In the 1980s, Catholics in rural Martindale, Texas, recalled how their elders had regularly walked to their “second home”: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. The Claretians erected the first Catholic Church there in 1908, with a school two years later. After fire destroyed the wooden structure in 1916, the Claretians raised the brick and stone …

Holy Week Remembered: Martindale Texas Read More »

Conducting research in the Claretian Missionaries Archive, I noticed two tall bookcases filled with hundreds of old books. Just the colors and leather bindings suggested these volumes dated back to the nineteenth century, maybe earlier. Now curious, I randomly pulled out a small book, a bit larger than a deck of playing cards. The soft …

Un Librito/ A Very Small Book Read More »