Theresa Civantos Barber

1 week ago | aleteia.org | Theresa Civantos Barber

POPE LEON XIVSubscribe to our free daily newsletterSubscribeWhen white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel chimney on Thursday, Catholics worldwide held their breath. But no one was more surprised than Chicagoans when Cardinal Robert Prevost, a son of the Windy City, was elected Pope Leo XIV — the first USA-born Pontiff in history. When the white smoke emerged, we spent the next hour on the edge of our seats, praying “Come, Holy Spirit!” while frantically checking the live feed.

1 week ago | aleteia.org | Theresa Civantos Barber

If you’re the kind of person who likes to theme your dinners around liturgical events, you might be wondering what foods to enjoy during the conclave. We suggest three ways to approach that question: the present, the past, and the personalized. The first and simplest “conclave food” is what the cardinals are actually eating in Rome right now.

1 week ago | aleteia.org | Theresa Civantos Barber

If you’re a fan of history and food (guilty), you might be curious about what sort of foods were traditionally served at papal conclaves throughout history. When my husband sent me a video about this very topic, I wasn’t surprised. He’s such a culinary history buff that he once planned an entire 1700s dinner party with a period-appropriate menu. Every year for Thanksgiving, he makes a 450-year-old recipe for pumpkin cheesecake from a 16th-century cookbook.

1 week ago | aleteia.org | Theresa Civantos Barber

As the world awaits the selection of a new pope, parents and teachers have a great opportunity to teach children about the Holy Spirit's guidance in our lives and in the Church. We can introduce kids of all ages to the short yet powerful prayer, “Come, Holy Spirit.”A few years ago, Pope Francis gave a lesson specifically about praying to the Holy Spirit. I found it helpful to look back at what he said. Pope Francis explained that praying to the Holy Spirit is much simpler than we might think.

2 weeks ago | aleteia.org | Theresa Civantos Barber

St. Francis of Assisi once heard Our Lord tell him, “Go and rebuild My church.” Since that time, there have been countless efforts to restore and renew the treasure that Christ left us in his Church. An enormous new effort in Puerto Rico recalls those words of Christ’s, as the vast recovery program will impact more than 600 Catholic churches, over 25 schools, and other church facilities across 5 dioceses of Puerto Rico.