Q. When Catholics receive Confirmation but leave the Church for a long time, do they have to receive Confirmation again when they return? A. The sacraments of the Eucharist, Reconciliation, Matrimony, and Anointing of the Sick can be received more than once. Confirmation, however, is one of the three sacraments that can be received validly only once. Why is this the case? Because these three sacraments — Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders — leave an indelible mark on the s

Q. What’s the difference between All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day? A. On All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1), we honor all the saints of God, known and unknown, which means all those who have been fully perfected and united to Him in love in heaven. Though thousands of these holy ones have been formally recognized by the Church and have their own memorial days on the Church calendar, many more have never been canonized. Because of this celebration, the unrecognized saints have a feast

Q. Is Halloween a pagan or a Christian holiday? A. In terms of its origins, Halloween is both pagan and Christian. In terms of its practice, that depends on who’s celebrating. Before the coming of the Christian faith to Celtic lands (the British Isles and Brittany), a pagan feast that seems to have been associated with the harvest and New Year’s Eve on the Celtic calendar took place on the night of October 31. In the Druid religion (practiced by the Celts), the night of Octob

Q. What do we know about the Archangel Raphael? A. The Archangel Raphael (the name in Hebrew means “God has healed”) appears by name only in the Book of Tobit in chapters 5–12. (Since Protestant Bibles don’t include that book, Protestant tradition is largely silent about Raphael.) He first appears, disguised as a man, as the traveling companion of the young man Tobias. In the account that follows, Raphael is involved in the healing of Tobias’s blind father, Tobit, and in the

Q. What do we know about the Archangel Gabriel? A. The Archangel Gabriel (the name in Hebrew means “God is my strength”) appears several times in Scripture. In the Old Testament, we find him in the Book of Daniel. Chapter 8 tells how he is sent by God to explain the meaning of the prophet Daniel’s vision of empires. In chapter 9, after the prophet prays for the nation of Israel, Gabriel is sent to Daniel to give him “wisdom and understanding” (verse 22). In chapter 10, a dazz