By Leslie Fain

Maybe it started after my husband and I binged watched Downtown Abbey, but I began to feel a desire to dress better for Mass. I remember a friend telling me that in Indian culture, people try to dress their best out of respect for others. If I were to dress for a job interview, or meet a member of the British Royal Family, I would be scouring the Internet and mall for the perfect dress. Why was I not putting forth more effort to meet with the King of Heaven and Earth each Sunday?

By Carrie Gress

I’ve been eager to introduce HD readers to Stella Maris & Co. candles for some time. Almost two years ago, I was standing in my kitchen and the thought occurred to me that there is an abundance of soy candles in the market place today, but out of all that I had seen, I’d never seen one that was Catholic. Why wasn’t any one making these?

By Carrie Gress

What happens when the rosary and the Tooth Fairy meet? Something wonderful, says Brianna Gilmore, the founder of Pocket Angels. I caught up with Brianna, a mother of four who lives in Portland, Oregon, to find out more about her hand-sewn angels and her growing business.

By Carrie Gress

A fun new source for children’s clothing with a Catholic twist is now available online. Lilies + Loaves makes clothing that tell a story visually about Marian apparitions and the lives of saints. Made for infants to age five, the garments are made by local seamstresses in Philadelphia.

By Carrie Gress

The chapel has a certain allure. Even those people go see the Cathedral, when they go and see the small chapel, that is what they remember. The chapel has a closeness, prayerfulness, and intimacy about it.

By Carrie Gress

There is something enigmatic about snow. Often, it arrives silently, without ceremony. One scarcely knows it is there. Only over time, does it reveal itself. The accumulation brings with it a blanket of beauty. Everything becomes different, suddenly pure, calm, quiet, and glistening with wonder.

By Molly Farinholt

Is beautiful art an expression of the divine and an instrument of worship? It has not always been seen as such — even within the Church. In the Byzantine Empire, during the eighth and ninth centuries, magnificent icons were torn down and destroyed while bitter debate raged between those in favor of such destruction and those who sought to halt the burning.

By Sofia Infante

In the decade since a group of Carmelite monks living in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming set out to roast their own coffee, their popularity has steadily increased. The monks began by roasting their coffees in a cast iron skillet and selling a small selection of flavored coffee online. Today, they offer a large selection of flavored coffees, teas, and more.

By Noelle Mering

To consider even briefly the rich symbolism of light is to arrive at varied but overlapping possibilities: the hope-filled dawn, the illumination of space and intellect, the revelation of a light bulb moment, the spring-sun inducing life and rebirth of earth and spirit, the exposure in the cold light of day of what had been cloaked in the night.

By Carrie Gress

Books always make great gifts. Long after the latest flashy fad toy’s batteries have died, treasured books have a way of taking on a life of their own within a family, even as they tumble off of beds, or get piled precariously high among other toys. 2018 was a great year for Catholic children’s books. Here are some of my favorites to consider for the little people in your life.