Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Just about the only thing most people know about Francis of Assisi is that he talked to the birds. Church-goers also know the popular hymn based on his famous prayer, ‘Make me a channel of your Peace’, which was sung at the funeral of Princess Diana. However, Italy’s patron saint, whose feast day is this...

Congratulations! You are using many fewer plastic bags. On average, you now use about 19 a year – as opposed to 140 a year. The number of disposable carrier bags issued by the seven biggest supermarket chains has declined by 86 per cent since the charge was introduced in 2015, according to statistics from the...

How do you spell popular names for boys and girls?  This argument has rumbled on for years. Now a recent YouGov poll has asked the public, and some results point to a swing back to preferring more traditional spellings. Joe 87 per cent; Jo 4 per cent John 79pc; Jon 9pc Mark 78pc; Marc 9pc...

Harvest is a time of thanksgiving to God for all His provision for us. It is good to cultivate a grateful heart, and studies have shown that people who practise thankfulness tend to have a more positive outlook on life, be more optimistic about the future, and are generally healthier than those who do a...

St Francis (1181 – 1226) is surely one of the most attractive and best-loved of all the saints.  But he began by being anything but a saint.  Born the son of a wealthy cloth-merchant of Assisi, Francis’ youth was spent in fast-living, parties and on fast horses as a leader of the young society of...

This month is the 501th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, and so a good time to pay tribute to an outstanding English scholar, translator and martyr of the Reformation. William Tyndale (c. 1494 – 6th October 1536) was born near Gloucester, and studied at Oxford and Cambridge.  He could speak seven languages, and...

Quilting is making a big comeback, attracting people from all walks of life.  As one quilter explains: ‘In a fast-paced world where we live attached to screen, it’s refreshing to step away and focus on something like quilting.  It takes precision and focus, which can sometimes be just what’s needed to take yourself away from...

Demetrius of Sirmium should be the patron saint of anyone who takes a stand for the right, despite knowing they will suffer for it. Demetrius was a soldier from Serbia in the fourth century.  He fought for the Roman Emperor, and that took courage.  Then Demetrius converted to Christianity – and took his stand with...

Social media and video games are harming our young people’s minds.  They are being so bombarded with instant gratification that, like young children, they need to have ‘something every moment to distract them.’ So says Baroness Greenfield, a senior research fellow at Oxford University.  She refers to studies at Harvard and Princeton which found that...

Do you want your life to make a difference – for the good – in this world?  Then Luis Bertran (1526-81) is the saint for you.   This fearless Dominican priest so inspired tens of thousands of people in Latin America that he was chosen as patron of Columbia. Luis Bertran was born at Valencia in...

We all know about the sandwich generation – those of us who are caught in between trying to support our children in buying a home, and also in supporting our parents who need social care. But now there is a new generation – the club-sandwichers.  They are those of us whose money is now going...

Have you ever held your head in your hands and felt that events were against you? Then Denys is the saint for you.  This Christian martyr knew all about holding his head in his hands when times got rough. According to Gregory of Tours, Denys was an Italian bishop who became the first bishop of...