In today’s Gospel, we see the profound blessing of hearing and observing the Word of God—and no one exemplifies this more perfectly than our Blessed Mother Mary. She devoured the Scriptures, rejoiced in the Word made flesh, and prepared the way for Christ. As John the Baptist said, “He must increase; I must decrease.”

St. Ignatius of Antioch stands as one of the most important figures in the early Church. A disciple of St. John the Apostle and the third bishop of Antioch—appointed by St. Peter himself—Ignatius lived and died for the truth of the Catholic faith. As he was led to martyrdom in Rome, he urged fellow Christians not to rescue him, declaring that salvation comes through freedom from the fear of death.

Fr. Allen Alexander explains one of the most commonly asked questions: What does it mean that Jesus descended into Hell? Was this the hell of the damned? Or a different place? The answer might surprise you.