Best Fr. Michael Black Podcasts (2025)

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September 28: Saint Wenceslaus, Martyr 5:33

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September 28: Saint Wenceslaus, Martyr c. 907–929 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of the Czech Republic and Slovakia A young duke is killed by a jealous brother and becomes a Czech icon When the famous die young, their unwrinkled faces, dark hair, and youthful vigor are frozen in time, forever vital, forever attractive, foreve…

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September 28: Saint Lawrence Ruiz & Companions, Martyrs 6:24

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September 28: Saint Lawrence Ruiz & Companions, Martyrs c. 1600–1637 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saints of the Philippines A married father remains unbroken under the cruelest torture Many lesser-known faces in the deep audience of saints bask in the soft glow of sanctity emanating from the more prominent “marquee” saints standi…

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September 27: Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest 5:22

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September 27: Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest 1581–1660 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of all charitable societies, hospitals, and leprosy victims A powerhouse priest organizes multitudes for charity and renews priestly formation Today’s saint was one of the brightest stars in the galaxy of saintly men and women whose light rejuvenate…

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Cole Arthur Riley: embodiment and memory 50:21

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Episode 94 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with author and poet Cole Arthur Riley. They explore embodiment, resisting meritocracy, story, collective memory, letter writing, resistance, the tension between practice and belief, interiority, and mu…

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September 26: Saints Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs 5:57

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September 26: Saints Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs c. Late third–early fourth century Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saints of doctors, barbers, and pharmacists Holy twins are honored for their healing, their poverty, and their deaths The ancient walls of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem enclose the sacred ground where th…

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September 23: Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), Priest 5:51

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September 23: Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), Priest 1887–1968 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of civil defense volunteers and adolescents A humble friar’s love for Christ burns holes in his hands Long-married spouses often develop similar patterns of speech. A boy might learn to walk just like his father, and a girl might favo…

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September 21: Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist 5:21

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September 21: Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist First Century Feast; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of bankers, accountants, and money changers A lover of money becomes greedy for God People leave their jobs for all sorts of reasons: more pay, better opportunity, a shorter commute. Today’s saint left his job for a better boss. Matthew was a…

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September 20: Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs 6:46

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September 20: Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs Nineteenth century Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saints of Korea Their martyrdom for a new faith caused the Christian sun to rise in Korea Catholicism was not originally brought to the isolated Korean Peninsula by celibate missionaries who trekked ove…

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September 19: Saint Januarius, Bishop and Martyr 5:05

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September 19: Saint Januarius, Bishop and Martyr c. 300 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of Naples An early bishop martyr is honored due to an enduring miracle of blood In every lost corner and hidden valley of the Catholic world is a painting of the Virgin Mary that cries watery tears, a crucifix whose growing hair must be cut…

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September 17: Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin and Doctor 6:12

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September 17: Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin and Doctor 1098-1179 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patroness of philologists A one-woman magisterium orchestrates a life in tune with the Creator In the high Middle-Ages, she was New-Age. Before farm-to-table was a term, she lived organically. Before alternative medicine was de rigueur, s…

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September 17: Saint Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor 5:32

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September 17: Saint Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor 1542–1621 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of catechists and catechumens A learned scholar with a warm personality drives the Counter-Reformation forward A massive, multi-volume work of Christian theology was published in the 1580s refuting Protestant errors. The volume…

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September 16: Saint Cyprian, Bishop, Martyr 6:09

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September 16: Saint Cyprian, Bishop, Martyr c.200–258 Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of Algeria and North Africa The faithful soak up the blood of their beheaded bishop The elegantly named Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus was born in an uncertain year in that buzzing beehive of early Christianity known as Roman North Africa. His biography…

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September 16: Saint Cornelius, Pope, Martyr 5:35

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September 16: Saint Cornelius, Pope, Martyr c. Late Second, or Early Third, Century–253 Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of cattle, domestic animals, and earache sufferers A Pope reigns for two years, excommunicates a schismatic, and dies in exile The twenty-first pope of the Church, Saint Cornelius, succeeded no one. After the death of…

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September 15: Our Lady of Sorrows 5:43

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September 15: Our Lady of Sorrows Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patroness of Slovakia A mother is only as happy as her saddest child Every life climbs its Calvary. Every soul has its quiet sorrow which cannot be shared in full with any other soul. This concealed pain is the very real drama that plays out behind the curtain of the duties and dis…

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September 14: Exaltation of the Holy Cross 6:03

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September 14: Exaltation of the Holy Cross Feast; Liturgical Color: Red Patronal Feast of Cortona, Italy A torture device is transformed into a universal symbol of hope and peace If the Romans had hung criminals from a gibbet, then Catholic churches would display a noose in their sanctuaries instead of a cross. Or a statue of Jesus’ lifeless body w…

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September 13: Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor 5:17

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September 13: Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor c. 347–407 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of preachers and speakers A great preacher, writer, and intellectual suffers for the faith In the tug and pull of the theological disputes of the fourth and fifth centuries, today’s saint was a seminal figure. Along with other luminaries…

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September 12: The Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary 5:00

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September 12: The Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Every name begins a relationship A name doesn’t imply that you know everything about someone, but it does make a person “invocable.” To know that there is a “someone” standing before you is not to know too much. When that “someone” has a name, however,…

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September 9: Saint Peter Claver, Priest (U.S.A.) 5:51

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September 9: Saint Peter Claver, Priest (U.S.A.) 1580–1654 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of slaves, Colombia, seafarers, and missionaries to Africa A builder of the Spanish Bridge, he personified respect for human rights It is commonly taught that human rights were born in the Anglo-Saxon Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighte…

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September 8: Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary 5:23

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September 8: Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary Late First Century B.C. Feast; Liturgical Color: White Patroness of silversmiths, potters, and chefs The last and greatest figure of the B.C. era causes its end The birthdates of great men and women are remembered for posterity. The presidents of the United States are commemorated near the February birt…

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September 5: Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Religious 6:06

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September 5: Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Religious 1910–1997 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White (Mother Teresa is not on the Church’s universal calendar but is included here due to her renown) Patron Saint of the Archdiocese of Calcutta, India She equals in generosity the great ‘Teresas’ she emulated Anjezë (Agnes) Gonxha Bojaxhiu was a tiny …

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September 3: Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor 5:44

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September 3: Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor c. 540–604 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers A gifted nobleman serves Rome, becomes a monk, and then a consequential pope When your salad is awesome, your car amazing, and your internet connection is great, there’s a problem. Overused su…

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Can We Attend Weddings Outside of the Catholic Church? 1:35:07

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With so many Catholics marrying non-Catholics today, and even Catholics marrying Catholics but outside of the Church, how are we to approach it? Can we attend? If not, what do we do to save the relationship? Fr. Chris Alar answers this in an easy-to-understand way.By The Marian Fathers

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August 29: The Passion of Saint John the Baptist, Martyr 5:39

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August 29: The Passion of Saint John the Baptist, Martyr c. 29 A.D. Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red A desert-dwelling, locust-eating, weed-wearing, celibate ascetic dies for marriage Saint John Vianney was so opposed to the dances held routinely in his small town of Ars that he dedicated a small chapel in his parish church to Saint John the Baptist…

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August 28: Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor 6:38

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August 28: Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor 354–430 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of theologians and printers A psychologist, theologian, and working bishop is the greatest convert after Saint Paul The mighty African Saint Augustine climbed the heights of thought, stood upright on their peaks, and turned toward Rome, and thus spr…

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August 27: Saint Monica 5:49

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August 27: Saint Monica c. 331–387 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of difficult marriages, homemakers, and mothers Without her example of persevering prayer, her gifted son would not have converted Most of the female saints of the first few centuries of the Church are virgins, martyrs, or both. Most of the medieval and modern female …

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St. Louis? Fr. Chris Alar's Top 5! 1:17:33

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Do you know the story of St. Louis? Fr. Chris explains one of the most incredible saints in the history of the Church and explains the tie to the city of St. Louis and the meaning of the words he spoke.By The Marian Fathers

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August 25: Saint Louis 4:57

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August 25: Saint Louis 1214–1270 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of barbers, grooms, and Saint Louis, Missouri A king leads in piety, mortification, and faith, and dies crusading for the King of all Jesus said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). To…

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August 25: Saint Joseph Calasanz, Priest 5:31

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August 25: Saint Joseph Calasanz, Priest 1556–1648 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of Catholic schools and school children A visionary implements his plan, is defamed, and forgives The star of today’s saint burns less brightly than others in the great constellation of counter-reformation saints. But the educational vision of…

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August 24: Saint Bartholomew, Apostle 5:59

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August 24: Saint Bartholomew, Apostle First Century Feast; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of bookbinders, butchers, and leather workers The Church conquered an imperfect world due to the heroic witness of the Apostles Little is known with certainty about today’s Apostle, and perhaps Saint Bartholomew is just fine with that. If he were like Sain…

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August 23: Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin 5:43

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August 23: Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin 1586–1617 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of Peru, florists, and gardeners America’s first saint, she conquered herself by direct attack Today’s saint was born Isabel Flores de Oliva in colonial Spain, today’s Peru, to a middle-class Catholic family. She took the name “Rose” when she was…

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August 22: Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary 6:09

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August 22: Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary Memorial; Liturgical Color: White The mother of a king is a queen who receives honor in her son’s realm Mary is both a queen and a mother, but she is more mother than queen. Mary’s Queenship and “mothership,” or motherhood, spark to life simultaneously. In the very moment Mary becomes a mother at the …

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August 21: Saint Pius X, Pope 6:11

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August 21: Saint Pius X, Pope 1835–1914 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of First Communicants and pilgrims Born humble and poor, he never forgot his origins while in the Chair of St. Peter In the long span of three hundred and forty years between the death of Pope Saint Pius V in 1572 and today’s pope-saint, who died in 1914, not one…

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August 20: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor 6:27

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August 20: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor 1090–1153 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of the Cistercian Order, beekeepers, and candlemakers A reformer par excellence, he saved the Benedictine Order and rejuvenated monasticism Today’s saint was like a medieval rock star who never stopped touring Europe. He traveled with an…

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August 19: Saint John Eudes, Priest 6:54

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August 19: Saint John Eudes, Priest 1601–1680 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of the Diocese of Baie-Comeau, Québec His fine education led to a life of deep prayer and identity with Jesus Many educated Catholics are familiar with the great Spanish saints of the 1500s: Saints Ignatius Loyola, Francis Xavier, John of the Cross…

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Understanding the Sacraments: A New Summary! (Part 2 of 2) 1:12:27

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In part 1, Fr. Chris Alar gave amazing facts you didn't know about Baptism, Confession, and the Eucharist. Here in Part 2, he continues with what we need to know about Confirmation, Marriage (is yours valid?), the Priesthood, and Anointing of the Sick. What is covered will surprise you since what we thought we knew as Catholics is often not complet…

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August 16: Saint Stephen of Hungary 5:44

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August 16: Saint Stephen of Hungary c. 975–1038 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of Hungary and of kings Baptized by his pagan father, made King by the Pope, his heirs demolished his legacy Saint Stephen of Hungary was a warrior king whose silhouette stands proud on a far distant horizon as the sun rises behind him at the daw…

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August 15: The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 5:50

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August 15: The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary First Century Solemnity; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of France and Lebanon God wants Mary for Himself Today’s Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary body and soul into heaven commemorates, liturgically, a dogma. Catholicism celebrates her dogmas like a country celebrates its independence da…

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August 14: Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Priest and Martyr 7:41

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August 14: Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Priest and Martyr 1894–1941 Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of prisoners, drug addicts, journalists, and the pro-life movement Prisoner 16670 was tough, immersed in God, and ready when the moment came Saints are made, not born. Even more so martyrs. Maximilian Kolbe was so impressive a man that h…

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August 13: Saints Pontian, Pope; & Hippolytus, Priest: Martyrs 6:46

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August 13: Saints Pontian, Pope; & Hippolytus, Priest: Martyrs Late Second Century–c. 235 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of Montaldo Scarampi, Italy (Pontian) and prison guards (Hippolytus) An exiled Pope dies along with a learned priest Today’s martyrs died on the island of Sardinia, perhaps from overwork in the mines or per…

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August 12: Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious 5:30

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August 12: Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious 1572–1641 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of widows and parents separated from their children An aristocratic widow’s grief is transformed into love of God Today’s saint was well born and acted like it. She was educated, refined, beautiful, witty, and wealthy. She married a…

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August 11: Saint Clare, Virgin 7:01

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August 11: Saint Clare, Virgin c. 1193–1253 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of embroiderers, goldsmiths, and laundry workers She heard Francis, left comfort, and slept on the floor for forty-one years Silicon Valley is not, topographically, a valley. The name is a contrivance dating from the 1970s and 80s. The actual valley is named …

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August 10: Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr 5:47

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August 10: Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr c. Early Third Century–258 Feast; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of deacons, comics, and cooks A Deacon heads the Church for four days, then perishes like his fellow deacons The Church’s liturgy, like all public rituals whether sacred or secular, is inherently conservative. Its form is not easily alt…

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August 9: Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr 7:11

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August 9: Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr 1891–1942 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Co-Patron Saint of Europe A Jewish intellectual discovers St. Teresa of Ávila, converts, and dies for her race Edith Stein, today’s saint’s given name, was a highly cultured European intellectual. She obtained a doctorate in philosoph…

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August 8: Saint Dominic, Priest 6:22

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August 8: Saint Dominic, Priest c. 1170–1221 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of the Dominican Republic, astronomers, and the falsely accused A one-man army for God; long practice taught him how to preach the Truth Today’s saint and Saint Francis of Assisi were close contemporaries. They both founded influential religious orders, coll…

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August 7: Saint Cajetan, Priest 5:49

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August 7: Saint Cajetan, Priest 1480–1547 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of Argentina, the unemployed, and gamblers A reformer before his time Gaetano di Conte di Thiene, today’s saint, was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he spit it out. His father was a count, his family noblemen, and his status and wealth secur…

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August 7: Saint Sixtus II, Pope; and Companions, Martyrs 6:52

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August 7: Saint Sixtus II, Pope; and Companions, Martyrs Early Third Century–258 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of Bellegra, Italy The Pope is murdered in cold blood The sixth pope was named the “Sixth” or, in Latin, “Sixtus.” He reigned from 115–125 A.D. The next Sixtus was today’s martyr, who reigned from one August to the …

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August 6: The Transfiguration of the Lord 5:54

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August 6: The Transfiguration of the Lord First Century Feast; Liturgical Color: White A preview of coming attractions, our destination is a person more than a place It was not a miracle that Jesus Christ transfigured Himself on Mount Tabor before the Apostles. It was a miracle that He maintained His common, earthly appearance for the whole of His …

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August 5: Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major 6:09

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August 5: Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major Fifth century Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White A venerable basilica preserves its ancient aura A house is more than a building. When it personifies the family within, it is a home. Or at least it should be. That an office building contains businesses; a house—a family; a barracks—so…

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August 4: Saint John Vianney, Priest 5:42

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August 4: Saint John Vianney, Priest 1786–1859 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of parish priests A farmer knows God through prayer, not books, and becomes a holy priest “Is Mr. Vianney good?” the Vicar General asked. “He is a model of goodness,” the seminary official responded. “Very well. Then let him be ordained.” And thus the last…

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August 2: Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop 5:56

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August 2: Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop Early Fourth Century–371 Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: White Patron Saint of Piedmont, Italy A bishop suffers exile and abuse for his defense of orthodoxy Eusebius was chosen Bishop of the Northern Italian city of Vercelli by popular acclaim in the 340s, even though he was an immigrant from the is…