripture commands honoring others, and the chief way we honor the saints is by imitating them.
St. Anthony of Padua
St. Anthony of Padua, born in Lisbon in 1195, was a Franciscan friar renowned for his preaching, his love of the poor, and his miracles. He is a Doctor of the Church and the patron saint of lost items. His feast is June 13, and his relics are in the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua.
St. Carlo Acutis
St. Carlo Acutis (1991-2006), an Italian teenager who loved the Eucharist and used his computer skills to catalog Eucharistic miracles, died of leukemia at fifteen. Beatified in 2020 and canonized on September 7, 2025, he is the first millennial saint and is often called the patron of the internet. His feast is October 12.
St. Christopher
St. Christopher was an early martyr, honored as patron of travelers. Tradition says he carried travelers across a dangerous river and once carried a child who proved to be Christ. His name means "Christ-bearer," and his story calls us to carry Christ to everyone. He is still a saint; his feast is July 25.
St. Faustina
St. Faustina Kowalska, the "Apostle of Divine Mercy," was a Polish nun who received private revelations from Jesus and recorded them in her *Diary*. Through her, Jesus gave the Divine Mercy image, the Chaplet and the call for Divine Mercy Sunday. Her feast is October 5.
St. Ignatius of Loyola
St. Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish soldier whose conversion led him to become a priest, founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), and author of the *Spiritual Exercises*, a classic guide to discernment. His feast is July 31, the day he died in 1556.
St. John Henry Newman
St. John Henry Newman was an Anglican leader whose study of the Church Fathers led him into the Catholic Church in 1845. A priest, cardinal and educator, he is known for his teaching on the development of doctrine and on conscience. Pope Leo XIV announced in 2025 that Newman would be named the thirty-eighth Doctor of the Church. His feast is October 9.
St. John the Baptist
St. John the Baptist was the prophet God chose to prepare the way for Christ. He preached repentance, baptized in the Jordan, baptized Jesus, and always pointed away from himself to the Lamb of God. He was martyred for condemning Herod's unlawful marriage. His feast is June 24.
St. Josephine Bakhita
St. Josephine Bakhita was kidnapped as a child in Sudan and sold into slavery, then brought to Italy, where she became a Catholic and a Canossian sister. She is the patron saint of victims of human trafficking. Her feast is February 8.
St. Maria Goretti
St. Maria Goretti, an Italian girl who died in 1902 resisting an attempted rape, forgave her murderer before she died. One of the youngest canonized saints, she is patron of youth, chastity and forgiveness. Her feast is July 6.
St. Maximilian Kolbe
St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Conventual Franciscan, totally consecrated to Mary, who spread devotion through his Militia of the Immaculate and his publications. At Auschwitz he gave his life in place of another prisoner. He was canonized in 1982 as a "martyr of charity." His feast is August 14.
St. Michael the Archangel
St. Michael is an archangel, a pure spirit created by God, whose name means "Who is like God?" Scripture presents him as the protector of God's people and leader of the angelic army that cast Satan out of heaven. He is invoked especially for protection against evil.
St. Padre Pio
St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), a Capuchin friar and priest, was a renowned confessor and spiritual guide who bore the stigmata for fifty years and endured demonic attacks and unjust restrictions with humble obedience. He was canonized in 2002; his feast is September 23.
St. Paul the Apostle
Paul, also called Saul of Tarsus, was a Jew trained as a Pharisee and a Roman citizen who persecuted Christians until he met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. Christ made him an apostle, the "Apostle to the Gentiles." He wrote thirteen New Testament letters and was martyred in Rome. The Church honors him with St. Peter on June 29.
St. Philomena
Devotion to St. Philomena began when her tomb was found in the Catacomb of Priscilla in 1802. Many miracles were attributed to her, and Gregory XVI authorized a feast in her honor, though she was never formally canonized and her life story rests on unapproved private revelations. Devotion to her remains permitted and popular. Her feast is August 11.
St. Vincent de Paul
St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) was a French priest devoted to serving the poor, sick, orphans, convicts and slaves in body and soul. He founded the Congregation of the Mission and co-founded the Daughters of Charity, and inspired a worldwide family of charitable works. He is patron of charitable societies; his feast is September 27.
The Four Marian Dogmas
Dogmas are not opinions but truths revealed by God and definitively taught as binding. The Church has four Marian dogmas: Mother of God, Perpetual Virginity, Immaculate Conception and Assumption. They protect the truth about Christ, and honoring Mary safeguards the Gospel rather than distracting from it.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary honors what her heart symbolizes: her love for God and for her Son, her holiness, and her motherly love for us. It does not end in Mary but leads us closer to Jesus.
The Woman at the Well
In John 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well and offers her "living water," the gift of God that leads to eternal life and that disciples first receive in baptism. Tradition names her St. Photina. The encounter shows that no one is beyond God's mercy.
What the Early Church Believed: Mary Is the Mother of God
Mary is the Mother of God because she is the mother of Jesus, and Jesus is God. This does not mean she is older than God or the source of his divinity, but that the person she carried and bore was God incarnate. Denying it repeats the Nestorian heresy, and the Fathers and the Reformers alike affirmed it.
What the Early Church Believed: Mary's Immaculate Nature
The Fathers taught that God gave Mary special graces to make her a fitting mother for Christ and the model Christian: her role as the New Eve, her Immaculate Conception, her spiritual motherhood of Christians, and her Assumption. The key is the New Eve: like the first Adam and Eve, the New Adam and Eve were immaculate.
What the Early Church Believed: The Perpetual Virginity of Mary
Most Protestants claim Mary had other children, citing the "brethren of the Lord." But Scripture and the early Christians knew Jesus was Mary's only child and that she remained a virgin all her life. The early *Protoevangelium of James* records her vow of virginity, and the Fathers, and even the Reformers, affirmed it.