‘”My daughter’s in bad shape,’ Carmen said. … Those few words were all it took to bring back to my mind her story which I was painfully aware of – about a daughter who vacillated between hope and failure in what seemed a life-long battle against a drug addiction, and now once again had fallen,” writes Fr. Don Fetters, C.S.C. “I think I gave a decent homily that morning, but she was the teacher that day. She knew so much about the Cross and the hope it carries.” Read More

“Maybe it’s a guy thing, but there is something that has always moved me about a group of men, united in purpose and labor, bonded by a shared life, shared sacrifice and shared joy,” writes Mr. John Soisson, the Special Assistant to the President at the University of Portland. “I first felt it as a young man whenever I got together with my father and brothers. I felt it with my teammates when I rowed in college, and again when I spent months on a hilltop in Vietnam with a company of men. But that day at Fatima House? I felt it so deeply that it moved me to tears.” Read More

“People sometimes ask us what’s the difference between a C.S.C. or a Dominican or a monk or others priests, and why there are so many different kinds. I’ve given a lot of different answers,” preached Fr. Jim King, C.S.C., in his homily marking the end of Holy Cross week at Notre Dame. “But I’m going to give a little different answer today because even most other priests we get in discussions with about what we do think we’re crazy.” Read More

“It wasn’t until I returned home and told my mom about arriving at the Novitiate unannounced, receiving the kind of welcome reserved for old friends, that I truly appreciated how much Holy Cross values community. And how much being surrounded by that community at Notre Dame and in Fort Portal has changed me for the better,” writes ND Senior David Mahin of his unscheduled visit to the Holy Cross Novitiate in East Africa. Read More

“There are three particular traits of St. Joseph that have served me well as I have moved from assignment to assignment, and that continue to serve me in a way that a patron and model should be understood,” writes Br. Donald Stabrowski, C.S.C., on this Feast of St. Joseph. “First, he was a teacher. Second, he was a humble person. And third, he was an enabler in the best sense of that word.” Read More

“It was much more than youthful energy let loose on a project that I saw in these young missionaries. It was really zeal, simply defined as great energy or enthusiasm for a cause or objective,” writes Fr. Don Fetters, C.S.C., about Summer Mission 2012 in our Holy Cross parish in Peru. “Blessed Moreau chose the word “zeal” to insist with his brothers on the urgent intensity of the mission and the intentionality of the energy dedicated to it.” Read More

“There’s a lot of talk these days about ‘brand awareness’,” writes Mr. John Soisson. “I prefer the more classical approach. Isn’t it better to ask: Who are we? Why are we here? What do we want to be? Where are we going?” He goes on, “What’s the Holy Cross brand? ... The Holy Cross brand really isn’t something that you can design and print. It’s a way of life. A lot of people like the idea of Holy Cross, but not everyone can live it.” Read More

“Our Holy Cross Constitution on Mission envisions us ministering among people ‘whose lot we share’ so that we become ‘their neighbors...with them and of them.’ Because our colleagues at UP have become our neighbors,” writes Fr. Charlie McCoy, “I was blessed to share in one of the last hours of Steve Watson’s life; and he, unknowingly, spent that hour ministering to me …” Read More

“No one can deny the aural beauty of a male a cappella chorus,” writes Mr. John Soisson, “and I was not the only one in the chapel that day whose heart was moved as the singing swelled towards it’s end: O clemens, O pia, O dulcis, Virgo Maria. And then it was over. But the message of the singing lingered and still does, a message of strength and unity and constancy and hope.” Read More

Tony Oleck, a sophomore in Old College, gives this month's blog post from our undergraduate seminary. It is a moving reflection on our community’s pastoral feast, Our Lady of Sorrows. Read More

Today we in the family of Holy Cross celebrate the Feast Day of our patroness, Our Lady of Sorrows. As our Constitutions state, "She is our special patroness, a woman who bore much She could not understand and who stood fast. To Her many sons and daughters, whose devotions ought to bring them often to Her side, She tells much of this daily cross and its daily hope" (8:120). Read More

Today we continue with our new Spes Unica series that highlights the voices of some of our amazing lay collaborators in Holy Cross. We will hear from Mr. John Soisson, the Special Assistant to the President at the University of Portland. A recipient last year of the Spirit of Holy Cross award from the Indiana Province, John has worked with Holy Cross for many years, and as a result, we learn in his first post for Spes Unica, he knows us well … so well, he can articulate what starts to make Holy Cross different. Enjoy! Read More

Today at Spes Unica we continue rolling out our new line-up of contributors for this coming year with another feature we are extremely excited about.  From the very beginning of the life of our Congregation, an essential part of the Holy Cross family has been our lay collaborators.  They not only join us in what we do, but they also help make us who we are.  It is impossible to imagine our lives, our mission, or our vocations without them, and so to help those discerning with our community, we want to include their voices on our blog as well. And so today, meet Mr. Rob Curtis, the Pastoral Minister at St. John Vianney Parish in Goodyear, AZ.  Rob introduces himself by sharing how God led him to Holy Cross and what has led him to fall in love with the Congregation. Read More

Today the Congregation of Holy Cross celebrates one of its patronal feast days, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  The Sacred Heart is the special feast day of all the priests and seminarians of Holy Cross.  To help us celebrate this day, we are posting a reflection written by Fr. Bob Epping, C.S.C., who is the Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Colorado Springs, Colo. Read More

It took us a little while to make good on our promise, but today we are proud to post for you the text from Fr. Frank Murphy, C.S.C.'s homily at Holy Cross' annual Mass of Thanksgiving for its Jubilarians.  It was well worth the wait to get this Spes Unica exclusive as it is a masterful homily underscoring what it means to be a Holy Cross priest or brother serving God's people.  Join us one more time in giving thanks for our Holy Cross Jubiliarians and their 1,110 faithful years of service!  Read More

Today Holy Cross, along with the Universal Church, suspends our Lenten observances to celebrate the great Feast of St. Joseph. For Holy Cross, this is a particularly special day as St. Joseph is the patron of the Brothers of Holy Cross. And so today, one of our Holy Cross brothers, Brother Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C., shares a reflection on St. Joseph, drawing upon one of this silent saint’s greatest apostles, St. André Bessette. Read More

Fr. Charlie McCoy, C.S.C., has checked in with his monthly post. This time it is a truly insightful reflection on our union as brothers and priests in Holy Cross. Read More

A happy feast day to one and all, as all of us in the Holy Cross family celebrate the feast day of our founder, Blessed Basil Moreau. As celebrations take place throughout the world, we dive into the festivities on our blog with a reflection on Blessed Moreau as a man of prayer, written by Fr. Kevin Grove, C.S.C. At the end of the reflection is a prayer for the canonization of Moreau. May the example and intercession of Blessed Moreau make all of us, like him, men and women of deep prayer, men and women who are God’s saints. Read More

Today, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, is the patronal feast day of the Congregation of Holy Cross. Although Blessed Basil Moreau dedicated the sisters of Holy Cross to the care of Our Lady of Sorrows, he also put his entire religious family under her loving patronage. To help us all join in this wonderful celebration, the biggest of the Holy Cross year, we share the beautiful reflection Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, the Bishop of Peoria, wrote on Our Lady of Sorrows for the daily meditation book, The Cross, Our Only Hope. May the Our Lady of Sorrows continue to intercede for Holy Cross so that we may be close to Jesus the last. Read More