Author

Susie Lloyd
Susie Lloyd is the author of “Bless Me, Father, for I Have Kids.” Visit her at
SusieLloyd.com.
Now I am going to tell you about something that until I did this article I knew next to nothing about — Advent fasting customs of the Eastern Rite. All I knew is that the period of Advent starts way sooner than Advent in the West. Instead…
Bl. Nykyta Budka: Die with your boots on
When you read about the Eastern Rite saints who lived under Roman persecution, you might wonder if they were really as heroic as their biographers say they were. It was so long ago. Maybe people are exaggerating. Then you look at their…
Teresa Tomeo: Culture warrior
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more energetic culture warrior than Teresa Tomeo. The familiar long-time host of Ave Maria Radio’s Catholic Connection, she is also the host of EWTN’s The Catholic View for Women, the author of multiple…
I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house
Who was the gray-haired little lady tidying up the sanctuary before the 6 o’clock evening Mass? She puttered noiselessly in and out, setting up this, removing that, sometimes smiling a little to herself. She disappeared during Mass, but at…
St. Callinicus: Love your pagans as yourself
St. Callinicus (feast day July 29) may be the perfect saint for our times, even though he lived in Asia Minor and died in the year 250. You see, he was born into a Christian home at a time when most of his neighbors were pagan. Imagine an…
June: Weirdos welcome
The feast of All Saints is exactly the same in the East as it is in the West; it’s just on the other side of the year. It always falls on the Sunday following Pentecost, which this year is June 16. On this day, the Eastern Church…
May: St. Nobody Important
Some of Our Lord’s disciples are famous, but others are not. Peter and the apostles are in the first category. We know where they preached; we know if and how they were martyred; we know what their feast days are. What about the “nameless”…
St. Lazarus: The Lord is wonderful in his saints
Most feast days of the saints celebrate the day the saint died, went to heaven, and stayed put. Lazarus Saturday celebrates the opposite. It is the day Our Lord summoned his friend back to this life, despite four days and several spools of…
Eastern rite Lent: Pray early and often
Today we will not be talking about a who but a what. Let’s get down with Lent! Literally. What Father is chanting in Old Slavonic is: You suffered greatly for us Jesus Christ, Son of God Have mercy on us Just as in the West,…
February: St. Zacchaeus — Salvation has come to this house
St. Zacchaeus has one of the greatest conversion stories of all time, so much so that the Eastern Church gives him his own Sunday. Falling this year on Feb. 3, it is the first harbinger of a new pascal cycle. Remember how I told you last…